Overview

Feed libraries contain nutrient analyses, names, prices and other information about feeds stored in record format with each record identified by a unique record number.

The primary source of feed information is the Master Feedstuff Library supplied with each installation of Formulate2. A custom feed library is a library you create to store feeds specific to a given producer's rations.

While feeds like corn grain may tend will tend to be similar in nutrient content from producer to producer, forages can be vastly different from one operation to another. Maintaining multiple records for the same forage in a single feed library can add significantly to the size of feed tables.

Using custom libraries simplifies the organization of feed information and optimizes program performance by minimizing the size of the tables Formulate2 has to search for feed information for any given ration thereby providing more robust program execution.

We recommend that you use the Master Feedstuff library as a source from which to draw information rather than a place to deposit it.

Creating Custom Feed Libraries

If you can use a keyboard - you can create a custom feed library. All you have to do is type the name you wish to give the library and Formulate2 handles all the details transparently in the background.

Here's What You Do ...

When viewing the feed record form, click on the Files menu then select and click on the Select/Create Library menu option as shown below.

This action will display the Feed Library Index form on top of the feed record form.

Here's How It Works ...

Now click on the New button to display the name box.

Type in the name box, the name you want to give the custom library. Each name must be unique and certain characters are not allowed. But you don't have to worry about those things because Formulate2 checks each keystroke you enter and won't allow you to enter an illegal character.

When you've entered the name, click on the Create button to create the new library. Formulate2 will check the name you've entered against the names of existing libraries and will inform you if the name you entered is already in use.

When the library has been created, the new name will appear in the grayed library list above the name box.

You've just created a custom feed library!

Importing Feeds

To make your new feed library usable, it must contain feeds so the next step is to populate the library with feed records. You can enter data for feeds in the record form and manually create feed records if you wish - but that's the hard way to do things.

Importing existing feed records is simple and much faster.

To do so you'll need a source from which to import feeds. You may select any existing feed library as your import source.

Here's What You Do ...

After the name of the new library appears in the library list, click on cancel twice to return to the feed record form. Next, click on the Files menu and select and click on the Select Import Source menu option.

Here's How It Works ...

This action displays the Feed Library Index again but in a different configuration. Notice that the top button caption is now "Set As Source". To select an import source, simply click on the name of the library you wish to use then click on the Set As Source button.

What you've just done is to create an "association" between two feed libraries. One of the libraries is designated as an Export Target and the other as an Import Source.

Any time you need a quick reminder of which libraries are associated and how, you can click on the Library Info button on the index form or the Info button on the feed record toolbar to display the current associations.

The information above tells us that when the Master Feedstuff Library is the open library and we click on the toolbar Add button we are going to copy records from the Master Feedstuff Library (the import source) to the Test Feed Library (the export target).

Of course at this point, as you can see, the open library is the new library just created.

(You can also find the name of the currently open feed library displayed in the far right pane of the status bar at the bottom of the feed record form).

You may have also noticed that a button on the toolbar that was disabled before is now enabled. Pausing the mouse over the button will display to a brief description of its function.

Clicking on the Source toolbar button will close the open feed library and open the feed library designated as the Import Source. The caption on the button will also change to Target as will the description displayed when the mouse is paused over the button.

The Source/Target button is enabled when an association is established between libraries and allows you to toggle back and forth between the two associated libraries.

Clicking on the Source button will open the library designated as the Import Source (the Master Feedstuff Library). Once it is opened, you can browse or search its records. When you locate a feed you want to use, clicking on the toolbar Add button will add the record to the Export Target (the Test Feed Library).

When your finished populating the new library, click on the Files menu and select Select Import Source. This time click on the Close button and the message below will be displayed.

Click on the OK button to terminate the association.

You now have a custom feed library populated with the feeds you want to use ready for use in ration records.