Shop'NCook Home 3.4.2 User's Manual
Direct Access
Overview
The direct access panel is reached by clicking on the Direct Access tab. It gives an easy access to the recipes of The Recipe Database, an online database where Shop'NCook users can share their recipes. To use this feature, you need to have a Direct Access account with The Recipe Database. A Direct Access account is automatically setup for one year to all registered users. Unregistered softwares cannot use this feature. You need also an internet connection.The first time you access this panel, you are prompted to download the database index. The index allows you to view the recipe titles and search the recipes of the database offline. Once the index has been dowloaded, the list of recipes appears on the left. When a recipe title is selected, the recipe is fetched from the database and displayed on the right. If you click on the Ingredients tab, you can add selectively its ingredients to the shopping list. The recipe can also be easily incorporated to your current cookbook by clicking the import button.
The database index will be automatically updated once a week to give you access to the latest recipes. You can change the update schedule or cancel it in the Preferences panel. You can also initiate an update manually by selecting Update Index in the file menu.
When you select a category in the Category pull-down menu of the toolbar, the list of recipes belonging to this category is displayed. There are three special categories: the New category lists the recipes added to the index at the last update; My Recipes category displays the list of recipes you have uploaded to The Recipe Database; My Favorites category displays the list of your favorites, i.e. the list of recipes for which you have voted. To be able to use the two last items, you need to have a login account with The Recipe Database. You will be prompted to create one or input your login information the first time you try to access your recipes or favorites.
Note that a login account should not be confused with a direct access account. Login accounts are available to all Shop'NCook users and internet users for free and allow them to access the recipes they upload to the database and maintain a list of favorites by voting for the recipes. A direct access account is available to registered Shop'NCook users only and give them fast and convenient access to the recipes of the database.
How To...
- How to update the recipe index
- How to search the database recipes
- How to add a recipe ingredients to the shopping list
- How to import a recipe into a cookbook
- How to setup a direct access account
- How to setup a login account
- How to update your login information
- How to get your login information sent by e-mail
- How to get nutritional analysis for a database recipe
- How to add a recipe to the database
- How to add a recipe to your list of favorites
How to update the recipe index
The recipe index is automatically updated once a week when you open the direct access panel. Note that if you never click on the Direct Access tab, the update function is never activated. If you want more or less frequent update, open the preference pane by selecting Preferences... in the Edit menu (on Windows) or in the Shop'NCook menu (on Mac OS X). Select the Network tab. You can edit the number of days between each update, or cancel it altogether. If you put a number of days of 0, the index will be updated at each software start when you open the direct access panel. To initiate an update manually, go to the file menu and select Update Index.How to search the recipe database
Select the Direct Access tab to display the direct access panel. Select the category in which you want to search, or select All. Input the word you would like to search for in the search field (the field next to "Find:" in the toolbar), and click on the search button or press the Enter (Return) key. The recipes matching this word will appear in the list on the left. You can view any of them by clicking on its name. If you want to quit the search mode and have again the list of all the recipes displayed, click on the Show All button. The search function searches by default for whole words. You can search for partial word by using the wild card "*". This character stands for any group of characters in the search. For example, if you search for the word "tomato" you will find all the recipes that contain the word tomato, but if you search for "tomato*", you will find additionally the recipes that contain the word "tomatoes".How to add a recipe ingredients to the shopping list
Select the recipe and select the ingredients tab. Check the ingredients you want to add to the shopping list and click the Add button.How to import a recipe into a cookbook
Go to the Recipes panel by clicking on the Recipes tab and open the cookbook into which you want to import recipes. Go then to the Direct Access panel. Select a recipe from the list and click the import button. The import manager window opens where you can edit the recipe category list. Click OK to import the recipe.How to setup a direct access account
Direct access account are only available to registered software. If your software is registered, a one-year direct access account will be automatically setup for you the first time you use the direct access function.How to setup a login account
You need a login account to maintain a list of favorites or access the list of your recipes on The Recipe Database. A login account is available for free to every internet and Shop'NCook users. You are prompted to create an account the first time you upload a recipe to the database via the Share function of the recipe panel, or the first time you access My Recipes or My Favorites categories of the Direct Access panel. You can also create an account at any time by selecting Setup Login... in the Tools menu of the recipe panel. If you have already created an account directly on The Recipe Database website, you can also input your login information by selecting Setup Login... in the Tools menu of the recipe panel.How to update your login information
To change your login information on The Recipe Database, go to the recipe panel and select "Update Login Info..." in the Tools menu. You will be able to change your account's e-mail address and password. If you haven't yet setup an account, you must first input your login information by selecting Setup Login... in the Tools menu of the recipe panel.How to get your login information sent by e-mail
If you forgot your login information, you can ask the online recipe database to send them to you by e-mail. Go to the recipe panel by selecting the Recipes tab. Select "Login To Another Account" from the Tools menu. Input the e-mail address you are using in your account. Click on "Email me my account info". The software will request The Recipe Database to send you your account information. Note: if you have not yet setup your account information, you should select "Setup Login...", click "Existing Account", and ask to have your account information sent to you.How to get nutritional analysis for a recipe in the database
Go to the direct access panel by selecting the Direct Access tab and select a recipe from the list. Click on Nutrition to display the nutritional analysis. Note that if the recipe has ingredients that are not linked to the item database or has undefined units, the nutritional data of these ingredients will not be included in the nutritional analysis of the recipe. You can check which ingredients are included in the analysis by displaying the ingredients tab. Only the ingredients displayed in black are taken into account in the nutritional analysis. See Nutritional Analysis for more information.How to add a recipe to the database
Recipes are added to The Recipe Database from the recipe panel. Go first to the recipe panel by selecting the Recipes tab. Select the recipe you want to upload and click the Share button. See the recipe panel help for more information.How to add a recipe to your list of favorites
Go to the direct access panel by clicking on the Direct Access tab. Select the recipe you want ot add to your favorites and click Vote. The recipe will be added to your list of favorites. Voting is also a way to recommend the recipe to internet users, as the number of people who added the recipe to their favorites is displayed on the web site together with the recipe title. Note that the vote function is enabled only if you have setup a login account. See How to setup a login account.Copyright Rufenacht Innovative 2004.