TrainCat Help - Inventory Tutorial

TrainCat - Tutorial Lesson 5

What use is an Inventory or Master List if the user can not find what they are looking for. This lesson will concentrate on using the Find function found on the bottom of the screen in the master command button group as shown. Or, by scanning the Browse area and using Filters. The lessons learned in this step can be used in either the Inventory or Master List screens as they are identical in this respect. This lesson will be performed in the Inventory screen.

We entered a new Inventory item in a previous lesson that we are going to delete in a future lesson. First though, we need to locate the item. The first method you will be shown is by the Find function found on the bottom of the Inventory screen in the master command button group. Click on the Find button.

The Search Window will be shown. The field to be searched now has a more natural language approach built into it and the order that the Fields are displayed, if at all, can be configured by the user. For more information on the configuration of the databases, please see the section Configuration - Search Fields.

So for the top Field, select "Stock Number". In the top Value, enter "47060". Make sure that the And is checked. In the bottom Field, select "Road Number". In the bottom Value, enter "18955". Click on the Search button. Notice how only Inventory items that matched your criteria entered into the Search Window are displayed. In this example, there should only be one entry shown...the first Inventory items we entered in the previous lesson.

In reality, the Find function is actually an advanced Filter. That is it shows only the items that match the criteria that you entered. When you want to look at all of the Inventory items again, you have to remove all Filters. Please notice the between the Sort By Filter and the Thumbnail check box in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Click on it and all of your inventory will be visible in the Browse area. This next image is the Browse Area.

Now lets find the same Inventory item using the Filters and the Browse Area. In the Manf: Filter, select "Micro-Trains". In the Scale: Filter, select "N". In the Category Filter, select "Micro-Trains". In the Sort By: Filter, select "Item #". The browse area will now show only the inventory items matching the criteria and will be sorted by the manufacturers Stock Number. Now you may use the Browse Area scroll bars to find "47060". If more than one item of that Stock Number exists, the Detail Area to the right of the Browse Area will be helpful fin seeing which item is actually the Road Number "18955". Just click on any of the items in the Browse Area and the Detail Area will show all information pertaining to the selected Inventory Item. You can also set the Sort By: Filter to "Road #" and scroll through the Browse Area for "18955".

Before going on to the next lesson, make sure you have located and selected the Micro-Trains item #47060 road #18955 that we added in the earlier lesson. When ready, please continue with the Tutorial Step #6, Adding A New Inventory Item with Partially Known Information.