Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes - Announcing Data-Viewer 2.0 with in-line editing (and more)

If you're already familiar with Bamboo's Data-Viewer Web Part, then you know it's an easy way to let users create custom data views on the fly. You can dynamically sort, filter, and group data, as well as change the entire look and feel of the display, all without using SharePoint Designer. Our newest version (2.0) tops off the existing features with the additions of in-line editing and conditional formatting. I'll cover in-line editing here, and will follow up shortly with another article on conditional formatting.

Data-viewer's name may imply it's just for "viewing" data, but that's no longer the case. With Data-Viewer version 2.0, you can do in-line editing of SharePoint list or List Rollup data directly from the Data-Viewer Web Part. No need to navigate back and forth to change the data. Users can simply click an edit icon to expand an item, and edit an entry without ever leaving the page, and you don't have to worry about security. Data-Viewer uses SharePoint's security trimming and permissions. Users can only see items they have permission to see, and can only edit items they're allowed to edit.

Here's how it works:

If the Data-Viewer Web Part is using SharePoint lists or List Roll-up for its data source, simply enable "Allow Editing" in the "Dynamic Settings" section of the tool pane. When users view data via the Web Part, they can just click on the edit icon in the provided column to update an item.

Data-Viewer will expand the selection to allow them to edit the list item in-line. They just make the changes and click "Update".

 Their updates will be saved to the underlying data, and the changes will be viewable immediately in Data-Viewer.

That's all there is to it. No more navigating back and forth to view and edit data. You get all of the flexibility of Data-Viewer, with the added convenience of being able to edit items directly.

Now, as great as in-line editing is, it's not even my favorite new feature in Data-Viewer. Just wait until you see conditional formatting! I'm saving that topic for another post, so stay tuned....

BTW - If you can't wait to see conditional formatting, go ahead check out the Data-Viewer product page. You can read the overview, get the detailed specs in the Application Notes, or even download a free 15-day trial. Enjoy :)