Skip common site navigation and headers
United States Environmental Protection Agency
EIMS Training Material
Recent Additions | Contact Us | Print Version Search:
Begin Hierarchical Links EPA Home > Research & Development > EIMS Home > EIMS Online User Guide > Conventions End Hierarchical Links


 

EIMS Application Conventions
What is this?
This web page describes the main conventions utilized by the EIMS application for navigation and field input. It answers the following questions:
How do I navigate within the EIMS application?


Picture of Search page with navigation options highlighted


The following table describes the means of navigation utilized within the EIMS application.

Convention Description
Navigation Sidebar In EIMS, the Navigation Sidebar displays customized options based upon your user permissions and the page's functionality. When displaying records, the application also customizes the Navigation Sidebar based upon the record's content (e.g., a link represented as "Contacts (2)" indicates that there are two contacts listed for the record).
Breadcrumbs All pages within the EPA web site (including the EIMS pages) have breadcrumbs displayed near the top of the page in a light-blue highlight box. These links represent the path taken down the hierarchical structure of the web site; click on a link to return to that level.
Horizontal Menu Bar In a horizontal blue strip immediately above the page name, EIMS application pages display your user name and current portal affiliation as well as provide a link to the online help.
Internal Links Underlined text within the body of EIMS pages indicates a link to the specified content.
Bottom Navigation Links A link menu at the bottom of each page provides links to the following: EPA-Home (EPA Home Page), Privacy and Security Notice (EPA's web site security notice), and Contact Us (EIMS contact form).


What are Pick Lists?Back to top of page
Most pages in the EIMS application contain at least one pick list (also known as a drop-down menu or pull-down menu). You can select from an option in these pick lists to populate a field. EIMS Administrators and Librarians maintain the options available in each pick list.

Picture of Search page with Pick List highlighted


What are Pop-Up Screens?Back to top of page
The presence of a magnifying glass icon beside an entry field indicates that you can populate the field from the available options in a Pop-Up Screen. Pop-Up Screens differ from Pick Lists in that they open in a new window, there are more available options, and you can search the available options for the value you wish to select. To access a Pop-Up Screen, click the magnifying glass icon. To search within a Pop-Up Screen, enter your criteria in the text box and select the Find button.

The following image displays a field for which there is a Pop-Up Screen.

Picture of magnifying glass indicating presence of Pop Up Screen


The following image represents a Pop-Up Screen before performing a search (populated with the default listing of option values).

Picture of automatically populated Pop Up Screen list of selection options


 
NOTE An exact match will be returned unless you use a wildcard character (%) before, after, or in the middle of your criteria. The "%" wildcard indicates one or more unknown characters. Thus, the selection criteria "train%" returns all values beginning with the string "train" and ending with any other character(s). The selection criteria "%train%" returns all values with the string "train" anywhere within the designated field. The selection criteria "%train" returns all values ending with the string "train" regardless of what character(s) may precede it.
 


The following image represents a Pop-Up Screen after performing a search (populated with only those option values that conform to the selection criterion).

Picture of Pop Up Screen list of selection options based upon search


What do the buttons do?Back to top of page
The following table describes the functionality of all buttons utilized within the EIMS application.

Name Button Function
Add Picture of Add button Displays the specified data entry form in add mode.
Cancel Picture of the Cancel button Cancels the process that is in progress.
Close Picture of the Close button Closes the designated window.
Delete Picture of the Delete button Deletes the displayed entry. You must select the OK button from the delete confirmation box to complete the deletion.
Find Picture of Find button Implements a search for the designated field(s) based upon the criteria entered.
First 10 Records Picture of First 10 Records button Moves you to the first 10 records of the search results.
Last 10 Records Picture of Last 10 Records button Moves you to the last 10 records of the search results.
Navigate Backward Picture of Backward button Moves you a page backward in the search results.
Navigate to Beginning Picture of Beginning button Moves you to the beginning (first page) of the search results.
Navigate to End Picture of End button Moves you to the end (last page) of the search results.
Navigate Forward Picture of Forward button Moves you a page forward in the search results.
Next 10 Records Picture of Next 10 Records button Moves you 10 records forward within the search results.
OK Picture of the OK button Completes the process that is in progress.
Previous 10 Records Picture of Previous 10 Records button Moves you 10 records back within the search results.
Query Picture of Query button Displays a screen from which you can search for results within the listed items.
Requery Picture of Requery button Refreshes the search used to generate the results already displayed.
Reset Picture of Reset button Returns all fields to the last saved value.
Save Picture of the Save button Saves the values entered into the database.
Search Picture of the Search button Implements a search based upon the criteria entered.


How do I find specific values from within a multi-page list without scrolling through all of the pages? Back to top of page
Whenever a data entry form in report mode has a list of available options that occupies mulitple pages, the EIMS application presents you with the option of either browsing through the pages with navigation buttons (see Buttons for more information) or use the Query button to search the list of options for the value you want.

The following image displays a data entry form (Counties) in report mode with a multiple-page list of available options.

Picture of Counties data entry page in report mode


How do you search for a value within a multi-page list?
Step 1 Select the Query button to display a search page.
 
Step 2 Enter selection criteria in the available field(s).
 
NOTE For text box search criteria, an exact match will be returned unless you use a wildcard character (%) before, after, or in the middle of your criteria. The "%" wildcard indicates one or more unknown characters. Thus, the selection criteria "train%" returns all values beginning with the string "train" and ending with any other character(s). The selection criteria "%train%" returns all values with the string "train" anywhere within the designated field. The selection criteria "%train" returns all values ending with the string "train" regardless of what character(s) may precede it.

  Picture of Counties search page
 
Step 3 Select the Find button to display the narrowed search results from which you can select the desired value.
  Picture of search results from within available options
 

 
 
Begin Site Footer

EPA Home | Privacy and Security Notice | Contact Us