CartêGraph Training Navigator

Transcription

1 Navigator Agenda Overview Creating a Database Creating New Data Link Formating a Database Navigator Bar Connectivity Bar Toolbar Status Bar Records Adding Records Editing Records Saving Records Logging History Forms Designing New Forms Design Form Toolbox Design Form Toolbar Filters Quick Filters Filter Builder Expression Builder Prompting Filters Combining and Replacing Filters Show All Records Sorts Reports Selecting Fields Report Layout Grouping Headers and Footers Subreports Report Design Administrator Recordsets Fields Libraries Scripts Users and Roles Navigator

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3 Navigator Overview Notes Navigator is the environment through which CarteGraph modules perform. Navigator was designed to create a structure in which all other CarteGraph modules could reside. This environment lends itself to consistency in structure and design between all of the modules. The use of similar design assists the user in learning and utilizing multiple CarteGraph modules and also makes sharing data between modules easy and efficient. The Navigator training in which you are participating will instruct you on the use of tools that are common throughout the CarteGraph suite. These tools include items such as creating forms, designing filters, constructing reports, navigating through records, adding new fields, creating new records and archiving data. Systematically we will step through each of these features to prepare you to use these items in specific CarteGraph modules. Because the Navigator is more of a structural tool than a software module, we will be using various CarteGraph modules to demonstrate the functionality of the common tools found as part of the Navigator. Creating a Database To get started in the software we must first create a database. The database is the storage container for all of the data you wish to track. This database will record information for all modules you are using. Placing all of your data in one container allows for connectivity between the modules. With this connectivity between multiple modules you can create reports and gather information for all of your assets collectively. Creating a New Data Link To create this database, we will use the New Data Link wizard. This wizard is found under the File pull-down menu. On the first screen of the wizard we will create and name the new data link. The data link is a file that connects the Navigator page 3

4 Notes software on your local machine to the actual database. This file has a.cgd extension and can be stored locally or on the network for access by multiple users. After you have named the data link, you will also define what type of database you wish to create. CarteGraph software works with Microsoft Access, MSDE, SQL, and Oracle. For this example we will create an Access database. The New Data Link wizard helps you create new data links that connect to existing databases as well as creating new databases. This example walks through the steps of creating a new database. The steps in connecting to an existing database are similar. Once you have defined all of the parameters of this screen, click Next to advance to the next screen. Navigator page 4

5 On this second screen, define the type of environment in which you wish to use the database. If you choose a singleuser environment, the database and documents will be stored on your local machine. This is a good option for users who do not have a network or those who wish to use this database out in the field, disconnected from the network. A multi-user environment places the database and documents on a network for multiple users to access. Anyone who wishes to have multiple people using the database should choose this option. Notes Click Next to advance to the next screen. Navigator page 5

6 Notes This screen allows you to choose the name and storage location of your database. You may browse to any location on your local machine or network by clicking on the ellipsis button. You may move this data at a later time and simply reconnect to it at its new location using this New Data Link wizard. Once you have directed your database to the correct location you may click the Next button to advance. The last screen of the wizard gives you a synopsis of the choices you have made. If any of these choices are incorrect or you simply wish to change something, you may use the Back button to go back to any of these screens. When everything is correct, click on the Finish button to create the data link file. If you click on the Connect to the database when finished checkbox, the software will open your new database. Navigator page 6

7 Notes Formatting a Database New databases must be formatted before they can be used. Formatting creates the necessary table structure for your data. You will need to go through this formatting process for each module you wish to store in this database. If you have just created and launched a new database using the New Data Link wizard, the software will automatically launch the Format Database wizard. Otherwise, you may launch this wizard by clicking on the Format Database icon. This icon can be found on the toolbar from the Administrator page. On the Administrator page, you may also choose this command from the Actions pull-down menu. The first screen of the Format Database wizard will assist you in backing up your database. Backup copies of your database are very important! You may use this backup copy in the event anything would go wrong during the formatting of the database. It is recommended that you make a backup before making any structural changes to your database. The backup copy of your database will default to the same location as your original database. You may change the name and storage location for the backup from this screen. Click Next to advance the wizard. Navigator page 7

8 Notes The second screen of this wizard allows you to create a Project Home location for your database. The Project Home is a common storage location for forms, filters, reports and other files used in conjunction with this database. Using a Project Home allows multiple users to utilize common files easily. Navigator page 8

9 Next, you can choose the module for which you wish to format this database. As mentioned earlier, you will have to repeat this process for all of the modules being used. The wizard will not allow you to format the database for the same module twice. Note the Formatted column of this screen. Any module for which the database has already been formatted will be grayed out and the Formatted column will say Yes. Only the modules with No in the Formatted column are available for formatting. If you do not see the module you wish to format, the module is most likely not installed on this machine. Use your installation CD to install all of the modules you need and retry the formatting process. Notes On the next screen you will choose the startup data to load into the database. Startup data is data that is entered into library fields in the database before the user populates any records. Using startup data will assist you in data entry. There are different types of startup data. The first type is Version 4 Upgrade. You will use this selection if you are upgrading a database from version 4 to version 5. The second type is None. This choice should be selected if you wish to start with a completely empty database. The last choice or choices are specific to the module for which you are formatting. Most commonly you will see a choice for pavement data or the name of the respective module. Using this Navigator page 9

10 Notes choice will populate information in libraries with startup data such as industry standards or terms that are commonly used in regards to that specific asset. The last screen of the Format Database wizard shows a short synopsis of all of the choices you have made. Check through your choices to make sure they are correct. If you wish to change any of them, use the Back button to go to the screen you wish to modify. When you are finished, click the Finish button to begin the format process. Navigator page 10

11 Notes When you click the Finish button, you will see the database begin the format process. Multiple progress gauges will run, showing you the different stages through which the software is running. These gauges will vary in type and length and will also be different based on the module for which you are formatting. Allow all of these gauges to complete. Canceling any of these processes will cause the format process to abort and the database will have to be reformatted for this module later. When the database has been successfully formatted the software will prompt you with a message with this information. You will also be asked if you wish to format the database for another module. Clicking Yes will launch the Format Database wizard again. Continue to click Yes until you have formatted your database for all of the modules you wish to use. Navigator page 11

12 Notes When you have formatted all of the modules, click the No button to close the Format Database wizard. At the completion of the Format Database wizard, a prompt will appear asking if you wish to upgrade a Version 4 database. If you have a Version 4 database, see the document Upgrade Version 4 to Version 5 Document. If you are not upgrading a Version 4 database, click No to this prompt. When you have successfully formatted your database, from the Navigator bar you may click on the page you wish to begin using. Navigator Bar The Navigator bar is found on the left-hand side of the Navigator environment. This bar is extremely helpful when navigating between different sections of your database. You will see pages or icons on the Navigator bar. Each page icon links to a different portion of the CarteGraph software suite. As you see in the image of the Navigator bar you may have many different pages in your database. Clicking on a different page on this bar will move you to a new area of the database and a new module of the software. You may also have noticed the module grouping bars found throughout the Navigator bar. Each module has a group of icons that are accessible and necessary in order to utilize that software package. These icons include the Home page and the Administrator page. We will discuss each of these pages in further detail later, but it is important to note that these two icons are not linking to software modules as the other icons are. The Home page is simply an informational page that will link you back to the CarteGraph web site, as well as give you other helpful information. The Administrator page links you to the Settings area of the software. It is through the Administrator page that you will add and delete fields and recordsets, edit properties for existing fields and perform a host of other customization-type settings. Navigator page 12

13 You may customize the Navigator bar. Right-clicking on the Navigator bar will produce a menu of options that can be used to change the look and feel of the Navigator bar. You may change the size of the icons or you may change the whole configuration of the Navigator bar. If you select Configure from the menu you will see the following table. Notes From this dialog box you may change the names of the page groups. You may also select which page icons you wish to view and the order in which they appear. This is a great tool if you wish to make certain pages inaccessible to other users. The Navigator bar may be turned off completely by clicking on the View pull-down menu and selecting Navigator Bar. If you decide to turn it back on, click on the View pull-down menu and select Navigator Bar again. Navigator page 13

14 Notes Connectivity Bar It is easy to be confused about what assets work together when multiple pieces of data are stored in different areas of the software. The Connectivity bar simplifies these relationships between different assets in a visual tool. When you navigate to an asset record, the Connectivity bar will show all of the other assets that are connected to this asset. When you navigate to this Signal (Intersection) group, you notice the Connectivity bar shows all of the supports, head units, detectors, routes and nodes that are attached to this intersection. Viewing this relationship helps you to visually understand all of the components that work together to make this signalized intersection function. As you attach new assets to this intersection you will see them appear in the Connectivity bar. You may configure the Connectivity bar just as you configured the Navigator bar. Right-clicking on the Connectivity bar will produce a menu. Choosing Configure will produce the dialog box below. Navigator page 14

15 You may change the fields that you view in the Connectivity bar or you may choose to turn off certain connections. To turn off connections, simply uncheck the Show checkbox for the module connection you wish to turn off. To change the fields that you view when the Connectivity bar is on, click on the appropriate field column and select the field from the pull-down list. Of course, you may always click on the Defaults button to undo the changes you ve made to this configuration. Notes Toolbar The toolbar contains many of the common functions and commands you will use to navigate through the software. The tools found on this toolbar are common in all CarteGraph modules, but the toolbar can be customized to better fit your needs. It is important to note all of the commands or functions found on the toolbar are also accessible from the pulldown menus. These commands are simply laid out on the toolbar because of their commonality and frequency of use. We will discuss each of the tools in further detail below. The first icon on the toolbar is Open Data Link. You may use this tool to navigate between databases. You will be able to browse to additional data links when you click on this icon. The next two icons are the standard Windows print preview and print icons. These two icons are only highlighted and accessible when a report is printed to your screen. At all other times, these two icons will appear grayed out and will be disabled. This Open Form icon will allow you to browse to forms stored on your hard drive or other drives. If your system s Project Home is set up correctly, clicking on this icon will always open the location you have designated as your forms Project Home. You may use the Design Form tool to place your active form into design mode. Design mode allows you to add and delete fields from a form as well as edit the field order and design structure of the form. When you have placed a form in design mode, the Design Form icon will change to show you the Run Form icon shown at left. Clicking on this icon will place the form back into run mode in preparation for data entry. The Save icon is an important tool. This icon will allow you to save changes made to your record. However, if you forget to click on this icon before navigating to the next record, the software will prompt you to save the record. Navigator page 15

16 Notes Clicking on this New record icon will add a new, blank record to the database. After clicking on this icon, you may enter all of the new information for the new record. You may make a duplicate copy of your active record by using this Duplicate Record icon. This icon comes in handy when you have two assets with much the same information. An example might include two No Parking signs on the same block. These two records would most likely be the same size, be made of the same material, be mounted on the same type of post, etc. The only difference between the two records would be their location. In this example, you would enter the first record, click on Duplicate Record and change the location information for the new record. The Delete Record icon will remove records from your database. It is not advised to use this icon unless you want to permanently delete this record from your database. After the record is deleted, you will not be able to retrieve the information and you will have to re-enter the record. Refreshing your record is sometimes necessary to update information in the database. You may use this Refresh Record icon to refresh the data set in these instances. The next tools are Navigational arrows that assist you in moving through your data set. You may click on these icons to move backward and forward through your records. These icons will work on the database as a whole or on a filtered set. The arrows with the bar will move you to the first or last records in the data set, respectively. The single arrows will move you either forward one record or back one record at a time. The next group of icons deals with filtering your database. A filter allows you to break the whole database down into a set or subset of data that all have at least one common characteristic. For example, you may filter the database to find all of your segment records that have a pavement classification of AC-Asphalt Concrete. The funnel icon will open the Filter Builder where you may build these queries. The drop-down arrow allows you to access filters you have built and saved. Opening these saved filters will automatically activate that filter on the database. The funnel with the red X removes all filters to show all records. The last icon on the standard toolbar is the Help icon. You may click on this icon to open CarteGraph s Help files. The toolbar may be turned off completely by clicking on the View pull-down menu and selecting Toolbar. If you decide to turn it back on, click on the View pull-down menu and select Toolbar again. Navigator page 16

17 You may customize the standard toolbar to include the icons you wish to use, or you may create your own toolbar. These options are found under the Tools pull-down menu by choosing Customize. Notes Choosing Customize will open the following dialog box. From this dialog box you may click on the New button to create a new toolbar. You will be prompted to name the toolbar. When the toolbar is named you will see a new toolbar appear in the top left-hand corner of your screen. If you Navigator page 17

18 Notes click on the Commands tab, you can highlight categories of tools that may be added to the toolbar. These icons can be dragged onto either the new toolbar or the standard toolbar. Likewise, icons can be dragged back off of these toolbars to remove them. On the Tools tab you may create controls to run in conjunction with Navigator. For example, you can create a control to automatically launch ESRI s ArcView upon startup of Navigator. By clicking on the New button you can enter the name of the command you are creating. On the command line you may browse out to the ActiveX control you wish to connect to Navigator. Navigator page 18

19 Notes Status Bar The Status bar contains helpful information concerning your database. You may use this data to view which page you are in, what record you are on and how many records are in your current filtered set. The first piece of information you will find on the Status bar is the name of the page you are in. This is helpful if you wish to turn off your Navigator Bar. The ID area shows you the ID of the record you are currently accessing. It is important to always know which record you are viewing; with this feature you may see your record s ID without opening any forms. The next area displays which mode the record is in. This mode will display as viewing, adding or editing. Adding means a new record is being entered but has not been saved yet. Editing means an existing record has been changed and Navigator page 19

20 Notes needs to be re-saved. Viewing means the record has not been changed and is not in need of saving. You may view the number of records in your current data set in the next area. When a filter is applied, this count will show you how many records match the query statement. If no filter is applied, all of the records in your current working set will appear in this area. The Total area of the Status bar shows how many records you have in this page. This number includes every record in this page, regardless of applied filters or working sets. The last area of the Status bar contains the Filter and Sort display. When these display words are highlighted, that function is activated on the database. When these display words are grayed out, the respective function is inactive. Note in this example, the filter is activated but the sort is not. The status bar may be turned off completely by clicking on the View pull-down menu and selecting Status Bar. If you decide to turn it back on, click on the View pull-down menu and select Status bar again. Records A record is a collection of data relating to an asset. Your database will be made up of records, one record for each asset you wish to track. Although you will find many fields of information for each record it is important to note that you only need to populate the ID field for each record. This is the only field that is mandatory for data entry. As you look through the pre-defined forms that CarteGraph offers as part of each software module, notice the different field types you encounter. Each field holds data for a record. There are various types of data fields. Each type stores a different kind of data. Numeric fields for example, store numbers. Text fields store alphanumeric characters and lookup fields contain libraries of information. There are many other field types as well. Some of the more common field types are currency, date, time and quantity. It is important to use the appropriate field type for the data you wish to store. More information on adding fields and changing field properties can be found under the Administrator section of this workbook. A recordset is a collection of records and fields that describe the entire asset. Recordsets contain fields and/or other recordsets. There are two types of recordsets, parent recordsets and child recordsets. A parent recordset describes the asset records. Signs, Pavement Segments, Work Orders and Water Hydrants are all examples of parent recordsets. Child recordsets are a group of records and fields that relate back to the parent record. Records in a child recordset will have an one-to-many relationship with the parent record. Events, Inspections and Maintenance are all examples of child recordsets. For each parent record, it is possible to have many event records, multiple inspections or Navigator page 20

21 several maintenance activities creating that one-to-many relationship with the parent record. More information on recordsets and their relationships can be found under the Administrator section of this workbook. Notes Adding Records In order to create a database it will be necessary to add records. As mentioned earlier, each asset will have its own record. It is important to remember to add a new record for each asset so that you don t overwrite existing record information. To add a new record is very simple. You may click on the New Record command on the toolbar to create a new record, Ctrl R is the hotkey to perform this function. When you have done so, the Status bar will read Adding and all forms will be blank awaiting the data you will enter for this record. When you have finished adding the data you wish to enter, you must click on the Save Record icon to save the additions you have made. Once the record is saved you may navigate off of the record or close out of the program. Saved information will not be lost. Editing Records Records may be edited at any time. Data associated to a record may change periodically making it necessary to add to or edit record information. If a field of information has changed, you may simply type over the current data with the new information. Or, you may come back and add additional fields of data to the record later. In either scenario changes made to the record can be saved by using the Save Record command or Ctrl S. Saving Records Saving your records is an important task. You may perform this function in a host of different ways. You may click on the Save Record icon. You may use the hotkey combination of Ctrl S or you can click on the Records pull-down menu and select Save Record. Any of these methods is an acceptable means of saving the changes you have made to this record. If you should forget to save the changes you have made and attempt to scroll off of the record or exit the database you will be prompted to save your changes before you are allowed to exit. Navigator page 21

22 Notes Clicking Yes on this message will save the changes you have made. If you wish to return to the original state of the record, you may click on the No button. The changes you made to the record will not be saved. Clicking on Cancel will return you to the record to make additional changes. Using the Help button will open up CartêGraph s online Help menu. Logging History A great feature of CarteGraph software is its ability to track the history of an asset. This function is widely popular and has provided clients with invaluable data necessary to refute litigation, research problem areas and recognize potential hazards. When a record is saved an Event Entry dialog box will appear. You may fill in each of the fields of information and click on Save. The information entered in this dialog box will then be stored in the Events record set and will be viewed through the History form. Navigator page 22

23 Notes Data may also be entered directly through the History form. To do so, simply click on the New record icon on the toolbar of the History form. Your cursor will move to the first empty line. Type in the fields of information you wish to enter by tabbing through the available fields. When you have finished entering all of the fields you wish, tab out of that line of data and your information will be committed to the database. It is important to note that each line of the History form is its own record. The Events recordset is an example of a child recordset or that one-to-many relationship described earlier. We know it is a child recordset because there may be multiple event records for each asset record (i.e. a single traffic sign could be installed, cleaned, replaced, moved, etc.). The History form has its own toolbar because it is a child recordset. You may use these tools to navigate through the event records just as you would use the main toolbar to navigate through the asset records. Navigator page 23

24 Notes Forms Forms are a very important part of CarteGraph software. They are the mechanism through which you view information. It is also through the forms that you add, edit and delete data for a record. CarteGraph s software comes with many standard forms. You will find many of the forms in the various modules are much the same. Most modules will contain forms such as an Identification form, Features form, History form, Location form and Financial Summary form. This consistency lends itself to easier and more efficient use of multiple modules. Shown above is the Identification form from PAVEMENTview. All CarteGraph default forms will have much the same look and feel as this form. Designing New Forms You may also create your own forms. Under the Forms pull-down menu you will find a command for New Form. Recordsets, fields and commands may be added to a blank, new form to create your own customized data entry and viewing forms. When you add a new form you will see it appear as a blank, gray box with a grid-like pattern on it like the one following. You will also see a toolbox and a listing of available fields. Commands from this toolbox and fields Navigator page 24

25 Notes from the list may be dragged on to the form to create a customized form. Remember the form is only a tool through which you view or enter the data, the data itself is actually stored in the database. Knowing this illustrates why you could use just one form to view all of your records. Navigator page 25

26 Notes The above illustration shows a simple form created in WORKdirector. The fields you see on the form were simply dragged from the list of available fields in the Requests Fields list box. Many more fields and commands can be added to this form, but very simple forms may be created and used as well. As you get more accustomed to form design you may start to add more features to your forms. In addition to adding single fields, you may add whole recordsets to the form. Adding a recordset is simple. At the top of the list of available fields you will find folders. Folders indicate a child recordset, or a group of data that relates back to the parent record. Child recordsets have a one-to-many relationship with the parent record. In this example, we will add the Attachments recordset to the form. As in all child-parent relationships, there may be many attachments for each Request record. To add the recordset, simply drag the folder icon on to the form. Note in the following image the large white box. This is how a recordset will appear when added to the form. Navigator page 26

27 Notes Note the box above the recordset that says Label. This label box was added to the form by using this tool from the toolbox. You may add multiple label fields to the form to label all of the different areas of the form. These labels as well as all fields have properties boxes that allow you to change the caption of the label box or field and other settings. You can get to the Properties or Advanced Properties of these fields by right-clicking on the field you wish to modify. If you wish to group fields or recordsets together on your form, you may do so by adding a group box. Using this tool from the toolbox will add a group box to your form. After you have added the group box to the form, you may add the fields and recordsets you wish to have inside of the group box. This group box does not have any functionality, it simply groups items together to make viewing and using the form easier. Navigator page 27

28 Notes You may rename the group box. Right-click on the group box and choose Properties. Change the caption of the field and click OK. Navigator page 28

29 The name of the group box will automatically change when you click OK. Notes Design Form Toolbox There are many other tools in the toolbox that can be used to customize your forms. The tools in blue are CarteGraph tools. Take some time to familiarize yourself with each of these tools. CarteAttach: This tool allows you to add an attachment to your form. Some users use this tool to add their company logo to their form. CarteEdit; The CarteEdit tool adds a generic field to your form. Using the Properties configuration you may then bind this generic field to an existing field in your database. This is a great tool if you want to see that field of information in a different area of your form. You can make this field read-only and still data enter information through the original field, viewing it now in both places. CarteGrid: The CarteGrid tool adds a generic recordset to your form. Using the Properties configuration you may then bind this recordset to an existing recordset in your database. This is a great tool if you want to see those fields of information in a different area of your form. You can make this recordset read-only and still enter information through the original recordset fields, viewing it now in both places. CarteSchematic: You may add a schematic viewer to your form. A schematic viewer is a tool that assists in viewing sewer, storm and water components in these respective programs. Navigator page 29

30 Notes Design Form Toolbar The toolbar in design mode can be very helpful when designing forms. Most of the tools on this toolbar will help you align fields correctly on the form. You are familiar with the first icon. This Save icon saves the changes made to your form in design mode. The next four icons are alignment icons. You may use these icons to align fields with one another. If you highlight a field you would like to align with another field, hold down your control key and highlight the field with which you wish to align. These tools take some practice. Take some time to work with these tools until you have perfected their use. You may use the next two tools to center fields on your form either horizontally or vertically. To use these tools, highlight the field you wish to center and click on the respective icon. Make yourself familiar with these tools on a practice form. The spacing tools allow you to place even spaces between fields either horizontally or vertically. These tools are great for making neatly-spaced forms. button. If you would like to make your fields the same size as each other you can do so with the help of these two icons. Highlight the two fields you wish to make the same size and click on the appropriate sizing Using the Bring Forward or Send to Back commands will help you if you wish to have fields or other areas of the form overlapping. Whichever feature you wish to see on top can appear so by using these tools. After you have added all of the necessary fields to your form, it is important to determine the tab order for these fields. You can select the order in which you wish your cursor to follow when using your tab key. By default, the cursor will move to your fields in the order in which they were moved on to the form. To change this order click on the Tab Order icon. When you do so, the following dialog box will appear. Move the fields up and down using the up and down arrow keys to place them in the correct order. Note that the label fields are not automatically checked, as you would only want to tab to actual data fields. Navigator page 30

31 Notes The last icon is the Toggle Grid icon. The grid dots you see on the form when in design mode can be turned off. If you do not wish to view this grid pattern on your form, click on the Toggle grid icon to turn them off. When you have finished designing your form, remember to click on the Save icon on the form toolbar and place the form in run mode. From run mode you will be able to enter information onto the form. Filters Recalling data is a vital portion of any asset management program. Filters are designed to help you efficiently recall data from your database based on criteria you enter. You may use filters to find a specific record or a group of records with a common characteristic. For example, you may use filters to filter down to the stop sign at the intersection of First Avenue and Main Street or you may filter to find all of the stop signs in your city. It is important to note that filters work only inside the current working set. Filtering will not affect the working set selection you have made. When you activate a filter on your database you may be altering the number of records you are viewing. You are not, however, altering the total number of records in the database. It is important to watch your Status bar when placing filters on the database. The Status bar will show you how many records match the filter string and the word Filter will become highlighted when a filter is active. You may place filters on top of one another to tighten your filtered set further. For example, if you currently have a filter on your database to view all of your stop signs, it is possible to place an additional filter on your database to return just the signs in Zone 1. If you place the zone filter on your database without removing the stop sign filter you are in effect placing a filter on top of another filter and the records you are viewing would have to meet both criteria, or in other words they would have to be a stop sign in zone 1. Navigator page 31

32 Notes As you can imagine, finding the records you wish to view in a large database without the aid of a filter would be very frustrating and time consuming. CartêGraph has integrated into their software many different filtering methods. We will examine each of these methods. Quick Filters The easiest and quickest filtering method is the use of Quick Filters. These three filters are found by right-clicking your mouse in any field in the software. You will see a menu appear with your three Quick Filter choices: By Value, Excluding Value and Prompt for Value. The By Value filter will select records in the current filtered set that have the same value as the value for the field in which your cursor is active. For example, in the image below you see a sign record where the value for Sheeting Material is High Intensity Grade. Right clicking your mouse in the Sheeting material field and choosing By Value will return all of the signs in the current filtered set that are made with High Intensity Grade sheeting material. Navigator page 32

33 If you were on this same record and did not want to find all of the signs with High Intensity Grade sheeting material but instead wanted to find all of the signs made from Engineer Grade sheeting material you would want to use the Prompt for Value quick filter. This filter is used in much the same way as the By Value filter but you choose the value you want to find. When you right-click your mouse in the Sheeting Material field and choose Prompt for Value you will be prompted with the dialog box shown in the image. Notes From the pull-down arrows on this dialog box you may choose both the value you wish to find as well as the method by which you would like to search. In the Filter Properties pull-down menu you may filter by values that are equal to, start with, end with, greater than, less than, null or not null. Experiment with each of these options to see how they affect the records returned when used in the filter. When you have selected the criteria by which you want to filter you can click Activate to turn on the filter. The last quick filter is Excluding Value. This filter does just the opposite of the By Value filter. This filter will return all of the records that do not have the same value as the record you are on. Using the same example, if you want to find all of the records that do not have High Intensity Grade sheeting material you would right-click your mouse in the Sheeting Material field and choose the Excluding Value quick filter. Filter Builder The Filter Builder is the most complete filter-building tool and can be used to build any type of filter. However, it is most typically used when building long or complex filters. The Filter Builder can be accessed from its toolbar icon, or from the Filters pull-down menu. When you open the Filter Builder you will see the following dialog box. Navigator page 33

34 Notes Building filters in the Filter Builder is a three-step process: 1) Choose the field by which you wish to filter. 2) Choose an operation. 3) Choose the value for which you are looking. Choosing the field is an important step. You must know which field of information stores the characteristic by which you wish to filter. For example, if you want to find all of your stop signs you must know that the field of information that is populated to make the record a stop sign is the MUTCD code. It is this field that holds R1-1 the code for a stop sign. Not knowing this information will make it hard to choose the correct field and therefore will return incorrect results. You must familiarize yourself with the fields of data in your database before you will be able to filter effectively. The operation is the criteria through which the records value must meet the desired value. There are many different operations to choose from when running a filter. The types of operations will change depending on the type of field by which you are filtering. For example, if you a filtering by a numeric field you will have operations such as greater Navigator page 34

35 than, less than or is equal to. If you are filtering by a text field you will see operations such as starts with, ends with or contains. Lastly, if you are filtering by a date field you will see operations such as is before, is after and is through. Choosing the operation defines the criteria the record must meet in order to be considered part of the filtered set. If you choose an operation such as contains the record only has to contain the desired value as part of its own value, whereas if you choose is equal to, the records value must exactly match the value for which you are filtering. Having so many available operations by which to filter opens up a multitude of filtering options. Two other choices you will often see in the operations list are is null and is not null. Is null means empty. This choice should be used if you want to find all of your records where no value has been entered for that field. Inversely, is not null means not empty. This operation would be used when you wish to view records that do contain some value for that field. Notes The value column is where you enter the desired item or value for which to search. If you are searching for stop signs you would enter R1-1 in the value field. Navigator page 35

36 Notes As mentioned earlier, the Filter Builder allows you to create complex filters. A filter is considered complex if there are multiple statements in the filter. If you were looking for the stop signs on Ashworth Road you would need to add another line to the filter in the image. When you add more than one line item in a filter you need to choose decision criteria at the bottom of the filter builder. Your choices are AND or OR. If you choose to the make the statement an AND statement it means the record must meet the criteria for both of the line items. In order to be returned as part of the filter the record must be both a stop sign and on Ashworth road. On the other hand, if you use OR, the record only has to meet the criteria of one of the statements. In the above example, a record would be returned if it were a stop sign or if it were on Ashworth Road. Expression Builder There will be times when it is necessary to use both AND and OR statements in the same filter. If this is necessary the filter will need to be built in the Expression Builder. The Expression Builder is found by changing the view of the Filter Builder. Click on the Change View icon to switch to the Expression Builder. Note how the filter built in the Navigator page 36

37 Filter Builder appears in the Expression Builder. This is an important observation that makes using the Expression Builder much simpler. Notes In the Expression Builder it is necessary for you to manually type in the filter string by either using your keyboard or by using the buttons at the bottom of the builder and choosing fields and functions. When writing expressions you may use any of the characters or words at the bottom of the builder in addition to the choice of fields and functions available to you under the respective buttons. The parenthesis, brackets, ANDs/ORs and other options need to be precise when using the Expression Builder. Sometimes it is difficult for new users to feel comfortable writing filter strings through the Expression Builder. This knowledge may be gained in an advanced training class or with a call to CarteGraph Technical Support. However, we do offer a suggestion that makes using the Expression Builder much less complicated. It is suggested that you build the filter string through the Filter Builder and change the appropriate words and punctuation through the Expression Builder. Note the following examples. If you wish to write a filter that will find all of the stop signs on Ashworth Road or Aspen Drive it is necessary to use both an AND statement and an OR statement. Navigator page 37

38 Notes Logically, we know that the records must meet the condition of being a stop sign AND they must also be on Ashworth Road OR Aspen Drive. We know that we can t make the pull-down choice at the bottom be set to both AND and OR so we much switch views to the Expression Builder. When we do that, we can simply change the AND between the statements Route is equal to Aspen Drive AND Route is equal to Ashworth Road. Switching that to an OR will build the filter string for the records we wish to find. Note how the AND is changed to an OR in the Expression Builder image following. Navigator page 38

39 Notes To change the AND to an OR, simply highlight the AND and click on the OR at the bottom of the Expression Builder. You may have noticed the Save and Save As buttons on the Filter Builder. You may save filters that you have created. This is helpful if it is a filter you will want to use again. To save the filter simply click on the Save button and give the filter a name. The filter will default to saving in your project home location. If you would like to save the filter elsewhere, you may browse to any location and save the filter. When a filter is saved it will be available for reuse later. You can reuse the filter by selecting it from the pull-down menu on the toolbar. You may also reuse a saved filter by opening the Filter Builder and clicking on the Open button. When you have clicked on the Open button, simply browse to the location where you have saved the filter and open the appropriate filter file. Navigator page 39

40 Notes Prompting Filters Prompting filters are great filters to build, save and use again. A prompting filter will prompt you for the value you wish to find. Prompting filters need to be built using the Filter Builder but can be simple or complex. To build a prompting filter, replace the value column with a question mark. You may also enter quotation marks surrounding a word or statement that will identify to the user what is to be entered in the prompt when it appears upon activation of the filter. Note the example. When you activate this filter you will be prompted with a dialog box to enter the value you wish to find. Enter or select the value for which you are filtering and click Activate. The next time you wish to use this filter you Navigator page 40

41 can filter for the same value or for a different value. As long as you save this filter you may use it over and over, finding as many different values as necessary to recall the desired information. Notes You may also create complex prompting filters. Add as many line statements to the filter as you wish. It is OK to integrate complete filter statements - lines that contain a value - with prompting filter statements. Combining and Replacing Filters If you currently have a filter active and you wish to either combine it with a second filter or replace it with a new filter you may use the Combine Active With and Replace Active With actions from the Filters pull-down menu. Combine Active With allows you to combine an active filter with another filter. However, the second filter must have already been created and saved. To use this command, simply click on the Filters pull-down menu and highlight Combine Active With. When you highlight this choice, you will see a list of your saved filters from which to choose. Choose the filter you wish to combine with the active filter and it will automatically activate. Replace Active With will remove the current, active filter and replace it with the saved filter you select. Again, in order to use this command the filter you wish to use must have already been created and saved. Navigator page 41

42 Notes Show All Records The Show All Records command removes filters. It is imperative that you remove any active filters on the database before activating a new filter unless you wish to combine filters. When you click on the Show All Records icon, all filters will be removed. When filtering a database it is not uncommon to receive the following dialog box: There are several reasons why you may recieve this message: 1. There simply aren t any records that meet the criteria of the filter. If you have queried to find all of the signs mounted at greater than 8 feet, you may not find any records matching that criteria if the highest mounting height at which you mount signs is 8 feet. 2. You may have activated a filter when a previous filter was still applied. In this scenario you may be filtering to something that is impossible. If you have a filter applied to find all of the signs with reflectorized buttons and apply a new filter to find all of the signs that have a null value for reflectorization you will receive this message. In this instance, click on the Show All Records icon and reapply your filter. 3. You may have built the filter incorrectly. In this case, contact CarteGraph Technical Support if assistance is needed. Sorts A powerful tool in CarteGraph software is the Sort function. The Sort function groups like items together to organize records for more efficient access to your data. You may sort on many different types of fields in your database including fields from child recordsets. There are multiple ways to sort in the software. You may access the Sort command by right-clicking on any column of a grid list such as the History form, an open lookup field or Record Control. Right-clicking in this area will produce a menu from which you may choose Sort Ascending or Sort Descending. When you choose to sort on a grid list you may only apply a sort to one column at a time. Sorting a second column will remove the sort from the first column and sort the second column accordingly. Navigator page 42

43 To sort on more than one field at a time you must set up the sort through the Filter Builder. Notes The Sort Builder is incorporated into the Filter Builder as a second tab. In this tab you may choose multiple fields on which to sort. You can even choose which fields should be sorted ascending and which should be sorted descending. When more than one field is chosen, the database will group the records by the first sorted field. If there are records that share a common value in the sorted field, it will then sort by the second field in the Sort Builder. This process will continue until it has sorted the records by all of the fields selected in the Sort Builder. Just like filters, sorts may be saved to be used again later. You may save a sort along with a filter that is built on the Filter tab, or you may save the sort alone. If you build both a sort and a filter together they will both be applied when the file is recalled. You may recall this file by choosing it from the pull-down menu on the toolbar or by opening and activating it through the Filter/Sort Builder. Navigator page 43

44 Notes Reports In any good asset management program it is important to track your assets and keep good records of changes that occur in your system. However, it is equally important to be able to retrieve this information. Navigator has a built-in report generator to assist you in reporting on data within the system. Many different types of reports can be created with the multiple settings in the Report Builder. This tool is found under the Reports pull-down menu. When you click on the New Report option at the top of this menu, you will receive a gray-colored, empty area in which you can start creating your report. Along with this new report area you will see a field chooser box and a Property Toolbox. Both of these boxes can be used to build and revise your reports and adjust their respective settings. When creating a new report, you must decide the recordset on which you want to report. This step is important. The recordset you choose will determine what fields you have available to you in the field chooser box. If you want to view fields from child recordsets on your report it is important that you choose the appropriate child recordset in this area of Navigator page 44

45 Notes the Report Builder. To choose a recordset, click on the Report Recordset icon. In the Report Recordset dialog box, click on the ellipsis button, highlight the recordset on which you want to report and click OK. From this same dialog box, you may also build the filter you would like to use for your report. Clicking on the Filter/Sort Navigator page 45

46 Notes button will bring you to the Filter Builder. Use the Filter Builder to identify the filtered set on which to report. For more information on filtering, see the Filters section earlier in this manual. Selecting Fields When you have selected the recordset on which you are going to report and have added the appropriate filter, you may begin selecting fields for your new report. Choose fields by highlighting the field you want and then dragging and dropping the field onto the gray area. Navigator page 46

47 Report Layout Both table-style and form-style reports can be created. A table-style report creates multiple columns across the page with the data appearing in rows. This style mimics that of a spreadsheet and is best used when you want to report on a few fields of information on numerous records. Notes Navigator page 47

48 Notes Form-style reports allow you to create columns with multiple fields per column and is best used when you wish to report on numerous fields of information. Navigator page 48

49 Choosing the style of report is as easy as selecting where to place the label for the field. If you want to build a formstyle report, simply drag the whole field over to the report area and the label will print directly in front of the field, making a form-style report. If you wish to make a table-style report, drag the whole field over to the report area and right-click on the label. Choose Cut, click in the PageHeader area and then choose Paste to insert the label into the PageHeader area of the report. Notes Grouping There are many other options to consider when building a report. The next option we will explore is the Group function. Grouping allows you to group like items in the report and create formulas specific to the group. For example, if you created a report to show all of the street markings in your jurisdiction, you could group them by Material Code. Placing the group on that report would, by default, show you how many markings you had for each code. You could also create formulas such as the total area you have for each marking. To enter a group, right-click anywhere in the report area and choose Insert Group Header/Footer. Drag the field by which you wish to group into the GroupHeader1 area. You may group on multiple fields; doing so will break your groups into subgroups. To group on an additional field, follow the directions above to create another GroupHeader bar. Right-click on the GroupHeader2 bar, choose Data Source, select the field, then click OK. Navigator page 49

50 Notes Headers and Footers Using Headers and Footers in a report can be very effective, especially if you use them in conjunction with a group. You may utilize formulas in a footer to calculate certain items. Using these calculations can help highlight specific data for each group of records. You may drag the field on which you wish to calculate into any of the footer areas. Highlight the desired field in the footer area. In the Property Toolbox, set the properties for the calculation. Use the properties as follows: To Average: Set the SummaryFunc to 1-ddsFAvg and the SummaryType to 0-ddSMNone To Sum: Set the SummaryFunc to 0-ddsFSum and the SummaryType to 1-ddSMGrand Total To Count: Set the SummaryFunc to 2-ddsFcount and the SummaryType to 0-ddSMNone Navigator page 50

51 The example below illustrates summing on Pavement Area in the GroupFooter1 area. Notes Subreports A subreport is often defined as a report within a report. Inside of a report, you may add an additional report using data from a recordset that is child to the recordset in which your main report is created. For example, a report can be created in the Markings recordset with an Inspection subreport created inside. Please note that the subreport, or the report from the child recordset, should be created first. To create this subreport, see details on creating a new report earlier in this manual. Navigator page 51

52 Notes To add the subreport to your main report, drag the Detail portion of the report to resize it so that it becomes wide enough to accommodate the subreport. Click on the Selection Tool pull-down arrow. Choose Subreport from this list. In the Detail area, drag your cursor to draw the subreport. You can change the size of the subreport at any time. Right-click in the SubReport1 area and choose Data Source. From the browser, choose the name of the subreport you wish to attach to the report. Navigator page 52

53 Report Design After you have added all of the data-specific information to the report, you may add additional cosmetic items to make Notes the report more attractive and easier to read. To add these items, click on the Selection Tool pull-down arrow. You may choose to add lines, page breaks, rectangles, images or other objects. From this list, click on the item you wish to add. Drag your mouse on the report, placing the item where you would like to see it. Note the line, rectangle and label added to the report below. Navigator page 53

54 Notes Another way to make the report more readable and attractive is to add different fonts and colors. You may add these items using the Property Toolbox. To change the font or the color, highlight the field or label you wish to change. In the Property Toolbox, change the appropriate setting. Certain types of formatting can also be accomplished using icons on the main toolbar. Note in the following image, the font change to the label Inspections and the color changes to the field label names. Navigator page 54

55 When you have finished making changes to your report, save it. Click on the Report Preview icon to view it. Notes If you would like to make additional changes to the report, you may do so at any time. Click on the Design Report icon to go back and make changes. Please note, changes made to a report must be saved. You may save your changes by clicking on the Save icon when the report is in design mode. If you have already run the report and would like to save it from run mode, you may close the report and save it by clicking Yes to the save prompt. CartêGraph default reports that ship with the software can also be edited. If one of the reports CartêGraph has built is very close to a report you would like to use but needs some minor tweaking, feel free to run these reports, place them in design mode and make the necessary changes. When you are saving the changes you have made, it is recommended that you use the Save As command. You will be prompted to name the report. Use a name other than the report name CartêGraph has used. Simply saving edits to the canned report and not changing the name can cause you to lose these changes the next time you upgrade your software. Navigator page 55

56 Notes Administrator Administrator is a separate page on the Navigator bar and is accessed as all other pages in the software. Many of the functions and settings used in the various modules are created and performed in the Administrator area. The Administrator acts as the control center for Navigator. Inside the Administrator page you can create, edit and delete recordsets and fields, as well as create and changes scripts and define security. Recordsets There are many key areas to be discussed regarding the Administrator, but most important are the recordsets. Each of the modules for which the database is formatted will have a parent recordset, or the recordset where all of the fields of data are stored. The PAVEMENTview module has the Segments recordset as an example. There are also many recordsets that all of the modules share, such as the Routes recordset. These recordsets can be edited to customize the software to fit your needs. You may not add parent recordsets unless you are using the VERSAtools module. However, you may add child recordsets. A child recordset is a recordset within a recordset. Child recordsets typically have a one-to-many relationship with the parent recordset. Using PAVEMENTview as an example, the Inspections and Events recordsets would be considered child recordsets. For each segment record in the main recordset there can be many inspection or event records. This relationship is the common parent-child relationship between recordsets. To add a child recordset, open the parent recordset to which you wish to add. Click on the New Recordset icon. The Properties dialog box will appear. This box holds all of the settings to configure for the recordset. Navigator page 56

57 Notes Enter in the name of the recordset in the area next to the yellow folder. As you tab down, the name you entered above will automatically appear in the ID line. The name entered on the ID line can be changed at any time if you decide to use a different name. In the Description field, you may enter notes on how you wish this field to be used. If you would like the recordset to be read-only, you may configure it as such by clicking in the Read-only checkbox. Navigator page 57

58 Notes After you have finished configuring the General tab, click on the Data Source tab. In this area you will define the physical table name for this field of data in the database. If you were to open the database using the proprietary software in which the database was built, you would see this table name. It is important to note that this table name must follow certain naming conventions. The table name must contain no spaces and cannot be the same as a table that already exists in the software. Navigator page 58

59 In the next image, you will see that the Display tab contains additional settings to configure. The Ordered area allows you to customize the order in which your records are displayed. Checking this setting will display the records in this recordset in the order in which they are entered. The default sort order - chronological, numerical or alphabetical - will not be utilized. Notes You may apply a filter or sort to the recordset using the Filter And Sort area. Creating a filter or sort in this area of the software will apply the filter or sort to this recordset in the database all of the time, regardless if you click on the Show All Records icon. You may, however, later remove this filter or sort from within this same area of the Administrator if you wish to have access to all records in the recordset. Quick Filters can be applied to lookup fields. The use of quick filters narrows down the number of options in the lookup list. This makes it easier to find a value in a long library list. When quick filters are applied you will see a drop-down arrow in the lookup list box, allowing you the choice to view the filtered set of values or the whole list. Navigator page 59

60 Notes On the Other tab you have the choice to Store a Local Data Copy. Checking this box will load a copy of this recordset to a cache file. Using this option will make values in this library appear on screen faster because the software is pulling the value from a copy stored locally on your hard drive rather than having to call to the server to retrieve the information. This option is also the setting that creates smart text available for the field. The Bulk Read Count setting declares how many records to retrieve when the software calls to the database for information. If this recordset is used frequently, it may be necessary to increase the number of records that are returned and read with each call to the database. Increasing this number will retrieve records with each call speeding up the recall of this recordset. However, setting this read count higher for all recordsets can, in turn, decrease the speed of your system by trying to recall too much information at one time. Navigator page 60

61 Auto-archiving records can assist you in recalling the past condition of the database. For example, if it is necessary to know when this recordset was updated with new information you can run a rollback report to see when changes and updates were made to the recordset. There are three options for auto-archiving. You may auto-archive additions, updates or deletions to the recordset. Notes Fields Inside the recordsets are fields. Fields store information for the records. Typically fields have a one-to-one relationship with the record in that recordset. For each record in that recordset the field may hold only one value. You may add as many new fields to the database as you need. To add a new field, double-click on the recordset to which you wish to add the new field and click to the right-hand side of the screen. Click on the New Record icon. Enter in the name of the field on the line next to the blue book icon. As you tab down, the name you entered above will automatically appear in the ID line. The name entered on the ID line can be changed at any time if you decide to use a different name later. Navigator page 61

62 Notes Each field must be defined with a field type. The type of field that you create will depend on what kind of information you wish to track. Attachment: An attachment field should be created when you wish to attach additional files to your record. This type of field will store many types of files including, but not limited to,.jpg,.bmp,.avi,.xls,.txt,.wav, and.apr. Currency: A currency fields stores values to be displayed as money. This field will not store alpha characters. Date: Date fields store calendar dates and can be configured to display as long or short dates. This field will not store alpha characters. Date/Time: A date and time field will store both a calendar date along with a time value. This field will not store alpha characters. Integer: Integer fields should be used when you wish to store numbers as whole values. This field will not store alpha characters. Navigator page 62

63 Lookup: A lookup field accesses a library list of values. In order to create a lookup field, a recordset library must already have been created. This recordset contains the values to be accessed. Notes Number: A number field stores numbers and can be displayed as whole numbers or numbers containing decimals. This field will not store alpha characters. Quantity: A quantity field is a number with a unit. This type of field should be used when you wish to store measurements. You may not add new units to this list, but quite an extensive list of units is provided. Text: A text field will store any type of character. This field should be used when both alpha and numeric values need to be displayed. Time: A time field tracks time values. This field will not store alpha characters. Yes/No: A Yes/No field displays as a checkbox. If you enter a check in the box it displays as Yes. An empty checkbox is considered to be a No value. In the Description field, you may enter notes on how you wish this field to be used. If you would like the field to be read-only, you may configure it as such by clicking in the Read-only checkbox. When you have configured all of the settings on the General tab, click to the Data Source tab. The Data Source tab displays the table and column name where this field of information will be stored in the database. You may check the Indexed box on this tab to index the field. Indexing the field will speed up the retrieval of data when performing a filter or query expression. However, indexing a field may slow down the entry of data and should be used only on fields that are queried often. Navigator page 63

64 Notes The Field Size pull-down allows you to set the size of the field. The number entered in this area indicates how many characters may be entered in this field. If you try to enter more characters than the field allows, the software will return a prompt indicating that. If you would like the field to store an unlimited amount of characters, you may click on the Unlimited Text checkbox. Navigator page 64

65 If the field type for your new field is set to Lookup, this tab will appear differently. For a lookup field you will see additional fields for you to enter a data source recordset and unique field. You will populate these fields with a library recordset that contains a text field configured to be unique. This recordset and field must be created prior to adding the lookup field. Notes Navigator page 65

66 Notes The Display tab allows you to either configure the field with an initial value or set up the field to auto number. When an initial value is set for the field, that value will appear as the default value for that field for each new record that is entered. The value can be changed if needed, but it eases data entry if most fields use a particular value. On the other hand, if you wish to use this field as a numbering field you may configure the numbering sequence by entering a prefix, suffix and next available number. Navigator page 66

67 You may use the Validation tab to configure the field as unique. Doing so will not allow two records to have the same value. This setting is great for fields such as ID or social security numbers. The other setting on this tab configures the field as required for data entry. When this setting is used, a record will not be able to be saved until a value has been entered in this field. Notes Navigator page 67

68 Notes You may add your new field to various field categories on the Categories tab. Adding your field to a category will make the field available under that category when you are trying to choose a field from a field list under such actions as filtering, sorting or grouping. Libraries Libraries are included in the database to hold pools of information that will be used repeatedly. An example is the Cities library. You may enter the names of the cities you commonly use. This library of data will be used in each of the modules as the pull-down list for the City field. Using common libraries such as this saves time in data entry. Libraries are recordsets and are added like any other recordset. However, a library recordset must contain at least one text field and that field must be configured as a unique value on the validation step of the field creation. See the information on adding recordsets and fields for additional information. Navigator page 68

69 Scripts CarteGraph software has been coded using Microsoft Visual Basic Script. The scripts used to perform various actions and functions in the software are found in the Administrator under the Scripts area. These scripts may be modified to create new functions or edit existing actions. Be aware, however, that changing existing scripts may alter how the program functions. Notes You may open existing scripts by double-clicking on the script. You may modify the script by writing additional code in VBScript or you may add new scripts to the software in this area. Users and Roles The Users and Roles area of the software can be used to add security to the database. A security file must be written in the proprietary software in which the database is created. After the security file is created and attached to the database, you may set up categories of users to receive specific permissions to the database. Navigator page 69

70 Notes How Do I......Change the name of a field? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2. Double-click on the recordset in which the field resides. 3. Right-click on the field. 4. Choose Rename. 5. Enter the name to which you wish to change the field. 6. Click off of the field and the name will be changed....add a new recordset? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2. Double-click on the recordset in which you wish to create the recordset. 3. Click on the right side of the screen to change focus to this area. 4. Click on the New Recordset icon. 5. On the General tab, name the recordset. 6. In the Data Source tab, name the new table in which to store the recordset data. 7. Change the settings you wish to use on the other tabs in this area. 8. Click on OK to save the settings for the new recordset....add a new field? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2. Double-click on the recordset in which you wish to create the new field. 3. Click on the right side of the screen to change focus to this area. 4. Click on the New Field icon. 5. On the General tab, name the new field. 6. Also on the General tab, define the type of field you wish to create. 7. If you want to create a lookup field, see separate instructions below....add a new lookup field? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2. Double-click on Libraries. 3. Click on the right side of the screen to change focus to this area. 4. Click on the New Recordset icon. Navigator page 70

71 5. On the General tab, name the library. 6. In the Data Source tab, name the new table in which to store the library data. 7. Change the settings you wish to use on the other tabs in this area. 8. Click on OK to save the settings for the new library. 9. Double-click on the new library you just created. 10. Click on the right side of the screen to change focus to this area. 11. Click on the New Field icon. 12. On the General tab, name the new field. 13. Also on the General tab, click on the type field and change the type to text. 14. Click on the Validation tab and click on the All values must be unique (don t allow for duplicates) checkbox. 15. Click on OK to save the settings for the new field. 16. Close the Libraries area by clicking the (-) sign next to libraries. 17. Double-click on the recordset to which you wish to add the lookup field. 18. Click to the right side of the screen to change focus to this area. 19. Click on the New Field icon. 20. On the General tab, name the new field. 21. Also on the General tab, click on the type field and change the type to lookup. 22. Click on the Data Source tab. 23. Click on the ellipsis button to the right of Lookup Source Recordset. 24. Choose the library created in the above steps. 25. Click on the Unique Field pull-down arrow and choose the new field created in the library. 26. Scroll through the other tabs in this area and configure the field as you desire. 27. Click OK to save the settings for this new field. Notes...Enter default data? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2. Double-click on the recordset in which the field you wish to configure resides. 3. Double-click on the field you wish to configure. 4. Click on the Display tab. 5. Click on the Initial Value option and enter the default value. 6. Click OK to save the new setting for the field. Navigator page 71

72 Notes...Configure a field to auto-number? 1. Click on the Administrator page. 2 Double-click on the recordset in which the field you wish to configure resides. 3. Double-click on the field you wish to configure. 4. Click on the Display tab. 5. Click on the Auto Number option. 6. Enter the Prefix, Suffix and Next Available number. 7. Click OK to save the new setting for the field. Did You Know......You can customize all grid views in the software? To customize a grid list, right-click on the column you wish to hide. Choose the Hide option. To view hidden columns, right-click on any column and click on Properties. Choose the field you wish to view and remove the check mark in the hidden column. In the Properties area, you can also change the column width. You can also freeze columns in this grid list. Freezing will keep the frozen columns stationary on the far left as you scroll with your scroll bar. In the Properties area, you can use the arrows to change the position of the columns. Highlight the column you wish to move and click either on the up or down arrow to change positions....you can add a filter or sort to a recordset? In the Administrator, right-click on the respective recordset and choose Properties. On the Display tab, click on the ellipsis button and create the filter you wish to add to the recordset....you can add scripts to your forms to perform customized functions? Simply put the form in design mode, add a command button, put the form into script mode, and add the script that performs the calculation....you can add formulas to reports to calculate numeric information? In the Report Builder, formulas can be added to the footer to sum, average or count records. Special formulas can also be built using the Expression Builder. Navigator page 72

73 Exercises (using the Carteville sample database) Notes Add a New Field 1. Click on the Administrator Page on the Navigator bar. 2. Double-click on the Segments recordset. 3. Move your mouse to the right side of the screen and click. This will change focus to the right-hand side of the screen. 4. On the tool bar, click the New Field icon. 5. The cursor will be flashing in the field name field; enter Contains Turn Lane?. 6. Tab to the Type field. From the pull-down menu, enter Yes/No. 7. Check your work against the form below. Do you have the correct information in the correct fields? Navigator page 73

74 Notes 8. Click on the Data Source tab. 9. Tab to the Column Name field, enter TurnLane. 10. Check your work against the form below. Do you have the correct information in the correct fields? 11. Click on the Display tab. 12. If most of your roads contain a turning lane, you can type Yes in the Initial Value field. This will cause all new records to default to a value of Yes in this field. 13. Check your work against the form below. Do you have the correct information in the correct fields? Navigator page 74

75 Notes 14. Click on the Validation tab. 15. Note the options you have on this tab, however, for this exercise we will leave this area blank. 16. Click on the Categories tab. 17. Note the options you have on this tab, however, for this exercise we will leave this area blank. 18. Click OK. You will see your new field appear in the Segments recordset. This field can now be added to forms for data entry. Create a Filter 1. Click on the Filter Builder icon. 2. In the Field column, choose City. 3. In the Operation column, choose is equal to. Navigator page 75