Smart Charts Help

Opening a Smart Chart is as simple as opening a document on your research product.

• Log in to your research product.
• Click the startup link for the Smart Chart you want to open.

The Smart Chart you have selected opens in a new browser window, and you can begin your research.

Once you have finished using a Smart Chart, you can close it and return to your research product.

• Click the "X" in the upper right-hand corner of the Smart Chart window.

The Smart Chart window is closed, and you can continue your research.

With Smart Charts, you can easily create a customized chart that contains the information you need.

• From the main screen in the Smart Chart you currently have open, click in the check boxes next to the topics you want to include in your chart. You can expand and collapse topic menus by clicking the "+" and "-" icons.

TIP! Searching for topics
To search for specific topics, click Search icon located in the horizontal bar above the topics list. When the "Search Topics" dialog box displays, type your search term or terms in the space provided and click the Search Topics button. To search for specific topics using the thesaurus, simply type your search term in the space provided, click in the checkbox next to Use Thesaurus, and then click the Search Topics button. For more information on searching for topics, see Searching for topics. (Note: Not all Charts contain the ability to perform a search of the topic list.)

• Click the Select Jurisdictions tab to continue. Note: "Select Jurisdiction" in most cases is the 2nd step but may not be in all cases.
• On each subsequent screen in which you are asked to select items to include in your chart, click in the checkboxes next to the items you want to include
  - Or - Click the check icon located in the horizontal bar to select all items that are displayed on the screen.
  Note: To clear the selected items, click the Reset All icon (X) icon located in the horizontal bar above the topics list.
• Click the next tab above to proceed to the next screen.

Note: Depending on which Smart Chart you're using, the process of creating a chart may contain more or fewer item selection screens. You can always return to a previous item selection screen by clicking the appropriate tab button.

• After selecting items on the final item selection screen, click the Results tab. Your results are displayed.

Please Note: Depending on which Smart Chart you currently have open, the ability to change the way your results are displayed may not be available.

• Select the "Matrix View" icon or "Chart View" icon (if applicable).
  Note: The blue bars in the icon indicate which view is active. No matter which option you choose, the chart retains active links to documents on your research product!

• Select the "Highlight Updates" icon. The "Highlight Changes" dialog will display.
• On the "Highlight Changes" dialog box, select a specific date using the calendar icon that appears as you put the cursor in the empty text box.
  Note: If the Smart Chart you have open has the "pick a date" feature enabled, you can also type a specific date using the mm/dd/yy format.)
• Click the Highlight Changes button. Items that have been updated during the time-frame you selected are highlighted with a yellow background.

Before you create a chart, you can narrow the list of available topics by searching for topics that contain specific keywords. If the Smart Chart you currently have open contains search functionality, you can easily narrow the list of topics based on a particular search term or terms. Additionally, the search feature included in some Smart Charts also contains a thesaurus based search tool that allows you to search the list of topics based on your search term and any synonyms that match your search term.

Note: Not all Smart Charts contain the ability to perform a search of the topic list.

• From the main screen in the chart you currently have open, type your search term(s) in the space provided and click the Search Topics button that displays in the horizontal bar above the topics list. The "Search Topics" dialog box will display.
• Type your search term or terms in the space provided, and then click the Search button.

Topics that matched your search term(s) are displayed. If you need to start your search over from the beginning, simply click the Reset All icon. The list of topics is reset, and you can start a new search.

• From the main screen in the Smart Chart you currently have open, click the "Search" icon provided in the horizontal bar above the topics list. The "Search Topics" dialog box is displayed.
• Type your search term(s) in the space provided.
• Click in the checkbox next to Use Thesaurus.
• Click the Search button.

A list of topics that matched your search term(s) is displayed. The search results that are displayed also include items that match any synonyms of your search term(s). To view the synonyms used in the search, simply click the "Thesaurus" icon next.

Tip! Expand or collapse all menus
To expand or collapse all of the menus that are displayed, click the Expand All or Collapse All icons located in the horizontal bar above the topics list.

Note: To reset the list of topics to its state prior to performing any searches, simply click the Reset All icon.

Once you have created a chart, you can reset all of your selections and create a new chart.

• With a chart currently displayed on your screen, just click the Clear All icon.

You are returned to the main Chart screen, all of your selections have been cleared, and you can create a new chart.

With Smart Charts, you can export a chart as an MS Word file (.doc file format) for later viewing.

Please Note: Depending on which chart you currently have open, the "Matrix" view may or may not be available.

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the Export icon located on the vertical bar on the right-hand side of the application.
• Select MS Word from the "Export" dialog box that displays.
• When the "File Download" dialog box appears, click the Save button.
• Select a file name and location for the file, and then click the Save button.

The chart is saved as an MS Word file, and the file retains active links to documents on your research product.

With Smart Charts, you can export a chart as an MS Excel file (.xls file format) for later viewing, even if you have already selected the "Display as Chart" option.

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the Export icon located on the vertical bar on the right-hand side of the application.
• Select MS Excel from the "Export" dialog box that appears.
• When the "File Download" dialog box appears, click the Save button.
• Select a file name and location for the file, and then click the Save button.

The chart is saved as an MS Excel file, and the file retains active links to documents on your research product.

With Smart Charts, you can save a chart. In other words, you can save the set of criteria you selected when creating the chart. This differs slightly from exporting the chart to Word or Excel. When you export the chart, you just save the file for later viewing, but when you save a chart, you actually save the ability to recreate the chart (and receive any updated information that may have changed since the last time you created that particular chart).

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the Save Chart icon located on the vertical bar on the right-hand side of the application. The "Save Chart" dialog box is displayed. (Note: If your research product session has timed out, just enter your ID and password in the browser window that opens. Click the Login button to log back in and continue the save process.)
• Type a name for the chart, and then click the Save button. The chart is saved and added to the list of saved charts.

Once you have created a chart, you can print a copy of the chart.

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the Printer Friendly icon.

A version of the chart specifically formatted for printing is displayed in the current browser window.

Please Note: Depending on which chart you currently have open (and the fact that the "Matrix" view may or may not be available), the following instructions on how to print while in "Matrix" view may not be applicable.

• Before printing the chart, export the "Matrix" view of your chart to MS Excel by clicking the Export icon and selecting MS Excel from the dialog box that appears.
• When the "File Download" dialog box appears, click the Save button.
• Select a file name and location for the file, and then click the Save button.
• Open the saved chart in MS Excel.
• Click the File menu and select Print.
• On the "Print" dialog box, select your print options.
• Click the OK button to print the chart.

A copy of the chart is sent to your default printer and printed out.

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the File menu and select Print.
• On the "Print" dialog box, select your print options.
• Click the OK button to print the chart.
  - or -
• If you have already displayed the printer friendly version of a chart, just click the Print button on the browser window that contains the printer friendly version of the chart.
• On the "Print" dialog box, select your print options.
• Click the Print button to print the chart.

A copy of the chart is sent to your default printer and printed out. Note: To print all columns of the spreadsheet, you will need to set your print orientation to "Landscape" mode.

• After the "Print" dialog box appears, click the Preferences button.
• Click the Layout/Watermark tab, and then select Landscape from the "Page Layout Options."
• Click OK to return to the "Print" dialog box.
• Click the Print button to print your results.

Your print settings remain in effect while you work in the current browser window, and you can print additional spreadsheets by clicking the browser's Print button. However, each time you open a new browser and attempt to print your results, you will need to follow the steps above to set your print orientation to "Landscape" mode.

After creating a chart, you can email a copy of the chart to someone. (Note: Not all Smart Charts have email chart functionality.)

• With a chart displayed on your screen, simply click the Email Chart icon. The "Email" dialog box is displayed.
• Type your email address in the "From" field.
• If you want to also send a copy of the chart to the email address you entered in the "From" field, click in the checkbox next to Send Copy to Self.
• Type the email address to which you want to send the chart in the "To" field.
• Type any email addresses to which you would also like to send the chart in the "CC" field.
  Note: You can add multiple email addresses to any of the email fields simply by separating them with a semicolon.
• If you want to email a "Chart View" version of the chart, click in the checkbox(es) next to the type of file formats you want to include: HTML, Word, or Excel.
• If you want to email a "Matrix View" version of the chart, click in the checkbox(es) next to the type of file formats you want to include: HTML or Excel.
• You can use the default subject line for the email message, or you can type a custom subject line in the "Subject" field.
• If you want to include a custom message with the email, simply type your message in the "Message" field.
• If you want to include a disclaimer with the email, simply type the disclaimer in the "Disclaimer" field.
• Click the Send button. The "Message" dialog box is displayed and indicates that a copy of the chart is emailed to the recipients you selected.
• Click X to return to the chart.

With Smart Charts, you can view a previously saved chart. When you view a saved chart, the chart is actually recreated using the selections you made when you originally created the chart.

• From the main screen in the chart you currently have open, click the Open My Charts link. The "Open My Chart" dialog box is displayed showing the list of saved charts.
• Click the View icon for the chart you want to view. The saved chart is recreated and displayed on your screen.

With Smart Charts, you can modify a previously saved chart. By modifying the chart, you can change any of the original selections that were made when the chart was created. You can then create the chart using these new selections.

• From the main screen in the chart you currently have open, click the Open My Charts icon. A list of saved charts is displayed.
• Click the Edit icon for the chart you want to modify. The saved chart is opened, and the main item selection screen is displayed.
• Make any necessary changes to your selections on each item selection screen, and then click the next step in creating your chart.
• After selecting items on the final item selection screen and clicking Results, your results are displayed.

TIP! Saving a modified chart
If you want to save your modified chart, click the Save Chart icon. Type a new name for the chart and click the Save button, or if you want to overwrite the saved chart you just modified, type its name and click the Save button.

With Smart Charts, you can delete a previously saved chart.

• From the main screen in the chart you currently have open, click the Open My Charts icon. A list of saved charts is displayed.
• Click the Delete icon for the chart you want to delete.
• Click Yes to confirm the deletion of the chart.

The chart is deleted, and you are directed to the main screen of the Smart Chart.