Creating Custom Screens

Custom Screens allow you to add your own screens and design them to meet your needs. Many practices need additional information recorded, this may vary from practice to practice.

With the Custom Screens feature we give you the access to build your own screens and design your own layouts. Building your own will allow you to get the most out of your EXACT and personalise it for your practice's needs.

An example of what you can can create with custom screens.

Before creating a custom screen its worth seeing if we have what you are looking for in our custom screen library EXACT Custom Screen Archive - UK & EIRE. This can then be imported and save time having to create it, even the template matches most or part of it you can use as a template to add any additional you need.

If you need to build or edit a custom screen this guide will assist you. The below video will guide you through creating a custom screen with written instructions below that.

To begin building your contact list go to Configure->Custom Screens

This will open the List Custom Screens window, which lists all custom screens that are currently in your database:

Click the +1 button on the tool bar at the bottom of the screen to add a new Custom Screen.

Create the custom screen from this window:

Code - Click in the Code field and enter a brief name for the custom screen (no more than 10 characters, and it must be unique, as it will be used to identify this screen).

Title - Click in the Title field and enter a brief title for the custom screen that indicates the purpose of the screen, such as "Instructions to Hygienist", "Medical History Update", "Prescription background details". etc.

A custom screen is made of many different fields, brought together to make an easy to read and fill in for your users. These fields include:

Label - Used mostly for Custom Screen presentation so you can label various areas and group sections
Date - The user can add a date, could be used for visit date or a date X-rays or lab data were sent off for analysis
Number - User restricted to adding a number only, this field could be used for stating the quantity of a material used
Text Box - One of the most commonly used fields that allow a user to add their own text in.
Check Box - Along with Text Boxes one of the more common types used.
Money - Allows you to enter a monetary value. Not used often but could be used to state a lab fee.
Option groups (Radio buttons) - Similar to check boxes but forces the user to only select one option.
Combo Boxs (Drop Down Boxes) - Drop down box that allows user to select an option
Note Fields - Allows you to enter notes without character restriction that text boxes have. Text boxes are more commonly used
Tabs - Custom screens can only be as vast as your screen size so if you find yourself running out of space then adding an extra tab will help you.

You can use the e|d, +1 and delete option below to add/edit or remove fields from the custom screen. The right hand side will show you how the custom screen looks.

Click +1 to add a field:

Complete the fields in this window as follows (note that any attributes that are inapplicable for a particular type, or that are set by the system, or that cannot be set at this point, will be greyed out)

Type	Click the drop-down and select a field type for the custom screen: Label - Use to add a label to the custom screen (e.g., a section heading, data entry instructions, etc). Date - Enables a date to be recorded Number - Records a number Number 1 dec - Records a number with one decimal place. Text Box - This field enables any text to be entered in a box. Check Box - Inserts a check box which enables the field to be set to either On or Off (ticked or not ticked). Money - Records the information as currency. Example: $xx.xx Option Group - Create a group of 'radio buttons', where each field in the group is only one mutually exclusive option of several possibilities. Create an option group before specifying option buttons. Option Button - Use Option buttons to specify the different options (fields) within an option group. Only one option per group may be selected. Combo Box - Creates a combo box (drop-down menu). Create this before adding any combo entries into the combo box. Combo Entry - Specify the entries available within a combo box. Note Field - Write longer notes about a treatment item, or another entry on the custom screen. Tab - Use this field to specify on which of the available tabs the element is to appear. When present, tabs will be drawn at the top of the custom screen, with the name given to them in the Title field. The tabs required can be selected by name. Only tabs that have previously been entered for the custom screen may be selected from. This field will be greyed-out if no tabs have been entered, or if a type “Tab” is selected.
Tab	Use the drop-down arrow to select the Tab on which this field is to appear (this field will be greyed out if no tabs have been defined).
Title	Click in the ‘Title’ field and enter a title for the form.
Number of letters	If the type of field selected is for data entry, use this field to select the maximum number of characters that may be entered in the text box field.
Group	Use the Group field in conjunction with the Option Group and Combo Box options to determine into which group the selections will be entered. If you add Combo Entry fields immediately after creating the Combo Box field they belong to, the Group field number is automatically assigned. Items added later will need the Group number added manually, as they are usually assigned the next available group number.
Line	Use the ‘Line’ field to determine which line the field will be displayed on. The Line number will change automatically when a new selection is added. This may need to be changed if more than one selection is to be placed on the same line, or if the line assigned is not where you want the field to be. If you have two or more fields on the same line, be sure to use the next two 'Offset' fields to position them so they don't overlap. To check the positioning of the fields, click the Set Default entries button to view how the finished screen will appear.
Label left offset	Use the Label left offset field to set the left margin of the first character of the field Title.
Field left offset	Use the Field left offset field to set the left margin of the field in the custom screen.
Width	Use the Width field to set the width of the field displayed. This is generally automatically calculated, based on the other field parameters, so that it is sufficient to accommodate the number of characters in a string. If you need to set this manually, set it to be equal to the maximum number of characters multiplied by 7, plus 15. So for a 10-character field, it will be (10 x 7) + 15 = 85.
Height	Use the Height field to set the height of the entry/display box for a ‘Note’ field (for other field types, this will be ‘greyed out’). If this is only one line, set it to 19, or add 10 for each extra line of height you want to display. This field does not control how many lines of notes can be entered, only how many are displayed. For example, if you specify a height of 29 (two lines) and more than two lines of text are entered, then the field will display up/down arrows at the side, so the user can scroll up/down to view the extra lines.
Bold	If required, check the Bold checkbox to display the Title of the field in bold type.
Italic	If required, check the Italic checkbox to display the Title of the field in italic type.
Show zero as blank	Checking this box will show a blank field for any number fields that are 0. If unchecked, an entry of 0 (zero) will be displayed as 0, indicating that it was deliberately entered, rather than being left blank by mistake.
Don't display title	Checking this box will suppress the title of the field in the Custom screen. This is generally used only where a field is display only and doesn't need a prompt to tell the user what the field is for or what to enter.
Triggers Medical Alert	A custom screen can trigger a medical alert if it's used as a custom Medical History screen. The Medical Alert Trigger is only intended for use with Medical History, and does not trigger in other system areas such as Charting.

As you enter each field, click the OK button to save it.

Default Values

On the right hand side of the Edit Custom Screen you can set default entries for each field. What you set here will be automatically filled when the custom screen is generated. If you set the defaults to the most common options, it minimises data entry. On the other hand, leaving fields blank forces the user to enter a value, which tends to make them check the defaulted values are correct.

Tips when Creating Custom Screens

Find out what machine in the practice has the lowest screen resolution and build it on that PC. The reason for this is that if you build it on a widescreen PC and then try and use it on a smaller screen then it will not translate well and cut off part of the custom screen.
When building a combo box add a combo entry with a blank title, this will allow you to set the default as blank rather than already having an entry in there.
There is a limit to the number of fields allowed on a custom screen. Split large custom screen designs into two or more parts and attach these to separate Services.