Supply/Inventory List

[drtech]

I want to enhance the supply/inventory module to allow for searching of supplies from all suppliers at once and also to view all orders at once instead of the supplier by supplier style that is currently used. Anyone else using this feature and/or have more suggestions?

[jordansparks]

I would have done it already if it was at all easy. The reason all the functionality is in one window is because you have to be able to see the supplies needed list when putting together an order. Having it all in one window, though, puts a lot of restrictions on what can be done. It makes is impossible to add that search feature the way you want. I agree that it needs work. This was only the first iteration. The only way to go it to break it down into different windows, each with a certain function. This is not something that I trust anyone else to do. If you insist on doing something anyway, then I think you have two options:
1. Build your own search window that can be lauched from the supply window. Do not have it interact in any way with the main window.
2. Add a third tab to the bottom tab control. Again, do not have it interact with the main window.

But what is your goal exactly? If you just add a search function, that's fine. But then what do you do with your filtered list once you have it? You can't add to it. You can't order from it. It's just going to be like a report. Completely lacking in interactivity. Are you sure it's worth it?

[drtech]

yes, I remember talking with you about this when you first made it and you said it would be difficult to do. My goal is just to make it work better for real use (just ideas). We have lots of supplies entered now and lots of different suppliers. So without knowing what supplies come from what supplier, it makes the list fairly useless. Also, I would like to be able to see all the pending orders so you can see what has been ordered easily in one place.

Implementation:
I envision the order list to include all orders from all suppliers and an added column of supplier to distinguish the orders. The lower supply list should just include everything from all suppliers and when you order an item it automatically creates and order for the proper supplier in the above grid (or adds to an existing order if it exists). How this could be done will take some fairly major reworking of the window, I know.. I was just going to try to do something useful for everyone that would not interfere with what you are currently working on Jordan. If you don't want me to give it a try I won't, but I would like to give it a shot.

[jordansparks]

I'm sorry, I can't allow that. Programmers from outside our company need to stick to features that are less risky.

[drtech]

ok, I won't post anything related to this feature then.

But does my vision and logic sound like what you would work towards or do you have different ideas to make it better?

[jordansparks]

I don't think my initial approach was best. Putting it all on one page like that makes it hard to keep the code clean and increases the chance of a bug. I would rather have individual windows for individual functions. So on the main page, all you would see would be the supplies needed list. Then, there would be a separate window for placing orders which would also show the supplies needed for reference. Each order would also have it's own page. Maintaining the list of supplies would be on yet another page, although we might also allow quickly adding a supply while ordering. But what we have right now is a bad foundation to build on. It's like a house of cards that will fall down if you mess with it. It needs a rewrite, not simply refinement.