getting started 3 describe items

Step 3: Describe items in the grid

Getting started ▸ Step 3 of 5

You describe the collection in the grid. Each row is a record and each column is a field. The Details panel shows one record and its file together.

Edit a cell

1. Click a cell to select it.
2. Type the new value. The value replaces what the cell held.
3. Press Enter to keep the value.

To change part of a value, select the cell and press Enter before you type. Delete or Backspace clears the selected cells. Copy and paste work in the grid and between qrate and other spreadsheet apps.

Undo a change

Press Ctrl+Z to undo, and Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y to redo. Edit ▸ Undo and Edit ▸ Redo do the same. Undo also covers rows and columns that you add, delete, or move.

Add rows and columns

• To add a row, press Alt+Shift+Down for a row below the selection, or Alt+Shift+Up for a row above it. The Insert menu has the same commands.
• To add a column, choose Insert ▸ Column Left or Insert ▸ Column Right.
• To rename a column, right-click its header and choose Rename column…. Type the new name and press Enter.
• To set what a column holds, such as dates or identifiers, choose Data ▸ Column Settings….

Find and replace

1. Press Ctrl+F, or choose Edit ▸ Find in Table.
2. Type the text to find.
3. Press Enter to go to the next match, or Shift+Enter to go to the previous one.

To replace text, press Ctrl+H instead. You can replace one match or all matches.

Show only some rows

1. If the column header has no filter icon, right-click the header and choose Filter ▸ Show filter dropdown.
2. Click the filter icon in the column header.
3. Clear the check box of each value that you do not want to see.

The grid shows only the rows that pass every filter. To see only the rows with one value, right-click a cell with that value and choose Filter by this value. A filter hides rows. It does not change the data, and an export still includes every row.

Group rows

Rows can go inside other rows, as a series holds files and a file holds items.

1. Select the rows.
2. Right-click a row header.
3. Choose Group. The menu item shows the number of rows, for example Group 3 rows.

qrate adds a parent row above the rows and puts them inside it. Ctrl+] moves a row inside the row above it, and Ctrl+[ moves it out again. Click the chevron in a row header to collapse or expand its group.

See a record in the Details panel

Select a row. The Details panel shows the row's file at the top and its fields below. If the panel is not open, click the Details button in the status bar.

1. Click a value in the Details panel.
2. Type the new value.
3. Press Enter to keep it.

To edit several rows at once, hold Ctrl and click each row. A field whose values are not the same shows Mixed and the number of values. The value that you type goes to every selected row. Ctrl+Z undoes an edit that you make in the Details panel.

The Details panel also shows the notes and the change history of the selection.

Look at the file

The buttons on the preview in the Details panel do these tasks:

• View fullscreen opens the file in the viewer. You can also click the preview.
• Open in new window opens the file in a second window that follows the selection, so the table and the file can be on different screens.
• Open in default app opens the file in the app that your computer uses for it.
• Reveal in folder shows the file in your file manager.

In the viewer, you can zoom, pan, rotate, go through the pages of a document or jump to one, and search inside it. The arrows at the bottom right go to the file of the previous or next row. Press Esc to close the viewer.

To see the whole collection as thumbnails, press Ctrl+2 or choose View ▸ Switch View ▸ Gallery. Press Ctrl+1 to go back to the table.

Learn more

• The grid: editing, rows and columns, groups, search, filters, the gallery, and notes
• Files and photos: previews and the viewer
• Columns: column types, descriptions, and authority lists
• Keyboard shortcuts: every shortcut in one table

Next: Step 4: Check your work with Problems · Back to Getting started

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