Overview

This tutorial aims to introduce you to the program toolbar and how to use the tools for searching animal records.  You can jump to the topic of interest by clicking on its underlined link.

Toolbar definitions
Finding Animals

Toolbar definitions

The program toolbar (shown below) is located at the top of the main program window.  The buttons perform functions relating to the window that you are working in.  Tip: if you move your mouse pointer over a toolbar button and pause it there, an explanation of the button's function will display.

	Allows you to find records in the system
	Create a new record.  This allows you to enter new information about into the program.  For example, when you have purchased a new animal, open the Animal Details window and click this button.  A new record is created and you can then start entering data.  Do this for each new animal
	Save record.  This saves the information you having been entering or editing.  For example, click this button when you have finished entering data for a new animal
	Print button.  Clicking the print button takes you to a preview of the Report you have selected.  When you are happy with the report, you can print from the preview screen.
	Undo changes.  It  restores any information that you have changed in the window to its original state provided that you have not saved the changes that you have made.
	This button brings up the previous record in the program. Most Windows will show you all the information that is currently held in the program. Clicking on either the Previous or Next buttons will display different records on the window.
	This button brings up the next record in the program. Most windows will show you all the information that is currently held in the program. Clicking on either the Previous or Next buttons will display different records on the Window.
	The View Shortcut button.  This brings up what is called a short cut menu.  Short cut menus will differ from screen to screen and offer a quick means to perform tasks or view other information.  A short-cut menu can often be accessed by doing a right-mouse click within a window.
	The Filter button
	The Grid button
	The Apply Batch button.  This button is valid when you are using Batch Data Entry windows (bullings, services, sales).  When you have made changes to a number of records, the changes are only applied on the computer screen.  When you have finished, click the Apply Batch button; this saves all your changes to the batch
	The Undo Batch button.  When you are working in one of the Batch Data Entry windows (bullings, services, sales) and have made changes to the batch, clicking this button will undo all those changes, provided that you have not clicked the Apply Batch button first

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Finding Animals

Locating a single animal

1. Start the Herd Management Program if it is not already running
2. Move your mouse pointer to the line of menu items at the top of the screen and click on Data Entry and then Animal Details from the drop-down list that appears.   The Animal Details window will now display
3. Hold down the "Ctrl" key on the keyboard and press the "F" key.  The Locate Field Value window will now display (below).  The window has three sections so that you can describe to the program what to search for.

2. You can select the Field that you want to search on using the Fields drop-down box; the default option is IdentityNumber - leave this for now
3. The three option buttons in the centre of the screen allow you to select the type of match.  In this example, leave the default option, "Partial Match Anywhere".  Leave the Search Type tick box blank for now
4. The Field Value text box at the top of the window is where you enter the numbers or text that you want to search for.  We have previously set the match type to "Partial Match Anywhere" and the field to search on as "IdentityNumber"; for example, if you enter "549" the program will search for the animal that has that combination of numbers somewhere in its IdentityNumber.  Type in your Field Value and then click the First button
5. The first animal that matches the search will be displayed in the Animal Details window
6. Press Ctrl and F again and click the Next button to find the next animal matching the search criteria.  When no more matches are found the program will inform you
7. You can change the Search type options to suit the search that you want to do. For example, if you need to find all the animals where the number starts with UK0030, you should type “UK0030” into the Field Value box, select Partial Match at Beginning, and press Enter or click the First button

This method of searching can be used in other program windows, for example the Cow Overview window. 

Finding a set of animals

1. This search method is only available via the Animal Details window.  Open this window from the Data Entry menu at the top of the screen
2. Click the Find existing record button on the toolbar.  The Animal Search window will display (shown below)

3. Unlike the previous search method, you have to type the all the search characters from the left.  For example, to search for all the animals in a specific herd, type “UKLK0030” in the Search Value box. If you want to further refine the search, e.g. find only animals ending in the 100’s, complete the Search Value as in the picture above. When you click the Search button at the bottom, it will show all the animals matching the criteria.  You can further narrow the search by entering a date of birth range, e.g. find all animals born in 1998, whose numbers end in the 100’s.  For this example, select 01/01/1998 from the Date of Birth From drop-down box, and 31/12/1998 from the Date of Birth To drop-down box (Tip: you can move through the months using the scroll arrows at the top of the calendar)

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