Open new entity in side panel for data input instead of form or in-line

Ideas & Features
1

Somewhat related to this: "Draft" entity per user per database, but this proposal is just a ui change, not a data change.

Right now the three options for data input are:

  1. In-line input
  2. Form popup
  3. Button automation
    (let’s ignore option 3 for now)

The problem is that for entities with many fields, both the in-line input and the form popup are not ideal forms of data input:

  1. Doesnt save
  2. Dynamic relation filters dont work
  3. To-many relations are only displayable as compact
  4. Popup has a max height, not showing everything

The solution I have come up with is forcing a form pop-up with only the name as input, then training the users to press “create and open”, then input the rest of the data in entity view.

Ideally, the moment a user presses the plus button, it opens the new entity in the right panel, and the name is in focus for input.

This is most important for multi-step inputs and long forms. Currently multi-step inputs rely on popup forms on top of other pop up forms, which isn’t ideal.

The down side here is data validation before input, but I think this is why it should be configurable per database / per view. (preference per database, as the content of the database generally determines if it has many fields, requires multiple steps, etc.)

2

I just want actual multi-stage forms that carry across information from the previous stage… so it can be used immediately to filter a dropdown, rather than encountering that unknown value for x error.

Another particularly useful feature would be flowchart behaviour like “do you want to add another?” entity relationship at some point in the process.

A perfect use would be address fields — enter: address type (home, business, postal), line 1, line 2, state/county etc., hit save to create and link an entity, then it prompts if you want to create more. Mark one as the primary for deliveries, and boom! Done.

Though for this, I think a custom app wrapper around it would be nicer (albeit overkill).