5 USING AND CUSTOMIZING YOUR GUI
This chapter introduces different screen elements within the Alephino GUI. It
also shows you how you can change the appearance of the Alephino GUI
on your workstation.
You can change the look and feel of an Alephino GUI by tailoring the windows and lists.
GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. This is an environment in which you
can interact with the program using buttons, arrows keys, icons and links.
The client is the software installed on your workstation which interacts with the server where your databases(s) and the ALEPHINO software are located.
The client includes all ALEPHINO modules.
When you use an Alephino GUI client, you have the choice of either using the
mouse to get around or simply using the keyboard.
This chapter includes the following topics:
5.1 LOGGING IN
The first time, when you start an GUI module on your PC, the software prompts you for a user name and password. It checks all the servers listed in the ..\ALEPHCOM\TAB\library.ini file. If this name/password is not valid on any of the servers it can connect to, you get the message
"Password not verified on connectable hosts".. This indicates that:
- this name/password is not valid, or
- the address specified in the ..\ALEPHCOM\DAT\library.ini is wrong, or
- the server specified in the library.ini entry is down.
Note:
Column 3 in the library.ini is limited to 30 characters. If your host name is too long, please use the numeric IP address. For example, instead of :
my_very_long_domain_name_xyz:2069
use 010.001.235.019:2069
Then connect to a database (Click File in the ALEPHINO menu bar and then Connect). When you click Connect, the system displays the libraries listed in the module's per_lib.ini file (for example, ..\CIRC\TAB\per_lib.ini).
When you click on a particular library, the software goes to
the library.ini file and tries to connect to the IP address
specified for this library.
To log in to an ALEPHINO GUI, follow these steps:
- From the Windows Start menu, click Programs>Alephino 5.0>Module name
or double click on your desktop to the Windows Applications Toolbar (if available).
-
The Alephino Password box is automatically displayed if the 'Save Password' box has NOT been checked during the last login.
- Type your user name and password.
If you enter a non-existing user name, the following message will appear in the check-window: "Invalid user name" . If you enter an invalid password, the following message will appear "Invalid password". In both cases the message "Password not verified on connectable hosts" will be displayed and you will only be able to use offline functions.
5.2 LOOKING AT THE ALEPHINO GUI
The following illustration shows a typical GUI screen (in this case, patron information in the Circulation module):
The element names used here can be found in the documentations as well.
This section covers screen elements which are common to all module GUIs. Screen elements which are specific to a particular GUI are described in the Overview chapter of the relevant GUI:
Navigation Tree
Just like menu commands, the nodes of the navigation tree activate different screen areas when clicked:
Upper and Lower Panes
The display of information in the panes is governed by the node selected in
the navigation tree.
The display can consist of a form, a list, or a record.
The upper and lower panes change according to context.
Example 1
In this example, the lower pane contains detailed information relating to the
line highlighted in the upper pane (expanded view of Items information).
Example 2
In this example, the lower pane contains an input form enabling you to update
the information regarding the highlighted line in the upper pane (hold
request).
Split Bar
This is the horizontal or vertical double line that separates a window into
two panes. You can change the size of the panes.
To resize a pane in the GUI, follow these steps:
-
Place the cursor over the split bar. The cursor takes the form of a double arrow.
- Drag the cursor to increase or decrease the width of the pane.
5.3 MAIN TAB CONFIGURATION
You can customize the appearance of the main tab. From the ALEPHINO menu, point
to Options, click Customize, and select the Main Tab Configuration tab:
Actually there is only one option available:
Back color - Use this option to change the background color of a
main tab icon and its corresponding navigation tree.
5.4 OPERATIONS BAR
The operations bar appears at the foot of the screen:
It contains the following, going from left-to-right:
- Indicators of the connection status of the program
- Applications icons which you can click to switch to other modules
- Setup icons that enable you to customize the GUI setup.
5.5.0 Indicator icons
The Connect icon, located in the bottom left-hand corner of the window, shows
whether or not the GUI is currently connected to the server. Green indicates
that there is a connection; red indicates that there is no connection.
The PC/Server Link icon displays a red line if a request is being processed:
If you want to stop a process, click the red line to initiate a user break.
5.4.2 Applications Icons
| Name |
Icon |
| Acquisitions |
 |
| Cataloging |
 |
| Circulation |
 |
5.4.3 Setup Icons
The icons to the right of the operations bar contain user-defined setup controls.
Key
When you right-click the Key icon, the follow menu pops up:
The following options are available on this pop-up menu:
- Login as Another User -
If you need to change a login to a new user, choose Login as another user.
The following window appears
Type in another user name and click OK. The user name refers to the
name under which a staff member is registered in the Alephino system.
- Change Current Password - To change your password, carry out the
following steps.
- Choose Change Current Password from the menu. The following window appears:
- Fill in your old password and then the new password twice, as shown above.
- Clicking OK saves the new password whether or not you have selected the Save Password option.
- (Optional) Select the Save Password option only if you do not want
to have to log in the next time you open Alephino.
Tower of Babel
When you right-click the Tower of Babel icon, a list of available languages
for the interface pops up:
In a multiple-language setup as in our example, you select a language by
clicking it.
Library
When the module opens, you are connected automatically to a database if the line for DataBaseAutoSelect= is set to Y in the alephcom.ini. When you right-click the
Library icon, a list of available databases pops up.
Select a database.
Printer
When you right-click the Printer icon, a list of available print options appears:
These options are:
- Normal Printing
When Normal Printing is selected, clicking the Print command (by
clicking Print from the File menu, or by clicking the Printer icon on the GUI
menu bar) invokes the Print window.
- Preview
When Preview is selected, clicking the Print command lets you preview
the printout. You can then click Print to print the file.
- View Source
When this option is selected, clicking the Print command lets you view the file in source HTML format in an editor window. This mode can be used for debugging.
5.5 WORKING WITHOUT A MOUSE
If you prefer to work without a mouse, ALEPHINO lets you quickly accomplish tasks
by using shortcut keys - one or more keys you press on the keyboard
to complete a task. Each module in ALEPHINO has its own set of shortcut key
assignments:
|
Keyboard Shortcuts for all ALEPHINO GUIs
You can advance from one screen element to another by using the following shortcut keys:
Shortcut Keys
|
Lets you do this
|
TAB
|
move to the next control in the dialog box.
|
Shift+TAB
|
move to the previous control in the dialog box.
|
Ctrl+TAB
|
move from the lower pane to the first control in the first toolbar.
|
Ctrl+Alt+TAB
|
move from the first control in the first toolbar to the lower pane.
|
Ctrl+1
|
move to the left pane, containing a tree.
|
Ctrl+2
|
move to the right upper pane or to the left editor
window in multiple view in Cataloging.
|
Ctrl+Shift+2
|
move to the right editor window in multiple view in
Cataloging.
|
Ctrl+3
|
move to the right lower pane.
|
Ctrl+4
|
move to the record manager (left lower pane) in Cataloging..
|
Ctrl+5
|
move to the first control in the top toolbar.
|
Ctrl+6
|
move to the second control in the top toolbar.
|
Ctrl+7
|
move to the third control in the top toolbar.
|
Note that a rot frame appears around the active pane (pane in focus).
Drop down lists opened with the
icon can be used without a mouse as follows:
- To open a list, press F4.
- To select an item from a list, press Enter.
- To highlight an item on a list, use the arrow keys.
- To exit a list without selecting an item, press Esc.
Note that when selecting an item with the mouse, you need to double-click.
|
If you prefer to work without a mouse, you may find it helpful to keep a printed copy of shortcut key assignments. In Help, locate the Working Without a Mouse topic and click Print, or print the relevant pages from the ALEPHINO User Guide.
5.5.1 Customizing Shortcut Key Assignments
You can customize shortcut keys in ALEPHINO by assigning shortcut keys to
commands that do not already have them or by removing shortcut keys that you
do not want. If you do not like the changes you make, you can return to the
default shortcut key settings at any time in the present session. However,
once you close a session, any changes you have made in shortcut key
assignments will be saved in <module>/tab/<lng>/accel.dat
The following is true for all ALEPHINO GUIs:
Do not use the following shortcut keys: Ctrl+H, Ctrl+I. These shortcut keys are reserved for
Windows functions and cannot be reassigned.
The Shift key can only be used together with the virtual keys F1-F12.
|
To customize the shortcuts available in the GUI, follow these steps:
From the ALEPHINO menu, point to Options, click Customize, and select the Accel.
Configuration tab:
To see which shortcut keys are currently assigned, highlight an item in the Menu Items.
The shortcut key currently assigned to the selected item is displayed in the Current Keys field.
To assign a new shortcut key, highlight an item in the list, click the Enter New Order Key field and press a combination of keys (for example, Ctrl+F3) and click Assign.
To remove a shortcut key, select the shortcut key from the Current Keys
field and click Remove.
To reset all of the shortcut key assignments to the settings present at the
beginning of the current session, click Reset All.
Any changes you make via the Accel. Configuration tab are automatically saved
in a text file, accel.dat, located in the module's tab/<lng> directory on the client, and vice versa. All menu options that are listed in the menu.dat file can be listed in the accel.dat file along with the keys (or key combinations) to be used to activate the menu option.
The key combinations must follow these rules:
-
If the Ctrl, Alt or Shift key is to be used, type it first.
(You can also type any combination of these keys, for example, Ctrl+Alt.)
-
Type a plus sign (+), then type the ASCII character (in square brackets []) or the
virtual key that must be pressed. A virtual key is of the type VK_* (for
example, VK_F3).
Examples:
Ctrl+VK_F3 (this is displayed in the menu as Ctrl+F3)
Ctrl+[V] (this is displayed in the GUI menu as Ctrl+V)
The following examples show key definitions in accel.dat in the Circulation
module, together with the name of the function as assigned by the programmer.
! Accel Texts
!
! ID Data
! 40 255
!---------------------------------------!---------------------------------------->
NEW_USER #Ctrl+VK_F7
DUPLICATE_USER #Ctrl+VK_F10
DELETE_USER #Ctrl+VK_F11
USER_LIST #Alt+VK_F7
LOCATE #Alt+VK_F8
The menu.dat file contains the name of the function and the text that appears in the menu. For example:
! Menu Texts
!
! ID Data
! 40 255
!---------------------------------------!---------------------------------------->
ALEPH &ALEPH
DATE &Dates
LOAN_RENEW &Renew &Loan by Barcode
LOAN Circulation
.../...
In the application, the system displays the menu text as defined in menu.dat
together with the hotkey definition defined in accel.dat:
5.6 F1 KEY
You can customize the function that is invoked when the F1 key is pressed.
From the ALEPHINO menu, point to Options, click Customize, and select the
General Configuration tab:
- Select Help to receive online help for any screen element when you
press F1.
- Select Visual Properties to display the Visual Properties window
whenever you press F1.
5.7 THE VISUAL PROPERTIES WINDOW
The Visual Properties window is used to view the labels on screen elements within an ALEPHINO GUI.
You can also change the tab which opens first by default when a form is displayed (this is only for forms which are comprised of multiple tabs).
For example, in the Circulation module, when the Cash Transactions tab on the Patron Information window is clicked, the following form appears:
As you can see, the above form has four tabs. By default the leftmost tab is activated when a multi-tab window is opened (in this example,
1. Active Cash).
To change the tab which opens by default:
-
From the Alephino menu, point to Options, click Customize, and select the
General Configuration tab:
- Select Visual Properties to display the Visual Properties window
when F1 is pressed.
- Open a multi-tab form and press F1. The Visual Properties window appears:
-
In the First Tab field, enter a number to determine which tab is
activated when the form is opened. The second tab from the left is 2 and so on. In the above example, the number 4 has been entered. The next time the form is opened, the fourth tab
from the left (in this example, 4. All Transactions) will be activated.
5.7.1 Dialog Boxes and Visual Properties
GUIs contain panes that display information and dialog boxes that are initiated when a menu option is selected. They can be easily differentiated, as information panes do not have title bars, whereas dialog boxes do. Information panes always originate in predetermined locations, but the location of dialog boxes can be customized by the user.
The following screen contains two examples of information panes:
The main difference between the upper and lower pane in the above example is
that information can only be entered in the lower pane.
Here is an example of a dialog box:
The Visual Properties window enables you to determine where a dialog box (for
example, the Update Item's Process Status window) is located the next
time the GUI is opened. It also provides automatic centering of the window.
To ensure a window, follow these steps:
- Place the cursor on the title bar of the window and right-click. The
following menu appears:
-
Click Visual Properties. The Visual Properties window is displayed.
- Select Center.
- Click Locate. The window is relocated to the center of the screen
immediately and appears in the center of the screen the next time the GUI
is opened.
If you want the window to appear in any other location on the screen, follow
these steps:
-
Drag the window to an appropriate location.
-
Place the cursor on the title bar of the window and right-click. A menu
pops up (shown above).
-
Choose Visual Properties. The Visual Properties window (shown above) opens. The coordinates of the "current position" are displayed for your reference (example: 176,192).
- If you are satisfied with the current location, click Locate. The window
appears in this location the next time the module is opened.
5.8 MODIFYING ADDITIONAL TEXT FIELDS
There are a large number of forms in Alephino which contain fields with
additional text arrows, indicating that they are longer, for example, note
fields:
When you click on the box, the field drops down, letting you view the
complete entry and enabling you to enter additional information.
When you open this type of field, you can press the Ctrl + Enter shortcut key
to insert a line break.
Press Esc to close an additional text field.
The maximum amount of text (number of characters) displayed in a field, before
this expand feature is activated, can be customized in alephcom.ini as:
[Edit]
ExpandTextLength=100
This applies for the maximum amount of potential text. For example, if a field
can accommodate 200 characters but only contains 20 characters, the button is
still displayed.
5.9 DATES IN THE ALEPHINO GUI
You enter the date in the Date field and select each digit by highlighting it
with the pointer. The Date field consists of a single unit made up of 8 digits.
There are two ways to enter a date in the date field.
-
Using the drop-down calendar box. This opens a small calendar page set on
the current day's date. You can browse through the days and months with the
arrow buttons or choose a day using the mouse.
- Using the F12 key from the date field. If the pointer is in the date
field, clicking F12 sets the date as today's date. Clicking F12 again sets
all digits to 0.
Of course, you can change any date by typing in the appropriate numbers.
To leave the drop-down calendar without choosing a date, press the Esc key.
5.9.1 Browsing Through Months and Years
There are several methods of browsing through months and years.
- By using the drop-down calendar -
To browse through months, use the arrow buttons in the upper corners of the calendar window.
-
If you place the pointer on the month displayed on the title bar and click, a list of months is displayed and you can select one.
-
To browse through years, place the pointer on the year and click. This opens a spin box that enables you to move through the years.
5.10 ICONS IN THE FUNCTION BAR
Each toolbar has a left side and a right side.
5.10.1 IDENTIFYING ICONS
There are nonclickable icons on the far left of each toolbar.
These are used to indicate the toolbars functionality.
Example: Serial Bar
These icons are not customizable.
5.10.2 SHORTCUT ICONS
The right side is a separate bar with its own context string. It is comprised of icons that
can be used as shortcuts instead of menu commands.
Example: Shortcut of the zu der Funktion "Full screen" "View" menu
The user can customize this bar to:
To add, delete or modify Shortscutsymbole, edit only the ../Alephcom/tab/tbarbmp.dat. file.
Following Icon codes are used:
Acquisition
------------
"OrderBar"
"InvoiceBar"
"SerialBar"
"OrderBarCommands"
"InvoiceBarCommands"
"SerialBarCommands"
Circulation
-----------
"UserBar"
"ItemBar"
"UserBarCommands"
"CircItemBarCommands"
Cataloging
----------
"RecordBar"
"RecordBarCommands"
"CatalogItemBar"
"CatalogItemBarCommands"
The icons are Bitmap files that are stored under ../Alephcom/tbarbmp.
To enhance a shorcut for the "Catalog Order" function in the Order bar, you have to add the following line in the tbarbmp.dat file:
OrderBarCommands CATALOG_ORDER CatItem.bmp Y 0
5.11 SWITCHING BETWEEN APPLICATIONS
In every module, you can switch between different applications, not only from the
bottom Alephino toolbar, but also from the Alephino menu/Switch Application:
This submenu also contains the "Exit All Alephino Applications" option. The switch option to the module you are in is disabled.
5.12 EXPAND WINDOWS INVOKED FROM FORMS
There are several different types of expand windows that are invoked from form
windows (for example, the Arrival Form in the Acquisitions/Serials module):
- A drop-down calendar invoked from a date field:
- A drop-down list that contains items which you can select.
-
Long text in field. This is a rectangular box, in which you can type additional text:
- A separate dialog box:
These expand windows can be displayed in two ways:
- When the corresponding button next to a field on a form window is clicked.
- When the corresponding shortcut key is pressed.
These are the buttons and shortcut keys that correspond to each type of field:
| Description of Expand Window |
Icon
|
Shortcut Key
|
Drop-down calendar
|
|
F4
|
Drop-down list
|
|
F4
|
Long text in field
|
|
F3
|
Separate dialog box:
|
|
-
|
In order to use a shortcut key, the cursor must be in the corresponding field.
You can close any expand window by clicking the ESC key.
Note that you can use the TAB key to land on the
button.
5.13 TOOLTIPS
In the Acquisitions/Serials, Cataloging and Circulation modules, a ToolTip
appears when you point to the icon on the left of a toolbar:
You can edit the ToolTip's text in modulname/tab/lng/window.dat. <BarName>.ToolTip.Info
For example, in window.dat,
RecordBar.ToolTip.Info Record Bar
supports the following ToolTip:
The ToolTip that appears when you point to the 
button in the above toolbar is determined by:
RecordBar.ToolTip.Go Load Record from Server
5.14 GUI LISTS - SHOW/HIDE COLUMNS
Much of the information available via an Alephino GUI is displayed in tabular or
list format. In the following example taken from the Circulation module, when you
click the Loans node from the Patron tab, the following list displays:
This list consists of information displayed in rows and
columns. You can define which columns of information appear in the list. When
you right-click any of the column headings in a list, the following dialog box appears:
As you can see, this list consists of information displayed in columns.
To remove a column from the list, clear the corresponding check box.
Select the Get default setup option to revert to the original settings. The original settings are stored on the server.
You can also change column width by dragging the boundary on the left or right
side of the column heading until the column is the width you want.