Editing overview
   Editing Basics
      General hints on Windows operations
      The Windows clipboard
      Introduction to working with Access forms
   Editing the item definition and description
      Editing the item definition (ItemEdit-form)
      Editing multiple items simultaneously (MultiItemEdit-form)
      Calculated characters
   Editing the character definition
      Editing the character definition (CharEdit-form)
      Editing character headings
      Editing link groups
   Reorganize project definition
      Introduction
      Reorganize characters, headings, or items
      Reorganize character states
      Reorganize descriptions
      Reorganize subsets
   Editing project properties
   Mapping character states (key states)
   Next table of contents: Interactive identification

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For each descriptor project, a set of editing forms is created (unless you have unchecked the Create Forms checkbox). To open an editing form, either choose an appropriate task in the DeltaAccess Switchboard, or select the forms tab in the database explorer and double-click on the name of the form⁽¹⁾. If your project name is X, you can open the form X_CharEdit to edit characters and character states, and X_ItemEdit to edit item or taxon data. Further forms are available, which are applicable to all projects (DeltaMultiItemEdit, DeltaReorganize_..., etc.).

If you are not yet acquainted with Microsoft Access you may want to read the following chapter General introduction to Access forms first. The main forms are described in the following chapters:

   The ItemEdit-form,
   the CharEdit-form,
   the MultiItemEdit form, and
   Edit project properties form, and
   Reorganize characters or character states,

You can also use many queries of the analysis section for editing, but in general this will be less comfortable. For example, although you have some pick lists (= combo-boxes) in the queries, only in forms you can have a pick list for character states which is specific to the current character. Also, some queries are not editable, i. e. you can only use them to view data.

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Windows: Most windows contain a title bar. If you want to move a window on the screen, click with the left mouse button on the title bar, hold the button, and move the mouse. This is called drag and drop in Microsoft Windows.

To change the size of a window, move the mouse over any border until the mouse pointer changes (e. g., to ), and drag the border in the direction of the arrow. If you use the corners of a window, you can drag into both directions. Note that some windows can not be resized (e. g., the main DeltaAccess dialog box). Resizing some windows will only increase the empty space. The Editing forms can be resized and the additional space will be used to some extent. Some windows in DeltaAccess will only make use of additional space in the vertical, but not in the horizontal direction.

The title bar contains the following buttons on the right side: . The left button minimizes the window, the center button maximizes the window, and the right button closes the window. Note that, e. g., the editing forms have no special close button. To close them you can either use the File menu or this close button. If the window has already been maximized, the center button will look like in the following set: of buttons: and will restore the window to its previous size. There is both a window for the application (Microsoft Access, DeltaAccess respectively) and the child-windows of this application, like the editing forms. Sometimes child windows do not have all buttons; e. g., the main DeltaAccess dialog box window has only the close button.

Help: The usual key to obtain help in Windows is F1. DeltaAccess provides its own context sensitive help. If you are reading this in the HTML-version of the documentation, note that the help file is identical with this text. Because of the way in which DeltaAccess is integrated into the underlying database management application Microsoft Access, depending on where you click F1, you sometimes find yourself in the DeltaAccess help and sometimes in the Microsoft Access help.

You can also double-click on the file DeltaAccess.hlp in the Windows Explorer to read this documentation in the help file format.

Keyboard basics: (Only differences to common DOS programs are explained here)

• A very useful feature of any Windows program is that you can reach menu entries by holding the Alt-key down and pressing the letter which is underlined in the menu. For example, if you have an English Access or Word version, you can start the Find command by pressing Alt-E and then F (the menu entries are written Edit and Find). It is often easier to memorize these keystrokes than obscure shift-control-function key combinations.
• You can always use Ctrl-F4 (F4 = 4th function key) to close a window inside a program (like an Access form, or an Excel document) and Alt-F4 to close a program, like Access or Excel.
• Do not use the return or enter key to go from one field to the next, like you would do in most DOS applications. Use the TAB key (usually on the left side of the keyboard, often marked with and arrow pointing to the right. Use Shift-TAB to go back.
• Another difference to DOS is that to go to the start and end of a table or text, you use Ctrl-Home and Ctrl-End instead of the usual DOS combinations Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown
• The clipboard keys (Ctrl-X/C/V) are explained in the chapter about the Windows clipboard.

If you are in a table in an DeltaAccess form and cannot move with the Cursor up and down keys between records, please inform me. Access does not do this in subform automatically, but I should have added a function which adds this functionality.

The next chapters Windows clipboard and General introduction to Access forms explain further basic operations which are more specific to Microsoft Access forms.

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Like in most Windows programs, you can use the Windows clipboard to transfer data from one point to another. The clipboard can copy information within DeltaAccess, or copy it to other programs. The clipboard always operates on the selected information on the screen. In Access, this might be a complete record (see record selector above), a marked control containing the complete data from a field, or any text currently selected. The clipboard shortcut keys are chosen because they can be easily reached on the keyboard. The three keyboard combinations Ctrl-C to Copy, Ctrl-X to Cut (= copy and delete, mnemonic: cross out), and Ctrl-V to Insert (mnemonic: like the inserting mark you would make above a line of text to insert new text) are probably the keys most worth remembering. You can access the clipboard functions also through the Edit menu, or through tool bar buttons.

If you want to know more about using the clipboard, or have problems getting the expected results, the following Advanced Windows clipboard information may be worth reading. The next chapter General introduction to Access forms explain basic operations more specific to Microsoft Access forms.

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The clipboard is a very powerful tool. For the simple case of copying unformatted text, the visualization of a separate "clipboard place", to which the text is copied and from which it can be retrieved, is quite sufficient. Yet in many cases this picture can be confusing. To understand the possibilities and limitations of the clipboard better, it is important to visualize the clipboard rather as a notice board, on which offers for information can be posted.

Most programs which copy to the clipboard can offer the information in multiple formats, e. g., as formatted or unformatted text, as vector graphic or as bitmap. A program which pastes information from the clipboard, can decide which format it prefers. In the Microsoft Office programs, the entry Paste Special gives the user control over this choice. The default, which would be inserted with the standard Paste command, is the format selected in the list.

Information offered can be indeed transferred directly to the clipboard. Because this must be done separately for each format offered, this is rather inefficient for large volumes of information. Instead, many programs only paste a reference to the data to make an offer for information. The transfer of the information itself is delayed until another program requests it for a paste operation. This explains why programs sometimes ask upon termination "You copied a large amount of data onto the clipboard. [...] Do you want to save this data on the clipboard?" Also, sometimes unexpected results may occur. For example, if you copy a chart from Excel, you can insert it into Word as Excel Chart Object (default) or as Metafile Picture while Excel is still open. If you terminate Excel, the object has disappeared from the clipboard. If you have not saved the file from which you tried to copy it, relying on the clipboard, you may have lost your work!

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If you want to export all the data in a form or report to Microsoft Word or Excel, an alternative to the clipboard are the Office Links. Select Office Links from the Tools menu, or click on the tool-bar buttons (Publish it with MS Word) and (Analyze it with MS Excel).

These actions will write a file in the appropriate format (RTF for Word, Version 5 XLS file for Excel) and open Word or Excel with this file. The files are either written into the active directory, or into your default data directory on your hard disk. If you want to keep the data, it is advisable to rename the files in Word or Excel (using Save-as). Otherwise the file may be overwritten when you export the same query or report the next time.

The functionality of the export to Word is sometimes not fully satisfactory. In general, the layout will be preserved for printing, but the data may be difficult to reformat in Word. This is especially true if you export a report with multiple columns; the columns will be separated by tabulators, which makes it impossible to reformat them. In this case, change the layout of the report to single column first (switch to design view, open the File menu, Page setup).

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The following basic topics are available:
   Form views: single record versus multi-record table
   Moving between records, inserting new records, deleting records
   Fields, controls, and pick list (= combo box)
   Editing and saving
   Undo operation
   Sorting and searching data
   Filtering data
   DeltaAccess specific tool-bar buttons

The following paragraphs describe the scope of the topic listed above:

If you are new to Microsoft Access you may want to read the following Microsoft Access help topic: Getting started with Access. See also (in the Contents of the Access 97 help file, Introduction to Microsoft Access 97, Forms):

  Forms: What they are and how they work
  Ways to work with data in a form

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Form views: Forms can be switched between the detail view (= form, tool-bar symbol: ) and datasheet view (tabular, tool-bar symbol: ) view, using the View menu, and then Table vs. Form. The third view mode is design mode (tool-bar symbol: ), which you only need if you would want to modify a form. ⁽¹⁾

You would switch to datasheet view to get a quick overview over all characters or all items in a descriptor project (or to print them out). Maximize the form (see Title bar in General hints on Windows operations) to see as many records as possible. Note that you can use the tool-bar button search record () in datasheet view as well as in form view. A dialog box opens where you can select a character-, item-, or heading-record by number (ID) or name.

Although you can edit some information visible in tabular view, you do not see all data. To edit a single character or item, you should switch into form view. The main editing forms are designed to run in VGA mode (640×480 pixels), but if you resize them or maximize them, they will use the additional space to a certain degree.

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(1) DeltaAccess uses special tool-bar definitions, containing the separate buttons , , and . Special tool-bars are necessary, because the default tool-bars are not visible in the run-time version of MS Access.

 If you have a full version of Access, you are probably used to this drop down control at the left side of the toolbar, which can be used as an alternative. (Back to Form views: single record versus multi-record table)

Navigation buttons: At the bottom left border of a form, table or query are buttons to go to the first, previous, next, last, and new record. An additional new record button is usually present in the tool-bar below the menu as well. You can also see on which record out of the total number you currently are. If you enter a number in the number field you will go directly to this number. Note that the record number displayed at the bottom is not necessarily identical with your item or character number (CID/IID). If you delete, e. g., a character, the character numbers are not automatically renumbered.

Record selector: The record selector is the bar (or 'column') at the left side of forms, tables, or queries. In datasheet view, a record selector is displayed for each record. It normally looks like: , and changes to if the record is selected. To mark or select an entire record (e. g., to copy into the clipboard or to delete), click with the mouse on the record selector. As soon as start editing a record, the record selector changes to , to mark this. New records which are not yet edited are marked . Microsoft Access normally saves records automatically, but if you want to save a record manually you simply click on the record selector.

Deleting records: To delete a record click on the delete record button in the toolbar (). See also delete a record for an alternative method using the keyboard.

Inserting records: To insert a new record (e. g., to add a new character), click on the insert record button in the toolbar () or the equivalent navigation button at the bottom of the form. In a datasheet (table, query, or form in datasheet view) you can also simple put go to the last row where the record selector looks like: . The star indicates a new record.

You can also select one or several records, copy them to the Windows clipboard (Ctrl-C), go to a new record and insert them from the clipboard (Ctrl-V). Note that this method does not include related records. For example, in the Character editor (CharEdit), only the character definition itself will be copied, but not the associated information about character states.

The elements of a form (navigation buttons, toolbar) are further explained in the following Microsoft Access help topic: Working with data in forms.

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Fields: The fields (often also called controls of a form, or attributes of an entity or table) are usually labeled with a short name, which is also used in the queries. Project name is a field or control. To get more information about an element on the screen, put the mouse cursor above it, and stop moving it for a moment. A little box with yellow background will appear (called ToolTip; in the above example it contains the text: 'Enter the name of the project') and give you some extra information. Also look at the status area at the bottom of the screen where the same or additional information will appear.

The above control is called a combo-box. It is a combination of a text field, where you can edit (see the black vertical line = cursor where you would start to type), and also contains a pick list. The pick list opens when you click on the -button on the right side of the control, or use the F4-key or the Alt-Cursor-Down combination. A pick list contains valid entries for the current purpose. It is often faster, and avoids typing errors to use a pick list instead of typing directly. Also, sometimes you can only enter values which are available in the pick list, because all other values would cause an error (e. g., you can not export a non-existing project name).

A double-click will zoom many controls, e. g., to have more space to read and edit text. Some fields are purposely left quite small, e. g., when notes fields are just large enough so that you can see whether there is any note at all. Editing the text in zoom mode is much more comfortable, because you have a lot of space and use a larger typeface. The same applies to images; here you actually have to zoom to set or delete the image at all. You can adjust the size of both zoomed text and zoomed images.

Buttons with 3 dots () will either open the contents of the control next to it, or zoom a linked record, e. g., all items using a certain character state.

Navigating between controls: You can go to any control by simply clicking with the mouse on it. If you prefer using the keyboard, you should use the TAB-key to move from one control to the next control, and Shift-TAB to move backwards. These keys are the preferred method in most Windows program. Do not use the return key, since this works sometimes, but leads to confusing results at other times (see below). You can also use the four cursor arrow keys (left, right, up, down). Yet, because the arrow keys work differently depending on whether you are currently editing a single field or moving around in a form or table, I recommend using TAB to move forward and backward. Use the up and down arrow keys to move between rows in datasheet view.

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Editing data: If you have moved to a control (= field) which already contains data, the text will be marked (= displayed in reversed colors). Starting to type will delete the marked text. To edit existing data, you must go into the field first, clicking on it a second time with the mouse, or pressing the F2 key. The behavior of Microsoft Access regarding moving between and editing of controls is identical with the behavior of Microsoft Excel in regard to cells.

Editing data within a control: Backspace deletes the character before the cursor, Delete either the marked text, or the character to the right of the cursor. To clear a control completely, select the text contained in the control (tip: since text is automatically selected when you enter a control, the simplest method is to press Tab, Shift-Tab) and hit the Delete key. To clear one line, mark it (use the mouse or press Home, Shift-End) and hit Delete. If you are editing within a text control, you can move faster using Ctrl-right and left arrow keys to move the cursor by word instead of by character. The Insert key will toggle between 'insert mode' (square cursor) and 'overstrike mode' (bar cursor).

Remember that pressing the "return" key is not necessary to enter data into a field. This is an obsolete DOS thing, not valid in most Windows programs. Sometimes this may have unexpected results, since Return might insert a new line into the current field, or it might automatically execute the default button (initially usually the OK button) immediately.

Saving data: In Access you normally do not have to save explicitly after data have been edited. Going to another record, or closing the form, query, or table will automatically save the record. If you nevertheless want to save manually, the simplest method to manually save a record is to select the whole record, i.e. you click on the record selector on the left side. Also note that the Save button (), which may be present in the tool-bar, does not save the record. Instead, it saves the definition of a form or query.

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To undo changes, select the appropriate menu entry in the Edit menu, or press the Escape key, or click on the Undo-button in the tool bar (). If you press Escape once, the changes to the current field will be undone, if you press Escape all unsaved changes to the record are undone.

If a form consists of several parts (main form and subforms, like the table in the center of the CharEdit form where you can edit the character states, or the item description) any move between parts will save the record. This can be confusing if you want to undo your changes, because you many not be able to undo as many changes as you would expect. This is a limitation of Microsoft Access that can not be changed by DeltaAccess.

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Contents of Editing    Main table of contents

Contents of Editing    Main table of contents

Sorting: For fast sorting in a query or form, select the columns by which the data shall be sorted and click on the sorting buttons in the tool bar. Use for ascending, and for descending order. The resulting sort order becomes part of the filter (see below).

Filtering: If you want to restrict the current list of character or items, you can use a Filter. A filter creates a temporary view of the data. It contains a conditions that defines which records are displayed, and may contain a sorting order. If the character definition or the item definition/description are filtered, a filter can be seen as a temporary item or character subset. Filters are a standard Microsoft Access functionality, some of which is not available in the run-time version. Filtering (tool-bar buttons: , , ) is explained in more detail in the following chapter Filtering data.

Jumping: If you do not want to restrict your record set, but just want to move to a specific character or item, use the -button in the tool bar or on the form (available in CharEdit, ItemEdit, and EditHeadings) This will call up a dialog box where you can select characters, items, or headings by number or name.

Searching: As an alternative to filtering you can search through your data like you would in a word-processor. For example, this can be useful to find information hidden in the notes. Click on the -button in the tool bar or select Find in the Edit menu. Note that searching is slow compared to other database operations, because it does not use any indices. An option to do a find and replace is available in the Edit menu as well. For a small or intermediate number of records, replace can often be used as a simple alternative to SQL update queries. Note that you can filter your data set first to the relevant records, and use find and replace only on these records.

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If you want to restrict the current list of character or items, you can use a Filter. A filter creates a temporary view of the data. It contains a conditions that defines which records are displayed, and may contain a sorting order. If the character definition or the item definition/description are filtered, a filter can be seen as a temporary item or character subset. See also Using Identify to search items for an alternative method of creating temporary item subsets. Filters are a standard Microsoft Access functionality, some of which is not available in the run-time version.

AutoFilter: A very fast and simple way of filtering is provided by the AutoFilter function. When you click on the tool-bar button the record set will automatically be restricted to those records which contain the currently selected value in the current field. See also the AutoFilter example.

The button with a red minus in front of the AutoFilter symbol will restrict the record set to those records which do not contains the selected text.

Filter-by-form: Select in the menu: Records, Filter, By Form (or click in the tool-bar on ), enter your filter condition, and select Apply filter in the menu (or click in the tool-bar on ). You fill your restrictions ("where conditions") into the same fields which you use for data entry. Note that filtering in a subform (e. g., the item description or the character states list) restricts only the records in the subform and has no influence on the main recordset. See also the Filter-by-form example.

Remove filter: Once you have applied a filter, the -button will appear depressed to indicate that a filter is active. The string "(filtered)" is added to the total number of records in the record navigation buttons at the bottom of a form or query. Click on the -button again to remove a previously set filter.

Advanced filtering: From the menu, a further filtering mode (advanced filtering and sorting) is available, which offers the most complete and powerful filtering options. This filtering mode is normally not available through a button in the toolbar. The mode uses the QBE (query by example) editor, compare Using Access query design (QBE editor).

For more information about Microsoft Access filters see the Contents of the Access 97 help file, Finding and sorting data, Finding Data by Using Filters:

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Example for AutoFilter: An especially simple situation exists if the ItemName contains scientific organism names starting with the genus, and you want to restrict the scope of the ItemEdit form to a particular genus. Jump to the first species of the genus, and select the leading characters of the genus name in the ItemName field. Be sure to leave at least one character unselected, like in the following example:

See Filtering data for more information on filters.

See Filtering data for more information on filters.

(Related to Filtering data is the identification of items:)

Identification: Selecting an item based on the data/character states defined for it (= interactive identification, or determination) is possible in the identification dialog Identify. This form is also used when an item subset is defined. The Identify dialog box can also be used to create a temporary subset for editing purposes: After using the evaluate button () in Identify to display the list of items remaining, you can click on the button with 3 dots () to open these items in the item edit form. You can also manually select certain items in the item list.

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When the DeltaAccess editing forms and dialog boxes are displayed, the following special DeltaAccess buttons are visible in the tool-bar:

See also the chapter General introduction to Access forms which explain basic operations of Microsoft Access forms.

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In general, you can access all features of DeltaAccess using the DeltaAccess Switchboard, instead. You would use the database explorer if you want to modify queries or reports, or if you feel comfortably with it because you use it in other Access databases.

See also the following notes.

The File selection button calls the standard Windows dialog box to browse through your folders and select a file from a list. Use the pick list on top to change to the drive or network volume where the file is placed. Double-click with the mouse on folders (= 'subdirectories' under DOS) to open them (this is equivalent to the cd-command under DOS), use the Backspace key or click on () to return to the parent directory ('cd ..' under DOS). The buttons on top toggle between list view () and detail view (, file size and date visible). To adjust the column width to view the file size, etc., move the mouse over the separation line in the column header until it changes to and drag the separation to the side.

To delete rows (i. e. the complete record) of a table or a tabular subform (datasheet view):

Using the keyboard: Press shift-blank on the keyboard (this is the same key used by MS Excel to select a row on the spreadsheet). The record selector will be displayed inverted, to indicate that the complete record has been selected. Press the delete key to delete the record.

To hide columns (e. g., to remove them temporarily so that they are not printed) you can adjust the columns width to zero, i. e. you drag the column separation in the header completely to the left side. Use the Format menu, Unhide Columns to redisplay hidden columns.

To adjust column width use either the context menu of the column or simply the mouse: Move the mouse over the separation line in the column header until it changes to and drag the separation to the side. This works in Microsoft Access just like it does in the Windows Explorer, Microsoft Excel, etc.

Selecting several entries in a multiple selection list: Some list boxes allow the selection of several list entries (or lines). They may operate in two different modes: Simple multiple selection and extended multiple selection.

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