Navigating Project Tracker

The Project Tracker interface is organized to allow access to all major functionality from anywhere in the application. Each of the action screens provides relevant information along with links to access further details as needed. A unified and consistent interface allows you to easily recognize the types of information and actions available on each screen.

Each screen provides the following navigational aids

• The navigation bar: The navigation bar contains links to Artifact entry, Query, and Reporting functionality.
• Re-using the URL of a saved query: The artifact ID box allows you to access a specific artifact number. The Saved queries list provides access to your saved queries as well as the default "My artifact..." queries.
• Section titles: Most information screens are organized in tabular format. Each section is presented with an informative section header, describing the section and, often, providing general information about the section. Column headers with arrows can be used to change the sort order for that table. For the sort column, the title has an arrow indicating the direction of the sort: the default is ascending. To change the direction of the sort click on the arrow.
• Buttons: Are used to indicate a set of actions that can be performed. Often you will find more than one set of buttons on a page. Buttons directly below a section will perform actions on the section only. You may find an Update Options button beside an attribute selector in one section. This indicates that if you change the attribute, clicking the button will change the options available to that attribute.
• Checkboxes: Are used to select list items for modification.

In many cases, helpful information is included directly on the screens to clarify unusual operations. Error messages are provided in line to help identify where the error occurred and specific means for remedy.

Entry forms

Entry forms are easy to use. They consist of a combination of tabs, buttons and entry fields. Tabs are used to navigate between entry forms, while buttons allow you to perform any actions you need on the forms. Entry fields allow you interact with the form.

NOTE: Default data points are indicated with * (astrisks) beside the field title. Often you will find textual guidelines within the entry forms to help you through the form entry process.

Entry fields

There are several type of entry fields that may appear on a form. These include:

• Text entry fields: can be either long or short. Click inside the box to add text to the field.
• Single select drop down lists: contain a list of options of which you can select one. Click on the box to reveal the options and select the one you want. Once you have made your selection, that option will appear in the box.
• Multiple selection box: contains a list of options from which you can select one or more. To select one, click on the option. To select more than one, click on one option and hold down the CTRL key while you click on the other options you wish.
• Dates: in these fields you can either enter the date in the format of YYYY-MM-DD or you can click on the calendar icon to open the calendar pop-up. To use the calendar pop-up, either click the entry next to Today, select a date from the calendar image or use the << and >> links to scroll between months. Once you have selected a date from the calendar, the pop-up window will close and the date will appear in the Date field.

Buttons

Navigational buttons are available on each screen. These buttons perform actions on the data entered in the form. The

• Cancel cancels the process in which you currently are engaged.
• Continue button will take you to the next part of the entry process.
• Done button will save your work and return you to the last process in which you were engaged.
• Next button indicates that there is further information to be gathered on the next screen. Clicking this button will cache your current data and take you to the next part in the wizard.

Tabs

Multipart functionality provides tabs for easy navigation between parts. In the reports functionality you can use the tabs to switch from defining row and column content to the final output characteristics.

If you have a saved data set for an entry form (like saved queries or reports, or artifact entry templates), the top section contains a drop down list with all such items available for use on this form. This appears in the artifact entry, query and reports functionality. To use a saved form select the one of interest from the drop down box and use the select button to render the selection.

Each attribute in an entry form displays all available options, from which you can select one or more.

Results and selection pages

Results screens appear after you have activated a request, like a query, a report, etc. Each results screen provides a list of items with some descriptive information. Descriptive information can include items like date and time a query was run and the number of items that are displayed per page.

Many results screens allow you to perform actions on the items that appear. Under the items you will find a set of dropdown boxes containing actions that can be performed. The first box allows to export the results in the selected format. The available formats are Excel (.xls) and tab separated values. Once you select the export format from the dropdown box, the results will appear in the browser window in the format selected. You can then save the results locally.

The second box allows you to perform specific actions on all or a selected subset of the results. The available actions are View, Assign, Copy, and Move.

The query results page also contains an Add/remove columns link. Use this link to change the attributes shown in your query results. On the Add/remove columns page, all of the available attributes are listed by name and sequence. Attributes are displayed in columns ordered from left to right by sequence number.

You can hide attributes by selecting "Not shown" from the Column sequence drop down box. To display an attribute, select the desired sequence number from the Column sequence drop down box.

Sort order

Items are initially in ascending order by their ID. To sort by an attribute, click the title of the attribute. The sort will change to ascending by that attribute. Clicking the arrow beside the attribute name will provide a descending sort.

Customizing the interface

Many screens are customizable. You can add to or remove the attributes that appear on your screen by clicking on the add/remove attributes from view link. Use the check boxes to show or hide attributes. Add a check to the items you would like to appear on your screen. Use this screen to determine the order of the columns by using the "Columnar sequence" field.