If you are not converting to CB/DB from ChurchBook for Windows (CBW41), i.e., you are starting from scratch, you must read the topic on Starting to Use CB/DB. And reading the rest of this topic is the first thing you should do, so continue reading this, then jump to that topic. A jump will be provided at the end of this topic.
ChurchBook/DataBase (CB/DB or CBDB) is version 5 of ChurchBook. It is a combination of a Relational Database (based on the Microsoft ® Access database product) and ChurchBook applications designed specifically for the use of churches. The program itself is named CBW5.mdb, for continuity and copyright reasons.
CB/DB requires a User Identification Key for use after the first 60 days of usage. See the License Status Form for information on how this works.
Help within CB/DB:
There are two sources of help within this program: Hints and Help.
Hints: On virtually every form, all but the most obvious labels (see below for definitions of some of these terms) which indicate what input areas next to them are to contain, will have hints associated with them. Some of the form titles also have hints. When you hover your mouse's cursor over a label and leave it there for a second or two, a hint will pop up to give you instructions regarding that data element. You should also look for hints on any command button on a form whose purpose isn't obvious to you.
Help: This "Overview" topic you are reading now is part of the program's Help File. As you move through the program, if you press the F1 key, it will take you to the help topic for that form. On some of the forms, called switchboards, instead of getting the help topic on the form itself, you can tab between the command buttons on the form; pressing the F1 key will give you the help topic on the topic controlled by the command button.
There are also help topics on how to do various things you will want to do. You can access this sort of help by going to the "Contents of Help" (click on that button on the main switchboard, or click on "Contents" while viewing any other help topic). Then click on the "How do I do things" line to go to the list of those topics.
Relational Database:
A relational database is one in which the relationships between data elements within the structure are tightly defined and controlled. All data are in table format, and data elements within any given table are related to a defining element in another table. For example, in entering a record defining a gift from a member, the following data elements (variables) are defined, and related to a record in another table:
Element Related to Table
Donor Family ID
Purpose Income ID
How Given How ID
This means that you can't enter a gift unless you define, in separate tables, the identity of the donor, your list of purposes (income accounts) for which you can receive donations, and a table of acceptable mode of donation (cash, check, stock, etc). Once a record has been entered into the database, you are not allowed to delete the master record(s) referred to (used by) that record, i.e., "orphan" it. When you enter the gift record, you do so by selecting the name of the Family, Income Account, and Mode of donation, but what you actually put into the record is the number assigned to each of these.
Forms:
The Applications in CB/DB guide you in entering your data through the use of "Forms" and "Dialogs" - windows within Application windows. The forms are structured to make it as easy as possible for you to do the entering, and to check your entries at the time they are made for validity. Dialogs usually give you a statement of what has happened or what you should do, and several choices (Yes, No, OK, etc.) to chose from.
The reports and listings within CB/DB are designed to provide you the information you want in a meaningful format from your own data.
Each form will have somewhat of a standard layout, and all (are supposed to) have "tips" associated with each data input area. If you put your cursor on the title area next to or above each of the input areas, a short statement will appear containing instructions as to what you are to enter or do in connection with that particular variable.
Each form is also connected to the part of this Help File that describes what it is to be used for and anything unique about it. You can get to the help topic from the form by pressing the F1 key while the form has focus. Focus means the form that you are working with at the time. The form with focus will normally have a title line in your primary color; forms with a "greyed out" title line don't have the focus.
Help Topics usually don't appear for Switchboards unless called from the switchboard that gets you to it. If a help topic doesn't appear when you press F1 while looking at a given form, it will probably appear if you click while the switchboard button calling for the form has the focus. On a switchboard (or any form), the button with the focus has a border of little dots around the text on the box.
The normal way of progressing between the input areas is by using the "Tab" key. The "Enter" key is normally reserved to be used for the "default" key on a form. In most cases, if there is an "Accept" key (meaning "I want to accept the changes I've entered"), pressing the Enter key is the same as clicking on the Accept button with your mouse.
Controls: The little boxes on a form are called controls.
| The most frequently used is the text box, which is used to both display and accept data. You would use the text box, for example, to enter a member's name, birth date, etc. Frequently data being put into a text box is edited to ensure that the right kind of data is being entered; if not, you will get an error message. For example, any field expecting a date will not accept alphabetic characters, and requires that the entry be in the format "mm/dd/yy" or "mm/dd/yyyy" (month/day/year). |
| Next to a text box there is usually a label, a short description of what is to go into the text box. In most cases, if you let your cursor rest on a label, a "hint" will appear, giving you more information about what is expected. If a letter in the label is underlined, that means that that is a Shortcut: by pressing the "Alt" key, plus the underlined letter, you can direct the cursor to move to the text box (or other control) associated with the label, where it will highlight the current contents so that you can, if desired, start typing and replace the former contents with new data. |
| Something that looks at first glance like a text box is a combination box. It is so-called because it is a combination of a text box and a list box. Visually, the Combo Box can be distinguished from a text box by the little icon on its right side with a little triangle pointing down in it. This "drop down" icon, when clicked, will cause the associated list to drop down from the input box, and if there are more entries in the list than can be viewed, a slide will appear on the right side which you can use to navigate up and down the list. However, the most important thing that the combo box does is to allow you to start typing in, for example, the last name of the person you're looking for, and as you type, the first name that matches what you have typed will appear, highlighted, to the right of your entry cursor. When the name you're looking for shows up, you can tab out of the box and the full name will be selected. |
| Command Buttons are the little boxes with one or two words, such as "Next Record", etc. When you click on these buttons, you are issuing a command to the program to do whatever it is that is associated with that button. |
Resetting Data:
Whenever you want to eliminate any changes you've entered, or want to delete a newly created record before you have Accepted it, you can press the "Esc" (Escape) key on your keyboard once or several times. Generally, the first press clears data from the record, and the second press deletes a new record.
Report Viewing:
Most reports are viewed by clicking on the "Report Selector" button on most switchboard forms. They can either be previewed on the monitor, or printed on your default printer. All previewed reports are supposed to be "Pop-Up" format, i.e., they will pop up over whatever called them to view. (If any aren't popping up, pleases report this to ChurchMouse Development.)
When they pop up, you can do several things to make them easier to view:
| Drag the side of the report to enlarge it. To do this you move your cursor to the right side of the viewing window until it turns to a two-way arrow. At that point you can hold down the left mouse button, then slide the cursor to the right and the window will enlarge. |
| Zoom the print to a larger size. Do this by clicking on the left mouse button. |
| Move the slide button on the bottom of the window to center the "page" in the window better. If you can't see the slide button, drag the window higher on the screen by clicking and holding down on the title bar, then push up on the mouse to raise the viewing window. |
| You can also maximize the viewing window by clicking on the single square next to the close "X box" in the upper right corner of the window. However, when you close the viewing window, you will have to reset the window size by clicking on the now-double box to the left of the close box for the window. |
Views:
Some of the forms have an alternative view, i.e., a single page form may also be available in Datasheet view. You can right click on the title line of the form and select Datasheet View if it is not greyed out.
Sorting:
In form view, you can right-click on a text box and select the Sort Ascending or Sort Descending options, and the records will be sorted in that sequence. For example, if you right click on the Zip Code box and select Sort Ascending, the records will be in that sequence as you browse them.
Movement between records:
Most forms will have, at the bottom edge of the form, a set of navigation buttons that resemble keys on a VCR. The icon that looks like this "<-" will take you to the first record, "<" will take you to the Prior record, ">" to the Next Record, and "->" to the last record. The >* icon will create a new record for you to fill in.
Some forms have large buttons with the direction of movement printed on them (Prior, Next) that will do these same things.
Backing up your data:
This is a very important topic. See the Backup/Restore topic!
Now go to see How to Start CB/DB from Scratch.