MCTS-eManufacturing: Navigation...

Use this exercise to learn how to change the company. The exercise assumes that the Vantage Company currently in use is the one that was shipped with your Vantage training database. Make sure that this is the case. For most users, this company will be active when they first sign on.

1) From the Vantage Main Menu select Options and then Change Company. The Change Current Company window appears.

2) The Available Companies browser lists all companies that your user ID is authorized to access. All users should be authorized to access at least the Vantage Company. Highlight this company with your mouse pointer.

3) When the Vantage Company is highlighted, click OK.

Use this exercise to learn how to use and customize the Vantage Explorer-style interface. Also use this exercise to learn basic techniques for entering information in Vantage. These techniques apply throughout Vantage.

The Vantage interface is divided into three panes: the left-hand pane contains the Favorites shortcut bar: Favorites, Trackers, Office, and Other; the middle and right-hand panes function just like Windows Explorer. When you click on the "+/-" sign or double-click on a folder, that folder opens, displaying its contents on both a sub-tree in the middle pane and as a list in the right-hand pane. When open, clicking on the "+/-" or double-clicking on a folder will close that folder, and hide its contents.

1) Navigate through the following: Job Management, Master File Maintenance, Work Center.

2) Review the following traits about Vantage:

Each program in the right-hand pane is preceded by one of five icons, each of which corresponds to a Vantage activity: Data Entry, Data Processing, File Maintenance, Tracking, and Reporting.

Each module is divided into two or more folders with programs designed to run the above functions. For example, the Job Management module is divided into Master File Maintenance, General Operations, and Reports folders.

Within the Master File Maintenance folders are maintenance programs; entry, processing, and tracking programs are in the General Operations folders; reports (and sometimes processing programs) are in the Reports folders.

3) With this understanding of the icons and menu structures, right-click on the Work Center maintenance icon.

A tool tip appears with the following access option: "Add Work Center to Favorites Bar." You can add the most commonly used programs to the Favorites shortcut bar, listed by icon in the left-hand pane of the Vantage Interface.

4) Add the Work Center maintenance icon to the Favorites group on the Favorites shortcut bar. To add a program, click on the group in which you want to place the shortcut. Once that group appears in the Favorites shortcut bar, right-click on the program you want to add, then move the mouse over the tool tip and release.

5) Delete the Work Center from the Favorites group. To remove an item from one of your Favorites shortcut bar groups, right-click on that group, and select Item Maintenance. A screen containing a table with all the items in that group. Select the item you want to remove from the group, then press Delete.

6) From the Vantage Main Menu, select Job Management, then Master File Maintenance, and then Work Center. This activates the Work Center Maintenance program.

Work Center Maintenance is a master file maintenance program. Master files are electronic data files that store a certain type of record in Vantage. The Work Center master file stores information about all of your work centers. Likewise, the Customer master file stores customer information and the Payroll Class master file stores payroll class information.

Use the records in a master file in various programs throughout the system. For instance, use a customer record when generating a quote, when taking an order, when creating an invoice, and so forth.

7) The Work Center Maintenance window lists all work centers. The list is called a browser. Each item in the browser is an individual "record" in this particular file. The first screen in a Vantage master file maintenance program is a browser that displays basic information about the records stored here.

From a browser, you can return to the Vantage main menu and run more than one program at once. You can navigate with common Windows functions, such as [ALT]+[TAB] or the Windows 95 Taskbar.

8) Note the scroll bar on the right of the browser. Use this to scroll through portions of the browser that do not fit on the visible screen. With your mouse pointer, press the down arrow on the vertical scroll bar to scroll downward through the records in this file. As you scroll down the browser, the square along the scroll bar--the thumb--moves down as well. You can quickly move to a position in the browser by positioning your mouse pointer above the thumb, holding down your left mouse button, and then dragging the thumb up and down along the scroll bar.

Some browsers in Vantage also include a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen. This indicates that the browser extends farther to the right. This particular browser for work centers, however, has no such bar.

9) Use the Sort By options at the top of the screen to filter the records. The Work Center Maintenance browser includes two sort options: Description and ID. If you select Description as the sort option, the work centers are displayed alphabetically by description. Try changing the sort option: click ID with your mouse pointer. The records are now sorted alphabetically by work center ID.

10) Beneath the Sort By options is a field labeled Start At. This field appears on every browser screen in Vantage. Use this field to shorten the display and therefore more quickly locate a particular record in a particular file. You can enter any character or series of characters in the Start At field, and the first item in the list becomes the first item that starts with whatever you entered. For this exercise, select Description as the Sort Option and enter PU in the Start At field. Then press [TAB] or [ENTER]. The browser list now shows the first item in the list as the first work center whose name starts with PU or later, alphabetically.

11) Also, you can add a record or update an existing record. To add a record, from the Edit menu, select Add. To update an existing record, click the record you want to update in the browser to highlight that record; then from the Edit menu, select Update. For this exercise, add a new work center: from the Edit menu, select Add. A new window appears. Use this window to enter and maintain basic information about the work center.

Note: You can also add a new record by pressing [INSERT] on your keyboard. You can also update an existing record by pressing [ENTER] on your keyboard when that record is highlighted or by double-clicking that record with your mouse pointer.

From this window you cannot return to the Vantage main menu and select another program. This is a modal window. You can only start or use another program when a modeless window, like the work center front-end browser, is active. (Modal and modeless are standard Microsoft classifications used by developers when designing Windows applications.)

Modal windows require the user to respond (usually with entering data, and then clicking OK or Cancel) before continuing to work in the current application. Modeless windows allow the user to work in other areas of the application while the window is active. The easiest way to tell the difference between a modal and modeless window in Vantage is to look at the control buttons on the window's title bar. Modal windows do not have minimize and maximize buttons--they only have close buttons (labeled Close or OK). Also, modal windows cannot be resized.

12) Notice that when you enter this window, your cursor is blinking in the field labeled ID. This is the "active field." At this point, anything you type appears in the active field.

The Work Center ID uniquely identifies a specific work center record. A record is a particular set of information in Vantage. Two records can have the same information, but they cannot have the same unique identifying fields (or ID). In many Vantage programs, a unique identifying field is highlighted when you initially activate the program.

13) In the ID field, enter your initials. For this exercise, say you are going to create a work center record with your initials for an ID. Once you have entered your initials, press [TAB].

14) Notice that once you press [TAB], your cursor moves to the Description field. Use the [TAB] key to advance through Vantage fields. When you press [TAB], a new field or button becomes the active field or button. When you hold down the [SHIFT] key and press [TAB], the previously highlighted field or button becomes the active field or button. Practice tabbing through the Work Center Maintenance window. You can also use your mouse pointer or keyboard shortcuts to select fields and buttons.

15) Tab to the Department field. Next to this field you'll notice an arrow pointing downward. This arrow indicates that this field only accepts pre-defined records from another master file --in this case, in the Job Department master file. You choose an entry via a drop-down list, or DDSL (for drop-down selection list). Drop-down lists appear throughout Vantage. Click the Department field's drop-down list arrow now. A list of department records "drop down." These records have been predefined in the training database included with the Vantage system. Note that the item at the top of the list says <ADD>. If you select this option, you will activate the Department Maintenance program, through which you can add a new department. Many, but not all, drop-down lists in Vantage include this <ADD> option.For this exercise, select (double-click) any department from the drop-down list.

16) Tab to the Flat/Percent field. This field is a radio set field: you can select from two or more specified options--in this case, either Flat or Percent. To select an option from a radio set, click the item with your mouse pointer or use the arrows on your keyboard to move through the items until the desired item is selected. For this exercise, select Flat.

17) Tab to the Split Burden field. This field is a toggle box or check box field. Toggle boxes allow you to specify whether a certain condition should apply to the record you are establishing. Mark a toggle box by clicking it with the mouse pointer or by pressing the [SPACE] bar on your keyboard while that toggle box is the active field. Try toggling the split burden field on and off. Sometimes toggle boxes are referred to as "flags." Marking a toggle box is called "setting the flag."

18) Note the buttons on the right side of the screen. Some of these buttons are unique to this program; some appear in most Vantage windows. The Alt Centers, Standards, and Machines buttons are specifically for this program. Use these buttons to activate other screens through which you can specify more information about the selected work center record. The buttons indicate whether alternate work centers, standards, or machines have already been defined if they have chevrons (>>) on the appropriate button.

The OK, Cancel, and Help buttons appear throughout Vantage. Pressing them performs the following functions:

Press OK to exit this window and save the current information.

Press Cancel to exit this window without saving the information you have just entered.

Press Help to activate Vantage's on-line Help system for this program.

Note: Usually, pressing either OK or Cancel returns you to the previous window that you were in when you entered the current window.

19) To save this information, click OK. You are returned to the initial browser of work centers. The work center that you just entered will be the topmost record in the browser.

20) Now you want to remove the record you just added from your system. Highlight the record, and from the Edit menu, select Delete. A message appears, prompting you to confirm deletion of the record. Select Yes. The work center record that you just created is deleted.

Note: Vantage does not allow deletion of a master file record that is used elsewhere in the system. In this case, if you created a job that specified this work center, you could not delete the work center record without first deleting the job record.

21) Once the work center is deleted, from the File menu, select Exit. This window closes and you are returned to the main menu.

Use this exercise to learn the Calendar, Calculator, and Text Editor functions available when you click your right mouse button in any date, numeric, or comments field in Vantage.

1) From the Vantage main menu, select Order Management, then Master File Maintenance and then Customer.

Note: This exercise uses this program only to illustrate the use of some tools. For more information specifically about setting up Customers, see the Setting Up Customers exercise later in this tutorial.

2) The initial browser of customers appears. Highlight any record in this browser and from the Edit menu, select Update. The Customer Maintenance window appears.

3) Position the cursor in the Established field.

3) When the cursor is in the Established field, click the right mouse button. A calendar appears. This calendar will appear whenever you click your right mouse button while the cursor is positioned in a date field in Vantage.

5) Note that one date on the calendar is highlighted. By default, this is the date currently entered for fields that have a date entered, and the current date for date fields that do not have a date entered.

6) For this exercise, enter the date of your 16th birthday in the Established field: Click the <-Year or Year-> buttons until the calendar is positioned to the year when you turned sixteen. Then click the <-Month and Month-> buttons until the calendar is positioned to the month of your birthday.

7) Click your birthday on the calendar to highlight it.

8) When the desired date is highlighted, select OK. You are returned to the Customer Maintenance window, and the selected date--in this case, your 16th birthday--is entered in the Established field.

9) Position the cursor to the Discount % field. When the cursor is in the Discount % field, click the right mouse button. A calculator appears. This calculator appears when you click the right mouse button while the cursor is positioned in a numeric field in Vantage.

10) Use the buttons on the screen or the numeric keys on your keyboard to perform calculations with this calculator. Try this now. Perform any math problem, like 1.4 x 21.88. Note that this calculator includes a memory function, allowing storage of a number in memory with the MS key and recall for use in another calculation with the MR key.

11) Once you have calculated a number, click the OK button. You will return to the Customer Maintenance window and the number you calculated will be entered in the Discount % field.

Note: For this particular field, any decimals you may have calculated will be rounded to the nearest hundredth, as the Discount % field in the customer maintenance program happens to be a field that is formatted to only display two decimal places. Also, in this particular field you can only enter a number between 0.00 and 99.99. If you calculate a larger number, you will receive an error message and will need to re-enter the number.

12) Now click the Comments button on the right side of the Customer Maintenance window. The Comments window appears. Comments fields appear throughout Vantage.

In the Comments field, type several lines of text. For example: Call the old number, 612-555-7897, when ready to ship to this particular customer.

Once you have typed several lines of sample text, use your mouse pointer or your keyboard to highlight a portion of that text. When a portion of the text is highlighted, click your right mouse button. A text editing pop-up menu will appear.

13) From this pop-up menu select Edit and then Cut. The highlighted portion of the text will be cut and placed on the Windows clipboard.

14) Now position your cursor at a different position in the comments you typed. Then click your right mouse button again. Select Edit and Paste. The portion of the text that you cut will be pasted in the position you specify.

Note: The standard windows CTRL X, CTRL C, and CTRL V keyboard combinations are also valid for cutting and pasting text to and from a Comments field.

15) This menu includes several other functions. You may want to practice using these functions now, especially the Spelling Checker. When you are comfortable with using the right mouse button in a Comments field, click the Comments window's OK button. You will return to the Customer Maintenance window.

16) In the Customer Maintenance window, click Cancel. (The changes should not be saved for this exercise.) The browser of customers appears again.