The online user manual

Mel, This has been an ongoing complaint/issue. You might want to look at this thread...

 

https://ninoxdb.de/en/forum/technical-help-5ab8fe445fe2b42b7dd39ee7/templates-and-manual-5b5b4e9d615501550d8cbc9c?post=5b5cccb0615501550d8cbcd1&page=1

I especially like this part...

 

I bet they implement drag and drop for Tabs and the associated fields before they release an updated user manual

@Sean heh, heh, ... trouble-maker

Mel, that's a good idea ... I've thought along the same lines as well. e.g. "HOT TIPS" or "Tips & Tricks" ...

Additionally, *perhaps* Ninox would consider using different user forum platform...or making changes to the current one?   

I have to say that my complaint is more about functions/functionality that have not been documented at all! I'm beginning to wonder if those in charge of documenting these things are unable to keep up with all the changes/additions.

 

A new forum format would be helpful and sticky threads on specific topics that have been asked/answered numerous times would be very helpful to those just beginning to use Ninox.

 

Obviously, Nioxus has put a lot of time and effort into their documentation and they are now charging for access to some of it. I would be hesitant to duplicate that just to see Ninox finally update their documetation appropriately. I wouldn't mind helping, but I'm not going to lead the charge.

@Jörg, I'd be happy to help in any way I can.

See here:
https://ninoxdb.de/en/manual/calculations/reference-of-functions-and-language

Birger

For all these reasons I’m giving up on ninox after 2 years of trying to figure out problem and workarounds instead of easily finding solutions for my work, which a database should do.  No decent manual or scripts manual, promised but still missing features that are quite essential ( for example, no password protect, really?) and the very limited lay-out possibilities of forms amongst others: as if the visual aspect, the visual design of a database isn’t essential to be able to efficiently work with it. I’m back to the well-known database the name of which I won’t mention: expensive, yes, but considering the time I lost with Ninox, and the way I now flying through database construction and extension, focussing on getting my work done...! Sorry Ninox

Interestingly, I have seen many of the issues pointed out and have not built large applications, but many small user centric apps.  While there are many drawbacks, I didn't expect this to compete with the databases that do so much more.  I tested many similar databases and found them just as awkward in other ways, each to it's own.  The others were either many times more expensive or required you to pay for 5 liscences.  Ninox has done what I needed and works well on my tablet and phone.  During my last service, I took a picture of a machine serial number and attached it to my report using my phone ........... slick !  Then I took a picture of an expense receipt and attached it to my report.  Ninox has some quirks but it satisfied our immediate needs.  Better documentation is mandatory.  The expressions need to show what is a table vs a field or variable reference for those of us that are just learning the programming side.  It would be nice to have a list of functions and examples available when useing the Text area to create code ie: drop down or popup ......... I'm sticking with Ninox.

Interestingly, I have seen many of the issues pointed out and have not built large applications, but many small user centric apps.  While there are many drawbacks, I didn't expect this to compete with the databases that do so much more.  I tested many similar databases and found them just as awkward in other ways, each to it's own.  The others were either many times more expensive or required you to pay for 5 liscences.  Ninox has done what I needed and works well on my tablet and phone.  During my last service, I took a picture of a machine serial number and attached it to my report using my phone ........... slick !  Then I took a picture of an expense receipt and attached it to my report.  Ninox has some quirks but it satisfied our immediate needs.  Better documentation is mandatory.  The expressions need to show what is a table vs a field or variable reference for those of us that are just learning the programming side.  It would be nice to have a list of functions and examples available when useing the Text area to create code ie: drop down or popup ......... I'm sticking with Ninox.

Hi John, I think most users are happy with Ninox. I also think there is frustration regarding the lack of updated documentation and list of improvements/enhancements/bug fixes when a new version is released. Why should users need to be invited to a German language webinar, https://ninox.com/en/forum/technical-help-5ab8fe445fe2b42b7dd39ee7/where-can-i-find-a-list-of-the-functions-used-in-ninox-5ecc5f0caf31706c05dfb361?post=5ed2827d5fc7775e2591f77a&page=1, to get updated documentation? This is an old and ongoing complaint. By the way, what functions did you see that aren't in https://ninox.com/en/manual/calculations/reference-of-functions-and-language?

I would also like to request new forum software.

 

i recently set up Discourse on Google cloud platform, and it was pretty easy. There is a Bitmani VM preconfigured.

https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/details/bitnami-launchpad/discourse

For the most part I have stopped using the forum here because I don't like the forum limitations.

Mi aggiungo alla discussione contestando anche a Ninox che molte modifiche importanti chieste non vegono sviluppate. Peccato perchè è un ottimo lavoro.

I share the original posters frustrations with lack of documentation and learning Ninox.

Although I bought Ninox for Mac years ago as a promising replacement for Bento that also looked powerful enough that it might also do what I might use Filemaker for, I have barely used it until now because it seemed so obscure and poorly documented.

Now I have a need to create a database for my business I have come back to Ninox as the most promising solution due to it's combination of low cost and power under the hood. None of that is much use though if it's inaccessible because it's so hard to learn.

What made other software I used in the past so accessible was a combination of the intuitive software UI design itself and a wealth of rich documentation which helped lay out key concepts, tailored for users coming from different leveles of experience and knowledge, plus a built in, searchable and interactive function dictionary for advanced users. There were also hundereds of examples, tutorials and workthroughs to help people find solutions and approaches that answered their specific needs. Obviously a lot of this comes fromhaving a large user base and something of a market in knowledge spring from that, but the core documentation needs to be there to begin to grow that user base in the first place.

I am making gross assumptions, but I get the impression that ninox is developed by a small team and that the manual and general communications on new features all come as a secondary task communicated via those developers. Most of the documentation seems so dense and doesn't bridge to high level concepts or translate so well to the perspective of a user trying to solve probems and build something to achieve a certain goal. I really hope that Ninox can bridge this gap and maybe, if the above is true, add some new members to the team who are good at training and understanding customer needs and dedicated to bridging this gap in documentation. It would also be helpful to have them interface on product development planning so they can contibute thier end user/goal focussed perspectives and also integrate the new features into the documention as they are developed. Obviously this would take revenue to support it but I think it would be a very worthwhile investment that would bring in a lot of new users.

Case in point:

After spending 6 hours trying to find answers in the manual, in videos and on the forums I finally have been able to achieve placing my company name from an unrelated table on a print layout. 

The visual formula editor was no use because it only shows the current and related tables. I was unable to find any guide to the basic field referencing syntax in the manual or indeed any kind of introductory guide to scripting that lays out any of the basics of syntax overall, where and how to use scripts etc. Most of the manual seems to just list functions in a very basic manner, if you are lucky it might give an example, but all without any greater context to help you link concepts together. I even went through the tutorial at the beginning of the manual to see if it would shed light on things but found the tutorials literally just provide a step by step set of instructions to follow with no attempt to explain concepts or working methodology to help you translate them to your own projects. Even then some steps are missing like here:

Ok, so there is avg(Readings.Person.Age) in the formula field (misspelt as Formular) but which of the buttons marked with a symbol+Age do you need to drag out to get that average? What do all the other ones mean? Take some time to explain these are mathematical symbols, give a little index. Not everyone did mathematics to a level where those symbols will mean anything to them. I had to find out through drag and dropping them on one by one to see the function name in the code that pops up, then searched the web to check whetehr they were standard math symbols I did not know to get this far! 

Anyway, what I eventually found out by reading between the lines in another forum post where someone answered someone else's issue by posting the correct syntax (again no explanation) is that to pull data from a particular field from particular record you use the format

record(TableName,RecordIndex).FieldName

where RecordNumber is actually a number.  So in my case I was trying to pull my company name from a special table I created to centralise my company information for use across multiple forms and reports. Because this table only has one record I could just enter 1 here. Though it should be noted that this number may not correspond to the number you see circled in the left hand column of the table view.

 

This is because this appears to be a runing count that is displayed here rather than the true record index. I tested this by duplicating my one record and deleting the original. The reference 1 no longer worked but 2 did, despite 1 being displayed next to the remaining record in that column. To see the record Index or maybe as Ninox terms it, the record Id you have to explicitly add that column to the view by clicking in the box above the funnel symbol (labelled (all) in my screenshot above) choose Edit columns... then drage the number column  labelled Id across from the availabe columns on the right to the visible columns on the left.

 

I think I might eventually get there but it is such an uphill battle. My journey so far would put most people off but could be so improved by better documentation. If someone has a link to any good material for learning Ninox quickly and efficiently I would love to see it.

Oh, and the abillity to edit your forum posts would be great. I'd love to improve the above. Add some spaces. Some more explanation and examples of the formula I used. etc.

 

In my case the code I used to get those particular contents from a specific field of a specific record was:

 

record(MyCompanyInfo,1).MyCompanyName

 

Here the record I was after was MyCompanyName from record 1 in the MyCompanyInfo table.

 

It seems the logic in the syntax is that record is a function being called. The info contained in brackets after it tells the function where to look - in this case the MyCompanyInfo table, and that it is to find record Id 1. What follows the brackets is the actual field to be pulled from that record and printed or returned for further processing - in this case the contents of the MyCompanyName field for that record previously specified in brackets. Keeping the location to look inside the brackets makes sense because that info is an ancillary instruction of where to look and doesn't get returned, just the info outside of the brackets gets returned and seen.

 

So if you want to add a field like this, pulled from an unlinked table to a print layout, for example, you can add a formula or text element to your print layout to do so. Text and formula elements seems to be essentially the same. With a formula element it will take you straight to the formula editor straight away, but this can also be reached by clicking on the cog icon that appears to the top right of any text box you select. Once a formula is entered and you select the text box you will see the formula encapsulated in curly brackets {}. This enables you to combine data returned from formulas and typed text in one box. Anything not encapsulated by curly brackets is printed as straight text and anyhting encapsulated by them is passed to the scripting engine for processing, the results of which are printed in context.

For example something like this:

   results in this: 

 

This general technique for pulling in from another table using a formula in print layouts also works with image fields to actully display the image, although it seems you can't mix these with ordinary text in a text box and have to use the formula element to pull one in otherwise you will get the image file name rather than the image itself...

 

You could take things further and script some logic to select from multiple MyCompany Details to customise branding according to the needs of the invoice, dispatch note or whatever.

 

And there I have got carried away writing the kind of thing I would love to see in the tutorial section of the manual.

I now see, after more digging, that user support seems to be more focussed around live webinars and direct support of users. Whilst I appreciate that might be great, I think it would save much effort there if better, searchable documentation were there to answer questions before giving one on one. 

It's not my default approach when trying to use new software I must admit; calling support, but maybe it is the best way for Ninox and how they like it to work?