I figured if I needed it, so do others. So it’s free. Mostly because it’s literally 7 lines of code.
This plugin does only one thing. If you have a list of Things and you want to know where in that list of Things a specific Thing is (you know, like, is this Thing the 4th Thing in that list of Things or the 82nd Thing in that list of Things)
Yeah, now you can know.
The plugin comes with:
One Element: Find Index
One State: Find Index’s Index #
One Action: Find Index A Find Index
One Event: A Find Index is found
You know the drill, find a spot to put the element on your page. Probably with all the other plugin elements.
In your workflow, add the Find Index A Find Index (I’ll rename that monstrosity later) action.
Data Type is well, the type of Thing.
The Data Source is your list of Things.
The Data Item is the specific Thing you want to know where it is in the… you get it.
Hey @mikepost80, sure thing. You will have to place the Find Index element on the page and then the workflow action will be available in the workflows.
Isn’t the index number of a cell in a repeating group entirely a front end construction? I mean, it’s rendered in the browser and not a set value in the database? The data itself is stored in the database but the way it’s being displayed in a repeating group (and corresponding index) happens locally. Right?
@jrmayhew, currently you are not be able to use this in a backend flow but I’m open to adding that action to the plugin if it’s something important. Have just never had the request before.
@BrianHenderson The index is simply a reference to the position of a specific thing (number, string, datatype, etc) in a list of those things. The list can be displayed in an RG but the RG is simply a display element, not the actual list/array.
Eli this would be a huge thing for a back end flow for us, we provide Covid relief to applicant in the form of grants and we get around 5k-6k application for help a month. The most common question I see is where am I in the queue? or how long before I get seen? Whilst some of these question are easy to solve using repeating groups but we have applicants who don’t have access to a smartphone and we need to send a text message to say you are in position X there are 5 people ahead of you.
Doing a search for and getting a list back is fine for every person, in say a TRIAGE stage, sorted by date applied. But then to get the position of current item index in that search is very difficult.
@it1, gotcha, that makes sense and it seems like a useful addition to the plugin.
I’ve just added a new action called Find Index (backend) where you can access the ‘Result of this Step’s Index #’.
Also added an ‘error’ result so you can build in error handling as needed.
As an FYI, this new action can be used on the front end as well without needing the page element but will not be process as quickly as using the page element’s action.
Incredible, simple and it works. Shortly we will be able to send out covid support emails to people waiting and inform them where they are in the queue. I appreciate there are many ways to do this and having the option to has helped my unique situation. Thank you.
@eli just downloaded this plugin, I’m having an issue where is only seems to work when I use the slow more or step by step mode in the inspector. When I try to use it in normal it doesn’t work, not seen a bug like this before.
@jloyol That’s really odd. Bubble has been having some issues the last hour or so. Maybe give it another go? The other option would be to use the Find Index (Backend) action that will return a value in the workflow without needing the page element.
Hey @eli thanks a lot for building and allowing us to use.
I’m having a probably very simple issue here: can’t use it, LOL!
I’m having trouble with the ‘Thing to Find’. Just can’t seem to put anything in there that’s accepted by Bubble.
I’m surely missing something. My goal is to show a guest it’s position on a guest list. I’d like to search for the current user’s index number on said list.
Can you offer me some links or reading, or some help?
Thanks in advance.
Make sure the ‘Thing to Find’ is the same data type as is selected in the Data Type dropdown and that it is a single item. So it should look like this:
Data Type: Guest
List of Things: List of Guests
Thing to Find: Single Guest
As far as I understand the thing to find should be correct, for I have User type field in the Guest table, so that each guest name is assigned just one User.
What I’m trying to accomplish here check the current user’s position on the list of guest (aka the Waitlist).
@stefano The issue is a search creates what Bubble sees as a list, even if there is only one item in it. Click on the ‘more’ text and select the ‘:first item’ option. That should resolve the dreaded red text
