Other IDB Functions, Features and Tools

   There are a few more features of the IDB system of which you should be aware that have not been discussed elsewhere:

•Double Click: Double clicking on a variable name (left side) in the IDB screen will cause the variable name without the brackets to be transferred to the 'replace with' (right) side of the form. So, to 'keep' the text that resides within the bracket, double click it so that it stays in the document. (The actual operation is that it replaces itself with itself, sans brackets.)

Example:  Let's say that you are preparing a cover letter to accompany a purchase order. In some cases, the purchase is final, while in others a product return is allowed. To meet this situation, you might place a variable in the source document that reads "[All purchases final.]"

   When it is time to personalize the document, that variable (along with all other document variables) will be presented on the Instant Database screen. If this is one of those sales where no return is allowed, the user could double click the "[All purchases final.]" variable and it will be transferred to the right as the replacement text. When you click the Next button (telling Pathagoras to make the replacements),  "All purchases final." will appear in the final letter. Of course, if refunds are allowed, the operator would simply leave the replacement text blank. When Next is pressed, the variable will be deleted and the proper message will be communicated. (In actuality, the variable is replaced with 'nothing,' but the result is the same.)

Double click on variable transfers text (without brackets) into replacement column.

The effect of the operation described above is the functional equavalent placing the text within Optional text boundaries and processing the document with <Alt-P> This approach -- using just the Instant Database -- may be easier if you don't really need (or yet use) optional text blocks, and want to handle such text within Instant Database.

•Copy variable, brackets and all: In the previous bullet, we mentioned that double clicking on a variable will transfer the content of the variable to the 'value' (right) side of the screen, without the brackets. Let's say that you want to preserve a specific variable, but want to delete all other 'blank' variables (the bullet immediately above). To accomplish this seemingly contradictory feat, just copy the bracketed variable onto itself. The value is not 'blank' so it won't be deleted, but the variable also remains in the document for later completion. A 'shift-double click' on the variable accomplishes this, with the brackets preserved. You can also replace the variable with itself (as described above), to override the always on 'Delete if Blank' setting by  simply type as the replacement value a pair of facing parenthesis: '()'. (This signals Pathagoras to ignore 'Delete if Blank' for this variable.

•Don't re-scan:   By default, Pathagoras re-scans the underlying document for additional variables after you have recalled an Existing Record. If the underlying document contains many variables, and these variables are already contained in the Existing Record, this re-scan is consuming several seconds of your time for no good purpose. While the r-scan is typically just a few second, not long, it is still 'time spent' if no new variables exist. So if you have a 'mature' record (one that you know contains all possible variables, you can skip this re-scan by clicking the box in the lower right corner of the 'Existing Records' section.