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Help for The RecordsKeeper Activity Measures Screen

This screen permits you to keep a record of any important activity that can be measured over a span of time.

There is no limit to the number of activities you can keep track of, nor is there any limit as to how many times or how often you wish to record a specific measurement for the activity.

Before you can enter a measure however, you must establish a measurement category for it. You do this by clicking the ‘Add New’ button to open the Measurement Categories screen. Follow the help and instructions found with that screen. For example, if you wish to keep track of your weight, you would first establish that category by clicking the ‘Add New’ button to establish ‘Weight’ as one of the activities you want to measure. (How to complete elements of that screen are shown when you open it)

Once established, you will be able to select ‘Weight’ from the list box, and then enter your measurement data.

Measurement Categories:

All of the measurement categories that you have established are shown in the drop list at the top right of the screen. When this screen first opens, a chart associated with the default category is displayed. You can change the default by setting the 'Use as Default?' option. Note that you cannot set a default switch ‘Off’. You change default by displaying the category you wish to save as the default and setting its switch to ‘On’.

Measurement Data:

The data for each category is stored in the database. All data for the selected category is displayed in a table format on the left side of the screen. You manage your data for the selected category in this portion of the screen by adding new data records, changing existing data or deleting records that are no longer required.

The left-most column of this section stores a date. The next 5 columns store measurement values for that date, and a final column permits you to keep notes for that date.

In most cases, there will only be two data fields that require data when you enter a measurement: the date of the measurement and the measurement itself, although up to 5 measures can be stored with each date.

The ‘Date’ field is selected from a calendar screen that will open when you double-click in the date field, or when you click the calendar icon to the right of the field. Once a date is selected from either of these calendars, that date is entered into the table for you.

The measurement value(s) for the date are keyed into the ‘Measurement’ fields.

If you elected to use the remaining measurement fields for additional measures, or for such things as upper and lower limits and for setting targets, you will need to enter these values the first time you enter a measurement value. When you enter subsequent measurement values, these limit and target values will be copied from the last record and entered automatically for you, on the assumption that these values will not change that often. You can over-ride these values at any time by simply replacing them. Should you decide to change your personal target at some point, simply change it to another value and then that new value will be entered for you automatically from that point in time onward. If you are using these fields for additional measures, you will have to enter your data over the data that was copied.

You may enter more than one value for a specific date, but you will not be able to establish a time of day for the measurement. If you require two or more measurements on the same day, then you might consider establishing two or more categories, one called ‘AM Measure’ one called, ‘Noon Measure’ one called ‘PM Measure’ and so on. Alternatively, you could use one or more of the measure fields for this purpose by labelling them appropriately and using them for different measures on the same day.

You may also keep notes or comments about the measures you entered for any specific date. This is helpful for indicating situations or reasons for why a measure might change in the future, such as an injury, change in lifestyle or medication, or any other information that may help in making a correlation to your data. You add a note by double clicking the 'Notes' field at the right of the data line to open an edit box. When notes are present, the 'Notes' field will indicate this condition.

Entering Data:

First, ensure the measure you wish to update is selected from the list box near the top right of the screen.

Then, in the data entry section on the left side of the screen, double-click in the left-most field or click the calendar icon to open a calendar. Select the date you want by clicking on the day. The calendar will close and the date you selected will be entered for you. The ‘<<’ and ‘>>’ buttons on the double-click calendar screen move the year forward and backward, while the ‘<’ and ‘>’ buttons move the month forward and backward.

Enter a measurement value in the next field. If this is the first measure you are entering for this category, then you should also enter data into the other fields if you require them. If a limit or target is usually referred to as less than, more than or equal to, you can also select the appropriate sign from the list boxes beside and to the left of each value field. Double click the 'Notes' field to add comments.

When you have finished entering all of the data for a specific date, the data will be saved automatically for you when you move your cursor to another line, when you click somewhere else on the screen, or when you press the ‘Enter’ button.

Note that the chart is not updated each time that you enter a new line or make a change to existing data. You must click the 'Update Chart' button to see any changes reflected on the chart. The chart will also be updated when selecting changes in the list boxes that control the chart itself.

Deleting: You delete a data record by selecting (clicking) its 'Select' switch (found on the right side of the screen) and setting it to on, then clicking the 'Delete Selected' button. You can delete as many records as you wish by selecting more than one record for deletion. Note that once deleted, records cannot be retrieved..

Copying and Pasting: You copy and paste a record by selecting (clicking) its 'Select' switch (found on the right side of the screen) and setting it to on, then clicking the 'Copy Selected' button. You can copy as many records as you wish by selecting more than one record.

Upon clicking the 'Copy' button, a sceen will open that permits you to copy the selected record(s) to the screen you are on, or to another measurement category. You can also copy data records to another user.

You can copy and paste data within specific fields from one record to another. Select the data you want to copy by highlighting it with your cursor, right-click and select 'Copy' from the context menu (or use the Ctl + C keys), then place your cursor in the place in the record and field you want to copy to, then right-click and select 'Paste' from the context menu (or use the Ctl + V keys) to place the copied data in the second field.

Category Description:

If you chose to enter a description of the category on the ‘Categories Control’ screen, it will show in the upper right hand portion of the screen above the chart. You can use this portion to describe the category, or to provide instructions in its use to help you. You can edit the data in this area by double-clicking anywhere in the data field. An edit window will open and permit changes to be made. You can also view all of the data in this field is it is not all visible by double-clicking in it.

You can also make changes to this data on the Measurement Categories screen.

Graphical Display:

The lower right-hand part of the screen provides a graphical display of your data.

Types of Charts:

Your data can be displayed in three different types of charts, within which there are several subtypes, such as lines, bars, columns, cones, pyramids and three dimensional versions of the these sub-types. The three main types are:

line or bar (columnar) charts : showing trends of your data in equal intervals
stacked charts: showing the contribution (cumulative) of each value
100% stacked charts: showing the percentage portion that each value contributes

To understand these type of charts, assume you were tracking the minutes you spent each day exercising. To do this, you might use 5 measures: warm-up, aerobics, abdominals, weights and cool-down. A typical series of data might be 10, 30, 20, 20 and 10 minutes for each of these activities on a given day. If you displayed the data in a line chart, the chart would show 5 lines: line 1 at 10; line 2 at 30; lines 3 and 4 at 20 and line 5 at 10, each line reflecting how many minutes you spent on each activity for that day. If you displayed the same data in a stacked chart, the chart would show line 1 at 10, line 2 at 40, line 3 at 60, line 4 at 80 and line 5 at 90, 90 being the total number of minutes you spent on all activities that day. Finally, if you displayed the same data in a 100% stacked chart, the chart would show line 1 at 11, line 2 at 44, line 3 at 67, line 4 at 89 and line 5 at 100, each value representing the cumulative percent of time you spent on each activity that day.

You specify which chart to display by selecting one of the chart types in the drop list at the top right of the chart.

Note that some chart types may not be appropriate for certain types of measurements. For example, if you were keeping track of your weight, and you were recording a target as well as an actual weight, the only appropriate type of chart to use would be a line or bar type of chart, since stacking your weight with your target weight would not be very meaningful. If you were tracking how much distance you run however, you could view that data in a line chart to see a trend over time, but you could also view the same data in a stacked chart to see the cumulative distance you have run over any selected period of time.

Summarization Levels:

All charts show time across the bottom of the chart. You can choose to display each data measure individually by date, or you can summarize (average) the data to a monthly, quarterly or annual level. Averaging the data provides a less cluttered chart when there is a lot of data, or permits you to view a specific period in more or less detail.

You establish the level of summarization by selecting one of the options in the 'Grouping' drop list at the top right of the chart.

Dates Displayed:

All of the dates in your data table are listed in two drop lists above the chart. You can determine which data you wish to display on your chart by selecting a start and an end date from these drop lists. This permits you to look at specific periods of data if you wish.

In most cases and unless otherwise directed, a chart will display all of the data available to it. Each time a chart is updated, these drop lists will also be updated to reflect the current data in your table.

If you elect to 'Save' your chart settings (see below) however, your chart will display data for the saved date range when it first opens.

Note that if you wish to save a start date but do not want the bother of updating an end date each time you enter new data, you can enter and save a future or previous date in these drop boxes.

You can always determine if the currently selected date range is restricting the display of any of your data by checking the record counts shown above the chart. The leftmost number shows the number of data records in the database for the selected category, while the rightmost number shows the number of those records currently being used in the chart. When these numbers are equal, all records are being displayed on the chart.

Scale Ranges:

When a chart is first used and unless otherwise directed, the vertical scale range will be calculated for you and applied to the chart, with the lowest range value normally being zero. You can change the minimum and maximum range values so that the chart is more meaningful, or to view a particular part of the range in more of less detail if you wish.

You establish an alternate scale range by selecting an entry from the drop lists to the left and below the chart. These lists are populated with about 25 equal ranges values calculated for you. If they are not appropriate for your needs, you can enter any other value that makes your chart more meaningful.

Saving Your Settings:

You can save the settings (summarization level, start and end dates, and scale ranges) that you have established for a chart. When you do so, these same settings will be applied the next time you select and display the chart.

You save the settings for a specific chart by setting the ‘Save Chart’ switch found below the right side of the chart to ‘On’.

Note that when you use this feature, the settings will remain in force even if you enter new data. This means that the chart will not display any new data if the new data is beyond the established settings for either the date range or the scale range. For instance, if you enter data that is prior to or subsequent to the start and end dates, that data will not show on the chart unless you also change the start and end date ranges for the chart, or if you set the 'Save' switch to 'Off' and then update the chart. Likewise, if you entered a data point that is beyond the scale ranges that have been saved, that data point may not display on the chart unless one of the scale ranges is also changed manually.

Note also that if the ‘Save Chart’ switch is ‘On’ and you set it to ‘Off’, the chart will be re-established with all of the default settings for that chart after you click the 'Update Chart' button.

Default Chart:

You can set one of the chart types for each chart category as the default chart for that category. The default chart for a category will always be the one that displays when you select a category from the drop list at the top of the screen. There can only be one default for a chart category.

You set a chart as the default chart by setting the ‘Use as Default?’ switch found below the right side of the chart to ‘On’.

Note that you cannot set a default switch ‘Off’. You change default by displaying the chart you wish to save as the default and setting its switch to ‘On’.

Chart Legend:

A chart legend is shown within the chart area and displays the names of the 5 measurement fields that you established for the selected category.

These measurement names can be changed but they must be changed on the 'Measurement Categories Control' screen. If you make a change to a chart that is currently being displayed, the change will not take effect until the chart is next refreshed.

Trend Line:

On the basic forms of the first type of chart (line), you have the option of showing trend lines for any or all of your measurements. This option is only displayed for charts that permit a trend calculation. These trend lines are based on a linear calculation of the values in the table.

You set a trend line on or off by setting its switch 'On' or 'Off'. These settings are also saved and used the next time the chart is displayed if your chart settings are being saved.

Line Chart Line Thickness:

On basic line charts, you have the option to use thin or thick lines on your chart. Set the option located at the bottom left of the chart area to specify the thickness of the lines on your chart. Your selection will be saved if you save the settings for the selected chart.

Line Chart Line Markers:

On basic line charts, you have the option to use symbolic markers for each of the data points on a line. Set the 'Markers' option located at the bottom right of the chart area to specify whether or not you want markers on the lines on your chart. Your selection will be saved if you save the settings for the selected chart.

Expanding the Chart:

To view the chart area of the screen in greater detail, click the 'View Larger Chart' button. Your chart will be displayed on a separate screen that can be resized by selecting and dragging the corners of that screen to a size that permits a more detailed view of your data.

Report:

You can print a report of the currently selected activity measure by clicking the ‘Print’ button. When you click this button a screen will open that will permit you to select what you want to print on the report.

You have the option of printing all or any combination of the activity description, the time series values and the chart.

You have the option of deciding which of the lines you wish to include on your report. This feature allows you to focus on specific combinations of series.

You have the option of setting up your own header area and adding a footnote to the report if you wish.

You have the option of hiding duplicate measurement values in the data portion of your report to reduce clutter.

The printed chart will adopt all of the specifications established for the chart on the screen. You change the way you want your chart to look and the data you want to include in your report by first changing the chart on the screen before clicking the 'Print' button.

Note that if you opt to use a custom report header section, all of the standard header sections containing the type of chart and date ranges are lost and must be manually included in your new header text if you require them.