The Datafile PD-CD 4/DATAFILE_PDCD4.iso/utilities/utilsp/powercas/StudrecDoc/Appoint

Text File | 1992-10-21 | 10KB | 195 lines

This is the user manual for Appoint. It is based on the Helpreader system
which makes it much easier to use than an ordinary text file. Throughout the
text you will find buttons like this @%start#.  Clicking with SELECT on
these buttons takes you directly to related parts of the manual. To return
to your original place, double-click anywhere in the text with ADJUST.
HelpReader remembers the last 8 positions. Clicking MENU in this window
allows you to choose the topic which interests you and go  straight to it.

                      (@%helpreader# More about Helpreader)
@#purpose

                                  APPOINT

The purpose of Appoint is to generate sets of appointments for parents'
evenings, print appointment slips to be distributed to parents and also
print lists of appointments for staff.

@#start

                                Starting up

  (a) If Appoint is already running (i.e. if its icon appears on the icon
      bar) simply drag the required database from the directory window and
      "drop" it on the Appoint icon. After a short delay the main Appoint
      window will appear.

  (b) If Appoint is not running, double-click on its icon in the directory
      window.  Wait for the Appoint icon to appear on the icon bar then
      proceed as in (a).

The first action of Appoint is to read the database and make two files, if
they do not already exist. These are the Parents' appointment file (called
'ParAppts') and the Tutor index (called 'Tutor'). They are created in a
subdirectory called 'Appts' within the database directory. This subdirectory
is also created automatically if it isn't there already. A small green
window keeps you informed of what is going on during these preliminaries.
When Appoint is ready to proceed the first record in the file is displayed.


@#window
                        Description of Main Window

The main window is divided into three areas. The topmost one contains an
extract from the student's Powerbase record, showing his/her name, course,
tutor and subjects. The middle section is reserved for appointment data and
will be largely empty at this stage. It will, however, show the record's
status as 'New' (meaning nothing has been entered yet) and the earliest and
latest allowed times for appointments as 6-30 and 9-20 respectively. These
default times are obtained from a text file called 'Config' which lives in
the Appoint application directory. If you wish to change them you can do so
by altering this file in Edit and then re-running Appoint.

The bottom section of the window is the control panel and will look familiar
to anyone acquainted with Powerbase. There are buttons to move to the start
and end of the file, to move forward and back one record at a time and to
"fast forward" and "fast rewind" by ten records at a time. There is also a
place to enter a record key which will be searched for when you click on
'Find:'.

@#key
                              Search Keys

The key used to search for a record is, initially, just the same as the
primary key in a Powerbase student database: four letters of surname with an
initial appended. A button allows you to select the tutor code as an
alternative key. This can be useful if, during the entry of data, you begin
to suspect that a whole set of appointment requests from one tutor group is
missing. By changing the key to 'Tutor' you can step through the records for
that group and see whether any data has been entered. A third choice of key
- 'Appointment'- is greyed out at this stage because no appointments exist.
Its use will be explained later.

@#entry
                              Data Entry

Work through the appointment request slips, finding the appropriate record
and entering the codes of the staff members to be seen. There is a button
labelled 'List staff' to help you if you can't remember all the codes. You
may add missing members of staff to this list if you wish and save the
amended list. (Click MENU with the mouse pointer over the list.) If a there
is a request for appointments before or after a certain time, alter the
'Earliest' and/or 'Latest' field(s). Don't attempt to put actual times of
appointments under the staff codes (you won't be able to anyway): that's the
program's job!

@#priority
                         Appointment Priority

If you later return to a record in which staff codes have been entered you
will notice that the Status has changed from 'New' to 'Coming'. There will
also be a numeral in the Priority field. Priority can have a value from 0-2:

     0  All staff either Maths/Science OR Humanities. No time restrictions.
     1  A mixture of Maths/Science & Humanities staff. No time restrictions.
     2  Time restriction on appointments

Appoint will process records with Priority level 2 first, then 1 and lastly
0.

@#appts
                           Making Appointments

Click MENU over the main window and choose the first item ('Make appoint-
mets'). The process is completely automatic. When it is complete the screen
will be redrawn and you may see that the staff codes on the record have been
rearranged. The Status will now be shown as 'Done' if appointments were made
successfully, otherwise it will appear as 'Problem'@%prob#.

If you now click MENU to display the main menu you will see that a number
of choices which were previously greyed out have become available. One of
these is 'Index appointments'. Choosing this creates an index based on the
staff code and associated appointment time, after which the third choice @%key#
of search key ('Appointment') will be enabled. Selecting this allows you to
look for keys such as ABA7-50 to find out who is to see A.Bannaghan at 7-50.

@#prob
                          Dealing with Problems

There will nearly always be a residuum of records for which Appoint could
not find a satisfactory set of appointments and which have consequently been
flagged as 'Problem' in the Status field. This does not mean that no suitable
appointments are possible; merely that Appoint couldn't locate them. You, the
user, can probably find suitable solutions and the first step will be to
print a list of these problems. The method of printing @%print# is the "screen and
save" approach used in other Studrec programs, including Powerbase itself.

Call up each of the problem records in turn and select the button 'Make
appointments by hand'. A new window appears which shows the availability of
the staff members specified in the record. Times which are greyed out are
either already taken or are unavailable for other reasons. Times which are
still black may be chosen by clicking on them with SELECT. You will find
that the program won't let you put two appointments at the same time. If you
select the wrong ones, clicking with ADJUST will deselect a time. When you
are satisfied with your choices, click on the OK button and the times will
appear in the main record window.

@#error
                          Correcting Mistakes

You will occasionally make mistakes such as forgetting to set the Earliest
and Latest times when special times were requested and discovering the
error only after appointments have been made. In such a case you want to
undo that particular set of appointments and put in fresh ones by hand @%prob#.
The 'Undo appts' button will clear the appointments for the displayed record
after asking you for confirmation.

@#print
                               Printing

Appoint produces three types of print-out:

  (1) A list of the problem cases thrown up by the automatic appointment
      generation @%prob#.
  (2) Appointment lists for each teacher involved in the event.
  (3) Slips to notify parents of when their appointments are.

(1) and (2) are lists of the 'quick and dirty' variety where the output
appears in a window on the screen, from which it may be printed directly
or saved for printing later. Printing a list of problems is simply a matter
of choosing the relevant menu option. For staff appointments you must type
in the staff code when requested or, alternatively, choose the option to
print lists for everyone. (If a teacher has no-one to see no list will be
produced.)

When these lis