Item Field merging Item Code and Item Name fields

[dalacor]

I am aware that this change was made a while back and I even contributed to a couple of topics on this issue.

How to turn back to "Legacy Layout" all my invoices?

Hi, I noticed that invoices now have this “item column”. [image] I really don´t need this column. So I noticed that if I check “Legacy Layout” it goes back to the way it used to be. I even selected it on form defaults-invoices-checked “Legacy Layout” and every new invoice I make is as desired. This is how I want the invoice to be showed: [image] But what about every other invoice that has been created? They all went to this new mode with “item column showing” and I can´t get them to go bac…

Description Field for Inventory and Non Inventory Items

My current format for descriptions of a product in Inventory would be something like this. Laptop Lifebook A351 - CPU core i5, 16GB Ram, 256GB Hard Drive The single biggest problem that I have with this is that I have Laptop Lifebook A351 in Item Name at the top of Inventory Item and I then have to copy this to Description. I then have to change it to bold so the Name vs Description is clear. The problem is that I forget to set the “name” bit in bold occasionally. I was thinking that the solu…

I have three questions:

1. Will the program ever be updated to Hide Item Name in Form Defaults where the setting should be. I see no logic in setting this per inventory item. There is no Legacy Layout anymore so it looks like I am going to have to batch update to revert the program back to make it look like what my current version of Manager is showing as I have not updated since March last year.

2. Can the program be updated to Hide Item Code from Quotes - again in Form Defaults. I only want clients to see the Item Code in Sales Invoice.

3. I see no point in merging the Item Code and Item name in View Mode, whilst keeping Description field a separate column. It would make more sense to merge in View Mode the Item Name and Description (for my business at least) or merge all three fields in view mode as Item Name and Description is more closely linked. I am bit annoyed about this, because as far as I can see from the linked topics, nobody actually wants the Item Code and Item Name together!

I am even open to the idea of having all three fields merged in view mode but with the following two provisos:

a: That users can hide Item Code, Item Name and Description in View Mode using Form Defaults. This would accommodate different requirements of various businesses.

b: Merging the 3 fields in View mode can and does work in some invoices I have seen from my suppliers (using whatever accounting program that they use). But what they have done is properly formatted the data for each field so Item Name is a bigger font, Item Code could be a different colour etc. What they have achieved is removed two columns - merging all data fields into one column in view mode which reduces space, but more importantly because their programs support builtin formatting for the three different fields the information is displayed in a much more easily readable format. Manager just bungs Item Code and Item Name into one column making it much harder to read as there is no formatting such as font size, bold, font colour etc or any sort of visual separation. So it just looks really messy in Manager having Item Code and Item Name in same column in View Mode in Manager. Proper builtin formatting would resolve this making the quotes and invoices look far more professional.

[dalacor]

I have now updated to the latest version of Manager on my live version.

In addition to my issues raised above, there is one more minor issue that has cropped up.

I have done a batch update to hide the Item Name on Quotes. Orders and Invoices. Works perfectly and view forms now only show Item Code information. However, the title of the column name is still called Item Name, not Item Code.

I feel that this is wrong for two reasons.

1. The information showing is not the name of an item. It is a part code So the name is incorrect.

2. More importantly, the program has a field called Item Code and another field called Item Name in edit mode. But View mode is showing the contents of Item Code, whilst purportedly showing the Item Name Field! From a programming, database point of view, it’s misleading, confusing etc to have a column name that is the same name as that of a completely different field. Names should always be distinct and unique.

I am hopeful that this change will be reversed unless Manager is updated to improve the formatting so there is better and more clear distinction between the different fields even if showing in one column. I have seen supplier invoices where all three fields are showing in one column and it works because of the way the program formats it by default. So I have no objections to the long term direction, but only if the builtin formatting is improved.

At the moment, the new Item Name Column is just a confusing downgrade from the previous separate Item Code and Item Name columns.