The Navigation Pane

Word Team on August 03

by

One of the Pillars of the Word 2010 vision outlined in Scott's post on Framing the Release was "Polished User Experiences". This pillar represents a desire to dramatically improve a set of scenarios that define Word's core user experiences in terms of polish, ease of use, and responsiveness basically, setting and holding a high bar for user experience excellence. Work that we did in support of this part of the vision isn't necessarily all new features, but is rather about looking at the experience of performing some common types of activities in Word, and evaluating not just whether you can be successful, but is the experience a good one does is feel polished and seamless. One such core scenario is working with long or structured documents, and the simple tasks of reading and moving around in the document, searching for content, or manipulating the outline and headings. Word 2007 and other previous versions of the product had a variety of relevant features or tools available, some of which date back many releases in particular document map, find, and browse objects. The new Navigation Pane is an attempt to bring these features together in a fresh, cohesive and polished experience.

The Microsoft Word 2010 Navigation Pane

One of the new pieces of functionality you'll find in Word 2010 is something we call the "Navigation Pane". This pane hosts a set of related features for getting around in your document, searching for content, and manipulating the structure and organization of headings. Essentially, this task pane replaces and improves upon the old "Document Map" and "Thumbnails" panes, as well as integrating Find and even some aspects of the little known Object Browser.

By default, the pane is docked on the left (as shown above), but can be moved to the right, or even floated independent of the document window. You can show or hide the pane on the View tab of the ribbon. The primary bits of the navigation pane are called out in the following figure, and then described in more detail in turn.

Browse Headings
The headings view of the navigation pane, shown below, is the updated replacement for the document map. It is basically a series of nested "tabs", each of which corresponds to a heading in the document.

There is a wealth of functionality available here Viewing and getting around

As you would expect and can probably deduce from the image, the heading tabs are organized as a hierarchy, and can be expanded and collapsed as desired by clicking the little expand/collapse triangle on the left end of the tab. With the right-click context menu, you can collapse all, expand all, or collapse to a specific level (e.g. show all heading 2 or higher, but collapse everything else). The tab corresponding to the heading whose content you are currently editing (e.g. where your insertion point is) is highlighted. Clicking on a tab will scroll the document to that location, and put your insertion point at the start of that heading. If you edit a heading, or type a new one, it shows up in the navigation pane in real time. The navigation pane tabs themselves aren't directly editable, but they stay in sync with the content as you edit in your document. The top-most item shown above is only present if there is content between the top of the document and the first heading, and represents the beginning of the document. If you are working on a document with multiple authors, the navigation pane can give you some sense of where those folks are and what they're up to. o First, a small pawn icon (or multi-pawn, as appropriate) will appear on the right-hand edge of any tab corresponding to a heading under which another user is editing. o Second, when another user saves and I sync to merged that new content into the document, the tab corresponding to the location of the new content will highlight, again helping me quickly get a feel for where changes are occurring (and I might want to go there and take a look). And finally, when you use the new Find feature by typing a search term into the box at the top of the pane, any heading whose content contains that term you searched for will be highlighted yellow. This is handy if you know you're looking for a particular term in a particular region of the document.

Rearranging and moving content

Drag and drop a tab in the list to move the heading plus all of its content to a new location in the document. If that heading has subheadings, the structure remains intact, and simply moves the whole branch. This makes rearranging your document incredibly quick and easy. Bonus: Ctrl+drag to duplicate the content. While you cannot directly drop arbitrary content onto a heading tab, you can hover over a tab while dragging to navigate to that heading. You can then drop the content in the document where you want it.

Manipulating the outline

Right-click on a heading tab to promoting or demoting the heading up or down a level. Changing the level of a heading that has subheadings under it also changes those headings to the appropriate new level. Also on the context menu, you can add a new heading of the same depth above or below a given item, or add a new subheading under it. This essentially inserts a new blank paragraph with the appropriate Heading Style applied. Then as you type the heading text, it appears in the navigation pane heading tab.

Additional functionality

Right-click on a heading and choose Select to select the heading and all of its content Choose Delete to delete the heading and its content And finally right-clicking and choosing Print is equivalent of selecting everything from the start of that heading down to just before the next heading, clicking the File tab, clicking Print in the Backstage view, and then changing the "Print What" option to "Selection". Not an everyday task, but handy when you need to print just a particular region of the document.

Browse Pages
Clicking on the "Browse the pages in your document" tab gives you a view of all the pages in the doc. This is very similar to the thumbnails pane in previous versions of Word.

Clicking a page's thumbnail takes you to that page in the document, as always. There are really only two big improvements in this part of the pane, when compared with the existing one:

First, it now works in all the layout views web layout, and even draft and outline. And second, when you have searched for something via the new Find feature, the list of pages shown dynamically filters to show only the pages that contain the term you searched for. This is another super useful way to find what you're looking for. I find it especially handy when the thing I'm searching for isn't text, such as a particular table, chart, or image.

Browse Search Results

Finally, the navigation pane hosts a search results list, as shown below.

This list contains and item for each of the matches in your document. In the example above, you can see I searched for "navigation", and it found 3 instances of the term, each of which is represented by a clickable item in the list, with a brief snippet of the surrounding text to give a bit of context. Clearly I took that screenshot early in the authoring process for this post, because there are now over a dozen hits, and I'm still writing Clicking an item takes you to that location in the document. In my next post, I'll discuss the new find experience in more detail.

Conclusion
Well I think that's about it for the basics of the new navigation pane. Based on early feedback, I'm pretty confident it is going to be useful for a great number of customers, in a variety of scenarios. There's a lot of room for additions in the future, but I think this is a super solid start that enables a lot of functionality. There are a number of design decisions we made along the way, and I'd be interested in whether any of them will pose any problems for you. For example, as you can see in the images of the navigation pane, each heading takes up more vertical pixels than the old document map entries did. They're way more useful, but it's undeniable that you see fewer headings at a time without having to scroll the list. Similarly, you could configure the look of the old document map items by tweaking the doc map style, but now each heading is essentially a UI control, and so uses the default UI font. This also

means that you don't see things like tracked changes or other formatting within the text of a heading as displayed on the heading tab. We also don't guess about things you might have intended to be headings, such as lines of text in bold or all caps we strictly pay attention only to content with an explicitly applied outline level (unlike the old doc map, which would use autoformatting logic to add those levels). I do think we've found the sweet spot on all of these issues, but would be interested in feedback if you feel strongly to the contrary.

Overview of the Navigation Pane

The Navigation Pane, new in Microsoft Office Access 2007, is a central location from which you can easily view and access all your database objects, run reports, or enter data directly in tables. The Navigation Pane replaces the Database window, which was used in earlier versions of Access. When you open a database in Office Access 2007, the Navigation Pane is displayed to the left of any open database objects or the workspace. You can customize how the Navigation Pane is displayed in the following ways:

TO Change the width of the Navigation Pane Expand or collapse the appearance of the Navigation Pane

DO THIS Position the pointer over the right edge of the Navigation Pane and then, when it changes to a double-sided arrow, drag the edge to increase or decrease the width. Click the Shutter Bar Open/Close Button , or press F11 to toggle the pane between the open and closed views.

In the Navigation Pane, all the objects that are defined in the database are displayed as categories. In the preceding figure, All Access Objects is the category, and Tables, Queries, Forms, and Reports are the groups. Each category is organized into groups that are displayed as bars. Group names change, based on the category view that is selected, and a group can contain one or more database objects.
TOP OF PAGE

Select a category view

When you create a new database in Office Access 2007, the category name that is displayed in the Navigation Pane is All Tables. Access 2007 also creates a category named Custom that you can use to create a custom view of your objects. In addition, Access 2007 provides three more predefined category views that you can select, according to the way in which you want the objects to be displayed:

CATEGORY Tables and Related Views Object Type

DESCRIPTION View how tables are related to other objects in the database. View all the objects in the database, sorted by their type.

Created Date and Modified Date

Locate objects that are created or modified on a specific date or in a date range. You can filter by Today or All Dates. These categories display objects in descending order from when they were created or last modified.

For example, in the Northwind 2007 sample database that is installed with Office Access 2007, if you display the All Tables category, you can see how various objects are related to a table. In this view, within each group, the table is always listed first, followed by all the objects that depend on the data in that table. In the following figure, the Employees group displays the Employees table followed by the objects related to the Employees table, and the same occurs with the Shippers and Customers groups.

Each time that you select a predefined category, Access includes a global group that contains all the objects in the database. You can easily locate the global group for a category by looking for the word All in front of the group name. For example, if you select the Tables and Related Views category, the global group is called All Tables.
TOP OF PAGE

Display and sort objects

You can select the way in which the objects in the database are displayed in the Navigation Pane. For example, you can include the creation or modified dates, or display objects as icons or lists. By default, Access sorts the objects in the Navigation Pane by object type in ascending alphabetical order, but you can also change the sorting to suit your needs. To specify how objects are displayed and sorted, do the following:

Right-click the top of the Navigation Pane to display the shortcut menu, and then do any one of the following: To change how the objects are displayed, point to View By, and then click either Details, Icon, or List. To view all the groups in the database, click Show all groups. To change the sort order for the objects, point to Sort By and then select a sorting option.

To sort manually and customize the display order, click Sort By, and then click Remove Automatic Sorts.
TOP OF PAGE

Find objects in a database

While you type text in the Search box, Office Access 2007 searches within the category for any groups that contain an object or object shortcut that meets your search terms. Any groups that don't contain a match are collapsed.
NOTE

Access searches for objects only in the categories and groups that are currently displayed in the Navigation

Pane.
TIP

To search the whole database for a specific object, select one of the predefined categories in the Navigation

Pane, such as Tables and Related Viewsor Object Type. This helps make sure that all the groups are visible in the Navigation Pane.

USE THE SEARCH BOX TO FIND DATABASE OBJECTS OR SHORTCUTS

1. If the Search box is not already visible at the top of the Navigation Pane, right-click the menu bar at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then clickSearch Bar. 2. Type either a part or the complete name of the object or shortcut in theSearch Bar box.

While you type characters, Access searches and eliminates any group headings that don't contain a match. 3. To perform another search, click Clear Search String the new text for which you want to search.
NOTE

or press BACKSPACE to delete characters, and then type

When you clear the Search Bar box, the Navigation Pane again displays all of the available objects.

TOP OF PAGE

Create and modify custom categories and groups

When you create a new database without using a template, Office Access 2007 automatically creates a custom category, which displays one group that contains all the objects that are defined in the database. You can rename the custom category, create more custom groups in it, and assign objects to those groups. The default sorting option for groups is All Tables. When you view custom categories and groups from the Navigation Pane, you always see the shortcuts to the objects. Shortcuts can be identified by a small arrow next to the lower-left corner of the object icon.

When you open a shortcut, you open the object it points to. However, if you delete a shortcut, Office Access 2007 does not delete the object in the database that the shortcut points to. You can also hide and rename shortcuts without changing the data that the shortcuts point to in the database. One way to customize the objects in a database is by creating custom categories. For example, you can create a custom category when you want to create a form with specific types of buttons or links that you can use to navigate the database. When you create a custom category, it applies to the current database only. You cannot transfer custom categories and groups to other databases. You can create a custom category by either renaming the default Custom category that Access provides or by creating a new custom category. Limiting the number of custom categories and groups in your database can make it easier to locate data.
NOTE

Although you can remove objects from a custom category or group, you cannot remove objects from a

predefined category or group. Use the Navigation Options dialog box to create and manage custom categories and groups. The dialog box displays a list of all the categories that have been defined in the database, and shows the groups for a selected category.

CREATE A CUSTOM CATEGORY

When you create a new custom category, groups named Unassigned Objects andCustom Group 1 are created for that category. By default, Office Access 2007 does not put any objects in the Unassigned Objects group. Instead, all the objects in a category that are not assigned to any group are displayed in the Unassigned Objects group in the Navigation Pane. 1. 2. To create a new category, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. Under Categories, click Add Item. A new category appears under Categories in the Navigation Options dialog box. 3. Type a name for the new category, and then press ENTER.

RENAME A CUSTOM CATEGORY

If an unused custom category is available, you can rename it instead of adding a new custom category. 1. To rename a custom category, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. 2. 3. Under Categories, click Custom, and then click Rename Item. Type a new name for the category, and then press ENTER.

After you create or rename a custom category, you need to create custom groups under each custom category. Access automatically creates a Custom Group 1 and an Unassigned Objectsgroup under each new category. Objects that are not assigned to groups are automatically put in the Unassigned Objects group. You can either create a new custom group or rename the Custom Group 1 group to the name that you choose.

CREATE A CUSTOM GROUP

1. To create a new custom group, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. 2. 3. Under Groups for category name, click Add Group. Type a name for the new group, and then press ENTER.

RENAME A CUSTOM GROUP

1. To rename a custom group, right-click the menu at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click Navigation Options. 2. 3. Under Groups for category name, click the custom group, and then clickRename Group. Type a new name for the group, and then press ENTER. After you have created a custom group in a custom category, you add or move objects, such as tables, into the custom group.
TOP OF PAGE

Add objects to a custom group

You can add objects to a custom group in several different ways, such as dragging an object to create a shortcut, copying and pasting, and importing objects from external sources. However, if you choose to cut an object from a group, be aware that this can cause problems. We do not recommend cutting an object because a database is a set of components that work together, and if an object is deleted from that set of components, it can break part or all of the functionality of the database.

To add or move objects in the database into a custom group, click the drop-down arrow at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then click the custom group that you created. Under Unassigned Objects, right-click the object that you want to add or move. Click Add to group on the shortcut menu, and then click the custom group that you want to add the object to.

COPY AND PASTE OBJECTS

In the Navigation Pane, right-click the object that you want to copy, and then click Copy. Right-click the group in the Navigation Pane where you want to paste the object, and then click Paste. You can also paste the object in the Navigation Pane of another database that is open in Office Access 2007.

Importing tables from other databases or data from other programs (such as text files and Microsoft Office Excel workbooks) is another way to add objects to your database. For more information about how to import external data, see the links in the See Also section of this article.
TOP OF PAGE

Remove and restore shortcuts in custom groups

When you view custom objects in the Navigation Pane, you are actually looking at shortcuts to those objects. An object icon with a small arrow next to its lower-left corner indicates that it is a shortcut or pointer to the actual object.

If you remove or delete a shortcut from the Navigation Pane, you are only removing the pointer to that object and not removing the object from the database. When the shortcut of an object is removed from a custom group in the Navigation Pane, the reference to the object is removed from the custom group, and the object appears in the Unassigned Objects group in the Navigation Pane.

To remove a shortcut, right-click the object in the Navigation Pane, and then click Remove. To restore the shortcut for the object, drag the object from the Unassigned Objects group in the Navigation Pane to the custom group.
IMPORTANT

Although you can delete (that is, permanently remove) predefined and custom groups, we do not

recommend doing this because it can cause problems in the database. Databases are sets of components that work together, and if an object is deleted from that set of components, it can break part or all the functionality of the database.
TOP OF PAGE

Hide objects and groups

Hiding an object or group can be a better option than deleting it when the object or group is not used or you want to restrict access to it. Hiding an object does not change the database, whereas deleting an object or group (even if it appears to be a duplicate) can break part or all of the functionality of the database. To hide an object or group in the Navigation Pane, do one of the following:

To hide an object, right-click the object, and then click Hide in this Group. To hide an entire group, right-click the group, and then click Hide. To hide an object or group that appears dimmed in the Navigation Pane, do the following:

1. 2.

Right-click the menu bar at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then clickNavigation Options. In the Navigation Options dialog box, clear the Show Hidden Objects check box, and then click OK.
TOP OF PAGE

Unhide objects and groups

To display hidden objects or groups without providing access to them, do the following:

Right-click the menu bar at the top of the Navigation Pane, and then clickNavigation Options. In the Navigation Options dialog box, select the Show Hidden Objectscheck box, and then click OK. If the hidden objects and groups appear dimmed in the Navigation Pane, they are not enabled. To make these dimmed objects or groups available from the Navigation Pane, do the following:

To enable an object, right-click the object, and then click Unhide in this Group. To unhide a group, right-click the group, and then click Unhide.