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Getting Around

Command Buttons

When you are entering data into a screen, the information that appears on a screen is roughly equivalent to the data that is stored in each record in a file. For example, the fields that appear in the Customer Order screen present what has been stored or is about to be stored in a particular customer order record.

You can move from field to field in the screen by hitting either ENTER or TAB. The following command button options appear at the bottom of most data entry screens:

Exit or Continue

This option saves the displayed record and exits the screen.

Delete

This option causes the currently displayed record and any related records to be marked for deletion. Once the record is marked for deletion, this options is labeled with "Recall".

Recall

This option removes the deletion mark on the currently displayed record and any related records. If the record is NOT marked for deletion, this option is labeled with "Delete".

Escape

This option will exit the screen without saving changes made to the fields on the screen. Note that there are events that may take place that will force the record to be saved before exiting the screen. Escape simply exits without saving any changes since the last save. If entering a new record, the record will not be saved, and all related records in the database will be deleted as well.

New

This option will save the currently displayed record, and blank the fields in preparation for adding a new record.

Keyboard Shortcuts

There are several short-cuts to executing the above command button options:

PAGE-DOWN

This will move directly to the screen level command button options.

CTRL+END

This is a short cut to execute the Exit or Continue command button option.

ESC

This will execute the Escape option.

CTRL+ENTER

This will execute any command button option that is enclosed in double brackets. (e.g. "<< New >>") For most screens this is the "New" option.

ALT

This will activate the menu at the top of the screen. ALT + the highlighted character will activate that menu option directly.

CTRL+R

This will save the current screen contents as defaults for subsequent new records being entered. For example, if most of your orders are placed by people from your home state, you may wish to save your state, your area code, part of your zip code, etc. as default information in the Contact screen. Then each time you add a new contact, these fields will be defaulted to the values you saved.

Other control sequences

In addition, there are a number of other "control functions" (activated by pressing CTRL+character) which will activate menu options directly. These control functions appear in the popup menu next to the options which they will activate. For example, hitting CTRL+S will activate the System-Wide Options Screen which is otherwise activated by selecting "System-Wide Options" from the Options popup menu. Hitting CTRL+A will allow you to enter a new State or province — even while you are currently entering a new contact for that state!

Function keys

Other special function keys are:

F1

Gets you context sensitive help anywhere in the system.

F3

Activates the Trace Fieldstrace fields to allow you to make a change.

SHIFT+F10

Activates the macro recorder. Hitting SHIFT+F10 again stops recording and allows you to choose whether you want to store your macro.

CTRL+PGUP

Presents the previous record in the currently selected data file.

CTRL+PGDN

Presents the next record in the currently selected data file. It is the opposite from CTRL+PGUP. For example, if you are looking at the Contact Screen, hitting CTRL+PGUP will move you to the previous record in the CONTACT file, and present it on the screen. Using CTRL+PGUP and CTRL+PGDN will allow you to move back and forth through records in the database.

Note: In several instances, there will be a filter placed on the file, and perhaps the records will be ordered. The filter and order set on the file will affect how CTRL+PGUP and CTRL+PGDN work.

For example, when selecting a Contact in the Contact Screen, you may enter the last name (or even just part of the last name) for the contact you are looking for. If you select a contact with the information entered, but it's not the person you were looking for, you can use CTRL+PGUP and CTRL+PGDN to move to other records that have a last name that begins with, or are alphabetically close to the last name you entered.

Another example: When you select existing customer orders, and you select an order by the customer contact, a filter is set on the ORDERS file to present only invoices belonging to the selected contact. If the customer has several orders, you can use CTRL+PGUP and CTRL+PGDN to move through the orders that belong only to that customer.

ALT+F4

This will immediately exit the Publishers' Assistant application. Where ever you are in the Publishers' Assistant application, pressing either ALT+F4 (the Windows standard) or clicking on the "X" in the upper right hand corner of the main window will cause Publishers' Assistant to exit. The currently executing command will complete, but Publishers' Assistant will exit with a normal shutdown. We have encountered problems with Foxpro where control seems to get lost. The symptom is that the menu is still active, but the cursor appears nowhere on the screen. Clicking with the mouse doesn't help. In this case CTRL+ALT+END will attempt to exit gracefully, but will perform a CANCEL operation to exit the program.

Warning! Foxpro does not like abnormal shut downs very much. This will sometimes corrupt or damage your database files. If you seem to get stuck in Publishers' Assistant, rebooting should be an absolute last resort. Try exiting using ALT+F4 or the ALT+END key first.

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