Editing Forms

FF&EZ's basic interface is a "point and shoot" type. This simply means that you focus on a particular thing by going to it, that is, by pointing to it with a mouse or "tabbing" to it with the [Tab] key. Then you tell FF&EZ what to do with it. For instance:

View the vendor list by clicking on the Vendors button (or pressing the [F3] key on the keyboard, and Add a new vendor to it.
Highlight a specific vendor and Edit it. Then, highlight a specific field with a mouse-click or the [Tab] key and enter data into it.
Highlight a specific vendor and Clone it to create a version in a different sales district.

This is the opposite of the usual Windows menu system, which is designed for generic menus, not specialized "vertical market" applications. FF&EZ's command structure eliminates the wading through sub-menus that is typical of generic menus (for more, see "Menu System"). The basic layout of FF&EZ's data forms is designed to complement this interface, by exposing the things you are most likely to use at any given point, and hiding irrelevant commands.

Note: if you wish to learn about specific editing forms, you can press F1 while you are on the form in question. This will display this help system for that form. You can also go directly to the Design Reference (or Purchasing Reference if you have that version) for the main screens of each module.

Common Features

Although the forms on which you maintain data in FF&EZ have some differences, they all have the basic features highlighted below, along with a number of time-saving shortcuts that you will find useful:

Views (Application Map)

This set of buttons at the top left corner gives you access to all of the major data forms from any other one. This allows you to switch to, say, the vendor form while entering a specification and create the vendor for that specification first. Note that the project-specific forms (beneath the Projects button) are not available unless you have used the Open command on the Project List form to open a project.

If you are working on an item and use a Views button to select the screen for a "parent" of that item (e.g., you are looking at specifications and select the Vendor Screen), FF&EZ will position the parent form on the related record (in this case the vendor for the spec).

With two exceptions, you can access any of the major forms from any other major form by simply clicking the appropriate button under "Views" (or the assigned function key) and without closing the form you are on. The exceptions are:

Project-related forms (areas, rooms, etc.) are not accessible unless you have selected a project and opened it using the Project Form's Open button.
While you are using a dialog box, a sub-form of a major form or a processing screen, these typically require a response or cancellation before you can continue to other forms.

If you have purchased the Design/Purchasing version, you will see additional Views buttons for purchasing-related functions that are part of that version (see the "Purchasing" help section for more about these).

List box

The window at the top of the form shows an overview of the items in the table, in this case, the Vendor List. You can click on most column titles to re-sort the list by that column, either in ascending order or descending (by pressing the [Shift] key at the same time). The column that is currently used for sorting will have its title displayed in boldface. When you use the Query Tool, this list will display only those records that meet the query.

Double-clicking a row automatically puts you in "edit" mode of whatever item the row (not the cell) represents (e.g., the current specification if you are on the Spec Screen or the current vendor if you are on the Vendor Screen). You can also double-click a field on the screen to start editing mode on that field.

Column widths and font sizes

The width of any column in a list can be adjusted by either: 1) "grabbing" the edge of the column title by holding down the mouse button while you drag to a new width, or 2) by double-clicking on the right edge of the column title to expand or contract to the "ideal" width for the column's current contents.

On the right side beneath the list there are two buttons that can enlarge or shrink the text size in the list to either make it easier to read or to fit more rows within the list.

Finding items in the list

At the bottom of the list box, you will find two tools: The Find tool lets you do an alphabetical search using the current sort order, so that typing some or all of a name or ID and pressing Enter will quickly take you to that row in the sorted column. The Search tool allows you to find any character expression in a field that you select, and lets you repeat the search to find each match or create a simple query from your search criteria.

On some complex lists, the main sort order column may show all identical items in the sort order in a boldface color to help you see the beginning and end of that group (e.g., all items in a room).

List Box Functions

The List Box includes two quick ways to find specific items in the list:

Find

When you click on a column header on one of the data forms, the list is re-sorted in that order using an "index." The Find box is a way of finding something quickly by using one of these indexes and just a few starting characters of the item you want to find.

By default, the index shown will be the one currently used to sort the List (but you can use another one). As an example, if you have the Specification List sorted by vendor ID, you can type "KN" (or "kn") into the "Find:" field and press [Enter]. You will be immediately taken to the first vendor with an ID starting with "KN."

Search in

The "Search in" box works more like a word-processor search: Pick a field in which to search and then enter the characters that you want to find. If a match occurs, you will be taken to that record.

To the right are two options that enhance this feature: the Next button will take you the next match for your search entry, while the Find All button will use the search you set up to create a simple query that will display all the items that match. For more about how queries work, see the Query Form topic.

Note: When you are in "editing mode" while adding, editing or cloning an item on a form, the Find, Search and Query functions will not be enabled, nor will you be able to move to another item in that list unless you save or cancel the editing mode. Be sure to note the change in color scheme that occurs when you are in editing mode (see "Visual Cues" below).

Data Area

In the middle to lower section of the form you will see the detail of the item that is currently selected in the List. On most forms, all the fields are visible, whereas some forms hide certain less commonly used ones to keep the layout easier to read. A "field" is simply a data input control, such as a text or date box, a checkbox, a multiple choice selector or a dropdown list.

When data is entered via a dropdown list, you can typically click on the list and then begin typing to position the list on or near the list item you want. Then you can move down to the exact item and/or press [Enter] or [Tab] to accept the selection.

Command Buttons

The section on the lower left portion of the form shows all the commands available at any point. Most buttons have a keyboard equivalent that reduces the use of your mouse (press [Alt] + the underlined letter on the button). On the main resource screens (Client, Project, Vendor and Library lists), you will see an Exit Form button that will close the form (which isn't really necessary), whereas on project-content screens this button will read Close Project and will close the project and all related screens instead. Except when editing, you can activate this button by pressing the [Esc] key (using [Esc] while editing "reverts" changes or cancels new records and ends the edit mode). The Command section also includes a Quit button to close down the program. When you quit, you will be reminded if you have any unsaved changes on any other form.

Each editing form has a Print button, from which reports for that form are available.

The command buttons change if you are adding or editing a record. You will then usually see only a Save, Cancel (or Revert) and Exit buttons. Some forms will also display an Import button if that function is available for importing single entries for that data type.

Be sure to read the section about Menus for more about how FF&EZ's menu system (or lack of one) works.

Status / Options Bar

Most editing screens have these settings, which change some way the form behaves. These appear in the bar just below the data area. The most typical one, "Auto-add," allows you to add records repetitively, creating a new record when you save the last one, until you use "Cancel" to end the adding mode.

The "Tips" option turns on or off the explanation boxes that appear when the mouse pointer pauses over some parts of the forms. When you have opened a project, this bar also displays the active project ID, title and location.

Some screens have more options in this area. If they do, the Help reference section for that screen will have a "Screen Options" link to explain them.

If you are a new user, we strongly recommend that you leave the "Tips" option enabled so that you can instantly see explanations for commands and data fields.

You can resize the FF&EZ window by clicking and dragging the lower right-hand corner of the main form to the desired size, or by right-clicking on the same corner and selecting a pre-set size.

Visual Cues

Since we all get interrupted now and then, there are a number of visual status indicators that help remind you what activity you are in:

Browsing vs. data entry (editing) modes - Be sure to note the color of the data fields on a screen. When you are simply viewing the data, the fields show light text against a dark background (first sample below), however, if you have pressed Add, Edit or Clone on that screen, the fields will be black text with a white background on most fields and a beige background on "required" fields. It's important to understand which mode you are in, because you can't move to another item in the List Box unless you have saved or canceled the data entry mode (the presence of the Save and Cancel / Revert button is also a visual cue).


Browsing Mode	Editing Mode

View Buttons - The button for the screen you are currently viewing is always highlighted but disabled. If you have not selected a project and opened it, the buttons for project content screens (Area, room, etc.) will be grayed out.

Tool Tips - If you have the "Tips on" option checked (at the bottom of major screens), most items on the screen will display a short description and sometimes a usage hint when you hover your mouse over them. We strongly recommend that new users keep this option enabled (See: How to be a Power User).

FF&E Worksheet Editing Mode - When you click Add, Edit or Clone on the FF&E Worksheet, the screen that is displayed contains a number of cues about what operation you are doing and whether a selected object already exists in the selected room. These cues are very specific about what is happening. If you get interrupted, you can look at them for useful feedback. See "Worksheet-oriented Data Entry."

Colors

In addition to the cues discussed above, some color coding is used for special purposes:

Required fields	When you are in any of the data entry (editing) modes, fields that are required for that item are marked with a light beige background (see "Vendor ID" in the editing mode example above).
List box fields that can be edited directly	Most of the contents of a list must be edited using the fields in the Data area so that proper error checking can be done. However, some columns (typically quantities and budgets) can be edited directly, and will have characters displayed in blue.
List box or summary fields with possible problems	There are certain values in the system that need to be selected or set to a non-zero or non-empty values before ordering or proper calculations can be done. The system displays these in red to remind you to check them. For more information, see "Checking Your Work" in the "How to..." section. There are also some fields, such as the tax % on the specification, in which a value that differs from the project's value for that field will be flagged in red. This is meant to help detect accidental entries in fields that are normally the same across an entire project.
List box sort groups	On some of the major screens, the large amount of data may make it difficult to see where a specific group in a sort order (such as all items in one room or all items from the same vendor) begins and ends. On these screens, the group to which the currently highlighted row belongs will be highlighted with bold green text.

Data Records

Each type of data in the system (projects, vendors, rooms, etc.) has a form used to add and edit "records" of that data. This form appears when you choose the button for that type of data on the application map under "Views". A record is a single item (such as a project or a room within a project). Each record has one or more "fields" that contain the different types of data that describe the item.

Some of these fields are "key" fields--that is, a field used for indexing purposes, such as a project number or a tag. Key fields are often used to establish a link to another file. A link is simply a "look-up" device. For instance, the FF&E Worksheet contains a list of objects that occur in each room, and their quantities. Although the worksheet file does not contain cost data, the system can look up the cost for each item, using the object's Tag. All you have to do is link the entry in the FF&E Worksheet to the desired object. You do this by picking its Tag from the list of objects in the project as part of adding an item to a room.

On the Vendor Form above, notice the "Vendor ID" field at the top of the data area. This is the key field for this file. This field must be filled when adding an item, otherwise the new item cannot be saved. The ID entered into this field must be unique (no other item of this type can have the same ID). This only applies to the form where the item is defined, since you may use the ID many times on other forms to select the same vendor.

Although it is possible to edit the data in this system by using a compatible database manager, you should never change the contents of the database in this manner. Otherwise you may corrupt the relationship maintained among the files in the system, causing erroneous reports. and possibly rendering your project (and database) unusable.

In particular, some software (such as spreadsheets) will lose the contents of long description fields if you open a data table with them and save that file again. Never open an FF&EZ table file with spreadsheet software and save it back to the same file.

Also see: Shortcuts, Menus

Note: To get full details about specific forms and how they work, go to the Design Reference and (if you have a Design/Purchasing license) the Purchasing Reference. You can also open any of the main forms (Project List, Vendor List, etc.) and press the [F1] key to open up the Help section for that form.