Copyright: Novalog Informatique Inc. 1992-2009


Contents
CatBase Viewer Reference Manual (version  5.20)

	CatBase: The Standard in Electronic Parts Books (EPB) and Online Service Manuals

Why CatBase

Installation

How to contact Novalog

General Concepts

Main Menu

View Window

Interface with other systems

IMPORTANT NOTE to CD users


What is CatBase
Why CatBase

If you are reading this now, you are probably acquainted with parts manuals.  Most manuals today are created using word processors, graphics programs or desktop publishing packages. The result is a paper manual.

A parts book is a description of a machine, building or object composed of several parts, grouped together according to their construction.  Often a diagram or drawing accompanies these lists of parts. Each part or assembly is represented by a number (usually quite long) that is used to reference more explicit information (description, ordering procedures, specifications and such).

When an object is composed of many different parts it is usually broken down into several assemblies, each illustrated and its parts referenced.  In the case of an automobile, section headings could include "Power train", "Chassis", "Electrical", etc.

There are a number of disadvantages to using paper parts books.  In the maintenance shop, the quality of the book eventually deteriorates with use.  Pages become soiled and the manual becomes difficult to reference. Transcribing information from a manual or computer screen leads to frequent errors. Paper manuals are expensive to produce, distribute and maintain, are often labor intensive, requiring that engineering drawings be redrafted and that parts lists be retyped. Paper copies must be kept on file, creating storage problems and the quality of the manuals decreases as multiple generations of photocopies are made.

CatBase solves many of the problems associated with paper manuals. In combining databases, imaging and desktop publishing features CatBase allows you to create, manage, distribute and reference electronic and paper copies of your parts books, and unlike other imaging packages, has been specifically written to create and reference parts books.

It is easy to use, cost effective and can be directly integrated in your present computing environment. CatBase's architecture allows it to act as a front end to your mini (or mainframe) maintenance and materials handling programs.


Installation

To install CatBase Viewer:

•	Insert CatBase Viewer installation CD;

•	Run Setup from the Setup directory on CD;

When starting the viewer for the first time, it will look for a CatBase database in the directory DATA under installation directory. Check with your supplier of CatBase Viewer where the data resides, then select File – Directories to set the working directory.


Trouble shooting

Failed to create empty document

The Service Manual pane in the View window needs Internet Explorer to be installed to open. If you have an old version of Internet Explorer or if Internet Explorer has been uninstalled, you might get the "Failed to create empty document" Windows error message, when opening the View window. If you do not wish to install a new version of Internet Explorer, go to General Options and toggle the Disable Service Manual Pane option on. As a consequence, you will not be able to view service manuals in the View window.

Bugs handling

Should an unforeseen error occurs, a dialog box will be displayed allowing you to save a detailed report to disk and send "Novalog Informatique Inc." the report to help us pinpoint the problem.

The following dialog box will be displayed:

Click on the "More…" button, this will display the following details:

Use the "Save…" button and send us that file through email at info@novalog.ca along with any pertinent information and screen shots.

The same type of handling is also available in the "Print Module" and the "Utilities" programs.


How To Contact Novalog

Novalog Informatique Inc.

Mailing address:

NOVALOG INFORMATIQUE Inc.

4014 Wilson

Montréal  QC  H4A 2T9

Canada

Phone:	(1) (514) 486-0565

Fax:	(1) (514) 486-0649

Email : info@novalog.ca

Home Page: www.novalog.ca


Customized Bitmaps

This section explains how to customize to your needs the 4 bitmaps displayed in the main window.

CATBASE  and CATBASE VIEWER, FULL SCREEN LOGO

Add a bitmap called LOGOFULL.BMP in the CatBase Viewer directory (where CATVIEW.EXE or CATBASE.EXE is located)

BUTTON BITMAPS

Add the following bitmaps in the CatBase or CatBase Viewer directory (where CATBASE.EXE or CATVIEW.EXE is located);

All bitmaps must be 80 x 80 pixels. We suggest 256 colors bitmaps to be compatible will all screen modes.

For View Assemblies and Parts:

LOGOPARU.BMP	bitmap when button is up (normal state)

LOGOPARD.BMP	bitmap when button is down (optional)

LOGOPARG.BMP	bitmap when button is greyed, no database in current directory (optional)

For View Top Levels:

LOGOTOPU.BMP	bitmap when button is up (normal state)

LOGOTOPD.BMP	bitmap when button is down (optional)

LOGOTOPG.BMP	bitmap when button is greyed, no database in current directory (optional)

For Exit CatBase Viewer:

LOGOEXIU.BMP	bitmap when button is up (normal state)

LOGOEXID.BMP	bitmap when button is down (optional)

LOGOEXIG.BMP	bitmap when button is greyed, no database in current directory (optional)

For Database Tree:

LOGOTREU.BMP	bitmap when button is up (normal state)

LOGOTRED.BMP	bitmap when button is down (optional)


Customized Object Names

Internal-Number Field Name

The Internal Number field name can be customized and replaced by another name better suited to the user’s own maintenance system. To do so, modify or create the catbase.ini file situated in the CatBase startup directory, and add the following lines:

[Alias]

Internal=newname

Where newname will replace the "internal number" label.

Interface Name

The Interface name can be customized and replaced by another name better suited to the user’s own system. To do so, modify or create the catbase.ini file situated in the CatBase startup directory, and add the following lines:

[Alias]

Interface=newname

Where newname will replace the "Interface" label.

Shopping List

You can define an alias for Shopping list  having a maximum of 48 characters in the file catbase.ini add the section:

[Alias]

ShoppingList=newname

Where newname will replace Shopping List


General Concepts

This section describes general concepts used in CatBase.

Objects

Parts

Assemblies

Top Levels

Drawings

Move inside a drawing

Zoom in  and Zoom out

Pan

Hotspots

Annotations

Redlining and generic hotspots

Lists

User's defined fields

PARTS

A part is uniquely defined by its manufacturer code and its part number. It has normally no drawings associate and no further breakdown (no parts list). Optionally, a part can have an internal number that corresponds to a customer's own coding method for parts, for example a stock number.

ASSEMBLIES

Assemblies are the building blocks in CatBase. They have one or more drawings associated and a list of parts and/or sub-assemblies. Assemblies linked together in a tree structure form an equipment or a top level assembly. Note that an assembly has its equivalent in the parts table.

TOP LEVELS

Assemblies defined as top levels. Usually, a user will start looking for information by calling a list of top levels. They can be complete equipment, geographical maps, plant general layouts and so forth.

DRAWINGS

Drawings are associated with assemblies.

Some of the menu items in the view window are different depending on the drawing type. The way to pan an image is also different.

Raster or Bitmap

Drawing stored as a series of dots, black and white or color. Also known as bitmap format. These drawings cannot be zoomed indefinitely. CatBase will first display a reduced image that fits in a regular screen (640 by 480). Images saved at 150 dpi can be zoomed once and images saved at 300 dpi can be zoomed at least twice and up to five times depending on the drawing. Black and white bitmaps are stored in a proprietary format for better compression and faster display.

Color images can have from 16, 256 and up to 32 millions color palette.

CatBase authoring software can import most of the standard bitmap formats (over 30).

Vector Drawing

Drawing stored in a vector format as used by CAD software. These drawings can be zoomed indefinitely. CatBase can display AutoCAD native drawings, MicroStation native drawings and Windows Metafile. CatBase authoring software can also import DXF, CGM, and HP-GL vector files.

For native AutoCAD files, layers can be turned on or off. See Layers in View Window.

The CatBase Authoring software allows transforming vector drawings into black and white bitmap for faster display.

Some functions or commands act differently, are not available or are specific depending on whether the drawing is a vector or a bitmap

ZOOM IN AND ZOOM OUT

When first displaying a drawing, CatBase will always display a reduced image, which will fit entirely in the space available in the drawing pane.

Bitmap drawings can be zoomed once if their resolution is 150 dpi or less and up to 5 times, depending on the drawing size,  if resolution is 300 dpi or more.

Vector images can be zoomed infinitely.

To zoom in an image, position the mouse where you want to zoom and click the right mouse button. You can also double-click outside hotspots to have the same action.

For touch screen, double-click on the screen, outside of hotspots.

To zoom out an image, position the mouse where you want to zoom out and click the middle mouse button (if you have only two buttons, hold the Shift key and click the right button).

For touch screens, hold the Shift key and double-click on the screen, outside of hotspots.

Zoom in and zoom out are also available as buttons in the toolbars.

For Vector images only:

The right mouse button will zoom in the image by a factor of 2. The same factor is applied to zoom out.

To zoom in a particular region of the drawing, select the Zoom Window command under the Drawing menu or the equivalent button in the toolbar. The cursor changes for a cross. Click on one corner of the region and drag the rectangle.

To view the complete drawing, select the Drawing extents command under the Drawing menu or the equivalent button in the toolbar.

PAN

Pan is used to move a drawing, which does not fit on the screen (once zoomed).

Pan works differently for bitmap and vector drawings.

Select the big arrow cross in the toolbar or Pan under the Toggles menu or the space bar.

You can also hold the left button down and move the mouse, keeping the button down. Release the button will stop panning.

Bitmap drawings

The cursor disappears and panning follows mouse movement (moving the mouse to the right, moves your view of the item to the right).  To stop panning press the left mouse button.

AutoCAD files

The cursor changes for a two-arrow shape. Click in the direction you want to pan. The pan factor is calculated relative to the position where you click and the center of the screen. For example, if you click on the right border of the image and in the middle vertically, the drawing will be panned one screen to the right. If you click half way between the center of the screen and the bottom part of the screen, the drawing will be panned one half screen down.

For Touch screen hold your finger on the screen then move it.

HOTSPOTS

They are active areas within the drawing window that can be selected with the mouse.

Clicking once on a hotspot will display a floating menu with:

•	Part Number and Description

•	Internal code if any and activated in the System General Options .

•	Add To Shopping list menu item to add the part to an open shopping list.

•	Interface, if activated in System Interface Options .

The floating menu will be removed clicking outside the menu.

Double click a hotspot will either:

•	If the selected item is a part (yellow), the detailed data screen is displayed.

•	If the selected item is a sub-assembly (light blue), the system jumps to it.

Hotspots are not part of the drawing and can therefore be turned off even though they will remain active. Hotspots can be turned off in two ways: see View - Toggles menu  or click on the Hotspots On/Off icon in the general toolbar on the left hand side of the screen. The cursor changes for a hand when passing over a hotspot, be it turned on or off.

Hotspots Forms

Hotspots are usually constituted of a colored square or circle, whose size can be determined by the user and which is usually containing a number. This number is the item number mentioned in the Item column in the parts list. The current item is highlighted in the parts list and its hotspot will be surrounded by a red circle in the drawing pane.

Hotspot Colors

Standard CatBase hotspot colors have the following meaning:

Purple	Item not yet linked…

Yellow	Item is a part (not a sub-assembly). Double click will call the detailed data screen for the selected part.

Light blue	Item is a child assembly. Double click will jump to it. If you want to display the detail data screen for a child assembly, you have to select this option in the floating menu.

Green	link to an item belonging to a set

Red	part is shown as a reference and is not included in the assembly.

Note that hotspots may have been created with special color to reflect some typical information (for example, all the parts included in a repair kit). Refer to the supplier of you current CatBase database for such special color meaning.

ANNOTATIONS

Annotations are red-colored text fields contained in a bubble that overlay, but are not part of the graphic image. They are an effective tool to share information or notes between various users. The CatBase authoring software allows the database manager to view and print all annotations entered in the system.

When an annotation is added or edited, the user code and the current date is automatically added above the annotation's text. This allows you to know who entered the annotation and when.

REDLINING AND GENERIC HOTSPOTS

These options allow to:

•	Create hotspots on lines and polylines (for cable or signal tracing for example).

•	Create more generic hotspots that can start other applications (video, word processing, Acrobat Reader TM), send DDE Messages, jump to an assembly not included in the parts list, etc.

•	Continuing cables, signals, hydraulic lines can be traced and highlighted from drawing to drawing.

Check with your CatBase database supplier if redline objects are used and how.

Single Click on a redline object will select it and display it with a selected color and thickness. The identifier will be store in memory, if any. A floating menu will eventually be displayed depending on the hyperlink type.

The action taken when double clicking a redline object depends on its HyperLink Type:

None: nothing happens, the object is only selected.

Reference number in parts list: if item is a part, the detailed data screen is displayed.

If item is a sub-assembly, jump to it. Same actions as standard hotspots.

Jump to assembly: jump to assembly.

DDE Message to Server: the DDE message defined in CatBase authoring software is sent to a DDE Server. This is normally used for interfaces with other systems.

Start External Application of File: will start another application or will display a data file. Those files can be video, word processor, spreadsheets, help, etc.

Windows 95 problems.

Floating menus function differently under Windows 3.xx and Windows 95:

In Windows 3.xx the floating menu disappears if the user select an item in the menu of if he releases the mouse button.

In Windows 95 the menu disappears if the user selects an item in the menu of if he clicks outside of the menu. The menu stays open even if the mouse button is released. This causes a small problem when you select a redline object in Windows 95. If you click outside of the menu to make it disappear, CatBase will actually deselect the object (due to the mouse click). A work around is to select the first line in the floating menu. This will close the menu without deselecting the object. Or you can also leave the floating menu open until you click or double click another redline object or hotspots.

LISTS

Lists are a fast way to access items in different CatBase databases.  The user has a choice of search criteria, making this feature a powerful time saving tool.

Lists are called from various buttons in dialog screens or from menu items.  Usually items in a list can be selected. For example, a list of top-level assemblies can be displayed from the Search dialog box. If a top level is selected, CatBase will jump to the selected top level.

To select an item in the list, the user can click on the Select button (see below) or double click on the item.

All list boxes (or pick-list dialog boxes) are in "spreadsheet" format. Each column can be resized and all the new settings are saved.

The dialog box itself can also be resized.

Standard List Buttons

Find	Opens a Find dialog box used to locate a specific item in the displayed list.

Select	Selects the highlighted item in the list.

PgDn	Displays next page down.

PgUp	Displays previous page.

Top	Moves to the first item in the list

Bottom	Moves to the last item in the list.

Some of the lists, like the Parts List for an assembly, have special buttons or options that will be explained in the appropriate sections.

Sorting or Indexing

Some lists, like the complete list of parts, can be sorted on indexed on different columns. The radio buttons in the Index box determine the sorting or indexing order.  The Find button relies on these radio buttons to determine which field to search.

As an example, if the list is sorted alphabetically and the user enters "NUT" in the Find box, CatBase finds the first description starting with "NUT". The result may include the words "nut", "NUT", "Nuts", "NUTS&BOLTS"....  The search is not case sensitive.

When displaying a list of parts, assemblies or top-levels, you can also display only items, whose description contains a particular chain of alphanumerical characters defined in the Desc. Contains field. See also Search Dialog.

USER DEFINED FIELDS

User defined fields can be attached to parts. In view mode, they can be displayed in the part list or from the Detailed Data Screen (More button) or from the floating menu when clicking on a hotspot. See System General Options to activate this feature.

You create those fields with the "Utilities.exe" program that comes with the CatBase authoring program.

Up to 10 fields can be created.


Main Menu

File

Directories

CatBase Databases

Index_of parts in Top Level

View

Assemblies and Parts

Top Levels

System

Options

Language


Directories

The Directories command opens the Directory dialog box, allowing you to select the four directories that CatBase ( or Viewer) requires to operate:

•	WORKING

•	DATABASES ROOT

•	ANNOTATIONS

•	SHOPPING LIST

The Browse buttons assist you in selecting legal, accessible path names.

Typing the path manually, if the path name starts with a single backslash without a drive letter, the drive letter of the disk from where CatBase ( or Viewer ) was launch will be used.

For example, \MYCATALOG with CatBase ( or Viewer ) installed in C:\CATBASE will be a directory named C:\MYCATALOG.

If the path has neither a drive letter nor a backslash, it is supposed to refer to a sub directory under the directory from where CatBase ( or Viewer ) was launch.

For example,  MYCATALOG would be a the sub directory C:\CATBASE\MYCATALOG.

WORKING

The WORKING directory contains the current, active database.  All information queries and updates will be made on the data contained in this database.  The data directory can point to a local DISK, a network drive or a CDROM reader.

The current database is defined as the database contained in the directory that is pointed to by the WORKING directory field in the Directory dialog.

The drop-down arrow allows you to select recently accessed working directories.

To gain the most advantage from CatBase ( and Viewer ), we suggest that you build all your parts books in a single directory. By placing all of your information in the same data directory once an assembly has been defined it can be used in any parts book contained in the data directory.

Note that there is no limit to the number of parts books that can be contained in a directory.

Give a descriptive name to a Working directory

Click the button Long Name for Working Directory and enter a descriptive name. This name will be used when displaying the tree of all CatBase ( or Viewer ) databases.

DATABASES ROOT

This directory is used by the Database Tree menu to display a tree of all databases, and to allow the user to easily switch to different databases. CatBase ( or Viewer )  will start looking for sub-directories under this root directory.

ANNOTATIONS

The ANNOTATIONS directory indicated what annotations databases to use. Normally, annotations are in the working directory but, if the tables in the working directory are READ ONLY (as on a CDROM for examples), you can set this directory to a read/write directory in order to still be able to create and modify annotations. If you toggle the option Annotations Directory Equals Working Directory, the annotations directory will be the same as the working directory.

You could also decide that different users use different annotations directories.

SHOPPING LIST

The SHOPPING LIST directory contains the data files associated to the shopping lists created in the view mode.

Changes made to the directory fields take effect immediately, allowing you to move from one database to another without leaving the program. The directory names must be any legal, accessible path name.


CatBase Database
CatBase Databases

Displays a tree with all directories under the CatBase Root Directory. The name of each directory is replaced by a long description if any. A blue icon indicates that this directory contains a CatBase database. If you double-click or select a valid CatBase directory, the current database will be closed and the selected one is opened. See Directories on how to set the Databases Root directory and how to set long descriptions for catalog’s directories.


Index of parts in Top Level

This option allows creating a list of parts included in top levels or assemblies. The list can be displayed on screen in a spreadsheet format, sent to an ASCII file or emailed as an ASCII file.

By default, there will be separated lines for the same part if it belongs to different assemblies. See Cumulative Quantity below.

You can select (at the left of the dialog):

All parts

Parts with type

Parts with manufacturer type

Display on screen

Will display the parts in a spreadsheet format on screen

Do not include assemblies

If toggle, only parts, not assemblies will be included in the result.

Send to ASCII file

The result will be written to an ASCII file.

•	Select the Target file name

•	Select Fixed Length or Delimited format

•	If delimited is selected, you can select the delimiter and the separator

•	If fixed length is selected:

•	Trim will produce a column width corresponding to the maximum width of items in the corresponding field.

•	Space lets you add a number of spaces between each column.

Select Top Level

Brings a list dialog with top levels assembly. Select top levels then hit OK. You can select multiple top levels by holding the Ctrl key down.

Select an assembly

Brings the standard search dialog allowing selecting any top level or assemblies.

Cumulative quantity

Only one line per part is displayed and the quantity corresponds to the total occurrences of the part in the selected top levels.

Cumulative by top level

Same as above but one separated line per top level for each part belonging to more than one top level assembly.

Serial Number and Model

If you use serial number ranges and/or models in your database, you can set them in the equivalent column.

Send Email

Proceed as described above in Send to ASCII to create and select the format of the ASCII file.

CatBase will then start your default email software and attach this ASCII file to the message.

You can create an email template called EMAIL3.TXT in the shopping list directory.

The format of EMAIL3.TXT is:

Line 1: name of sender (can be blank).

Line 2: email address of sender (can be blank).

Line 3: name of recipient (can be blank).

Line 4: email address of recipient (can be blank).

Line 5: Subject.

Line 6 and more: body of message to be sent.


Introduction

This is the main window to navigate in CatBase databases.

When opening this window, the first screen that appears depends on the selected View menu.

Assemblies and Parts and Top Levels both open the view window. The differences between the two modes are:

Assemblies and Parts	The user can travel in the complete database, switching between different equipment or top levels. This is the most common way to access information in CatBase.

Top Levels	The user will be asked to select a top-level assembly and will be restricted to navigate only "inside" this top level.

Assemblies and Parts: the Search Dialog box is displayed that allows you to search for top levels, assemblies and/or parts.

Top Levels: a list is displayed that allows you to select the desired top-level assembly. See Lists to know how to select an item in a list.

If not done yet, you should review the General Concepts for objects in CatBase, type of drawings, hotspots, zoom pan and redline objects.

The Toolbars can be dragged as floating toolbars or be positioned on each sides of the screen.

The default configuration of the viewer screen is in Split Screen Mode, the drawing on the left side and the parts list on the right. You can adjust the size of each pane by selecting and dragging the separation line with the mouse.

You can also use the buttons on the toolbar to set the viewer to Drawing View Only, Parts List View only or back to Split Screen.

Each column in the parts list can be resized.

You can remove some columns that you do not want to use by selecting Options-Customize Parts List .

Service manuals in following format can be viewed directly in a third pane under the parts list pane. (See Service Menu – Introduction)

•	Windows Help File ( HLP)

•	Acrobat®™ files (PDF)

•	HTML files

•	HTML Help files (CHM)


Drawing Menu

CatBase Databases

Data screen

Text

History

Print

Print Screen

Multiple drawings

Previous Drawing

Next Drawing

Notes

Drawing Extents

Zoom Window

Layers

Vector Options

Save File as

Exit

CatBase Databases

See CatBase Databases in main menu.

Data Screen

Displays the Detailed Data Screen for the current assembly.

Text

Displays the optional text file associated to the assembly. Every assembly and part in CatBase can be associated to a text file. This command and its equivalent button on the toolbar will be grayed if no text is available. To remove the text file window, select File-Exit or double click on the top left corner of the window.

Text files can be modified if the user has this option, see Users Update for details in the CatBase authoring help file.

History

If an history table was created using the "Utilities" program, this will display a list of modifications for the current assembly. Selecting one will display details.

Print

Calls the print dialog allowing you to print information concerning the assembly presently displayed.

The toggle boxes let you choose what information you would like to be printed.

Maximize drawing will print the drawing to the maximum size allowed by your printer. Note that if you select this option, the parts list will not be printed, even if the option is toggled. You can still print the parts list separately, after the drawing print.

Use default Values will print the parts list with predefined settings.

Select a layout file brings up a dialog box allowing you to select a layout file (*.vly) that you have designed. See Customize parts list layout

Print Screen

Prints the screen as it is shown.  Use the "Toggles" menu to remove unwanted items (such as the hotspots).

Multiple Drawings

Allows the user to select from a list of all drawings associated to the assembly.  This command is active only if several drawings are associated to the assembly.

Previous Drawing

Goes the previous drawing if there are multiple drawings attached to the current assembly.

Next Drawing

Goes the next drawing if there are multiple drawings attached to the current assembly.

Notes

Display a list of attached notes, if any.

Selecting one of the technical notes will:

For a "drawing" type, open a separate drawing window and display the drawing. The icons in the reduced toolbar have the same meaning as in the normal view mode. The zoom in, zoom out and pan work the same way as in the normal view window. Up to 14 drawings can be attached to the same "drawing" note. You can use the arrows in the toolbar to "flip" pages.

For an "other" type, start the associated application and load the data file in that application.

Drawing Extents

Only for vector images.To view the complete drawing.

Zoom Window

Only for vector images. Allows zooming a particular region of the drawing. The cursor changes for a cross. Click on one corner of the region and drag the rectangle.

Layers

Only for vector images. Allows toggling the AutoCad layers on and off. Layers with an X are on. To toggle, double click on the layer's name.

Vector Options

Black background: The background color becomes black.  Black lines become white.  Color lines remain the same color.

Arc accuracy: the bigger the accuracy, the smoother will be the arcs and circle, specially when zoomed. A value of 100 to 200 gives usually good results. Note that a high accuracy might slow down the display.

Save File as…

Allow to sve the current drawing to a TIFF format for black and white drawings and JPG format for color drawings

Exit

Closes the View window returning the user to the Main CatBase window.


Move Menu

MOVE MENU (PARTS AND ASSEMBLIES MODE)

Search

Search Service Manuals

Search Forward

Search Backward

Children

Parents

Tree Down

Tree Up

Top Levels

Where…

Where Next

Where Prior

Stack

List Revisions

Set SN and/or Model

Parts Filter

Set current assembly as startup default

Reset default assembly

MOVE MENU (TOP LEVEL MODE)

Search

Back to Top Level

Preceding Assembly

Next Assembly

Children

Parent

Tree

Set SN and/or Model

Set current Top Level as startup default

Reset default Top Level

This menu varies depending on selected view mode: Parts and Assemblies, Top Levels mode.

Search

Opens the Search Dialog  to select top levels, assemblies and/or parts.

In Top-level mode, if you hold down the Control Key before clicking the search icon on the toolbar, a list of Top Levels will be displayed.

Search Service manuals

Opens the Search dialog box to search for Service Manuals in the database. There is also a button on the "Navigation" toolbar to access the dialog box. Once you have selected a manual, it will be displayed and the assembly to which it is linked will also be displayed. In Top Level mode, it will be displayed only if it belongs to the current Top Level.

Search forward

Moves to the next item in the database.  The order of items is based on the Index/Order setting of the Search Dialog box and the item selected when it was last selected (and NOT on the currently displayed item).

Search Backward

Moves to the previous item in the database.  The order of items is based on the Index/Order setting of the Search Dialog box and the item selected when it was last selected (and NOT on the currently displayed item).

Children

Displays the list of current assembly's children. Selecting a child assembly in the list will jump to it.

Parent(s)

In Parts and Assemblies Mode, displays the list of current item's parents. Selecting a parent in the list will jump to it. The current part will be highlighted in the parent drawing and parts list.

The "View Selected" button will load and display the selected assembly in the view window without leaving the list.

If the current part belongs to kits, kits parents will be shown at the bottom of the list and all assemblies where the kit parent or its ancestors is used will also be added to the parent assemblies.

If the parent assembly has revision numbers, there exist two possibilities:

•	If the child item is exclusive, the parent will be displayed with its revision number and selecting it will go directly to the selected revision number.

•	If the child item is global, the parent assembly will be displayed without revision number and selecting it will display a list of revision numbers to choose from.

 In Top Level mode, directly jumps to the parent assembly.

Tree Down

Displays a tree structure (or breakdown) of all descendants of current assembly.  Selecting any one in the list will jump to it.

Tree Up

Displays a tree structure of current assembly's parents.  Selecting any one in the list will jump to it.

When displaying the tree up structure, starting from a part that is globally linked to an assembly with revision numbers, the tree structure up will be expanded for each revision number of the parent assemblies

Top Levels

Displays a list of top levels the current assembly belongs to. To display all the top levels that a part belongs to, select the current part in the Parts List Window, right click on the part and select Top Levels in the floating menu.

Where?...

Allows visualizing where the current assembly is located in the drawings of all the parent assemblies. If the current assembly has more than one parent assembly, a list of those parents is first displayed from which you can select the one you want to visualize first.

The parent assembly is displayed and the hotspot representing the searched item (part or assembly) is highlighted. The buttons and menu Where Previous and Where Next are active in the current assembly belongs to more that one parent.

To visualize Where a part is located, call the part from the Search dialog box or, if the part is already displayed in the Parts List Window, make a right click on it. In the popup menu, the Where option will be displayed only if the part belongs to more than one assembly.

In both cases, selecting an item in the list and clicking the "View Selected" button will load and display the assembly in the view window.

Where Prior

If Where mode has been selected for a part or assembly, moves to the preceding parent assembly of a selected part.

Where Next

If Where mode has been selected for a part or assembly, moves to the next parent assembly of a selected part.

If the Where command was called just before and the current located item belongs to more than one assembly, this displays the next assembly the part belongs to.

Stack

Allows returning, step by step, to the last 5 assemblies displayed in the View window.

List Revision No

If the current assembly has various revision numbers or revisions, this command displays a list from which you can select the revision number or revision.

Set SN and/or Model

Allows the user to enter a Model and/or a serial number. If set, only the items valid for this model and/or serial number will be displayed in the parts list.

Parts Filter

See Parts Filter or Selection .

Tree

Displays the complete tree structure (or breakdown) of the original selected top level. The highlight bar in the list is positioned on the current assembly.

Back to Top Level

In Top Level mode, goes back to the top-level assembly.

Preceding assembly (top level mode)

In Top Level Mode, go to the preceding assembly following the top-level tree structure. This is like going to the preceding page in a paper parts book.

Next assembly (top level mode)

In Top Level Mode, go to the next assembly following the top-level tree structure. This is like going to the next page in a paper parts book.

Set current assembly as startup default

In View mode, one can select a default assembly to be displayed, whenever the View – Assemblies and Parts or the  View – Top Level windows are opened. To select the startup default assembly, the user has to enter the View mode and to select an assembly. Then he has to select the Set current assembly as startup default option, in the Move menu, to pick the current assembly as the default startup assembly. To select a default top level, follow the same procedure, in the View – Top Level mode. In so doing, the user can bypass the Search dialog box or the Top Levels’ pick-up list stages, when going to work.

Reset default assembly

One can reset the default assembly or the default top level selection by clicking the Reset default assembly option in the Move menu. Doing this wipes out the default setting and allows the user to work in standard mode or to reselect another default assembly or top level.


Toggles Menu

Pan

Hotspots On

Synchronize Hotspots and Parts List

Annotation On

Redline On

View all redline objects

View Parts In Shopping List

View Parts Type

View Manufacturer Parts Type

Parts Types

View Drawing Only

Split View

View Parts List Only

View Thumbnail

Pan

Allows moving within the boundaries of the image. The Pan command is active only when the image displayed is bigger than the drawing window size. See Pan in General concepts for more details.

Hotspots On

Turns the hotspots on and off. Note that hotspots are active even when turned off.

Synchronize Hotspots and Parts List

It allows the user to synchronize the information and its related hotspot in two ways: the first use is selecting a part from the list by clicking onto it.  The drawing will move to display the selected part in the visible part of the drawing screen and the hotspot related to the selected part will be circled in red.

The second use of the synchronize feature consists of displaying and highlighting the part information, related to the chosen hotspot.

On a very slow computer, if you are clicking on many different parts in succession, it may be preferable to de-activate this feature.

Annotations On

Toggles the annotations on and off.

Redline On

Toggles redlining on or off. See Redlining in General Concepts for detailed information.

View all redline objects

Displays all redline objects in blue even if transparent.

View parts in shopping list

The parts included in the current shopping list will be surrounded by a color line and a "Check mark symbol" [image] will be displayed in the Shoping List column.

View parts type

The parts with global type 1 to 4 will be surrounded by a different color line and the type will be shown in the parts list in the first column. This feature applies only if Parts Type has been defined for your current database. Check with the supplier of your current CatBase database.

You cannot view global part types and manufacturer part types and the same time.

View manufacturer parts type

The parts with manufacture type A to D will be surrounded by a different color line and the type will be shown in the parts list in the first column. This feature applies only if Parts Type have been defined for your current database. Check with the supplier of your current CatBase database.

You cannot view global part types and manufacturer part types at the same time.

Parts type

Displays the user-defined meaning of the parts types, if any. Click on the Manufacturer button and select a manufacturer to view the meaning of manufacturer parts type.

Drawing View Only

Displays the drawing in full screen.

Split View

Turns the split screen view on or off.  When the screen is split, the drawing appears in one half and the Parts and Sub-Assemblies list in the other half. This feature allows the user to browse in the drawing and in the parts list associated to the visible image.

See General Options to choose between horizontal or vertical split-screen.

When in Split-screen mode, you can select the menu Synchronize the hotspots and the parts list.

When the Stay in Split View when no Drawing option is selected in the General tab of the Options dialog box, the screen display will remain in split mode, even if there is no drawing attached to the selected item in the parts list. See General Options

View Parts List Only

Displays the parts list in full screen.

View Thumbnail

This will popup a small window with the actual drawing and a red rectangle inside will represent the zoomed portion.

The rectangle can be dragged and the drawing in the zoom window will be moved accordingly.

The rectangle will be moved to follow any panning done in the zoomed window itself.

The popup window size and position will be saved.


Annotations Menu

Add

Edit

Move

Delete

List All

See Annotations in General Concepts for detailed information.

Add

The cursor changes for a cross. Click on the image where you would like to add an annotation.  An Annotations text box appears. To skip to a new line, use Ctrl-Enter and not Enter alone.  To close the text box click on the OK button or press the Return key.  The Cancel button will return to the image without adding any text.

To keep adding annotation text, continue to click the cursor on the image and the text dialog box will appear each time.  To stop adding annotations, press the right mouse button, the Esc key or click outside the image.

Edit

The cursor changes for a cross.  To select the annotation to edit, click the cursor on the annotation. The Annotation text box appears with the text ready for editing.  To close the text box and display the edited text on the drawing, press Return or click on the OK button.  The Cancel button will return the text to its original form.

To keep editing annotation text, continue to click the cursor on annotations. To stop editing, click the right mouse button, the Esc key or click outside the image.

Move

The cursor changes for a cross. To move the annotation text, click the cursor on the annotation and drag it. To stop moving annotations, click the right mouse button, the Esc key or click outside the image.

Delete

The cursor changes for a cross. Click on the annotation to delete. To stop deleting annotations, click the right mouse button, the Esc key or clicking outside the image.

List All

Bring up the list of all annotations in the database ( if any ). Selecting an item in the list jump to that assembly.


Shopping list Menu

New

Load

Edit

Select Region

Import from ASCII

Email

See Shopping lists section for detailed information on shopping lists, on how to add parts to a shopping list, how to format the printed layout and how information can be sent to other systems or sent by email

New

Creates a new empty shopping list. The user must provide a shopping list number of up to 8 characters to uniquely identify the new shopping list. Each shopping list is stored in the REQ directory using the shopping list number as a file identifier. You should identify shopping lists without using invalid DOS file name characters such as / * ? \ . .

The current shopping list identifier is displayed in the Viewer window's title bar.

To set the Shopping list directory, see Directories in the main CatBase menu.

Load

Opens the Shopping lists Files dialog allowing you to open an existing shopping list and modify its contents.  Use the pull down field to display a list of existing shopping lists.

If Append to current shopping list is toggled, the loaded shopping list is appended to the current shopping list.

Edit

This will display the current shopping list in a spreadsheet format. See Shopping lists section for detailed information for this screen.

Select Region

Allows selecting all the parts included in a polygonal region on the screen.

The cursor changes for a cross. Click the cursor on a starting point and continue clicking to surround the region. Close it by clicking the mouse near the starting point or by pressing F9. ll. items that are included in the region appear in a list box. To add all the selected parts to the shopping list, click the Add to Shopping list button.

Import from ASCII

Shopping list can be imported from an ASCII file. The file must be is CSV format or comma separated values. Each line must contain a part number followed by a comma, followed by the quantity.

Email

Send shopping list as an attachment through email. See Shopping lists - Email


Service Menu

Introduction

Go To Topic

Show

Open PDF File

Open HTML file

Go to Address (URL)

Service Options

For Acrobat file

First page

Last page

Previous page

Next page

Print PDF file

View Page Only

View bookmarks and page

View thumbnails and page

View PDF Full Screen

Close PDF pane

For HTML and URL

Go back

Go forward

Stop

Refresh

Search

Print HTML file

View HTML full screen

Close HTML pane

Introduction

Service manuals can be in one the five following formats:

•	Windows Help File (HLP)

•	Acrobat®™ file (PDF)

•	HTML file

•	HTML Help File (CHM)

•	URL or Web page

Acrobat, HTML and URL can be displayed directly in a third pane within the viewer window, under the parts list pane. In this case, a new toolbar appears, depending on the service manual format.

Each format supports bi-directional links. If a link exist for current assembly the "Go To Topic" menu and toolbar button [image] is activated. Hyperlinks can be created in the service manual files to jump to an assembly and/or to highlight a part.

Even if no link exists, it is possible to open Acrobat files, HTML files and Web pages in the third pane.

The Service menu items are dynamically loaded and depend on what format is used.

Go To Topic

If the current database contains links to a service manual and the current assembly has a link to one of the service manual section, this menu item open the service manual (if not done yet) and make a jump to the corresponding section.

Show

If a service manual is opened, this menu item gives the focus to the service manual. This should be used only with Windows Help Files.

Open PDF file

Open Acrobat®™ files (PDF) in the third pane below the parts list pane.

Open HTML file

Open html files in the third pane below parts list.

Go to address

Open a WEB page in the third pane below parts list.

Service options

Displays a dialog box with Service Manuals Options:

Open Service Manual in CatBase view pane.

If toggled, Acrobat, HTML and URL links will be displayed in a third view pane under the parts list. If not toggled, the service manual will be displayed by another application in its separate window. In this case, the next two options are not applicable.

Close Service Manual Pane when no links

If toggled, the service manual pane will automatically close if no link exists for current assembly

Automatically load service manual when a link exists

If toggled, the link will be open automatically. If not, the user has to click on the Go To Topic toolbar button to open the link.

The following menu items apply only for Acrobat®™ files (PDF). Most are self-explanatory.

First page

Last page

Previous page

Next page

Print PDF file

View Page Only

View bookmarks and page

View thumbnails and page

View PDF full screen

View the PDF pane in full screen. Use the same menu to come back to normal layout

Close PDF pane

The following menu items apply only for HTML files and Web pages (URL). Most are self-explanatory.

Go back

Go forward

Stop

Refresh

Search

Print HTML file

View HTML full screen

View the HTML pane in full screen. Use the same menu to come back to normal layout

Close HTML pane


Options Menu

Customize parts list

Customize Title Bar

Customize Parts List Layout

If a multilangual database is opened, these additional menus will be available:

Add languages in floating menu

Show additional language toolbar

Customize Parts List

You can add and remove columns in the parts list. For example, if you work always with the same manufacturer code, you could remove this column to gain some space. You can also add any user-defined field and additional languages, if you are using a multilingual database.

In the Customize Parts List dialog box, the fields selected in the parts list are displayed on the left hand side and the available fields are displayed on the right one. Fields with an * (asterisk) cannot be removed.

You can use the Add and Remove Button to add and remove fields.

You can use the Up and Down buttons to modify the sequence of the fields.

Customize Title Bar

You can add and remove columns from the title bar showing the current assembly. For example, if you work always with the same manufacturer code, you could remove this column to get more space. You can also add any user defined fields and additional languages if you used a multilingual database. Please not that if a language uses special fonts like Cyrillic, you should use the additional language toolbar as the title bar can display only one type of font. See Show additional language toolbar .

Customize Parts List Layout

The Customize parts list layout dialog box allows you to format your parts list to your needs by specifying column by column their position, font and alignment.

Add languages in floating menu

Only for multilingual databases.

Select additional languages to be displayed under the main description line in the floating menu displayed when clicking a hotspot.

Show additional language toolbar

Only for multilingual databases.

If you have selected special fonts for the languages in the dictionary, like Cyrillic or Greek, you can display the translation of the assembly description in a toolbar.

Only one font can be displayed in the title bar.


Customize Parts List Layout

The Customize parts list layout dialog box allows you to format your parts list to your needs by specifying column by column their position, font and alignment.

You first select which columns will be printed, by checking items on or off.

For every checked item, you may need to specify column left position and width, and font and alignment of line item texts in the column.

Left fields specify the left position of the column from the left edge of the page.

Width fields specify the right end of the column from left position already specified.

Font buttons prompt you to a standard Font Selection dialog box allowing you to specify font, font style and font size of line items text.

L, C or R buttons indicate if line items text will be left (L), center (C) or right (R) alignment in the column.

Note that you can append assembly specifications to their descriptions.  To do so, check the Append to Description checkbox (obviously the assembly Specification checkbox itself must be checked).

However, in contrast to the table of contents, if a description to be printed is longer than the allowed space specified in the Width field, the Print Module will not adjust automatically the parts list.  Thus, you have to plan enough space for any description, since it will not be printed on more than one line.

Finally, you find in the lower part of this dialog box a button giving access to the Column Settings for User defined Fields dialog box.  In fact, it is possible to include in the printed parts list any user defined field along with the previous items.  However, this button will be grayed if the current directory does not contain a user defined field database.

Column Settings for User Defined Fields dialog box

You can only access this dialog box if the current database contains user-defined fields .  User defined fields shown in that dialog box will then be the ones pertaining to the user defined fields database of the current directory, and not those that may have been saved in the layout file (*.vly).

Furthermore, if a customized layout file refers to user-defined fields not existing in current database, only the parameters that match the fields in the database will be listed in the dialog box.  The other ones will be ignored and will keep their default values.

Obviously, default settings do not include any predefined layout parameters for user-defined fields, since these fields are user dependent.  If you want certain user-defined fields (included in your database) to be printed in parts lists, you must toggle them and set their layout parameters in the current dialog box.

Note: It is important to always keep in mind that the printing parameters (including those associated with the user defined fields) are saved in a totally independent file away from the database.  Thus, if, for any reason, the user defined fields are added to or modified in the database, you will have to modify (only if necessary) the layout file accordingly, using the Column Settings for User Defined Fields dialog box.

All controls included in this dialog box (horizontal position, allowed width, text font and justification) behave the same way as those included in the Customize Parts List Layout dialog box previously described.

Default Settings

The CatBase Viewer Module provides you with a standard layout for parts list ready to use.  This standard layout is named Default Settings.  However, you can modify it to fit your needs using the default layout as a canvas.

Customized Layout

The CatBase Viewer Module allows you to produce and save (in a file with extension vly ) parts list layouts that will meet your needs.

You specify these layout parameters using the Customize parts list layout menu.


Toolbars Menu

The options in this menu can be selected to show the three following toolbars: the General toolbar, the Navigation toolbar and the Shopping list and Annotation toolbar. All these toolbars can be converted to big-button toolbars when users work with touch screens.

The Annotation part of the Shopping List and Annotation toolbar offers the same possibilities as the options available in the Annotation menu.

Note that the toolbars can be dragged to any side of the screen and can even become floating by being dragged inside the window.


Options

General Options

Shopping List Options

Touch screen Options

Interface Options


General Options

Split Screen

These two radio buttons enable the user to set his preference for horizontal or vertical split screen in View mode.

Use Internal Code

Setting this check box will show and use the Internal No. field in all dialogs and lists using parts and assemblies. The Internal code number adds an identifier to each part and assembly, and it is usually client specific, for example: a stock code. It does not correspond to the manufacturer part number. If CatBase is interfaced with a maintenance or inventory system, this inventory number can be used instead of the manufacturer part number.

Support for AutoCAD 14

If this option is not toggled, the support for AutoCAD will be effective up to version 13. Support for version 14 is slower.

Support for AutoCAD 2000

Enables support for AutoCAD 2000. Support for AutoCAD 14 and lower is included in this option. If this option is grayed, contact Novalog to get the missing files.

Bypass Splash Screen

If this option is toggled, the splash screen is not displayed when starting a CatBase session.

Hide Manufacturer Code in Tree

If toggled, manufacturer codes are not displayed in the tree structure down and up. It allows the user to view more of the description, provided that the manufacturer code is not important or is always the same.

Option "User-defined Field" in Floating Menu

If this option is activated, if user-defined fields have been created, and if a part has had values entered in its user-defined field, then, a User-defined Field line will be added in the floating menu appearing when clicking on a hotspot.

Show Databases Tree Button in the CatBase Main Window

If toggled on, this option will add a big button on the lower left side of the Main window, which enables you to open the Databases Tree window.

Disable Service Manual Pane

The Service Manual pane in the View window needs Internet Explorer to be installed to open. If you have an old version of Internet Explorer or if Internet Explorer has been uninstalled, you might get the "Failed to create empty document" Windows error message, when opening the View window. If you do not wish to install a new version of Internet Explorer, toggle this option on. As a consequence, you will not be able to view service manuals in the View window.

Stay in Split View when no Drawing

In View mode, when the Stay in Split View when no Drawing option is selected in the General tab of the Options dialog box, the screen display will remain in split mode, even if there is no drawing attached to the selected item in the parts list.

Use full Acrobat version for PDF files

To jump to a topic when using PDF files for service manuals, you must have the full Acrobat version installed on the station before toggling this option on. The PDF viewer plug-in does not support jump inside a PDF file.

Display a choice of languages when viewing text

In a multilingual database, when viewing text in the view mode, if this option is checked a choice of available languages in the catalog will be displayed otherwise the text in the selected viewing language will be displayed and if not available the text in the default "main" language will be displayed.


Shopping List Options

Enter Quantity when Adding a Part to Shopping List

Setting this check box will prompt the user to specify the requested quantity each time a part is added to a shopping list. Otherwise the quantity will be either 1 or the number of occurrences of current part in current assembly, depending on option "Default Qty in Shopping List Equals Qty per Assembly" (see below). Quantities can always be modified in the shopping list dialog.

Unload Shopping List after Print or Interface

Normally, the active shopping list stays open after the Print or the Interface button is clicked. If this option is toggled, the current shopping list will be removed from the memory after being printed or after the interface has been activated. This eliminates the possibility of inadvertently adding a part to an already printed or interfaced shopping list.

Default Qty in Shopping List Equals Qty per Assembly

If this option is toggled, the default quantity for a part added to a shopping list will be the number of occurrences of the selected part in current assembly (quantity in the assembly's parts list). Otherwise, the default quantity is set to 1.

Directly Send Shopping List Email without Email Dialog Interface

See Shopping lists - Email .

Send Database Shopping List File via Email (not ASCII)

See Shopping lists - Email

Send Shopping List in HTML format ( from REQFORM.HTM template )

See Shopping lists – Email- Customize Shopping List Email Layout

Tab Delimited for ASCII File (otherwise Fixed Length)

By default, the records in ASCII files for interface are fixed length. If toggled, the fields in the ASCII file will be tab delimited.

Include ASCII File in Body Text of Email

If toggled, the header and the detail-lines files will be inserted at the end of the body text, and not as attachments.

I Use Netscape for Email

CatBase will add <BR> tags for line breaks.

Numerical Order for Shopping List

By default, parts in a shopping list are ordered by part number. If this option is toggled off, parts will not be sorted and displayed in chronological sequence, as they have been added.

Enable Position Selection for the Shopping List

See Position selection in the shopping list section.

Enable Repair/Replace Options in Shopping List Menu

See Repair/Replace option in the shopping list section.

Option "Add to Shopping List" in Floating Menu

Toggled by default. If toggled off, the "Add to shopping list" line will not be displayed in the floating menu when clicking on a hotspot.

Columns for Shopping List Dialog

Allows users to customize the columns that appear in the Shopping list dialog box.

See Shopping lists .

Columns for Header ASCII File

Allows users to customize the columns that appear in the header ASCII file.

See Shopping lists, interface with other systems.

Columns for Detail Lines ASCII File

Allows users to customize the columns that appear in the detail lines ASCII file.

See Shopping lists, interface with other systems.


Touch Screen Options

Use Big-Button Toolbars

In View mode only, standard toolbars can be changed for big-button toolbars. This feature has been added to meet the needs of touch-screen users. Three sets of big buttons, identical with the standard toolbar icons sets, are available under the following labels: Navigation, General and Shop./Annot. To activate one particular set of big buttons, click on the corresponding toolbar label. As there is only limited space for a few big buttons to be displayed at the same time, press on the scroll down and scroll up icons on the right hand side of the big-button column to display the button you want to use. Unlike standard toolbars, big-button toolbars cannot be moved or docked along another side of the screen. Nevertheless, users can resize the big-button toolbar pane by dragging its sideline to another position.

Scrollbars in Drawing View Window

Optional vertical and horizontal scrollbars have been added to the Drawing pane of the View window.

Line Height in Lists: xx Pixels

The line height in "spreadsheet" type lists – be they pick-lists or parts lists – can be adjusted to match the users’ requirements. This feature allows touch-screen users to have a line height display adapted to their finger-tip size. The line-height default value is 17 pixels. We suggest a line height of 40 pixels for touch screens.

Multiplying Factor for Scrollbars

In View mode, the width of scrollbars can be customized to ease working with touch screens. Simply edit the "100" number and replace it by a higher number to enlarge the size of the scrollbars.

Multiplying Factor for Menus

In View mode, the size of menus can be customized to ease working with touch screens. Simply edit the "100" number and replace it by a higher number to enlarge the size of the menus.

Multiplying Factor for Dialogs

In View mode, the size of dialogs can be customized to ease working with touch screens. Simply edit the "100" number and replace it by a higher number to enlarge the size of the dialogs.


Interface Options

This dialog box contains the applicable options for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). See Interface with other systems for detailed information about interfaces tools built in CatBase.

DDE Server Options

Automatic interface in detailed data screen If toggled, CatBase will automatically send an interface message when a new part is displayed in the parts detailed data screen, otherwise the message will be send only when the Interface button is pressed.

DDE Client Options

Client Interface active for parts If toggled, an execute message will be sent to the server defined in CATBASE.INI when the user pressed the Interface button in the parts detailed data screen. See Interface with other systems on how to set the messages to be sent to another DDE Server.

Automatic interface in detailed data screen If toggled, CatBase will automatically send an execute message when a new part is displayed in the parts detailed data screen, otherwise the message will be send only when the Interface button is pressed.

Client interface active for shopping list If toggled, an execute message will be sent to the server defined in CATBASE.INI when the interface button is pressed in the shopping list.

DDE General

Add Interface to Detail Menu. If toggled, an interface command will be available in the popup menu that is displayed when clicking a Hotspot.

Double click triggers interface. If toggled, double click on yellow hotspot will trigger the interface. Otherwise the detailed data screen is displayed. Note that double click on blue hotspots (sub-assemblies) is not affected by this option.


Language

If the current CatBase database is multilingual, this option allows selecting which language will be used when viewing or printing data. Note that if a description is not translated, the description of the "main" language will be displayed by default. The CatBase authoring software allows creating and maintaining a central dictionary where all unique descriptions will be stored and translated. All the descriptions in the databases, parts, assemblies and drawings, etc., point to the central dictionary.

You can select fonts for each language. This allows CatBase to display characters like Cyrillic or Greek.

These fonts will be used in the parts list, the additional language toolbar and in the floating menu displayed when clicking a hotspot.

See Options – Customize Parts List, Add Languages in floating menu, Show Additional Language Toolbar in the view menu


User Interface Language

In the main CatBase or CatView window, the menu "System / User Interface Language" allows you to change the language of menus and dialog boxes.

To be able to change the interface language, you must create a sub-directory named Lang under the directory where CatBase or CatView is installed.

All the files with an extension of mdb will be listed and available for selecting as a translation for the English menus, labels and dialog boxes of CatBase.

So files like:

Français.mdb

Deutch.mdb

…

would be files containing translations. The name of the file should reflect it’s content.

To create those files, you need to have ACCESS or any other program that allows you to modify a database file. Open the file named lang.mdb that is provided by Novalog and that contains everything that could be translated.

Just fill in the column named Alias.

Save it under a significant name reflecting the language it contains.

You don’t need to translate everything.

If you see a word or phrase that is not in the lang database, just add it in the main column and translate it.

You could use it to change the name of some terms in CatBase with a more significant one that is used in your workplace. For example, you might have more appropriate terms for "Shopping List" or "Internal number".

If you want to LOCK the language for CatBase or CatView and prevent users from changing it, copy your language database file in the CatBase or CatView directory itself and rename it "lang.mdb". This will instruct CatBase or CatView to disable the menu to change the User Interface Language.

To restore the original menus, labels and dialogs, select "English" or it’s translation if it was translated in the current language selected.

Special characters:

When translating, keep the special characters like  %s    or   \n

They have a special meaning.

The  %s symbol  is a place holder for some information that will be inserted at that position when CatBase will need it.

The  \n  represent a break point in the line. The text following that symbol will be put on a new line.

Also, be careful NOT to change anything in the column labeled Main. This is the column where CatBase or CatView looks for the term to be translated.

If you want ot FIX the language used for the interface, and prevent the users to change it, copy your language file into right into the CatBase directory and rename it "lang.mdb". CatBase will use that file at start up and will remove the menu allowing to change the language.


Statistics

Displays the number of assemblies, parts and lines in BOM'S (Bill of Material of Parts Lists).


Shopping lists

The CatBase Shopping list module allows the user to add parts directly to a shopping list, by simply clicking on the parts required.  Once entered this information can either be printed on a customized shopping list form, or transmitted directly to an inventory and parts ordering system.

Shopping list is a generic term. It does not necessarily mean a "real" shopping list. This module can be used to create a "pick list", to select parts from the EPB (Electronic Parts Book) to be added to an inventory system, and so forth.

Alias for Shopping List

In the file "Catbase.ini" located into the same directory as "CatBase.exe", you can define an alias for shopping list with a maximum of 48 characters. To do that, you add a line under the section

[Alias]

ShoppingList=your alias of no more than 48 characters

Every places where Shopping List is used will be replaced by your alias.

See Shopping list Menu to check how to create a new shopping list, load an existing one and edit the current shopping list.

Note: if a "Locked directory" is defined into the "CatBase.ini" file, only users with "all rights" will be able to create and modify the Shopping List files in that directory. Other users will be able to "load" those files into their own files by checking the "Append to current list" box in the load dialog box.

How to add parts to a shopping list

There are five ways to add parts to an open shopping list:

•	Select Add To Shopping list in the floating menu that appears when clicking a hotspot in a drawing.

•	From the Detailed Data Screen, click on the Add To Shopping list button. To add the current assembly to a shopping list, click first on the Detail Data Screen button in the toolbar and then add the assembly to the shopping list. If the part has cross-references and you want to order one of these cross-referenced parts, first click on the XRef. button in the Detail Data Screen, then select the cross-reference part. This part will now be displayed in the Detail Data Screen and you can add it to the shopping list.

•	Select multiple parts in a particular region of the drawing. See Select Region in the Shopping list menu. Once the list of selected parts is displayed, click on the Add To Shopping list button.

•	In the Shopping list dialog box (See Shopping list Edit to open it), select the Add button. This will call the Search Dialog Box and you can select any part in the complete parts database.

•	Double click in the second column of the Parts List in View Mode. A check mark is added in this column for parts selected in the shopping list.

Columns in the shopping list spreadsheet

Manuf	Manufacturer Code.
Part No	Part Number.
Internal No	Internal Number. Appears only if Use Internal Part Number option is toggled in General Options.
Description	Description with Specification concatenated.
Qty	Quantity requested. This field can be modified.
Price	This column appears only if a "user’s defined fields table" exists AND a field with the name "Price" exists in that table. Check with your CatBase catalog supplier to check if this field is available. See Also Utilities documentation on how to create user’s defined fields.
Total	Total Price if Price column is used
Cost	This column appears only if a " user’s defined fields table " exists AND a field with the name "Cost" exists in that table. Check with your CatBase catalog supplier to check if this field is available. See Also Utilities documentation on how to create user’s defined fields.
Total Cost	Total Cost if Cost column is used.
Sugg.	Suggested: number in column pick multiplied by the quantity of this item in each of different assemblies from where it was picked.
Pick	Number of times this item was picked from different assemblies
Comment	Comments about the part or assembly on that line that can be edited.
Part Type	A number from 1 to 4 ( if used )
Manufacturer Part Type	A letter from A to D ( if used )
Position	See Position selection in the shopping list section
Languages	In a Multilanguage catalog, languages in the dictionary will be listed and could be added as description columns in that language
Quantity requested

By default, CatBase will not ask you for a quantity each time you add a part to the shopping list. You then have to adjust the quantities directly in the Shopping list Dialog. If you wish to enter quantities as you add parts, toggle the option Enter quantity when adding a part to shopping list in Shopping list Options

By default, the quantity requested is always 1, when adding parts to shopping list. If you wish the requested quantity to be the number of occurrences of a part in its parent assembly, toggle the option Default qty in shopping list equals qty per assembly in Shopping list Options

Customize Print Layout

It is possible to create a customized shopping list form that will print a complete shopping list including header fields and all selected parts to any Window compatible printer. To create and customize the shopping list print form you must create an ASCII file containing the definition of the printed form.

The ASCII file must be placed in the shopping list directory (see Directories) and must be called REQFORM.TXT.

The information contained in REQFORM.TXT allows you to define the general layout of the form, the order of columnar data and the position of shopping list header information.

REQFORM.TXT is a standard ASCII file that can be created with any ASCII text file editor (such as Notepad).  Each line in the file contains a command and one or more parameters separated by commas or spaces.

All measurements, other than font size, are specified in millimeters.  All measurements are taken from the upper left hand side of the printable area of a sheet of paper. We consider the x coordinate as being the measurement from the left hand side of the printable area and the y coordinate as the vertical displacement from the top of the printable area.

Thus for a sheet of portrait 8.5X11 inch paper with 1/4 inch printable margins the coordinates for the 4 corners starting with the upper left and moving clockwise are: (0,0), (203,0), (203,266), (0,266).

General layout commands

The following set of general layout commands create the graphical backdrop (lines, titles,....) for all the information taken from the Shopping list dialog.

General Layout
LINEHOR x,y,l,t	Draws a horizontal line starting a x,y with a length of l and a thickness of t pixels.
LINEVER x,y,l,t	Draws a vertical line starting at x,y with a length of l and a thickness of t pixels.
OFFSET x,y	x and y will be added to all coordinates after this line.
TEXT x,y,f,"text"	Prints text at x,y (bottom left starting position of the text string), with a font of f points (1 point = 1/72 of an inch). The text must be enclosed within double quotes.
LOGO x,y,w,h,f	Prints at  x,y ( top-left corner ) with a width of "w" and a height of "h" an image file of the name "f". Must be a full path name.

Table Location and Size

The list of parts selected in the CatBase Shopping list Dialog is printed in a series of columns.  You need simply define the location and size of the table and then define the contents of each column.

To define the size and location of the table use the following commands:

Table location and size
INTERLINE y	y is the interline vertical distance between shopping list data lines.
STARTLINE y	y is the vertical position of the first data line.
MAXLINES n	n is an integer and represents the maximum number of lines in the shopping list.

Column definition

Finally define what information and in what order the information will be placed in the reserved table space by selecting the position of each column of data:

Column Data	Each column has 3 parameters: x is the horizontal starting position of the column w is the width in characters of the column f is the size in points of the font to be used
ITEM x,w,f	Print a line no (sequential 1,2,3, ...) right aligned in the column
MANUF x,w,f	Prints the manufacturer code, left justified
PARTNO. x,w,f	Prints the part number, left justified
INTERNO x,w,f	Prints the internal number, left justified
DESC. x,w,f	Prints the description and specification, left justified.
PARTNOANDDESC x,w,f	Prints, in one column, the part number, the description and specification, left justified. If the length of the text exceeds the column width, text will wrap on second line.
QTY x,w,f	Print the quantity, right justified.
PRICE x,w,f	Print the price, right justified, if the pricing information exists in the shopping list screen.
TOTAL x,w,f	Print the total price (PRICE * QTY), right justified, if the pricing information exists in the shopping list screen.
COMMENT	Print the comments with wrap around
COST	Print the cost, right justified, if the cost information exists in the shopping list screen.
TOTALCOST	Print the total cost ( COST*QTY), right justified, if the cost information exists in then shopping list screen.

Customized Header Information

Other than the part information contained in the shopping list, CatBase supports up to 15 additional customizable data fields in the shopping list header.  Each field is defined in the REQFORM.TXT file with the FIELD command.

Input fields for shopping list header
FIELD  x,y,f,w,d,"Prompt|Default"	Will prompt the user to input data. The Prompt is displayed when a shopping list is first created and any time the user selects the "Header" button in the Shopping list screen. Each "field value" is also printed on the shopping list form at the x,y position (bottom left starting position of text), with a font of f points (1 point = 1/72 of an inch). The w parameter determines the maximum number of characters that can be entered for each field. Values for the d parameter are 0 or 1.  The first three fields containing a 1 for this parameter are displayed in the Edit Shopping list dialog header’s area. The field command also supports a default value. To have a default value appended to a field simply include it in the prompt string separating it from the prompt text with a | (pipe) character. Both the prompt and the default must be enclosed within double quotes. RESERVED WORDS Two reserved words are available for the default values. DATE prints the current system date. TIME  prints the current system time. REQNO prints the current shopping list name. ======================= Fields available if you have defined them as "User’s defined fields" with the CatBase "Utilities" program. ======================= PRICE prints the content of the user defined field PRICE if you have define one with the CatBase utilities program TOTAL prints Qty*Price COST prints COST TOTALCOST prints cost * qty

Header fields

If header fields have been defined in REQFORM.TXT, see above, Customize Print Layout, a dialog box will be displayed when creating a new shopping list that allows to enter values for the header fields.

The Header fields dialog box can also be called from the Shopping list dialog box by clicking the Header button.

Interface with other systems

The Interface button is used to interface the shopping list module of CatBase with other software.

When the button is clicked, CatBase will first save the shopping list in ASCII fixed delimited format that can be viewed with any text editor like NotePad. The file name will be the shopping list name and the extension is .ASC. The file is saved in the Shopping list directory. See Directories.

The Header information is also saved in an ASCII file with a .HEA extension, using the shopping list name as the file name.

A DDE message is sent when the Interface button is clicked. Refer to Interface with other systems to see how this message can be used to send the shopping list file to another application.

Default structure of ASCII detail line shopping list file.

Field description	Length
Manufacturer code Alias	15
Part Number	15 to 45
Description	45
Specification	30
Internal code	15-45
Quantity (right aligned)	5
Price (if defined in User defined Fields) See Shopping list Columns	10
Flag indicating if item is a part (P) or an assembly (A)	1
Line feed and carriage return character ASCII 13 and 10	2

The structure of this file can be customized using Columns in detail line ASCII file in System – Options - Shopping list

Structure of ASCII header file.

•	First line: ASSEMBLIES

•	Following lines list the current assembly if in Assemblies and Parts mode or all assemblies starting at the top level and down to current assembly if in Top-level mode. To specify which fields to be written to the file (including user define fields) use Columns in header ASCII file in System – Options - Shopping list

•	Next Line: HEADER

•	Following lines contain the header information if any.

•	One line per header-field.  Each line includes the name of the field, a tab character, and the label entered by the user.

Save

Clicking this button will save the shopping list in the current Shopping List directory. The files will have the same name as the Shopping List.

Print

The printing dialog box will be opened to allow you to select which printer to use to print the shopping list. Any settings done with "REQFORM.TXT" will be used.

Excel…

This will save the Shopping List in an "Excel" format in the current Shopping List directory. The first line of the spreadsheet will contain the columns descriptions.

XML…

Providing that you have prepared an XML template, this will display a dialog box to specify where to save the shopping list in an XML format.

Header

This button display the Shopping List Header Fields dialog box wth the fields defined in the REQFORM.TXT file to allow you to set the values for those fields.

You can also "Lock / Protect" the shopping list, Save the values as "Default" or "Clear the default values" that were saved in the registry.

Save to ASCII

This button saves the shopping list in ASCII format as described above without calling the interface action.

Email

The shopping list can be send by email by selecting Email in the Shopping list menu or the button representing an envelop in the Shopping list toolbar.

The shopping list header ASCII file (extension HEA, see above) and the shopping list ASCII file (see above) are automatically attached to the message. You can also send the shopping list database files by selecting "Send Database Shopping List File in email (not ASCII)" in System – Options - Shopping list or embed the files in email body with "Include ASCII file in body text of email"

CatBase will start your default Email program and create a new message with attachment.

If you use Netscape, select this option in System – Options Shopping List

To customize the message, you have to create an ASCII file called EMAIL.TXT in the shopping list directory. This file can be created with NotePad. The format of this file follows.

EMAIL.TXT format

Line 1: name of sender (can be blank)

Line 2: email address of sender (can be blank)

Line 3: name of recipient (can be blank)

Line 4: email address of recipient (can be blank)

Line 5: Subject. If the subject text contains %s, it will be replaced by the shopping list name.

Line 6 and following: body of message to be sent. If the text contains %%n, where n’s value is between 1 and the number of fields defined in the shopping list header (see above), it will be replaced with the value of the header field.

Shopping lists can be sent directly without passing through the email message dialog by selectling "Directly send shopping list email without email dialog interface" in System – Options - Shopping list. In this case, the addresses of both sender and recipient must be entered in EMAIL.TXT.

Interface

If CatBase is "interfaced" with a maintenance program, the content of the shopping list will be sent to that program, the edit shopping list window will be closed and if set in the Shopping List Options, the Shopping List will be unloaded.

Customize shopping list email layout

You can customize the shopping list that will be emailed by creating an HTML template.

The file must be named "REQFORM.HTM" and must be in the shopping list directory (see Directories)

The file must have those characteristics :

•	An empty Init() function

<SCRIPT>

function Init()

{

}

</SCRIPT>

</head>

<body onload="Init();">

placed just before the tag </head>

and followed by

<body onload="Init();">

•	If you want to include headers, you define a table, 1 column for the label and 1 column for the value from CatBase. You identify the place for each value by giving it an id like this: <td id='ctbhead01' …   the  01 indicates the first header value, use 02, 03 etc… for the others , up to 15.

•	For the shopping list itself, you create a table with the number of columns you desire. The table must have an ID like this :  <table id='reqtable' …

•	The columns must have specific ID’s , here is the list of all the possible fields :

o	CTB_LINENO	: An automatic sequential line number (1,2,3,…).

o	CTB_MANUF 	: The item manufacturer code.

o	CTB_PARTNO  	: The item Part number.

o	CTB_INTERNO	: The item internal number.

o	CTB_PARTNOANDDESC: The item part number, description

       and specification concatenated.

o	CTB_QTYORDER 	: The item quantity ordered.

o	CTB_UNITPRICE 	: The item unit price.

o	CTB_WOPOS 	: The item position ( left right front back …)

o	CTB_COMMENT 	: Comment for the line

o	CTB_UNITCOST 	: The item unit cost.

o	CTB_DESC 	: The item description and specification.

For the user’s defined fields, the ID are CTB_ followed by the field name.

If a field is defined with the name PRICE, a column ID of CTB_TOTALPRICE will be available. That column will contain PRICE * QTY

Tip:

 define a table with 2 rows, type the header’s text in the first row, adjust the width, the fonts etc….

Do the same type of adjustments for the second row, then define the columns ID in that second row and finally copy that line for the number of lines you want in your table.

Repair / Replace option

This option is usually used to generate work order information to be sent to other systems through the shopping list interface function.

To use this option toggle on Enable Repair/Replace option in shopping list menu from System – Options -Shopping list .

Repair and Replace are added to the shopping list menu. They can also be accessed through the button with an arrow down in the shopping list toolbar. Replace is also added to the floating menu when clicking a hotspot.

There must be an active shopping list for those options to be active.

Actions taken:

REPLACE from Toolbar or menu

•	Add the current assembly to the shopping list

•	Add REPLACE as the first line of the header ASCII file (see Shopping list – Interface)

•	Trigger the Shopping list Interface (same as clicking interface button from Shopping list dialog)

REPLACE from floating menu

•	Add the selected part to the shopping list

•	Add REPLACE as the first line of the header ASCII file (see Shopping list – Interface)

•	Trigger the Shopping list Interface (same as clicking interface button from Shopping list dialog)

REPAIR from Toolbar or menu

•	Add REPAIR as the first line of the header ASCII file (see Shopping list – Interface)

•	Trigger the Shopping list Interface (same as clicking interface button from Shopping list dialog)

Position selection for parts

If CatBase is interfaced with a maintenance software, it might be necessary to know, when adding a part to a shopping list, its position like "Left", "Right", "Rear Left", etc. This option is mainly use to generate work-order information to be sent to other systems.

To use this option, toggle Enable Position selection for shopping list in System- Options -Shopping list Options .

This option allows users to define position choices for parts.

If a part has such defined choice, the position choice will be presented when adding the part to a shopping list. To include the position choice in the shopping list dialog box or in the ASCII interface files, use System – Shopping lists Options .

Locking / Protecting a Shopping List

First, you must have defined at least one "Header" field for your shopping lists because the locking is set in the edit box for "Header’s fields".

Secondly, you must define a directory into which "locked" files will be created.

In the [UserOptions] section of the "CATBASE.INI" create a line like this:

LockShoppingListDir="C:\YourLockDir"

CatBase administrators must have Windows read/write rights into that directory.

CatBase or CatView Users with "Viewer Rights" must have Windows read only right to that directory.

To lock a file, from the Shopping List edit dialog box, click on the "Header" button to access the "Header’s fields" edit box.

Check the toggle box "Lock / Protect Shopping List" at the bottom.

To unlock it , remove the check mark.

A user with "Viewer Rights" can only merge a locked shopping list into one of is own and then modify it.


Interface with other systems

Other applications can communicate with CatBase through the following two standard methods:

DDE

COM OBJECT (Common Object Model)

With these tools you can, for example:

•	be advised when a user switches to a new assembly and what is the new assembly number.

•	be advised when a user requests information on a specified part.

•	make CatBase move to a particular assembly.

•	make CatBase display and highlight a particular part in a drawing.

•	be advised that the user saved a shopping list file in ASCII format, and its location.

•	Make CatBase display an ASCII file in a separate window. For example, this could be data prepared by another application when it receives a message from CatBase indicating that the user requested more information on a specified part.

•	Specify size and position of main and view window

DDE

CatBase is a standard Windows DDE Server and Client. This feature can be used to easily interface CatBase with other systems, provided they can act as DDE Clients and/or DDE Servers. For more information about DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) refer to your Windows documentation. The rest of this section supposes that you are familiar with the DDE concepts.

CATBASE AS A DDE SERVER

Here are the Services, Topics and Items that are supported:

The Service name is always CATBASE.

You can request data or ask to be advised when the data changes for the Topics and Items described below. Those items are available only when CatBase is in View mode, except for CTB_LOGON (see description below).

Topics	Items	Description
CTB_ASSY		Current assembly displayed in the View window
	ALLDATA	Returns a memory block with the following structure: struct TAssyData {   char factno[ 5 ];   char factalias[ 16 ];   char partno[ 16 to 46 ];   char interno[ 16 to 46 ];   }; See below for explanation of fields. Fields are NULL terminated.
	FACTNO	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code (width 4)
	FACTALIAS	Alias code of manufacturer (max. width 15)
	PARTNO	Part number (max. width 45)
	INTERNO	Internal number (max. width 45)
CTB_PART		Part displayed in the detailed data screen when user clicked the Interface button. Note that this topic is updated only if Interface button is clicked and not if a different part is displayed in the detailed data screen. An application could use this Topic to be advised when a user clicked the Interface button, and then use the command CTB_DISPLAY to make CatBase display a text file which could contain information about the part coming from another system (See below for Commands)
	ALLDATA	Returns a memory block with the following structure:     struct TPartData { char factno[ 5 ]; char factalias[ 16 ]; char partno[ 16 to 46 ]; char interno[ 16 to 46 ]; char factnoparent[ 5 ]; char factaliasparent[ 16 ]; char partnoparent[ 16 to 46 ]; char itemno[ 6 ]; char posno[ 2 ]; }; See below for explanation of fields. Fields are NULL terminated.
	FACTNO	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code (width 4)
	FACTALIAS	Alias code of manufacturer (max. width 15)
	PARTNO	Part number (max. width 45)
	INTERNO	Internal number (max. width 45)
	FACTNOPARENT	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code of parent assembly (width 4)
	FACTALIASPARENT	Alias code of manufacturer of parent assembly (max. width 15)
	PARTNOPARENT	Part number of parent assembly (max. width 45)
	ITEMNO	Reference number of part in parent assembly's parts list (width 5)
	POSNO	Second reference number (used in CatBase to display reference numbers like 23-A. 23 is ITEMNO and A is POSNO (width 1)
CTB_REQ		Shopping list file (ASCII format) when the user clicked the Interface button in the Edit window for shopping lists.
	REQFILE	File name (with complete path) of the ASCII shopping list file. See Shopping lists above for a detailed description of the file structure.
CTB_LOGON		Updated when user successfully completes the logging procedure in CatBase. IMPORTANT: If another application loads CatBase (with WinExec for instance), it should wait for this Topic to be updated before sending other DDE messages to CatBase. This is the only Topic that is available before entering into View mode.
	USERCODE	User code (width 3)

NOTES

All items must be accessed with clipboard format CF_TEXT, except item ALLDATA which must be accessed with format CF_OWNERDISPLAY.

Width of fields is given without the NULL terminating character.

The following commands (DDE EXECUTE commands) are supported by CatBase. If no viewer window is opened in CatBase, except the main window, CatBase will automatically enter in the View Assemblies & Parts mode, except if the command parameters start with "TOP," (TOP in capital letters, followed by a comma, and followed by the standard parameter described below.)

Commands	Description
CTB_ASSY	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its standard manufacturer code and its part number. Command string must be manufacturer code and part number separated by a comma. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
CTB_ASSYALIAS	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its alias manufacturer code and its part number. Command string must be alias manufacturer code and part number separated by a comma. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
CTB_INTER	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its internal number. Command string must be the internal number of the assembly. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
CTB_REQ	To ask CatBase to create, open or append a shopping list file when in view mode. The Command String has the following parameters separated by commas: - Name of the shopping list file (no directory and no extension) - Optionally, L for load an existing shopping list or N for create a new shopping list or A to append to the current shopping list. - Optionally, M to display a message box to be displayed confirming operation (by default, no message).
CTB_DISPLAY	To make CatBase display a text file when in View mode. The file must be in ASCII format. The file will be displayed in a separate window. The size and position of this window can be adjusted by the user and will be saved for the next window opening. The Command String must be the file name with complete path.
CTB_DISPLINE	To make CatBase display a text file in the Parts detailed data screen when in View mode. The file must be in ASCII format. The file will be displayed in a two line scrollable box. The Command String must be the file name with complete path.
CTB_MAINSIZE	Sets the position and size of main window, where: XXX is horizontal position in pixels of top left corner YYY is vertical position in pixels of top left corner WWW is window width   HHH is window height
CTB_VIEWSIZE	Same as above for view window

NOTE: for the 3 execute commands asking CatBase to jump to an assembly (CTB_ASSY, CTB_ASSYALIAS and CTB_INTER), if CatBase is in Top-Level view mode and the assembly does not belong to the current top level assembly, an error message is displayed, even if the requested assembly exists in the database.

CATBASE AS A DDE CLIENT

If the software to be interfaced with CatBase is a DDE server, it is possible to ask CatBase to send an EXECUTE message to that server when the Interface button is pressed either in the Parts Detailed Data Screen or in the Shopping list dialog box.

First check the options in the Interface Options dialog box as described above.

The server service name, the topic and the command must be added to the CATBASE.INI file as described below.

Lines in CATBASE.INI	Description
[Part Server]	Options for the Interface button in parts detailed data screen
Activate=	0 not active, 1 active. Also set in the interface options dialog box
PartAuto=	0 not automatic, 1 automatic. See description in the Interface Options dialog box described above.
Server=	Name of the service for the Server of the other interfaced application
Topic=	Topic name for command
Command=	Command to be sent. If you include a %s in this string, CatBase will insert a string consisting of the Alias manufacturer code, the part number and the internal code separated by commas.
GiverFocus=	If this line is present, CatBase will give the focus to the other application after the interface command has been sent. In this case you must enter the class name of the other application's window.
Lines in  CATBASE.INI	Description
[Requisition Server]	Options for the Interface button in parts detailed data screen
Activate=	0 not active, 1 active. Also set in the interface options dialog box
Server=	Name of the service for the Server of the other interfaced application
Topic=	Topic name for command
Command=	Command to be sent. If you include a %s in this string, CatBase will insert a string consisting of the Alias manufacturer code, the part number and the internal code separated by commas.
GiverFocus=	If this line is present, CatBase will give the focus to the other application after the interface command has been sent. In this case you must enter the class name of the other application's window.
COM OBJECT (Common Object Model)

When CatBase is first started, it registers a COM object named CatBaseAtlCom.dll.

This allows other applications to access this object and call methods or get properties to communicate with CatBase. For example, this is the tool used to ask CatBase to jump to a particular assembly from an HTML file or a Web page.

The control will be registered under the name of  "CatBaseAtlCom.CatBaseDdeControl.1"

Methods

Commands	Description
GotoAssy	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its standard manufacturer code and its part number. Command string must be manufacturer code and part number separated by a comma. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
GotoAssyAlias	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its alias manufacturer code and its part number. Command string must be alias manufacturer code and part number separated by a comma. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
GotoInter	To make CatBase move to an assembly identified by its internal number. Command string must be the internal number of the assembly. If the reference number (5 characters) is added, separated by a comma, CatBase will draw a red circle around the corresponding hotspot.
DoReq	To ask CatBase to create, open or append a shopping list file when in view mode. The Command String has the following parameters separated by commas: Name of the shopping list file (no directory and no extension) Optionally, L for load an existing shopping list or N for create a new shopping list or A to append to the current shopping list. Optionally, M to display a message box to be displayed confirming operation (by default, no message).
DoDisplayTextFile	To make CatBase display a text file when in View mode. The file must be in ASCII format. The file will be displayed in a separate window. The size and position of this window can be adjusted by the user and will be saved for the next window opening. The Command String must be the file name with complete path.
DoDispline	To make CatBase display a text file in the Parts detailed data screen when in View mode. The file must be in ASCII format. The file will be displayed in a two line scrollable box. The Command String must be the file name with complete path.
StartCatBase	Start CatBase. The Command String must be the catbase.exe with the complete path, example "C:\CATBASE\CATBASE.EXE".
ResizeMainWindow	Sets the position and size of main window. The command string is XXX,YYY,WWW,HHH where: XXX is horizontal position in pixels of top left corner YYY is vertical position in pixels of top left corner WWW is window width   HHH is window height
ResizeViewWindow	Same as above for view window

NOTE: for the 3 methods asking CatBase to jump to an assembly (GotoAssy, GotoAssyAlias and GotoInter), if CatBase is in Top Level view mode and the assembly does not belong to the current top-level assembly, an error message is displayed, even if the requested assembly exists in the database.

Properties

Properties	Description
GetAssy	Return the current assembly displayed in the View window. The return is a string with 4 values separated by commas.  The values are:
	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code (width 4)
	Alias code of manufacturer (max. width 15)
	Part number (max. width 45)
	Internal number (max. width 45)
GetPart	Part displayed in the detailed data screen when user clicked the Interface button. Note that this topic is updated only if Interface button is clicked and not if a different part is displayed in the detailed data screen. A string with 9 values separated by commas is returned. The values are:
	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code (width 4)
	Alias code of manufacturer (max. width 15)
	Part number (max. width 45)
	Internal number (max. width 45)
	Standard (CatBase) manufacturer code of parent assembly (width 4)
	Alias code of manufacturer of parent assembly (max. width 15)
	Part number of parent assembly (max. width 45)
	Reference number of part in parent assembly's parts list (width 5)
	Second reference number (used in CatBase to display reference numbers like 23-A. 23 is ITEMNO and A is POSNO (width 1)
GetReq	Shopping list file (ASCII format) when the user clicked the Interface button in the Edit window for shopping lists.
	Returns the file name (with complete path) of the ASCII shopping list file. See Shopping lists for a detailed description of the file structure.
GetLogon	Returns the user code, maximum 15 characters.


Search Dialog

This dialog allows users to select top-levels assemblies or assemblies and parts, either by entering directly some information (a part number or a description), or by calling lists with a selected order or index.

Assemblies and Parts

All parts or assemblies in the current database can be displayed or searched.

Top Level

If Parts or Assemblies are selected, only the ones belonging to current top level will be displayed or searched.

Furthermore, if Search form Current Assembly is toggled on, only parts and assemblies belonging to current assembly and sub-assemblies will be displayed or searched.

NOTE:

If Ctrl key is down when clicking on the search button of the toolbar, the list of top levels will be displayed (as in previous versions of CatBase).

Select Group

The radio buttons allows you to search for parts, assemblies or top levels only. The status of this selection is saved between successive usages of this search dialog box.

Index/Order Group

The radio buttons determine the order or index used in the search and also the order or index of the displayed lists. The status of this selection is saved between successive calls to the search dialog. This selection also determines the action of the Search Next and Search previous menu items or toolbar buttons in the View Window. For example, if you have selected Assemblies and Alphabetical to find a particular assembly, the Search Next button will display the next assembly in alphabetical order, starting from the selected assembly (even if you have jumped to different assemblies between the first Search and the Search Next action).

The last index button, Numerical, will search on a part number, no matter what the manufacturer code of the searched part is.

Desc.contains

The Desc. contains field allows users to refine their search, no matter which sort order is selected. The "Desc. contains" value acts as a filter to display only items whose description contains that particular value.

The big List button (located right to the radio buttons) displays the list sorted with the criteria activated in the Select  and the Index/Order section, as well as in the Desc. contains field.

When the OK button is clicked (or Enter key), CatBase will verify if the key entered is unique. If yes, CatBase will jump to the item found.

If key is not unique, a pickup list will be displayed and the position will be the first matching item.

 For example, if Part and Alphabetic is selected, entering bolt in the search field and clicking OK will call display a list starting with first part with a description containing a bolt.

If the Index selected is Manuf. / Numer.  and the key is empty, the list will start with the first part for the selected manufacturer.

If an internal number is entered and more than one part has the same internal number, the list will be called starting at the first part with the selected internal number.

Note: once in the view window, the "Previous" and "Next" toolbar button will follow that list (only in View Assemblies and Parts mode).

If the Index selected is Manuf. / Numer., the dialog requires a Manuf. Code as the first sorting key.  Although the Manuf. Code is set to the manufacturer the user was last dealing with, the list box will contain items from all manufacturers.

The List button located next to the Manuf. Code displays a list of all available manufacturers.

Revisions

If an assembly has revision numbers or revisions, a list box is displayed to select which one to view.

Advanced search button

The Advanced Search button will display the Part Filter dialog box

Serial No button

The  Serial No button allows to search on serial numbers. CatBase will search serial number ranges and display the corresponding assemblies in a spreadsheet from which you can select.

The searched value looked for can be "At the Start of the field", "The Whole field",  "in Any part of the field" or "End of field". The serial number will be "Set" only if the "Whole field" search mode is selected or for all other modes when a selection is made if a list  is displayed.

User-Defined Fields button

If user-defined fields exist, the button User-Defined Field allows you to enter values for user- defined fields. A spreadsheet will display parts that meet the selection.

The searched value(s) looked for can be "At the Start of the field", "The Whole field" or in "Any part of the field".

If you check the "Search in ALL fields" box, the value you enter there will be used to search in all the fields.

See User Defined Field in General Concepts .

Search in all databases under the "Databases Root" directory

When searching for "parts", checking this box will start a search from the "Databases Root" directory and in all the sub-directories.

A list of directories containing a database using that part will be displayed for selection.

Once you make a selection, the current database is closed and the new one is opened and the assembly containing that part is displayed and the line in the parts list is highlighted.

If the database contains more than one assembly with that part, then the program goes into the "Where. . . " mode . A list of assemblies is displayed for selection.

Note: this is valid only for Microsoft Access databases

Search under Current Assembly in Top Level mode

When searching in Top Level mode, there is a check box to select the first item found that is under the current assembly. This should speed up the search since CatBase does not have to get back up to the top level to check if it is the current one.

You use this feature if you know that the item you are looking for is under the current assembly.


Detail Data Screen

The detailed data screen displays detailed information about a part and allows to access more information like text, cross-references, set or kit members, user defined fields, manufacturer defined fields, or trigger interface actions.

Standard information includes the reference number in the drawing, the manufacturer, the part number, the description and specification, local and global remarks if any and the internal number (if selected in the General Options).

The detailed data screen displays the reference number, the manufacturer, the part number, the description and specification, local and global remarks, if any, the internal number, the type and manufacturer type if defined.

BUTTONS

Assembly	Check box indicates this item is an assembly.
Go to	Jump to displayed sub-assembly (active only if the current item is an assembly).
X Ref	Displays cross-referenced parts, if any. To add a cross-reference to a shopping list, double-click the part or select it from the cross-reference list. This will make the selected part active in the detailed data screen.
Text	Displays the text file for the current item, if any
Add To Shopping list	Adds the current item to the current shopping list
More	Displays user defined fields if some have been defined for the current part
Fmore	Displays manufacturer defined fields, if any, for the current part
Set members	If the current part is a kit or set, list its members
Interface	Is used when CatBase is interfaced with another application. Refer to Interface with other systems
Recommended parts	Pressing this button will display a list of parts that are recommended for the currently displayed part.


Parts List

By default The Parts List is displayed together with the drawing, in Split View . You can hide it by selecting Drawing View Only, you can resize it and you can make it full screen by selecting View Parts List only.

The Split View can be either vertical or horizontal. (see General Options).

The lines in the Parts List can be synchronized with the corresponding hotspots. See Synchronize Hotspots and Parts List  in the Toggle menu. It allows the user to synchronize the information and its related hotspot in two ways: the first use is selecting a part from the list by clicking onto it.  The drawing will move to display the selected part in the visible part of the drawing screen and the hotspot related to the selected part will be circled in red.

The second use of the synchronize feature consists of displaying and highlighting the part information, related to the chosen hotspot.

The first column contains an arrow if the item in the parts list is a sub-assembly. You can click on the arrow to jump to this sub-assembly.

The second column contains a check mark if the part has been added to the current shopping list (If a shopping list is open). You can double click on this column to add a part to the current shopping list. See Shopping lists .

The columns of the Parts List are resizable and can be customized. See Customize Parts List in the Options menu.

Right click on a line or directly in the "Part Number" column in the Parts List will display a floating menu from where you can select  Detail Data Screen Tree Up, Top Levels, Parents and Where (the last two, only if the part has more than one parent).

If activated, "Add To Shopping List", "Replace/Repair" and "Interface" will be available ( see System/Options ).

If table to link recommended parts exist and the current part as some recommended parts,  "Selection of recommended parts" menu will appear at the bottom of the popup menu. If you select it, a list of the parts will be displayed for you to choose which one(s) you want to add to your "Shopping List". See Select Recommended Parts

If you select "Parents" or "Where" in that menu, a list will be presented. In that dialog box, the button "View Selected" will display the drawing and parts list of the row highlighted to help you select the assembly desired.

If there is a "X" in the "Cross Reference" column, a click will bring up a dialog box with the list of all the cross-references for that part or assembly. In that dialog, a click in the "part number" column pops a menu allowing you to add this part in the shopping list or do an interface  if an interface with another program is activated.

If there is a "T" in the "Text" column, a click will show the text linked to the item. If it is a multilingual catalog and "Display a choice of language when viewing text" is checked in  Options - General , a choice of languages available will be presented. Select in which language you want to view the text.


Part Filter or Selection
Parts Filter or Selection

This dialog box is called from the Move menu in Parts and Assemblies View mode and from the Search Dialog box.

It allows you to select parts with sorting keys belonging to various fields (and/or user defined fields), to display them in a spreadsheet format, and/or to export them in ASCII format, be it fixed or delimited.

Parts fields are displayed to the left and user defined fields (if any) to the right.

For alphabetical fields, you can select the following selection criteria from the criteria drop down box:

None

Is empty

Not Empty

Is Equal *

Not Equal *

Begin with *

End with *

Contains *

Not Contains *

NOTE: criteria with an * needs non-empty value field.

For logical fields, the criteria are:

None

Yes

No

NOTE: if no criteria are selected, the complete parts database will be displayed (A warning message will be displayed as it may take a long time to generate the data)

To include fields in the report, toggle the corresponding Incl. check box on.

Include top level parents

To add the Top Level parent at the end of all parts and assemblies lines in the speradsheet, toggle on the "Include top level parents" check box at the bottom left. This will add three columns, the manufacturer code, the part number and the description of the parent.

To activate the report, click the OK button.

Once the spreadsheet is displayed, you can set the columns width by moving the separator between the header fields with the mouse. If you double-click on it, the width will be adjusted automatically to display the widest value in the column. Those setting will be remembered for next display.

Sorting

To sort on a column, double click on the column header. If you want to sort on multiple columns, start to sort on the least significant column and proceed to the most significant column (no more than three columns as sorting key).

Click the OK button will close the spreadsheet and return to the selection dialog.

Go to a part or assembly

Double-click a part will close the spreadsheet, close the selection dialog and move the the selected part or assembly.

Send to ASCII file

This button will export the selected parts (with the selected columns) to an ASCII file.

Select the target file

Select the format: delimited of fixed.

For delimited, select the separator and delimiter. The fields will be trimmed (trailing spaces removed).

For fixed text, select the spaces added between columns (a number). If Trim Field is toggled on, the size of the column (number of characters) will be adjusted to the widest value for that column, otherwise, the size of the column will be the size of the corresponding field in parts or user defined databases, for example 45 for description.

Send Email

Proceed as described in Send to ASCII above to create and select the format of the ASCII file.

CatBase will then start your default mail software and attach this ASCII file to the message.

You can create an email template called EMAIL2.TXT in the shopping list directory.

The format of EMAIL2.TXT is:

Line 1: name of sender (can be blank)

Line 2: email address of sender (can be blank)

Line 3: name of recipient (can be blank)

Line 4: email address of recipient (can be blank)

Line 5: Subject.

Line 6 and more: body of message to be sent.


Pan

Enter Pan mode when drawing is bigger than the screen.

Click on left button to cancel pan mode.


pu_find_dialogs
Find Dialogs

Find dialogs help the user to manage the sometimes huge CatBase databases and are called from Find buttons at the bottom of lists.  Find dialogs are criteria specific.  Some have one criterion others have several criteria.

Two finders are used in CatBase.  The first is a simple finder requiring only an alphanumeric string to define the search criteria.  Selecting the OK button triggers the search.  The second, a compound finder, requires that two fields be defined to initiate a search.

Finders will request a data type that corresponds with the sort order defined in the associated List dialog box.  If the list is sorted on manufacturer part number, the finder will expect a manufacturer part number.

Although wild card characters are not supported, the finders do allow for partial definitions of search criteria.  Given part number "5590" as the search criterion, the finder will place the List's cursor on the first part in the List that matches "5590".  This includes "5590" but also any part number that begins with "5590".


Note aux utilisateurs de CD
Note to CD users

If you run the Viewer from a CD, you have to set the directories Shopping Lists and Annotations to be on your local hard disk or on a LAN drive where you have read and write rights to create shopping lists and/or annotations. See Directories .


Getting Started - Viewer

Start CatBase

Accessing Parts Book Information

Zoom in and Zoom out

Pan

Split View, Full Drawing, Full Parts List

Parts List

Hotspots

Move to Sub-Assembly and Detailed Part Information

Where Used

Text & Notes

Annotations

Shopping Lists

Synchronize Drawing and Parts List

Revisions

Service Manual Link

Vector Images

Redline and "Cable Tracing"

Converting Existing Data

Quit

CatBase Viewer or CatBase in View Mode

CatBase Viewer ( catView.exe ) :

To start the CatBase Viewer click on the Start button in the taskbar and display the Programs.menu. In the CatBase Viewer Group, select CatBase Viewer.

Click OK if the splash screen appears, or wait a few seconds.

CatBase in View mode ( CatBase.exe ):

To start CatBase in the view mode click on the Start button in the taskbar and display the Programs.menu. In the CatBase Group, select CatBase.

Click OK if the splash screen appears, or wait a few seconds.

In the Welcome dialog box, type in your user code in the User Code box.

Tip: At first installation, there are two predefined user codes:

SUP (with no password) will open an empty CatBase database (located in the DATA subdirectory)

NEW (with no password) will open a sample database (located in SAMPLE subdirectory).

CatBase in View mode:

This training guide uses the SAMPLE database, so type NEW or the user code assigned by your CatBase administrator.

CatBase Viewer:

Contact your "Viewer" provider to obtain that sample database.

Accessing Parts Book Information

Thanks to CatBase Viewer, you have access to all the information contained in electronic parts books. CatBase does not limit you to one parts book per database. On the contrary, each database can contain as many parts books as you need.

Click the Assemblies and Parts icon, displaying a bolt and a gear or the Assemblies and Parts button below the CatBase logo.

The View window opens and the Search dialog box appears.

Make sure the Top Level radio button is on in the Select sub-box on the left of the Search dialog box.

Click on the big List button on the right hand side to display the top level included in the sample database.

This demonstration database contains only one top level, the Boomer 322.

Select this top level by double-clicking it.

CatBase displays the Boomer’s picture and/or the Boomer’s parts list.

The active window title bar always displays the part number and the description of the current assembly.

Zoom in and Zoom out

 When CatBase displays an assembly, it first displays a reduced image of it, that fits entirely in the drawing pane. This image may not be clear enough to see fine details. You can use the Zoom in and Zoom out buttons of the left side toolbar, to change the size of the image. However it is much faster to use the mouse.

Right-click anywhere in the drawing pane to zoom in

Middle-click (or right-click while holding down the Shift key for a two-button mouse) to zoom out.

When in zoom mode, the entire image may not fit in the pane. To pan the image, you have to enter the pan mode:

Pan

 Either click the crossed-arrow button of the left hand side toolbar, or hit the Space bar, or select Pan option in the Toggles menu; The pan mode moves the drawing within the viewing window.

The moment you select the pan mode, the pointer arrow disappears and the mouse manages the panning motion.

To stop panning click the left mouse button once. The standard pointer arrow reappears.

Split View, Full Drawing, Full Parts List

 You can easily switch between those three display modes by clicking the buttons situated in the left-hand-side toolbar, or within the Toggles menu, you can select one of the three display modes.

The split view mode can be set either horizontal or vertical by pushing the corresponding radio button in the Split Screen sub-box of the System - Options - General thumbnail dialog box in the Main CatBase window.

The two panes can be moved and resized; these settings will be saved from one CatBase session to the next one.

Parts List

Each column in the parts list can be resized. Columns can be added or removed by selecting the Customize parts list. option in the Options menu of the Drawing window. Settings are saved for the next CatBase session.

If an arrow is displayed in the leftmost column, it means the corresponding item on this line is a sub-assembly. Double-clicking on the arrow will lead you to the sub-assembly.

Hotspots

The easiest way to get information about parts or to "travel" in the parts book from one assembly to the other is by clicking on the Hotspots. Hotspots are sensitive regions of the drawing. When you click on such a region, CatBase displays information about the part that is linked to that particular hotspot. If the part is also an assembly (thus has another drawing linked to it), double-clicking the hotspot will bring you immediately to that assembly’s drawing.

 Hotspots can be toggled on or off, either by clicking the light bulb toolbar button or by selecting the Hotspots on option in the Toggles pull-down menu. Hotspots need not be visible in order to be active.

Standard hotspots colors are: -yellow for parts, cyan (light blue) for sub-assemblies and green for parts belonging to kits (repair kits for example). Special colors can also be defined for particular usages.

Move to Sub-Assembly & Detailed Part Information

The easiest ways to "drill down" to a sub-assembly is by double-clicking either the corresponding hotspot in the Drawing pane or the arrow in front of the sub-assembly in the Parts-list pane.

For instance, in view mode, open the ATLA BOOMER 322 Drawing window.

Zoom and pane to locate the HYDRO. BOOM hotspot. Double-click on it: CatBase jumps to the Boom BUT 32 sub-assembly.

Zoom and pan to locate hotspot number 20 (top right part of the drawing).

Double-click hotspot number 20, to move to this sub-assembly. You should now be on the DRILL SETTING assembly.

Locate item 11 (bottom right) and double-click it; you should now be at the EXPANDING SHAFT" assembly. There are no limit to your "drilling down" the tree structure of an equipment.

TIP: Selecting and clicking hotspots in the drawing pane is the simplest and most intuitive method to find information by "drilling down" the assembly tree structure.

Click item #3 in the drawing. A floating menu possibly displays its part number, description and internal number; it also offers 4 options: Detailed Data Screen, Add to Shopping List, Interface and User-Defined Fields option.

If CatBase is configured to also use an Internal Number (Stock Code, e.g.) for parts, this number will also appear in the floating menu. The use of an internal number can be selected in the General thumbnail dialog box in the System – Options of the main CatBase menu.

If CatBase is interfaced with another application (a maintenance, a CMMS, or an ERP software, for example), an Interface option appears in the floating menu.

If you select the Detailed Data Screen option in the floating menu or if you double-click on a yellow hotspot, the system displays the Detailed data Screen.

When enabled, the internal number field also appears in this screen and can be used to enter your own part number, corresponding to your in-house stock number. This is often the field that is used when CatBase is interfaced with another application (for example Warehouse Issues).

Click on the Xref. button in the Detailed Data Screen window to see a part’s cross-references list; to close the list, press the Quit button.

Click on the More button in the Detailed Data Screen window to see the attached user-defined fields; to close the dialog box press OK.

Tip: CatBase allows you to define and attach up to 10 user-defined fields to each part in the database.

The Interface button is used to query information from another application. This might be, for example, getting current inventory information from a mini or mainframe host, querying an internal database, etc. This communication feature provides you with a link to up-to-the-minute information.

 Select the Tree Up button to see the current assembly’s predecessors in the assembly tree.

When an assembly belongs to more than one parent, the Tree Up list will display all the predecessors. This allows you to see where assemblies are used, up to each top-level equipment.

Double-click the "BOOMER 322" assembly to return to the top of the tree;

 Click on the Tree Down button to display the equipment breakdown list (assembly tree structure).

The tree can be expanded to various levels as shown on top of the window. Individual nodes can be expanded or collapsed. Simply click on the various expansion levels to activate the different display possibilities.

Notice that there are two separate versions of the ROCK DRILL in the breakdown list. This is part of the CatBase revision management feature that will be explored later in this demo.

Selecting any item in the list will bring you directly to that assembly without having to move through each level of the assembly tree.

Click Quit to close the tree-structure list.

Where Used

CatBase also allows you to locate a part or an assembly in the complete database. Once the location of a part or an assembly is found, you can cycle through all the assemblies that contain that particular part, which will be highlighted.

 Select the Search button.

Click the Parts button in the Select box (on the left side of the dialog box).

Select List to display a complete list of all parts contained in the database.

The list can be sorted and searched by one of the following fields: manufacturer code and part number, description (alphabetic), internal number (when enabled) or part number.

Browse by clicking the PgUp, PgDn, Top or Bottom button to find and highlight the part number: 0211 1401 00.

Click Select or double-click the line with the above-mentioned part number.

CatBase displays a list of all the assemblies containing the selected part. If the part is only found in one assembly, this assembly is displayed immediately.

Double-click the DRILL SETTING at the top of the list.

CatBase displays a red circle around the part in the drawing pane and highlights the part in the parts list pane.

You are now in Where mode and the Where Prior and Where Next buttons are enabled in the toolbar.

 Click the right arrow, in the toolbar, to move to the next assembly containing the part. Select Revision A for the Rock Drill.

Text & Notes

CatBase is not limited to linking assemblies and parts. You can also link any information you wish to an assembly. This can include a note (in text file format), a word-processing document, a spreadsheet file, additional images and pictures, in fact, any Windows data file can be linked to an assembly and the corresponding application can be launched from within CatBase, using the Windows association feature.

Select the Search button.

Click the Assemblies button in the Select box (on the left hand side of the dialog box).

Click List to display a complete list of all the assemblies contained in the database.

Click Top to move to the top of the list.

Go to the "BOOM BUT 32" assembly.

 Click the Text button to see how text can be attached to any assembly or part.

Select File - Close to close the text window.

 Click the Note button, then select the "Sample drawing notes". An image can be panned and zoomed when displayed.

Each assembly can be associated to a drawing note. The drawing note is a special data structure that can contain up to 14 scanned or imported graphical images. The arrow keys in the toolbar or the left and right arrows in the numerical keypad allow you to cycle through the images in each drawing note.

Select the right arrow button to see the next drawing-note page.

Click the Exit button to close the note.

If you have Microsoft Word installed on your computer you can open the attached Word document, by selecting the Note button and then selecting the second attachment.

Note files can also be attached to hotspots. Clicking a hotspot could start a video showing, for example, how to repair the current assembly.

Annotations

In some cases, it may be useful to attach a quick note to an assembly, without making it part of the parts-book data. In the paper era, you were using a Post-it type of paper note. In the electronic era you are using CatBase’s annotation feature.

Select Annotations On in the Toggles menu.

CatBase displays user annotations in the drawing pane, superimposed on the assembly image. Annotations are used to exchange comments between users. The CatBase authoring package can display a list of all the annotations entered in the database. Each annotation automatically includes the user’s code and the date it was entered.

Select Annotations Off in the Toggles menu.

Shopping Lists

CatBase offers the possibility to build a shopping list by just clicking on the parts you need or by selecting all the parts included in a particular region of a drawing.

Select New in the Shopping list menu. Enter a shopping-list number to create a new, empty shopping list. Select OK.

CatBase can be configured to include user-defined header fields in shopping lists.

Select a part (click on a Hotspot).

Select the Add to Shopping list option in the floating menu. The part is added to the shopping list.

Parts can also be added to a shopping list from the Parts - Detailed data screen by clicking the Add to Shopping List button or by double clicking in the second column of the parts list (S column) in front of the part to be added. A little check sign is added in the S column, when the part on that line is selected to be added to the shopping list.

Tip: If, by mistake, you check the wrong line, position your mouse pointer on the check sign you want to remove and double-click it. Just confirm that you want to delete this part from the shopping list, by clicking the Yes button in the Warning box.

In the main menu, in the System - Options - Shopping list & Annotations thumbnail dialog box, you can set the following option on: the system then tells the user, for each part which is added to the shopping list, the quantity that should be ordered. Nevertheless, the quantity can be changed (the suggested quantity can be replaced by the actual quantity needed) by editing the shopping list. To do so, select the Edit option in the Shopping List drop-down menu and edit the highlighted (yellow) numbers if need be.

Instead of selecting parts individually you may select all parts included in a given region of the drawing.

Use Zoom and Pan to display the following image:

Select the Select Region option in the Shopping List menu; the cursor turns into a cross, click on point A (as shown in the image above), move the mouse and click at points B, C, D and E; click the F9 key to close the region. If your last click were on point A again, the system would crop the region without having to press F9.

CatBase displays a list of all the parts included in the selected region. Notice that item # 34 will not be added to the shopping list for it does not have a part number.

Click the Add to Shopping list button to add all the selected items to the shopping list; click the Quit button to close the list.

Select the Shopping List – Edit option to display the shopping list.

The quantity of items ordered can be edited in the shopping list.

The information contained in a shopping list can be printed to a custom-designed form. Or, if you click the Interface button, CatBase will be using Windows’ built-in data-exchange protocol to directly transfer the information, for example, to your parts ordering software, to the work-order module of any maintenance software, and so on.

Click Ok to close the shopping list;

Zoom out in the drawing pane and Select the View Parts in Shopping List option in the Toggles menu, to display the parts you ordered. Their hotspots will surrounded by a blue square.

Synchronize Drawing and Parts List

Note how the current part, highlighted in the parts list, is surrounded with a red circle in the drawing. When the drawing is zoomed, CatBase automatically pans the drawing in order to center the selected hotspot.

Select a few parts in the image by clicking their hotspots. Notice how CatBase updates the highlighted item in the parts list. And vice versa, when selecting parts in the parts list.

You can activate/de-activate this with Synchronize Hotspots and Parts List option in the Toggles menu.

Revisions

Managing design revisions and creating parts books for equipment with slightly different components is often time consuming, prone to errors and demanding. The CatBase tree structure simplifies assembly-revision management. The Revision feature allows you to modify the bill of material and/or the drawing, so reflecting these design changes.

Open the Search dialog box and select a list of assemblies.

Select the "ROCK DRILL COP 1238" in the Assemblies window. This assembly has two revisions in the parts book. Select the first one in the revision selection window.

In the parts list, go to item # 18; it is a SHANK ADAPTER R38.

Select the List Revisions option in the Move menu, and choose now the second revision.

Notice that item # 18 is now the SHANK ADAPTER T45E; this feature can be used for revisions, options, etc.

 CatBase also allows defining valid serial number range and/or valid model type for items in parts list and drawings. If the user sets its serial number and/or model, only valid items will be displayed. This is not shown in Getting Started, please refer to complete help file.

Note how this assembly also uses special color hotspots. In this case, they are used to identify all the items included in two seal kits.

Service Manual Links

Not only does CatBase manage all of your parts book needs, but its linking capabilities also allow you to easily add an hypertext-based maintenance or repair manual. Using the industry standard, Microsoft Window’s help engine, hypertext links can be created in order to provide additional information for any assembly. CatBase can then maintain a bi-directional, context sensitive conversation with the help engine. As you move through the parts book, the help engine displays the corresponding maintenance procedures. While in the hypertext service manual, you can select parts, and CatBase will automatically display the corresponding assembly and highlight the selected parts.

This feature is also supported by Acrobat© files, HTML files, HTML Help files and WEB pages.

Acrobat© files, HTML files and WEB pages are displayed within CatBase, in a third pane in the View window, below the parts list. Optionally, they can still be started by a third application like Acrobat Reader, in a separate window.

Windows Help files and HTML Help files are displayed in a separate window.

Select the Top-Level list in the Search dialog box and go back to the BOOMER 322.

Please note that you must have Internet Explorer installed on your computer.

 Select the toolbar’s Go to Topic button to open the service manual.

CatBase opens the corresponding HTML file in the third pane of the View window.

Activate the HyperLink "Cylinder, piston guides & impact piston" just below the picture, at the bottom of the file.

You can zoom this pane with the View HTML Full Screen button in the HTML toolbar. Click again the same button to switch back to the three-pane screen.

Click on the red "PARTS BOOK" text to make CatBase jump to the ROCK DRILL. Click OK to select the first revision of this assembly.

Use the scroll bar in the Service manual to display the text located below "Fig. 71".

Select one of the red highlighted items in the text (i.e. front piston guide); note that CatBase highlights the corresponding part in the parts book by surrounding its hotspot with a red circle (you may have to zoom the image to see this clearly).

Close the Service Manual by selecting the Close HTML pane option in the Service  menu or by pressing the corresponding button in the HTML toolbar at the bottom of the screen [image].

You can try the same features with Acrobat files and HTML help files with the ROCK DRILLS 9853 5563 51 and 9853 5563 52, or the HYDRAULIC MOTORS 3115 1010 81 and 3115 1010 82. Please note that you must have Acrobat™® Reader installed on your computer to view PDF files.

Vector Images

CatBase also supports vector images: AutoCAD® native files, DXF, HP-GL, WMF, CGM… CatBase allows also transforming vector files into bitmap format files.

 Select the Search button;

Go to the "ELECTRIC DIAGRAM" assembly;

 Use the Zoom Window button to zoom the lower left quadrant of the image; double click on a yellow hotspot to see the Parts – detailed data screen.

Continue zooming to see the infinite zoom feature.

 Select the Drawing Extents button to Zoom out.

 Press the Layers button to open the Layers selection box, where users can select which layers should be displayed. Select a layer and press the Toggle On/Off button or double-click on the line you wish to toggle on or off.

Redline and "Cable Tracing"

Select the Search button;

Go to the "Hydraulic Diagram" assembly;

This is an image converted by CatBase from an AutoCAD file. The image is stored in bitmap format.

Zoom the image twice and then Pan to see the details of the hydraulic drawing.

Double-click on the "HELP" text or on the blue polyline. This starts the CatBase help file.

The Redline functions allows to:

Create hotspots on polylines, even broken. Those hotspots can be linked to items in the parts list as standard hotspots.

Create regular or polyline hotspots that start another application or file, sends DDE messages to a server and jump to another assembly even if not a sub-assembly.

Identify cables, signals or hydraulic hoses and "trace" them from drawing to drawing.

Converting existing data

Novalog Inc is dedicated to help manufacturers speeding the process of creating electronic parts books as well as paper parts books.

Novalog has developed conversion tools from AutoCad engineering files to CatBase format.

Conversion takes about 45 seconds per assembly and creates automatically an assembly, its parts list, its drawing and the hotspots.

Those manufacturers can produce a complete electronic parts book in about one hour.

Furthermore, with the CatBase Print Module, which allows to print customized parts books, our customers can print their paper parts book directly from the CatBase databases.

Novalog has developed, together with manufacturers, various conversions from AS/400 M.R.P. databases, from Interleaf files,  etc.

To demonstrate this, we have included two assemblies in the demo database as well as a sample customized parts book page and table of contents.

The data used for this demonstration is a courtesy of Maclean Engineering Ltd.

 Select the Search button;

 Click the Assemblies button in the Select  box (left side of the dialog);

 Select List to display a complete list of all assemblies contained in the database;

The assembly MACL 211735DWG is the original engineering drawing.

The assembly MACL 211735 is the result of the conversion from AutoCad file to CatBase format.

The CatBase Print Module allows you to print complete customized parts books with automatic table of contents, pages cross-references and parts index.

Quit

 To exit the program, select the Exit button to close the Viewer window and then exit through the yellow door to close the program.


Command Line Parameters

The following command line parameters can be passed to CatBase or CatView

-uXXX	Where XXX is a user code. If the user code does not have a password, the User Code and Password dialog will be by-passed
-g1XXX	Where XXX is a manufacturer code and an assembly or part number separated by a comma. CatBase or CatView will open and display it (in view mode). If it is a part, the assembly will be displayed and the part will be highlighted. If the part belongs to more than one assembly, a list will be displayed to choose from and CatBase or CatView will be in "Where" mode.
-g3XXX	Where XXX is an internal code. CatBase or CatView will open and go directory to the assembly with XXX internal code (in view mode)
-g5XXX	Where XXX is a shopping list name. CatBase or CatView will open a new shopping list with XXX as its name.
-mXXX,YYY,WWW,HHH	Sets the position and size of main window, where: XXX is horizontal position in pixels of top left corner YYY is vertical position in pixels of top left corner WWW is window width HHH is window height
-vXXX,YYY,WWW,HHH	Same as above for view window
-dXXX	Where XXX is the name of a specific working directory one wishes to open.
-b	This parameter will bypass the splash screen, it will overwrite the user’s preferences.


Select Recommended Parts

This dialog box is displayed when you click the menu "Select Recommended Parts" from the popup menu in view mode when you click on the part number column or you do a right click on a line of the parts list that have one or more recommended parts linked to it. The lists all the parts that are linked to a given part in a parts list.

It allows you to select those you want to add to the current shopping list by checking the check-box in the list and clicking on the button "Add to Shopping List".

If a shopping list does not exist at the moment, you are offered to create one.