Understanding the User Interface

Contents

Navigating in the Web site requires an understanding of the key elements of the user interface. The list that follows is ordered to follow the layout of the application pages, from top to bottom and left to right.

Hyperlinks

Page Tabs

Search Center

Thread Bar

Lists and Forms

Record Navigation Buttons

Field Controls

See Also

Using Selection Dialog Boxes

Sorting Data in a List

Hyperlinks

Page Tabs

The page tabs provide one-click access to pages within the site. Click a page tab to access the corresponding page.

Search Center

The Search Center lets you perform a full-text search of the Web site. Search results are returned in the order of relevance to your search criteria.

See Also

Using Search

Thread Bar

You can use the thread bar to retrace your steps in the Web site. You can return to an earlier point in the path by clicking the appropriate hyperlink on the thread bar. The thread bar appears below the page tabs.

Lists and Forms

A list contains rows of records with column headers. Each record contains multiple fields.
If there are more records than can be displayed in the list, you can use the record navigation buttons located at the top of the list to move up and down in the set of records.
To see details for a record in a list, click the hyperlink for the record.

A form contains information about a single record.

If you have authorization to edit the record, you can click the Edit button to update the record in a list or a form.

  Record Navigation Buttons

Record navigation buttons appear in lists and forms. In a list, you use the buttons to navigate to the next or previous set of records. In a form, you use the buttons to navigate to the next or the previous record.

Field Controls

You use field controls to define data for records within a form or list. To use field controls to edit records found in a list, you must click within the field to activate the control.

Control	Description
Text fields	A text field is a box in a form or a list in which you can type text.
Check boxes	Check boxes let you select one or more options in a set. When you select a check box, an x or a check mark appears in the box.
Option buttons	Option buttons, also known as radio buttons, let you select one of several options in a set. An option button appears as a circle, with a smaller filled circle inside when the option is selected.
Drop-down lists	A drop-down list allows you to click a drop-down arrow in the field and select from a list of available values.
Select buttons	A select button appears in fields where you can select one or more values for the field.
Calendar buttons	A calendar button appears in date fields.
Calculator buttons	A calculator button appears in amount fields.

Using Selection Dialog Boxes

You use selection dialog boxes to fill in fields in lists or forms.

To access a selection dialog box

• In the field, click the select button.
  A selection dialog box appears. It shows all the records that currently exist in the database.

To attach records to a field

1. In the selection dialog box, select the record or records to attach to the field.
   Note: To select a record, click the record selection indicator (>) in the first column of the record’s row.
2. Click OK.

To find records in a selection dialog box using query

1. In the selection dialog box, click Query.
   A blank form appears.
2. Fill in the fields to define your query parameters.
   Tip: You can use an asterisk (*) to represent any character or string of characters.
   For example, "Sie*" (without the quotes) will find all the records in which the query field starts with Sie.
3. Click Go.
   The list in the selection dialog box is updated to contain only those records that match your query parameters.

To find records in a selection dialog box using find

1. In the selection dialog box, from the Find drop-down list, select the field you want to search on.
2. In the Starting With field, type the starting characters of the value you want to find.
3. Click Go.
   The list in the selection dialog box is updated to contain only those records that match the string you typed in the Starting With field.

Sorting Data in a List

  You sort data in lists by clicking the sort icons (shown to the left) in the column headers. These icons do not appear in columns that you cannot use to sort records.

  If records in a list are already in a specific sort order, the state of the icons in the column headers shows the sort order. If the upper triangle is filled in (as in the example to the left), the records in the list are sorted in ascending order by the value in that column. If the lower inverted triangle is filled in, the records in the list are sorted in descending order by the value in that column.

To sort data in a list

1. In the list, find the column you want to use to sort the records.
2. Click the up arrow to sort the data in ascending order, or click the down arrow to sort the data in descending order.

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