Using notes in Analytics projects

There are several different types of notes you can create in Analytics to record information about specific project items. Notes are particularly useful for recording details of a process that is repeated on a regular basis. When more than one person will be working with an Analytics project, notes make it easier for others to understand the procedures you design.

You can add notes to the following items:

  • Analytics project
  • table layout
  • view
  • record
  • field
  • script
  • workspace

Add or edit Analytics project notes

You can add a note to an Analytics project to record any details about the project that you want to keep for future reference, or document for other users. You can edit the content of a project note at any time.

  1. Right-click the Analytics project in the Overview tab in the Navigator.

    The Analytics project is the top-level entry in the treeview.

  2. Select Properties.
  3. In the Project Properties dialog box, click the Notes tab.
  4. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  5. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

Add or edit table layout notes

You can add a note to a table layout to record information such as when or how the data source was accessed, the computed fields that are defined, or the analysis steps that need to be completed on the table. You can add a table layout note in either the Overview tab of the Navigator, or the Table Layout dialog box. You can edit the content of a table layout note at any time.

If you maintain table layout notes in the Navigator, you do not need to open the table to add, edit, delete, or read the note.

Table layout notes appear in printed Analytics reports if Include Report History with Reports is selected in the Options dialog box (the default setting). For more information, see Print options.

Add or edit a note from the Overview tab

  1. Right-click the table in the Overview tab in the Navigator and select Properties.
  2. In the Table Properties dialog box, click the Notes tab.
  3. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  4. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

Add or edit a note from the Table Layout dialog box

  1. Select Edit > Table Layout.
  2. Click the Table Layout Options tab.
  3. Click Edit Table Layout Note .
  4. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  5. Click Close .

    The note is automatically saved.

  6. Click Close  to exit the Table Layout dialog box.

Add or edit view notes

You can add a note to a view to provide additional information about the view. The note is specific to that particular view, and is copied to any new views created from that view. You can edit the content of a view note at any time.

View notes appear in printed Analytics reports if you select Include View Note in Report History in the Options dialog box. For more information, see Print options.

  1. At the bottom of the View tab, right-click the button for the view you want to add a note to and select Properties.
  2. In the View Properties dialog box, click the Notes tab.
  3. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  4. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

Add or edit record notes

You can add a note to a record to provide additional information about the record, or to create a link to a related file. A note added to a record is available in any views of the table that include the record. You can edit the content of a record note at any time.

Note icon

Records that have a note attached are identified by a note icon next to the record number in the view . Tables that have one or more records with a note are identified in the Overview tab in the Navigator with a note icon in the lower-left corner of the standard table icon .

The RecordNote field

When you add the first record note in a table, Analytics automatically adds a field called RecordNote to the table layout, which is used to contain record notes. You can display record notes in views, or include them in printed Analytics reports, by adding the RecordNote column to the view. Once you have added the RecordNote column, you can double-click values in the column to quickly and easily maintain record notes.

Steps

Tip

To add or edit multiple record notes simultaneously, use the NOTES command.

  1. Right-click the appropriate record number in the record number column in the View tab (the grey, first column on the far left) and select Edit Note.
  2. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  3. If you want to create a link to a related file, do the following:
    1. Position the cursor at the location in the note where you want to insert the link.
    2. Click File Reference .
    3. Select the appropriate file in the Open dialog box and click Open.

      A link to the file is added to the note using the following syntax:

      file:///<path_to_file>

  4. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.
  5. If you want to display record notes in a view, or include them in printed Analytics reports, do the following:
    1. Right-click in the display area and select Add Columns.
    2. In the Available Fields list, double-click RecordNote and click OK.

Save record notes

If required, you can save record notes to a text file or to another Analytics table.

Whenever you update the data in an Analytics table (Refresh from Source) all record notes in the table are automatically deleted. You can save the record notes prior to updating the table, or you can use the Analytics option that allows you to save the notes in the process of updating the table. The saved notes are formatted slightly differently depending on how you save them.

Save record notes to a text file prior to updating a table

  1. Enter the following syntax in the command line:

    LIST Recno() RecordNote to <file_name.txt>

    For example, LIST Recno() RecordNote to Ap_trans_record_notes.txt

    The name of the text file must not include any spaces.

  2. Click Run .

Save record notes to another Analytics table prior to updating a table

  1. Perform a standard extract by fields and select the RecordNote field.
  2. Select at least one other field to extract, or create the expression “Recno( )” and add the expression as an additional field to extract.

    Analytics does not allow you to extract the RecordNote field by itself.

Save record notes to a text file while updating a table

In the process of updating a table, click Yes when prompted to save notes to a file.

The record notes are saved to a file called <table_name.txt>. The file is located in the same folder as the Analytics project.

Delete record notes

You can delete record notes individually or selectively, or delete all the record notes in a table at once.

Delete record notes individually

  1. Right-click the appropriate record number in the record number column in the View tab (the grey, first column on the far left) and select Edit Note.
  2. Delete all content from the Edit Note dialog box, ensuring that you delete any spaces or line breaks that precede or follow text, and click OK.

Note

Individually deleting all the record notes in a table does not delete the auto-generated RecordNote field from the table layout, which means the note icon continues to appear with the table icon in the Overview tab in the Navigator.

If your intention is to delete all the record notes in a table, use the method for deleting all record notes, which also deletes the RecordNote field.

Delete record notes selectively

  1. Enter the following expression in the command line, using an IF statement that identifies the records with notes you want to delete:

    NOTES IF <appropriate filter criteria> CLEAR

    For example, NOTES IF Location = "03" CLEAR deletes any notes for Location #3 records.

  2. Click Run .

Delete all the record notes in a table at once

  1. If the RecordNote column appears in the view, remove it by right-clicking the column header and selecting Remove Selected Columns.
  2. Select Edit > Notes > Delete All Notes from Table.
  3. Click OK in the confirmation dialog box.

    All record notes are deleted, the RecordNote field is deleted from the table layout, and upon a screen refresh, the note icon disappears from the table icon in the Navigator.

Add or edit field notes

You can add a note to a field to provide additional information about the field. The note appears in the Note column in the Edit Fields/Expressions tab in the Table Layout dialog box. You can edit the content of a field note at any time.

Field notes appear in printed Analytics reports if you select Include Field Definitions in Table History in the Options dialog box. For more information, see Print options.

  1. Select Edit > Table Layout.
  2. In the Edit Fields/Expressions tab, double-click the field you want to add a note to.
  3. Click Edit Field Note .
  4. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  5. Click Close  .

    The note is automatically saved.

  6. Click Accept Entry  .

Add or edit script notes

You can add a note to a script project item to record any general details about the script that you want to keep for future reference, or document for other users.

Notes added to a script project item are external to the script itself, and are not the same as inline comments added to the body of a script. You can edit the content of a script project item note at any time.

You do not need to open the script to add, edit, delete, or read the note.

  1. Right-click the script in the Overview tab in the Navigator.
  2. Select Properties.
  3. In the Script Properties dialog box, click the Notes tab.
  4. Enter a new note or edit the existing note.

    To delete the note, delete all the text.

  5. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your changes.

Add or edit workspace notes

For more information, see Add or edit a workspace note.