Shop'NCook Menu 3.4.2 User's Manual
Database Editor
Overview
You reach the database editor by clicking the Edit button on the shopping list panel. The database editor allows you to customize the list of items. You can view the items in two modes: the main mode that shows a selection of categories and items, and the extended mode that shows all the categories and items. To see the items belonging to a category, you click on the category name in the column on the left. The list of items is then displayed on the right. The name of the item is on the left-hand side, its default comment next to it and then a pull down menu where you can choose the preferred unit of the items.In extended mode, you see additionally a checkbox on the right of the categories and items. When it is checked, the item or category belongs to the main list.
When you are done editing, click OK to save the changes and return to the shopping list mode. If you click cancel, the changes to the database will be discarded.
How To...
- How to compose the main list
- How to create, modify and delete categories and items
- How to move items and categories
- How to sort items and categories by alphabetical order
- How to set the default comments of the items
- How to set automatic unit conversion and preferred units
- How to change the database title
How to compose the main list
Go to the editor by clicking on the Edit button of the shopping list panel. If the items and categories appear with a check box on their right-hand side, you are already in the extended mode. Otherwise, go to the Tools menu and select "Extended List". When the check box is selected, the corresponding category or item belongs to the main list. Additionally, for an item to belong to the main list, the category to which it belongs needs to be checked too. You should put in the main list the items you purchase regularly. If you are purchasing some items only for some recipes or for special occasions, leave them in the extended list. You will be able to access them more conveniently from the recipe panel or the sublist panel.How to create, modify and delete categories and items
Go to the database editor by clicking on the Edit button of the toolbar of the shopping list panel. If you want to modify or create items in the extended list, make sure you are in extended mode by selecting "Extended List" in the Tools menu.Creating an item or category: Select the line after which you want to insert the new item by clicking on it. Then click on "New Item" or "New Group" buttons, to create an item or a category. You can then click on the new item or category and input its name. If you are in extended mode, unmark the check box in the right if you don't want the new item or category to belong to the main list.
Modify an item or a category: The name of predefined items cannot be modified. However, you can edit the items you created and the names of all the categories at any time simply by clicking on them and typing in their new names. Note that the items may be linked to some recipe ingredients. It is therefore not recommended to change the name of an item into something else, as you may create inconsistencies with the recipes. It is better to create a new item.
Deleting an item or a category: To delete a category or an item, select it by clicking on it, and then click on the Delete button. Note: If you delete an item that is used in recipes, the references to it will become invalid, and you will have to relink the recipes to another item before being able to use them. For more on this subject, see the recipe panel. Note: if you delete a category, all the items belonging to the category are deleted too. If you do it by mistake, you can still undo it by clicking on the Undo button.
How to move items and categories
Go to the database editor by clicking on the Edit button in the shopping list panel. To move a category or an item, select it first by clicking on it. You can then move it up by clicking on the Up button, and move it down by clicking on the Down button. You can move several consecutive items together by selecting them with shift-click. Another way to move selected category or items is to cut them by clicking on the Cut button, click on the line after which you want to insert, and click on the Paste button. You can also use the shortcuts "CTRL-SHIFT-X" for cut, and "CTRL-SHIFT-V" for paste. Note that when you cut and paste an item, or move it up or down, you keep the references to it in the recipes.Note: The items will appear in the final shopping list in the order in which they are listed in the database. In order to shop efficiently, you should change the order of the categories in the database to correspond to the order of the aisles of your supermarket.
How to sort items and categories by alphabetical order
Go to the database editor by clicking on the Edit button in the shopping list panel. To sort items and categories by alphabetical order, select them by clicking on the first one, then on the last one with the SHIFT-key pressed. Click then on the Sort button. The selected items or categories will be sorted by alphabetical order.How to set the default comments of the items
The default comment is empty by default, but if you buy usually a fixed quantity or brand of an article, you may enter it as default value to avoid having to type it in everytime. You will still be able to change this value when you add later the item to your shopping list. To set the default comment, go to the database editor by clicking on the edit button in the shopping list panel. Click then on the comment field of the item you want to edit and type in the default comment. You will have to clear the current shopping list to see the changes when you exit the database editor.How to set automatic unit conversion and preferred units
The ingredients can be converted automatically into the preferred units when you add ingredients from a recipe to the shopping list. Preferred units are defined for each item of the database. The ingredients have a default unit of WEIGHT, which corresponds to the default weight unit, i.e. ounces in US unit mode, and grams in metric unit mode. Liquid ingredients have a preferred unit of "VOLUME", which corresponds to the default volume unit, i.e. flood ounces in US unit mode, and liters in metric mode. To enable automatic conversion, or toggle between US and metric units, go to the preference pane.To change the predefined preferred units, open the editor by clicking on "Edit" in the toolbar of the shopping list panel. Select "Expand All" in the Tools menu to display the items. At the end of each line, there is a pull down menu where you can choose the preferred unit for the ingredient. Choose WEIGHT or VOLUME, or type in the unit of your choice. Note that you are not limited to the choice of the pull-down menu, but that any unit of your choice can be input. If the software doesn't know the conversion information for the unit you selecte, you should add it in the nutritional information editor for better results. Choose NO_UNIT_DEFINED to disable automatic conversion for this ingredient.
How to change the shopping list title
Go to the database editor by clicking on the edit button in the shopping list panel. Select "Edit shopping list title" in the Tools menu. Input the new shopping list title and click OK. Click OK to save the modification and return to the shopping list.Copyright Rufenacht Innovative 2005.