At the top of
each page is the form that displays all of the field values in a
record when you click on a key value in the Navigator. The form not
only displays the data, but provides a number of ways to work with
the field values.
Page Modes
The form has four page modes or states: Read, Add, Edit and Delete,
as follows:
Read Mode - Data is not editable, but you can click on
tabcontrols and scroll listboxes to view all of the information in
the record.
Add Mode - When you click the 'New' button the form is cleared, any
default values are filled in and the first field is selected, ready
for the user to enter data.
Edit Mode - Happens when the 'Edit' button is clicked, or the
user double-clicks on a key value in the Navigator. The record is
editable and you can change any values in the fields. User must
click 'Save' to save the changes, or 'Cancel' to cancel any changes.
Either puts the record back into 'Read' mode.
Delete Mode - This is only available when viewing records marked for
deletion by clicking on the 'Show Deleted Records' button on the
Navigator toolbar. Read more about this in the section called
'Deleting & Undeleting Records'.
Resize Modes
If you are using a 'Large Font' display setting on your computer,
the Tab Control on the form (top of page) may display a scroll
button, making it difficult to navigate the tabs. You can use the
'Resizing Option' on the Home page to restore the default size of
fonts and controls, or if you simply want to be able to stretch out
the tab control, click the right-arrow button (>) on the right side
of the Tab Control to stretch it manually. Each click stretches the
control a little more, and the left-arrow (<) button moves it back
again until it reaches its original width. Like all user
preferences, the size you change it to 'sticks' and will
automatically be applied the next time you open this form.
Special Field Functions
Many of the fields on each form have special features which can help
you add or edit data. These features can only be used when the
record is in Add or Edit mode.
Set A Default Value - fields and checkboxes with labels
ending with an asterisk (*) allow users to set a default value that
will be automatically filled in each time you create a new record.
To set a default, enter the value in the field, then right-click on
the field label and click on 'Set As Default'. Also you can clear a
default value by clicking on the 'Clear Default Value' option.
Auto-Fill Fields - Auto-fill fields look at data previously
entered in that same field, then try to 'guess' what the user is
entering and automatically fill in the rest of the value. Any field
where the label is printed in italics is an auto-fill field.
Date Fields - If a field is a date field, double-click in the
field to display a small calendar from which you can select a date.
Clicking 'OK' returns your selection to the field.
Number Fields - Double-clicking in a number field opens a
small calculator with the current value (from the field) displayed.
When you click 'OK' the last calculated value is returned to the
field on the form.
Memo Fields - Memo fields are large text fields that have a
scrollbar and can contains as much text as you wish to enter.
Double-clicking on a memo field opens a larger edit window which you
can stretch to fill the entire page so you have more room to enter
your data. Click 'OK' on the memo editor dialog to return the entire
text to the field on the form.
Hyperlinks - Fields that hold email addresses or website URLs
are displayed with blue underlined text and are active hyperlinks
when the page is in Read Mode (NOT in Add/Edit mode). The cursor
will change to a pointing hand and clicking the hyperlink once will
open your default email program (if it's an email address) or open
the website (if the text is an URL).
Other Field Types
Some drop-down lists have a button on the right side of them with a
green plus sign on the button. This button lets you add a new value
to the drop-down list and does it in a manner that guarantees that
duplicate values are not entered and that the data is formatted
correctly.
Listboxes allow you to enter different multiple values for each
record. Right-click on a listbox to popup a menu that lets you Add,
Edit or Delete an item from the list.
Fields that are greyed-out are never editable and are on the form to
display calculated values such as the 'Last Edit Date' which is on
every form, and sometimes the 'Last Editor' field, which is used
only on systems that require Security logins. Other calculated
values might be 'Total' fields which add up numbers users are
entering in other fields, etc.
The Active Checkbox
Every form has an 'Active' checkbox field, which is checked by
default. This designates that the record is active and available for
use throughout the system. If another form uses a list of values in
a drop-down list for example, ONLY the active records are read into
the list. Unchecking the 'Active' checkbox is one way to NOT allow
users to select that value again, but doesn't require deleting the
record from the database.
Using SpellCheck
Some text and memo fields display a Spell Check button next to them,
which you can use to verify the spelling of the data in the field.
The Spell Check dictionary is shared among all users in the
database, and any entries that you make will automatically update
the public dictionary.
The Toolbar
The toolbar above the form has features for working with each record
and is the same on every form. The buttons are:
New - Puts the page in 'Add' mode for adding a new record.
Edit - Puts the page in "Edit" mode and enables all fields
for editing.
Save - When the record is in 'Add' or 'Edit' mode, clicking
this button saves the record to the database.
Cancel - If the page is in 'Add' mode, this cancels adding a
new record and reloads the last selected record into the form. If
the page is in 'Edit' mode, this reloads the original record. The
record is returned to 'Read' mode.
Copy - Clicking this prompts the user for how many copies of
the current record to make (the default is 1). Each copy has the
word 'Copy' added to its key value and the Navigator automatically
filters to show only Copied records in the list so you can see which
ones are new (click the 'Show All' button on the Navigator toolbar
to show all records again). Editing and saving a new copy removes
the 'Copy' stamp from the key field.
Delete - Click this button to delete the current record;
you'll be given the opportunity to cancel the delete action. You can
also right-click to delete all of the records displayed in the
Navigator. You can use filtering to reduce the list to what you want
to delete (click the Help button on the Navigator for all filtering
methods). Again you'll be prompted to cancel the deletions.
NOTE: What Deleting A Record Really Does... When you click
the 'Delete' button the record is only marked for deletion, which
removes it from the active list of records in the Navigator. This
gives users the opportunity to 'Undelete' something if they find the
record is needed. To see all deleted records, click the 'Show
Deleted Records' button on the Navigator. When you view deleted
records, you will see a 'Deleted' checkbox next to the 'Active'
checkbox. To undelete a record, Edit it, then uncheck the 'Deleted'
checkbox and save it. To really erase the record from the database,
click the 'Delete' button while viewing deleted records. The data is
then completely erased from the database and cannot be recovered.
Print - This opens the print menu which is divided
into these sections:
Print... - Displays a list of options for printing the
current record only. These are defined in the Report Designer.
Reports - Displays a list of summary reports from
multiple records. These are defined in the Report Designer.
Labels - May display a list of label printing options
(from Label Designer), or simply open the Label
Setup dialog where users can choose options for printing labels.
Charts - Displays list of chart printing options,
which are defined in the Chart Designer.
Click here to view print option
selections that you may need to make when printing.
Attachments - The Attachment dialog lets you add file
attachments to each record. Click the 'Help' button on the
Attachments toolbar for more information.
Utilities
The utilities menu has several options for managing data:
Run Page Sync - When Page Syncing is available and
enabled, this option runs the page synching function to replicate
your current page with another database. See the help file on the
Home Page, on the Page Sync tab, for details. If Page Synching is
not supported or enabled, this option is hidden.
User Filter - Not available in all applications. This
option opens the Custom Search dialog (which is also available from
the Navigator for filtering records) for the purpose of defining a
filter FOR THE CURRENT USER ONLY to limit the number of records
being loaded into the page each time it opens. This is aimed at
improving load times in situations where there may be multiple users
on the same database and hundreds and even thousands of records on
any one page. Users can choose to limit the data that gets loaded by
defining a filter that brings a subset of data from the database
into the page. A User Filter is NOT shared; it only applies to the
user who creates it.
To create a user filter, follow these steps:
1) Select a field from the 'Find Records Where' drop-down list.
2) Choose the operator from the 'Choose Operator' list.
3) Enter a value in the 'Value' field. If you're looking for a empty
value, leave the field empty.
4) Click the 'Add Filter' button to add the filter to the list.
5) To add another search filter, choose the 'AND' or 'OR' option:
using 'AND' means the previous filter and the new one BOTH have to
be true; using 'OR' means either one must be true.
6) Follow Steps 1 through 4 for each additional search criteria, and
decide whether to use 'AND' or 'OR between each pair.
To remove a single filter in the list, click on it and click 'Remove
Filter'.
Click 'OK' to save the filter.
Import - This option is available only for users who
have System Administrator security access. In systems where Security
is not used, all users have System Administrator access; otherwise
you must specifically be setup in Security in that role. This option
lets you choose an external data source (Excel spreadsheet, Access
database or Tabbed-Text file) and then match the fields from it into
the fields on the page form. This is one way to get data from
another system moved into your current database without keying each
record.
Export - This allows users to export or save data to
another format (Excel spreadsheet, Access database, or tabbed-text
file). When exporting data, select the target file type from the
file dialog's drop-down list, then enter a name for the exported
file. If you choose to export to an existing Access database, you'll
be prompted with these options:
1) Replace all existing data with export data
2) Add to existing data, even if it creates duplicates
3) Update any duplicates and add other records as new ones
You must choose one of the options by clicking on it, or you can
cancel the export by clicking 'Cancel' on that dialog.
NOTE: When exporting data, only the records displayed in the
Navigator are exported. What that means is you can limit which
records to export by performing one or more searches before clicking
the Export option.
Reload Data - Typically the data you see in the Navigator is
loaded when the page opens and then remains cached (stored) on the
users computer without reloading it from the database. When multiple
users are connected to a database, however, like on a company
network, the only way to see other users' changes is to close the
page, then reopen it. Clicking the 'Reload Data' option does the
same thing without closing the page. Any changes made by other users
will then be seen in the Navigator.
Archive Data - This option is available on applications that
support Replication and for users who have System Administrator
security access. In systems where Security is not used, all users
have System Administrator access; otherwise you must specifically be
setup in Security in that role. This option is used to select data
that is not needed for daily use, but still needs to be available to
users as a reference. This is similar to applying a User Filter (see
above) as it limits the number of records that load into the page,
except it applies to all users of the database.
Instead of moving archived data to another database (as some systems
do), this method marks each record as 'Archived' which is then
excluded from loading when the page opens. Regular archiving can
dramatically improve performance on page loads, keeping record
counts down to only the data needed by users.
NOTE: When archiving data, only the records displayed in the
Navigator are affected. What that means is you can limit which
records to archive by performing one or more searches before
clicking this option.
To view archived data, users can simply click the 'Show Archived
Records' button on the Navigator toolbar. They can search and view
records and even copy them, which copies them as a new NOT archived
record. When a System Administrator views archived data, the
'Archive Data' option on the Utilities menu changes to 'Unarchive
Records'. Clicking on 'Unarchive Records' option moves the records
displayed in the Navigator OUT of the Archive state and back into
the standard list of records.
Full Page Button
This button is displayed if the page has one or more Tabs with
related records on the bottom of the page. Clicking it toggles the
Tab to fill the entire page, covering the form at the top, and then
returning it to the standard appearance. This gives you more room to
view records in the Tabbed grids.
