Data Entry in ResourceFirst

Overview

Data in ResourceFirst is displayed and modified in Views and Forms.

Views are spreadsheet-like grids showing an object (such as a project, a resource, an assignment) on each row along with fields (columns) specified in the view definition.

Forms display fields for a single object (Projects or Events); the layout of the fields is configurable in the administration module.

Forms

Forms Data Entry

Fields on forms are editable unless they are read-only. Some system fields such as Modified By are inherently read-only; others may be configured by system administrators as read-only based on user rights.

Data entry in form fields is straightforward – just left click in the field and start typing. In addition to free-form fields, there are

List Fields      –    Type a few characters of the desired value to filter the list OR click the drop-down arrow

Date Fields    –    Type a date OR select a date with the calendar control in the field.

Views

Views are laid out as grids where each row represents an object and each column a field/attribute . For example, the Project Data page has a row for each project in the current data load. Each cell on a row is in a column representing some attribute of projects, such as project name or manager or start date.

Some pages also contain a numeric period data grid containing values for things such as resource capacity (hours or FTE) in each period of the current data load.

Read-Only vs. Editable Pages

Some grid type pages are read-only; others have editable fields and/or period data grids.

The Project Demand page is read-only, as is Resource Utilization, and many others.

On the Resource Capacity page, resource attributes are read-only, but the period data grid is editable.

On Project Data and Resource Data most attributes are editable.

On Labor and Financial Assignment pages most attributes and all period data columns are editable.

Read-Only vs. Editable Fields

Fields can be configured to be read-only for everyone, or for users below some rights threshold.
(See the article Administering Column Headings for details on field definition.)

Some system fields are read-only for everyone, e.g. Modified By and Modified Time.

Assignment page Views can contain native assignment fields, and referenced (“mapped”) project and resource fields.

Mapped project and resource fields included in assignment Views are read-only on the Assignment page. They can be modified only on the Project Data, Project Info, or Resource Data pages.

Locking Records and Periods

There are many ways objects and fields can be locked by administrator configuration or by user action. For a full discussion on how records and periods can be locked, see Data Locking in ResourceFirst.

View (Grid) Data Entry

Object and Attribute Data Entry

As depicted in the diagrams above, grid views contain objects and attributes (e.g., projects, resources, assignments, etc.), and some grid views contain period data. This section describes data entry for objects and their attributes.

Field (Attribute) Edit

Left click in a cell and either type a value or, for list type fields, click the drop-down arrow and select a value. Then click the Save button to save your data.

Multi-Select Field Edit

Check the selection checkboxes at the left of all the rows you want to modify.

Left click in the field on any of the selected rows, type or select a value, and click the Enter key. The field value you entered is applied to that field on all selected rows.

NOTE: List fields on assignment-type pages are an exception:
after selecting the rows,

left click in the field (the list does not yet appear)
use the down-arrow key to select the desired value in the list.

Copy/Paste – To copy and paste from a text or number field in one row to another row in the same column, use Ctrl-C to copy the source field, and use Ctrl-V to paste into the target field.

Note: You can copy and paste just one cell at a time.

Period Cell Data Entry

Not selected     
Selected            
Edit mode        

Read-only cells cannot be selected. If you click on a read-only cell, the entire row gets selection highlighting.

A cell is put into edit mode by clicking in it.  Then you can enter data as desired.

Note: Alternatively, you can tab from the nearest editable cell to its left that is already in edit mode. Tab works only from a cell already in edit mode and puts the next editable cell to the right of the cell (on the same row) into edit mode (skipping any intervening read only cells).

Typing directly in a cell

Left click in the cell to put it in edit mode and type a value.

Drag-Fill

Select a cell or a range (i.e., left click and press enter to put it in Selected state)

Select the fill handle.

Drag up or down, or to the right or left. The data in the first cell will be copied to all the others.

Using Copy and Paste in ResourceFirst Period Grids:

To copy a single cell to single cell:

[The edit/selected states of the source and destination cells do not matter.]

Left click on the source cell.

Click Ctrl-C to copy.

Left click the destination cell.

Click Ctrl-V to paste.

Single cell copy to multiple cell selection

This feature is not available.

The workaround is to copy-paste or directly enter the value in a cell and then use up-down and left-right Drag-Fill to populate the target range.

Multiple cell copy

Left Click>Hold and Drag from any corner of the range to the opposite diagonal corner. IMPORTANT: When you click, don’t release the click until you’re finished dragging. Otherwise, if you click and release on the first cell, it will put that cell in Edit mode. The range needs to be in “Selected” mode in order to copy. 

Press Ctrl-C to copy.

Left Click>Drag in the target range, starting in the upper left destination cell and dragging to the lower right. Again, do not release the click until you’ve selected your target range. 

Press Ctrl-V to paste.

NOTE: Control left click is NOT available to extend a selection.

NOTE: The Delete key does NOT work on a selected cell or multi-cell range. The Delete key works only on a single cell that is in edit mode.

Using Shift-Click for multiple cell copy:

In the first source cell, left mouse click and release, then shift-click and release elsewhere. Then press Enter to put the range in Selected mode.

Press Ctrl-C to copy.

Select a range of target cells by:  1) left mouse click and hold, 2) drag (across, down, or both), 3) release left mouse button over the final cell in the target range. 4) Press Enter to put the range in Selected mode.

Note: No matter how many cells you select as your target, only the number of source cells selected will be copied. For example, if you select two source cells, each containing a value of 1, and you select three target cells, only the first two target cells will be populated.

Press Ctrl-V to paste.

Cell Behavior in Edit Mode

Typing, delete key, or paste will modify the value in the cell.

Edit Mode is terminated by:

Enter key – the cell changes to Selected state, and any value change is committed.

Clicking on another cell or range – the original cell state is Not Selected, and any value change to it is committed.

Escape key – cell state is Selected, the cell value is unchanged.