The main menu

Displaying the Main Menu

The Main Menu is displayed when the 3di opens, and cannot be closed or minimised. If the Main Menu has become hidden behind other objects on the screen, you can bring it to the front in two ways:

• click the Main Menu button on the 3di toolbar

• or press <Ctrl + Shift + M> (think of M-enu)

The main menu with the Training5 backend loaded

The main menu shows the name of the current backend or 'no backend' if none is loaded.

Using the Main Menu buttons

Select and open backend

Recall from frontend and backends that patient cases are stored in a backend, and that each backend subfolder lives in a backends source folder.

To select a backend from the Backends folder already shown in Current source of backends:

1. select the backend in Backends in source

2. click the button Open selected backend

You can also directly double-click the required backend to achieve the same thing.

To select a backend from an existing but different backends source (for example, a folder on a removable drive):

1. click the button Browse for new source

2. navigate to the required existing Backends folder and ensure it is highlighted

• click OK in the browse dialog

• notice that the new Backends folder is now displayed in Current source of backends, and that there is a new list of available backends in Backends in source

• select the desired backend in Backends in source

• click the button Open selected backend

Create and open backend

The exact procedure depends upon where you wish to create your new backend: you will need to choose one of the possibilities numbered i) to iii) below.

However, naming your backend is a part of all three procedures, and should take account of the following:

• the name may have up to 10 characters drawn from A-Z, a-z, 0-9

• the name must not be amongst any listed in Backends in source

• although different Backend sources can contain identically named backends, the potential for confusion is minimised if backend names are unique

If your chosen procedure is successful, the Main Menu will display the name of your new backend; otherwise error messages will suggest possible problems and the Main Menu will display ‘no backend’.

Choose whichever one of the following three possibilities matches your need:

i) If you wish to create your new backend in the Backends folder already shown in Current source of backends:

• enter a name for your backend in Enter name for new backend

• click the button Create (and open) backend in current source

ii) If you wish to create your backend in an existing but different Backends source folder (for example, a folder elsewhere on your hard disc or on a removable drive):

• click the button Browse for new source

• navigate to the required existing Backends folder and ensure it is highlighted

• click OK in the browse dialog

• notice that the new backends folder is now displayed in Current source of backends, and that there is a new list of backends in Backends in source

• enter a name for your backend in Enter name for new backend

• click the button Create…

iii) If you wish to create your backend in a newly created Backend source folder (for example, a folder elsewhere on your hard disc or on a removable drive):

• click the button Create new source

• navigate to the folder which is to contain your new Backends folder and ensure it is highlighted

• click OK in the browse dialog

• notice that the new backends folder is now displayed in Current source of backends, and that there is an empty list of backends in Backends in source

• enter a name for your backend in Enter name for new backend

• click the button Create…

• note that in the example above, a Backends folder will be created in the Research folder, and within that will be created the folder for your new backend

Add and interview patients

This button opens the Case Manager form. Refer particularly to:

• Enter a patient
• Interview a patient

Export data to SPSS

This button opens the Patient Selector form, which provides the Spss export facility for all or just selected patients.

Export data to SPSS is only available in certain historic versions of the 3di. It is not available in version 2021 or later.

Routes: create and manage

This button opens the Routes page of the Main Menu where there are further buttons which open the Route Editor and the Route Manager.

Close 3di5

Using the Close 3di5 button leaves Microsoft Access running, but with no file open. You may prefer to close the 3di simply by closing the application window by clicking the Close icon at the top-right of the window – just as you would close down Microsoft Word or Excel.

It’s not essential to close a current interview before closing down the 3di; however, it is a good idea – not least because you can then see more easily what other tasks you may have underway and which you might like to complete.