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Presentation

Coventry City CouncilIT Application to record and monitor external

funding within Education & Libraries

Author Mr. Jason Kay

Technical Architect Mr. Jon Ribbens

Client Contact: Cath Aubrey

Version 3.1

Date 15th October 2003

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Requirements / Brief

Request

Design and Build an IT Application to record and monitor external funding within Education & Libraries

Why

The increase in the level and complexity of external funding has made this form of record absolutely essential.

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Operating

Start-up and Switchboard

To open the database, double-click on the grants.mdb file.

This will bring up the Microsoft Access application window, within which is the Switchboard.

This is the central navigation point to get around the database.

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Operating

Main Switchboard

The options on the main Switchboard allows you to go to the:

1. Grants table2. Other Tables3. Reports4. Check all Funding5. Exit Database

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Operating

“Browse/edit other tables” Switchboard

This Switchboard lists the other tables, which you may wish to edit. The last option on the Switchboard will return you to the main Switchboard.

“Reports” Switchboard

Here you will find a list of the available reports. Click on a report to go to that report, or choose the last option to return to the main Switchboard.

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Grants table (navigation bar)

This is the main window in the database application.

For ease of use, it is divided up using ‘tabs’.

These allow access to different sections of the information about a grant by simply clicking on the appropriate tab.

Operating

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Grants table (navigating between grants)

The buttons are, in order:

rewind to first record, go to previous record, go to next record, go to last record, and go to blank record.

 Adding a new record, note that you must fill in all of the fields on the “General” tab except “FIS code” and “Sponsor ref”.

Cancel adding the record, press Esc and all the fields will be cleared, which will allow you to return to browsing the existing grants.

Operating

Rewind Previous Next Last Blank

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“General” tab

For the fields with pull-down menus, note that you cannot just type anything you want into the boxes.

You must select an existing option from the menu, or, for fields with a “New” button beside them, click “New” to open a window to add a new option.

 

 For the fields that require dates. For example, “3/2/1”, “3 Feb 2001”, “3 Feb. 01”, “3 February 01”, “2001-02-03” will all work. The date is always displayed in the same way, however, “03 February 2001”.

Operating

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“Value” tab

This section shows information about the value of the grant

Enter the total value of the grant in the “Total value” box.

 

As you enter values, the “Calculated total” at the bottom of the page will update to show the sum of the values you have entered.

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“Claims” tab

1. Dates 2. Amounts claimed from the sponsor3. Dates receipts 4. Amounts of receipts

The “Calculated total” boxes at the bottom of the page will automatically update to show the sum of the values in the appropriate columns.

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“Match” tab (part 1)

It allows you to specify all the information about the required match funding for the grant, and the different matches that have been assigned and their values over financial years.

Enter the required total match in the “Total match” box. The “Calculated total” next to this shows the sum of all the matches entered over all the years. If this is less than the “Total match” then more match funding is required. 

Operating

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“Match” tab (part 2) In the sub-section underneath, one match is displayed at a time.

As with the main grants window, there are Access navigation buttons at the bottom.

These operate identically to the main navigation buttons, except that instead of moving to a different grant they move to a different match for the current grant.

Operating

Sub-Section

navigation buttons

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“Match” tab (part 3) 

 

Operating

Budget

Grant

In-Kind

The match type can be selected from “budget”, “grant” and “in-kind”.

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“Match” tab (part 4) Enter the match values divided up by financial year.

Enter the values you want, and the calculated total (for this match only) is displayed below.

If you enter more than three values then a scrollbar will appear to allow you to enter more.

Operating

Table

Calculated total (for this match only)

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“Reports” tab

Enter the dates and types (e.g. “pre-bid”, “progress”) of cabinet reports pertaining to this grant. As usual, simply enter the information required.

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“Team Costs” tab

Enter team costs associated with this grant, divided up over financial years.

Select the team from the pull-down menu, or click “New” to enter a new team name.

As usual, there is a “Calculated total” box at the bottom.

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“Capital Items” tab

This section shows capital item costs for this grant.

Enter the values you require as usual.

The calculated total box shows the total cost for all capital items for this grant.

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“Audits” tab

This section specifies audits required and submitted for the grant.

An audit will be required on a particular date, fill in the “Due date” and “Description” fields but leave the “Submitted date” field blank.

When the audit is actually submitted the “Submitted date” field can then be filled in.

Operating

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“Guarantor” tab

Operating

Firstly, check to see if the "Is this project externally guaranteed?“ box is ticked

If it is un-ticked, there are further fields to fill in.

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“Notes” tab

This section provides a large text input box which can be used for entering any miscellaneous notes and comments you may have about the grant that do not fit under any other section.

Operating

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Other tables (part 1)

Editing any of the other tables in the database: Budget holdersDepartmentsFinance officersGrant typesProgrammesSponsorsTeams

Operating

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Other tables (part 2)

You will be presented with a small window.

The navigation buttons work as usual for moving between different records or to enter a new value. 

Important: If you edit a name in any of these tables, it is applied retrospectively to all grants in the table, including historical ones.

Operating

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Deleting information

To delete information such as:

1. Grant2. People3. Values associated with grants

Click on a field in the relevant section

Then right-click on the “record selector”.

Select “cut” from the menu.

 

Important

Access does not provide an ‘undo’ facility. If you delete something, it is gone. Be VERY CAREFUL

Operating

Record Selector

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Sorting information

To sort information in the grants table by any particular field, click the right-hand mouse button over the appropriate field and select ‘Sort Ascending’ or ‘Sort Descending’ from the menu.

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Filtering information

To look only at grants which have a particular field in common, you can use Access filters. Filters hide information which does not match the criteria you specify. The easiest way to apply a filter is to move to a grant which has the appropriate value for the field you wish to filter on, click the right-hand mouse button over the field in question, and choose “Filter By Selection”. For example, if you wish to display only grants whose budget holder is “John Smith”, move to a grant with John Smith as the budget holder, right-click on “Budget holder” and choose “Filter By Selection”. Now as you navigate between grants, only grants whose budget holder is John Smith will be displayed. When a filter is in effect, at the bottom of the page where the navigation buttons are, after the number of records the word “(Filtered)” is displayed. To remove the filter and go back to displaying all records, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Remove Filter/Sort”. If you cannot find an existing grant with the appropriate criteria, or you wish to filter on more than one field at once, right-click anywhere on the page and select “Filter by Form”. Enter the values you wish to require, then right-click anywhere on the page and select “Apply Filter/Sort”.

Operating

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Backups

It is very important to take regular backups of the database. This will guard against the file being damaged or lost, and also provide a way to retrieve information that is accidentally deleted. To backup the database, simply copy the grants.mdb file to a backup drive or device.

Operating