Enterprise Resource Planning FAQ

Many of the questions that come into our office or asked at the ERP Open Forum will be posted here.

What do all the buttons at the top of the menu bar mean?

Form

• Clear Form/Rollback – Clears or blanks out all the blocks of the current form on all pages of the form and rolls back to the key block. The form is now ready for new data entry or a new query. It does not delete existing information from the database. If new information is entered or changed and had not selected Commit (Save) before selecting Clear/Form/Rollback, the information will not be saved.
• Command Menu – Displays a top-down menu bar for use with the mouse.
• Accept/Commit/Save – Saves information to the database. This could be new information, changes to existing information, or deleted information.
• Edit – Expands message/text fields to more than one line for inputting and reading.
• Exit/Cancel – Exits the current form and backtracks to the preceding form or menu. Exit/Cancel form the Main Menu takes you out of the system.
• Print – Prints the current screen to an output file.
 

Block

• Block Menu – Lists all blocks in the current form and related forms.
• Clear Block – Clears or blanks out all records from the current block. The block is ready for a new record to be entered. It does not delete existing information from the database. If new information is entered or changed before selecting Commit (Save), the information will not be saved to the database.
• Next Block – Moves the cursor to the next block in the form. If that block is on another page of the form, it also moves to that page.
• Previous Block – Moves the cursor to the previous block in the form. If that block is on another page of the form, it also moves to that page.
 

Field

• Clear Field – Erases the value in the current field.
• Duplicate Field – Copies the value from the same field of the previous record into the current field until you reach the desired field. If a field is not data enterable that field will automatically be skipped.
• Previous Field – Moves the cursor to the previous field in the block. To skip fields continue to select next field until you reach the desired field.

Record

• Clear Record – Clears or blanks out the current record from the current block. The record is now ready for you to enter new information. It does not delete existing information from the database. If you had entered new information or changed information and had not selected Commit (Save) before you selected Clear Form Rollback, the information will not be saved to the database.
• Delete Record – Deletes the record displayed on the form from both the screen and from the database. A record is not permanently deleted from the database unless you then select Commit (Save).
• Duplicate Record – Copies the value from all fields of the previous record into the current new record.
• Insert Record – Copies the value from all fields of the previous record into the current new record.
• Next Record -- Allows you to scroll through the records one at a time. The cursor will remain in the same field. When the last record is retrieved, the message “At last record” will be displayed and an asterisk is placed in front of the count.
• Previous Record – Allows you to scroll through the records backwards one at a time. When the first record is retrieved, the message “At first record” will be displayed.
• Scroll Down –Allows you to scroll through the records one page/screen at a time. When the last record is retrieved, the message “At last record” will be displayed and the asterisk is placed in front of the count.
• Scroll Up – Allows you to scroll through the records backwards one page/screen at a time. When the first record is retrieved, the message “At first record” will be displayed.

Query

• Cancel Query (Exit) – Terminates a query.
• Count Query Hits – In an Enter Query (Search), this function tells how many records matching the search criteria will be retrieved. It lets allows to check on the size of the query before performing the query.
• Enter Query – Clears the current block and allows you to enter query (search) criteria in one or more fields. To perform the query, Select Execute Query. To cancel query, Select Cancel Query or Exit.
• Execute Query – Retrieves all the records from the database that match the query (search) criteria you specified. Only those records that you can fit onto the screen are displayed. If there are more records, the Count on the Status Lines does not have an asterisk in front of the number. Select Next Record or Scroll Down to retrieve and display more records.
• Exit with Value – Places the value you selected from a list and places it in the field of the form you queried.
• List (formerly List Field Value) – Displays the possible values for the current field. The list will appear in a pop-up window, to get window full-screen size, Select Next Block. To insert one of the values into the field, Select Exit with Value. To exit the list and return to the form without a value, Select Exit.
• Wildcard – The percent sign (%) is used in query and search techniques as a place marker for multiple characters. The underscore (_) is used as a place marker for one character.