Introducing the work area

The menu bar at the top of the screen provides access to the commands you need to use when you are working with the software.

If you cannot locate a command on a menu, you can use the Help menu to find it in other menus:

1. Open the Help menu and then type part or all of the command name in the search field.
2. When you see the command you are looking for listed in the Help menu, choose it.

There is also a Search field on the right-hand side to help you locate files, folders, nodes, cases or queries within your project. Enter the name of the project item you are searching for, and matches are displayed in the list view.

This view provides access to all your project items. Items are organized under group buttons—for example, Files, Nodes and Queries. When you click on a folder in Navigation View, its contents are displayed in List View.

In Navigation View you can:

• Pin frequently used items to Quick Access
• Add custom folders to organize your project items

This view displays the contents of your folders. You can double-click an item in List View to open it in Detail View.

In List View, you can:

• Sort items (by clicking on the column headings)
• Add selected items to sets
• Delete, cut, copy, paste, print and export items

You can customize List View display by adding or removing columns. Customize the workspace

Detail View is the main part of the NVivo work area—when you open a file or node it is displayed in Detail View.

If you open multiple items, the one you are currently working with is displayed in Detail View—all open items are listed in Navigation View, click on another item in the list to show it in Detail View.

To close all open items: on the View tab, in the Application group, click Close All.

All items that are open—for example, files, nodes and unsaved query results—are shown in the Open Items list at the bottom of Navigation View.

The item currently displayed in Detail View is highlighted in the list, if you want to switch open items (show a different open item in Detail View), select a different item in the Open Items list.

You can close all open items by doing one of the following:

• Click the title of the list Open Items, and then click Close All.
• On the View tab, in the Application group, click Close All.

The log displays a record of import and export operations that you initialize—for example, importing and exporting files.

To open the log, click the log icon at the bottom left of the NVivo window. If an error is recorded in the log, the icon changes to an exclamation mark.

By default, the log is automatically displayed when an error is recorded. For example, if a document fails to import because the file type is not supported. If you do not want the log to display automatically, open the log and then clear the Show automatically check box.

The log is automatically cleared when you close your project. If you want to retain the information currently in the log, save the log before you close the project.

To save the log entries to a text file, open the log and click the Save button.

To clear the log, open the log and click the Clear button.