Disable Autosave to bundle updates

  • 7 April 2022
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When making manual inputs into Pigment, whether adding a new list item or updating figures in a Metric or Table, changes are instantly synchronized in all Blocks that use or reference that data. Depending on the size of the list, application, or complexity of formulas, this could require multiple calculations to run after every input. The Autosave functionality allows you to delay the saving of adjustments made until you have finished adding or adjusting. 

 

Table of Contents

 

This article reflects changes coming to the Autosave functionality on 4/14/2023.  These changes include the Autosave default setting for Sheet view changing to ON and this setting being a block-level setting that will remain consistent across users and views.

 

Autosave is adjusted at the Block (List, Metric, Table) level and Members must have the Configure Blocks permission to be able to turn it on or off for a Block. 

 

What is Autosave?

 

Autosave refers to the automatic saving of data adjustments within a Block.  These data adjustments can be changing the name of an item within a List, or adjusting and entering data within a Metric or a Table.  Autosave is a block-level setting and is turned on by default. This means by default, when you adjust data within a Block, these changes are automatically saved and synced with the rest of the Application.  

 

When should I turn off the Autosave?

 

When you are making multiple updates to a list, Metric, or Table, turning off Autosave will put inputs into a draft mode until the Member is ready to synch their inputs. We recommend disabling autosave when the time to update is imposing on your ability to make updates or when Members want to bundle updates.  It is also recommended on instances when you have multiple Members simultaneously entering data into the different cells in same Block, this way the calculations and inputs are not constantly adjusting.

By disabling autosave, you are allowing all these updates to happen in one action vs multiple smaller ones.

 

Where can I turn off the Autosave?

 

Autosave is a block setting and it applies to all Blocks.  You can turn off Autosave for Transaction lists, Dimension lists, Metrics, and Tables.  While it is possible to turn off for every Block that is used on a Board, there is currently no Board setting for Autosave. 

It will also impact every Member that inputs data on that Block, there is no Member specific setting. 

 

The Autosave setting for a Table will always override the settings of the Metrics within a Table.  This means if Autosave is turned on for the Table the setting applies to all Metrics in the Table. 

 

How do I adjust Autosave?

 

Members with the Configure Block permission can toggle on or off the Autosave functionality in the Block Settings.  

  1. Navigate to the Block you wish to adjust.
  2. Click the Open Block settings icon in the top right.
  3. In the General setting under Data input section, The Automatically saves inputs toggle controls autosave.

 

 

What type of changes can I make with Autosave disabled?

 

Disabling Autosave allows for manual updates to Lists, Metrics, and Tables, these changes will need to be saved before they are synced with the rest of the Application. This does not include importing into Pigment or creating new Metrics or Tables. When working with lists, you can add new items to a list, add new properties, and edit both items and properties. When editing Metrics or Tables, you can manually adjust the data within the metric, for example inputting or adjusting numbers. 

 

When Autosave is turned off for a Block on a Board, Members will see a Save button within that widget.  If they are making inputs on multiple widgets with autosave turned off, they will have to save each widget. 

If they leave the Board, without saving, they will lose their adjustments.

 

Making changes with autosave off

 

Once autosave is disabled, you can start to edit the List, Metric, or Table.  Adding new items will appear similar but you will notice that any new values added to lists or their properties appear in purple with an edit icon next to them.  This is showcasing that an edit has been made.  When autosave is off, at the bottom of your screen, you will see an update status bar.  This will identify how many changes have been made, identify any conflicts(more information below), and also filter to show only rows with updates.  You can also decide to discard all updates from here or save them.  After making changes simply click Save updates in the update status bar.

 

Warning

When turned off Autosave will not detect if an item is not unique.  If a list name or property is set to unique, make sure to not duplicate items.  If they are not unique the save will fail.

 

Identifying conflicts with other users

If another user is working within a list or updates a cell on a metric, assuming they do not have autosave disabled, these changes will appear.  If they update a cell that has an unsaved change, the cell will turn red, this is what is called a conflict.  All conflicts must be resolved before a list can be saved.  Hover over the conflict cell and a pop-up will appear. 

When you edited - shows you what the value was when you updated the cell. In the example below, it's blank because there was no data in the cell at the time the edit was made.  

Current Value - this shows the value that was entered by another user and has since been saved  

Discard update - this will discard the update that you made and keep the value from the other user.  Overwrite current value - this will take your proposed value and overwrite the other user's input. 

 


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