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Sections: Meal Selector | Rename Meal Button | Meal Category Selector | Meal Ingredients | Amount Entry | Name Entry | Optional Selector | Ingredient Up Button | Ingredient Down Button | Add Ingredient Button | Update Ingredient Button | Delete Ingredient Button | Cooking Instructions
Meal Control Tab
The Meal Control Tab is where all of your recipes reside. In this tab, you can create, delete, edit, categorize and print any of your meals. If a button is greyed out, this means that the function that button performs is unnecessary and, therefore, unavailable. If a key combination is given in parentheses (e.g. Alt+N), this means that you can hold down the 'Alt' key and press the 'n' key to cause that action to take place. Below is a screenshot of the Meal Control Tab:
The following two functions are only available when you are not editing a meal.
Meal Selector
This is what you use to select the meal you want to view or edit. Click on the arrow on the right-hand side to bring up a list of your meals and then click on the meal you wish to view. Once you've selected a meal, you can edit, delete, print, or rename it.
Rename Meal Button (Alt+R)
Click this button if you wish to change the name of the meal you are currently viewing. You will be prompted to enter a new name for the meal. After you enter the new name, click the 'OK' button. You are not allowed to change the name to the name of another existing meal.
The following functions are only available when you are editing a meal. You edit a meal by clicking on the pencil in the toolbar. Remember that any changes you make to your meal while editing it must be saved!
Meal Category Selector
This selector is for choosing which category your meal is filed under. Click on the right-hand arrow to bring up a list of your categories and then click on the category you want your meal to be in. To modify the list of categories that appear here and their order in the list, use the Category Control Tab. Meals cannot be filed in the 'All' category.
Meal Ingredients
This lists the ingredients that are in the meal currently being viewed. The ingredients are listed in the order they were added to the list. If you want to change this order, select the ingredient you wish to move and click on the Ingredient Up or Ingredient Down button. To add a new ingredient, put the amount to be used in the Amount Entry, the name of the ingredient in the Name Entry, click the Optional Selector if it's an optional ingredient, and click the Add Ingredient Button. To change an ingredient, click the ingredient to be updated, change the appropriate information in the entries mentioned above, and click the Update Ingredient Button. To delete an ingredient from your meal, choose the appropriate ingredient and click the Delete Ingredient Button.
Amount Entry
This entry contains the amount of an ingredient to be used when making the meal being viewed.
Name Entry
This entry contains the name of the ingredient to be used when making the meal being viewed. The name in this entry corresponds to the names of ingredients in the Ingredients List. You may also click on the arrow on the right-hand side to bring up a list of all the ingredients you've entered into Discover-a-Dish. Simply click on an item in the list to fill the entry box with that name. In addition, if you begin typing in an ingredient and it matches an existing ingredient, it will auto-complete the name with that existing ingredient. If you want to use the auto-completed name, simply hit the Enter button to add the ingredient. If not, you may continue to type in the rest of your ingredient. There are also a couple of things to take into consideration when naming ingredients:
- It helps to call an ingredient by the same name every time (i.e. call it "spaghetti" always, not "spaghetti" sometimes and then "spaghetti noodles" other times). Another example is for eggs. If a meal asks for only one egg, it is better to use "eggs" as the name so you can use the same ingredient with other meals that have more than one egg.
- It also helps if, for example, you have 1/2 cup of melted butter as an ingredient, that you use "1/2 melted" as the amount and "butter" as the name. Again, this is so you can use the same ingredient with other meals that require "butter".
Optional Selector
If this box is checked, then the ingredient is considered optional and not required for making the meal. It will not be taken into consideration for the meal when performing a search.
Ingredient Up Button
Click this button to move the currently selected ingredient in the Meal Ingredients list up one line.
Ingredient Down Button
Click this button to move the currently selected ingredient in the Meal Ingredients list down one line.
Add Ingredient Button (Alt+A)
After entering information in the Amount Entry, Name Entry, and clicking the Optional Selector (if appropriate), click this button to add the ingredient into the Meal Ingredients list. If you add an ingredient to the meal which has the same name as an existing ingredient, you will be asked if you really want to add another ingredient with the same name. If the ingredient you add is not present in your Ingredients List, it will be added.
Update Ingredient Button (Alt+U)
After choosing an ingredient from the Ingredients List and modifying the information in the appropriate entries, click this button to update the ingredient with the new information. If the name of the ingredient is updated to the name of another existing ingredient, you will be asked if you really want to add another ingredient with the same name. If the name of the ingredient is not present in your Ingredients List, it will be added to that list.
Delete Ingredient Button (Alt+D)
Click this button to delete the currently selected ingredient in your Meal Ingredients list from the meal.
Cooking Instructions
This is where you enter the instructions that should be followed when making the meal. You can change different text attributes by selecting different options in the Format Menu.
| Discover-a-Dish is a registered trademark of Jeff Shipman. | © 2002 ShippySoft |
| Please report errors or omissions to support@shippysoft.com. |