Copyright: Visual Help ® 1993-1994 Firas Bushnaq


Topic1
Quick Shopping List (3.0)

Welcome to Quick Shopping List. Quick Shopping List is a program to make preparing shopping lists easier. If you think about it, the way you prepare your periodic shopping list(s) is somewhat haphazard and involves writing down the same things over and over again. There is an easier way - Quick Shopping List.

The concept behind Quick Shopping List is very simple. Let the user enter the items he or she might purchase on any particular shopping trip. Then, any time the user wants to prepare a new shopping list, they can run down their "source list" and just click the items they need on this particular trip and print their list. This method helps to organize your thinking, you don't forget things as often since they are there on the list, and saves all that writing.

Quick Shopping List is extremely valuable for those people who must have someone else do their shopping. For instance, elderly and handicapped people who can use a computer will find this method easier and much less tedious than the manual method. Plus, the list is more readable by the person actually doing the shopping.

When you start Quick Shopping List, you will see what appears to be a folder with two tabs. The first tab (Prepare List) is where you will usually be. This is where you click the items you need and print your shopping list. The second tab (list maintenance) is where you go to create the categories and items that you will use in the future.

To read more about each of these sections or tabs, click one of the following items:

 Prepare List

 List Maintenance


Prepare List

The "Prepare List" tab is where you will usually go to prepare your periodic shopping lists after you've created your source categories and items. In the upper-left portion of the screen is a list of categories. Clicking on one of these categories displays all the items under that category in your source list.

The CATEGORIES list box (upper left section of the screen) shows the various categories available. You have complete control over how these categories are set up. (See List Maintenance section for more details). When you click on one of the categories, the list of items in that category will be displayed below the category list box.

The ITEMS IN SELECTED CATEGORY list box (lower left section of the screen) shows the items available in the selected category. Each item shows the description, the quantity you usually buy, and the unit cost. Clicking on one of these items will put the item in your CURRENT SHOPPING LIST (right side of screen).

The CURRENT SHOPPING LIST (right side of screen) is a list of items you've selected for this particular shopping trip. The following commands at the bottom of the screen pertain to the CURRENT SHOPPING LIST.

1 	PRINT - Click this button to print your CURRENT SHOPPING LIST. The list will be organized by category and alphabetized.

2 	REMOVE - This button removes an item from your CURRENT SHOPPING LIST. To use this, first click on the item in your CURRENT SHOPPING LIST that you want to remove, then click the REMOVE button. It's gone from your CURRENT list but still available for future use.

3 	CLEAR ALL - This button clears all entries from your CURRENT SHOPPING LIST. All items are still available for future use. This is just a quick way of starting over. For instance:  You might want to construct several shopping lists: one for the drug store, one for the grocery store, etc. To do this, just make a list, print it, clear all items, then start on the next list.

4 	QUANTITY BUTTONS - To change the quantity of an item for the CURRENT LIST, click on the item in the CURRENT SHOPPING LIST, then click the button corresponding to the quantity you want.


List Maintenance

The LIST MAINTENANCE tab is where you go to maintain categories and items you can choose from when preparing your periodic shopping lists.

CATEGORIES. Category maintenance is accomplished on the left side of the screen. All buttons on the left side of the screen pertain to categories. The following information should help you maintain the categories file.

1 	ADD CATEGORY - To add a new category, click the ADD button, type the new category name then click the SAVE button. If you decide you don't want to save the new entry, click the CANCEL button.

2 	DELETE CATEGORY - To delete a category, click on the category you want to delete, then click the DELETE button. A note of warning. Deleting a category DOES NOT automatically delete all the items under that category. After you delete the category you should reassign any items under the old category to another category or delete them individually.

3 	PRINT CATEGORIES - To print a list of categories, click this button.

ALL SOURCE ITEMS. All of your source items are listed on the right side of the screen. All buttons on the right side of the screen pertain to items in your source list. The following information should help you maintain the source items file.

1 	ADD ITEM - To add an item it is suggested that you first click the category that you want the item to appear under. Then click the ADD button. Type in the description of the item (15 characters max). The TAB key takes your cursor to the next field and SHIFT-TAB takes your cursor to a previous field. If the category is correct, press TAB to go to the quantity field. To change the category for this item, click on the arrow and click on the category you want this item to appear under. Enter the quantity you usually buy in the quantity field. If you leave this blank, it will default to 1.  Enter the unit approximate unit cost in the unit cost field. To save the entry,click on SAVE. To cancel the new entry before saving, click on CANCEL.

2 	EDIT ITEM - To edit an item, click on the item in the ALL SOURCE ITEMS list, then click the EDIT button. You can use the TAB key to advance the cursor to the field you want to change or click the label beside the field you want to change. Type in your change and click SAVE.

3 	DELETE ITEM - To delete an item, click on the item in the ALL SOURCE ITEMS list, then click the DELETE button.

4 	PRINT ITEMS - To print a list of items in your source file, click the PRINT button. The list will be categorized and alphabetized.


Deleting
DELETE

1 	CATEGORY.  To delete a category, make sure you are on the LIST MAINTENANCE tab, click on the category you want to delete (left side of screen), then click the DELETE button on the left side of the screen. Deleting a category does not automatically delte the items under that category.

2 	SOURCE ITEM.  To delete a source item, make sure you are on the LIST MAINTENANCE tab, click on the item you want you want to delete (right side of screen), then click the DELETE button on the right side of the screen. This deletion is permanent. The item is no longer available for preparing lists in the futurre unless you re-enter it.

3 	CURRENT SHOPPING LIST.  The current shopping list is a temporary file. Removing items from this list only removes them from the CURRENT LIST, not your underlying source list. To remove a single item, click on the item to remove, then click the REMOVE button at the bottom of the screen. To remove all items in the list, click the CLEAR button at the bottom of the screen.


Printing
PRINT

1 	PRINT CATEGORY LIST.  To print a list of categores, click onthe LIST MAINTENANCE TAB, then click the PRINT button in the lower left section of the screen.

2 	PRINT SOURCE LIST. To print a list of all items in your source list, click on the LIST MAINTENANCE TAB, then click the PRINT button in the lower right section of the screen. Your list will be sorted by category and alphabetized within each category.

3 	PRINT CURRENT SHOPPING LIST.  To print the current shopping list, click on the PREPARE LIST tab. You should see items in the CURRENT SHOPPING LIST area on the right side of the screen. Click the PRINT button at the bottom of the screen to print the list.