virtualdoxx training guide for usda nrcs personnel records tracking system

VirtualDoxx Training Guide for

USDA NRCS

Personnel Records Tracking System

VirtualDoxx Training Guide September 1, 2006

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and

Logging on



Welcome to the VirtualDoxx Training Guide

This training guide will take you through the basics of using VirtualDoxx for Record Tracking

1) Open your Web Browser to:

www.virtualdoxx.com

2) Then click on Download in the upper right corner


Downloading VirtualDoxx

This is the download Progress Bar for Java Web Start. It shows how much of VirtualDoxx has been downloaded.

The first time that you download VirtualDoxx, the download will be fairly long, but subsequent downloads will be much shorter - about 1/3 the time.

Java Web Start will only download VirtualDoxx if the software has changed since you last used it. If no changes, VirtualDoxx will start up immediately.

Java Web start ALWAYS provides you with the LATEST version of software - automatically!

The first time you download VirtualDoxx, Java Web Start also asks if you would like to set up a Shortcut Icon on your Windows desktop.

If you reply “Yes”, a new Icon will be created - you can click on it to start up VirtualDoxx.

If you reply “No”, then you can just enter www.virtualdoxx.com into your web browser and click on “Download” to start up VirtualDoxx.

You can also create a “Favorite” (or “Bookmark”) in your web browser.


Logon

Once VirtualDoxx has downloaded, the first screen you will see is the Logon screen

One important feature to note here is the HELP Screen ...


Help Screen

The HELP Screen shows:

• Tech Support Email address, in case you have problems

• Tech Support Phone Number

• Configuration of your System

• Configuration of VirtualDoxx software (scroll down to see)

• This configuration information may be important if you are having problems


To Logon, just enter your VirtualDoxx UserID and Password

Then click Logon or just press “Enter”

Screen Navigation



Initial Screen - Single E-form

VirtualDoxx has several screens that you may want to use

All of the screens can be accessed by clicking on the “tabs” across the top

After you Logon, the first screen you will see is the Single E-form screen

One common activity is to add new records to the database, printing a label for each file folder created

This data entry screen allows you to enter data for one label, field by field

Each data field shows:• the name of the field• an input text field to type data• an example showing the proper format

There are several other important screens in VirtualDoxx

The next slides present each of these screens, one by one ...NOTE: In order to increase the usable space on the main panel, you can slide the

divider between the Transactions panel and the main panel to the left.


Project Control Panel Tab

The first tab is the Project Control Panel

It displays information about the VirtualDoxx Project that has been created to manage your records:

• Project Setup & Contact Info• List of Users• List of Locations• List of Queues• List of Data Fields

Currently, this is just reference information about the project

In the future this screen will provide summary information about the project


E-forms Tab

The “E-Forms” tab displays an image of each Electronic Form defined for your project

The “Select Transaction” panel on the left side allows you to select what you want to print:

• Normally, you will use “USDA001” - the color-coded label used on file folders

• But you can also print the Location Barcode Sheet - “USDABarcode” - which will be covered later in this training guide


Data Entry Spreadsheet Tab

The Data Entry Spread Sheet tab is an alternative to entering label data in the Single E-form screen.

You can type in data for multiple labels, row by row, much like Excel.

This screen is also used to accumulate labels entered one by one on the Single E-form Data Entry Screen, prior to printing

You can edit data before printing

NOTE: Make sure the “USDA001” Transaction is selected on the left side of the screen in order to use this screen, or you will see the data fields for the location barcode sheet, instead of the color-coded labels

REMINDER: In order to increase the usable space on the main panel, you can slide the divider between the Transactions panel and the main panel to the left.


Database Search Tab

The Database Search screen allows you to search for records that are already in the VirtualDoxx database.

You can search in many different ways using combinations of the search fields

All of the matching records will be displayed, so that you can view or update them


Barcode Tracking Tab

The Barcode Tracking screen allows you to change the Location or Status of one or more records quickly and easily, using a barcode scanner

You can scan the barcodes on your file folder labels and the barcodes on the Location Barcode Sheet to enter data WITHOUT TYPING

This allows you to process a stack of file folders, or just one folder, without typing!


File System Tab

This screen shows the contents of your PC’s hard drive. It is for future use and you can ignore it for now.


Page Preview Tab

The Page Preview screen allows you to review labels prior to printing.

This provides a visual check that your label data was entered correctly.

If there is more than one page, the Page Next and Page Back buttons allow you to review each page

When your preview is complete, just click on Print

…Or, you can go back to the data entry screens to enter more labels or correct the data previously entered

There is also a Zoom slider that allows you to magnify or reduce the size of the preview from 25% to 300% of original size

Printing Exercise -

Print the Location Barcode Sheet



Location Barcode Sheet

As an initial printing exercise, let’s print the Location Barcode Sheet that you will use for barcode record tracking

The Location Barcode Sheet contains barcodes for all the Locations in your project

By scanning the barcode on a File Folder and then scanning “destination” barcode from the Location Barcode Sheet, you can easily transfer a record from one location to another and update the database with the new location

To Print the Location Barcode Sheet, click on the SECOND transaction in the “Transactions” panel on the left - named “USDABarcode”

… and VirtualDoxx will automatically retrieve a list of all the locations that have been set up for your Project

You can see what the Location Barcode Sheet will look like by pressing “Page Preview” ...


… and then Print the Location Barcode Sheet by pressing “Print” ...


… then select a printer and click OK to print

VirtualDoxx will ask if they printed correctly


Location Barcode Sheet

SAVE the printed Location Barcode Sheet to Transfer records to a new location quickly and easily using your barcode scanner

Whenever you add or remove a location from your project, you can use the same procedure to print out a new, updated Location Barcode Sheet

NOTE: Once you have printed the Location Barcode Sheet, remember to switch back to the File Folder Label transaction by clicking on the first Transaction on the left side of the screen - “USDA001”

If you forget to do this, the Spreadsheet will have the wrong columns

Data Entry -

Getting New Data into the Database


NOTE: The “Insert into Spreadsheet at Row:” field allows printing on a partially used sheet of labels. For example, if you have a sheet with 6 labels, 2 of which have already been used, you can re-insert the sheet in the printer and start printing on the THIRD label by entering a “3” in this field. This is for INK-JET PRINTERS ONLY.

IMPORTANT: You can NOT re-use a partially printed sheet of labels if you have a LASER printer!!! You must trash any partially used sheets. When you peel off a label, a small amount of adhesive remains on the sheet. Laser printers are HOT inside and this small amount of adhesive can “gum up” the paper path.


Single E-form Entry

This screen shows how you can enter data for one label at a time by typing values in the input fields

Type a value for each field and use TAB or click to move to the next field

If you only want to enter ONE label, just click on Print or Page Preview

To enter multiple labels, type in the first label and then press “Add Row” - then repeat the process until done

When you click Add Row, the data you just entered is accumulated as a new row in the Data Entry Spreadsheet

VirtualDoxx will display a message at the top of the screen confirming that the new data was added to the spreadsheet and present a blank screen for the next label

In this way, you can accumulate any number of labels for printing in a single print job

When you have finished entering data, click on “SpreadSheet” …

New records are created in the database when the labels are printed and barcodes are assigned to each label


Data Accumulated in Spreadsheet

… and you will see that all the data you typed in has been accumulated, line by line, in the Spreadsheet

From the Spreadsheet screen, you can print the labels, by clicking on Print or Page Preview

This screen also allows you to do editing of the data you entered, in case you see any errors or missing data:

• To delete entire row(s), check the box in Column 2 and then click on “Delete Checked”

• To correct errors and misspellings, just type over the incorrect data values

• You can also enter new rows of data on this screen, as an alternative to the Single E-form screen

• “Save to Queue” allows you to SAVE the data you entered in the database without printing. Then, you can print it at a later time by clicking on “Open Queue”. The queue may contain label data entered by other users. In this way you can accumulate labels and print when you are ready, preventing partially used label sheets. The data in the Label Print Queue is saved even if you logoff.


Printing Labels

In order to set up a new File Folder, you will normally “Print” a label. The Printing process:• assigns a unique, sequential barcode• prints the label• and saves the record in the database

As an alternative, you can just “Save to Database”, but then no label will be created for the File Folder. However, you can always Search the database, find the record, save it to the Label Print Queue and then later Open the Queue and Print.

We suggest that you use Page Preview before printing your labels, for visual verification that data entry was correct ...


Page Preview

… Page Preview will show graphically the labels you are about to print so that you can check that they are OK

Then click on “Print” ...


Print Dialog

… and you will see the standard print dialog

• select your COLOR printer• click OK to print

PRINTING ASSIGNS A SEQUENTIAL BARCODE TO EACH LABEL AND CREATES A NEW RECORD IN THE VIRTUALDOXX DATABASE

ONCE THE RECORD IS IN THE DATABASE, YOU CAN SEARCH FOR IT ON THE SEARCH SCREEN AND TRACK IT ON THE TRACKING SCREEN

Database Search -

Finding Data Already in the Database



Database Search

This screen allows users to:

• Enter “Search Criteria” describing the types of records to be found

• Search the database for records previously created

• Displays the matching records

• View and update records

In this example, the search was for all records where the Last Name starts with “A” (the search is NOT case-sensitive)

The user entered a Last Name of “A” and clicked on “Search”

This search returned 16 records already in the database

When you click OK, the results are displayed ...


Search Results

16 matching records have been selected from the database and are displayed


Selecting One Row

Click on a row in the search results to select it

The row will turn RED indicating that it has been selected

If you DOUBLE-CLICK on the row ...


Viewing Record Information

… a new window will pop up, showing:

• buttons to update the record• all of the data values for the record

• “variable” data fields• “Meta-Data”

• an image of the File Folder Label

Meta-Data is “data about data”:• The uniqueVirtualDoxx record number• The unique sequential barcode number• Status of the Record• Current Location, if available• Date and time record was created• User who created the record• Date and time of last update• User who did the last update• Notes about the record (255 chars max)

Both data and meta-data fields can be Searched

The buttons on the left allow you to:• Re-print the label by putting it in the label print queue• Remove label from label print queue• Transfer record to a new location• Unlock record to change data values• Update data values (e.g. typos, mis-spellings, corrections, or new info) and save changes to database• Put the record in HOLD status• E-mail the record data values


Actions on One Row

RIGHT-click on a selected row to pop up a menu

The menus options let you:• View the record• Put it into HOLD Status• Transfer to a new location• Queue for re-printing a label• Put the record in a Queue for Archiving or Destruction• Email record data values


Selecting MULTIPLE ROWS

Click on the FIRST row you want to select and it will turn RED

Then SHIFT+click on the LAST row you want to select

All the rows in between will be selected and will turn RED


Actions on Multiple Rows

With multiple rows selected, you can RIGHT-click to see a menu of options that will apply to ALL the selected rows

This allow you to Queue, Transfer or Email multiple records in one action, rather than one at a time

Barcode Tracking -

Changing Record Location and Status



Barcode Tracking Screen

This Tracking screen allows you to change the LOCATION and/or STATUS of multiple records quickly and easily using a barcode scanner

The first column is used to scan or enter barcodes from File Folder labels, identifying the records to be updated

The second column is used to identify the new Location ( the “Destination”) to which the records are being transferred

Optionally, the third column is used to identify the new Status that should be assigned to each record:• Active• Inactive• Hold (Requested by a User)• Archived• Destroyed


Transfer Many Records to 1 Location

Above Row #1, there is a Destination drop-down that can be used to set the same destination for ALL the rows at one time, rather than selecting a different destination for each row

To the right of the screen, you can see that this dropdown will “Set Default Values” for all rows

This can save time when “Checking In” or “Checking Out” multiple records, all to the same location

For example, you may have a stack of File Folders, all of which need to be Transferred to the “File Room” location

You can set a Default Destination of “File Room” for all rows

Once the default Destination is set, you can just scan File Folder barcodes to identify the records being Transferred


Change Status of Multiple Records

Above Row #1, there is a Status drop-down that can be used to set the same Status for ALL the rows at one time, rather than selecting a different Status for each row

To the right of the screen, you can see that this dropdown will “Set Default Values” for all rows

This can save time when Archiving or Destroying multiple records, or putting multiple records in HOLD Status

For example, you may have a stack of File Folders, all of which need to be Archived

Once the default Status is set, you can just scan File Folder barcodes to identify the records being archived and all of the Record Status codes will be updated to “Archived”


Scanning a File Folder Barcode

Click in the first field in row# 1

Then scan a barcode and VirtualDoxx will automatically look up the record in the Database and display the Name, Year, State and other data values from the record

These data values confirm that you selected the correct record

If you don’t have a barcode scanner, just TYPE IN the barcode number and press “Enter”

If the current Record location is empty, the screen will show “NOT FOUND”

If the current Record status is empty, the screen will show “NOT FOUND”

If the record is currently on HOLD, meaning that someone has requested this record, then its status field will be “Hold”, in red letters


Transfer Record to a New Location

Once you have entered a Barcode and found a record, you can change its Location, updating the database to show the new location

You can SCAN the destination from the Location Barcode Sheet

Or, you can select the destination manually:• Click on the Destination drop-down on the line you are working on• This will display a list of all locations to which the record can be transferred• Select the intended destination from the list

If you want to Transfer or update the status of multiple records, just scan the next file folder’s barcode and repeat the process


Updating Record Status

Click on the Status drop-down if you want to select a new status for the Record

Then continue with the next folder by scanning another file folder barcode

NOTE: Status changes are usually less frequent than location changes. You can change the Location of a record WITHOUT changing the status - just leave the status field empty.

This example just happens to show both Location and Status being updated


Saving Your Changes

When you have entered all the changes for all the records you want to update, click on “Finished Scanning”

The database will be updated with all the changes you made for all the rows


Additional Information

We plan to update and improve this VirtualDoxx Training Guide.

If you have any suggestions, corrections, or omissions, please let us know.

There is additional information available at:

www.virtualdoxx.com

You can contact us at:

[email protected]

virtualdoxx training guide for usda nrcs personnel records tracking system

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