Intelligent Fields

Intelligent fields are fields that recognize, and fill in, previously entered information.

As you type the first characters of your entry into an intelligent field such as Author, Publisher and Binding, Abebooks HomeBase searches previous entries and supplies the first alphabetic match. Matches appear as highlighted text in the field. If the match does not provide the information you wish to enter, continue typing over the highlighted text. With each character that you type, HomeBase narrows the options until a matching entry appears in the field. If the matched entry is not the one you want, type the complete entry. In some cases, there may be information left over such as if you typed King and Kingston was being displayed. To delete the remaining information, press the [Delete] key.

If you have entered information that HomeBase does not recognize, such as an entry that was not already in your database, the new entry will be added to the list when you move from the field. The next time you begin to enter the same information in that field, HomeBase will match your entry with this new information.

Some intelligent fields are not capable of adding, modifying, or deleting items from their lists at all. For instance, the Book Status field on the "Books" screen does not accept new entries into its list. This field can only display entries that have been previously assigned.

Some intelligent fields require confirmation and/or additional information before adding new entries to their lists.  For instance, if you type a new edition type in the Edition field of a book, HomeBase prompts you to provide more information before the new edition is added to the list of edition types.

Most intelligent fields in HomeBase have an [Edit] button .  List items may be modified or deleted directly from the list.

To select an item from an intelligent field list:

1. Click the arrow button to open the list.
2. Click an item from the list to select it. Once you have clicked an item, the list closes and the selected item appears in the current field.

To edit the list of an intelligent field:

1. Click the arrow button beside the field you wish to edit. The list appears.
2. Click the entry you wish to modify or delete. The selected entry appears in the field.
3. Click the [Edit] button beside the field. The "Edit List" screen appears.
4. Modify the entry or click the [Remove] button. You may also select either of the following options:
• [Automatically format to proper case] if you want HomeBase to assign proper casing to your entry.  Using this function could reduce the performance of HomeBase.  
• [Only allow entries that match list items] if you want HomeBase to match entries with existing entries in the list. You will not be able to add any more items to the list.  Using this function could reduce the performance of HomeBase.
5. Click the [Done] button.