Ad Hoc Page Development Considerations

DiveTab ad hoc pages display data that you can dive on. As you develop ad hoc pages, keep the following in mind:

  • The basic requirements for an ad hoc page are a title, a cPlan, and a dimension.
  • An ad hoc page uses only one cPlan.
  • Using a cbase-input attribute within a cplan attribute does not work within divetab files.
  • Ad hoc pages are not supported on the iPhone.
  • You can specify one or more dimensions to display, as well as zero to multiple summaries.
  • Multiple dimensions present a combination of all the dimensions (MultiColumn). Row counts appear in the page footer and change with each additional MultiColumn.
  • Summary columns can be initially collapsed but available for to be expanded by the DiveTab user. Collapsed columns reduces horizontal scrolling when there are many columns.

  • When in the client, select a summary column heading to display a context menu of predefined options to choose from. The DiveTab client automatically handles these options; they are not defined in the script.

    Depending on the column type, the DiveTab user can:

    • Sort columns up or down.
    • Rank rows within columns.
    • Find a particular value in the column.
    • Display summary values as a percentage based on the total for the entire column.
    • Display values in a bar graph format.
  • A server connection is required to dive on data while in an ad hoc page. Because there are numerous dives that occur, the DimCounts and summaries for those dives make it necessary for data to be stored on a server.
  • Summary columns can be defined individually or defined using column-sets from the definitions block.

Usage Scenarios

  • Ad hoc pages are good for displaying multiple dimensions and multiple summaries at one time in a default tabular format.
  • Dimensions defined on an ad hoc page should be related to each other.
  • Limit the number of dimensions to keep the summaries viewable.

  • The first dimension’s values should be from 10 - 50 to present a manageable amount of data. If there are too many values, you need to scroll excessively; if there are too few values, not enough information displays.

    • Return a MultiColumn to a dive dimension column by using the Remove MultiColumn option in the context menu.
  • Filters defined in a cPlan can subset the data available for a specific ad hoc page.

  • An ad hoc page can be defined within a Sections or a Pages block. Most ad hoc pages are defined in a Sections block because they are suited for data exploration.

    • When defined under a Sections block, the page is only available accessible through the Sections button. No parameters apply.
    • When defined under a Pages block, the page can be linked to from any other data page. It can only be accessed indirectly.
  • Summaries can contain click actions that link to other DiveTab pages, websites, pdf files, and more.

For more information, see Adding Expand Columns.