The CLIFF Interface

The primary CLIFF interface is comprised of three basic components:

  • The CLIFF toolbar down the left side of the browser window providing access to all the CLIFF functions for accessing and modifying data
  • The Personal toolbar across the top provides access to functions for configuring your personal settings in CLIFF
  • The Data area displays the Log and Referral data in your CLIFF database. The data area will also show a Data toolbar specific to the data currently being displayed.

    When appropriate, CLIFF will create new windows in your web browser to display additional information about the Log or Referrals you are currently viewing or to perform administrative functions.

  • CLIFF Toolbar

    The CLIFF Toolbar down the left side of the browser window provides access to all the CLIFF functions for accessing and modifying data in your CLIFF database. Clicking on an icon on the toolbar will either display a sub-menu, or open a new window displaying the selected function. Icons with a small inverted triangle will display a sub-menu. The following diagram shows each function with a brief description after the diagram.

    NOTE: The access level of your account may not allow you access to all of these functions so some buttons or menu options may not be visible.

    Logs Entered - When you click the Logs Entered button, a sub-menu appears listing your options for displaying Logs as follows:

    • Entered by This Office: Lists all Logs entered by your office in your Active period
    • Open for This Office: Lists all Logs that have not been closed
    • Overdue for This Office: Lists all Logs whose Due Date has passed. Note that Logs with no Due Date are not listed
    • Eligible for Completion: Lists all logs that are not closed and have no open Referrals.
    • Keyword Search - Invokes the Keyword Search function.
    • Log Search - Invokes the Search for Log function.
    • New Log - Creates a new Log
    • Referrals Received - When you click the Referrals Received button, a sub-menu appears listing your options for displaying the Referrals as follows:
    • All Referrals Received for this Office - Lists all Referrals sent to your office.
    • Referrals with Due Dates - Lists all Referrals with Due Dates sent to your office.
    • Referrals Overdue in this Office - Lists all Overdue Referrals in your office.
    • Referrals Active in this Office - Lists all Referrals that are Active in your office.
      Referrals Sent - When you click the Referrals Sent button, a sub-menu appears listing your options for displaying the Referrals as follows:
      • All Referrals Sent by This Office - Lists all Referrals that your office has sent.
      • Referrals with Due Dates - Lists all Referrals with Due Dates sent by your office.
      • Referrals Overdue - Lists all Overdue Referrals sent by your office.
      • Show Active Office for Referrals Sent - Same as Referrals with Due Dates except if a Referral is Pending, CLIFF drills down to find the office in which the Referral is Active.
      • Referrals Overdue in Active Office - Same as Show Active Office for Referrals Sent except only the overdue Referrals are listed.

      Batch Search - Find all your batch records for the selected batch number.

      New Batch - Creates a new Batch

      Log & Referral Search - Comprehensive searching tool for Logs and Referrals.

      Referral Search - Invokes the Search for Referrals function.

      Reports - A list of reports available to you.

      E-mail - Manage email generated by CLIFF.

      Table Maintenance - access to support tables

      Administration - CLIFF configuration and settings. Only functions you have access to will be listed.

    • Personal Toolbar

      The User Toolbar across the top provides access to functions for configuring your personal settings in CLIFF.

      • Messages - Click to view messages sent to you or to send messages to others.
      • Current Office - The office you are currently logged in as. You may change your current office by selecting another from the drop-down list. You may define your default Office in the User Preferences.
      • Current Template - The template you are currently using for creating Logs and/or Referrals. You may change Template by selecting another from the drop-down list. The Templates available to you depend on your Current Office. Only templates that are shared or owned by the Current Office are displayed. You may define your default Template in the User Preferences.
      • User Preferences - Options for customizing CLIFF at the user level.
      • CLIFF help - Click to access the help system you are currently reading.
      • Logout - Click to log out of CLIFF.
      • Username[org] - The username of the organization you are currently logged in as.

      Data Toolbar

      The List Toolbar is displayed at the top of a list of Logs, or Referrals. The icons and information displayed will depend on whether you are listing Logs or Referrals, and your access privileges.

      The following toolbar is typical for a list of Logs:

      and the following is typical for a list of Referrals:

      where:

      Icon Function
      Return to Splash page.
      Generate a report for printing of the current selection of records.
      Send current selection of records by e-mail.
      Send an e-mail report of overdue Referrals.
      Navigate to the beginning of the selection.
      Navigate to the previous page of records.
      Navigate to the next page of records.
      Navigate to the end of the selection.
      Show Active Referrals for current selection of Logs.
      Show Logs for current selection of Referrals.
      Sort displayed Logs or Referrals. If a field name has the "(<)" suffix, the field will be sorted in descending order.
      Marking options for displayed Logs/Referrals.
      Automatic close of Logs or automatic completion of Referrals.
      Convert marked Logs to Batch Headers.
      Add marked Logs to Batch.
      Delete marked records in the list.

      Data Area

      When you first log in to CLIFF the data area will be empty and the CLIFF logo will be displayed. There is no data selected so CLIFF has nothing to display. This empty data area is also referred to as the Splash window.

      When data has been selected by searching the database, or new data entered, it will be displayed in one of two formats:

      • As a lists of Logs or Referrals; or

      • As an input form for Log and Referral data.

        When you click on a Log ID in a list it opens the input form for that record. When the record is closed, the list is redisplayed.

        This same technique is also used for other data in CLIFF for example templates, email, messages, etc.

      • Drop-down Lists

        Drop-down lists provide a list of data choices. Drop-down lists are recognized by the arrow button to the right of the field as shown in the sample below:

        To make a selection in a drop-down list

        1. Click the button to the right of the list. A drop-down lists appears as show below.

          If the list contains more data items than can be shown, a scroll bar will appear on the right.

        2. Select a data item by clicking in the list. You may navigate up or down the list by using the up or down arrow keys or by pressing the first character of the value you want.
          or
          • If the drop-down menu allows you to enter data -- not all do -- then you can type the first character of list names and the first data item with that character will appear. If this is not the item you want, then you can navigate the list by pressing the up or down arrow and make your choice by pressing the Return key.

          To dismiss a drop-down list without making a selection

          • Click outside the list
        3. Pop-up Lists

          Many of the data fields in CLIFF are supported by Pop-up lists to assist you in entering information. Data fields that have pop-up list support have a before the field. To see all the available choices, if any, click on . CLIFF displays a pop-up list from which you can select the desired item.

          To Envoke List From the Keyboard

          1. Make sure the cursor is positioned in the data field.
          2. Press the Space Bar once to enter a space in the field, then press Tab. This is equivalent to clicking the icon.
          3. Navigate through the list by using the Up or Down arrow keys, or by pressing the first character of the value you want.
          4. When the value you want is highlighted, click Select or press Return to enter it into the data field.

            To Automatically Select from the List using the Keyboard

            1. Make sure the cursor is positioned in the data field.
            2. Type one or more characters of the list entry you wish to enter, for example "F" for "Fax".
            3. Press Tab. CLIFF displays only the values that begin with the character(s) you entered. If the characters identify a single specific value in the list, CLIFF automatically enters that value into the field without displaying the list.
            4. Entering and Modifying Data

              Working with data in CLIFF is very consistent across all windows. There are standard techniques for entering and modifying data, using pop-up lists, entering dates, and so on.

              CLIFF will display your data in two basic formats:

              • Lists of Logs, or Referrals; or
              • Input forms for Log and Referral data.

                Lists
                When you perform a search, for example Logs Entered by this Office or Referrals Sent by this Office, CLIFF will display the found Logs or Referrals in a scrolling list. To minimize download time for a large selection of records, the data records are displayed in pages. The toolbar at the top of the list will show which group of records you are currently viewing. For example it may say "Logs 81 to 120 of 300".

                To view the current page of data records, you would scroll up and down with the scroll bar at the right. To view the previous page you would click on , to view the next page you would click on . To go to the first or last page, click or respectively.

                You cannot modify the Log or Referral directly in the list, you must first open it. To open a Log or Referral in a list, you simply click on the ID number. CLIFF then displays the Log input window. Note that Referral information is displayed at the bottom of the Log, so regardless of opening a Log or a Referral, CLIFF will always display the Log input window.

                Input Forms

                Moving through input forms
                When you enter or modify data, you always move from one field (enterable area) to another in a consistent sequence. This sequence is called the data entry order. Every field into which you can type a value is included in the data entry order.

                To move forward in the data entry order

                • Press the Tab key.

                To move backward in the data entry order

                • Hold down the Shift key and press Tab.

                Accepting and Cancelling data entry

                After you have entered or modified information in a data record you have to decide whether to accept or reject your entries. CLIFF gives you several options for accepting, or cancelling data entry.

                To accept a record

                • Click on the Toolbar;
                • Click the Save or OK button if present.

                  To cancel a record

                  • Click on the Toolbar;
                  • Click the Cancel button if present.

                    Interrupting Data Entry

                    When you are working in CLIFF, you can choose any menu item or button that is not dimmed. For example, you can change your personal user preferences while entering a Log. If you are entering or modifying data, and you choose a menu item that requires CLIFF to release the current Log or Referral, CLIFF will automatically save the changes you have made. For example, choosing Referrals Sent by Office while editing a Log.

                    Entering and modifying different data types

                    Each data field in CLIFF has an associated field type that dictates the kind of data you can enter. Most fields are alphanumeric, which means that they allow you to enter both numbers and letters. Other fields, such as date fields, require data to be entered in specific formats.

                    Entering data in alphanumeric fields

                    Alphanumeric fields accept alphanumeric characters (letters and numbers), punctuation marks, and special characters such as *, %, @ and {. Most alphanumeric fields in CLIFF accept up to eighty characters of information, some less. The cursor will automatically stop when you reach the limit of a field.
                    NOTE: CLIFF uses proportional fonts which means that an ‘I’ takes up less space than a ‘W’. Therefore, depending upon the characters entered in a field, the maximum number of characters may be reached before the end of the field, or not all the characters are displayed in a field.

                    Date Fields

                    The format of dates is defined in the Application Preferences. If you do not have access to the Application Preferences, ask your CLIFF Administrator for the date format.

                    You may enter dates with or without separators. If you do not enter the separators then you must zero fill the day and month. For example 990101 is correct, 9911 is not. Valid separators are "/", "." and "-".

                    You may enter relative dates based on the current date. A relative date is entered as +/- days from today. For example, ‘-10’ is the current date minus 10 days; ‘+5’ or ‘5’ is the current date plus 5 days; ‘0’ is the current date.

                    You may remove a date by deleting it from the field. Note that a date of ‘00/00/00’ is considered as a blank date.

                    CLIFF is year 2000 compliant. Dates may be entered and displayed with four digit years, you may search, sort, and manipulate all information in CLIFF using four digit years. If you enter dates using two digit years, CLIFF will automatically convert the year to a four digit year using the following rule.
                    If the current year is among the last ten years of the century then any two-digit year in the range 00-09 will be treated as a year in the following century. If the current year is among the first ten years of the 21st century, then any two-digit year in the range 90-99 will be treated as a year in the previous century.

                    In the year 1997:
                    1/1/01 becomes 1/1/2001
                    1/1/10 becomes 1/1/1910
                    1/1/99 becomes 1/1/1999

                    In the year 2001:
                    1/1/01 becomes 1/1/2001
                    1/1/10 becomes 1/1/2010
                    1/1/99 becomes 1/1/1999

                    In the year 2011:
                    1/1/01 becomes 1/1/2001
                    1/1/10 becomes 1/1/2010
                    1/1/99 becomes 1/1/2099

                    Check Boxes Check boxes store True or False values. A check box in the data entry order gives you a Yes or No choice. CLIFF interprets a checked box as a Yes (TRUE) value, and an unchecked box as a No (FALSE) value.

                  • Marking Records

                    There are times when you want to work with a selection of records, be it Logs or Referrals. In CLIFF you can "mark" the records you want to work with. You may mark records in three groups: Logs; Referrals Sent; and Referrals Received.

                    • CLIFF will remember which records are marked even though you search for other records.
                    • Records will remain marked until you clear the Marks or Log out.

                  • Records you mark are only visible to you. You cannot share marked records.


                    The number of marked Logs or Referrals will always be shown in the Marking Records menu as show below.

                    To Mark a Single Record

                    1. Click the checkbox at the beginning of the record in the list. The following sample shows a marked Log.

                      To Un-mark a Single Record

                      1. Click the checkbox at the beginning of the record in the list.

                        To Mark Several Records at once

                        Use the Mark commands in the List Toolbar to work on several records at once.

                        Available commands are:

                        • Mark All - all the records in the current list are marked.
                        • Un-mark All - all currently marked records, regardless of whether they are in the list or not, are un-marked. Note that only the marked records for the list you are currently in are unmarked. For example, if you are currently displaying Logs, then only marked Logs are processed. Marked Referrals will remain marked.
                        • Reverse Marks - From the current list of records, the marks are reversed -- marked becomes un-marked, and un-marked become marked. Note that if there are other marked records that are not part of the current list, they will be un-marked.
                        • Select Marked - All marked records for the group currently being displayed will be listed.
                        • Omit Marked - The current list is refreshed without the marked records. Note that un-marked records not currently displayed will not be included.
                        • Assignment Lists

                          When you need to assign multiple values, for example assigning users to an office, CLIFF will list the available values on the left and the already assigned values on the right. The following example shows that Office A has been assigned and that Offices B through F are not assigned. The assignment lists help you to quickly determine what is assigned.

                          To Assign Values

                          1. Click on the desired value(s) in the list on the left. You may select single values by single-clicking the item; a group of values by clicking one value and then holding down the Shift key while clicking another; or multiple values by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on items.
                          2. Click on the button to assign the selected items.

                            To Assign All the Values

                            1. Click on the button to assign all the available items.

                            To Release Assignments

                            1. Select assigned values using the same clicking techniques described above.
                            2. Release the selected items using the button.

                            To Release All Assignments

                            1. Click on the button.
                          3. Printing in CLIFF

                            Printing in the web interface of CLIFF utilizes the printing options available in your web browser. Depending on the browser you are using you will have access to:

                            • Page Setup to define your page orientation, your default header and footers, and more depending on your printer;
                            • Print Preview to view how the browser will format your printout;
                            • Print to print the page(s).

                            You may access these functions from the browser's File menu or from Print links in CLIFF windows. Some browsers have additional printing options as part of their options or preferences.

                            For more information about printing from your web browser, see the documentation that came with your browser.

                            Keyboard Shortcuts

                            Keyboard Shortcuts

                            Keyboard shortcuts is a sequence of keys you press to initiate a function. Almost every application on your computer has these shortcuts, shown beside the command in the menu. Web browsers have two sets of keyboard shortcuts to contend with, their own for accessing menu items, and the shortcuts in the web site or web application they are displaying. To access the desired set of shortcuts, the web browser will use different key combinations. For example in Firefox on Windows the key sequence Ctrl+P will invoke the FireFox command. The key sequence Shift+Alt+P will invoke the CLIFF Print command. (The Ctrl+P means hold down the Ctrl key and press P.)

                            Web Browsers

                            Each web browser deals with short cuts in the web site a little differently -- version 5 of CLIFF is actually a web site. Below we discuss their individual quirks.
                            Internet Explorer (IE) on Windows
                            IE uses the Alt key to access CLIFF's shortcuts. However if the shortcut is associated with a link to another part of the web site, and most are, you also need to press the Enter key. For example, to enter the CLIFF shortcut for Printing you need to press Alt+P, followed by pressing the Enter key. If the shortcut is for a button on a form, for example the Save button, then pressing Alt+S is sufficient. Note that IE is unique in this method of handling shortcuts.
                            Firefox (FF) on Windows
                            FF on Windows uses the Shift+Alt key combination to access CLIFF's shortcuts. For example, to enter the CLIFF shortcut for Printing you need to press Shift+Alt+P.
                            Firefox (FF) on MacOS
                            FF on MacOS uses the Ctrl (control) key to access CLIFF's shortcuts. For example, to enter the CLIFF shortcut for Printing you need to press Ctrl+P.

                            CLIFF Keyboard Shortcuts

                            The following table shows the CLIFF functions that have a keyboard shortcut, and the associated key sequence for the supported web browsers. Note that keyboard shortcuts only work for functions available in the current context, for example the key sequence for creating a new Referral while viewing a list of Logs, or while viewing a closed Log, will not work.
                            CLIFF Function Internet Explorer
                            (Windows)
                            FireFox
                            (Windows)
                            FireFox
                            (MacOS)
                            New Log Alt+N followed by Enter Shift+Alt+N Ctrl+N
                            New Referral Alt+R followed by Enter Shift+Alt+R Ctrl+R
                            New Batch Alt+B followed by Enter Shift+Alt+B Ctrl+B
                            Save Alt+S followed by Enter Shift+Alt+S Ctrl+S
                            Cancel Alt+X followed by Enter Shift+Alt+X Ctrl+X
                            Print Alt+P followed by Enter Shift+Alt+P Ctrl+P
                            Log Functions
                            Search for History Alt+H followed by Enter Shift+Alt+H Ctrl+H
                            Special Authors Alt+E followed by Enter Shift+Alt+E Ctrl+E
                            Toggle Duplicate Search Alt+D followed by Enter Shift+Alt+D Ctrl+D
                            Open first Referral Alt+0 followed by Enter Shift+Alt+0 Ctrl+0
                            Create Referral for Referral # in list
                            (green arrow must be shown in list)
                            Alt+1 to 9 followed by Enter Shift+Alt+1 to 9 Ctrl+1 to 9
                            Automatic Close Alt+C followed by Enter Shift+Alt+C Ctrl+C
                            Searching
                            Logs Entered Alt+G followed by Enter Shift+Alt+G Ctrl+G
                            Referrals Received (In) Alt+I followed by Enter Shift+Alt+I Ctrl+I
                            Referrals Sent (Out) Alt+O followed by Enter Shift+Alt+O Ctrl+O
                            Keyword Search Alt+K followed by Enter Shift+Alt+K Ctrl+K
                            Search for Log Alt+L followed by Enter Shift+Alt+L Ctrl+L
                            Search for Referrals Alt+J followed by Enter Shift+Alt+J Ctrl+J
                            Search for Logs and Referrals Alt+F followed by Enter Shift+Alt+F Ctrl+F
                            Navigation
                            First Alt+M followed by Enter Shift+Alt+M Ctrl+M
                            Previous (<)) Alt+, followed by Enter Shift+Alt+, Ctrl+,
                            Next (>) Alt+. followed by Enter Shift+Alt+. Ctrl+.
                            Last Alt+/ followed by Enter Shift+Alt+/ Ctrl+/
                            Mark All Alt+A followed by Enter Shift+Alt+A Ctrl+A
                            Un-Mark All Alt+Z followed by Enter Shift+Alt+Z Ctrl+Z