Allow us make a panel grow and shrink to match the full extent of all contained fields

[#1]

OK, this is not going to be an easy concept, so please bear with me, and please do not reject it before understanding what I am trying to suggest.

in Metatsorm BPM 9.1, we now have several form elements that are effectively dynamic. These are panels and form segments. Note that they change behavior significantly based on how they are both anchored, and docked. Note also for the record that each of these containers may well contain more containers, ad infinitum.

OK, so the scene is set, and we really want to 'hide' fields, but push the remaining fields back up to cover the empty space that we would have had to live with in previous versions. How to do that? It is actually rather difficult (I'll post a full demo on our forums after the weekend when I've had a change to documents it). The reason it is difficult is that there is no way at all to make a panel (for example) smaller when something withing it is hidden. Likewise, you cannot make it larger if you show something. Effectively, the size of the container cannot be changed by anything within it appearing or hiding.

You can change the size quite easily by showing or hiding other containers within the same container, but only if both are docked in that container. Note that changing the size of the parent container, if child containers are docked or anchored, can change the size of child container, but nothing inside a container can affect its size.

What I would like to have is the ability to make a container, or at least a panel, grow and shrink to match the full extent (vertical and horizontal) of all fields within that container.

This, although not perfect, would give us easier ways to build the dynamic forms we would like to see. Basically I could have a panel with a 'control' field that shows or hides other fields. If the other fields are shown, the panel expands to cover the shown fields. If hidden, it shrinks. Right now I have to have two separate panels, and they must be docked (at the top, really) to work in this way.

[#2]

I agree that Panels are a very powerful new feature...but as with any new feature, they are still in their infancy and could use some enhancements.  I have already suggested something which sounds very similar, if not the exact same thing, to product management.  My suggestion was to be able to have some simple Designer properties for Panels, such as a checkbox to enable/disable user Panel expand/collapse control (much like you would enable client-paging for grids).  If you enable user controls, then an additional control area would show up at the top of the panel which would have expand/collapse buttons/images (ideally, you'd be able to configure the graphic used for the buttons as well). 

In the meantime, I've come up with my own solution to accomplish this...which as you said in your original post, involves creating an additional "controller" panel that sits above each panel that I want to expand/collapse.  The solution is not ideal, and is somewhat time-consuming to configure (much harder than checking a checkbox...), but it does end up working nicely.  I created a sample solution with various form templates that can be dropped into any process to shortcut this work (happy to share this if people are interested).

I have not gotten into using panels within panels yet...that seems like it could be pretty powerful but also tricky to implement (as evidenced by the fact that my head was spinning trying to follow your description above).  Would like to see your demo, that would probably help to clarify.

One other enhancement which I've requested is the ability to easily move panels up or down in the order on the form.  Right now, you have to use Send to Back/Bring to Front to move them to the top or bottom, but it is not easy to shift them up or down a single spot in the order.  Some sort of panel ordering needs to be implemented in my opinion.

[#3]

Hi Ari, Jerome,

Could you possibly explain  the workaround that you have been using to overcome this issue? A sample process would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Kaan

[#4]

Hi Ari, Jerome,

Could you possibly explain  the workaround that you have been using to overcome this issue? A sample process would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Kaan

[#5]

My memory is not as good as it used to be (in fact, I cannot even remember what it used to be), but I think you'll find some good examples to help you here:

http://processmapping.com.au/articles/MetastormBPM91Review/index.html

most notably here:

http://processmapping.com.au/articles/MetastormBPM91Review/Dynamicfieldsexample.html

The real trick is that although no container can actually be resized, the main form itself will add scrollbars and allow scrolling. Not really resized, but as close as you'll get.