Setting up Custom Columns and Fields

Like many mac applications, the main “table view” in LogTen Pro has several “standard” features that are very useful. By standard, I mean they function the same way columns do in applications like Mail, iTunes, etc. These features are important and allow you to do some useful things very easily.

Adding, Removing & Re-naming Columns and Fields

In LogTen Pro you have even more control. Select “Configure LogTen Pro” from the Manage Menu; you will be presented with a set of tabs corresponding to the tabs you see at the bottom of the main window in the “Flight Detail” view. Here you can change which columns are visible in the main view simply by ticking the box next to the appropriate name. You can also change the name of any column to anything you like. Want to track autorotations for helo work? Click on the Landings tab, tick the box next to “Custom Ldg 1″ then change the text to “Autorotations”…

This flexibility allows you to use LogTen Pro to track virtually anything. Prefer your columns to be in Norwegian? No problem.

IMPORTANT: Changing the TITLE of a field does NOT change it’s function. So if you change the Title of “Dual Received” to “Pilot in Command” all your “Pilot in Command” time will appear in the Dual column on reports. Reports reference specific fields no matter what their title and cannot dynamically guess what you meant by looking at your title.

Organizing

Familiar to nearly all mac users is the concept of “drag-and-drop”. To re-arrange columns in any table in LogTen simply click and hold on the header (where the title is) and drag it to the position you would like.
By arranging your columns in the same order as a paper logbook or your airlines roster it makes data entry a snap.

Resizing

In a similar fashion to re-arranging, columns can be resized as well. Place your cursor over the dividing line in between columns in the header of the table and you will see it change from the standard arrow to a vertical line with a small arrow pointing in either direction. Now click and drag to make the column larger or smaller.

Sorting

You control sorting by clicking once on a column heading. Click on “Date” and your flights will be sorted by date (the default). A small triangle appears in the column heading indicating the sort direction. Point up, or smallest to largest, means the data is sorted ascending, so for a date this would mean the oldest first. Click the column again, and the sort order reverses.

It’s important to note that the way new flights are added is affected by sort order. If your data is sorted ascending (smallest to largest) then new flights will be added below the current selection (if there’s no selection they’re added at the end). If your data is sorted descending, (for dates this would be newest at the top) then new flights are added above the current selection. This applies to Next Leg, Duplicate, and Return Trip as well.