------------------------------------------------------------------------- DATA MENU HELP Pages 38 , 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The items in the Data menu allow you to use MaxiPlan's database functions on the contents of your worksheet. You must first define a range consisting of two or more rows, the first of which contains the "category names." The remainder of the rows contain data. You can also define a "criteria" range which allows you to find, delete and extract selected data from the data range. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Find Pages 42 , 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Find - Starts at the top of the current data range and positions to the first record which matched the selection defined by the current criteria range. Once a match has been found, the up and down cursor keys allow you to select the next or previous match. You must click on the [x] button or type Esc to leave Find mode. Remember you must have specified a data range and a criteria. The data range specifies where for Find to look and the criteria tells Find what to look for. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extract Pages 42 , 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Extract - Copies data from the original data range to an output range. Only those records matching the current criteria are copied. You must select an output range before selecting this menu item. All - all records are copied, even if they already exist in the output range. Unique - Only those records which do not exist in the output range are copied. Duplicate records are dropped after one copy is present in the data range. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delete Pages 41 , 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Delete - Allows you to remove information from a data range. When a record is removed, all records below it are moved up one row and a blank record is inserted at the bottom. A requester verifies each deletion. Single Record - deletes the currently selected record. Matching Records - deletes all records matching the criteria. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Data Range Pages 39 , 79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Data Range allows you to consider the currently selected range as a database. If data ranges have previously been specified, select this menu item with only a single cell selected to bring up a list of data ranges to choose from. To define a new Data Range, you must first select a range consisting of one row of category names and at least one row of data before selecting this menu item. The top row of data range contains the names of the categories. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Criteria Range Pages 40 , 80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set Criteria Range allows you to consider the currently selected range as the criteria area for the most recently selected data range. The range must be at least two rows high and one column wide and must have no more columns than the currently selected data range. The first row should contain the field (category) names to which the following row or rows apply. The rows after the category names consist of match information. If more than one field is filled in within a given row, then ALL CONDITIONS within that row must be met (AND function). If more than one row is filled in then any of the rows causing a match will select a record ( OR function). Combining proper row and column usage will create complex comparison conditions. If criteria ranges have already been specified, use this menu selection with a single cell selected (not a range) to bring up a list of criteria ranges to select from. To match on numeric criteria YOU MUST PUT AN EQUAL SIGN in front of the criteria comparison field. Examples: =>32 or =<>55. To test for an exact match you must use two equal signs: ==37. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort Pages 43 , 80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sort uses the current criteria range to determine the order in which to sort, then rearranges the current data range into order. The criteria fields should contain numbers from 1 to n (where n is the number of fields on which to sort). These numbers tell MaxiPlan what order to sort the fields. For example, to sort a phone list by last name, then first name, put a 2 in the last name field and a 1 in the first name field. Please see the example worksheet: DB_DEMO ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Save Data as Text Pages 43 , 80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This selection will bring up a file selector to allow you to select a file name, then saves the category names and data records from the currently selected database or currently selected range to a file with tabs separating each category name and each field within a record. Each record is saved as a separate line. Each field of the record is separated by a single tab. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Load Text as Data Pages 43 , 80 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This selection brings up a file selector from which you can select a file name, then loads the information from that file into the currently selected database. The file must be saved in text format using Save Data as Text. That format is : each cell separated by a single tab character. Any text files that are delimited by tabs may be loaded.