undocumented feature: TableView
in [Mathematica]
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From: Guido Tripaldi on 12 Oct 2009 06:37 @David > In[5]:= ClearAttributes[TableView, ReadProtected] > In[10]:= ?? TableView > > it is pretty easy to drill down [..] by using the trick in my previous post nice trick, I learned something new today, thankyou David! @Murray > Perhaps there's some way, using Dynamic, that one does not need to do > things as I've just shown, so that TableView could in fact be used for > interactive data input, under program control. Unfortunately, Dynamic[edited = TableView[data]] doesn't allow any editing, trying to modify the cells makes M7 beep: "You tried to edit inside a subexpression that cannot be edited, because it is a fixed special form". I've tried Dynamic[TableView[data], Temporary] and SetOptions[Dynamic, Editable -> True] but doesn't work. It would be easy and useful to use interactively the edited data. > Let's hope that WRI brings TableView into more public view and enhances > it in future releases. definitely! Guido Il giorno 10/ott/09, alle ore 13:08, Murray Eisenberg ha scritto: > TableView does allow a nice display of tabular data. And right- > clicking > rows or columns provides useful possibilities. > > Perhaps a more interesting question is how the display functionality > might be extended (unless already there!) so that one can retrieve the > table currently displayed in the TableView output. Of course it's > unclear how this could/should be done: the result of TableView is > already the table you see > > Right now, of course, one can use the menu item Insert > Table/ > Matrix to > input tabular data, but I've always found using that a bit clunky: > unless you start in the top left placeholder and carefully tab from > each > placeholder to the next, it's too easy to find the cursor outside any > placeholder. > > With TableView, it's really easy to just click anywhere within one of > the spreadsheet-like cells and type, delete, etc. > > Moreover, if the added functionality were there, then TableView > would be > a really nice way to gather tabular input interactively, with minimal > programming compared with what would now be required. > > Right now, one can almost get the functionality with TableView that > I'd > like, but it's awkward. For example, suppose first you evaluate: > > TableView[Table[0, {3}, {2}]] > > Then you go ahead and change some of the entries so that you see in > the > display, e.g.: > > 2 -5 > hello 1+1 > 2/3 Plot[x^2,{x,0,1}] > > The new values are not yet assigned to anything. But the changed > table > is a result -- still in an output cell -- and the content of an output > cell can be used as input: > > data = List@@First[%]; > data // InputForm > {{2, "-5"}, {"hello", "1+1"}, {"2/3", "2+3I"}} > ToExpression[data] (* evaluates the cell contents *) > > Perhaps there's some way, using Dynamic, that one does not need to do > things as I've just shown, so that TableView could in fact be used for > interactive data input, under program control. > > Let's hope that WRI brings TableView into more public view and > enhances > it in future releases. > > David Reiss wrote: >> By the way, it is pretty easy to drill down in something like this to >> fine new undocumented functions in interesting Contexts by using the >> trick in my previous post as well as simple things like >> >> Names["TableView `*"] >> >> It seems like TableView is in a somewhat advanced state of >> development. And one could use it to create a pretty sophisticated >> spreadsheet application with multiple sheets and so on. With a >> parser >> for Excel functions one could import Excel sheets with their >> associated functionality... (now, do I have time to do this? No, >> but...) >> >> Here is an example of TableView's use for multiple sheets... >> >> >> TabView[{40 -> >> TableView[40 IdentityMatrix[40], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], >> 20 -> TableView[20 IdentityMatrix[20], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], >> 10 -> TableView[10 IdentityMatrix[10], ContentSize -> {400, 300}]}] >> >> >> >> >> >> Oct 8, 7:49 am, Guido Tripaldi <gu...(a)gtripaldi.it> wrote: >>> Hello, >>> >>> today I typed by accident "TableView" instead of "TableForm" >>> writing a = >> >>> notebook, so I discovered a function apparently not documented in >>> Mathematica 7 / Mac version. "TableView" displays a list in a >>> spreadsheet-like format. I tried to search the DocumentationCenter >>> without finding any information, neither Google nor Wolfram search >>> engine gave better results. The only documentation I found was using >>> the "Information - (??)" command. It show the options that >>> TableView = >> >>> accepts. >>> >>> It appears to be very useful, as it introduces a more flexible way >>> to >>> observing the data. There are infact some data editing features >>> accessible through a popup menu (a "+" icon on the top left of the >>> view) and others ctrl-clicking the view (ctrl-click on Mac; right- >>> click on Windows). >>> >>> Perhaps it is a new feature being finalized that will be included in >>> next version. Someone maybe knows something more about this >>> function? >>> >>> In[1]:= mylist = Table[ Subscript[a, i, j], {i, 5}, {j, 3} ] = >> >>> (* a little matrix *) >>> >>> In[2]:= mylist // TableView (* show it as a small spread= >> sheet >>> *) >>> >>> In[3]:= ?? TableView >>> System`TableView >>> Attributes[TableView] = {Protected, ReadProtected} >>> >>> Options[TableView] := {Background -> None, BaseStyle -> {}, >>> DefaultBaseStyle -> "TableView", DefaultLabelStyle -> >>> "TableViewLabel", >>> FrameStyle -> GrayLevel[0.85], ContentSize -> Automatic, = >> >>> ItemSize -> 10, >>> LabelStyle -> {}, RotateLabel -> False, Spacings -> Automa= >> tic, >>> TableHeadings -> {Automatic, Automatic}} >>> >>> Guido >> >> > > -- > Murray Eisenberg murray(a)math.umass.edu > Mathematics & Statistics Dept. > Lederle Graduate Research Tower phone 413 549-1020 (H) > University of Massachusetts 413 545-2859 (W) > 710 North Pleasant Street fax 413 545-1801 > Amherst, MA 01003-9305 > --- Guido Tripaldi imho.gtripaldi.it
From: Ariel Sepúlveda on 12 Oct 2009 06:45 I use SpreadsheetViewMXL for viewing and editing tabular data (http://www.prontoanalytics.com/products/mxlplus/documentation.htm). With SpreadsheetViewMXL you can dynamically resize the window size, edit values, assign data (complete dataset or only data in window) to a variable and export to different formats. You can also sort by one or more columns, find values and do some other useful things like printing data and freezing columns, inserting/deleting rows or columns etc. The documentation for OutputViewMXL shows that SpreadsheetViewMXL can also be used with nested data. Right now TableView is very limited in its ability to display large datasets. I tested with 10,000 rows in TableView and it couldn't handle it. SpreadsheetViewMXL can manage much larger datasets. This seems to be based on the need of TableView to create an image for the complete dataset and then use Pane to display only part of that big image. On the other hand, SpreadsheetViewMXL only creates an image of the data in the dynamically defined window dimensions. If my assumptions are right the design of TableView will make it more suitable for small datasets. It seems like there will be space for the effective co-existence of both solutions. -----Original Message----- From: Murray Eisenberg [mailto:murray(a)math.umass.edu] Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 7:08 AM Subject: Re: undocumented feature: TableView TableView does allow a nice display of tabular data. And right-clicking rows or columns provides useful possibilities. Perhaps a more interesting question is how the display functionality might be extended (unless already there!) so that one can retrieve the table currently displayed in the TableView output. Of course it's unclear how this could/should be done: the result of TableView is already the table you see Right now, of course, one can use the menu item Insert > Table/Matrix to input tabular data, but I've always found using that a bit clunky: unless you start in the top left placeholder and carefully tab from each placeholder to the next, it's too easy to find the cursor outside any placeholder. With TableView, it's really easy to just click anywhere within one of the spreadsheet-like cells and type, delete, etc. Moreover, if the added functionality were there, then TableView would be a really nice way to gather tabular input interactively, with minimal programming compared with what would now be required. Right now, one can almost get the functionality with TableView that I'd like, but it's awkward. For example, suppose first you evaluate: TableView[Table[0, {3}, {2}]] Then you go ahead and change some of the entries so that you see in the display, e.g.: 2 -5 hello 1+1 2/3 Plot[x^2,{x,0,1}] The new values are not yet assigned to anything. But the changed table is a result -- still in an output cell -- and the content of an output cell can be used as input: data = List@@First[%]; data // InputForm {{2, "-5"}, {"hello", "1+1"}, {"2/3", "2+3I"}} ToExpression[data] (* evaluates the cell contents *) Perhaps there's some way, using Dynamic, that one does not need to do things as I've just shown, so that TableView could in fact be used for interactive data input, under program control. Let's hope that WRI brings TableView into more public view and enhances it in future releases. David Reiss wrote: > By the way, it is pretty easy to drill down in something like this to > fine new undocumented functions in interesting Contexts by using the > trick in my previous post as well as simple things like > > Names["TableView `*"] > > It seems like TableView is in a somewhat advanced state of > development. And one could use it to create a pretty sophisticated > spreadsheet application with multiple sheets and so on. With a parser > for Excel functions one could import Excel sheets with their > associated functionality... (now, do I have time to do this? No, > but...) > > Here is an example of TableView's use for multiple sheets... > > > TabView[{40 -> > TableView[40 IdentityMatrix[40], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], > 20 -> TableView[20 IdentityMatrix[20], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], > 10 -> TableView[10 IdentityMatrix[10], ContentSize -> {400, 300}]}] > > > > > > Oct 8, 7:49 am, Guido Tripaldi <gu...(a)gtripaldi.it> wrote: >> Hello, >> >> today I typed by accident "TableView" instead of "TableForm" writing a = > >> notebook, so I discovered a function apparently not documented in >> Mathematica 7 / Mac version. "TableView" displays a list in a >> spreadsheet-like format. I tried to search the DocumentationCenter >> without finding any information, neither Google nor Wolfram search >> engine gave better results. The only documentation I found was using >> the "Information - (??)" command. It show the options that TableView = > >> accepts. >> >> It appears to be very useful, as it introduces a more flexible way to >> observing the data. There are infact some data editing features >> accessible through a popup menu (a "+" icon on the top left of the >> view) and others ctrl-clicking the view (ctrl-click on Mac; right- >> click on Windows). >> >> Perhaps it is a new feature being finalized that will be included in >> next version. Someone maybe knows something more about this function? >> >> In[1]:= mylist = Table[ Subscript[a, i, j], {i, 5}, {j, 3} ] = > >> (* a little matrix *) >> >> In[2]:= mylist // TableView (* show it as a small spread= > sheet >> *) >> >> In[3]:= ?? TableView >> System`TableView >> Attributes[TableView] = {Protected, ReadProtected} >> >> Options[TableView] := {Background -> None, BaseStyle -> {}, >> DefaultBaseStyle -> "TableView", DefaultLabelStyle -> >> "TableViewLabel", >> FrameStyle -> GrayLevel[0.85], ContentSize -> Automatic, = > >> ItemSize -> 10, >> LabelStyle -> {}, RotateLabel -> False, Spacings -> Automa= > tic, >> TableHeadings -> {Automatic, Automatic}} >> >> Guido > > -- Murray Eisenberg murray(a)math.umass.edu Mathematics & Statistics Dept. Lederle Graduate Research Tower phone 413 549-1020 (H) University of Massachusetts 413 545-2859 (W) 710 North Pleasant Street fax 413 545-1801 Amherst, MA 01003-9305
From: John Fultz on 12 Oct 2009 06:46
Yes, this is an experimental feature. A few comments... On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:08:10 -0400 (EDT), Murray Eisenberg wrote: > TableView does allow a nice display of tabular data. And right-clicking > rows or columns provides useful possibilities. > > Perhaps a more interesting question is how the display functionality > might be extended (unless already there!) so that one can retrieve the > table currently displayed in the TableView output. Of course it's > unclear how this could/should be done: the result of TableView is > already the table you see If you mean retrieve it by evaluation, you could just wrap First[] around the view. The FullForm of TableView[matrix] is TableView[matrix]. What you see on-screen is formatting, not evaluation. I think you figured this out below, but I wanted to state it clearly for anyone who didn't follow all the way through. > Right now, of course, one can use the menu item Insert > Table/Matrix to > input tabular data, but I've always found using that a bit clunky: > unless you start in the top left placeholder and carefully tab from each > placeholder to the next, it's too easy to find the cursor outside any > placeholder. > > With TableView, it's really easy to just click anywhere within one of > the spreadsheet-like cells and type, delete, etc. > > Moreover, if the added functionality were there, then TableView would be > a really nice way to gather tabular input interactively, with minimal > programming compared with what would now be required. Yes, the potential is obvious. The present version of TableView doesn't support Dynamic, though. That, along with certain other shortcomings in integration, is one of the major reasons it's undocumented and experimental. And it may yet see some redesign before we're comfortable documenting it. > Right now, one can almost get the functionality with TableView that I'd > like, but it's awkward. For example, suppose first you evaluate: > > TableView[Table[0, {3}, {2}]] > > Then you go ahead and change some of the entries so that you see in the > display, e.g.: > > 2 -5 > hello 1+1 > 2/3 Plot[x^2,{x,0,1}] > > The new values are not yet assigned to anything. But the changed table > is a result -- still in an output cell -- and the content of an output > cell can be used as input: > > data = List@@First[%]; > data // InputForm > {{2, "-5"}, {"hello", "1+1"}, {"2/3", "2+3I"}} > ToExpression[data] (* evaluates the cell contents *) > > Perhaps there's some way, using Dynamic, that one does not need to do > things as I've just shown, so that TableView could in fact be used for > interactive data input, under program control. > > Let's hope that WRI brings TableView into more public view and enhances > it in future releases. TableView, such as it is, should have a pretty solid and robust implementation. As always, we certainly appreciate the comments on this forum. They do make a difference. Sincerely, John Fultz jfultz(a)wolfram.com User Interface Group Wolfram Research, Inc. > > David Reiss wrote: >> By the way, it is pretty easy to drill down in something like this to >> fine new undocumented functions in interesting Contexts by using the >> trick in my previous post as well as simple things like >> >> Names["TableView `*"] >> >> It seems like TableView is in a somewhat advanced state of >> development. And one could use it to create a pretty sophisticated >> spreadsheet application with multiple sheets and so on. With a parser >> for Excel functions one could import Excel sheets with their >> associated functionality... (now, do I have time to do this? No, >> but...) >> >> Here is an example of TableView's use for multiple sheets... >> >> >> TabView[{40 -> >> TableView[40 IdentityMatrix[40], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], >> 20 -> TableView[20 IdentityMatrix[20], ContentSize -> {400, 300}], >> 10 -> TableView[10 IdentityMatrix[10], ContentSize -> {400, 300}]}] >> >> >> Oct 8, 7:49 am, Guido Tripaldi <gu...(a)gtripaldi.it> wrote: >>> Hello, >>> >>> today I typed by accident "TableView" instead of "TableForm" writing >>> a = >>> >>> notebook, so I discovered a function apparently not documented in >>> Mathematica 7 / Mac version. "TableView" displays a list in a >>> spreadsheet-like format. I tried to search the DocumentationCenter >>> without finding any information, neither Google nor Wolfram search >>> engine gave better results. The only documentation I found was using >>> the "Information - (??)" command. It show the options that TableView >>> = >>> >>> accepts. >>> >>> It appears to be very useful, as it introduces a more flexible way to >>> observing the data. There are infact some data editing features >>> accessible through a popup menu (a "+" icon on the top left of the >>> view) and others ctrl-clicking the view (ctrl-click on Mac; right- >>> click on Windows). >>> >>> Perhaps it is a new feature being finalized that will be included in >>> next version. Someone maybe knows something more about this function? >>> >>> In[1]:= mylist = Table[ Subscript[a, i, j], {i, 5}, {j, 3} ] = >>> >>> (* a little matrix *) >>> >>> In[2]:= mylist // TableView (* show it as a small spread= >> sheet >>> *) >>> >>> In[3]:= ?? TableView >>> System`TableView >>> Attributes[TableView] = {Protected, ReadProtected} >>> >>> Options[TableView] := {Background -> None, BaseStyle -> {}, >>> DefaultBaseStyle -> "TableView", DefaultLabelStyle -> >>> "TableViewLabel", >>> FrameStyle -> GrayLevel[0.85], ContentSize -> Automatic, = >>> >>> ItemSize -> 10, >>> LabelStyle -> {}, RotateLabel -> False, Spacings -> Automa= >> tic, >>> TableHeadings -> {Automatic, Automatic}} >>> >>> Guido |