StairBiz Help

# Learning your way around

# Windows in StairBiz

Note that windows relating to estimating are not shown if you do not have the Estimate module (see Chapter 1 : How to use this Manual/ The optional “Estimate” module).

Everything in StairBiz happens in a window. You can do things in them and view things in them. The currently open windows are listed in the Windows menu. Select the menu-item to bring that window to the front.

For different ways of opening each of the StairBiz windows, see Opening Windows. Also see Window Size & Position.

A shortcut for closing any currently active window is the Control+F4 key combination.

Windows in StairBiz are in seven major categories. These categories correspond to the main menus in StairBiz, and are as follows: • Defaults windows • Process windows • View windows • Custom windows • Draw windows • Schedule windows • CNC windows

# Defaults windows

Your business has a particular way of doing things. You have your own timbers, sizes, styles, names, stair-setout dimensions, assembly methods, quotation sheets, Job sheets etc. etc.

StairBiz has to learn how you do things, and this is done mostly in the Defaults windows. See Setting Up for Your Business.

Defaults windows are opened via the Defaults menu.

They are as follows: • Styles • Timbers • Miscellaneous • Setout • Extra Lengths • Parts • Part Filters • Labour Filters • My Data Defaults • Overheads • Preferences • Users & Networking • Language • Colours • Job Numbers • Folders • Building Codes • Print Settings • Custom Editor • Custom Menus • Export Templates

# Process windows

The Process window is the control centre for all the windows used specifically to process a job (called Process windows). Process windows can be opened from the Process menu (and in other ways – see Opening Windows). See also Processing a Job.

Following is the list of Process windows: • Client • Site • Job Details • Components • Setout • Design • Labour • Quote Calculation • Quote • Schedule • Invoice • Payments • Receipt • My Data • Notes

In addition, the Client List window shows a list of your regular clients, which can be useful in processing the Client window of a job.

# View windows

View windows are used to view Job sheets. The layout and content of these windows is fixed (you can’t change it). They can be printed individually, or all at once using the Print Job window.

They are opened via the View menu (and in other ways – see Opening Windows). Various View sheets (Project, Mat Cost, Mat List, BOM and Labour Cost) can be exported to Excel - click the ‘Export’ button at the bottom/right of the sheet.

# Custom windows

Custom windows are used to view Custom sheets. The layout and content of these windows can be anything you like. They can be printed individually, or all at once using the Print Job window.

They are opened via the Custom menu (and in other ways – see Opening Windows).

# Draw windows

Draw windows are used to create your own drawings or to modify existing StairBiz drawings. These drawing are in bitmap format and are saved with the relevant job. These drawings can also be pasted into Custom sheets to override the drawings StairBiz generates automatically in those sheets.

They are opened via the Draw menu.

See Draw windows.

# CNC windows

CNC windows relate to using StairBiz in conjunction with CNC router tables.

They are opened via the CNC menu.

See the separate Users Manual CNC (in the StairBiz Program folder).

# Opening windows

# Windows generally

Click any visible part of a background window to bring that window to the front.

If the menu relating to the menu-item that opens the window has a shortcut (one of the characters in the menu-heading is underlined), press Alt-Char (where “Char” is the character underlined). This opens the menu. From here you can use the arrows keys to scroll down or up and menu-items, then press Enter when the correct menu-item is selected. Alternatively, if the required menu-item has an underlined character, simply press this character on the keyboard.

Some menu-items which open windows have a direct shortcut (e.g. the Job Directly menu-item has Ctrl+D written after it). To produce the same effect as selecting this menu-item, press the Control key and the character at the same time.

The currently open windows are listed in the Windows menu. Select the menu-item to bring that window to the front.

# Directory window

  1. Select the Directory menu-item from the Project menu.
  2. Click its icon in the Tool-bar.
  3. Control+D
  1. Select the Print Job menu-item from the Project menu.
  2. Control+M

# Defaults windows

To open any Defaults window – select it from the Defaults menu.

# Process window

  1. Control+J
  2. Select it from the Process menu
  3. Click it’s icon in the Tool-bar.

Note that a Custom sheets (and some other windows) can be opened from a button in the Process window – see Chapter 13/ Process window/ Customizing buttons in Process window.

# Process windows

Process windows are sub-windows of the Process window and can be opened from

  1. The Process menu
  2. The picture buttons in the Process window
  3. Many of these windows can be opened from the Tool-bar.
  4. Control+W will open the next one (after the previous one opened).
  5. You can open the Notes window from the Process window by clicking the MyData button while holding down the Control Key (alternatively it can be opened from the Process menu).

# View windows

These windows show Job sheets and can only be opened by selecting them from the View menu.

# Custom windows

These windows show Custom sheets and can be opened by selecting them from the Custom menu. A Custom sheet (and some other windows) can also be opened from a button in the Process window – see Chapter 13/ Process window/ Customizing buttons in Process window.

# Draw windows

These windows show manually generated drawings and can only be opened by selecting them from the Draw menu.

# CNC windows

These windows can only be opened by selecting them from the CNC menu.

# Design sub-windows

These windows can only be opened from the buttons at the left of the Design window.

# Client List window

  1. The Client List menu-item under the Process menu.
  2. The Open Client List button in the Client window of a job.

# Closing windows

Any window can be closed by either clicking on the “X” at the far top-right of the window, or (where available) by clicking the “Close”, “OK” or “Done” buttons. In the case of “Modal” windows (windows that must close before you can proceed with anything else), in most cases clicking any button will close the window.

All job windows (i.e. non-default windows) close when you close a job (the Process window will reopen). To close ALL windows except the Process window, select Close All Open Windows from the Windows menu, or click the Process window button in the main tool bar. In both cases this does not close the job.

# Window size & position

Most of the windows in StairBiz are resizable. To re-size a window click the bottom right corner of the window and drag to the desired size. Resizable windows can also be maximized and minimized (click the buttons at the top right of the window), but if you maximize one window you maximize all of them, which is generally not the effect you want – best to resize them manually.

Windows in StairBiz open in the same size and position as they were last closed (except if they were maximized or minimized at the time, in which case they open in the same position they were last closed when not maximized or minimized).

# NOTE:

This last point can cause confusion in the unlikely event that you change to a smaller monitor, or a lower monitor resolution, or (more likely) leave a window partly off-screen when you close it – your windows can open partly off-screen and cause Microsoft to show extra scroll bars (the ones that allow you to scroll the windows on-screen if necessary without changing their position in the overall scheme of things).

Because StairBiz uses many windows, the situation can become confusing.

The solution is to tick the Fix Off-screen Windows button in the Preferences window. Ticking this button will cause StairBiz, upon opening any window, to bring it fully within the viewing area of the monitor if it is not already so. If the window is larger than the monitor, StairBiz will position it at the top left corner. An alternative is to click the Reset Window Positions button in the Preferences window. This resets your saved window positions and sizes to those current when you first installed StairBiz. It only affects windows that are not currently open.

# Working within windows

There are some things that you do in windows often, and are referred to in this help often. It will help you to know the following definitions.

# input

Something you, as the user of the program, does. It could be clicking a button or toggle, selecting from a menu, typing into a text-field, etc.

# select, selected

  1. Text on the screen which is inverted (highlighted). Select text by double-clicking or click-dragging it. Also see Editing.
  2. A radio button which is the one which is marked. Select a radio button by clicking on it.
  3. A check box which has a tick. Select a check box by clicking on it once.
  4. An item in a list. Select by clicking on the item.
  5. Some other object that is highlighted or otherwise distinguished from its normal state. Select it usually by clicking on it.

# unselect, unselects, unselected

  1. Text on the screen which is not inverted (highlighted). Unselect text by clicking once somewhere on the text. Also see Editing.
  2. A radio button which is not the one which is marked. Unselect a radio button by clicking on another radio button in the group.
  3. A check box which does not have a tick. Unselect a check box by clicking on it once.
  4. An item in a list. Unselect by clicking on another item.
  5. Some other object that is not highlighted or otherwise distinguished from its normal state. Unselect usually by clicking on it, or clicking somewhere else.

# enabled

A term given to a button, menu-item or text box when it is available for clicking, selection or input. The button, menu-item or text box is not grey or dimmed.

# disabled

A term given to a button, menu-item or text box when it is not available for clicking, selection or input. The button, menu-item or text box is grey or dimmed.

# click

The action of depressing the button on top of the mouse while the cursor is placed over something “clickable” in a window. A double-click involves depressing the mouse button twice in rapid succession.

# click-drag

A click-drag involves clicking and, while keeping the mouse button depressed, dragging the cursor across the screen to a desired destination before releasing, usually creating a rectangle.

# The main StairBiz toolbar

At the very left of your screen (normally) is a vertical toolbar containing icons associated with the most frequently used menu-items. This is for convenience – it’s often faster to click on the toolbar than to select from the menu.

# Moving the toolbar

At the very beginning of the toolbar is a drag point (represented by two lines). You can click the drag point and drag the toolbar to wherever you want. It you drop the toolbar close to the left, top, right or bottom edges of the screen, it will snap to those positions, otherwise it will free-float wherever you drop it.

# Additional Tools

Right-click the toolbar and select Additional Tools to add further functionality.

# Customizing the toolbar

Coming soon.

# Toolbar has disappeared

If you either deliberately or accidentally hid the toolbar, you can get it back by trashing the following file: C:\StairBiz Program\Defaults\UserTools.tb

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