Using The Prism® HELP Features - Epicor · Using The Prism HELP Features A “HOW TO” Document You don't have to interrupt your work to look up answers in a manual. When you need

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© 2011 Activant Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Activant logo is a trademark of Activant Solutions Inc. Activant is headquartered in Livermore, CA

Using The Prism HELP Features

A “HOW TO” Document

Using The Prism® HELP Features

In this document I am going to cover very quickly the Prism® Help features, how to access them and

make use of them.

Sections Overview

How to Access HELP features

Help Index

About Help

Query Help

Adding to NotePad

What If I Need More Help?

Overview Epicor has equipped your system with features to help you do your job. You can get answers to many of

your questions without leaving the terminal. You can get back to work quicker.

There are several different kinds of help.

* Field prompts - tell you what to type in a field.

* Error messages - explain how to correct problems.

* Function key line - shows which keys are available on the screen.

* Field help - answers your questions about the fields on a screen.

* Screen help - explains the screen and how it is used.

* Help notepads - let you customize field and screen help.

* Lists - show you the valid entries for many fields.

* Help Menu - lets you see entries about help, about query, and an index of screen help.

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How to Access HELP features

The function key for HELP is <F17> and the combinations that can open HELP in Network Access are:

NumLock key

Shift <F7>

Mouse Button

Yes, my mouse button area is different than yours; I have customized it to contain all of the F-keys,

arrow keys, sell key and total key in a position relative to the normal keyboard.

WHAT IS THE FUNCTION KEY LINE?

There are 20 function keys on the keyboard. The first five are called variable function keys because their

functions change from screen to screen. The other 15 function keys are the constant function keys. The

15 constant function keys always function the same way.

Not all 20 keys work on every screen. The function key line tells you which keys, variable and constant,

are available for each screen you go to.

HOW DO I SEE THE FUNCTION KEY LINE?

The function key line displays automatically at the bottom of the screen, above the field prompt line.

If the function key line is full, use <More Keys> or or Shift <F10> or <F20> to scroll through the

available keys.

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© 2011 Activant Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. Activant logo is a trademark of Activant Solutions Inc. Activant is headquartered in Livermore, CA .



HOW DO I GET TO HELP?

Field prompts, error messages, and the function key line display automatically. To get to field help,

screen help, or the Help Menu, see the following table.

When the cursor is in: and you press <Help> you see:

================ ================= =========

a field on a screen field help

field help screen help

screen help Help Menu

HOW DO I GET OUT OF HELP?

Press <F16> <Exit> to back you out of Help a level at a time.

If you are on the Help Menu, press <Exit>. You are in the screen help. Press <Exit> again and you're in

field help.

Press <Exit> again and you're back to the screen where you began.

WHAT ARE LISTS? Some fields in the system have lists available. Lists show you the acceptable

entries for a field. These can be records you've already entered, or preprogrammed choices for a field.

Lists mean you don't have to remember a lot of information. You just select items from the list, instead

of typing in the field.

HOW DO I SEE LISTS?

Lists are not available for all fields. If a field has a list, the word LIST blinks at the top of the screen.

To see the list, press <F6> <List> while in the field.

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WHAT IS A FIELD PROMPT?

Field prompts display on the bottom line of your screen.

They are your first level of help. As you move the cursor from field to field on a screen, the field prompt

tells you what information to enter.

HOW DO I SEE FIELD PROMPTS?

Field prompts can give you quick information automatically. You don't have to do a thing!

Note: Field prompts may not be available on some third-party software packages.

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WHAT IS AN ERROR MESSAGE?

Mistakes happen. When you make an error, you need to know about it. More importantly, you need to

know how to correct it.

The error messages are in plain English. They are both informative and helpful. They tell you not only

that an error has been made, but how to correct it.

HOW DO I SEE ERROR MESSAGES?

Error messages display automatically at the bottom of the screen, in the same area as field prompts.

WHAT IS FIELD HELP?

Field help gives you detailed information about each field on a screen. For full information on any field,

just move the cursor to the field and press <Help>.

Field help can tell you:

* the full field name (if it's abbreviated on the screen)

* how to use the field

* which characters or values the field accepts

* the size of the field

* the effect of different entries in the field

HOW DO I SEE FIELD HELP?

To see field help, press the <Help> key once.

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You don't have to interrupt your work to look up answers in a manual. When you need it, a single key

press displays field help. Another key press puts the help box away and lets you continue working.

Selecting the HELP function will open a small viewer window that lists the information that pertains to

the bucket that your cursor resides in, even a menu.

WHAT IS SCREEN HELP?

Screen help is another level of information you can get without leaving your terminal. While field help

explains each field, screen help gives you more information about an entire screen.

Screen help can tell you:

* the purpose of the screen

* anything you should do before you use the screen

* procedures you can do on the screen

Note: If there are fields that the cursor can't go to (display fields), they are defined in screen help.

HOW DO I SEE SCREEN HELP?

To see screen help, press the <Help> key twice. The first time you press <Help>, field help displays.

The second time, screen help displays. Screen help is available from any field on the screen.

Screen help can give you information when and where you need it.

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WHAT IS THE HELP MENU?

The Help Menu lists the following choices:

* About Help - tells you all about help.

* About Query - tells you about the Query function and how to use it.

* Index to Screen Help - lists application screen help. You can select from the list and see the screen

help. The Index does not include most System Management screens.

HOW DO I SEE THE HELP MENU?

To see the Help Menu, press <Help> three times. Then you select from the menu just like you select

from any other menu.

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When you select the Help Index you bring up a display window that lists the Help Screens from the

Menu Screen level

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For example, if I select Bar Code Options from the Menu, I get information on Bar Code Options

(BCOPT):

This it the very same information that I would have gotten had I used FastPath to get to BCOPT and

pressed <F17> Help twice.

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About Help

Here is where you will find many of the answers to questions about the HELP screens.

Query Help

You will find a lot of information in this screen to help you make more use of the Query Mode, F18

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Adding to HELP NotePads

WHAT ARE HELP NOTEPADS?

You can attach your own comments to the field and screen help that Epicor provides. This feature is

called a help notepad.

You can add help notepads to both field help and screen help. It's almost like writing your own notes in

a user manual.

The information you enter in the help notepads stays in the system until you remove it. When you install

software updates, your help notepads are unaffected.

A user's security plan determines whether the user can enter help notepads.

Note: Help notepads are not available on most System Management screens.

Note: Help notepads are system wide

HOW DO I SEE HELP NOTEPADS?

If a notepad was added, it displays automatically when you press the <Help> key. You add your own

notepad by pressing the <Notepad> key while in field or screen help.

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This opens the NotePad area for you to add information in to.

For this example, I will load information on what the 10 code positions represent in to the NotePad for

the HELP screen for the INPN codes on screen 1 of INPN

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Entering the data on screen 1 of INPN also makes it available in other screens of INPN.

WHAT IF I NEED MORE HELP?

Register for Epicor iSupport website. You can enter and manage your service requests directly from the

website. You can also use our Answer database to find answers to many of your questions. In addition

we have loaded a Prism User Guide to the website.

For additional assistance beyond advice line support and the online information on iSupport, call your

Epicor Representative. We also offer advanced training classes and personalized consulting services

with Prism Professional Services agents experienced in the industry.

For more information on this and other Prism functionality training, check our website at:

http://isupport.activant.com

or contact Epicor at 800-808-7423

or write [email protected].

Corporate Web site:

http://www.epicor.com

Register on the I-Support Web site: http://isupport.activant.com

http://isupport.activant.com/

http://www.epicor.com/

blocked::http://isupport.activant.com/

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Using The Prism® HELP Features - Epicor · Using The Prism HELP Features A “HOW TO” Document You don't have to interrupt your work to look up answers in a manual. When you need