Show Notebook

Objective

The Show Notebook function is a research tool allowing users to selectively collect images and cropped elements from any number of surveys as entries in a notebook or work area. The user may design the format of a notebook entry to include four types of data fields: headers, fields for text entry, check boxes for descriptive selection and calculations that use the text entry. Each user can have up to 100 notebooks; each notebook can have an unlimited number of entries.

Notebooks can be used by a survey owner to create collections of elements that require updates. The Update Elements From Notebook function will use the notebook entries as a queue of elements to be processed.

Changes made to images and cropped elements by a survey owner are reflected in notebook entries. For example, when a survey owner changes the attributes of an element, the changes will be reflected the next time the notebook is displayed.

On rare occasions, notebook entries can be adversely affected by changes made to a survey. Should an image or cropped element be deleted by the owner of the survey, views of a notebook that included the deleted image or cropped element will see a text message describing the former contents. Should this occur, the notebook owner must delete the obsolete entry. If a new image or cropped element has been added by the owner of the survey, it is up to the notebook owner to find and add the revised image or element to the notebook.

Processing

Notebooks may be viewed, created, revised, copied, listed, sorted and downloaded from the Show Notebook function. If you do not have a notebook, clicking the Show Notebook function from the Main Menu displays the Create a New Notebook page. If you have a notebook, clicking the Show Notebook function displays the notebook last viewed or used.

Adding an Image or Cropped Element to Your Notebook

To add entries to your notebook, use any function that displays an image or cropped element.

Click on the Image ID or Element ID to open a new window with a notebook entry form. If a user has not defined a notebook, a default notebook will be automatically created. If a user has several notebooks, the last notebook viewed or used will be displayed and shown as the current selection in a drop down box. A different notebook may be used for the current entry by selecting the desired notebook from the drop down box.

Hyperlinks include: Element ID, Cluster, Panel, Element (see ElementCaptions).

To add the entry, complete the form and/or click the Submit button. The window will briefly display an acknowledgment message and then close, returning you to the working function. You may not add the same image or element to a notebook twice; the second attempt will update the prior entry.

Buttons

• Submit: add a new entry to the notebook and takes you to the function that displayed the image or cropped element.

• Cancel: takes you to the function that displayed the image or cropped element.

Show a Notebook

The Show a Notebook page will display all of the entries of the selected or last notebook you viewed or used.

Hyperlinks include: Element ID, Cluster, Panel, Element (see ElementCaptions).

The heading includes the number of entries in the notebook, the number of entries displayed on the current page and the sort sequence last chosen on the "Sort the Notebook" page.

Any data fields in the notebook design, including headers, text fields, check boxes and calculations are displayed. Each image contains a Remove entry from notebook check box. To delete an entry from the notebook, click on an entry's Remove entry from notebook check box and then click on the Submit button.

Buttons

• Drop Down Box: displays a list of all the notebooks in your library. You may view any notebook by clicking on a notebook name.

• Create: takes you to the Create a New Notebook page.

• Revise: takes you to the Revise a Notebook page.

• Copy: takes you to the Copy a Notebook page.

• Delete Notebook: a warning page requesting an acknowledgment that you intended to delete the notebook being displayed. Clicking Delete Notebook a second time deletes the entire notebook.

• All Notebooks: takes you to the Select a Notebook page.

• Sort: takes you to the Sort the Notebook page.

• Download: takes you to the Download page.

• Submit: removes any checked entries from the notebook and updates the page to reflect any changes.

• Remove All Entries: a warning message requesting an acknowledgment that you intend to remove all entries from the notebook is displayed. Clicking the Remove All Entries a second time removes all the entries from the notebook but retains the notebook design.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Create a New Notebook

The Create a New Notebook page is used to create a new notebook. "New Notebook" is displayed in the Notebook name: The Notebook name should be changed to indicate the use or contents of the notebook. The data fields to be used in the notebook should be entered in the Define each data field on a separate line: field.

To create the notebook, click the Submit button.

Buttons

• Submit: creates a new notebook and takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Cancel: takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Revise a Notebook

The Revise a Notebook page is used to revise an old notebook. The selected notebook name is displayed in the Notebook name: field and the previously designed data fields of the notebook's format are displayed in the Define each data field on a separate line: field. You may change the notebook name and add, change or delete any data field.

To revise the notebook, click the Submit button.

Buttons

• Submit: revises an old notebook and takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Cancel: takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Copy a Notebook

The Copy a Notebook page displays a copy of the current note book. The application generates a notebook name of "Copy of" appended with the former name of the notebook. The name may be changed.

Hyperlinks include: Element ID, Cluster, Panel, Element (see ElementCaptions).

To copy the notebook, click the Submit button.

Buttons

• Submit: copies the notebook and takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Cancel: takes you to the Show a Notebook or Show a User's Notebook page.

Delete a Notebook

The Delete a Notebook page displays a warning requesting an acknowledgment that you intend to delete the notebook.

Hyperlinks include: Element ID, Cluster, Panel, Element (see ElementCaptions).

To delete the notebook, click Delete Notebook button a second time.

Buttons

• Delete Notebook: deletes the notebook takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Cancel: takes you to the Show a Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

All Notebooks

The "All Notebooks" selection takes you to the "Select a Notebook" page. The Select a Notebook page displays a list of all the notebooks on the database. The user ID number enclosed by a pair of asterisk (*) characters is your id. Because DigitalRockArt is a shared resource, you may view and copy another user's notebook.

To view a notebook, click on a Notebook Name. The Show a Notebook page will be displayed if the notebook is yours or Show a User's Notebook will be displayed if the notebook is not yours.

Buttons

• Cancel: takes you to Show a Notebook or Show a User's Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Show a User's Notebook

The Show a Notebook page will display all of the entries of the selected user's notebook.

Hyperlinks include: Element ID, Cluster, Panel, Element (see ElementCaptions).

The heading includes the number of entries in the notebook, the number of entries displayed on the current page and the sort sequence last chosen on the "Sort the Notebook" page.

Buttons

• Copy: takes you to the Copy a Notebook page.

• All Notebooks: takes you to the Select a Notebook page.

• My Notebooks: takes you to Show a Notebook displaying a the last notebook viewed.

• Download: takes you to the Download a Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Sort a Notebook

The Sort a Notebook page display a list of the field names in the design of the notebook that may be used to sort the notebook entries. Clicking on a Field Name sorts the notebook entries on the selected field and takes you to Show a Notebook page.

If there are no data fields defined, notebook entries will be sorted by the survey reference number, image category, cluster number, panel letter and element number. For sorting purposes, checked boxes have a lower value than unchecked boxes. All subsequent entries into the notebook will be sorted in the selected sequence.

If the notebook design is revised, the sequence of the entries reverts to the default sequence. The default sort sequence is survey reference number, cluster number, panel letter, element number.

Buttons

• Cancel: takes you to Show a Notebook or Show a User's Notebook page.

• Menu: takes you to the Main Menu.

Download a Notebook

The Download a Notebook allows data values entered into a notebook to be downloaded in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. The CSV format is widely supported by spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Works, and Lotus 123.

The Download a Notebook page displays the file name of the notebook to be downloaded. Right click the file name and choose the "Save Target as.." option to initiate a file dialog.

If you save the file to your hard drive and then open the saved file with a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel, you can view the contents and perform additional analysis on your data. Close the window by clicking on the "X" in the upper right hand corner.

Designing a Notebook

Before designing your notebook, you should establish a research goal - What is the objective of the notebook design - element comparison, statistical analysis, etc. Design your notebook for easy input. Group items of similar content together, e.g. descriptive attributes, measurements, calculations, etc. If a work sheet is the source of data input, the notebook fields should match the worksheets' field naming conventions and order.

It would be prudent to test your notebook design on a small sample before spending a large amount of time capturing data and then later discover your data is inadequate. If downloading into a spreadsheet it part of the analysis, test the download. The spreadsheet display may also indicate a shortcoming in your notebook design.

Data Field Types

There are four possible types of fields for your notebooks:

"Heading" - has only a name or phrase to be used to delineate groups of data fields. Headings should be used as descriptive names defining the use of the attribute being described by check boxes, measurement to be input, calculation to be performed. Headings will automatically be made bold when displayed. Example:

"Check box" - begins with a name and ends with an "*". Check boxes give you the ability to include attributes not found in the DigitalRockArt application. If you use check boxes, be sure to group them under appropriate headings because unchecked boxes are not displayed on the Show Notebook pages. Example:

"Text or numeric entry" - begins with a name and ends with a "#". Text or numeric entry give you the ability to enter text or numeric data that may be used in calculations. Example:

"Calculations" - begins with a name, has an "=" and ends with a algebraic calculation. Calculations give you the ability to perform an algebraic calculation. If the numeric entry name has embedded blanks, you must replace the blanks with an underscore _ character in the formula. Example:

Calculations are evaluated after all other data fields are entered and may precede dependent data fields. This may be useful when you wish to sort entries based upon a calculated value.

If the calculation is an invalid expression, the field will be set to a value of "error". You may not use a calculated value to calculate another value. Formulas may include a call to any function in the Python Mathematical Functions library.

Changing the Design of a Notebook

It is best to test and critique your notebook design with small amounts of data. If you make any changes to the design of a large notebook (other than deleting fields) you must re-add every element to update the changed fields. If you wish to change the notebook design and retain any existing data, a good starting point is to make a copy of the notebook.

When changing the design of a notebook, you may change the positions of fields (under the same heading) and not lose any existing data. You may also change the positions of whole groups of fields, where a group is all the fields under a single heading.

However, any change to a checkbox or text / numeric field will result in null values being set for the field in all existing notebook entries. Changes to a calculation or adding a new calculation will be reflected in all notebook entries when the revised design is saved. Changing the spelling of a heading will result in null values for all fields under the heading.