Shrink Record

   For various reasons, your Instant Database record may be very 'long'. One reason may be that your documents just contains many variables, all of which need to be completed in order to fully personalize the document.

   But just as often, you may have an Instant Database record where many of the field values are 'blank and will always be blank for this client or customer'. For example, you may have scraped an extensive intake form that was designed to capture lots of data for many different scenarios. However, many of the fields are just not relevant to the specific client's project. Other times, you recall a record where document variables were not completed, and you expect them to never be completed. (Think '[Address Line2],' but there are many other possibilities.)  

   When there are just a few 'blank' values and everything fits on one or two pages, this 'overkill' isn't troublesome. But when the record spans several pages, and there are many 'blank' lines were variable values will never go, it may be time to shrink the record.

   To 'shrink' a record, display the record onto the Instant Database screen. Check the 'shrink' box (unlabelled, but with tip text) next to the Save button in the Existing Records section of the screen. (Note: this box does not appear unless its name appears in the Existing Records box.) Then, press the 'Save' button. Pathagoras will confirm your choice, twice, and then when confirmed, reduce the record to contain only lines where values have been provided. (If you want to preserve a line that has no current value, simple insert a 'dot' (a period). That dot tells Pathagoras to retain that variable for the time being. (Don't worry. If the dot remains as the variable's value, Pathagoras will not later replace the variable with the dot when you activate the Replace routine.)

Click to enlarge

   While shrinking the record does remove the 'empty' variables, any removed variable can be restored if circumstances change. You can add back a variable (1) manually by using Power Tools or (2) by scanning a document that has the now 'new' variable. (Don't forget that when Pathagoras 'sees' a variable in a document that is not in the current record, it automatically adds it to the list.)