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Basic Concepts

Search Forms, Lists and Detail Screens

DrawMGT has a consistent user interface that makes it easy to use knowledge about one part of the system to understand other parts. The basic concept is (loosely) based on online shopping sites where you perform the follow following series of operations:

• Search - DrawMGT uses engineering classification, rather than the simpler keyword search.

• List - A search produces list of matching items. You can often change the display format

  • of the list by selecting one of the alternate formats above the list's header. In the list many columns contain short codes. You can display the meaning of the codes by putting the mouse over the code value.

• Detail Screen - You can 'drill-down' to get more information by selecting an item in the list and

  • clocking on its identifier (e.g. drawing code, task code, user name, etc.). The detail screen then displays a series of information blocks. The blocks can be expanded/collapsed using the
  • plus/minus boxes.

When you view a detail screen, the item is placed in the list of recently viewed items, making it easy to view the item again from the home screen. Document and task lists and detail screen also allow you to place items in your document and task baskets.

Forms and Data Entry

If your user permissions allow it, you can create or update items. Data entry/update has the following stages:

• Form - A data entry form is displayed.

  • Required fields are marked with a '*' to the right of the field. The fields that are required

    • depend on the system configuration.

  • System defaults may be applied for new items, based on system defaults associated with the

    • document type and the current folders and group.
  • In the form you generally have the option to:

    • Cancel - Cancel the transaction, changing nothing in the database.

    • Save - Immediately save the data without previewing it.

    • Preview - Preview the data you entered, before saving it.

• Preview - This stage is optional, and you are presented with the data you have entered. If there

  • were any validation errors the validation messages are displayed and form is displayed again. The
  • fields that need to be corrected are highlighted. If you are unsatisfied with the data you can go

    Back button (in the form, not in the Browser)

New revisions and tasks are automatically placed in your document and task baskets.

Most DrawMGT items have an external key field, which is useful for storing links to information stored in other system. The external key field is often used to store alternate drawing codes for externally supplied drawings