This section gives you brief descriptions of general information used consistently throughout Costpoint, such as input vs. non-editable fields, Range options, standard pushbuttons, and common Costpoint terminology and behavior.
Costpoint gives you several menu options to browse, add, or change information, even though Costpoint functions are always in just one of two modes: Insert or Update. The New button on the toolbar puts you in Insert mode so that new information may be added. Use the Query button to browse information. Use either Query or Find to locate and display a record on the screen. Once displayed on the screen, the record is in Update mode, ready for changing.
A Costpoint Main Screen is the first screen that appears after you select a function. A Subtask appears after you select a pushbutton on the Main Screen. Subtasks are designed to collect and store more information related to the Main Screen's data.
When you are working in a table window, symbols to the left of each line appear when you add, delete or edit a line, to show you which lines will change when you save your table. A checkmark indicates that a change has taken place. The right arrow indicates that a row has been added. An "X" indicates that the row will be deleted.
To enter a new row of data into a table window, you must first select one of the Line menu's options, such as New or Insert. Clicking on an empty row in the table will not be interpreted by Costpoint as a request for data entry.
An input field has a border around it while a non-editable field has no border. When the cursor is over an input field, the cursor is an I-beam. When the cursor is over a non-editable field, the cursor is an arrow.
Never embed spaces in fields that are identified on the screen as an ID or Code.
Never embed single quotes (') in any field.
In certain fields throughout Costpoint (i.e., account, organization, project, reference number 1, reference number 2, project report, and reorganization), segment separators (periods or dashes) will automatically appear as you enter a value. These multi-level items are called "segmented ID" fields.
Use Range Options to limit the scope of records to be included in a report, process, or inquiry. The system-defined options are listed below:
All - This selection allows you to choose all available records in a database table.
One - This selection allows you to choose one of the available records in a database table.
Range - This selection allows you to choose a specific range of records in a database table.
From Beginning - This selection allows you to define a range from the beginning of a database table to a selected ending record.
To End - This selection allows you to define a range from a selected beginning record to the end of the database table.
The Range Options described above are not flexible enough for all applications. This happens when the values of the code to be selected are not logically related. For example, if you wanted a report on a range of countries, the Range option is no help because country codes are abbreviations of a county's name and there is nothing to logically connect one to another. The values of accounts, on the other hand, are intrinsically related, so a Range of accounts makes sense. To overcome this problem, the List Mode checkbox and the Apply and Remove pushbuttons are added to many report, process, and inquiry functions.
List Mode - Once this checkbox is selected, the Apply and Remove pushbuttons are available. After you have generated selections by using the Range Option, use the Apply and Remove pushbutton to place the selections in the list box under the List Mode checkbox. The order of the selections in the list box has no effect on the report sort order.
Apply - Once a selection is created, apply it to the list by selecting this pushbutton. The selection now appears in the list box under the List Mode checkbox. This can be repeated as many times as necessary to create the desired selection list.
Remove - To remove one of the selections, mark it in the list box and select this pushbutton.
After highlighting one of the items in a table window or a list box, use the Select pushbutton to have the data in the top or left window move to the right or bottom window. To deselect, that is, to move data in the right or bottom window back to the left or top window, highlight the item and then choose the Deselect pushbutton. A short-cut method is to double-click on an item. Double-clicking works the same as the Select or Deselect pushbutton, depending on which window the item is in. Some Select/Deselect windows allow multiple items to be highlighted and moved at one time using the pushbuttons.
Select this pushbutton when the data on the screen is correct and you want to save it and return to the previous screen.
Select this pushbutton to cancel any additions, changes and deletions made to a screen and return to the previous screen.
An AutoSave saves data on a subtask (a subtask is a dialog, or screen, that is started by selecting a pushbutton on the main screen) without displaying the normal system warning that the data are about to be saved. This happens when data in a subtask is related to data in a table window in the main screen. The scenario that causes an AutoSave is:
You click on a row in the main screen's table window.
You select the subtask's pushbutton.
You enter information in the subtask.
You either select the OK pushbutton or move the cursor back to the Main Screen.
You click on a different row in the main screen's table window.
At this point the data that you entered in the subtask is saved. The message "Saving data..." is displayed briefly on the status line.
Costpoint may be closed down by selecting the close icon (X) on the Windows system menu that appears at the top right corner of the Costpoint navigation form (on which the three-column menu appears). If there are any message boxes still open that require a user response, these must first be closed before Costpoint can be shut down.