Overview
When traveling in a foreign country, knowing where to go and how to get there will enrich your experience. Running into "Keine Ausfahrt" and eating mystery food because you have no clue what it says on the menu will make you wish you stayed home. Still, with luck, you'll wake up one morning and every road leads to familiar territory and it suddenly hits you, "I'm starting to have fun here. Everything's coming much easier."
That's how it is with new software. Bouncing from roadblock to roadblock? They didn't mention that in the brochure. Only marginally less frustrating is to run into countless stoplights, waiting to have even the most basic tasks explained to you by a computer-savvy ten-year-old.
Herewith, "How to get Around" in Morning Flight. Highway markers and street signs. Because getting there should be fun, too.
Selection Window
Selection Window Buttons
The Delete button deletes the highlighted record.
The Add button adds a new record. (That was easy.)
The Update button updates the highlighted record.
Click the Find button to search for a record.
Click the Zoom button to view the highlighted record in detail.
| • | Double-clicking a highlighted record does the same as clicking the Update button - it opens an update window to make changes. |
| • | Pressing the Ins key works the same as clicking the Add button - it opens an entry window for additions. |
| • | Pressing the Del key does the same as clicking the Delete button. It will either instantly delete the record without warning if Ask Ok Delete is turned off in My Preferences, or bring up this window for confirmation. |
Play it safe by keeping Ok Delete confirmation ON. If you're sure about what you're deleting, you can always delete it without having the window pop up by holding down the Ctrl key while pressing Del.
Entry Window
Entry Window Buttons
The Reset button cancels any changes you may have made in this window, and restores all text and data to what they were when you opened the window.
The Sort button sorts quantities or prices. The button is there just to make you feel better. Morning Flight will automatically sort as soon as you accept the window.
Clicking the Ok button (or pressing the Enter key) accepts updates or new entries, then closes the window.
Clicking the Cancel button (or pressing the Esc key) discards updates or new entries, then closes the window.
When the Text button shows the picture on the left, it means Text Formatting is off. Clicking the button will turn formatting back on. At the same time, all text in the open window will be formatted with initial caps. When the button shows the picture on the right, it means text formatting is on. To make a free-form entry (exactly the way you type it in), click the right button to turn off formatting before you make that entry.
When the Data button shows "Goofy," it means Data Validation is off. Clicking the button will change the picture to an umbrella and turn validation back on. At the same time, Morning Flight will check (and change, if necessary) all numerical data in the open window to make sure they're within reasonable limits. When the Data button shows the umbrella and you want to make a numerical entry either above or below the normal limits, click the right button to turn validation off before you make that entry.
Text Formatting and Data Validation states are persistent. Each window initially inherits its states from My Preferences, but then preserves its own Formatting and Validation settings. When you accept a window with Data Validation off, it will stay off (for that window only) until you turn it back on. For the record, when a window opens with "Goofy" on the Data button, there's a good chance somebody made an entry that may not make sense in the real world!
See also
Other Buttons you'll run into:
The Rolodex button opens a Selection window. It's generally used to get a Customer or Contact record, but also does duty in the Special Paper window (Ctrl-F3 from the Print Quote window), where it imports paper from a file.
The Save button saves paper to the Special Paper File. If your vendor's prices change frequently, only save paper you're quoting on all the time.
The Number 1 button lets you designate a product as your primary product, the product you quote on most often. This can be Offset, Copies, or Digital. When the Print Quote window opens, it will come with your primary product preloaded.
The Cutter button allows you to select the most efficient paper size to cut from, and to see how much waste is associated with each grain. When called from the Main Menu, this button opens the Paper Cutter, one of the tools in the Utilities workspace.
The Price button expands the quick, easy 1-carton cost entry by letting you enter paper costs in all four brackets. Normally you would enter full carton costs only, leaving it to Morning Flight to fill in the rest. Clicking the Price button lets you get specific. In Morning Flight lingo, Costs are what your vendor charges you, Prices are what you charge your customers.
The Color button opens an Entry window for paper colors. When called from the Main Menu, this button opens the Paper Pricer, one of the tools in the Utilities workspace.
When the Lock button shows the picture on the left, it means there are no locked quantities in the quote you're working on. Say a customer asks for a quote on 1,000 bulletins, but wants only 500 folded and the rest supplied flat. In Morning Flight, that produces a locked folding quantity of 500.
To unlock all locked quantities and have them match the regular quantities, click the button on the right.
If the same customer later raises the overall quantity, the locked quantity will stay at 500 unless you edit the quote and revise it. Naturally, a decrease in the overall quantity to below 500 will take the locked quantity down with it.
You probably wouldn't call this a button, more like the volume control on a radio. Settings range from Very High to Very Low, in five increments. Left-click to move the slider up, right-click to move it down.