Loading the Bid List Editor

The Bid List Editor has two list boxes. On the left side of the display is the Select List. This list holds the current list of lines that you have not yet bid. You select lines from this list and transfer them to the Bid List on the right side of the display. The Bid List shows you the list of lines you will bid and the order in which they will be added to your bid sheet.

The object of the Bid List Editor is to select line numbers from the left-hand list box labeled Select List and build a list of line numbers in the right-hand list box labeled Bid List.

Start the list editing by selecting a list to load. Click one of the Load command buttons on the display. This list will appear in the list box on the left side of the screen labeled Select List. Note that the type of list loaded will appear in the title of the Select list box. If this list happens to be the exact order in which you want to bid, then you merely need to transfer the entire Select List to the Bid List. When the list is loaded, note that any line tags or marks show up to the right side of the line number. When you transfer your selection to the Bid List, the mark or tag will not appear.

Transferring Selections

There are two types of transfers used to shift the Select List to the Bid List. You may select one or more line numbers in the Select List to transfer, or you may move the entire contents of the Select List over. These transfers are accomplished by using the Transfer Selection command buttons in the middle of the display.

To select a single line to move to the Bid List, you simply click the line number in the Select List once with the mouse. This will highlight the line number. Click the single right chevron command button labeled Move Selected to move the line number to the Bid List. As a shortcut, you may simply double-click the line number in the Select List with the mouse. You may also highlight the line you wish to transfer by using the arrow cursor keys to move the line focus to the line you wish to transfer, then pressing the Enter key. Note that you may use any combination of the methods to accomplish the transfer.

To select multiple lines, that is, two or more lines in a row (they must be sequential, or in order), use the mouse to select the first line you want, then click and drag the mouse to the last line number in order that you want. This will highlight all the line numbers you wish to transfer. Click the single right chevron command button labeled Move Selected to move the selected line numbers to the Bid List. As with the single line number transfer described above, you may use the arrow cursor keys to move the list focus to select the lines you wish to select. Move the line focus to the starting line number you wish to select. Press and hold the Shift key, then use the arrow keys to highlight the lines you wish to move to the Bid List. Release the Shift key. Press the Enter key to move the selected lines to the Bid List.

After pressing the Enter key, the line or lines selected will be deleted from the Select List and moved to the Bid List, minus any tag or mark that was showing while it was in the Select List.

Super Shortcut: When you select a line or group of lines to move, simply click the right mouse button in the appropriate list box (the list box you selected in) to transfer the line numbers.

Loading a New List

The Bid List Editor is an integrated list editor. What this means is you can load several different lists without disturbing selections already ordered in the Bid List. This allows you great flexibility in putting your bid selections in order.

When first displayed, the Bid List Editor has no lines listed in either the Select List or the Bid List. You start editing by selecting a type of list to load (using the Load command buttons). Once you have moved some, or all of the line numbers to the Select List list box, you may still load another list. However, when you load a new list with any selections in the Bid List, the editor will not load any line numbers that already appear in the Bid List. In other words, the list you load will have only the line numbers in it that you haven't already bid. The list loaded will still be in order, minus the lines already bid. A progress display will be shown indicating the bid list is being searched for previously bid line numbers.

Note that as you load new lists, the title of the Select List always shows you what type of list you are working with, such as: Select List - ORDINAL.

Moving Bid Items Back to the Select List

Since the Bid List Editor is an integrated list editor, you must be aware of some rather peculiar results that might occur when you move Bid List items back to the Select List. If you have loaded several lists and chosen line numbers from some of them, and then move a line number from the Bid List back to the Select List, and that line is not a member of the currently loaded list, it will not be moved to the Select List since it is not a member of that list. The line number is simply deleted from the Bid List.

For example, say you load the Tag list and move all line numbers to the Bid List list box. Next you load the Sort list (now since there are line numbers already in the Bid List, the Bid List is searched for lines already bid and if they are, are not loaded in the Select List list box). After reviewing the Bid List, you decide to move a line number back to the Select List. When you double-click, or move that line number, it will be moved to the Select List list box in the order in which it would be in the Sort list. If that line number is not a member of the Sort list, it will be deleted. It will not appear in the Select List or the Bid List again. To get access to that particular line number again, you must load the list or lists that contains it.

Resetting the Bid List

Although there is no specific reset button on the screen, you can reset, or clear the Bid List by clicking the Move All transfer button. That's the transfer button with the double left chevron (see the diagram above). After you move all selections back to the Select List, the Bid List box on the right will be blank, allowing a complete load of a new list.

Saving Your Bid Sheet

Once you've gotten your bid list the way you want, you need to use one of the Save commands to save it to a file. There are several save options:

If You're Saving a Regular Bid: To save a regular bid, i.e., a non-blank line, you use the Save SBS command button. This will save your bid list to a file named "BID.SBS". Note that only one file is saved, and that as you save various bid configurations, you are overwriting the same file with a new one. The last bid you saved will always be the last one in the file.

Once your bid list is saved to the BID.SBS file, you'll be prompted to upload the file to the Crew Portal. If you'd like to upload at this time, click the OK button and the upload process with begin immediately. If you'd like to wait until later to upload, you can use the Upload command on the main menu to upload the file. Remember, the last bid you did will be the one that gets uploaded.

If You're Saving a Blank Line Bid: As of April, 1996, blank line bids are to be formatted just as the regular bids, and are to be submitted to the same area on the Home Access system. If you've put together a blank line bid and want to save it, you use the Save SBS command button, just as with the regular bids.

Once the file is saved, you'll be automatically prompted to upload this file as a blank line bid. If you're just saving a text copy of your bids, don't upload the file, or course. If you choose OK, the upload to the Blank Line bid area will begin immediately. If you'd like to upload the file at a later time, you may do so using the Upload command, just as with the regular bid upload.