It would be helpful to empower the users of the Filter widget by allowing them to select the SQL Operator the same way they can enter/select their own Values.
When using the SQL Expression Builder, the app designer specifies the Field (the attribute in the data), the Value (a value to compare with the Field's values), and an Operator (the type of comparison, such as "is", "is at least", "is blank", etc.). The designer can explicitly specify a Value or allow the user to specify their own. However, the designer must specify the Operator for each widget.
To give the user access to all possible comparisons for a numeric field like OBJECTID, the designer must create 12 different widgets to filter one Field. This takes up extra screen space and makes it more challenging to follow which widgets are affecting the filtered results.
Instead, it would be helpful to allow the user to select their own operator within a widget using a drop-down list, similar to how it appears in the SQL Expression Builder. The builder already includes an option to "Ask for values" for the value, which includes the ability to pre-specify options available in a drop-down list. One simple approach is to implement a similar "Ask for operator" option, and show the same Operator list to the user that the designer sees in the Expression Builder.
Example: a power user may need to consult and help maintain a large list of properties. They may need to filter using multiple fields, but each field's criteria could change for a particular task. For land value, they may currently be interested in properties of an exact value, within a range of values, or even properties to which no value is assigned. If they could select their own operator, the number of widgets required is minimized, and the app becomes a much more powerful tool.
