Browsers and Drill Downs for SBT PRO 6.0
 

These functions allow you to customize data views in your program. We’ll start with SBT Vision Point. In this program browsers are set up in the System Manager Files area. Choose the Tables & Indexes and select the table you wish to change or create a browser for. You will notice Browse as the 5th of the command buttons. Press this. You will notice a number of commands here. The Exec will show you how the browser looks. To Add use the Add button. For purposes of example we’ll add a browser to the inventory table (ARINVT) to show the last sale, period sales and year to date sales. In my example I’ll call the browser code INVSALES, and Sales Report as the description. The controlling tab I’ll use is DESCRIP, note you only need to enter a D to get this. I’ll leave it as Descending and will leave the password as blank. I’m also going to leave the Matching Key Expression blank. The For expression which is used to limit the data, I’ll also leave blank. The browse fields expression is where I store the data that I wish to show. In this case I’ll enter the following line:

ITEM, DESCRIP:35 :h=’DESCRIPTION’,LDATE :h=’LAST SALE’,PTDSALES :16 :P=’999,999.99’ :H=’PERIOD SALES’, YTDSLS :12 :P=’999,999.99’ :H=’YTD SALES’

Where do you get this information? The Technical Reference Manual contains a field list. That tells you what the fields are that hold the information. A FoxPro Language Reference will tell you what the commands are. I’ve used only a few of the available ones. :35 means 35 characters wide, :H= indicates that this is the column header, and :P indicates to display the data in the described format.

Browsers can be called by pressing the F3 key entering the password and selecting the Browser you wish from the pick list. You don’t always have to set up a browser to use one. SBT sets up a number of prebuilt ones.

Peachtree and Quickbooks do not support browsers, however they do support drill downs. Lets look at how to do a drill down in Peachtree.

In this case we go to the reports menu. I’ll select the Invoice register and bring up a default list. Position the magnifying glass over the invoice you would like more info on and double click it. You now find yourself at the invoice you wished to view in detail. Note that you can even make limited changes to the invoice in this drill down. For instance I can change the amount shipped, price or the description. Other things such as the Item # can not be edited while in drill down mode. To exit the drill down press the escape key. Not all reports support drill down. The customer list for instance does not. Those that do not show the magnifying glass do not.

Drill downs can be converted to regular data entry by clicking things such as the new button while in drill down mode. However, Escape will still take you back to the report you started at. Generally, I recommend against doing this, as it can be a surprise to go back to a place you didn’t expect to get to.

In SBT Pro 6.0 we have the Power Drill feature. Unlike Peachtree this feature is not available within reports. It is again started by the F3 key and set up in System Manager. Drill downs can be set up for specific users or for all users. Lets look at setting up an AR a sales history browse here. The browse has 1 minor got you in it. This is that the screen asks you to select the fields you wish to see before selecting the table. This doesn’t really work. Go to the FROM box first. You can get a list of tables by clicking the … dot box at the end of the area. This pulls up a list of tables and a description of what they are. In this case I’ll select IC item. Then go to the … dot box next to the Select box and click it. Once again you see a list of available data. In this case the first shows the fields you can use and the second the fields you’ve selected. Use the Technical Reference manual to select the ones you need.

Once you have entered an application you may use the F3 key or magnifying glass button to bring up a list of available Power Drill Downs and edits. In this case I’ll select the Customer Master which is provided by SBT. Selecting Praxis Products (SBT’s Sample Company) I mouse to BBE1 – Bay Business Enterprises. Note that there are a number of buttons at the top that I can use to see additional data. Lets look at the Magnifying Glass – Inquiry first. Clicking this takes me to the Customer Maintenance Screen. Note that the EDIT button is active. I exit that screen and press the Drill Down button. I see that I can get a list of cash receipts, open invoices, open orders, and sales order history for this customer. All I need do is click on the browse that I wish to see. But what I want to see is everything. All I need do is click the first report and note that a tab box window is created. I go back to the AR Customer window by clicking it’s tab and again select drill down. Now I select the next report. A few more passes and everything is open. I can now click the tab for the data I wish to see and page back and forth to my hearts content.

This then is how browsers and drill downs are used in 3 programs. You will note that Drill Down in Peachtree and in SBT Pro is quite different. Peachtree is much more intuitive but also much more limited. This fits with the rule that the more power there is the more you have to learn to use it properly. In SBT setting up browsers can be rather intimidating to users. Sometimes it is best to bring in an SBT expert to do this. I haven’t includes Quickbooks because the feature works the same as that in Peachtree. Which is best? It really depends on the data needs you have. Certainly the Pro version is the most powerful and is a fantastic analysis tool. But do you need that power? If you are already a Pro user I feel that this function alone is enough reason to upgrade to the latest version. If you are using a lower end package and it fits your needs then I would say it isn’t enough reason to move up. If you are using a competing version of an upper mid-range product and are thinking of switching I’d say it is a major consideration. In the long run no program is “cheap” if it makes it difficult and time consuming to increase your business or keep your customers happy.