What is

• What is ACT	A database program, combined with a scheduling program, a word processor and a report generator. The assignments will take you through all of these functions.
  Database Functions	ACT! keeps information about a contact (person) in a "record" Each record has about 100 fields A field is a single datum such as a name or phone number.

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• Field types – you can change the type for almost all fields.
  Field type	Data allowed in field
  Character	Alphanumeric characters. An alphanumeric character is a letter or a number.
  Currency	Numbers and decimal points only, which will be formatted according to the currency settings in the Windows Regional Settings control panel.
  Date	Dates only, which will be formatted according to the date settings in the Windows Regional Settings
  Control panel.	The field will have a drop-down date selector in it.
  Initial Capitals	Alphanumeric characters, which will be automatically formatted with a capital letter at the beginning of each word.
  Lowercase	Alphanumeric characters, which will be automatically formatted in all lowercase letters. The Shift and Caps Lock keys have no effect when you type in a lowercase field.
  Numeric	Numbers and decimal points only. If you type a letter in this field, it will be ignored.
  Phone	Numbers only.
  Time	Times only, which will be formatted according to the time settings in the Windows Regional Settings control panel. The field will have a drop-down time selector in it.
  Uppercase	Alphanumeric characters, which will be automatically formatted in all uppercase letters. The Shift and Caps Lock keys have no effect when you type in an uppercase field.
  URL Address	Alphanumeric characters. The address entered in the field will become an active link to the specified URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

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• Field labels
  Labels appear on the contact screen next to the information in the field. When you change the label the field name also changes>
  Changing labels and data types for a field
  Click Edit Define Fields
  The Define fields dialog box appears

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• "My" Record
  Contains all the information about you.	Fill it in completely. It will be most useful when doing assignments.
  To access it select Lookup, My Record (press ALT, L, Enter)

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• Adding contacts (records)
  Click Contact, New Contact, or Press ALT, C, N, or Press the INSERT key

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• Deleting contacts (records)
  Click Contact, Delete Contact, or Press ALT, C, D, or Press the CTRL+Delete keys

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• Grouping contacts (records)
  Groups are handy for mail merges and doing selective lookups.
  To access the group window click View Groups, or press ALT, V, G
  Creating a New Group
  Click Group New Group, or press Alt, G, P
  Type the name of the group. For eample: Teachers You can also type a group description.

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• Adding contacts to a group
  Add contacts by Clicking Group Group Membership, or Type  ALT, G, G You can add contacts after closing the Edit Groups dialog box.   Select View, Group Membership. (press ALT,V,S) Double click on each group to which this contact belongs. A check mark will appear next to the groups selected.
  	Scroll through the members. Highlight a member that you want to add Click on the Add>> button Repeat until you have selected all you want. Click OK
  To close the group window  Click on the lower "x"  in the corner, or Click on View Contacts , or type ALT, V, N , or press F11

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• Using a group.
  If you select a group then the database is temporarily reduced to only members of that group.
  Click on the button at the bottom of the screen Select the group that you created Look at the number of contacts at the top of the screen

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• Lookups
  You can quickly find contacts by using the Lookup menu		Lookups are done in the group that you have currently selected. If you want to search the entire database then make sure that you are in the group named "ALL". Lookups are not case sensitive.
  My Record	Goes to your record.
  Everyone	Thus "undoes" any previous lookups. If a lookup does not work then looking up everyone. Then repeat your original lookup.
  Previous	This goes back to the last look up that you executed.
  Company	Type all or part of a name. E.G. Type "computer" and you’ll find all companies that have "computer" in their name.
  Last name	Same.
  Phone	Same. You could look up everyone in a given area code by just typing the area code.
  City	same
  State	same
  Zip Code	same
  ID Status	same
  Other	presents you with a contact screen. Type what you want, in as many fields as you like. Then select OK and ACT! will execute the complicated lookup. Warning! These lookups often don’t work and/or take a long time.
  Priority	Looks up according to the priority that you have given certain tasks.
  Keyword	Searches the entire database. All fields, notes, etc are scanned. With a big database this can take a while.