Editing a Database

To edit database records, click the Edit and View  Records in Form View or Edit and View Records in Datasheet View icons or choose Edit | Edit and View Records in Form View or Edit | Edit and View Datasheet from the menu bar.

If a database file is opened by multiple users simultaneously, the first user to open it will have read/write access.  All other users will have read-only access.

Add Records

The highlight bar will move to the first field of a blank record. Field data will be entered to the right of the field name. The TAB key will move among the fields. If there are more fields than can be displayed at once, the fields will be displayed in sets called pages. When the last field data is entered, press ENTER to add the record. You can change the data and press ENTER to add additional records. Press ESC to stop adding records. If you did not change any field data, but pressed ENTER again, a Dialog Box will be displayed asking whether the record should be added. Click OK to add the record. This will make a duplicate record in the database. Click Cancel to not add a duplicate record.

While adding several records to the database, the last record entered is left on the screen. Similar field data will not have to be retyped for subsequent records. For example, this allows you the ability to change only a single character in a 10 character part number field without retyping the entire part number.

When entering paragraph information, you can use a text editor. From within the edit box, you can open and edit an existing text file, save the paragraph data as a file, cut text to, copy or paste text from the Windows clipboard, or delete text. Once you have finished modifying the paragraph data, you can return to the previous screen by selecting File then Exit. While typing the data for your paragraph, you can select the edit box by pressing ALT+E or by clicking on the Edit button.

Change Record

This function allows you to update a value in a field. This function applies to the currently displayed record. Once the current record has been modified, you may select Add to add additional records. Please refer to Add Records.

NOTE: To edit a memo field, the procedures for typing text, correcting errors and editing text are the same as those for any standard Windows application.

Search

This function allows you to enter specific values into various fields in order to locate a specific record. The software allows for multiple search keys. You may enter data into a single field or several fields in order to reduce the number of records that satisfy the search criteria. Once you have entered the search data for any field(s), press ENTER. All records matching the search criteria will be presented. When the records are displayed, you may use the up/left arrow keys or the option Search Back to view previous records, if any. To view next records, if any, you may use the down/right arrow or the option Search Next. Click Quit Search or press ESC to leave the search subfunction.

The search function will recognize the wildcard characters * and ? if this box is enabled. If you desire to view all records, for example, in a customer database, in which last names begin with Mc, you can use the wildcard *. The * character substitutes for any and all characters. For the above search, type Mc* in the LASTNAME field entry prompt. If you desire to view all records in which the last name is only 6 positions in length and the name begins with Mc, you can use the wildcard ?. The ? character substitutes for a single character. For the above search, type Mc???? in the LASTNAME field entry prompt.

Search records can also be modified. Click Change Record to modify the currently displayed record. Press ENTER or click OK when changes are completed. Click Quit or press ESC to leave the currently displayed record unchanged. Click Add Records to add more records to the database. New records are added to the end of the database.

Unmark All

This function unmarks all records that are marked for printing. The records will not be unmarked automatically after the database is printed. Therefore, you must choose to unmark the records after printing. This function applies to the ALL records that are marked for printing.

Mark for Erase

This function marks the viewed record for erase. Click once on the check box to place an X in the box.  When the Compress function is chosen, all marked records are erased permanently. Until then, any record can be unmarked.

Mark for Print

This function marks the viewed record for printing. Click once on the check box to place an X in the box. This function applies to the currently displayed record. To unmark an individual record that was previously marked for printing, click once on the check box to remove the X from the box.

VIEWING THE DATA:

Left arrow-Show previous record.

Right arrow-Show next record.

PgUp-Show previous page if any.

PgDn-Show next page if any.

Home-Show first record.

End-Show last record.

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