Drop Down

Note that in general the Drop down Fields is a limited form of a Drop-down Combo Box as described below. There are a few Drop Downs that provide a full Combo Box function, which means that you can type text into the field. These will be removed in later versions of the software.

A Drop Down Field, which is indicated by a downward pointing arrow at the right hand end of the field, provides either:

• For a record from another Table to be linked with the Main Record - An Award for an employee or an RCS Classification resident for example.

  The selection may be made directly from the Drop Down using the methods below. Alternatively the Browse function may also be used. Care Systems recommends the use of the Record Browse Function.

• A selection from a fixed number of options which have been built into the program. Selecting an employee status as full time, part time, casual or contract for example.

An entry in a Drop Down may be mandatory or optional. Where the cursor is placed on a mandatory Drop Down an entry must be selected before the cursor can be moved off the field.

Using the Drop down Function

To activate the drop down function either click on the arrow head at the right hand end of the field or press Alt-Down Arrow. Either action will display some or all of the content of a Drop Down depending on the space available and the number of selection options in the Drop Down. Then use one (or more) of these techniques to make the required selection.

Use Down Arrow & Up Arrow to highlight the required entry and than press Tab to select that entry.

Press Letter or Number keys to select the required entry. Note that this selection process takes account of the first character only of the display. Pressing A several times will rotate around all the selection options that start with “A”. Pressing A followed by D will select the first options starting with “A” and the move the Selection to the first options starting with “D”. It will NOT select an option starting with “AD”. Press Tab to select that entry.

Without the Drop down Function

Selections may be made without using the drop down function.

Up Arrow alone will select the options in sequence moving towards the first record, without activating the drop down display. Be wary of this key as it is very easy to change the selection in a Drop Down without meaning to.

Down Arrow alone will select the options in sequence moving towards the last record, without activating the drop down display. Be wary of this key as it is very easy to change the selection in a Drop Down without meaning to.

Press Letter or Number keys to select the required entry. Note that this selection process takes account of the first character only of the display. Pressing A several times will rotate around all the selection options that start with “A”. Pressing A followed by D will select the first options starting with “A” and the move the Selection to the first options starting with “D”. It will NOT select an option starting with “AD”.

Clearing an Entry from a Drop Down

To clear a Drop Down, press the Backspace key. This will not work on some Drop Downs in which case select the blank option, which will be the first choice in the drop down.