Grouping Data Objects

You can group objects according to a selected property on the Network tab of the Explorer window. The objects to be grouped can be in a data folder or in a view (see "Creating and Comparing Views" on page 81). You can also define the properties by which you can group objects. Grouping objects in the Explorer window is similar to sorting data in the data table because it puts all records with the selected property together.

Once you have grouped data objects, you can access their Properties dialogue from the context menu to edit properties on all grouped objects. You can save the grouping parameters as a folder configuration. For information, see "Folder Configura- tions" on page 80.

This section explains:

• "Grouping Data Objects by a Selected Property" on page 65 • "Configuring the Group By Submenu" on page 66

• "Advanced Grouping" on page 66.

For examples of grouping data objects, see "Examples of Grouping" on page 67.

1.7.1.1 Grouping Data Objects by a Selected Property

You can group data objects by a selected property using the Group By command on the context menu. To group data objects by a selected property:

1. Click the Network tab in the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the folder or view whose objects you want to group. The context menu appears.

3. From the Group By submenu, select the property by which you want to group the objects. The objects in the folder are grouped by that property.

To undo the grouping:

1. Click the Network tab in the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the folder or view whose objects you have grouped.

If the range of properties available in the Group By submenu has been configured as explained in "Configuring the Group By Submenu" on page 66, you can select additional properties by selecting More Fields from the Group By submenu. For information on using the dialogue that appears, see "Configuring the Group By Submenu" on page 66.

4. Select the General tab of the Properties dialogue.

5. Click the Configure Menu button next to the Group By field that shows how the data objects are presently grouped. The Menu Configuration dialogue appears (see Figure 1.28).

6. Select the fields you want to appear in the Group By submenu. You can display all the fields belonging to a table by clicking the Expand button ( ) to the left of the table name. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing SHIFT and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing CTRL and clicking each fields separately.

- To select a field to appear in the Group By submenu, select the field in the Available fields list and click to move it to the Grouping Fields list.

- To remove a field from the list of Grouping Fields, select the field in the Grouping fields list and click to remove it.

- To change the order of the fields, select a field and click or to move it up or down in the list. The objects will be grouped in the order of the fields in the Grouping fields list, from top to bottom.

7. Click OK to close the Menu Configuration dialogue and click OK to close the Properties dialogue. The Group By sub- menu will now contain only the fields you selected.

1.7.1.3 Advanced Grouping

You can group data objects by one or more properties, using the Group By button on the Properties dialogue. To group data objects by one or more properties:

1. Click the Network tab in the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the folder or view whose objects you have grouped. 3. Select Properties from the context menu.

4. Select the General tab of the Properties dialogue.

5. Click the Group By button. The Group dialogue appears (see Figure 1.29).

6. Select the fields by which you want to group the objects. You can select contiguous fields by clicking the first field, pressing SHIFT and clicking the last field. You can select non-contiguous fields by pressing CTRL and clicking each fields separately.

- To select a field to be used to group the objects, select the field in the Available Fields list and click to move it to the Grouping Fields list.

- To remove a field from the list of Grouping Fields, select the field in the Grouping Fields list and click to remove it.

- To change the order of the fields, select a field and click or to move it up or down in the list. The objects will be grouped in the order of the fields in the Grouping Fields list, from top to bottom.

7. Click OK to close the Group dialogue and click OK to close the Properties dialogue and group the objects. To undo the grouping:

1. Click the Network tab in the Explorer window.

2. Right-click the folder or view whose objects you have grouped. 3. From the context menu, select from the Group By > None.

1.7.1.4 Examples of Grouping

In this example, there is an Atoll document with a large number of sites and, therefore, transmitters. While it is easy to see on the map which transmitters are part of which site, in the Explorer window, you can only see a very long list of transmitters under the Transmitter folder.

By right-clicking the Transmitter folder and selecting Group By > Site (Figure 1.30), you can group the transmitters by the site they are located on.

The result of grouping can be seen in Figure 1.31.

You can also group objects by the computation or focus zone. You normally create a computation or focus zone when you want to concentrate on a given subset of transmitters, for example, when you are working on a certain area of the network. By grouping them by computation or focus zone, the transmitters you are working on are immediately visible under the Trans- mitter folder.

By right-clicking the Transmitter folder and selecting Group By > Polygon > Focus Zone (Figure 1.30), you can group the trans- mitters in the focus zone together.

Figure 1.30: Grouping transmitters by site

The result of grouping can be seen in Figure 1.31. The transmitters are now in two groups: those inside the focus zone and those outside the focus zone.