Auto empty columns that were set hidden by a layout

Hi Balazs,

As an end user, I find it very helpful that if I made a mistake, I can undo (some) of it. So if, say, I have a checkbox somewhere which shows or hides a couple of other fields, which I then fill in, and then accidentally click that checkbox again, I will lose the work that I have just done.

Personally, I think this should therefore be part of business logic rather than within a standard where you can never opt out of this behaviour.

However, I definitely see your point about keeping the data clean. So I would suggest a compromise in which hidden columns are emptied right before they’re committed/saved, much like what already happens with imports.

With kind regards,
Henk

Hey Henk,

You raise a valid point, and my perspective is based on how other websites typically handle this. One possible approach could be to keep the data in the hidden columns available as long as the user is in edit mode, in case they need to correct an error.

However, after the user saves (but before the data is written to the database), those hidden columns could be cleared if they contained values while hidden.

Cheers, 

Balazs