Quick Guide to PLabel for Windows

The "Active File" The active file is one of the user created data files where labels are stored. This file is a Visual FoxPro table with the *.plw extension. Two other files with the same name but different extensions are associated with the active file. E.g., MyPlabelFile.plw, MyPlabelFile.fpt, MyPlabelFile.cdx. The memo data file stores information from the fields of memo type in the table and has the *.fpt extension. It must be maintained with the *.plw file. The index file with the *.cdx extension holds indexing information. If it is absent the program will create it. The structure of the *.plw file is shown on the table structures page.

IMPORTANT! - you must copy both the *.plw and *.fpt file when you copy your data files. PLabel for Windows, or any other database using these files, will not open a *.plw file alone.

When the program loads there is no active file. You will be offered a file selection box when you select any option in the main menu if a file is required. Once a file has been selected in a session it becomes the "active file". Add/edit and Print menus will default to the active file. To change the active file, click on the "ACTIVE FILE" button on the main menu screen. Select a file and navigate directories as in most MS-Windows programs.

To create a new file, choose "New" from the file selection window. The file will be created in the directory you are in, so be sure you are in the directory where you want the file. Enter a file name in the blue/green box.

Main Menu The Main Menu is the central navigation window of PLabel. Highlight the option you want to select with the up/down arrow and by clicking on it. Double-click anywhere in the menu box or press enter to select the item.

Add / Edit PLabel Files

The add/edit window is the PLabel Main Window. There are six pages in this window.

• Labels File Browse - includes a combination of a browse and edit navigation for the label file.
• Labels File Edit - full screen edit for each label. Here are useful keys and buttons--

  Navigation Keys
  PgUp and PgDn	Navigates between the add label and the template label. The template label stores information that you can carry over from label to label when the "template" button is set to on.
  Enter or Tab	Moves you from field to field.
  Right-click on field label (words above field box), e.g., such as "Genus" (except FamC.)	Greys and disables a field. Information remains stored in the field but when moving through fields the field is skipped. This helps you navigate faster.
  Select, Cut, Paste Keys
  Ctrl-A	Highlight field.
  Ctrl-C	Hopy selected text.
  Ctrl-N	Duplicates the information into the current record from the same field of the next record in the current file order.
  Ctrl-P	Duplicates the information into the current record from the same field of the previous record in the current file order.
  Ctrl-V	Paste selected text.
  F4	Provides a pick list for families if in the family code field or taxa if in any of the scientific name fields. The closest match to information entered in the fields will be brought up. Alphabetic letters in the family code field will allow for a search for family name in the families file. To pull in the information from the pop-up window choose the menu button or shift-F4. To return without retrieving information choose the menu button or F4.
  ESC	Undo changes to field.
  Buttons
  Clear this Entry	Blanks all fields. If the template is on the add label will be populated with the template defaults.
  Copy from Main	Duplicates all fields in the record active in the labels file edit page into the add or template record.
  Template On/Off	Clicking toggles the template carry over on and off.
  Close	Click to return to the main menu.

• Add Label - labels to be added are entered in this screen. PgUp or PgDn toggle the add label screen with a Template Label screen. Information entered in the template label will carry over from label to label. Here are useful keys and buttons for these screens --

  Navigation Keys
  PgUp and PgDn	Toggle between the template label and the add label.
  Enter or Tab	Moves you from field to field.
  Right-click on field label (words above field box), e.g., such as "Genus" (except FamC.)	Greys and disables a field. Information remains stored in the field but when moving through fields the field is skipped. This helps you navigate faster.
  Select, Cut, Paste Keys
  Ctrl-A	Highlight field.
  Ctrl-C	Copy selected text.
  Ctrl-L	Duplicates the locality information into the add or template record from the same field in the record active in the labels file edit page.
  Ctrl-M	Duplicates the information into the add or template record from the same field in the record active in the labels file edit page.
  Ctrl-N	Duplicates the information from the same field between the template or add records.
  Ctrl-P	Duplicates the information into the add or template record from the same field in the previous record entered
  Ctrl-S	Duplicates the scientific name information into the add or template record from the same field in the record active in the labels file edit page.
  Ctrl-V	paste selected text.
  F4	Provides a pick list for families if in the family code field or taxa if in any of the scientific name fields. The closest match to information entered in the fields will be brought up. Alphabetic letters in the family code field will allow for a search for family name in the families file. To pull in the information from the pop-up window choose the menu button or shift-F4. To return without retrieving information choose the menu button or F4.
  ESC	Undo changes to field.
  Buttons
  Search	Not yet active. Use quick search field.
  Add Labels	Adds a blank label. It is recommended that the add label page be used instead.
  Quick Search	The file will be searched based on the current order for the closest match to information entered in the box.
  Order	Click to change the file order: as entered, collno, collector, sciname, family, locality.
  Close	Click to return to the main menu.

• Taxa, Families, Countries pages - browse these files. To add click the "allow add" button. To change the order click the order button.

Print Labels

The print window is the far right tab on the PLabel Main Screen it includes the print settings. The following is an outline of the label layout.

The Print Window page has seven panels for control of print features.

• Print Criteria: the settings in this panel define which labels will be printed and the order.
  
  • File order is set by clicking the grey button. It will toggle from "as entered" through the other available file orders.
  • Criteria fields are:
    • Proof code: print only labels with this character in the proofed field.
    • Rec. # from/to: print labels with record numbers from/to. Labels are sequentially numbered as they are entered in the file. This field is the default print criteria setting for all labels in the file to be printed.
    • Collection # from/to: print labels with collection numbers from/to.
    • Collector first/last: print labels that have the collector name entered.
       
• Print Config.: contains controls, formats and user defined labels for label design.
  • Report name: Reports are stored in MS-Foxpro report format files (*.frx/*.frt). These files are stored in the \plwin\print\ directory. If you have MS-FoxPro you can use these as an example and create your own. Additional reports and output formats including plain text are planned. IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR VERSION 2.0: Set this report to "richtext_file".

    Reports that allow for embedded character formating (bold, italic, underline) and utilize rich text format fields (indicated by [RTF]) are generated from the original PLabel files to an interim print file (RichText_File.rtf) stored in the \plwin_printrtf\ folder. For more info. on RTF see: RTF Cookbook. A few summary reports with no embedded formating, such as:

  • Summary-Sp-Fam-Coll: Summary list of collections (species, family, collection number)
  may be still utilized. RichText_File should be used for all others.
  • Family prefix/suffix: family names are printed based on the family code matching in the families file. The prefix and suffix if given will delimit the name. E.g., [ and ] will print [Asteraceae].
  • Family align: L=left justified, C=centered, R=Right justified
  • Family position: A=print family above scientific name. B=print family below scientific name. The family will not print if anything else is entered.
  • Prefixes:
    • coll.: what prints in front of the collector name.
    • #: what prints in front of the collection number.
    • with: what prints when there are additional collectors.
    • det.: what prints in front of the determiner.
    • common: what prints in front of a single common name or multiple common names. Multiple common names must be separated by semi-colons to be recognized.
  • Field prsv.: This prints in the notes when the field preserved is checked.
  • Add Material and Separator: control the format of the additional material collected statement. If the additional material fields are checked the Add. Material prefix will print. The separator will print between each of the additional material statements. E.g., Additional material collected: DNA; wood; spirit preserved - where "Additional material collected:" is in the Add Material field and ";" is the separator.
  • DNA: prints when the DNA field is checked.
  • Wood: prints when the wood field is checked.
  • Photos: prints when the photo field is checked.
  • Spirit: prints when the spirit field is checked.
  • Living: prints when the living material field is checked.
     
• Headings print on the top each label. The headings are stored in a separate data file and can be selected with the navigation buttons in the panel. Double triangles go to the top or bottom of the file, single triangles more one entry at a time. The heading showing will be the one printed. A reserved entry to print no heading is at the beginning of the file.

  Heading formatting is controlled by entries in several fields:

  • Align: L=left justified, C=centered, R=Right justified
  • Size: point size of print.
  • Style: N=normal, I=Italic, B=Bold, U=Underline
  • Sp. after: units of space to leave between the heading and the next section of the label. Units are designated in twips. A twip is a twentieth of a point, i.e., a 1440th of an inch. This measure is chosen because it is the native measure used in RTF formatting. For more information see: Twips in the RTF Cookbook.
  • Separator line below (width): 0 for no line or a unit to designate the width of a line drawn under the heading across the label.
  • Distance from text: Distance below heading to draw the separator line.\
  • Shading: percent shading of the heading, if desired.
     
• Titles: print below the heading at the top of each label. The titles are stored in a separate data file and can be selected with the navigation buttons in the panel. Double triangles go to the top or bottom of the file, single triangles more one entry at a time. Title fields are paired. The second (bottom) prints when the Cult? field is checked. This allows for titles such as "Plants of / Cultivated Plants of." The title pair showing will be the ones printed. A reserved entry to print no title is at the beginning of the file.

  An asterisk in a title will substitute the primary geographic are name in place of the asterisk. This will be a state in the United States but country for foreign countries. If there is no asterisk here then the geographic information is bumped to the beginning of the location in the label.

  Title formatting is controlled by entries in several fields:

  • Align: L=left justified, C=centered, R=Right justified
  • Size: point size of print.
  • Style: N=normal, I=Italic, B=Bold, U=Underline
  • Sp. before / after: units of space to leave between the title and sections above (heading) and below. Measurement units are in twips.

Institutional (Inst.) Footings: print at the very bottom of each label. The institutional footings are stored in a separate data file and can be selected with the navigation buttons in the panel. Double triangles go to the top or bottom of the file, single triangles more one entry at a time. The institutional footing showing will be the one printed. A reserved entry to print no institutional footing is at the beginning of the file.

Institutional footing formatting is controlled by entries in several fields:

• Align: L=left justified, C=centered, R=Right justified
• Size: point size of print.
• Style: N=normal, I=Italic, B=Bold, U=Underline
• Before: units of space to leave before the institutional footing. Units are designated in twips. A twip is a twentieth of a point, i.e., a 1440th of an inch. This measure is chosen because it is the native measure used in RTF formatting. For more information see: Twips in the RTF Cookbook.
• After: units of space to leave after the institutional footing (in twips).
• Separator line above (width): 0 for no line or a unit to designate the width of a line drawn above the institutional footing across the label.
• Distance from text: distance above institutional heading to draw the separator line.

Convert DOS (*.PLB) File

You can always go back to your original PLabel (DOS) *.plb file if something goes wrong with this conversion.

1. Open or create a new PLabel for Windows file (*.plw).
2. Choose the PLabel for DOS (*.plb) file to load in. It will merge the records from that file into the *.plw file.

Be sure to look over the converted records carefully. The most prone area for errors is in the conversion of the locality coordinates field into lat./long. and STR fields. If the program doesn't understand the format the information is in it should dump the locality coordinates in the STR field.

Frequently asked questions.

• How do I delete records? The left column of the browse screen has a white box that toggles when clicked. Records set black are marked for deletion. To delete the records choose "Purge Records Marked for Deletion" from the main PLabel menu.
• Why won't my heading/title/footing print? The first record of the heading/title and footing files is a dummy record that instructs the program to print nothing. The program comes with "*No Heading*" (etc.) in this record but it could be edited in all versions prior to 22 Nov 2004. This has caused confusion and is not set so the first record can not be edited.
• I get an error when I try to print labels. What's wrong? Labels printing utilizes rich text format classes. These are typically already installed on MS-Windows computers. In some cases these are not correctly registered and the program can't find them. A work-around solution is still being worked on.

PLabel: Herbarium Label Program	Main Menu	Add/Edit	Table Structures	Version Changes

University of Florida Herbarium collections: Vascular Plants | Herbarium Library Bryophyte and Lichens | Mycological Wood | Paleobotany (affiliated collection)

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Last content update: 15 Apr 2004
Edited by: Kent D. Perkins, e-mail: kperkins@flmnh.ufl.edu
Copyright ©, 1995-2003 University of Florida Herbarium / Florida Museum of Natural History