Editor - enable mass changes via a table

[pau-wer]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Some colleagues would like to make major changes, for example to edit a point layer. We have an editor in place for this data but they can only click on one point at a time. So they asked me if it was possible to use an Excel table instead, because it was one of the solutions they had in mind.

Describe the solution you'd like
It would be nice if it would be possible to open an attribute table directly in the editor and do mass modifications this way.
Perhaps the possibility of selecting several points and editing them at the same time could also be a start to another alternative solution?

Describe alternatives you've considered
In the meantime, one solution we've considered is to create two FME scripts (accessible with two links/buttons via the FME flow-apps gallery):

• one for our colleague to download the attribute table in Excel format
• the other for them to reload the Excel spreadsheets and update the database

[Owemyr]

Seconded, this would be really useful. 👍

Just as info, there's a basic batch editing option where you can select multiple features and update attributes.
Option called allowBatchEdit from documentation https://origo-map.github.io/origo-documentation/latest/#editor-attributes

[steff-o]

As @Owemyr already mentioned there already exists a basic batch editing function. Drawback is that the only way to select multiple features is clicking them when already in editing mode. It would be more useful if it was possible to use the selection from infoWindow, especially in combination with the MultiSelect plugin to batch edit features. There is a small embryo for using the infoWindow selection as editor selection, but is restricted to only the highlighted feature in a way that if switching to editor mode when InfoWindow has a feature highlighted, that feature will be selected for editing. This may seem confusing, but it is because the editor uses the OpenLayers' select interaction but infoWindow uses its own internal list of selected items so selection has to be transferred between tools.

A neat way of implementing transferring the selection from infoWindow to the editor would be adding a button in for each SelectionGroup in infoWindow to edit the selected features' attributes. The editor can only edit one layer at a time so it has to be for each selection group. There is an api function on the editor to do that, but currently it only supports one feature but would be easy to rewrite to support a list. I think rewriting the mechanism that transfers the selection from infoWindow to the editor when switching tools to support a collection would be more complex and less intuitive for the user as infoWindow can hold selections for several layers but the editor can only work with one layer at a time.

Ideally there would be a table view in sync with the selection and possibility to use filters and advanced selections in editor mode, but that is a far bigger issue to solve, so I think utilize the MultiSelect tool for selection and the existing batch edit would be enough.

[Flodkvist]

We had a long discussion on this topic during a meeting.
The label “PR accepted” was added with the caveat that the approach for handling selection and the use of batch edit should be anchored before too much work is put in and a PR is submitted.
This means that while we agree with the proposal in principle, the details around selection handling need to be clarified first to avoid rework later on. Once those points are anchored, it’s good to proceed.

[steff-o]

After the aforementioned meeting I think that a table view would be a great addition instead of trying to shoehorn it in using a batch edit button in InfoWindow. Here are my more concrete thoughts about how it could work. Starting with establishing that this issue actually contains two different requests:

1. Being able to batch edit attributes of a selection of features, which already exists.
2. Having a table that displays all features in a layer to aid creating a selection to batch edit.

Here is how I think a table view should work:

• There should be a table view that displays all features in a layer.
• It should be possible to select which table is shown. If it is in editor mode this would automatically be the layer that is active in the editor.
• The table should highlight the features that are selected in the map.
• It should be possible to sort the table using headers
• It should be possible to select/deselect features in the table by clicking a row
• If a selection is changed in the map, it should be reflected in the table
• It should be possible to select features using some sort of query. Either some sql-like syntax or by column header filters which are or:ed or and:ed together.
• A manual selection should override a programmatically created selection for that feature, but not affect the rest of the selection, i.e. it should be possible to add or delete to the selection by clicking a row or feature in the map without clearing the current selection.
• If the selection is changed in the table, it should be reflected in the selection in the map.
• It should be possible initiate a batch edit of the selected features from the table view or editor toolbar.

Things that should be considered, but I have no clear answer to:

• Should the table only appear in editor mode and thus be in sync with the select interaction or be available in non-editor mode and be in sync with SelectionManager. If it is in sync with Selectionmanager, it could possibly be implemented as a new view that replaces InfoWindow or a sub view of infowindow instead of showing both.
• If it is available in non-editor mode the selection should either be carried over to the editor section or it should contain a button that opens up the attribute editor for the selected features?
• Which layer types should be supported? If editor mode only it is automatically restricted to editable layers, but should wms/agsmap be supported in non-edit mode? It would probably be a mess to implement as there is no reliable way to fetch features using WMS/AgsMap.

Seems like the biggest design decision is if it should be available in editor mode or non-editor mode.

Advantages with editor mode:

• Which table is visible is determined by the active editor layer
• The selection is already in sync with the select interaction so batch edit requires a minimum of user interactions, it is just a matter of clicking the attribute edit button in the edit toolbar.
• There is less confusion what is actually selected when switching between editor mode and non-editor mode

Advantages with non-editor mode:

• It is possible to use the powerful spatial selection tools already implemented in the MultiSelect plugin
• The table view can be used for layers that are not editable
• The selection is managed in SelectionManager, which means it will work as expected with existing code that works with selections, e.g. reports and api.