Item Classifications and the Item 'Paste Special' List
Whenever you need to enter an Item in a record such as an Order, Invoice or Goods Receipt, you can use the 'Paste Special' feature to help you choose the correct Item. When you press Ctrl-Enter (Windows and Linux) or ⌘-Enter (Macintosh) from any Item field, the result is usually a simple list from which you can choose the correct Item by double-clicking:
You can sort the list so that you can find the Item you want, and you can save the sort order so that it's used by default.
If you have many Items in your database, you can use Item Classifications to build a 'Paste Special' list that provides a greater level of help with Item selection. Follow these steps:
- Spend some time planning your Item Classifications with the aim of helping users to choose Items quickly and easily. In the example illustration of the 'Item Classifications: Browse' window above, we have implemented the following hierarchical structure:
The Item Classification hierarchy is established using the Classification field. In each record on a lower level, the Classification is the Code of the record on the level immediately above.
In the example, the "MAIN" Classification is on the top level: the Classification field in this record is blank:
The "MAIN" Classification has four sub-Classifications "Radios", "Recorders and Playback Devices", "Record Decks and Accessories" and "Speakers". In these Classifications, "MAIN", the top level Classification, has been entered in the Classification field:
Within Classification 1 ("Radios"), there are two further sub-Classifications, "Transistor Radios" and "Tuners". In these Classifications, "1", the immediately superior Classification, has been entered in the Classification field:
This structure is continued down through the hierarchy.
- Having planned your Item Classifications and entered them in the Item Classifications setting, you should now assign them to your Items (using the Classification field on the 'Pricing' card). You can assign as many Classifications as you like to each Item, separated by commas. The Classifications that you assign can be from any level in the hierarchy.
Every Item should have at least one Classification: Items without a Classification will not appear in the new 'Paste Special' list.
- Decide which Classification is to be your default Classification. This is the Classification whose Items will be listed when the Item 'Paste Special' list first appears. Enter this Classification in the Paste Classification field in the Stock Settings setting in the Stock module:
Once you have entered something in this Paste Classification field, the standard 'Paste Special' window will be replaced with the following window when you press Ctrl-Enter/⌘-Enter from any Item field (in this case, from the Item field in an Invoice):
In this example, we have specified that our "MAIN" Classification (i.e. the top level Classification) is the Paste Classification. As a result, the list on the left-hand side is headed "MAIN", and the four second-level Classifications that belong to the "MAIN" Classification are listed there. The list of Items on the right is empty because no Items belong directly to the "MAIN" Classification.
If the Item that we want is a type of Speaker, we can double-click on "4 Speakers" in the left-hand list, with the following result:
The title of the left-hand list changes to "4", the Classification Code for Speakers. This list is now empty, because this Classification has no sub-Classifications. The right-hand list now shows the four Items that belong to this Classification. This right-hand list can be sorted and searched in the usual fashion and, as in the standard 'Paste Special' window, we can create a new Item by clicking [New] or [Duplicate]. If the Item we want is in the list, we can double-click it to add it to the Invoice.
The advantage of specifying that our "MAIN" Classification (i.e. the top level Classification) is the Paste Classification in this example is that when the 'Paste Special' list opens, the major Classifications are all shown in the left-hand list, helping us to find the Item that we want quickly and easily.
However, in some circumstances we might want to specify a lower level Classification as the Paste Classification. For example, our best-selling Item might belong to the "CASS" Classification, so we can make this the Paste Classification. This is a Classification on the third level. In this situation, when the 'Paste Special' list opens, the title of the left-hand list is "CASS", the Paste Classification. This list is empty, because "CASS" has no sub-Classifications. The right-hand list contains the four Items that belong to this Classification:
If the Item that we want does not belong to the "CASS" Classification, we can click the [Back] button to go up one level in the hierarchy (to Classification "2 Recorders and Playback Devices"), or we can click the [Top] button to go to the top level (to the "MAIN" Classification).
