.title "Total-to Graph Below"
.id 314120060117145537
.tags "manual"
.body {
[h1 "Total-to Graph Below"]
[p {
The [qw_menu_command "Tools" "Totalto" "Graph Below"] command creates a graph
of the total-to structure below a selected total account.
}]
[p {
Position on a total account row in a table of accounts (blue),
issue the [qw_menu_command "Tools" "Totalto" "Graph Below"] command, and a graph of
the underlying total-to structure is displayed in a separate window.
The graph contains nodes for accounts and arrows showing how they total.
Such a graph is more precisely called a [qw_term digraph], or [qw_term "directed graph"].
}]
[p {
When displaying a graph, you can change the graph options to control the
format of the graph.
You can control the maximum depth of the total-to structure that will be displayed,
whether or not posting accounts are displayed, the format of the nodes and edges,
and so on.
Fonts, colors, and which fields are displayed can all be controlled using
the graph options.
}]
[p {
After changing the options you can save them and the saved options will
be used the next time you display a graph.
}]
[p {
The options are generally self-evident and we invite you to change them and
view the effects until you have what you want.
}]
[h2 "Tips"]
[ul {
[li {
[p {
Don't go too deep.
}]
[p {
It is usually better to explore a limited number of levels,
say up to four or five.
You can explore with a much greater depth to get an overall view of
the general total-to structure, but it could become overwhelming.
You can [qw_term "go deep"] to get a general overview of the size and complexity of the
structure you are dealing with, especially when a new user is becoming familiar
with a set of books.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Turn fields and field labels on/off as desired.
}]
[p {
The original options have most of the available graph node fields
turned off.
You may want to turn some of the fields on, and until you become more
familiar with the nodes, also turn the field labels on.
However, you will quickly become familiar with the information
displayed in the graph nodes and you will want to
turn the labels off to save graph real-estate.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
The options are persistent.
}]
[p {
You can change the options and click the [qw_button Apply] button
to see their effect.
However, the options must be saved using the graph [qw_menu_command "Options" "Save"]
command if you want to use the new options the next time you issue the graph command.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Amounts are displayed according to the current cell selected.
}]
[p {
If you position on an amount cell in a table of accounts (blue)
then the type, tag, and period for that amount are respected by the graph.
For example, suppose you are on a multi-column income statement
and you position on the amount for January 2006 sales.
Then the resulting graph will display amounts for January 2006.
}]
[p {
Of course you must turn the amount field on in the graph options
to see amounts in graph nodes.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Amounts are formatted according to the user's currency format.
}]
[p {
If amounts are displayed, and the amount type is [qw_term amount] or [qw_term quantity], the
amount is formatted in the graph node according to the user's
[qw_field_name .options.currency.format] field in the user options.
If the current cell is displaying a count, then no formatting is used.
}]
}]
}]
[h2 "Account Types"]
[p {
A total-to graph identifies three basic types of accounts and lets
you set their options individually.
The [qw_term "total"] and [qw_term "posting"] accounts type have the
expected meaning.
}]
[p {
A [qw_term "class"] account is a (non-total) account that has sub-accounts.
An account's sub-accounts automatically total to it so an account
that has sub-accounts is a [qw_term branch] in the total-to hierarchy, and is exactly
the same as a total account for many purposes.
A total-to graph could have treated class accounts as total accounts,
always displaying them in the same shape and color as total
accounts.
However, it is more general to be able to control class accounts separately.
}]
[p {
Examples of class accounts include
[qw_field_value ".../ACCOUNT"] (the root account), [qw_field_value ".../ACCOUNT/TOTAL"],
[qw_field_value ".../ACCOUNT/AR"], [qw_field_value ".../ACCOUNT/AP"], [qw_field_value ".../ACCOUNT/INVENTORY"],
and so on are all account classes.
Generally, you do not total accounts to class accounts explicitly using the total parent fields.
However, you might total a class account to a total account.
For example, you may total the AR, AP, INVENTORY, and other class accounts
to their controlling total accounts on the trial balance.
}]
[h2 "Node Shapes"]
[p {
See [bold "node shapes"].
}]
[h2 "Arrow Head/Tail Shapes"]
[p {
See [bold "arrow head/tail shapes"].
}]
}
/314120060118093407 {
.title "Setting Graph Options"
.id 314120060118093407
.tags "manual"
.body {
[h2 "Setting Graph Options"]
[ol {
[li {
[p {
While displaying a graph, Issue the [qw_menu_command "Graph" "Options"] command.
}]
[p {
The graph options window pops up.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Click on the desired option type in the left pane of the options window.
}]
[p {
As you click on each item in the left pane, a different
set of options appears in the right pane.
}]
[p {
There is a separate tree node in the left pane for each basic group of options.
There are overall graph options, edge options, and separate options
for each basic type of account (posting/total/class) that can be displayed in a graph node.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Change the desired options in the right pane.
}]
[p {
You can change any number of options.
You can switch from item to item in the left pane and
change options on different option pages.
The changes take effect only when you click
[qw_button "ok"] or [qw_button "Apply"].
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Click [qw_button "Ok"] or [qw_button "Apply"] to see the effects of the changed options.
}]
[p {
If you click [qw_button "Ok"] the options window will be dismissed
and the options take effect.
If you click [qw_button "Apply"] then the options take
effect buts the options window remains displayed.
You can continue to change options and click [qw_button "Apply"] to
see the results.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
Issue the [qw_menu_command "Options" "Save"] to save the options.
}]
[p {
If you dismiss the graph any changes to options made since the last time they were
changed are discarded.
You must explicitly save the options.
This feature lets you play around with the display of the graph
without lasting effect.
}]
}]
}]
}
}
/314120060118171343 {
.title "Saving a graph to a .gif file."
.id 314120060118171343
.tags "manual"
.body {
[h2 "Saving a graph to a file."]
[p {
You can save a total-to graph to a file in any of three formats: GIF, EPS, and PDF.
PDF is the most useful and very possibly the only one you will ever use.
EPS and GIF are provided mainly because they have been historical popular.
However GIF has a rather serious limitation in that only the
visible region of the graph is captured to the file.
}]
[ul {
[li {
[p {
PDF - Portable Document Format
}]
[p {
You can view the resulting .pdf file using Adobe Reader,
ghostscript or any of a large number of PDF viewer and/or manipulation
programs.
PDF is the most popular format.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
EPS - Encapsulated Postscript
}]
[p {
With the advent of pdf, Postscript (also from Adobe) has become less
popular but is still widely in use.
You can view an eps file using ghostscript, a freely available
program.
}]
}]
[li {
[p {
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
}]
[p {
The major limitation is that only the visible region of the
graph is captured to the gif file.
This format is provided mainly for historical reasons.
Any browser or image viewer program can view gif files.
}]
}]
}]
}
}
/314120060125144317 {
.title "Totalto Graph Below Command Summary"
.id 314120060125144317
.tags "manual"
.body {
[h1 "Totalto Graph Below Command Summary"]
[h2 [qw_menu_command "Graph" "Exit"]]
[p {
Dismisses the graph window.
}]
[p {
You can also click on the graph window close button in the upper-right corner.
}]
[h2 [qw_menu_command "Graph" "Save"]]
[p {
Saves the graph to a gif file.
You will be prompted for the file name.
It should have the extension [qw_directory ".gif"] but if no extenion
is provided [qw_directory ".gif"] is added automatically.
}]
[p {
Currently, only the visible portion of the graph is saved.
We are working on this limitation.
}]
[h2 [qw_menu_command "Options" "Edit"]]
[p {
Pops up the options window, allowing you to change the graph options.
These options control what types of nodes are displayed,
colors, fonts, fields, graph depth, and so on.
}]
[h2 [qw_menu_command "Options" "Save"]]
[p {
This saves the current options.
You can change options and apply them to the current graph without saving
them.
When you have the options the way you want them you should issue this command
to save them.
}]
[p {
Because options are saved only when you issue this command, you can
[qw_term "play around"] with the options without any lasting effect.
Save them only when you have them the way you want them.
}]
[p {
Whenever you issue the [qw_menu_command "Tools" "Totalto" "Graph Below"] command
from a blue table to create a new graph window, the most recently
saved options are used.
}]
[h2 [qw_menu_command "Help" "Graph"]]
[p {
Pops up the general graph help.
[qw_key F1] does the same thing.
}]
}
}