Hi there!
Some of the filters that I use (including colour coding) use the same type of Entity in multiple places. For example I may want to display Warehouses and Distribution Centres for the same City. In this case I currently have to specify two Filters by City. In simple setups Fibery may collapse these Filters into a single pinned one, which is cool, but it is rarely the case.
My proposal: introduce Filtering slots.
- Architects specify Filtering Slots by specifying Label & Entity type (Database)
- Architects defining Filters may utilise Filtering Slots instead of providing specific values there.
- Users choose Entities they want to filter by, when working with Views.
- [Optional] Architects may specify Filters for Filtering Slots based on previous Filtering Slot values, to narrow down the selection even further. E.g. Organisation → Department → Role.
The benefits:
- Simplifies colour coding and filtering setup when the same Entity is used multiple times.
- Fixes the existing UX problem - pinned filters don’t show context. When pinned filters refer the same entity type a user may struggle to understand which Filter is being supplied with the Entity. Similar benefit with single pinned filter - users will see where the Filter is used, rather than what it filters on.
- Allows the creation of smart links to views.
- In Entities - one may define “View Deliveries Report” Smart Link for City Database that opens Deliveries Report View with Filter Slot “City” preset to the source Entity.
- In Views - one may define a smart link between views that maps Filter Slots of one view to another, making movement between Views much faster. This may look as a button on an Entity, that may utilise the clicked Entity and any Filtering Slots present in the current View.