Common Form Features:Common Form Features:
All input forms have a toolbar on them to allow selecting additional features associated with that particular form. The only menu bar available is on the top of the program window. Menu bars and tool bars are very similar. They function essentially the same. You will use the form toolbar to open additional forms, reports, and to perform various functions.
You can save a record you are currently working on by clicking the <Save> button or by moving to another record. One thing to keep in mind that if you select a report to print prior to saving the record, it will not appear in the report. You must move off the current record or click the <Save> button first.
Most forms have either a Find Record or Select Record capability. The Find Record method utilizes a drop down combo box that shows all available records and allows you to choose from the list which record to make current. The Select Record method displays a list of records from which you can click on the record you want to make current. Both methods do exactly the same thing.
The record selector used for selecting a record deletion is the vertical bar on the left side of a form. When you click on this vertical bar, the entire current record is selected. After selecting a record, the bar will turn a darker gray. Once this happens, you can press the <DEL> key on your keyboard to delete the current record.
To move between records, you use the record navigation buttons on the bottom left of each form. There are navigation buttons for next, previous, first, last, and new records. You may also type the number of the record you want to go to in the text box. NOTE: this is not the same as "Watch Number".
There are numerous drop down lists available to assist you with choosing the correct data to enter. You can either choose from the list available or type something not in the list. The drop down lists are generally multicolumn lists that contain the data to be entered in the field in the first column and informational data to explain or assist you in the second column. All of these drop down lists can be edited by selecting the appropriate one from the <Utilities> option found on the toobar. NOTE: You can also double-click any drop down list to open the appropriate utility form for adding/editing.
Data input is done by either typing in the data, selecting from the drop down lists, or by using one of the available "Description Calculators". The "Description Calculators" provide the means to automatically generate descriptions for data fields such as movement description, dial description, or case material description. These description calculators format the information into common descriptions found in many of the watch collector books found on the market and used by professionals for describing watches.