Data Entry - Properties

There are a number of settings for Data Entry which can be accessed from Tabs within the 'Data Entry'> 'Properties...' form (pressing Ctrl + D during Data Entry opens this form with the 'Defaults' Tab selected). The available sections are 'General', 'Training List', Defaults', 'Customise' and 'Validation'. 

The 'General' Tab enables you to select which Data Entry form is opened first when you select 'Data Entry' (or 'Ctrl + E') from the MapMate Main Screen. By default it opens the 'Data Entry: New Record' form but you can change this to another, e.g. 'Data Entry - New Site'. You can also turn off warning 'bleeps' and limit the number of items returned when matching in a Data Entry field (useful if you have a slow computer). 

'Training List' enables you to remove any default selections from a Match List that you have set up for when an abbreviation is used. You may have selected one to be your default from a Match List by right-clicking on it and selecting 'Remember this' (click here). If this default is no longer needed it can be removed from the list here and you can turn off the warning Bleep that is given when an item from your Training List is used. 

'Defaults' are described in detail in the following section.

'Customise' allows you to select the format of the display of Taxon and Site names in the Data Entry form and the size of the 'Comments' field.

'Validation' allows you to specify warnings to be displayed at the bottom of the 'Data Entry' form when a record is being saved. 

You can set up your own alerts to be displayed when a record for a particular Taxon is Saved (e.g. "voucher specimen required for this species") from the 'Data Entry' > 'Records' > 'New' >'Validation' menu (click here).

MapMate has a number of predefined messages to notify you if you have a first record for a Vice-County, Grid square, Site or Recorder. This can be useful to draw attention to records that may be erroneous but perhaps only after you have synchronised with other users and have a considerable number of records in your database. If you have just started entering data, and your database contains only your own records, it is likely that many of the records that you are entering will generate an alert as they will be new records; you may wish not to activate these validations until you have a larger database. The 'Warn if this is a Duplicate Record' validation is one that should be set when you start entering records, even if you have not synchronised with other users. The validation 'Warn if Date seems wrong for Taxon' will give an alert if the date of a record is significantly different from other records for that Taxon; as in the case of the 'first record for...' validations this becomes more useful as you accumulate records.