Grid usability concepts

AQT uses grids in many of its windows. The grids offer a wide range of functions:

Copying

To copy cells (to the Windows clipboard), select a range of cells then hit CTRL+C. A menu will offer various options:

• Delimit columns with The character used to delimit the cells. Select Tab if you wish to paste the data into Excel. You can use another character by either selecting one from the list, or typing a value.
• Delimit rows with The character used to delimit successive lines. You would normally specify LineFeed, but you can use another character by either selecting one from the list, or typing a value.
• Include header? Whether the column header is to be included with the cells. This can be useful if the data is to be transferred to Excel or Word.
• Copy mode This option specifies whether the data is to Replace or be Appended to the existing data in the clipboard. This can be useful if you are wishing to copy non-contiguous ranges of cells.

Printing

You can print the data in a grid from the menu option Print > Print Data. You can set Printing Data options.

Displaying wide columns

In most places, AQT will automatically expand a column width for the size of the data. However, to prevent a single wide column from taking up the entire display, there is a maximum width the columns will go to. You can set this with Options > Display Options > Maximum Column Width.

To see the entire value of a column you can either increase the width of the column or (better) double-click on the cell. Throughout most of AQT, double-clicking a value will show you the full value in a message box.

Editing

In a number of places in AQT you can amend the contents of a grid. You must be in Edit mode first.

Change to Edit mode by the right mouse menu or F2. In only some windows you can double-click a cell to edit it. If there is a row number cell on the left (grey, fixed length), it will change from an Arrow to a Pencil.

Once you edit a cell, the edit is applied to the database when you move the focus to another grid row. To see the changes that are being applied to the database, use the Options > Table Editing > Prompt on setting. Select the appropriate setting.

To exit Edit mode on a grid row, without saving a change you have just made, hit Esc before moving to another row.

To exit Edit mode and save your changes, move to another cell or click on the row header. The pencil will change back to an arrow.

Hit Enter to save the change, end editing that cell, and go to the next cell with Edit mode on.

The active cell turns green if you edit one cell then go to another cell in the same row. The green shows that you have pending changes in that row.