In most cases, there will only be two data fields that require data when you enter a measurement: the date of the measurement and the measurement itself.

 

The ‘Date’ field is selected from a calendar screen that will open when you double-click in the date field, or click the calendar icon to the right of the field. The measurement value itself is keyed into the ‘Measurement’ field.

 

If you elected to use the remaining measurement fields for additional measures, or for such things as upper and lower limits and for setting targets, you will need to enter these values the first time you enter a measurement value. When you enter subsequent measurement values, these limit and target values will be copied from the last record and entered automatically for you, on the assumption that these values will not change that often. You can over-ride these values at any time by simply replacing them. Should you decide to change your personal target at some point, simply change it to another value and then that new value will be entered for you automatically from that point in time onward. If you are using these fields for additional measures, you will have to enter your data over the data that was copied.

 

You may enter more than one value for a specific date, but you will not be able to establish a time of day for the measurement. If you require two or more measurements on the same day, then you might consider establishing two or more categories, one called ‘AM Measure’ one called, ‘Noon Measure’ one called ‘PM Measure’ and so on. Alternatively, you could use one or more of the ‘Limit’ and ‘Target’ value fields for this purpose by labeling and using them for different measures on the same day.

 

You may also keep notes or comments about the measures you entered for any specific date. This is helpful for indicating situations or reasons for why a measure might change in the future, such as an injury, change in lifestyle or medication, or any other information that may help in making a correlation to your data.

 

You add a note by double clicking the 'Notes' field at the right of the data line to open an edit box. When notes are present, the 'Notes' field will indicate this condition.

First, ensure the measure you wish to update is selected from the list box near the top right of the screen.

 

Then, in the data entry section on the left side of the screen, double-click in the left-most field to open the calendar. Select the date you want by clicking on the day. The calendar will close and the date you selected will be entered for you. The ‘<<’ and ‘>>’ buttons on the calendar screen move the year forward and backward, while the ‘<’ and ‘>’ buttons move the month forward and backward.

 

Enter a measurement value in the next field. If this is the first measure you are entering for this category, then you should also enter data into the other fields if you require them. If a limit or target is usually referred to as less than, more than or equal to, you can also select the appropriate sign from the list boxes beside and to the left of each value field. Double click the 'Notes' field to add comments.

 

When you have finished entering all of the data for a specific date, save the entries by moving your cursor to another line, by clicking somewhere else on the screen, or by using your ‘Enter’ button.

The lower right-hand part of the screen provides a graphical display of your data.

 

Your data can be displayed in three different types of charts:

 

For example, if you were tracking the minutes you spent each day exercising, you might use 5 measures: warm- up, aerobic, abdominal, weight and cool-down. A typical series of data might be 10, 30, 20, 20 and 10. If you displayed the data in a line chart, the chart would show 5 lines: line 1 at 10; line 2 at 30; lines 3 and 4 at 20 and line 5 at 10, each line reflecting how many minutes you spent on each activity for that day. If you displayed the same data in a stacked chart, the chart would show line 1 at 10, line 2 at 40, line 3 at 60, line 4 at 80 and line 5 at 90, 90 being the total  number of minutes you spent on all activities that day. Finally, if you displayed the same data in a 100% stacked chart, the chart would show line 1 at 11, line 2 at 44, line 3 at 67, line 4 at 89 and line 5 at 100, each value representing the cumulative percent of time you spent on each activity that day.

 

You specify which chart to display by selecting one of the chart types in the drop list at the top right of the chart.

 

All charts show time across the bottom of the chart. You can choose to display each data measure individually, or you can summarize (average) the data to a weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual level. Averaging the data provides a less cluttered chart when there is a lot of data, or permits you to view a specific period in more or less detail.

 

You establish the level of summarization by selecting one of the options in the drop list at the top right of the chart.

 

Unless otherwise directed, a chart will display all of the data available to it. You can restrict how much of the available data is displayed to provide a less cluttered chart or to view a specific time period in more of less detail.

 

You determine the time period by selecting a start and end date for the data you wish to display from the drop lists above the chart.

 

When a chart is first used and unless otherwise directed, the vertical scale range will be calculated for you and applied to the chart, with the lowest range value normally being zero. You can change the minimum and maximum range values so that the chart is more meaningful, or to view a particular part of the range in more of less detail if you wish.

 

You determine the scale range by entering the minimum and/or maximum values you want to use in the data boxes below and at the left of the chart.

 

You can save the settings (summarization level, start and end dates, and scale ranges) that you have established for a chart. When you do so, these same settings will be applied the next time you select and display the chart.

 

You save the settings for a specific chart by setting the ‘Save Chart’ switch found below the right side of the chart to ‘On’.

 

Note that when you use this feature, the settings will remain in force even if you enter new data. This means that the chart will not display any new data if the new data is beyond the established settings for either the date range or the scale range. For instance, if you enter data that is prior to or subsequent to the start and end dates, that data will not show on the chart unless you also change the start and end date ranges for the chart.  If you entered data point that is beyond the scale ranges that have saved, that data point may not display on the chart unless one of the scale ranges is also changed manually.

 

Note also that if the ‘Save Chart’ switch is ‘On’ and you set it to ‘Off’, the chart will be re-established with all of the default settings for that chart.

 

You can set one of the chart types for each chart category as the default chart. The default chart for a category will always be the one that displays when you select a category from the drop list at the top of the screen. There can only be one default for a chart category.

 

You set a chart as the default chart by setting the ‘Use as Default?’ switch found below the right side of the chart to ‘On’.

 

Note that you cannot set a default switch ‘Off’. You change default by displaying the chart you wish to save as the default and setting its switch to ‘On’.

 

The measures that you track are automatically assigned the names Line 1, Line2, Line 3, Line 4 and Line 5 on the legend that displays within the chart area.

 

You must translate these default names to the names that you gave each measure using the ‘Chart Legend Over-Ride’ section of the screen found below the chart.

 

The basic line and bar chart also includes a linear trend calculation based on the line 1 or first measurement field data series. This trend line is based on a linear calculation. It is not optional and cannot be turned off. When you are establishing measures to record, you should try to select a measure that will benefit most from a trend calculation and use that as the first or main measure.

 

NOTE: Each time you enter or edit (change or delete) data for the chart, the chart will automatically update to reflect the new values. If the 'Save' switch is set to 'On' however, the chart will only display an updated value if the value lies between the saved range values. If the changed data lies outside of the range values, you must change the values before the chart will display the change(s).

 

You can find additional ideas for using the chart and graphing features at the RecordsKeeper web-site.

 

You can print a report of the currently selected activity measure by clicking the ‘Report’ button. When you click this button a screen will open that will permit you to select what you want to print on the report. You have the option of printing all or any combination of the activity description, the time series values and the chart.

 

The printed chart will adopt all of the specifications established for the chart on the screen.