backEditCommon UI Behaviors
We strive to create a very consistent user experience across all aspects of the RT product. To this end, the interface behaviors are kept as consistent as possible in order to reduce the amount of any learning curve necessary so that what you learn on one window can be applied to all other windows. The following outlines some of these behaviors.
EditWindow Help
In the upper right hand corner of each window (just left of the the standard Microsoft Windows (tm) X (close) button), you'll find a question mark (?) button. Clicking on this button will take you directly to the documentation related to that particular window by launching the default web browser registered with your system.
Note: At the time of this writing, not all screens support this; however, our goal is to extend the feature to all window.
EditTabs
Many windows contain enough information that having it all displayed at one time would either be confusing and/or overwhelming; so we've grouped similar information together and placed them into seperate tabs.
You can switch to different tabs by clicking on the tab name portion of the tab.
There are cases, especially when creating new entries, that fields on these tabs may be incomplete (or invalid) and to assist in discovering these we provide an attention glyph to make this situation immediately visible without having to go through every tab.
We do recommend going through every tab, especially in the beginning, to double check that all fields are what you are expecting.
EditField Validation
Nearly every field in RT is validated to be as correct as we can possibly determine. Whenever a field value appears to be invalid (or incomplete), a red exclamation glyph will be positioned near the field that contains invalid (or incomplete) information.
Hovering over the red exlamation glyph to see a short explanation of why the value is invalid (or incomplete).
In this example, the phone number is missing one digit. Because it appears that a phone number is being entered, it verifies that the phone number looks correct.
EditContext Menus
To help reduce on "screen noise", we utilize context menus for less often but yet still very important activities. Additionally, just as the word context implies, the options will only be available based on the current context of what you are interacting with.
Nearly every list containing one or more item will have an associated context menu. To access the context menu, select the item you wish to interact by left clicking. Once selected, use the right mouse button to click on the item which will bring up the associated context menu. Select the desired activity from the list of available actions.
Note: Actions available will vary drastically depending on the type of item and the actions currently available at any particular time.
EditContextual Entity Editing
As an extension to the context menus, you are also able to add, modify, trash, etc. many of the "configuration" items; especially those that are used heavily through the system through combo boxes. To access these context menus (if available), you will need to hover over the label next to the combo box and use the right mouse button to right click thus displaying (if available) the associated context menu. Select the desired activity from the list of available actions.
This particular example displays the options that are available when right clicking on the Agency label.
Note: Actions available will vary drastically depending on the type of item and the actions currently available at any particular time.
EditStandard Field Editors
There are several types of fields in RT that are common types of information such as dates, times, lengths, postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, etc. Each of these are validated for correctness (as best we know). Additionally, many of these provide short-circuits that ease the data entry process.
- Time
Any fields containing time information are displayed as hh:mm:ss (24 hour clock). Typing in hh:mm:ss (24 hour clock) works as expected. There are a ton of short-circuit methods available in the time entry field as we have attempted to allow you to pretty much type anything that looks even close to a time and it will attempt to translate it automatically. Examples include (following is formatted as entered value without quotes -> result): "2" -> 02:00:00, "2p" -> 14:00:00, "2a" -> 02:00:00, "2-" -> 02:00:00, "205+" -> 14:05:00. Special characters recognized are am, pm, AM, PM, A, a, P, p, plus (+), minus (-). The A, a, AM, am and minus (-) characters are interchangable. The P, p, PM, pm and plus (+) are characters are interchangable. The Hour can be one or two digits and is always required (assumed). Minutes is optional, but if used, must be two digits. Seconds is optional, but if used, must be two digits. Colons and spaces are optional. - Length
Any fields containing length information are displayed in a mm:ss format. Obviously you could type the length in using this format, however, there are several shortcuts that you can use. Values entered without the colon character are automatically recognized as a number of seconds and reformatted automatically. You can also use the letter m to quickly enter a length of whole minutes. For example, "2m" (without quotes) will be translated as 2:00. Seconds can be one or two digits and is always required (assumed). Minutes, if used, must either include the colon seperator or the letter m (if whole minutes).
EditOK, Cancel, Apply
Many windows contain three buttons located in the bottom right portion of the window allow you to commit or cancel any changes that you've made. Buttons are enabled/disabled depending on the current change state and/or validity of the changes.
OKPress the OK button to save your change(s) and close the window.
CancelPress the Cancel button to abort any change(s) made and close the window.
ApplyPress the Apply button to save your change(s), keeping the dialog open for further review/change(s).