GMS Navigation

This section describes the various components of the GMS pages and provides tips and suggestions for navigating GMS.

GMS Page Components

To provide consistency throughout the GMS, the various pages were created with the same organization. That is, each GMS page consists of the browser toolbar, a left frame, a right frame, a header, a content area, and a footer.

Navigation through the GMS pages is possible by clicking on the various types of “links” that have been created on each screen or page. These links can be tabs, hyperlinks, buttons, or pick-lists and when you click on them the system takes you to another page within the GMS. The following figure is an example of one of the GMS pages:

Figure 3: A Sample GMS Page

Browser Toolbar

The top of the GMS screen normally will be filled with the browser toolbar (Internet Explorer or Netscape). The rest of the screen will contain the GMS page.

GMS Frames

GMS pages were designed with two frames (or parts). These two frames are always displayed below the browser toolbar. Based on user rights, some of the following choices will not be seen or will be “greyed” out and not accessible to the user. Some comments in this regard are included below.

Figure 4: List of the Projects, (Project Grid)

Left Frame

Words in yellow are links to other screens; words in white are headings. In the following discussion all the choices available are listed, some users may not be able to access every choice, because of restrictions.

Before selecting a project the left frame has the following choices:

Left Frame Choices
Choice	Function
GMS	Takes the user to the GMS Welcome screen
Project Attachment Award Progress Site Review Financial Property Audit	Takes the user to the appropriate module’s initial page.
Utilities Security	Restricted access modules for administrating GMS functions
Help Logout	Takes the user to Help screen or Logout, respectively
Login ID	Indicates the sign in ID of the current user.
Version	Lists the open version of GMS

After selecting a project the left frame has the following choices:

Left Frame Choices
Choice	Function
Name of the current module	In our illustration it is Project.
Home	Takes the user to the GMS Welcome screen
Open	Takes the user back to the grid, showing all of the projects.
Save	Saves any changes which the user may have made. (If available according to user and record status)
Submit	(Seen only by a grantee, when the project status is New and at least one participant is entered.) Clicking this button changes the status of the grant to Application Received.
Attachment Award Progress Site Review Financial Property Audit	Lists the other modules for the selected project. Clicking on one of these choices takes the user to the actual attachments, awards, progress, etc. of the selected project and not to the initial screen.
Reports	Under this heading will be a list of the reports that can be printed. The reports listed will vary according to the status of the project.
Application	A printable five page summary of the application.
Deficiency	A report of the areas where BJF has determined that the application information submitted is not yet adequate to generate a contract.
Contract	A report showing the current status of the application.
Award	The contract after the project is approved for funding.
Help Logout	Takes the user to Help screen or Logout, respectively
Login ID	Indicates the sign in ID of the current user.
Version	Lists the open version of GMS

Right Frame

The right frame displays the various GMS pages normally consisting of a listing of records or contents of records for the module selected from the left frame.

Header

The top of the GMS page is the header area. Before a project is selected this area displays brief instructions about accessing individual records. After a project is selected this area displays information – Project #, Funding Source, Participant, Project Status – about the project that is displayed in the body of the page. On some GMS pages the header area also displays tabs that are used to separate the GMS data for ease of viewing.

Footer

The GMS footer area shows various buttons to perform actions on the grid above as well as counters displaying the project record counts. The following table includes the most common buttons. Some individual modules have other buttons which will be described in context.

Common Buttons Found in the Screen’s Footer
Button	Function
Search	Allows the user to conduct a search by entering one or more parameters in the search screen.
View All	After a search will display all of the projects that the user has a right to see.
Print	Allows the user to print a form using the record currently selected.
New	Allows the user to enter a new record for the selected module.
|<	Goes to the FIRST page of records.
<	Goes to the PREVIOUS page of records.
>	Goes to the NEXT page of records.
>|	Goes to the LAST page of records.

Since large numbers of Project records cannot be displayed on the screen at the same time, in the bottom right corner, there is a counter displaying the total number of Project records. In addition, the page number currently being displayed is shown, as well as the total number of pages available.

Remember that only the records that match the access rights of the user will be displayed.

Content Area

The majority section of the GMS page displays the content or record information. If tabs are present in the GMS header, then the data displayed corresponds to the tab currently selected. In other instances the GMS content page may display a grid containing a series of records for the GMS module selected.

Grids

A grid appears when a module is selected from the left frame of the Welcome page. The grid is a table with a series of rows, known as records, that correspond to different projects stored within GMS. Based on user rights, the records shown correspond to the supporting organization for which the user has been registered. In examples in this manual the user has the right to see all the projects in the GMS.

The grids for the different modules look very similar. The grid is a display of the projects within the database Depending on which grid one is in when one clicks a project, one will get different results. The grid name is just above the left side of the table. For example, selecting a project when in the Attachment grid will display the attachments for the project; selecting a project when in the Financial grid will display the financial reports for the selected project, etc.

Within a grid, any words or numbers in blue are a link to that item. E.g., the user may click on the blue project name and go to the information on that project.

Tabs

When looking at a specific project in the project module a series of tabs will be seen across the top of the Content Area. GMS divides the modules into various pages to organize the information. To access the contents within a particular tab simply click on that tab. Specific tabs are explained within the appropriate context.

Pick-lists

Several fields in the system require the user to place a value in the field by selecting it from a predefined list of options. This is called a pick-list. For example, to enter the name of a staff member, click on the arrow on the right side of the box, scroll through the names, and select the name by clicking on it. If the list of values is long, hit a letter or number to quickly skip through records.

Navigational Tips

The following suggestions are presented to allow the user to most effectively use the GMS.

Resizing Screen Text

In both browsers it is possible to change the size of the text shown on some of the GMS pages. In Internet Explorer select the size of the text within the Text Size item from the View menu. In Netscape, select the Character Set item from the View menu.

Exiting GMS

The proper way to exit the GMS is to click the Logout link located towards the bottom of the left frame. Exiting by clicking on the X button on the top right corner may introduce undesired behavior of the GMS.

Going Back to a previous GMS Page

It is not recommended to use the Internet Explorer or Netscape Back button to go to previous pages of the GMS web application. Doing so may cause undesired behavior of the GMS. Instead, use the navigation buttons and links that are provided within the application.

Time-out

The GMS has a time-out feature that will log a user out if no activity is detected. To prevent being logged-out of the GMS, we recommend that you log out from the GMS if you are going to leave your desk or are not planning to use the GMS for more than thirty minutes.