F2 lookups are pick lists that come up to allow you to select data to populate a field on a form.
These are identified by the button to the right hand side of them.
An example of an F2 lookup is the Microchip Reader field on the bird form.
There are a limited number of Microchip Reader types and the user would not want to type these in every time they entered a new animal, as this is tedious and may lead to errors due to spelling mistakes etc.
The system creates a default set of Microchip Readers:
Avid
Identichip
Other
Trovan
Unknown
You can add new entries, edit existing names, or delete an entry for these, if there are no related records for it, from the Microchip Reader Types form.
If you want to select the Reader Type there are several ways you can do it when you select the field:
- Click into the microchip reader filed and press the F2 function key, this is why this is called an F2 Lookup.
- Click on the button to the right of the date entry field.
Both of these will bring up the list of fields
Notice that at the bottom of this form there are options to Add or Edit the entry.
If you select Add it will bring up the Microchip Reader Types form, the lookup form for this field, with a new blank record added.
If you select Edit it will bring up the Microchip Reader Types form with the current entry selected so you can edit the name.
This provides a very quick and easy way to add or edit records on the fly when you are make entries when you first start using the system. You can continue working in your main form and add entries as needed in lookup forms without having to close the main form you are working on.
Be careful if you edit the entry. For example if you had 30 birds with microchips and for each of these you had selected “Trovan” as the reader type. If you opened the microchip reader form and altered the name “Trovan” to “My New Reader” , all your birds would now show “My New Reader” as their reader type as the name only exists in one place and are referenced in all other locations within AIMS.
The third way to select an entry is to type in the 1st letter, or 1st few letters of the name. In this case if we wanted to have a Trovan reader for the entry we just need to type T and tab out of the field. Since there is only one entry with T in the list the system will automatically enter Trovan for us. Had we also had a reader type called TrackID then when we typed T and tabbed out of the field the system would have brought up the pick list with Trovan and TrackID in it for us to select from these two. This is the quickest way to make data entries.
On some forms the F2 Lookup field is grey rather than white. On these you cannot type in the 1st letters of the entry you want, you must use the button to the right of the control or press F2 button.
In some forms some fields are set so that you MUST have an entry. For these when you select the field either with the mouse or by tabbing into it the list will automatically open for you to select from.
Examples of this are the sex and sexing method on the bird form.
You can also access the Add New, Edit or Pick List option for and F2 Lookup by right clicking on the field with the mouse. This will bring up a menu option from which you can:
View F3 help associated with the field.
Add New Entry in the lookup form.
Edit the entry in the in the lookup form.
Bring up the pick list to select an entry from.
The user’s ability to add or edit lookup entries is controlled by the systems security.
If the system administrator has turned security on and has not given access to the user to a particular lookup form they will not be able to add or edit entries for the lookup.
