Attribute table - Replace the Add Field button by the Fields button

[MarieDucharmeFEC]

I suggest that the current "Add Field", which is the first button on the left at the top of the attribute table, be replaced simply by the Fields button.

Having the Field button there allows for more flexibility. Currently, if you want to open the Fields view, you have to go to the Top Ribbon, select the Table Ribbon, and then click on Fields.

I often have to modify fields, and I use the Add field button just because its closer, but I don't want to add a field. Having the field button instead would allow the user to open the Field view. If the user needs to add a field, she simply needs to click on the bottom.

[RTPL_AU]

@MarieDucharmeFEC 

I have the Quick Access Toolbar below the ribbon and have the Fields button pinned to it. 

But..  When I have the attribute table all the way over on another monitor it will be much more efficient to have a Fields button rather than an Add Field button.

[SSWoodward]

@MarieDucharmeFEC,  thanks for this idea. 

While it collects support, I'd also like to share that access the fields view is available in the hamburger menu in the upper right of the attributes table.

[RTPL_AU]

@SSWoodward 

From a design point of view, for those with multiple large monitors, the hamburger is bit of a drive to get to.  
Asking users to use it is like asking someone at Redlands to pop into a Buccees for lunch....

I highlighted the hamburger with some beetroot in the top right corner. 

This is an ultra-wide with a wide on top.

AT is usually on top.

Yes, my desktop is empty. 

I hope this adds some more context to the Idea.

There is an Idea to move the hamburger to the left of the Attribute Table window.

[SSWoodward]

Thanks for the additional context @RTPL_AU, its definitely helpful.  On monitors like those it is certainly a journey. 

[MErikReedAugusta]

Unless I'm mistaken, doesn't "Add Fields" also open the Field View for you to add said field?

To echo Marie's Idea another way: Why not just put the button that opens the Field View so you know you're about to be taken to another window?  You're going to end up there either way.  The current way makes sense to existing users only because it's "always been that way".

As a new user, I'd almost expect that to take me to the far right of my attribute table, with a blank header and a blinking cursor waiting for me to name the field, or to pop up a small dialog that only contains the boxes to fill in the settings for that field without showing me any of the other fields, more like the UI of the "Add Fields" GP Tool.  But neither is how the UI currently operates.  To new users, the current paradigm is potentially jarring and could be a minor barrier, essentially.

Marie's suggestion would be a great example of a tiny change with a wider-reaching benefit than it might first appear on its own.

[MarieDucharmeFEC]

- Seeing ESRi has not implemented this, you can get to the Fields view by right-clicking on any column header.

[SSWoodward]

@MarieDucharmeFEC Thanks for adding that!  I thought I had included that in my original response, but looking back, it never made it in there! It certainly helps with mouse travel on those large monitors. 

@MErikReedAugusta That sounds like a good idea thats separate from this one.  You should open an idea that focuses on that functionality so users can support it independently. 

[MErikReedAugusta]

@SSWoodward I was actually intending to just echo Marie's idea by pointing out that what she's suggesting is already what's happening in practice, but not what the button leads you to expect.

The only thing I can see in my post along the lines of a "separate idea" would be it kicking you to the last column in the Table and letting you add a field while still looking at your tabular data, which I actually think would likely be a pretty terrible UX in the context of Pro.  I could've probably been more clear on that.

So in short(er):

If you hit the "Add Field" button, it just opens the Fields View and puts your keyboard cursor in the empty name field of a newly-added field.  More sensible would be to just replace that button with a Fields View button as Marie suggests, which would more closely match reasonable user expectations based on button labels with actual software functionality.

[SSWoodward]

Thanks for clarifying.

The only thing I can see in my post along the lines of a "separate idea" would be it kicking you to the last column in the Table and letting you add a field while still looking at your tabular data...

This was precisely what I had identified as a discrete idea.