This topic gives an introduction to the basic features that apply to all modules in Autoline. You should read this topic if you have not previously used any Autoline modules.
To begin using Autoline, enter your user ID at the login prompt:
login
Autoline may also prompt you for the entry of a password if one has been configured against your login. On receiving a valid password, Autoline will present you with your first-level menu.
Two things should be noted here:
The login and Autoline as a whole are both sensitive to case. You should always use lower case letters for your login.
Not all menus, options or companies are of interest to every user ID. Throughout Autoline, users will be shown only those menus, options, and company modules that their access or priority levels are set to. This will result in users seeing slightly different menu screens and company modules whenever they are logged in at different priority levels.
Access levels can be altered as required in the Permissions & Security option within the Management menu, selected from the Autoline maintenance menu on the Master menu. Users should avoid revealing their passwords and user IDs. Autoline associates every transaction with a particular user, and, unless password information and user IDs are tightly controlled, these records will rapidly cease to have any significance.
When you first enter Autoline, you will see a menu, which is a screen showing a list of general areas to work in, or options to perform. By convention we talk of higher and lower level menus. The highest level menu, or Master menu, is the one presented immediately on the password being accepted. The lowest level is any menu that does not itself give access to a menu, but rather to a working option on Autoline.
The number and kinds of menus will differ from installation to installation, and you may have to pass through one or more lower level menus to reach the menu you require.
All menu options are selected by using the Mouse or the up and down arrow keys. These move the highlight bar up or down to the desired options. A similar use of the Mouse and up and down arrow keys is also found in the selection of company modules.
Furthermore, any option may be selected by typing the first letter of that option name. If there are two option names beginning with the same letter then the cursor will move to the first option name beginning with that letter. Pressing the same letter key again will move the cursor to the second option name starting with that letter and so on.
After you have selected an option you need to gain access to it. You can do this in one of three ways: by pressing the RETURN key, clicking the OK button or double clicking on the blue highlight. The terminal or PC will then display a lower level menu or a data entry screen. (See General Features of the Data Screens.)
If you select a menu in error, clicking Exit takes you back to the previous menu, as will pressing the ESC key.
All menus have two status boxes one at the top of the form titled Broadcast and one at the bottom titled Printer. Above the top status box is a title written in white writing.
The title displays the name of the module and company you are currently viewing.
The top status box is for Autoline wide messages.
The status box at the bottom shows what type of printer you currently have selected.
The bottom menu status box tells you which printer you are currently linked to. This message will indicate where any reports you run will be printed. If you have a printer attached to your terminal you should see the message 'Local Printer'. If you do not have a printer attached to your terminal you should see the message 'Main Spooler'.
If 'Screen' is shown in this position, any reports will simply be directed to the terminal screen. Avoid printing when 'Screen' is displayed here.
To change printer, click on the Change button that is in the lower right hand corner. A window of the kind described below will list the available printers and allow you to select one.
If in doubt about changing printers, or if the required printer is not shown on the window, contact supervisory personnel.
On selecting an option on the Main menu or a sub menu you will be shown a form that allows you to view, enter, change, or print, data. These data forms have certain features in common that we will consider briefly here. The data forms are divided into three areas:
The Banner Line
The Data Area
Command Area
Their main features are as follows:
The Banner Line: The Banner Line states simply and clearly the name of the option and/or the name of the form within the option currently displayed.
The Data area: This area is the portion of the form in which you add, modify, examine or select for printing the records on the Autoline. It comprises a number of fields that differ from option to option.
When you have finished keying data into a field on Autoline's data screens, pressing the TAB key will enter the data you have keyed. Exit the field and move the cursor to the next field.
Pressing the SHIFT-TAB key will move the cursor back to the previous field, letting you enter or modify data in it.
Tip: Occasionally you may change the fields in the data area and then discover you actually wanted to leave the data as it was. You can often do this with a click on the Cancel button. The Cancel push button is often offered with other button's such as Save or Create.
Command Area: The Command Area consists of the buttons within the action box and those immediately above and below it. They are used to tell Autoline what you wish it to do.
The status line at the bottom of the screen can give useful information that may influence this choice. It gives a wide variety of information.
It displays messages that tell you exactly what choices of input are open to you for the field at any given cursor position in the Data area.
A search facility is available on the accounts in Autoline, and on
the bulk of the code and parameter fields in Autoline. It operates
through windows, which are screens that are superimposed on the form
you are working with. The availability of the search facility on a
particular field is indicated by there being a small ellipsis ![[...]](Ellipsis.gif){kind=small}
button's being connected to the right hand side of
the field in question. (The button is indicated by three dots).
On depressing the button, you will be shown a
window. This window will have some buttons at the top and some
buttons at the bottom. If the buttons at the top are enabled then you
will be able to enter a search mask. A search mask tells Autoline
what name or portion of a name or what sequence of numbers (for
example telephone numbers) to search for. Once you have chosen a mask
you can begin the search by clicking on the button you entered the
mask for. You do not have to enter a mask if you want to search
through all the records. The mask is entered into a box at the top
left hand corner of the window. The buttons to the right of it start
the search.
If these buttons are not available (not enabled) then all the possible choices are immediately displayed (search started automatically).
This information is displayed in the centre of the window. You can page through this menu by using the scroll bar on the right of the information. If you highlight a record by clicking on it then you may use other keys to move through the data. These keys are the up and down arrow keys, the page up key and the page down keys.
Once you see the record you want indicate your choice by moving the blue highlight bar to it. Then either double click on it, press RETURN or click on the OK button to select it. Once selected the data from that record is automatically moved into the field for which the original enquiry was made. This concludes the search. Clicking on the Cancel button concludes the search without making a choice.
If you are in a search window with the buttons at the top enabled you may wish to initiate a new search with a different mask. You may do this at anytime by typing in a mask and depressing the button that you wish the mask to refer to.
Tip: You can press the ESC key to exit from the search at anytime.
Note: The banner line will display the name of the option and screen from which the original enquiry was made during the search.
Throughout Autoline, you will find reference to this concept in tandem with the search. A mask in this context signifies a kind of template. A mask is a dummy record or field, against which Autoline checks records or fields that you are searching for or entering. A mask field contains small asterisks * that function as wild cards. Skipping these squares with the arrow keys when filling in the mask allows them to continue to function as wild cards. Therefore, it allows you to search for portions only of the data in a field.
Some masks are pre-set when Autoline is installed or updated, in order to check that subsequent input is correct. (See Autoline parameters.)
Masks are also entered in single fields by you to find records in searches, and in entire data screens to select groups of records for printing.
Certain simple conventions govern the entry of transaction and account data to Autoline. They are summarized below:
Entering Alphabetic Information: As we have already noted, the Autoline distinguishes between capitals and lower case. Consequently, it will reject, or fail to identify, instructions and data that, although correctly spelt, are entered in the wrong case.
Therefore, when you input alphabetic characters (letters) ensure that you type them in upper-case or lower-case as appropriate.
Entering Financial Amounts: When inputting sums of money, never insert a comma to separate thousands. For example, to input the sum of 12,814 pounds, type 12814. If you type a comma, Autoline will not accept your entry.
Entering Calendar Dates: When entering calendar dates, you usually type them in the format
ddmmyy
All dates default to the current century. When you are inputting the year to a date field, the cursor skips the 20 and positions itself at the positions of the remaining two characters. It is possible to edit the 20 with the Backspace key if required. The Autoline accepts dates in the twenty first century.
If either the day of the month or the month of the year is a single number, type a zero before it. The Autoline automatically separates the days from the months and years with a forward slash (/).
If you get into difficulties on a particular field and cannot remember what the value used to be, click on the Cancel button to restore the field to its original value. However this method will restore all the fields to for that record to their original value. So whatever work you have done so far on that record will be lost.
