Ctrl+drag to create duplicate blocks in DM

May 20, 2010 7:43AM

Data Manager allows a single block to be duplicated (via a menu option) but on several occasions I have wanted to duplicate a number of blocks (e.g. complex data cleansing which needs to be applied to multiple sources before they are merged). I can select multiple blocks by dragging a box around them, but at present the only options I can perform on a selection are move (as a unit) or delete... could you support the de facto Windows system of Ctrl+drag/drop to create copies of multiple blocks?

chris · May 21, 2010 9:49AM

Hi Guy,

Thanks for your suggestion. We are planning to implement the ability to copy a group of blocks in one go. This will probably be achieved by selecting the group you wish to copy, right-clicking on the group and selecting 'copy' from the pop-up menu. The ability to use Ctrl+drag/drop to create copies of multiple blocks is a good idea, and we may implement this in a future release of Omniscope.

May 21, 2010 9:55AM

Chris

Nice one... a further related idea would be to be able to group a number of blocks in some form of labelled container (e.g. "Add Formulae", "Data Cleanse", "DQ Checks" etc.) and then collapse that group as a 'black box' whilst working on others. I seem to end up with huge sprawling maps all over the place :)

steve · May 21, 2010 10:03AM

Also a good idea, and one we considered when we implemented "group upstream". However "group upstream" which is limited to grouping self-contained source trees was orders of magnitude less complex to implement. Maybe we'll develop this in a future release.

Have you tried using the navigator to zoom in/out? This might help you organise/navigate complex DataManager "octopuses".

May 21, 2010 10:46AM

Yes - the navigator is very good... these are very much 'ideas' which would make more complex data build models easier to manage in the long-term, but they are certainly not urgent :)

Welcome!

Categories

Ideas Parade