Plugin Control Panel

The Control Panel

Use the Control Panel to edit or delete current or ongoing timing records, to send completed data to the target software package, and to search and review historical time records. The Control Panel will also allow you to review associations between sub-windows of the target software and work codes (see also Plugin Options and Discovery)

Unprepared, Prepared and History states. The objective of using MetriQ is to greatly enhance the accuracy and speed of costly time sheet entry. To this effect, MetriQ uses a local storage area to collect time sheet entries before they are sent directly to the target software. This allows you to review and edit the data as well as work in a consolidated mode whereby time is accumulated for a client on the same work code on any given day (see also Plugin Options). The three states are:

Unprepared - timing data that has not yet been assigned a client/job or work code.

Prepared - timing data that has been assigned a client, job and work code - and is ready for committing to the target database.

History - timing data that has been committed to the target database. History time sheet records cannot be modified.

How to use the Control Panel: When you first start timing an application, the Postmaster records how much time you accumulate and on which icons. Up to this point, we'll assume that you have not as yet stipulated which Client. Job or Work code you would like to associate to this time to. As such the Control Panel will show this entry as being Unprepared. That is, there is no designated Client, Job or Work code.

Before a record can be committed to the target database, it must be Prepared. There are 2 ways to achieve this.

1. The quickest is to use the Post button on the Postmaster (see also Postmaster). Clicking the Post button, with a selected Client, Job and Work code will post the time data into MetriQ's time sheet storage, ready for committing to the target database.

2. The alternative, is to Manually Prepare a timing record. To do this, use the edit button on the Control Panel, to edit the Client, Job and Work code fields. Save your changes. The time sheet record is now Prepared and ready for committing.

Control panel Tabs:

Time sheets: showing those time sheet records that are unprepared and prepared.

History: Committed time sheets.

Work Code Associations: A listing of all sub-windows associated by work code. Choose to view all at once or by Module. Only the work code can be edited. Use the import facility to update the work codes from a text file generated by the export facility on another machine, outside of the local area network.

Import/Export of Work codes

Use the Import button to import work codes from a text file (MetriQ comes with a collection of work codes in the Plugin directory, AO Workcodes.txt)

Use the Export button to export the list of work codes to a text file.

Buttons:

Edit: Update client, job, work code and time. Press the save button to keep changes. A record that has no client, job and work code will move from unprepared to prepared when client, job and work code values are entered.

Save: Save changes to time sheet records.

Delete: Delete a time sheet record. Note: you cannot undo the deletion of a time sheet record.

Abort: Abort the editing of a time sheet record.

Commit to...: Use the Commit to button to commit Prepared time sheet records to the target database. After commit, the records are removed from the current time sheet and placed into the History store. The icon for this button is dependant on the target software package used.

Okay: Save changes and close the control panel.

Cancel: Cancel changes and quit.

Help: This help document.

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