mSecure Support
macOS Date Field
Mike - mSecure
Hi John,
Thank you for contacting us. The way a date field works on the different platforms is typically not determined by the developer but by the API's they give us access to. The date field operate according to macOS and Windows programming standards and not our own. In this case, I'm not sure why Windows would give the option to have a date field that didn't contain a date, but that's ok. I don't believe it's possible for this to be changed for Mac, but if it is, can let me know why you want to have a date field present that doesn't have a date in it?
Mike,
The operating system for a computer is the blank canvas that programmers build their application on. The operating system is not going to require any specific type of field such as a date field to be entered or not. In programming you create elements, and they have properties. The properties can be if they are required to be entered. It is the mSecure programmer that decides if a field is required to be entered or not. It is also the mSeucre programmers that decide to enter an initial value for a field. In this case the programmer said date fields in IOS, and Windows are not required fields and there is no initial value. The programmer for the MacOS decided that all date fields are required to be entered and provided an initial value. So, my question is why did mSecure decide not to be consistent across all platforms. My interest is that the programming is consistent across all platforms. None of the fields in mSecure are required except for the name field. It would be my preference that the date field is not required or allow a NULL value. It is my expectation that mSecure be consistent. The decision is up to mSecure. I can work around it if you decide to leave MacOS as is.
John
Mike - mSecure
Hi John,
Default controls for apps on different platforms will typically behave in similar ways. In mSecure for Mac, while the date picker is a default picker, the control itself is customer due to the way the fields were created. That makes certain functionality operate differently unless it's intentionally programmed to function a certain way. In this case, I'm guessing it was assumed it wouldn't be important for the majority of users to have a date field present when no date was entered for the field and that it wouldn't be a problem that it's possible on other platforms. Since no one has commented on it until now, that seems to have been the correct assumption. While there are many things we work hard on in order to maintain consistency across platforms, there are times when it is decided that consistency is not needed. This appears to be one of those cases.
I'm guessing it would be possible to change the functionality for the date field, but I'm not entirely sure since I'm not the programmer. I hesitate to say anything is possible or not, because I have done that in the past only to frustrate customers and the developer. I can talk to the developer to see if he can or will change it, but, depending on the time it might take to make the change, I'm not sure it would be prioritized right now. One thing I can do for sure is get this written up as a feature request. As we continue development, it something that will be reviewed and then a decision can be made on whether or not it will be implemented in future releases.
So I'm sure I'm understanding you, is the only reason for requesting the change a matter of consistency between platforms, or is there some functional issue that's causing a problem with the current functionality?
Mike,
Not all the mSecure users are up on computers and programming. If someone edits a record that has a date field, they may not realize that when they hit save, they now have a date when they may not want one. I do not see how this is beneficial to MacOS users only. I have added several date fields in the Identity template. One is Anniversary. If that person is not married and I edit their record on MacOS. They automatically become married. I then must go to IOS or Windows to remove the date. I cannot remove the date in MacOS. A program should never require two different operating system to perform a task. In programming consistency is something usually stressed and desired. Anyways I will always edit the Identity template on Windows or IOS and avoid using MacOS (work around). I know I’ll never make my point clear. I see this as a problem you see it as a feature. I won’t bother you anymore. I hope your MacOS users are not caught off guard with dates.
Thanks,
Mike - mSecure
John,
Why do you think that you'll never make your point clear? How is it that I'm writing all that I'm writing and you're thinking you're not making your point clear. So far as I can tell, I've understood everything you're saying, and I have tried to respond to each point you made. How can I assure you that I understand you? Is the only way to show you I understand is to make sure the feature gets implemented now or as quickly as possible in a future release?
It's possible to fully understand each other, clearly stating points and listening to what each other says, and then the feature not get added immediately. I don't get to decide when changes are implemented in the app. That's up to our development team. What I'm trying to do here is get enough information from you as to why you think it's needed to make a case for it to get added to the app. If the case can be made, if you can give me something that's more than just you preference saying that things should work the same on all platform for the sake of continuity, then it could get added in the next release that is only getting published to fix some bugs. I'm not telling you these things because I don't understand. I'm saying what I'm saying because I do understand, and it's my job to get enough information from the customer to make a case for getting features added to the app. In the end, however, you may make your case, and I may present it, and it still might not get into the app now or in the future. It's just the way things work.
John
I have mSecure on macOS, iOS, and Win11. No problem with my data. On macOS if a template has a Date Field or Month/Year Field the date is filled in with the current date. There is no way to clear the date or make it NULL. The red circle with a line through it deletes the field from the record not the data. Hitting the delete key on the mac keyboard does not clear the date. On IOS there is a circle with an ‘X’ in it that will clear the field. With Win11 there is a red ‘X’ next to the date that will clear the field. To be consistent the MacOS version should not auto fill in the date field at all. There needs to be a way to clear the date field in the MacOS version. To clear the date field, you must do it on a platform other than macOS.
Thanks,
John