Lists: Small Tables You Define Yourself

A list in Bookmax is a table whose columns you decide. Not a to do list with a fixed shape, but an empty table: you name the columns, choose what kind of value each one holds, and from then on the form for a new entry has exactly those fields. Books you lent out, wine you liked, serial numbers, the hours you worked for a customer - anything that is a row with a few values and would otherwise end up in a spreadsheet you never open on your phone.

Creating a list

The plus in the header of the list panel on the left creates one. You give it a name and then define its columns. A list can have up to ten, and for each one you set four things:

Name - the heading shown above the column.
Type - Text for a single line, Text long for several, Number, Checkbox for yes and no, Date, or Pulldown for a fixed set of choices you write out separated by commas.
Alignment - left, centered or right, which mostly matters for numbers.
Width - in pixels, and it can be left empty.

A number column can additionally be told to show a sum, which is then displayed under the column. Columns you do not switch on are simply not there; you can turn one on later without touching the entries you already have.

A list can also be given a password. It is then asked for before the list opens, which is a small extra hurdle for something you would rather not have on screen when somebody looks over your shoulder. It is not encryption, and it is not a substitute for a good account password.

Keeping order among the lists

The lists themselves stand in the left panel and can be nested: drag one by its icon, up and down to reorder, left and right to make it a child of the one above. That gives you groups of lists without a separate group concept.

The pencil in the panel header edits a list, including its columns. The wastebasket deletes it, and a list has to be empty first, so remove its entries before you remove the list.

Entries

With a list selected, the toolbar above the table works like everywhere else: plus for a new entry, which opens the form built from your columns, pencil for the selected entry, wastebasket for the selection. Rows are selected by clicking a free part of the row, dragged into order by the handle on their left edge, and clicking text selects the text so you can copy it.

The filter row

Long lists get a filter. Show Filter puts a small field under every heading. Type into it and only the matching rows remain. A pulldown column offers its values as a dropdown instead. For text, an asterisk stands for any characters, so mei* finds everything beginning with those letters, while a plain word has to match exactly. Filters combine: set two of them and both must be true.

Getting data in and out

Premium accounts can export a list to Excel or to CSV and read a CSV file back in, which is the way to move a table you already keep in a spreadsheet into Bookmax. Every account, free or paid, is additionally covered by the backup in the settings, which writes the whole account including all lists into one file.

Limits

A free account is limited in the number of lists and entries; a Premium account is not. The exact figures stand in the account comparison.