This tutorial's goal is to introduce
the enhanced date filtering as a new feature in HanDBase version 4.0.This feature's main function is to allow
users greater flexibility in filtering various date tags and ranges.Being able to take advantage of the date
filtering extends the previous functionality of HanDBase by allowing
users to
do such things as filter to show only records with a date matching the
current
day, tomorrow, yesterday, and "x" amount of days, months and years in
the past and present.This could be very
useful in the creation of databases which have date sensitive records,
such as
attendance logs, task and/or project management and datebook
replacements.
In this
tutorial, the necessary steps to
configure date filtering within HanDBase will be detailed.Then, the results of properly configuring
date filtering will be examined.Finally, additional resources will be provided should any
further
information be needed.
Step #1:
The first step towards taking
advantage
of the ability to use the enhanced date filters, a database first needs
to be
created.For the purpose of
illustration, this tutorial will detail the process of creating a
simple task
management database.The first step in
doing so is to launch HanDBase Desktop.It can be found at the following location:
Start
Menu / All Programs / HanDBase 4/
Once running, the create a database
with the following properties:
Database Name = “Task Manager”
Field 1 – Name=”Status”,
Type=”Check-Box”
Field 2 – Name=”Priority”, Type=”Text”
Field 3 – Name=”Date”, Type=”Date”
Field 4 – Name=”Task”, Type=”Text”
Field 5 – Name=”Notes”, Type=”Note”
Step #2:
a)Once
the database is created, the second step is to create
views that contain filters based on date criteria.
b)This
can be done in the Edit Database Properties window that
appears after the initial creation of the database or it can be
accessed later
via the menu item File / DB Properties.
c)Click
on the View button to open the Select a View
Window.Initially, there will only be
one view, called the Default View.This
database will have five (5) unique views.While each view’s description explains what the type of task is
that
will be displayed in the list, they must first be created and
configured.
d)To
create a unique view, tap the “New” button at the bottom
of the “Select a View” window.A new
window with three options will appear.For the purpose of this tutorial, only the Filter option will be
configured.
e)To
edit the filters for the view, press the “Filter” button.
Step #3:
In order to be able to view the tasks
in the database according to date status, there needs views created to
show
only tasks that are due today, tasks that are due tomorrow, tasks that
are
already completed, tasks that are past due and finally a view that
shows all of
the available tasks, both past and present, complete and incomplete.
a)Create
views that have titles to match the filter
descriptions listed above.In each of
the views, create the respective filters listed below:
-Due
Today
oFilter
1 = Enabled
§Field
= Status
§Value
= Not Checked
oAnd/Or
= AND
oFilter
2 = Enabled
§Field
= Date
§Date
Range = Today
-Due
Tomorrow
oFilter
1 = Enabled
§Field
= Status
§Value
= Not Checked
oAnd/Or
= AND
oFilter
2 = Enabled
§Field
= Date
§Date
Range = Tomorrow
-Past
Due
oFilter
1 = Enabled
§Field
= Status
§Value
= Not Checked
oAnd/Or
= AND
oFilter
2 = Enabled
§Field
= Date
§Date
Range = Trailing Year
-Complete
oFilter
1 = Enabled
§Field
= Status
§Value
= Checked
oFilter
2 = Not Enabled
-All
oFilter
1 = Not Enabled
oFilter
2 = Not Enabled
After setting up HanDBase 4 to use the
new date filtering functionality as described in the previous steps, it
can be
observed that when switching views, the different status and date
filters are
applied, allowing the user to manage the information in a productive
manner.
To summarize, this tutorial has
introduced enhanced date filtering as one of the many new features in
HanDBase
4.Additional resources, if needed, can
be found at:
