There are so many ways under the covers that TimeControl saves time and after a couple of versions, we start to think of them as always there and give them too little credit.

A great example is TimeControl Table Templates.

As everyone who has ever administered TimeControl knows, there are a number of tables that make the flexibility of the system so powerful and yet easy for end users.  They include tables for Users, Employees, Projects, Charge Codes, Resources, Rates, Extended Rates, WBS, Assignments, Hierarchies and Assignments as well as Resource Planning.

All the Table interface screens are based on the same navigation structure and look and feel but of course, all of them are different based on their content.  For every table however, you can define a Default Table Template.  The information saved in that template will automatically populate the table for any new record.  That can be a massive time saver for Administrators.

It’s a simple feature to use, create a new record, add only the data that you’d like to automatically appear and then under the More… Menu, click save as Default.  If you already have a Default Template you can edit it from that same menu.  So, let’s say as an Administrator you’ll be working on the North American Employee table all day today.   It would be handy to pre-populate the user defined fields for location and office and anything else specific to the North American employees so you don’t either forget it or mis-enter it.  That can come automatically out of the Default Template.  Perhaps tomorrow you’ll be working on the European Employee Table.  No problem, just edit the Default Template to change the user defined fields to the European standard values and save that.  Now, the default fields will be automatically populated in that way.

This isn’t the only time saving and quality checking method in Tables.  Table Validation Rules can also check for things you’ve set up.  For example, let’s say you have a User Defined field for Employee Type and when you select “Contractor” you want to be certain that the Contractor Name field is populate with one of the possible selections.  But, if the Employee Type field is “Salaried” then you want to be certain that the Contractor Name field is empty.  This is an easy Table Validation to create and will help ensure the quality of your table data.

These features are all explained in TimeControl’s Reference Manual.