Display feet and inches

numberz

Hi,
I need to be able to enter feet and inches somehow, on a form.
It would allow a user to enter say, 8'-0" or even a prompt asking for the foot 8 then asking for inches 0 etc.
I'd prefer to be able to enter just the numbers as in 8 and 0...then have the display as 8'-0"
And 8'-6" could be entered as 8 then 6?
Or something like that 🙂
Thank you,
Harry

BenHayat

In my previous app, I needed the user's height. So I had 3 properties
Height feet
Height inches
Total inches. (calculated)

The first two would sit next to each other on the form for entry and the third I used for my internal use.

numberz

Ben, thanks.
I only need feet and inches.
Can you give me a starting point on how to do this please?
Thank you.
Harry

BenHayat

Then allocate 2 properties one for feet and one for inches ad put them on one row side by side.

numberz

Ben,
I am about as green as one can get, lol.
I have no idea what to do.
When you state "Allocate two properties" are you meaning "create two attributes"

customaware

Convert to the Metric System..

Not helpful I know, but, I couldn't help myself. 😉

numberz

Mark,
The USA had decided years ago that we'd be using the Metric system by 1972...about the same time that we were all supposed to be zipping around in jet packs, lol.
Regards,
Harry

PointsWell

numberz wrote
Mark,
The USA had decided years ago that we'd be using the Metric system by 1972...about the same time that we were all supposed to be zipping around in jet packs, lol.
Regards,
Harry

Interestingly the USA is a metric country following the Metric act of 1866.

Fun fact - all standard weights and measures in the USA (as in the definitive scientific measure) are metric and then converted to imperial. Which seems like a waste of effort.

numberz

Can anyone help?
I need to be able to enter a height as shown in attached image. Either that or to enter as just numbers and after I move to next task, entry, etc...have it display as in image.
Thank you.
Harry

PointsWell

If the heights were within natural parameters then you could use drop downs; either as a lookup to another BO that can contains other attributes to convert to inches (for ease of calculations elsewhere).

If you are measuring the height of human beings then this is achievable. If you are measuring something with a wide range of heights (e.g. building heights) then you will have a challenge.

Another alternative is to use a text field with an input mask to show the ’” and then use regex to limit the input options to be only numbers and “ or ‘.

It would require a lot of reformatting to get number to use in calculations.

Probably easiest would be two attributes as mentioned above.

Bo.dimension BO.ft and BO.inch place them close together and then set the tooltip value to be ‘ and “. You can then use anothe4 calculated attribute to show the full value correctly formatted (or calculated column for queries).

numberz

Thank you.
' and " in tooltip looks silly and isn't anywhere close enough.
Do Vladimir and others who own this software frequent this board at all?
Am I the only one in the world of Awareim who needs feet and inches for calculations?
My whole business revolves around this situation.

Regards,
Harry

johntalbott

The suggested ideas are on point.

Two separate attributes is the most straightforward approach for calculations.
Otherwise you can use an input mask to do something like this ... https://jsfiddle.net/johntalbott/9sampoLw/12/

The trade off with #2 is that you'll have to programmatically split the entered value into feet & inches in order to do calculations.

numberz

John,
I'm in the estimating business.
Feet and inches are very, very common and if I can't get this software to end up with something easily usable and aesthetically pleasing...I just wasted a lot of time and money.
There has to be a better way.
Regards,
Harry

Jaymer

Harry,
I think the suggestions have been fine.
Even the custom JS John wrote for you works fine.
Besides venting your frustration, you haven't given us [programmers] any idea of what exactly you're trying to do with it after.
WE are trying to think ahead.
People mention "then you'll have it for other calculations", but you don't address that, like its not important.
But you say "I only need feet and inches."

One of my clients is a window manuf. and inches need to be entered like 5/16, 11/32
and it still gets validated and dealt with and used in calcs.
But it wasn't built into the App software they used... they had to make a framework that was going to work throughout the app and then used that everywhere (which really was only 1 entry screen and then it got converted to decimal format for calcs and kept in text format for display)

Whats important to you (inches & feet) for your app isn't important to everyone. I don't need it. Maybe phone validation for others or date arithmetic or financial calcs is key. A lot of great functions are built into aware for those purposes.

Here's an idea.
Google search this: regular expression feet & inches

Take some time to read through those questions asked by other programmers and read the solutions.
SURE, a lot of the answers won't make sense.
But it may give you an appreciation for the issue.
You're not the only one.
Then come back and ask a full question so we know what all need to be considered.

jaymer...

PointsWell

numberz wrote
' and " in tooltip looks silly and isn't anywhere close enough.

Then adjust the spacing until they are close enough. And if the notation for feet and inches looks silly then use text abbreviations (ie ft, in)

As Jaymer says you are only specifying a UI problem, you may get better suggestions if you can define the business outcome you are trying to achieve.

As for wasting time and money on Aware -you will not find any tool that magically fixes your challenge. Feet and inches are a non decimal system and computers are driven by deminals and binary.

numberz

Pointswell, thanks.
I thought I was clear, sorry.
When a person enters a height of a wall, in feet and inches, it needs to be sensible looking.
In one job we're entering this type of info, many times.
How about this....
Is it possible to enter a height of say 806 and have the application convert it to 8'-6" ?
Or 1006 and after entry, change it to 10'-6" ?
And of course it would be possible to display the height as 8'-6" also?
Regards and thanks,
Harry Carter

johntalbott

If your first concern is data entry / UI look & feel, try this ...

Enter the below as a custom input mask for your Height attribute.

"90'90\""

As written, this will provide you with a textbox with a mask of : '"

It will handle: Up to 2 digits followed by ' and Up to 2 digits followed by".

The 9 placeholder will allow entry of a space or a digit. The 0 placeholder will allow entry of a digit.

Examples:
Enter 0806 and you get 08'06"
Enter space 8 space 6 .. and you get 8' 6"

Note: The input mask can be adjusted to fit whatever you think is most appropriate. There is an input mask "cheat sheet" below the custom in put mask settings.

If you need something more advanced, email me. I can make it do whatever you want.

numberz

Jaymer wrote
Harry,
I think the suggestions have been fine.
Even the custom JS John wrote for you works fine.
Besides venting your frustration, you haven't given us [programmers] any idea of what exactly you're trying to do with it after.
WE are trying to think ahead.
People mention "then you'll have it for other calculations", but you don't address that, like its not important.
But you say "I only need feet and inches."

Jaymer, with respect...what you feel is fine may nor be fine to others. I have been in my industry for over 40 years. My father created one of the world's first construction estimating programs for the PC. I am not slouch or stranger to data entry on MANY types of software. I know what I need and want and if it's POSSIBLE to do it, then it will be done. Now, I respect all help that comes my way but it doesn't mean that the help is the correct fit for what I want and need and can have. I can assure you that I am not venting but rather being very clear on the fact. I didn't ask anyone to write a solution I was just tossing questions out there, hoping that my situation had been encountered previously and that a solution to my need and want, existed. The reply "I only need feet and inches" was a direct answer to a question that Ben had asked, nothing else. I also never entertained the idea that what's important to me would be important to others...at all.

I do know that other software has methods that are superior to what has been suggested and THAT is why I want what is best. I hope that is understandable.

Is it possible to enter a wall height in numbers, say, 1006 and have it change to 10'-06" when the Enter key is pressed?

I thoroughly appreciate each and every attempt at helping me through this problem. I take a look at AwareIM and think "If this application can do all of this then CERTAINLY there is a solution for me" I feel that AwareIM is a brilliant creation.
Regards and thanks,
Harry

Jaymer

PointsWell wrote
numberz wrote
As Jaymer says you are only specifying a UI problem, you may get better suggestions if you can define the business outcome you are trying to achieve.

For example, looking through the Google search results, there's a different way to code it if its measuring height of a human being. (You only have 3-7 feet, for example.)
And if you only need inches, is that whole inches or fractions too (ie. 11' 5.5")?

So telling us (who are willing to help you) more about the whole picture is best.
jaymer...

numberz

One of the reasons why I need to be able to simply enter a height in ONE box is because I sometimes need or want to edit heights when they are displayed. So if I see a height displayed as 10'-6" in a field or cell, etc., I need to be able to click and type over, for inline edit. I need to be able to type the feet and inches as numbers and have it change to the displayed version when I hit the Enter key. So, 900 would change to 9'-0" , 803 would show as 8'-3", and so on.

So, a quick scenario. I have a wall that needs plywood covering. I measure the linear feet of the wall and also need a height so that I can arrive at the square foot total of plywood. So in this instance I would need a length and height.
Length
Height
Yes, I see that numerous applications use either a 2 box input (feet and inches) system and yes, I could probably live with that but as I said I have a lot of instances where I would have to inline edit. I SUPPOSE I could disallow inline editing and force user to click the Edit button but good, modern applications allow for inline editing, no? So...if inline editing is allowed, I'd definitely need some solution that allows for direct typing in ONE box...because the height displayed would be the result from the rules that combined the two boxes of feet and inches.

Of course I realize that behind the scenes we're using decimals when calculating.
Can this be done and/or is there a better way? My concern is that I need to edit inline and being USA style, I realize that it complicates things.

Oh...and my heights could be any height, meaning that no limitations. can be on heights. Very different from a human height that as you said is obviously limited. I may have a facade that is 200' tall.
Thank you.