The following are instructions on the use of the real-time reference statistics input form.

Overview

Below is a screen shot (Windows XP) of the new form.
Displayed near the top of the form are the current date and hour.
Rows represent question types; columns represent modes of delivery.
The white boxes are where the statistical data is put in.
Statistics data is entered by either clicking the mouse buttons or keying them in.
Once all the data has been entered into the form the select the submit the data by selecting the “Submit” button .

Inputting data

To input data, simply position the mouse cursor over the white box corresponding to the appropriate question type and mode of delivery you wish to record. Click the left mouse button once and the value of "1" will automatically appear in the box. Repeated clicks on the left mouse button will increment the value by one. In the example below, the left mouse button was clicked 3 times in the Directional box.

If you click the left mouse button too many times and overshoot your target value, click the right mouse button to decrement the value by 1. Repeated clicks on the right mouse button will decrement the value until the box becomes blank.

Clicking the Reset button will clear all values.

If you need to input a large number, you can manually key in values using your keyboard.

Once you have set all of your values correctly, simply click the Submit button. Your data will be sent to the server and you will receive a very brief confirmation message on the form.

Changing the date and time

The date and hour values of the form, by default, will be set to the current date and hour.

If you are unable to input your data right away you will have to roll back time so that your data receives the correct date/time stamp.

To roll back the hour, simply select a different value from the hour pull-down menu.

You can roll back the date two different ways. You can key in a date in the format d/m/yyyy, or you can select a date from the popup calendar. To use the popup calendar, click on the icon next to the date, or click on the date itself. This causes the popup calendar to appear in the browser window. Clicking on any day in the calendar will automatically load that date value into the date field of the form. You can page foward or backwards through months in the calendar by clicking the left and right arrows. The calendar will go back to the year 1900 if you should suddenly awake from a coma and realize you forgot to input your reference statistics.

A word about the date and time stamp

Remember that this form is Web browser-based and that the Web is a "stateless" environment. What this means is the form has no continuous connection to the server. The date and time values in the form are set whenever the form "talks" to the server, that is, whenever you first open the form or whenever you submit data. When the form interacts with the server, it automatically pulls back the most current date and time. This has some implications. Take the following hypothetical scenario:

• Your desk shift runs from 2-4 p.m.; it is currently 2:59 p.m.
• The last time you submitted data was at 2:50 p.m. and you haven't used the form since then.
• The hour value on the form will be set to "2 pm hour".
• It is now 3:01 p.m.
• The hour value on the form will still be set to "2 pm hour" because no interaction with the server has occurred since your last data submission at 2:50 p.m.

Any time there has been an extended period of inactivity with the form, prior to inputting any data into the form: Click the Reset button - the form will "ping" the server and return with the most current date and time.