Systems Architects and Engineers specialising in the effective use of Systems Architecture, Methods and Tools since 1982
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Systems Architects and Engineers specialising in the effective use of Systems Architecture, Methods and Tools since 1982 |
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Rapid Manual EntrySee the sphere entry form. This form is intended for the quick entry of undetailed bulk lists of sphere items: additional attribute and note information may be added later for individual items. Sphere sequencing should be decided on before beginning this exercise. SphereSphere items are identified by sequence codes of up to ten characters. Each pair of characters represents one level of the sphere and valid entries are the ten numeric digits plus the twenty six alphabetic characters. Although it is not essential, it may be found convenient to "label" each sphere's sequence codes by using a mnemonic first character. Thus the Logical Function sphere could use codes beginning "F" for Function, Organisation beginning "O" etc. Sequence codes are left justified and contain no padding characters. When you begin entry of a new sphere or continue entry of an existing sphere, new sequence codes are generated for an empty record according to the rules stated in Sequence Codes. Before a new sphere item is recorded, its name can be checked against the existing table. If the new name repeats an existing name at the same level, you will be prompted to accept or change it. Duplicate names, more precisely duplicate headers, can cause problems when creating a matrix. See Sphere Headers and Relations Review for more information. The check can be suspended or reset if you wish by clicking the Repeat Name Check, check box which switches from "Y" to "N". Populating a SphereThe best strategy is probably to enter all or most of a level at a time and then to use the Filter field to restrict the set displayed. In the sample form shown, the sequence filter has been set to "FP..", restricting the display of items to those in the major function, "Manage Personnel". The level filter has also been set, to level 2. Take care not to use a partial sequence which specifies a lower level than the level filter as an empty table frame will result. While it is generally the case that you will want to specify a sequence code level one higher than the level filter, you can use the combination of the two at the same level to find an individual item. For later definition of lower levels, the filter may be refined to greater detail if convenient. NOTE that each new or revised entry is tagged with the current user ID and today's date. BrowsingIf you wish to use the entry form as a browsing mechanism, you can review the details of any sphere item by double clicking one of its fields. This action will bring up the sphere review form, showing the desired item. NOTE that this is the only way to delete an incorrect sphere item: items are, potentially at least, part of a hierarchy and the review form includes the necessary functionality to remove lower dependent items as well as any relations which may become redundant. Paradox for Windows provides a message in the message area at the bottom of the form which indicates how many records there are in the visible table and the position of the current record in the set. ButtonsFurther assistance with browsing is provided by the Sort button. Click it to change the sequence of the items in the table to dictionary order of Name and then back to Sequence. The Print button for the sphere entry form offers several options, the "as seen" screen print, a full sphere report or the short sphere report. The reports include only those items which comply with any current filters. |