EditParameter Libraries
Parameter Library - Menu Option
The
Parameter Libraries are where a
User with
Administrator level access can define the values that will be displayed in the drop down lists on the
Field Tool for any
Parameter, for any piece of equipment on the
Equipment Tree.
To access the
Parameter Libraries go to the
Global Menu on the left hand side of the Web Page and click on
Report Setup and
Parameter Library Lists to open the screen shot shown at the bottom of this page.
Once you are in the screen to edit and manage
Parameter Libraries there are just three areas that you need to understand to make good use of this feature. Those areas are, from left to right:
Suggested Library Values,
Selected Item Type and
Current Library Values.
Now, before we go through the actual use of these three things, let's discuss the reasons for using libraries and also some good library practices. First of all, libraries will save your field technicians time becuase they are clicking a library value from a list rather then typing or writing on the
Field Tool. Next, you get to sanitize the responses by defining the library with information that you want to standardize responses from many technicians, and eliminate typo's and transcription errors. The other library layout issue that should be considered is the order of the information in the library. The larger the library, the more difficult it is to potentially find a library value in your library list unless it is carefully sequenced either alphabetically or numerically.
The
Suggested Library Values area is helpful if you do not have a library and are not sure what you would put in your library. This list includes things that all of your technicians have used on projects in the past for a particular parameter. So, you can look through this list and determine what items you want to add to your library.
Next, is where you select the piece of equipment and then the
Parameter Library that you want to manage or edit. Every
Parameter for every piece of equipment can potentially have a library. Many
Parameters will probably not have a need for a library depending on whether the parameter is data or a number or maybe just not enough responses to warrant a library.
The most important area on this screen is the
Current Library Values. This is the library list that will be displayed on the
Field Tool drop down list. There are a few key items for this area that are worth pointing out. First, the library list will appear just as you type it in and will NOT automatically alphabetize or organize in any ascending or descending order. So, as we stated above you want to carefully plan and build a larger library with a lot of content. Second, you can delete items out, insert new items and edit anything in the list just as you would with any text editor.
We recommend using Excel or Word for larger libraries that you want in a certain order. Then once the list has been created simply copy the list out of Excel or Word and paste it right into the
Current Library Values area.
Important! Be sure to hit
Save Library Values if you made changes before you navigate to another
Parameter or piece of equipment or another web page to make sure that your changes are accepted by the system. The next time any of your technicians
Synchronize any new library lists will be downloaded to the
Field Tool.
Manage Parameter Libraries
 Matching Field Tool Parameter Library |