Access Selection List Launch Search from Screen Launch Search Within Selection List
It is a list of items from which you can select. It contains all items within a given category, be it patients, tests, comments, or organisms. Selection lists can also be referred to as help, help lists, or pick lists.
Selection lists are based on databases that are defined by the facility when the CyberLAB system is implemented. These databases include the Test Dictionary, the QC Test Dictionary, the Client Master, and the Comment Master, among others.
Note: A predefined comment on the Comment Selection List can be used in the Results Entry module as a test result. The comment cannot be modified.
Effective sorting mechanisms incorporated in the selection lists make it easier for you to locate and select the information you need.
A magnifying glass icon indicates the presence of a selection list. The icon is always located to the right of a text box. The magnifying glass icon doesn't do anything other than alert you to the presence of a selection list within the text box.
To access a selection is simple. Position the pointer over the text box and double-click. The selection list appears.
Selection lists frequently are often lengthy. The CyberLAB system includes several features in its selection lists to speed up your search. These features are:
Start at
Use the Start at text box to filter or narrow the search of a long list. Enter a partial code, name, or description to advance to the desired place in the selection list.
Sort Link
Searches the list, based on the criteria that you specified. One sort link, as shown above, is always active. If there is more than one, you must choose the link that matches the information you entered in the Start at text box.
Prev and Next Buttons
If the number of selections exceed one screen, the Prev (Previous) and Next buttons are active. Click the Next button to advance to the next available screen. Click the Prev button to return to previously viewed screen.
There are several ways to perform a search for data:
Launch search from the CyberLAB screen
Launch search within a selection list
To launch search from the CyberLAB screen:
Enter within a text box on CyberLAB system screen a partial code or name, and then double-click in the text box to display a selection list. When the selection list appears, the data displayed begins with the letter(s) or number(s) entered on the previous screen.
For instance, if you are working in the Result Entry module and need to find a test number for hepatitis, enter H within the Test text box and double-click to obtain a list of all tests beginning with the letter H, or enter HEP to narrow the search to include only tests beginning with the letters HEP.
The search can be refined further, read on beginning at Step 2, below.
To launch a search within a selection list:
Position the pointer within the text box on the CyberLAB system screen and double-click to obtain the selection list. The selection list will display.
If the selection list is a mix of letters, numbers and symbols, the symbols appear first on the selection list that displays, followed by the numbers, and then the letters.
If any entry within a selection list is blank or begins with a space, it appears at the top of the list before those beginning with symbols, numbers or letters.
If the data you need is not displayed on the first screen, use one of the CyberLAB system's three search tools to narrow your search:
- Sort Link - Sort links display below the Start at text box and consist of a round blue (active or selected) or white (inactive or not selected) image and an underlined word or phrase that defines the link. In the illustration above, the Patient Name sort link is active and Patient ID is not active.
When a selection list appears, the sort link on the left is active (blue). If more than one link is available, click the desired link to activate it. If there is only one sort link, it is always active.
The sort links that display differ from selection list to selection list.
You do not have to enter any data in the Start at text box to use a sort link. Click either the round image or the words for the desired sort link, to sort the entire list in ascending order (0-9, A-Z), according to the link you click.
To refine a search, enter a letter or number, as described in Start at, below, and choose the sort link that corresponds to the information you enter.
- Start at - Use the Start at text box to filter or pare down a long list into a list that contains elements that are closer to what you are looking to find.
To advance directly to place in the list, enter in the Start at text box all or as much of the name, ID, code, description or number (ID is a code) as you know. If there is more than one sort link, as above, click the one that corresponds to the entered data, either a name, ID or description.
Tip: The Start at text box is case sensitive, meaning that if a lower case letter is entered in the Start at text box and all of the selection list entries are capitalized, nothing displays after the list is searched.
Enter a capital letter to conduct a productive search (or vice versa). For example, if patient names are capitalized and you enter 'jones,' nothing displays even if you have more than 100 patients named Jones in the database.
The searchable elements (sort links) correspond to the column headings within the selection list. Many (not all) selection lists include a Start at text box to specify the starting point for your search.
- Prev / Next - Use the Prev and Next buttons to advance or return to previously viewed screens of the selection list.
If all available selections are displayed on a single screen, the Prev and Next buttons are shaded to indicate that no additional selections are available.
Position the pointer over the desired item within the selection list and double-click. The system inserts your selection in the text box on the CyberLAB screen.
Or, in a two-step selection procedure, single click the desired item and then click the OK button at the bottom of the selection list.
If you do not find what you are looking for on a selection list, click the Cancel button to close the selection list and return to the CyberLAB screen.
The selection list will close automatically if you double-click a selection. To exit the selection list if you single click a selection, click the OK button at the bottom of the selection window.
To exit the selection list without making a selection, click the Cancel button at the bottom of the selection window.
Note: Do not attempt to remove the selection list from your computer screen by pressing the Minimize button, located in the upper right corner of the selection list window.
If you do, the selection list is minimized to a button on your task bar. To maximize the selection list again, click the corresponding button on the task bar. If you neglect to maximize it, the selection list reappears when you attempt to process data by clicking any button at the bottom of a CyberLAB screen.
If you do not make a selection on the selection list, click the Cancel button to exit the selection list. The system returns to the previous screen, and the pointer is active in the text box that launched the selection list.