[Navigation]

What to the Function Keys Do?

Throughout this manual there have been references to function keys. Function keys are used to access demons (functions which can be 'invoked' anywhere in the system) e.g. phone directory, swapping printers etc. This chapter will provide a reference to the various function key capabilities.

Function keys are usually located along the top of the keyboard. On terminals and computers running an emulation program the function keys may NOT work, in this case use the control key equivalents. The control key equivalents are given in brackets beside the appropriate options.

The <Shifted> Function keys can be configured to run other commands and are setup as required. Details are given later in the section.

F1 - Help
 If available this function key will access the on-line help screen. The full screen help will only work in certain parts of the software.

F2 - Talk
 A simple 'split screen' utility for communicating with another logged in user.

F3 (^B) - Till
 If the user has permission this will open the till drawer manually without having to go through the cash routine.

F4 (^G) - Change user I.D
 In normal cases the veterinary surgeon using the system will log onto the system and continue using the same terminal for the duration of the surgery. If a surgeon is moving from terminal to terminal he/she should press F4 (or <CTRL> <G>) and enter his/her User ID (User may also be prompted for a password, see Section 26). This is to enable the correct access permissions to be allocated.

F5 (^T) - Send a message to another user
 This will access the routine for sending a message to another user on the system. The user to whom you are sending the message need not be logged onto the system - however, the user's name must be valid.

You can enter up to ten lines of text for each message to send a message under 10 lines press RETURN on a new message line. The user will be notified the next time they use the system that new messages are waiting. The number of messages stored will be displayed in the upper right of the main menu screen. For more details see Section 24.

F6 - Operating system shell
 This will drop you into the operating system allowing you to perform any commands as required. To return to the vet system either press ^D (Unix) or type 'exit' (MSDOS). When you are returned the screen may be messed up depending on what took place.

Access permission 81 can be used to restrict users from using F6 to access the Operating system.

When F6 is used to access the operating system the prompt under Unix is 'Vet> ' instead of the $ prompt. This is to avoid confusion.

F7 (^N)- Phone directory
 This accesses the telephone directory, allowing you to look up phone numbers. When pressed you will be asked: 

Enter name to find phone number for ......
Enter the name you require or part thereof, and the system will display all matches it finds. You press return after each choice if not correct. You will be returned to the prompt line. Telephone numbers may be set up from the Utilities menu. To learn more about the phone directory see Section 24

F8 (^O) - Calculator
 A simple one line calculator. The following prompt will appear: 

Expression to calculate .............
Enter the expression using the standard arithmetic operators e.g. + plus, - minus, * multiply, / divide, ^ to the power of. When return is pressed the answer is displayed. E.g. you type '10*.15' and press return - the message 'The answer is 1.5' appears.

The operator '\' can be used for integer division and the ':' is used to signify the modulus function (remainder). Brackets are not permitted. Precedence of operators is strictly left to right. Accuracy is available to 8 significant figures. Scientific notation is permitted in the following form: for 4.2 times 10 to the power 8 enter 4.2E8. The range of permitted powers runs from E-63 to E63.

The calculator also supports the use of parentheses in calculations to change the order in which arguments are evaluated. For example, 4*5+6=26 but 4*(5+6)=44. Please note that all operators have the same precedence and are evaluated from left to right, i.e. 4+5*7 is 63 not 39.

F9 (^P) - Printer
 This option is explained in more detail in the Appendix.

When F9 or ^P is pressed the prompt line will display the current printer giving you the option to change it as required. e.g. 

Printer currently '(A) Epson ' <S>wap, <C>opies <R>eload <K>ill or <Q>uit [Q]
The prompt line will also give you the option to set the number of copies to be printed (Copies). This is a quicker method than getting the vet system to print multiple copies. You must set the number of copies BEFORE you start the print run.

Cancelling a print job

The Kill option allows you to cancel the current (or all) print job(s) from printing.

F10 (^F) - Clock
 The current time will be displayed on the prompt line. Press F10 again to re-display the prompt line. If you press F10 while on an animal card the system will show the amount of time you have spent since first accessing the record.

F11 (^Y) - User activity
 Allows the user to find out what other users are doing. All workstations are listed by number, together with the login name, when they logged on, the length of time they have been logged on for, and which program of the Premvet 5 system they are running.

Note: Only users running the Premvet 5 software are mentioned. This command is only available from menus.

F12 - Calendar
A personal diary/calendar, can be used for personal appointments and schedules.

Shifted function key set-up


 You can configure the shifted function keys to run Operating system commands. There is a menu option on the Utilities menu called 'F'unction key set up (this option can be restricted by means of Access Permission 67). When selected it will display the current settings with the option to change as required. The available options for each command are:

Command

The name of the command you want to run.

Options

There will be some commands you may want to run that need some additional parameters, e.g. default printer. This column is used for this. The possible options are: 
 &PD - Default printer
 &PL - Label printer
 &PP - POS printer
 &ASK - Ask a question.
 &CL - the current animal number

If the 1st five letters of 'Command' is http:, this will be taken as a web page and your browser will be called automatically.

CR

Whether the system is to prompt you with 'Press RETURN to continue' after the command is finished.

Clear

Whether you want to clear the screen before running the command.

Note:

  1. Do not use the DELETE key with running the command as this can affect the vet system. If you do use it, you will end up with a problem whereby you have to press each key twice. To fix this problem log the affected screen off and then back on again.
  2. Depending on where the command is run from you may find that on return the screen will not redisplay the original data. You will be returned to the exact point from before the function key was pressed.

Control keys
 A full list of control key commands is given below: 

A   Unavailable - Internally used by Wyse terminal 
B   Till Drawer    
C   Page down     
D   Right arrow    
E   Up arrow      
F   Clock       
G   Change user    
H   Backspace
I   Tab
J   Line feed     
K   Down Arrow     
L   Right arrow
M   CR
N   Phone dir.
O   Calculator     
P   Change printer     
Q   Unavailable - Used by Unix       
R   Page up      
S   X-on/Left Arrow    
T   Send mail     
U   Control page up    
V   Insert       
W   Control page down   
X   Down arrow     
Y   What's happening on the system
Z   Access the Stock Scratch File
[ (1B) Escape
\ (1C) Virtual screen (if set up)
] (1D) Virtual screen (if set up)
^ (1E) Home
_ (1F) Unused

Top Classic New-Style Chapters Sections Index Search