Route Sequence
The route sequence was specifically designed to facilitate map-based planning. The component can be considered as an extension to the map rather than a standalone feature.
Component overview
When composing a route, the selection sequence can be shown on the map by indicating a number in the pin, if configured accordingly. For more granular control over your route, the Route Sequence component is the place to be.
With this component, you can:
- See a list of all selected pins on the map/route, with details about the tasks/jobs.
- Change the order of the stops in the route by dragging and dropping the rows.
- Remove pins from the selection by using the Delete button.
- Optimize the order of stops automatically (if the Advanced Map license is enabled).
- Convert a manually composed route into a planned daily route for a resource.
- Detach the active route to start over.
Every change in the route sequence component is immediately applied to the map, so the route, its distance and duration update automatically. The reverse holds as well: every change on the map is reflected in the route sequence component.
For instance, this route...
... is displayed in the route sequence grid automatically:
Trip modes
The route sequence component supports two trip modes that determine which actions are available in the toolbar:
- Free composition. The default mode. Pins are selected on the map and the user composes a route from the selection. This is useful for ad-hoc trip planning.
- Round trip. A round trip starts and ends at the resource's home location and visits the appointments planned for that resource on a given date. The Update planning and Optimize route actions are only available in this mode, because they need the resource and date as context.
The component switches into round-trip mode automatically when a round trip is created from the map (typically by clicking the round-trip pin on a resource for a given day).
Route summary
A live summary at the bottom of the grid shows the running totals for the entire trip:
- Distance - total distance, in kilometers.
- Travel - sum of travel time between stops, rounded to the nearest 5 minutes.
- Work - sum of working time at the stops, rounded to the nearest 5 minutes.
- Total - travel + work.
The summary refreshes every time waypoints are added, removed or reordered.
Route columns
Beyond the standard task and job columns, the route sequence grid ships with a set of route-specific columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Distance | Distance between the previous stop and the current one. |
| Total distance | Cumulative distance from the start of the trip up to and including this stop. |
| Travel time | Travel time from the previous stop to the current one. |
| Total travel time | Cumulative travel time from the start of the trip up to and including this stop. |
| Working time | Time spent on the appointment at the current stop. |
| Total duration | Cumulative travel + working time from the start of the trip up to and including this stop. |
These columns are computed in memory whenever the data changes. They are not bound to the database, so adding, removing or reordering waypoints recalculates them on the fly. Like every other column, they can be hidden, reordered, and saved as part of the grid state.
Running totals on free decimal columns
All free decimal fields of the task and job columns in the route sequence grid are escorted by Running Total columns. These columns perform an Excel-like, in-memory calculation by adding the value of the bound free decimal column to the running total of the previous rows.
Like the route columns above, the running-total columns are not bound to the database - they recalculate as waypoints are added and reordered. They have their own captions and formats and can be stored in the grid's state, just like all other columns in the application.
Toolbar actions
The grid toolbar exposes a set of actions. Some are always available, others depend on the trip mode and the active license:
| Action | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Action URLs | Always (when configured) | Opens action URLs for the current selection. Only enabled when all selected stops belong to the same source application. |
| Update planning | Round trip mode | Persists the current order of the round trip as the resource's planning for the trip date. The order shown in the grid becomes the new planning. |
| Optimize route | Round trip mode + Advanced Map license + Route optimization toggle | Hands the round trip to the optimization solver. The solver returns a new order that minimizes travel time and distance, and the grid updates accordingly. |
| Detach route | Always | Clears the active route and exits round-trip mode. The map returns to a fresh state, ready for a new selection or another round trip. |
| Toggle drag mode | Always | Switches between drag-to-reorder mode and a regular selection mode that allows users to copy data from the cells. See Copy data. |
The Update planning and Optimize route actions are only available when every appointment in the round trip is enabled and unlocked - locked or disabled appointments would otherwise be moved silently.
Change the order of the route
The route sequence component makes reordering a trivial chore. Select one or more items (use CTRL to multi-select) and drag them to the right position. The route is recalculated immediately.
Here's an example of the second and third waypoints switching places to become the first stops in the route:
Notice how the order of selection of multiple stops determines the drop position:
This is the result on the map:
Optimize the route
When the route sequence is in round-trip mode and your tenant has the Advanced Map license with route optimization enabled, the Optimize route button hands the trip to the solver. The solver returns the order that minimizes travel time and distance, and the grid (and map) update accordingly.
The optimization is purely a re-ordering of the existing stops; it does not add or remove appointments, and it does not change start/end times until the order is committed via Update planning.
Deleting waypoints
The route sequence component offers an alternative approach of planning a trip. Instead of using the map, a list of items is used. And just like the map, it is possible to remove waypoints. There are two ways to achieve this:
- Use the delete button
- Press the
Deletekeyboard key
All items selected in the grid (there may be more than one if you keep CTRL pressed while selecting items in the grid) are removed from the component - and the map for that matter. When a removed waypoint belongs to a container, the sibling tasks in the same container are removed as well.
State
Just like most other grid components, the route sequence component is stateful as well. It is a fairly basic grid that stores the settings as described here.
Copy data
Because of the drag-and-drop capabilities, copying data is not as straightforward as in the other grids. Users briefly need to abandon the default drag-and-drop mode to be able to copy data from the cells. This can be done by flipping the Toggle drag mode switch in the toolbar. More information can be found here.