esCalc Spreadsheet Editing: Records

esCalc Spreadsheet Editing: Bands expounded the editing on the structure of bands in an esCalc table. Once a band’s structure is decided, you can add, delete or move records and fill them with data.

1. Bands and records

In esCalc, a record is defined as a band that can have homo-bands of the same level and with the same structure. When constructed, a band’s structure will stay steady during the addition and deletion of the records.

Right-click on a band’s master row, or the head cell or any other cell of any row of the band, and choose the Band item that provides various operations on a band’s records:

An alternative is to select a cell or a row, click Data item on the menu bar and choose the operation you want.

You’ve learned from esCalc Structure: The Hierarchy of Rows that a band in an esCalc table may consist of the master row, the slave row and the descendant row. If a row isn’t constructed to have a sub-row, then you cannot add a record for it. On the other hand, even though you can delete all the descendant records under a master row, the sub-row structure still remains.

2. Adding and deleting records

2.1. Inserting records

Inserting records is one of the most common operations. You can click Band>Insert band on the context menu to add an empty homo-band before the current band. Below is a population data table:

To add a city record to the state of Florida, select the row where Miami city is located, or the 4^th row, and choose Insert band. Here’s the result you’ll get when the record is inserted: 

A homo-band is inserted before the 4^th row of the original table. As one of the homo-rows in the band, it has the same appearance as that of another one.

What will happen if you insert a state record? Select the 6^th row which is the master row of the Illinois band and press the shortcut key Ctrl+Enter to insert a record, and this is the result you’ll get:

A new record of state is inserted before the selected record, which has the whole structure of the Illinois band. It’s because the selected state record has a slave row acting as the title row and its sub-rows accommodating city records, the insertion of the new one copies them all.

If several continuous bands at the same level are selected to perform insert band, the same number of empty records will be inserted.

2.2. Appending records

To append a record, choose Band>Append band on the context menu and an empty homo-band will be added after the current band. You can also use the shortcut key Alt+Enter to do this.

In the above table, select the 11^th row and choose Append band to add a record after the Aurora city of the state of Illinois, and you’ll get this:

An empty record of city population is appended after the 11^th row of the original table. The appending and the inserting are similar, except whether the newly added sub-row or sub-band is before or after the current record or band. If the selected band has slave rows or descendant rows, the newly appended record will have them too.

If several continuous bands at the same level are selected to perform append band, the same number of empty records will be appended.

2.3. Duplicating records

Choose Band>Dup band on the context menu to copy a selected band and append the duplicate after it. The duplication can be implemented with the shortcut key Ctrl+Alt+Enter.

In the above table, select the 2^nd row holding the record of the state of Florida and choose Dup band, and you’ll get the following result:

The operation makes a duplicate of the record of Florida. It not merely adds a band, but copies the data and the whole structure, which means the sub-records, if any, under the selected record will be copied together.

If several continuous bands at the same level within a certain band are selected to perform dup band, all of them will be duplicated.

2.4. Deleting records

By choosing Band>Delete band on the context menu, you can remove a selected record or band of records. You can also use the shortcut key Shift+Delete to get this done.

In the above table, you can select rows the 6^th to the 10^th and perform Delete band. The result would be as follows:

Both the duplicate of the record of Florida and the inserted state record held by rows from the 6^th to the 10^th are removed from the original table. When the master row of a band is removed, its descendant rows will be removed as well.

Now let’s select rows from the 2^nd to the 10^th and choose Data>Delete empty band on the menu bar to delete the empty records. The result would be as follows:

This operation will delete only records without data from the selected records and their sub-records. It is performed only from the menu bar.

Select the 4^th row and press Shift+Delete to remove it. This is the result:

The structure for storing the data of cities in the state of Florida still exists even though the data has been deleted.

3. Adding sub-records

To add a sub-record, choose Band>Add sub band on the context menu. This operation will add an empty sub-record for a slave row. Try implementing it with the shortcut key Alt+Shift+Enter.

Select the first row of the above table and perform Add sub band. The result would be this:

An empty state record containing a slave row and the descendent row is added under the first row.

Then select the 6^th row and add a sub-record, as shown below:

Though there is no city data under the record of the state of Florida, the sub-record structure has always been there within the band structure.

No sub-record can be added when there is no sub-row structure within a row’s structure. Before adding a sub-record, you need to edit structure of the rows to append a sub-row. Please find details in esCalc Spreadsheet Editing: Bands.

4. Moving records

To move a record up or down, choose Band>Move band up/down on the context menu. Their shortcut keys are Alt+Up and Alt+Down respectively. If several continuous records within a band are selected, the bands they represent will all be moved up or down.

Below is a climate data table:

Select the 4^th row and the 7^th row and perform Move band up respectively. Here is the result:

As can be seen, the Feb record moves one position up from the original 4^th row to precede the Jan record. The 7^th row of Apr record was originally the first one of the second quarter’s records, now it moves up into the first quarter by crossing the band defined by its parent row. A record will move up only along the homo-rows. If a record is on the very top among the homo-rows, such as the 3^rd record in the original cellset, it cannot move up further.

Select the 7^th row and perform Move band up, and the result would be:

Now the record of Quarter 2, along with its descendant rows in the band, moves up before the band of records of Quarter 1.

The operation of moving records down is the inverse of moving records up. Select the 4^th row in the above cellset and perform Move band down, for instance, and you’ll see result as follows:

So you can see that the selected record that sits at the end of the band defined by its parent row will move down to precede its homo-rows in the next parent row’s band.

If the selected record has descendant rows, they will move together with the band.

5. Merging records

By choosing Data>Merge band on the menu bar, you can merge the homo-sub-bands of multiple continuous bands into under the first main band. This operation needs to be performed from the menu bar only.

For instance, select rows from the 2^nd to the 9^th and perform Merge band, and you’ll get the following result:

The sub-records under the selected bands are merged into the first main band and the second main band is deleted. 

6. Hiding and reshowing records

You can choose Band>Hide band or Band>Show band on the context menu to hide or reshow a selected record.

Below is a city population data table:

In this esCalc sheet, A5, B5 and C5 are filled with formulas – =={A4}.count(),=={B4}.sum() and =={C4}.sum() – respectively. They and their homo-cells are related calculation cells.

Select the 9^th row and perform hide band. The result is as follows:

The 9^th row is hidden. Hiding a record will not delete it, so the results in related calculation cells remain consistent.

Select the 2^nd row and hide it, and you’ll get the following result:

The whole band where the 2^nd row resides is hidden, including the slave rows and the descendant row.

Now let’s select the 6^th row and perform Show band. The result would be this:

The data of Chicago city that belongs to the 6^th row’s band shows again.

Select the first row and perform Show band. The result would be this:

The record of the state of Florida, as well as its whole band, becomes visible again.