Shop'NCook Pro 3.4.2 User's Manual
Shopping List
Overview
The shopping list pane allows to write shopping lists and edit the item database. The database is formed of 2000 items separated in 40 categories. The list on the left display the names of categories. When a category is selected, the corresponding items are displayed on the right. The list of items can be viewed in two modes: the main mode and the extended mode. In the main mode, only a selection of the categories and items are shown. In the extended mode, all the categories and items of the database are shown.An item is added to the shopping list when its checkbox is selected. The comment field on the right can be edited to input the quantity, or to specify the brand or flavor of the item, for example. When the question mark next to an ingredient is clicked, the nutritional information and a unit conversion tool are displayed. You can edit the nutritional information and weight conversion information in the nutrition information editor. See the nutritional analysis and the recipe manager for more on nutritional information and unit conversion. At the end of each category, items can be freely typed in. The last category, "Miscellaneous" is only for typing items. Items typed directly in the shopping list are not added to the item database. To add an item permanently to the database, you need to edit the database.
Once a shopping list is written, it can be previewed, printed, sent by e-mail, exported to a text, HTML file or to the clipboard, exported to SplashShopper (PDA program), or saved for future use. If you have input or imported cost data, you can also display its cost.
The list of items is customized in the database editor. It allows to create and edit new categories and items, to change their order, to input cost information and to select which belong to the main list.
How To...
- How to see all the items
- How to see the main items
- How to compose a shopping list
- How to preview, print and send by e-mail the shopping list
- How to view the shopping list on a PDA
- How to change the appearance of the print-out
- How to search the item list
- How to get nutritional information
- How to calculate unit conversion
- How to edit the nutritional and unit conversion information
- How to import cost data
- How to export cost data
- How to display the cost of the shopping list
How to see all the items
Go to the Tools menu, and select "Extended List". If "Main List" is displayed in the menu instead of "Extended List", the item list is already in extended mode. Click on the category names in the column on the left to display the items.How to see the main items
Go to the Tools menu, and select "Main List". If "Extended List" is displayed in the menu instead of "Main List", the item list is already in main mode. Click on the category names in the column on the left to display the main items.How to compose a shopping list
Click on the checkboxes on the left of the items you want to include in your shopping list. When the checkbox is marked, the item is included. You can click again to unmark it. Once an item is checked, you can edit the comment field on the right to input the quantity or any comment. To locate rapidly an item, you can use the search function (see below). Another way of including items in the shopping list is to add ingredients from a recipe or from a sublist. If you want to add to the shopping list an item not in the database, you can type it in one of the empty fields at the end of the list of items of the corresponding category, or of the category Miscellaneous at the end of the category list. If it is an item you purchase regularly, you should edit the item database and add it permanently.How to preview, print and send by e-mail the shopping list
Once you have composed your shopping list, click on the preview button of the toolbar to view it. Click on the "OK" button to close the preview window. Press the print button of the toolbar to print it. You will be presented with a print dialog to select the paper format and the number of copies. You can customize the appearance of the preview and printed version of the shopping list in the preferences pane.To send the shopping list by e-mail, click on the send button of the toolbar. If it is the first time you use the e-mail option, you will be prompted to input first the e-mail parameters in the preferences pane, i.e. your SMTP server, e-mail address, and the default destination e-mail address and default subject, and a list of frequently used e-mail addresses. You can change subsequently these settings at any time by opening the preferences pane. You are then prompted to input the destination e-mail address and subject, and an accompanying message. Click then on "Send" to send the shopping list.
How to view the shopping list on a PDA
Go to the preference pane by selecting "Preferences..." in the Edit menu on Windows or on the Shop'NCook menu on Mac OS X. In the general tab, click on the Browse button of the default data folder and select a folder on your PDA. Click OK to save the modifications to the preferences. After writing your shopping list, select "Export to HTML" in the File menu and input the filename you want (with extension .html) to save it to your PDA in HTML format. You will be able to view it with the browser. If you are using the PDA application SplashShopper, you can alternatively select "Export to SplashShopper". You will have to import then the resulting file into the corresponding application.How to change the appearance of the print-out
Open the preference pane by selecting Preferences... in the Edit menu on Windows or on the Shop'NCook menu on Mac OS X. Click on the Appearance tab. Set the fonts and sizes of the characters and select the character and background line colors. Click then on the Print tab. Set the margin sizes, the number of columns (one or two), and if you want the category names to be displayed. Also, you specify here the width of the item names. If you chose to print on two columns, this width should be reduced consequently to leave enough space for the comment field. You can change the title of the shopping list by changing the name of the database. To do that, click on the Edit button of the toolbar, input a new name in the database name field, and click on OK to save the modifications.How to search the item list
To search for an item in the item list, you must switch it first to extended mode, by selecting "Extended List" in the Tools menu. If "Main List" is displayed in the Tools menu, the list is already in extended mode. Input then the name of the item you want to locate in the search field of the toolbar (i.e. the field just to the right of "Find:"). Press then the Enter (Return) key, or click on the search button. The first item found will be highlighted. To find subsequent items, press again the Enter (Return) key, or click again on the search button. The search function knows both the singular and plural of the items in the database, as well as the most common orthographic variations and synonyms. It will find for example the item "ketchup" when you search for catsup. The search function searchs by default for whole words. You can use the wild card "*" to search for parts of words, where the star character is used to replace any group of characters. For example, search for "*berry" to find all the berries.How to get nutritional information
Locate an item in the list, and click on the question mark on the right of the item. A window will open with the nutritional information. You can scale the quantity of the item by selecting a unit, inputting a new quantity, and clicking the calculate button. Initially, it displays the nutritional information for the unprepared, or raw item. You can view the nutritional information for the cooked item by clicking the "Cooked" button. When no numbers are displayed, it means that the nutritional information are not defined for this item. You can also input yourself nutritional information by opening the nutritional information editor. The nutritional information included with the software are based on the data of USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.The display of nutritional information can be customized in the preference pane. Open the preference pane by selecting "Preferences..." on the Edit menu on Windows, or Shop'NCook menu on Mac OS X. Click on the nutrition tab. Move the information you want displayed to the "Enabled info" list, and move the others to the "Disabled info" list.
See also the preference pane and the recipe panel for more on nutritional information.
How to calculate unit conversion
Locate an item in the list, and click on the question mark on the right of the item. A window will open with the nutritional information. In the toolbar of this window, select the unit from which you want to convert and input a quantity. Select then the final unit. The quantity will be converted. See also the recipe editor for more on unit conversion.If the unit is unknown to the program, you can add it in the nutritional information editor.
How to edit the nutritional and unit conversion information
Nutritional information and unit conversion information can be edited in the nutritional information editor of the item. First, go to the database editor by clicking on the Edit button of the Shopping List panel and locate the item to which you want to add nutritional or unti conversion information. Click then on the question mark next to it. A new window opens with the nutritional information and unit conversion tool. Click on its Edit button. The editor opens in a new window. You can here input the nutritional information and add new units and their gram weights to allow automatic unit conversion. The nutritional data is input by default for 100 g. You can specify another quantity and click on the Apply button to define the nutritional information for a different ingredient quantity.How to import cost data
To import cost data, display the Shopping List panel by clicking on the Shopping List tab. Select "Import Cost Data" from the Costing menu. You are then prompted to choose a file for import. The imported data will overwrite the existing cost data. The existing cost data that are not specified in the import file will not be modified. If you want to completely replace the existing cost data, you should first select Clear Cost Data from the Costing menu before importing.How to export cost data
Display first the Shopping List panel by clicking on the Shopping List tab. Select then "Export Cost Data" from the Costing menu to export the existing data to a file. Only the data for which a cost has been input will be exported.How to display the cost of the shopping list
Select "Cost Estimate" from the Costing menu to display the cost of the current shopping list. The cost for each item, and the total cost are displayed. Only the items listed in black have their cost calculated. You can print the cost data or export it to a file. For more information on the meaning of the different colors and on the action to take to allow the sofware to estimate the cost of the colored items, see Costing.Copyright Rufenacht Innovative 2006.