Stock Explorer Hints and Tips

We have had lots of requests from customers and people trialling Stock Explorer Plus for a hints and tips section. Well, the FAQ section covers a lot of points that have been raised over the years but here is a quick access list to assist with the day to day use of the system. Editing: There are several ways to invoke the various editing functions; generally it is possible to select the required option from the ’File’ menu, by right-clicking the mouse or, in some cases, by pressing buttons on the toolbar. Editing is always performed in the right hand panels. Right clicking on a tree node permits actions on the displayed list items (right panel). Right clicking on the background of the list view panel will also permit actions on the displayed list items. Right clicking on a list view item will permit actions (e.g. deletion) on the selected item. Selecting the 'Edit' menu option for any of the above will replace the list view with an equivalent editable table. Some lists (e.g. Parts, Assemblies and Stock views) also offer a 'View/Edit' menu option when selected for a specific list item. This opens an edit form for the selected item. Refer to Section 3 of the user manual for more information. Deleting: Any item may be deleted provided there are no related transactions. In many cases there will be related transactions; it may still be possible to delete the item but some action will be necessary to avoid loss of related data. For a components or assembly (unless it has been created in error and never used) it is usually adviseable to move it to the 'Obsolete' Folder. This will remove it from the 'Components' or 'Assemblies' views but retain a record of historic purchases/inputs and deliveries/outputs. If an item is made obsolete, it will continue to appear in the stock (and stocktake) views until the stock has been reduced to zero. Right-clicking an item in the obsolete list will provide an 'Adjust Stock To Zero' menu option. This is a convenient method for removing the stock. It is possible to permanently delete assemblies, components, warehouses, warehouse locations, customers and suppliers even when related transactions exist. To do this you must be logged on as the administrator. Components may be permanently deleted from the 'Obsolete' folder. This will remove all references from the transaction history and all related tables. The only caveat is that there must be no works orders raised against them. Deleting a supplier will cause all references to the supplier to be replaced with the default supplier ('-'). Deleting a customer will cause all references to the customer to be replaced with the default customer (your company name). Deleting a warehouse will also delete warehouse locations transfering all location transactions within the warehouse to the 'Floor' of the main warehouse so it is strongly recommended that any stock in the warehouse be manually re-assigned before deleting. Deleting a location (from 'Warehouse' - [Warehouse Name] - 'Stock By Location') will transfer all related location transactions to the warehouse 'Floor'. Order Units: It is important to understand the significance of the 'order unit' column (components, purchase orders, stock inputs etc.) It is the unit by which the item is ordered (pack quantity, volume, weight etc). The user may include the unit name (Litres, Kg etc.) if required. Purchase items inherit this information when they are created, if the value equates to a number (e.g. ‘1’, ‘10’ or ‘10 Litres), when the goods are booked in they will be split into individual items (e.g. if the purchase order quantity is 70 and the order unit is ‘10’ the received quantity will be 70 units but the booked in quantity will be 700 items). If the value equates to non-numeric text (e.g. ‘Reels’ or ‘Reel, 50m’) the order unit will be treated as one item. Viewing, Printing Reports: Most reports are initiated by selecting the appropriate folder or item prior to the print option. The ‘Folder/Item’ column identifies which folders or items to select for the specified report. Options are set from the ‘Properties’ form. Generally, selecting the 'View/Print' menu option will generate a report based on the list view currently selected. if you wish to restrict the date range, you need to open the 'properties' panel and set the start and/or end dates for the system. Don't forget to reset them (if required) after printing. If you wish to produce a direct copy of the list view, or need to generate your own customised report click on the required folder in the tree view (left panel) then select the 'File - Export Folder' menu option. This will create a (tab delimited) text file suitable for import into other applications such as MS Excel). Some views offer additional report options such as 'View/Print Sales Report' which can show sales for selected dates by part, by delivery, by invoice etc. All report types and configurations are listed in section 13 of the user manual. Viewing and Sorting List Views: List Views (right panels) can be sorted by any column. Simply click on a column header to sort the list and click again to sort in the opposit direction. List columns can be resized (and reduced to near zero if not required). By default any changes made to widths will not be retained between sessions but you can change this by opeing the 'Properties' panel, 'Preferences' tab and unchecking the 'Field Widths:' 'Use System Defaults' check box. List columns can also be rearranged by dragging the column headers but this reordering will not be retained when the view is refreshed. Setting System Properties: There are a number of properties views dependent upon the current selection. System properties are invoked by clicking the ‘Properties’ button on the toolbar (click anywhere in a right hand panel first to ensure the correct panel is displayed). Refer to Section 14 of the user manual for full details.

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