Yours might look a bit different - it may have objects already placed on it..
Pages
Each data entry form can consist of any number of pages. In the example shown here, the form has three pages named Details, Description, and History. These are shown as tabs across the top of the form and in a list on the right of the form:
You can:
- Add a new page: Click on the + Page button
- Delete a page: Select the page you want to delete in the Pages list, then click the - Page button
- Change a page name: double-click on the page name in the Pages list
To view the layout for a different page, click on it either in the tab or in the Pages list.
Adding Objects to a page
On the right of the window you'll see a list of all the fields in the selected table and another list named Other Objects (see below for an explanation of the Other Objects) . To place a field or other object onto the page, drag and drop it into position. Once an object has been placed on the form, it can be moved and resized.
Note that some objects will have additional objects associated with them. For example, if you place a field that has been designated as a Picture field, it will have two buttons with it:
These associated objects will stick together and will automatically move if you move the main object.
Moving and resizing objects
- Select the object
- It will then have a number of "handles":
- To move the object, drag it to a new position
- To change its size, select one of the handles and drag it
Aligning Objects
It can be a bit tricky to get your objects neatly arranged on the page, so you can use the Alignment tools to help:
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Align left; align center; align right |
| Align top; align center; align bottom |
To use the Alignment tools, first select the objects you want to align (hold down the Shift key to select multiple objects), then click on the appropriate alignment button. For example, here are "before" and "after" pictures showing a few fields being aligned on the left:
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Setting the Data Entry Order
The data entry order is the order in which your cursor will move from object to object when you are entering data. The default order is the order in which the objects were placed on the form, but you might want to change this if you've added more objects or moved them around. To see the current data entry order, click the Show Data Entry Order button. CatBase draws arrows between the objects to indicate the order:
Maybe this isn't what we want - it would be better to go from the Name to the Item No. and then to the Price. To change the data entry order:
- Click on the Set Data Entry Order button
- Double-click on the first object (the Name field, in this example) - it will appear selected
- Double-click on the next object - the Item No. field in this example. An arrow will be drawn from the first object to the second one
- Carry on double-clicking on the objects in the order you want to go
- If you make a mistake, click on the Set Data Entry Order button twice and start again
- To save your new order, click once on Set Data Entry Order
Other Objects
In addition to fields, there are various other objects that can be placed on data entry forms. These include:
- Categories: a list showing which category(ies) a record is in (click here to see more info about Categories)
- Memos: Memos are reminders that can be attached to any record (for example, you might set a Memo to remind yourself that a product's pricing needs to be changed in a month's time)
- Included Lists: Lists of data in related tables. For example, you might have an Included List showing all Contacts for each Company; or all Parts for each Product; or all Ads for each Advertiser, etc.
In this example, the Options table is related to the Product table:
When you are adding or modifying a Product record, the included list looks like this:
You can change the columns that appear in your included lists: to do this, click on the Setup button on the main window and choose List View Wizard.
Saving your form
When you're happy with the layout of your data entry forms, click on the Save button.