student manager catalog builder an aceware webinar

Student Manager

Catalog Builder

An ACEware Webinar

Catalog Builder Webinar 2

We plan to focus on . . .

• The Catalog Builder can– Provide course descriptions– Define Pre-Requisites.. And “See Also”– Exporting descriptions for catalog

building– Create chunks of text for use in reports


And while the Catalog Builder can do the

following, we won’t discuss them here:

•Edit email templates•Help Manage Course Proposals

•Handle course benefits, materials, contact information, etc.


Let’s start by adding a new Course Description

Record

File / New / Catalog Entry / Catalog Code


Catalog Code Main Screen



The Code field is a ten-digit field that usually has a correlation to the

course number, but does not have to be an exact duplicate of the course

number. In our example the ACE101 is part of the course number

08WACE010A



For the benefit of ACEweb users, the “Publish on Web” button gives the page permission to place the description on

the appropriate web page.



The subject code for the entry. Subject Code ties back to the course table



Name – catalog record name. For example, if it is a course/workshop

description, this would be the name of the course/workshop.



Description (Main) – course description field that holds plain text

(special formatting cannot be applied to text i.e. bold, underline, etc.) up to

64,000 characters in length. You may include paragraphs of information.

(NOTE: If you have copy in Word or on an existing web page, you may COPY

text from an other source and PASTE it into the description box)

But Chuck,

what does

it do?


Now that we’ve created a code, let’s create a course

using the code.

View CoursesDisplays every course tied to this description



using the code.

Clone EntryCreates an exact duplicate of the Code Description but forces a change to the

Catalog Code



using the code.

The handy button labeled“Create Course”

Takes you to a new, blank course screen


Note that Student Manager fills in

•Part of the Course Code

•Title

•Subject Code

•Catalog Code


By clicking on the Description button, anyone unfamiliar with the course can get quick information.


If you have ACEweb, you may create a Secondary Description using HTML formatting. If the Secondary Description is empty, ACEweb will use the Primary Description. (by using HTML for web descriptions, you can increases legibility, retention and it looks down right terrific!)


Most important . . . You can build your catalog!Begin by

choosing Reports,Courses,Generate

Catalog Copy


The Catalog Builder screen appears

Click“Export to file”

Then click theOK button


The Query Screen will appear

If exporting information for an entire term, click the

“Course Code Begins with”Option, or create a custom query


•Provide the course code information

•Answer the three questions regarding instructor phone numbers and fees (for the first pass, we recommend answering “No”)

Be patient, you’re getting close!


Which brings you to theExport Data Selector


Highlight the fields you want to use

Move them to the Fields to Export

box by clicking the right arrow

OR, just double click on a field.. To move it to the

“Fields to Export” column


Select one of the DBF choices. Your choice must be DBF since only those file types will handle

Memo fields.

Last, clickExport


Export Format

NOTE:There are three different

DBF formats.You may have to

experiment to find the correct version for your

Word filters.


Specify a file location

Enter a file name and click SAVE


Now you’re ready to use your file (using mail merge in Word, or an Adobe

product) to construct your catalog.


Once in Word . . .

•Tools / Letters and Mailings / Mail Merge


Task Pane

Choose Directory as your document type

then click Next for step 2


Task Pane

Use the current document

then click Next for step 3.

(Once you’ve created a template, you may reuse it for future

catalogs.)


Task Pane

Select Use an existing list. (The list is the exported catalog file from Student

Manager.)

Then click Browse to select your file


Match up Data Source

You must find the

matching import

filter for your

version of Word

Depending on your version of word and what data filters you may have installed, you may have to experiment with the combination of DBF export type and Data Source Filter.

TIP: For office 2003, the Foxpro Files Word via ODBC works with the default DBF export ( DBF (vfp) )


Task Pane

The resulting list is your

catalog export (Note: You may

remove records if you wish using the check boxes.)

Otherwise, click Select All

and OK.

You may also sort the records by dbl-clicking on the label header of

the column


Task Pane

Clicking “More Items” brings up a list of Merge

Fields

Place the fields in your document by selecting the field name and clicking Insert. Then you simply move fields

around to format the template to your specifications


Task Pane

Sample of fields with formatting


Task Pane

Step 5 allows you to preview your information. Don’t like what you see? Use the Previous option to return to the formatting screen.


Task Pane

The final step, step 6, allows you to print, edit individual entries, or save the resulting merged file.


Using Catalog Builder to generate

Text Fields in Reports


To begin . . .

File / New / Catalog Entry / Memo Text


1. Enter a code name for your template2. Enter the body of the letter3. Click SAVE


• Once you've created your letter body, you're ready to insert it into a report using a report function called GetMemo.

• Open the report in modify mode.• Fill in the expression box and select

“Stretch with overflow”

Stretch with overflow


There’s always a few rules

• Advantages– Memo text fields group more text than

report text fields allow– It’s easy to change margins & content

• Disadvantages– No special text formatting is allowed (no

bold, italic, underline, etc.)– Merge fields can not be used in the

same report as memo text fields.

student manager catalog builder an aceware webinar

Documents

catalog builder webinar

catalog record

catalog code main screen

catalog building

code description

aceware webinar slide

code field

blank course screen