Entering information into the diary

The following reports are available for entering information into the diary:

• Add kit details
• Add location details
• Add trip details
• Add session details
• Updating and deleting kit details
• Updating and deleting location details
• Updating and deleting trip details
• Updating and deleting session details

When you first start using the diary, you need to enter information about your windsurfing equipment. Once this kit has been entered you will be able to select the kit items you have used from drop down lists in the entry forms. To get to the menus to allow you to start entering information, press the button.

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Add kit details

The Add Kit Details page is provided to enable your kit to be registered in the diary. Only kit that has been registered can be used later as part of a session.

If the date of purchase of the equipment is unknown, it is recommended that an estimate is made of both the month and the year. Usually thinking back to the first time a piece of kit was used, it is possible to come up with some form of estimate as to when it was purchased. If this information is not entered, then it will not be recorded properly in the cost based reports.

The three value boxes, purchase price, current value and value when entered enable depreciation costs to be calculated. Year on year the user is recommended to update the kit details to reflect the current value. Clearly the first time the kit is entered, the current value and the value when entered will be the same value.

When a piece of equipment is either sold or diposed off, it should be updated so that it is removed from the lists of available equipment when entering details for windsurfing sessions.

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Add location details

The Add location details form enables you to identify the places you sail together with the cost of sailing at the location.

The distance and petrol costs information on this form should represent the cost of the return trip to the location. On the value based reports, this information will be used (together with the launch fees) to work out the cost of the trip.

The launch fees entered for the location are only used as a prompt when entering the launch fees on the enter trip form. This is because the launch fees charged are often dependent on the time of year.

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Add trip details

A trip is used to define one visit to the beach. Normally this would be for a single day, but could potentially be a weekend or a whole week. During the course of a trip you will have different sailing sessions. A sailing session will represent one set of kit that was used, so for example if you changed sail half way through the day, that would represent one trip with two sessions.

The Comment field allows you to enter a comment that is applicable to the whole of the trip. Each of the sessions will also have a comment field to enable you to enter a comment about the particular session.

The trip date field should be the start date for the trip. This date will be used to identify which trip a session belongs to.

The parking cost and launch fees represent the cost of all parking and launch fees incurred during the trip. If the trip spans several days, then the total of all the parking and launch fees for the trip should be included. The launch fees entered in the trip details supercedes any launch fee information entered into the location details form.

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Add session details

The session details report allows you to capture information about the equipment used during the trips. Only equipment registered for the user will be available from the drop down lists. If you have sold or disposed of a piece of equipment, mark it as sold via the update kit details to prevent it from appearing in the drop down lists.

Identify the trip that the session belongs to by the drop down list which contains details of location and date or trip. The most recent trips will appear uppermost in the list.

The equipment drop down lists will show all the currently available kit registered to you. If a piece of kit you own does not appear in the list then it is either marked as sold, or has not been registered correctly in the diary. Use the update kit details report to correct it, then come back to the add session details.

The time on the water field is a decimal number representing the number of hours that you sailed for. For example if you sailed for an hour and three quarters, enter 1.75.

The wind direction and wind strength fields are useful to build up a profile of which locations work in which wind directions. Some of the reports in the diary allow you to list trips by the wind direction and location which should assist the decision about where to go to for a the predicted wind direction.

The fun factor rating is provided to enable you to provide a quick summary of how enjoyable the trip was. Different trips will be pleasurable for a whole range of different reasons, however this provides a quick and easy way of identifying the best and the worst trips of the year. The comment field can then be used to expand on why the trip was so memorable.

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Updating and deleting kit details

Update kit details provides a mechanism to keep all the kit information in the database up to date. Using this form it is possible to either update a record or to delete it completely. You are recommended not to delete a record completely unless it was entered in error. If you delete kit that has already been used in a session, then that session will lose the information about the kit that was used.

To delete a record, select it from the list of kit that is provided via the radio buttons on the left hand side of the form. When you press the delete button you will be shown the details of the record you have selected to delete and if you then press delete, the record will be deleted from the database.

To update a record, select it from the list of kit that is provided via the buttons on the left hand side of the form. When record details will then be presented in an update form. Correct the information you wish to update and then press the update button.

By setting the sold date of the equipment you will prevent the kit from appearing in the list of available kit when entering session details. This is the recomended way of dealing with kit that has been thrown away - set the sold date to the day that you disposed of the kit with the price sold set to zero.

Keep the current value of the kit up to date to ensure that the kit depreciation reports correctly represent the current value of you kit.

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Updating and deleting location details

Update location details provides the mechanism to update and delete location details records from the database. You are recommended not to delete a record unless it has been entered in error. If any trips go to a location which has been deleted from the database they will not be recorded correctly.

To delete a location from the database, select the record from the update form by pressing the radio button on the left hand side of the form, then pressing the delete button. A new form will be presented showing the details of the record that has been selected for deletion. By pressing the delete on the second form will cause the record to be deleted from the database.

To update a location from the database, select the record from the form by pressing the radio button on the left hand side of the from, then pressing the update button. A new form will be presented showing the details of the record to enable the record to be updated.

The mileage and petrol costs for the location should be the petrol and mileage for the return trip to the location.

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Updating and deleting trip details

Update trip details provides the facilities to either delete or update the details of a trip. You are recommended not to delete the details of a trip unless it has been entered in error. If you delete a trip record, then you will not be able to access the details of the session for the trip.

To delete a trip from the database, select the trip from the form by selecting the radio button adjacent to the trip you wish to delete. You will then be provided with a follow up form containing the details of the record you wish to delete. If you wish to delete the record, then press the delete button and the record will be removed from the database. Any sessions already associated with the trip will not be accessible after the trip has been deleted.

To update a trip record, select the trip from the form by selecting the radio button adjacent to the trip you wish to update. You will then be provided with a from containing the details of the trip. Update the information you wish to change, then press the update button to update the information in the database.

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Updating and deleting session details

Update session details provides facilities to either delete or update session details in the database. Deleting a session from the database will remove all information about the kit that was used for the session from the database

To delete a record from the database, select the record from the form by pressing the radio button on the left hand side of the form. The details of the session will then be presented to you to enable you to confirm that this is the session you wish to delete prior to the record been removed from the database.

To update a session, select the record by pressing the radio button on the left hand side of the form and pressing the update button. A new form will then be produced containing all the details of the session. Change the information that needs to be corrected, then press the update button.

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