Vision Manual

CompuLaw Vision SQL User Guide
DISCLAIMER
Information in the document is subject to change without notice. The software described in the document is
furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the
terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software to any medium except as speci-
fied herein. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purposes without the express written
permission of CompuLaw, LLC.
TRADEMARKS
Vision Docket is a registered trademark of CompuLaw LLC. CompuLaw is a registered trademark of Compu-
Law, LLC. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged.
COPYRIGHT
© 1996-2005 CompuLaw LLC. All rights reserved.

September 2005 printing for CompuLaw Vision version 9.00 and later.
Table of Contents
1. LICENSE AGREEMENT 1-1

SOFTWARE PRODUCT LIMITED WARRANTY AND LICENSE AGREEMENT 1-1
2. WELCOME TO COMPULAW VISION DOCKET 2-1
Welcome to CompuLaw Vision ................................................................................. 2-1
Purpose of this Manual............................................................................................ 2-1
Vision’s On Line Help System ................................................................................... 2-1
Before You Begin.................................................................................................... 2-2
3. THE MAIN SCREEN AND BASIC FUNCTIONS 3-1
The Main Screen..................................................................................................... 3-1
The Main Menu....................................................................................................... 3-2
The Main Toolbar ................................................................................................... 3-2
The Navigation Panel .............................................................................................. 3-3
Work Area.............................................................................................................. 3-3
The Status Bar ....................................................................................................... 3-4
Basic Functions....................................................................................................... 3-4
Field Editing Keys ................................................................................................... 3-9
Adding Information “On the Fly” .............................................................................. 3-9
4. SECURITY AND FEATURES 4-1
Users and Security.................................................................................................. 4-1
Features ................................................................................................................ 4-3
Customize Field Names ........................................................................................... 4-6
Office Holidays ....................................................................................................... 4-7
5. CODES AND TABLES SETUP 5-1
Setup Code Tables.................................................................................................. 5-1
Setup Timekeepers ................................................................................................. 5-2
Setup Departments................................................................................................. 5-4
Setup Teams .......................................................................................................... 5-4
Setup Categories .................................................................................................... 5-5
Setup Locations ...................................................................................................... 5-6
Setup Priorities ....................................................................................................... 5-7
Setup Extensions .................................................................................................... 5-8
Setup Matter Types................................................................................................. 5-8
Setup Key Codes .................................................................................................... 5-9

Setup User Codes (#1 and #2) ................................................................................ 5-9
Setup Document Codes ........................................................................................... 5-10
Setup Case Note Codes ........................................................................................... 5-10
Setup Office Codes ................................................................................................. 5-10
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 5-11
6. CLIENTS AND MATTERS 6-1
Client List............................................................................................................... 6-1
Client Entry Form.................................................................................................... 6-2
Client List Popup Menu............................................................................................ 6-3
Matter List ............................................................................................................. 6-4
Matter Information Entry Form ................................................................................ 6-6
Matter List Popup Menu .......................................................................................... 6-9
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 6-10
7. EVENTS AND TO DO ITEMS 7-1
An Important Note Regarding Events ....................................................................... 7-1
Events and To Do Items.......................................................................................... 7-1
Add a New Event .................................................................................................... 7-1
Edit an Existing Event ............................................................................................. 7-7
Delete an Existing Event.......................................................................................... 7-8
Add, Edit Delete To Do Items .................................................................................. 7-9
8. EVENT FILTER AND EVENT LIST 8-1
The Event Filter ...................................................................................................... 8-1
The Event List ........................................................................................................ 8-9
9. SCHEDULING EVENTS 9-1
Court Rules and the Court Rule Database ................................................................. 9-1
Tutorial: Part 1 - Set up a Tutorial Client and Matter .................................................. 9-2
Tutorial: Part 2 - Add a Group of Court Rule Events ................................................... 9-6
Group ID Numbers.................................................................................................. 9-11
Tutorial: Part 3 - Advanced Event List Options........................................................... 9-11
Tutorial: Part 4 - Delete the Tutorial Data ................................................................. 9-16
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 9-18
10. EXCLUSIONS 10-1
Using Exclusions ..................................................................................................... 10-1
Popup Menu Options............................................................................................... 10-2
Commonly Asked Questions..................................................................................... 10-2
11. CASE SUMMARY 11-1

Summary Tab......................................................................................................... 11-1
Summary for U.S. Patent Case ................................................................................. 11-2
Case Summary Outline Options................................................................................ 11-3
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 11-3
12. PARTIES INSERT 12-1
Overview ............................................................................................................... 12-1
Enable the Parties Insert Feature ............................................................................. 12-1
Adding Related Parties to a Matter ........................................................................... 12-2
Related Party Information ....................................................................................... 12-3
Scheduling Events using Parties Insert...................................................................... 12-3
Parties Insert Selection ........................................................................................... 12-4
Save the Event ....................................................................................................... 12-5
13. THE GRAPHICAL CALENDAR DISPLAY 13-1
The Graphical Calendar Display (Event Calendar) ...................................................... 13-1
The Event Calendar Options Form ............................................................................ 13-7
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 13-11
14. CONTACTS 14-1
Contact List............................................................................................................ 14-1
Contact Firms List ................................................................................................... 14-4
Contact Types List .................................................................................................. 14-5
15. ACCESSORIES: THE MULTI-CALENDAR AND CALCUDATOR 15-1
The Multi-Calendar Display ...................................................................................... 15-1
The CalcuDator ...................................................................................................... 15-4
16. DOCUMENTS 16-1
Documents............................................................................................................. 16-1
Add a New Document ............................................................................................. 16-1
The Document List.................................................................................................. 16-4
The Document Filter ............................................................................................... 16-10
17. CASE NOTES 17-1
Case Note List ........................................................................................................ 17-1
Case Note Entry Form ............................................................................................. 17-2
Case Note Filter Options.......................................................................................... 17-3
Case Note Report ................................................................................................... 17-4
18. JURISDICTION AND EVENT EXPERTS 18-1
Jurisdiction Selection Expert .................................................................................... 18-1
Event Selection Expert ............................................................................................ 18-2

Using the Correct Rule Sets ..................................................................................... 18-3
Enable/Disable the Experts ...................................................................................... 18-4
19. REPORT MODIFIER 19-1
Creating a User Defined Report................................................................................ 19-1
Printing a User Defined Report................................................................................. 19-10
Maintaining Your User Defined Reports..................................................................... 19-11
20. UTILITIES 20-1
User Login Info....................................................................................................... 20-1
Switch User............................................................................................................ 20-2
Table Information................................................................................................... 20-2
PIM Synchronize (maintenance) ............................................................................... 20-2
Change Code.......................................................................................................... 20-2
Database ............................................................................................................... 20-3
21. PIM SYNCHRONIZATION PROGRAM (PSP) 21-1
Setting Up an Attorneys Workstation ........................................................................ 21-1
Administering your PSP Users in Vision ..................................................................... 21-2
Using the PSP......................................................................................................... 21-4
22. OUTLOOK LINK 22-1
Install Outlook 98 (or higher)................................................................................... 22-1
Setting up Outlook to work with Vision ..................................................................... 22-1
Activate the Outlook Link......................................................................................... 22-2
Set the Outlook Link Options ................................................................................... 22-3
Assign Timekeeper E-mail Addresses ........................................................................ 22-4
Assign Timekeeper Default Transfer Options ............................................................. 22-5
How the Outlook Link Works.................................................................................... 22-6
23. GROUPWISE LINK 23-1
Install GroupWise ................................................................................................... 23-1
Create a GroupWise Distribution Calendar User ......................................................... 23-1
Activate the GroupWise Link .................................................................................... 23-2
Set the GroupWise Link Options............................................................................... 23-3
Assign Timekeeper E-mail Addresses ........................................................................ 23-4
Assign Timekeeper Default Transfer Options ............................................................. 23-5
How the GroupWise Link Works ............................................................................... 23-6
Limitations ............................................................................................................. 23-6
24. AUTO TEXT 24-1
25. DATABASE 25-1

Backup .................................................................................................................. 25-1
Restore.................................................................................................................. 25-1
Repair ................................................................................................................... 25-1
Compress............................................................................................................... 25-1
Run SQL Script ....................................................................................................... 25-1
Select Database...................................................................................................... 25-1
APPENDIX A – TROUBLE SHOOTING 25-1
Installation............................................................................................................. 25-1
Calendar Display..................................................................................................... 25-2
Court Rules Maintenance Module ............................................................................. 25-2
Reporting............................................................................................................... 25-2
APPENDIX B – MANUALLY CREATE DATABASE 25-1
Create the CompuLaw Database .............................................................................. 25-1
Create the Tables ................................................................................................... 25-1
Set the Database Connection String ......................................................................... 25-1
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 25-2
1. License Agreement
SOFTWARE PRODUCT LIMITED WARRANTY AND LICENSE AGREEMENT
IMPORTANT: BY OPENING THE ACCOMPANYING CD PACKAGE, INSTALLING OR USING THIS PRODUCT OR

SIGNING AND RETURNING THIS AGREEMENT, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND SO
ACCEPT ALL TERMS WHICH FOLLOW, AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT HAS BEEN RENDERED
USED AND NON-RETURNABLE. THEREFORE, YOU MUST FIRST CAREFULLY READ AND UNDERSTAND THE LIMITED
WARRANTY AND LICENSE AGREEMENT BELOW.
Provided that You have not accepted by any method described above, You may return the entire package
to Your authorized CompuLaw software provider for a full refund within fifteen (15) days of the date on
Your invoice or receipt of the Product, whichever is sooner. Questions concerning this Agreement should
be referred in writing to CompuLaw LLC, Attn: Licensing, 10277 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
90067-7720.
WARNING: Although this Product contains program functions that may allow it to be used as a primary
warning system for Statute of Limitations and other critical dates, it is provided for reference use only.
This Agreement Specifically Obligates You to Review and Independently Verify the Product’s Out-
put Before Relying on it (see Paragraphs B.2 and B.3 below.) In no event will CompuLaw be liable for
any direct or consequential damages that may result from the use of this Product even if CompuLaw has
been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim against You by any third party.
As used in this Agreement, “Product” means all or any part of any CompuLaw product consisting of ex-
ecutable software, documentation, data, and also refers to any modification or part thereof whether or not
merged into any other software from CompuLaw LLC or any of its successors in interest, (collectively
“CompuLaw”), or into any authorized Alliance Partner or other integration partner (“AP”) Software, as may
be identified at the end of this Agreement. As used in this Agreement, “Software” shall mean any AP
software that accompanies this Agreement and contains licensed components of the Product or the Court
Rules Product.
As used in this Agreement, “Court Rules Product” means all or any part of any CompuLaw product con-
sisting of executable software, documentation and data related to the Court Rules or the Holiday List
(both as defined in Paragraph B hereof), and also refers to any modification or part thereof, whether or
not merged into any other software from CompuLaw.
A. License Grant and Restrictions
1. Preliminary.
(a) The enclosed Product and the Court Rules Product are never sold. CompuLaw licenses the
Product and the Court Rules Product to the original customer as a “Licensee” (i.e., a purchaser of
a limited right to use the Product and the Court Rules Product) and to any subsequent Licensee
for use only on the terms set forth in this Agreement. Every Licensee must carefully read, under-
stand and accept all terms of this Agreement before installing or using the accompanying Product
and the Court Rules Product.
(b) Subject to this Limited Warranty and License Agreement (“Agreement”), CompuLaw hereby
grants You (as Licensee) a perpetual, fully paid, non-exclusive right to use the Product and the
Court Rules Product (i.e., a “License”), provided that use of the Product is limited to the number
of CPUs and servers and to the specified number of Timekeepers in Your single firm or company,
which CPU and server numbers and offices (“Office”) are set forth below and on the Product Reg-
istration Form returned to CompuLaw and provided that the use of the Court Rules Product is lim-
ited a single CPU or server and Office. You may also obtain a License to use the Court Rules
Page 1 Copyright © 1980-2007, CompuLaw LLC. All Rights Reserved. Revision 4.07.
Product on multiple CPUs or servers, at multiple Offices, by paying and maintaining the then-
current License fees, services fees and subscription fees for such Court Rules Products; pro-
vided, however, that You agree that the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement shall be
binding on all Offices for which You obtain a License to use the Product or the Court Rules Prod-
uct.
(c) Upon receipt of Your acceptance of this Agreement and Your completed Product Registration
Form, CompuLaw will send You a set of security codes and/or access codes which will permit
Your Office to use the Product and the Court Rules Product as a single billing entity (i.e., sole
practitioner, partnership, professional corporation, limited liability partnership, or any combination
of the above). You may transfer Your License for this Product and the Court Rules Product only
as herein provided. You may not use a generic name (such as “Law Offices” or the like) for issu-
ance of Your security codes and/or access codes.
(d) Firms or companies that obtained a License for a Product (such as Advanced/Network DocketTM,
Vision DocketTM or Vision 98TM) prior to July 21, 2000, may have obtained a License for a concur-
rent user system. Such Licensees may continue to License the Product on a concurrent user ba-
sis, until the version of the Product they have Licensed is no longer supported by CompuLaw.
CompuLaw offers Upgrades to such concurrent user Licenses at the current Timekeeper-based
License Fee. Concurrent user Licenses granted by this Agreement are absolutely restricted to
use by and for Your Office. Use of the Product is restricted to operating it solely on the specified
CPU or server for a single office location in order to process information and data in the man-
ner for which the Product was designed and written. WAN users that have concurrent user Li-
censes must License the Product for each location that uses data or output (either printed or elec-
tronic) from the Product.
2. You May, as the Licensee:

(a) use the Product on the number of CPUs and servers set forth in Paragraph A.1.(b) and the Court
Rules Product on a single CPU or server as set forth in Paragraph A.1.(b);
(b) merge the Product and the Court Rules Product into Software, but You shall still continue to be
subject to this Agreement;
(c) transfer the Product and the Court Rules Product to a third party (“Transferee”) if such transfer
also includes any other related Software and
(i) You first obtain CompuLaw’s prior written consent (which shall not unreasonably be withheld)
and,
(ii) the Transferee a) agrees in writing to the terms of this Agreement and to the terms of the
Software, and b) pays to CompuLaw its then current standard license transfer and re-
registration charge and,
(iii) You then either transfer all copies of the Product and the Court Rules Product and manuals
to the Transferee or destroy any copies (whether in printed or machine readable form) not
transferred to the Transferee;
(d) copy the Product and the Court Rules Product onto up to two (2) sets of CD’s, tapes, diskettes or
other media for backup, archival, offsite and disaster recovery purposes only, which copies must
be labeled with the same copyright notice as printed on the label of the original Product and the
Court Rules Product CDs furnished by CompuLaw;
(e) terminate this License at any time by destroying the Product and the Court Rules Product to-
gether with all copies thereof in whatever form they may exist;
(f) share data contained in the Product and the Court Rules Product with a third party desk top cal-
endaring product (such as Microsoft Outlook®, Novell GroupWise® or Lotus Notes® Calendar);
provided, however that any such sharing shall require CompuLaw's prior written consent with re-
spect to the manner of execution of such sharing;
(g) allow Your clients a limited right to access, view and print data contained in the Product and the
Court Rules Product through a web portal and web portal software and applications owned and
provided to You by CompuLaw (the “CompuLaw Web Portal”) (after Your clients have agreed to a
standard “Terms of Use” contained in the CompuLaw Web Portal) pursuant to a unique user
name and password that You provide to Your clients; provided, however, that You agree to dis-
able such username and password, and take any other actions that CompuLaw requests that You
take to stop any such access, viewing or printing by Your clients, promptly after CompuLaw
makes any such request to You; and provided, further, that You acknowledge and agree that
CompuLaw shall not be liable to You or to any of Your clients for any damages whatsoever as a
result of any such use of the CompuLaw Web Portal.
3. You May Not, except as expressly provided herein:

(a) copy or translate the Product or the Court Rules Product or any copy thereof, whether in whole or
in part;
(b) sublicense, assign, loan, lease, rent or otherwise transfer the Product or the Court Rules Product
or the License granted herein, whether in whole or in part to any third party without CompuLaw’s
written consent;
(c) decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Product or the Court Rules Product or alter or
adapt it, or create any derivative work of it, to operate in conjunction with any software other than
a CompuLaw Product (or, if applicable, licensed components thereof as incorporated in Soft-
ware);
(d) use the Product or the Court Rules Product with any rules database except those of CompuLaw
or those which You create according to documentation furnished by CompuLaw or its AP; or
(e) retain the Product or Court Rules Product or any copy thereof after termination of this License,
whether by You or by CompuLaw.
4. Number of Timekeepers. You agree that if Your Office wishes to License Timekeepers beyond the
number specified below, You will contact CompuLaw and pay the then-current fee for the number of
Timekeepers you wish authorized. As used in this Agreement, “Timekeeper” shall mean and include
any natural person and any entity, including, without limitation, any legal assistant, paralegal, attor-
ney, other employee or any other member of Your Office, whether employed full time or part time or
whether engaged by Your Office through any other arrangement, and who/that is listed in the Time-
keeper Table of the Program.
5. Responsibility for Selection and Use. You Acknowledge and Agree that
(a) You assume responsibility for the selection of the Product and the Court Rules Product to achieve
the results intended by You and for the installation, use, and results obtained from such use of
the Product and the Court Rules Product;
(b) You will indemnify, defend and hold CompuLaw and its representatives (including its officers,
employees, servants, consultants, agents and attorneys) free and harmless from and against any
and all claims, losses, costs, damages, expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) or
liabilities whatsoever to any party (including, without limitation, any of Your clients that access,
view or print data contained in the Product or the Court Rules Product through the CompuLaw
Web Portal) on account of, by reason of or as a result of damage related to Your use of the Prod-
uct and the Court Rules Product; and
(c) On each annual anniversary date of this License, You will notify CompuLaw of the number of
Timekeepers in Your Office and number of Offices using the Court Rules Product for the pur-
poses of determining the number of Licenses required by Your Office.
6. Term and Termination. This Agreement shall

(a) take effect upon the “Effective date,” which shall be defined as the earlier of: (1) opening the CD
package (2) using the Product or the Court Rules Product; (3) fifteen (15) days after the date of
purchase of the Product and the Court Rules Product as evidenced by Your receipt or proof of
delivery; or (4) the date of registration of the Product and the Court Rules Product, and it shall
remain in force until terminated; and
(b) be terminated
(i) automatically if You fail to make any payment when due; or fail to comply with any of the
terms or conditions of this Agreement, including, without limitation, the disclosure to any
third party of any confidential or proprietary information about feature functionality or the
content of the Product or the Court Rules Product or the transfer to a third party of the Prod-
uct or the Court Rules Product or any copy in whatever form without the express prior writ-
ten consent of CompuLaw as provided in Paragraph A.2(c); or, if applicable,
(ii) at such time after notice that the AP hereunder is no longer an authorized CompuLaw AP or,
if any changes by the (former or current) AP to the Software cause, in CompuLaw's sole opin-
ion, incompatibilities with its CompuLaw components or an increased potential for calculation
or user errors, or if You enter into any arrangement with a third party to provide You with a
product, license or service that competes with the Product or the Court Rules Product,
(c) Upon termination of this License, You shall immediately destroy the Product and the Court Rules
Product together with all copies in whatever form they may exist, including modifications, or
merged portions in any form. You agree to certify at CompuLaw’s option, the discontinuance of
the use thereof.
7. Audit Rights. Commencing on the Effective Date and for one (1) year after any termination of this
Agreement, You will keep proper, accurate, and complete records and books of account relating to
activities under this Agreement, including, without limitation, records of all users (including CPUs,
servers, and number of Timekeepers) that have received the CompuLaw Software, and records of all
transfers and copies of the CompuLaw Software. Once per year for so long as this Agreement is in
effect and for one year thereafter, CompuLaw may inspect any of Your relevant records to verify
proper use (including numbers of Timekeepers and Offices), copy, and transfer. You shall, upon the
written request of CompuLaw, upon not less than ten (10) days prior written notice, provide access to
such records to CompuLaw or its designated representatives, for the purpose of auditing such re-
cords. The costs of any such audit shall be borne by CompuLaw unless the audit reveals a violation
of the terms of this Agreement, including, without limitation, Paragraphs A.1, A.3, and A.4 hereof, for
any annual period, in which case the costs of such audit shall be borne by You. Without limiting any
other rights or remedies available to CompuLaw under this Agreement, if any such audit establishes
any underpayment of License Fees by You, at its discretion, CompuLaw may either (a) require You
promptly to pay to CompuLaw the amount of any such shortfall plus an amount equal to ten percent
(10%) of such shortfall, or (b) treat such shortfall as a breach of this Agreement and exercise any
other remedy at law or in equity available to CompuLaw as a result of such breach.
8. No Attorney-Client Relationship. You acknowledge and agree that in providing laws, rules, data
and other information in the Product and the Court Rules Product to you, CompuLaw is not engaged
in rendering legal advice, no attorney-client relationship has been formed, and Your use of the Prod-
uct and the Court Rules Product is not intended to be a replacement for the advice of a competent at-
torney or patent or trademark agent in the relevant jurisdiction.
B. Special Court Rules Licensee Obligations
1. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this Section B:

(a) “Court Rules” shall mean all rules of practice and procedure of any court in any jurisdiction under
the laws of the United States, duly adopted by a governing body having authority in the jurisdic-
tion to promulgate any rules of practice and procedure for the courts, and shall encompass all
other rules of practice and procedure imposed by any federal, state, county, city or municipal
government, authority, body, commission, council, legislature, court, agency, board or organiza-
tion, or other governmental, legislative, judicial or regulatory body, as used in the Court Rules
Product, to calculate dates.
(b) “Holiday List” shall mean all days on which the court or other similar tribunal is closed or does not
convene whether in observance of, or pursuant to, its own rules and procedures, Court Rules or
local, state or national holidays as used in the Court Rules Product to calculate dates.
2. Acknowledgment. You agree and understand that as the Court Rules and other laws underlying the
Court Rules Product and the Product may change from time to time, You are responsible for monitor-
ing these changes and procuring updates to the specific rules of the relevant courts to reflect such
changes in a timely manner in order to keep the Court Rules Product and the Product current.
3. Review of Court Rules. You agree not to rely, in any way, on the Court Rules Product and the Prod-
uct to assist You in complying with any court’s rule(s) until You first;
(a) Print a hard copy of every Court Rules set (which includes the Holiday Lists for such set) by using
CompuLaw or AP Software, and then
(b) Compare that hard copy to both the current rule(s) for the applicable court(s) and Your own in-
formation and interpretation about and of those rule(s). Further, You agree that the Court Rules
shall be tested by You to determine that they are functioning properly, before using or relying
upon them. You understand, acknowledge and agree that such review and testing is absolutely
required to assure accuracy, consistency and completeness of Your compliance with the rule(s)
that may apply to the court(s) for which Court Rules have been Licensed to You; and then;
(c) Obtain and confirm the Holiday List for all courts in which You and Your Office practice.
(d) YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE HAVING READ AND UNDERSTOOD SECTION B.3 OF
THIS AGREEMENT:
(SIGNATURE)
4. Internet Connection. The Court Rules Product requires a valid internet connection in order to con-
nect to the CompuLaw Live Update Server (CLUS). Your installation of the Court Rules Product must
be on a computer with an internet connection that will allow the Court Rules Product to connect di-
rectly with the CLUS and receive information from the CLUS. You are responsible for setting any
software or hardware applications that may limit or block such communication (including, without limi-
tation, any firewalls, routers or other security hardware or software) so that such applications will al-
low such communication to and from the CLUS and your computer.
5. Updates. If You have an active subscription to, and are using the Court Rules Product for calendar-
ing, then it is Your responsibility to ensure that You use the most up-to-date Court Rules as provided
by CompuLaw. The Court Rules Product contains functionality that allows it to verify that You are us-
ing the most current Court Rules by connecting to, and receiving information from, the CLUS. You
agree to regularly connect to the CLUS to confirm that You are using the most current Court Rules. If
the Court Rules Product fails to connect to the CLUS, an error message will generated. If You re-
ceive such message, You agree to manually download from the CompuLaw Information Center and
install the required file that is used to check the Court Rules update dates and run the “Rules Verifica-
tion” function in the software. If You are still unable to verify the dates of Your Court Rules, You
agree to contact CompuLaw in order to make CompuLaw aware of Your inability to verify its Court
Rules Product update dates and take appropriate measures to resolve such inability to verify.
6. Support. For Court Rules acquired through an AP, You agree to contact that AP with any support
questions.
7. Nondisclosure. You acknowledge that the Product and the Court Rules Product are confidential in
nature and constitute valuable trade secrets of CompuLaw, and agree not to disclose or otherwise
make such information available to any third party, except as expressly provided in this Agreement.
C. General Warranties and Disclaimers
1. Warranty of Title. CompuLaw warrants that it has good title to the Court Rules Product and the
Product and that it has the right to License the Court Rules Product and the Product as provided
herein.
2. Limited Product Warranty. For sixty (60) days after the Product’s invoice date, CompuLaw warrants
the CD or diskette on which the Court Rules Product and the Product is furnished to be free from de-
fects in materials and workmanship under normal conditions of use. This warranty is limited to You
and is not transferable.
(a) CompuLaw represents that it has used its best efforts to assure that the Court Rules Product and
the Product are accurate and reflect the court rules for each court for which the Court Rules
Product and the Product have been licensed hereunder. No other representation is, or has been
made by, or on behalf of, CompuLaw and there is none implied.
(b) Notwithstanding the preceding Paragraph C.2(a), You acknowledge and agree that
(i) COMPULAW PROVIDES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE
FOREGOING, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE (some states do not allow the exclusion of implied war-
ranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you);
(ii) COMPULAW, ITS RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, SERVANTS,
CONSULTANTS, AGENTS AND ATTORNEYS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR
THIRD PARTIES FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION, ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE OR
INABILITY TO USE THE COURT RULES PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCT OR ANY
OTHER SOFTWARE FROM COMPULAW OR ITS AP, OR FOR THE BREACH OF ANY
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, EVEN IF COMPULAW HAS BEEN ADVISED OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF THOSE DAMAGES (some states do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above exclusion or limi-
tation may not apply to you);
3. LIMITATION OF LICENSEE REMEDIES YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT YOUR EXCLUSIVE REMEDY (IN LAW OR
IN EQUITY), AND THE ENTIRE LIABILITY OF COMPULAW AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES WITH RESPECT TO THE COURT
RULES PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCT, FOR ANY BREACH OF ANY REPRESENTATION OR FOR ANY INACCURACY IN THE
COURT RULES PRODUCT OR THE PRODUCT, SHALL BE A REFUND OF THE APPLICABLE LICENSE FEE.
4. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER.
(a) EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH ABOVE, COMPULAW MAKES NO OTHER WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE
COURT RULES PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCT AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY OTHERS;
(b) COMPULAW DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE COURT RULES PRODUCT AND THE
PRODUCT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE COURT RULES PRODUCT AND THE
PRODUCT SHALL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE;
(c) COMPULAW IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY FAILURES OR INCOMPATIBILITIES DUE TO ANY CHANGES,
CANCELLATION, TERMINATION OR EXPIRATION OF AP PROGRAMS (OR ANY CHANGES, CANCELLATION,
TERMINATION OR EXPIRATION OF COMPULAW’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ANY AP), OPERATING SYSTEMS, OR OTHER
THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE;
(d) COMPULAW LICENSES THIS COURT RULES PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCT ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, AND THE ENTIRE
RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT IS ON YOU; SHOULD THE PRODUCT PROVE
DEFECTIVE (EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY WARRANTED HEREIN) YOU AND NOT COMPULAW, ITS DISTRIBUTORS, OR ITS
AUTHORIZED DEALERS, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING REPAIR, OR CORRECTION; AND
(e) NO DEALER, FIRM, AP OR PERSON IS AUTHORIZED TO EXPAND OR ALTER THIS AGREEMENT, THE WARRANTIES, OR
LICENSE, AND ANY ATTEMPT TO DO SO SHALL BE VOID AND OF NO EFFECT AND SHALL NOT BE BINDING UPON
COMPULAW FOR ANY PURPOSE WHATSOEVER.
(f) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY BY COMPULAW CONTAINED IN
THIS AGREEMENT, ALL LAWS, RULES AND OTHER INFORMATION FOR JURISDICTIONS
OUTSIDE THE U.S. CONTAINED IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK AND PATENT COURT
RULES PRODUCT (AND ASSOCIATED DATABASES AND INFORMATION) HAVE BEEN PROVIDED
BY THIRD PARTY FIRMS NOT ASSOCIATED OR OTHERWISE AFFILIATED WITH COMPULAW AND
REPRODUCED WITHOUT ANY VERIFICATION BY COMPULAW, WHICH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR TIMELINESS OF THE CONTENTS THEREOF. ANY
FURNISHING OF INFORMATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK AND PATENT COURT
RULES PRODUCT (AND ASSOCIATED DATABASES AND INFORMATION) ABOUT A FIRM IN ANY
JURISDICTION IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AN ENDORSEMENT OF, OR AN INDICATION OF ANY
ASSOCIATION OR AFFILIATION WITH, THAT FIRM BY COMPULAW. ALL SUCH FIRMS ARE
INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. IN PROVIDING THE LAWS, RULES, DATA AND INFORMATION

IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK AND PATENT COURT RULES PRODUCT (AND
ASSOCIATED DATABASES AND INFORMATION) TO YOU, COMPULAW IS NOT ENGAGED IN
RENDERING LEGAL ADVICE, NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN FORMED, AND
THIS INTERNATIONAL TRADEMARK AND PATENT COURT RULES PRODUCT (AND ASSOCIATED
DATABASES AND INFORMATION) IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A REPLACEMENT FOR THE ADVICE
OF A COMPETENT ATTORNEY OR PATENT OR TRADEMARK AGENT IN THE RELEVANT
JURISDICTION.
5. Support. For support for Court Rules Products acquired through an AP, see Paragraph B.4. Other-
wise, notwithstanding the foregoing Limited Warranty, for a period of sixty (60) days after the Effec-
tive Date, CompuLaw will use its best commercially reasonable efforts to correct errors in the Court
Rules Product and the Product which are reported to CompuLaw in writing during such period, and
provided such errors can be recreated by CompuLaw. During this period, CompuLaw, at its sole op-
tion, may release Updates of the Court Rules Product and the Product, which Updates will be made
available to You at no cost, except shipping and handling costs. After sixty (60) days, maintenance
and support will be available from CompuLaw in accordance with its then current Software Support
Agreement. Upgrades to the Court Rules Product and the Product will be made available to You at
an additional Fee.
D. Other Provisions
1. Taxes. You are responsible for payment of any and all taxes that may be assessed on the Court
Rules Product and the Product or on Software or their use, including personal property taxes, sales
and use taxes, and excise taxes. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained in this Para-
graph D.1 shall include any federal, state or local income taxes that CompuLaw is obli-
gated to pay to any taxation authority as a result of income received by CompuLaw in
connection with the license of the Court Rules Product or the Product.
2. Title. You acknowledge and agree that CompuLaw is and shall remain the owner of the Court Rules
Product and the Product and all of its Software programs and of all copies thereof made by You. Ex-
cept as specifically provided in this Agreement, nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to permit
copying of the Court Rules Product and the Product, any Software, or any part of either of them.
3. Law and Forum. THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE CONSTRUED ACCORDING TO, AND THE RIGHTS OF
THE PARTIES SHALL BE GOVERNED EXCLUSIVELY BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY DOCTRINES OF CONFLICT OF LAW. ANY LEGAL ACTION RELATED TO
THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE BROUGHT IN AND DETERMINED BY A COURT OF COMPETENT
JURISDICTION IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (AND YOU IRREVOCABLY CONSENT TO
JURISDICTION IN SUCH COURT), AND A FORUM IN ANY OTHER SITE SHALL NOT HAVE AUTHORITY
TO DETERMINE ANY ISSUE(S) RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT. FURTHER, IN ANY SUCH DISPUTE,
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL YOU BE PERMITTED TO OBTAIN AWARDS FOR, AND YOU
HEREBY WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO CLAIM PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR
ANY OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES.
4. Modification of Agreement. CompuLaw reserves the right to change the terms, conditions, no-
tices and provisions of this Agreement under which the Product is offered and Licensed to You includ-
ing, but not limited to, changing the Licensing fees and other charges associated with the use of the
Product or the Court Rules Product.
5. U.S. Government Restricted Rights. This Product and all other CompuLaw Products and docu-
mentation are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication or disclosure of the Product and
documentation in this package shall be subject to the restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(b)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 or subpara-
graphs (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software — Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-
19, as applicable. Contractor/manufacturer is CompuLaw LLC, 10277 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles,
CA 90067-7720. CompuLaw reserves all rights not specifically granted in this statement.
6. Integration. This Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the rights and obligations
between CompuLaw and You, and supersedes any prior Agreement, oral or written, and any other
communications between You and CompuLaw relating to the subject matter of this Agreement.
7. Registration of Licensee. You acknowledge and agree to promptly execute and return a signed
copy of this Agreement to CompuLaw. Failure to comply with the provisions of this Paragraph shall
not invalidate or affect the terms and conditions of this Agreement, but shall give CompuLaw the
right, at its option and in its sole discretion, to terminate the License.
I HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND HEREBY ACCEPT ALL TERMS OF THESE AGREEMENTS FOR THE PRODUCT, AND
CERTIFY MY AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE FIRM OR COMPANY BELOW AND
THAT THE COMPUTER ON WHICH IT WILL BE USED AND MAXIMUM NUMBER OF USERS/TIMEKEEPERS LICENSED
TO USE THE PRODUCT IS/ARE : (PLEASE TYPE OR PRINT)
Product: Serial # Version # Number of timekeeper licenses:
Product is installed on how many CPUs/servers?
Locations of CPUs/server(s):
By: Date:
Important. Please sign Paragraph B.3 as well.
Name:
E-mail address:
(continued on next page)
FOR THE FIRM/COMPANY OF:
Mailing information:
Phone: (_____) FAX: (_____)
IF APPLICABLE:
Alliance Partner:
CompuLaw’s FAX Number: (310) 553-7670
CompuLaw Vision Docket Users Guide
2. Welcome to CompuLaw Vision Docket

The following topics are covered in this section:
♦ Welcome to CompuLaw Vision
♦ Purpose of this Manual
♦ Layout of this Manual
♦ Vision’s On Line Help System
Welcome to CompuLaw Vision
Welcome to CompuLaw Vision. We will refer to CompuLaw Vision throughout this booklet as simply, “Vi-
sion”. Vision is the fastest, most accurate way to manage your docket calendar. Besides an intuitive design,
Vision gives you everything else you would expect from the leader in legal calendar software, including:
♦ Unrivaled date calculation and Court Rules technology.

♦ The industry’s most comprehensive court rules sets (available separately and according to state
and local jurisdiction and/or areas of practice).
♦ An expansive report generating capability with graphical summaries for the Day, Week and
Month.
♦ Related Parties
♦ Case notes.
♦ Document tracking.
♦ Sub-Matters
♦ Uses industry standard Microsoft SQL (version 7 or higher).
♦ Links with Outlook, GroupWise or Lotus Notes.
Vision may qualify you for liability insurance discounts — check with your carrier
Vision is available in both single user and network versions. Whether you are a small firm, corporate law
department or a large international firm, Vision will, most likely, work for your company.
Vision easily manages individual To Do Items, Critical Court Dates, Departments and Teams. Vision’s practi-
cal design considerations allow it to easily function as a centralized calendar, while allowing individuals to
manage their own schedules, both personal and firm-related.
Purpose of this Manual
This manual is designed to be a quick reference guide to the most functions of the program. If you have
questions that are not covered here, help is available through Vision’s On Line Help system.
Vision’s On Line Help System
Just about every Vision form contains a Help button Click this button to display information about the form.
Vision’s On Line Help system (“On Line Help”) is context sensitive. This means that, depending on where in
the program it was accessed, the contents of the On Line Help screen will change. For example, press the
Help button from the Event Entry form, and Vision will provide help on the Event Entry form. If you press
the Help button from the User Login form, Vision will display help on the User Login form.
2-1
The On Line Help Screen Buttons
Notice the row of buttons that stretch across the top section of the help screen as illustrated below. These
buttons offer easy access to several On Line Help functions which are available from within Vision.
Figure 2-1: On Line Help Options
Help Topics. Click the “Help Topics” button, or press the [Alt]+[C] key combination (notice that the “T” is
underlined) to see Vision’s On Line Help Table of Contents. This Table of Contents provides access to most
major topics in Vision’s On Line Help.
Back. Click the “Back” button or press the [Alt]+[B] key combination (notice that the “B” is underlined) to
return to the previous help topic.
Print. As its name implies, the “Print” button allows you to print the help topic which is currently displayed.
Click the “Print” button or press the [Alt]+[P] key combination to do so.
Exit. Click the “Exit” button or press the [Alt]+[E] key combination to exit On Line Help.
The other features that appear on the On Line Help screen, such as the “<<” and “>>” buttons as well as
the submenu options (i.e. “File”, “Edit”, etc.) are specific to your version of Windows. For an explanation of
these features, simply press the [F1] key from the help screen.
Before You Begin
Before you begin using this reference you must first install and setup the application. Please refer to the
“Getting Started” guide for information on system requirements, program installation, registration and pro-
gram setup.
2-2
3. The Main Screen and Basic Functions

♦ The Main Screen
♦ The Main Menu
♦ The Main Toolbar
♦ The Logo Panel
♦ The Status Bar
♦ Basic Functions
♦ Field Editing Keys
♦ Adding Information “On the Fly”
In this chapter we’ll discuss the Vision Docket program’s main screen as well as basic program functions.
First we’ll look at the main screen.
Figure 3-1: The Main Screen
The Main Screen
If Vision is not currently running on your workstation, start the program and log in as you normally
would. After you log into the program you will be presented with Vision’s Main Screen. Vision’s main
screen is comprised of the following components:
3-1
¾ The Main Menu. Provides access to all of Vision’s functions through a series of pull down menus.
¾ The Main Toolbar. Provides quick access to Vision’s most important functions through a series of
buttons.
¾ The Navigation Panel. Provides an intuitive way of accessing application functions. Each appli-
cation function is categorized for easy access.
¾ Work Area. Since Vision is an MDI application, the main part of the screen is used to display en-
try forms and lists. You’ll spend most of your time working in this area of the application. The In-
formation Center web page is displayed in this area when you run the application (see below).
¾ The Status Bar. Displays context sensitive help messages for menu items and toolbar buttons,
and the current date and time.
The Main Menu
Vision’s main menu consists of five separate submenu components, labeled Data Entry, Reports, Setup,
Utilities and Help. Each one of these submenus, which are also referred to in this manual as menus (e.g.
Data Entry menu) contain related functions. For example, the Data Entry menu contains data entry
functions, while setup functions are grouped on the Setup menu.
To select from a menu, simply move the mouse pointer over the menu heading (i.e. Data Entry) and click
the left mouse button. To select a menu item, simply move the mouse pointer to that item and click the
mouse button.
Notice the “Control key combinations” that appear to the right of the data entry menu selections. You can
press any of these combinations from Vision’s main screen to jump directly to its associated menu selection.
For example, pressing the [Ctrl]+[V] key combination displays the Event List.
The Main Toolbar
The Main Toolbar contains buttons for the most often used program functions. Try positioning your mouse
pointer over any of the main toolbar buttons for a couple of seconds. A little box appears with an explana-
tion of the button’s function. This little box is called “balloon help”. While the balloon help is on the screen,
look at the status line at the bottom of the main screen for a more detailed explanation of the button’s func-
tion.
Figure 3-2: The Main Toolbar
Here is a brief description of each button on the main toolbar:
Calendar This button gives you quick access to Vision’s graphical Calendar Display, which allows
you to View, Edit, Change and Delete Events and To Do items. The Calendar Display
can be viewed in Monthly, Weekly or Daily formats, depending on your needs and
preference.
Add Event Clicking this button takes you directly to the Event Entry form. While Events can be
added from a number of places in the program, this button provides the quickest ac-
cess to the Add Event functionality.
Add To Do Clicking this button takes you directly to the To Do Entry form. While To Do items can
be added from many places throughout Vision, this button will provide you with the
quickest access to the Add To Do functionality.
3-2
Events Click this button and you will see Vision’s Event List. The Event List allows you to per-
form virtually any Event and To Do related function, such as View, Add, Edit, Delete,
Complete and more. This is one of Vision’s “most often used” toolbar buttons.
Clients This button allows you to quickly access Vision’s Client List. The Client List is a list of
all clients that have been entered into Vision’s database. From this list you have access
to each Client as well as their matters, events, To Do items and documents.
Matters Clicking this button allows you to find a matter or list all your matters. From this list
you have access to all of the information that is specific to any individual matter. This
includes the events and documents for that matter.
Contacts Clicking this button displays the firm contact information.
Reprts Click this button to display Vision’s Reports Selection screen. From the Reports Selec-
tion screen, you can select a report, set its options and send it to your Printer, Screen
or to a File.
Help Click this button to display help about Vision’s main screen.
Exit Click this button or press the [Esc] key to exit the program.
The main toolbar can be hidden by selecting un-checking the Toolbar option located on the View menu.
The Navigation Panel
The Navigation Panel is located on the right side of the main screen. This panel contains a categorized
list of application functions. Clicking on a category heading expands that section revealing its options.
Clicking on an option activates that function. As you can see, this panel provides an intuitive way of ac-
cessing most application functions.
You can hide this panel by un-checking the Navigation Panel option located on the View menu.
Work Area
This is the largest area of the main screen and is used to display data entry forms and lists. You will spend
most of your time working in this area of the application.
You can minimize and maximize most lists and displays shown in this area of the application by using the
minimize and maximize buttons located at the top right corner of the form. Maximizing a form causes it to
expand to the size of the work area. When maximized, this same button can be used to reduce the size of
the form so that you can access any forms that might be hidden by it. Minimizing a form causes the form
to reduce to a small caption bar along the bottom of the work area.
You can use the options located on the Windows menu to activate and arrange the forms displayed in the
work area. For example, selecting the Cascade option causes all forms to be arranged in an overlapping
fashion with each form caption visible.
CompuLaw Information Center
The CompuLaw Information Center (CIC) is a web page that is automatically displayed when the program is
run. The CIC appears in the work area of the applications main screen. This web page contains the most
3-3
current information regarding rules changes and updates, program features, commonly asked questions,
etc.
We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the information provided by the CIC and review it periodi-
cally.
The CIC display can be disabled per user or firm wide. We recommend that all regular users of Vision have
the CIC enabled so that it appears automatically each the application is run. You can also access the CIC by
clicking on the CompuLaw Info Center option in the Miscellaneous section of the main navigation bar.
The Status Bar
Vision’s Status Bar, located at the bottom of the main screen, contains three pieces of information:
Context Sensitive Help. As you highlight any menu option, or leave the mouse pointer over any but-
ton, a line of help text appears on the left side of the Status Bar, specific to that menu option or button.
This type of help is called “Context Sensitive”.
Current date. The current date is displayed in a panel directly to the right of the Context Sensitive
Help line.
Current time. The current time is displayed in a panel directly to the right of the Current date.
OTF Status: If the “On-the-fly Audit” feature of the program has be enabled and is active for the cur-
rent user, this panel will contain an appropriate indicator.
Basic Functions
One feature that makes Vision easy to use is its consistent user interface. All of Vision’s Lists and Entry
forms’ basic functions work the same. Vision allows you to learn a function once, and apply it throughout
the program.
We’ll start with two of the most common elements in Vision, Lists and Entry forms.
3-4
Lists
Lists, are screens that contain multiple related items, such as Timekeepers, Events, Matters or Users (as
Figure 3-3: The User and Password list

shown above). Despite the fact that lists can contain a variety of items, they do have many things in com-
mon.
Selection Lists vs. Edit Lists
Vision lists come in two varieties. Selection lists allow you to make a selection from a collection of items,
but do not allow you to add, change or remove any of those items. Edit lists allow you to add, change or
delete items from the list and appear when you are in a selection from the Setup menu.
Selection lists usually appear when you are filling in an entry form and press the [F2] key or select the List
Selection option from the entry form’s popup menu.
Common List Elements
All lists contain the following elements, regardless of whether they contain Timekeepers, Clients, Matters,
Events or any other type of data.
List Caption. This is the title that appears at the top of the list. It indicates the type of information con-
tained within the list.
Popup Menu. The popup menu for a list contains options for available list functions. The popup menu is
activated by clicking the right mouse button anywhere on the list. Just about every list in the program has
the following options:
Add. This option is used to add a new item to the list. You can also press the [Insert] key.
3-5
Edit/Select. Every list will have either an Edit or Select option. If the list is editable then selecting
the Edit option allows you to edit an item in the list. If the list allows only selection, clicking the Se-
lect option selects the current item. You can also activate this option by pressing the [Enter] key.
Delete. This option is used to delete an item from the list. Some lists will not allow you to delete an
item if that item is being referenced by any other record. For example, you cannot delete a time-
keeper from the timekeeper list if that timekeeper has any scheduled events.
Print. Allows you to print items in the list.
Find. This option allows you to search for an item in the list. You can also activate this option by
pressing [Ctrl]+[F]. See the “Search Entry Form” section below for more information.
Find Again. Selecting this option, or pressing the [F3] key, repeats the last search.
Help. Selecting this option, or pressing the [F1] key, displays information about the list and its func-
tions.
Close. Selecting this option, or pressing the [Esc] key, closes the list.
Ordering the List. You can order the items in most lists by clicking on a column heading. Some list
columns cannot be used to order a list. If a column can not be used to order a list, a message will be
displayed when you click on the column heading.
The Search Entry form
Figure 3-4: The Search Entry form
The search entry form (shown above) contains functionality that allows you to search for most data items
contained in a list. This form is displayed after selecting the Find option from the list or by pressing the
[Ctrl]+[F] key combination. This form contains the following entry fields and settings:
Field Value. Enter the text that identifies the item you wish to find. Notice that this text can be a
fragment or the entire item.
Case-sensitive. If this option is set, your search will be case sensitive. Otherwise, capitalization does
not affect your search.
3-6
Exact Match.
Partial Match at Beginning.
Partial Match Anywhere.
These three fields work together. When one is selected, the other two are automatically de-selected.
To select one of these fields, simply click your mouse on the circle to the left of the field. A dot appears
in the selected field.
Exact Match - If this field is selected, you must enter the complete text of the item you wish to
find.
Partial Match at Beginning - If this field is selected, you can enter the first character(s) of the
item you wish to find.
Partial Match Anywhere - If this field is selected, you can enter as few characters as desired of
the item you wish to find. These characters can appear anywhere in the item. For example, the
characters “hand”, would match “Handy Dan’s Hardware” as well as “Evan Chandler’s Burger Barn.”
Fields. This field determines which field will be searched.
The first time you perform your search, click the First button. This will find the first
occurrence of the item you wish to find. To find the next item that matches your search, you can either
press the [F3] key from the list or select the Find option from the list’s popup menu and then click in the
Next button.
Timekeeper, Team, Department Selection List
The selection of Timekeepers, Teams and Departments is accomplished through one selection list. This
list is a specialized list that is designed to handle all three categories of data.
Figure 3-5: Timekeeper, Team, Department Selection list
Figure 3-5 shows the Timekeeper, Team, Department selection list set to show Timekeepers. Use the
pull down list at the top of the form to switch the list between timekeeper, departments or teams. If the
list shows departments or teams, selecting the Members option from the popup menu displays a list of
all the members of the department or team.
3-7
Entry Forms
Figure 3-6: The Location Entry form
Vision’s entry forms are used to allow you to enter information into Vision’s database. Despite the fact that
entry forms are used for a variety of data elements, all entry forms have many common functions. This
common user interface makes Vision an easy program to learn, once you have mastered a few simple tech-
niques.
Common Entry Form Elements
All entry forms contain the following elements, regardless of what type of data they are designed to hold.
Entry Form Caption. This is the title that appears at the top of the entry form. This title indicates the
type of information that is expected, such as Timekeeper Entry, or Location Entry.
Popup Menu. Positioning your mouse over the entry form and clicking the right mouse button displays the
popup menu for the form. This menu contains all the functions available from the form. Here are some of
the common options available from most entry form popup menus:
List Selection. Selecting this option, or pressing the [F2] key, displays a list of values that can be as-
signed to the current field.
Spell Check. Some entry forms contain text fields that can be checked for spelling errors. This option
is available while in such a field.
Help. Selecting this option, or pressing the [F1] key, displays information about the entry form.
Save. Clicking on this option, or pressing the [F10] key, saves the contents of the form.
Exit. Selecting this option, or pressing the [Esc] key, cancels data entry and exits the form.
Data Entry Fields. Every entry form contains fields that allow you to enter data. Some data entry fields
are required. This means that you must provide data for the field before you can save the contents of the
form.
3-8
Entry Form Fields
The Entry Form Fields contain the individual data elements. For example, in a Timekeeper Entry form, fields exist
for the Timekeeper initials, Timekeeper name, etc.
Press the [Tab] key to move to the next field, and the [Shift]+[Tab] key combination to move to the pre-
vious field. Code fields, such as Timekeeper initials and Category codes, display the code when you enter
the field, and the translation when you exit the field.
Hint. Do not press the [Enter] key while in an Entry form. As is the case with most Windows
programs, the [Tab] key is used to accept information for a field and move to the next field, not
the [Enter] key.
Entry form fields that contain more than one word can be easily edited using Vision’s built-in editing keys.
Field Editing Keys
The following key combinations allow you to quickly edit the text within Vision’s Entry Form fields. Remem-
ber, in Windows, once any text is highlighted, what you type replaces that text.
[Ctrl]+[Right] Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the next word.
[Ctrl]+[Left] Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
[Shift]+[Right] Highlight the next character or space in the field.
[Shift]+[Left] Highlight the previous character or space in the field.
[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[Right] Highlight the next word in the text.
[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[Left] Highlight the previous word in the text.
[Shift]+[End] Highlight from the text insertion point to the end of the current line.
[Shift]+[Home] Highlight from the text insertion point to the beginning of the current
line.
[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[End] Highlight from the text insertion point to the end of the field.
[Shift]+[Ctrl]+[Home] Highlight from the text insertion point to the beginning of the field.
[Delete] Deletes the currently highlighted text. If no text is highlighted, deletes
the character at the current insertion point.
Adding Information “On the Fly”
Whenever you are in a validated field within an entry form, Vision expects you to enter a code or name that
is already on file, such as a client name or timekeeper code. This is referred to as field validation.
Vision’s field validation supports adding information “on the fly”. This means that nearly any validated field
will allow you to enter information that is not already on file. When this happens, you will receive the fol-
lowing message:
Figure 3-7: Confirmation for Adding on the Fly
3-9
In this instance, “XYZ” was entered into a code field. Clicking the Yes button allows you to add this code to
the list of valid items for the field. Once you have added the new item, you are returned to the entry form
and the new value is assigned to the field.
3-10
4. Security and Features

♦ Users and Security
♦ Features
♦ Customize Field Names
♦ Office Holidays
This chapter covers security topics and feature settings. Vision’s security features allow you to control
what information users can see and manipulate. Feature settings allow you to change the behavior of
the program for all users.
Users and Security
At some point, you will need to add additional users to the program. Vision’s security and password system
can be set up to be as extensive or as simple as your needs dictate.
To add a user, select the Users and Passwords option from the Setup menu. The Users List is dis-
played. Select the Add option from the popup menu or press the [Insert] key. To edit the highlighted user,
either select the Edit option from the popup menu or press the [Enter] key. Whether you are adding or
editing a user, the User and Security Information entry form is used to enter information about a user.
See figure 4-8 below.
The User and Security Information Entry form is a tabbed notebook whose pages can be accessed by click-
ing on any one of the tabs that appear at the bottom of the form.
Common User Information
Figure 4-8
The User and Security Information Entry form: Common Tab
4-1
The Common tab contains the most basic user information. Click this tab to select the Common page. The
fields and settings on this tab are:
User initials. Enter the user’s initials in this field. The user will type in these initials when logging into
the program. User initials will also be used to track additions and changes made by each user.
User name. Enter the user’s full name in this field. This information serves to further identify the
user.
Password. Enter the user’s password in this field. If you do not wish to use a password simply leave
this field blank.
Supervisor. If this option is set, the user is given unrestricted access to all program functions. The
first user that is added to the program must have supervisor status (or Vision will not allow you to save
it).
Inactive. Setting this option de-activates the user preventing the user from accessing the program.
This is an alternative to deleting the user, as it allows you to continue printing audit information for the
user.
User Preference Information
Figure 4-9
The User and Security Information Entry form: Preferences Tab
The Preferences tab contains the user’s personal program preferences. Information on this tab is always
accessible to the user, regardless of any password or security settings.
Set the users preference settings as desired. For information about the settings on this tab press the [F1]
key.
4-2
User Security Information
Figure 4-10: The User and Security Information Entry form: Security Tab
The Security tab controls the functions a user can access. You can use these settings to restrict users from
changing or deleting sensitive information, court rules, etc.
For more information about the settings on this tab, press the [F1] key or click the Help button.
Features
Vision’s overall features, that is, features that are not specific to individual users, are set using this option.
The options that are set here apply to all users of the program.
Select the Features option from the Setup menu. The Features entry form is displayed.
Like the User and Security Information form, the Features entry form is a tabbed notebook. Its pages can
be accessed by clicking on any one of the tabs that appear at the bottom of the form.
4-3
Common Features
Figure 4-11: The Features Entry form: Common Tab
The Common tab contains the most basic feature information. The fields and settings on this tab are:
Login attempts. Set this field to the maximum number of attempts that you wish to allow any user
when logging into Vision. After this maximum number of attempts has been reached, the user is exited
from Vision. For security reasons, we recommend a setting of no more than three.
Clnt/Matr delim. Vision’s file numbers consist of two parts: the Client Number followed by the
Matter Number. The Client/Matter delimiter is the symbol that is used to separate these two parts.
ID/Exten delim. The Auto Insert IDs field on the Settings tab determines whether Vision will auto-
matically insert the Client Number followed by the Matter Number into the Docket ID field each time a
new matter is added. If Auto Insert IDs is checked, the ID/Extension delimiter symbol contained in this
field is inserted between those two fields.
Standard hours. These fields contain your office’s normal working hours. The program displays a
warning message if an Event or To Do item is added that does not fall within these hours.
Standard work days. Check off your office’s normal work days. These fields default to the normal
work week. A warning message is displayed if an Event or To Do item is added that does not fall within
the days you specified here. Additionally, these fields are used as the field values for new timekeepers’
normal work days.
4-4
Feature Settings
Figure 4-12: The Features Entry form: Settings Tab
The Settings tab contains more feature information. Click the Help button, or press the [F1] key, for infor-
mation on any of the setting on this tab.
If the Print “On-the-Fly” audit trails option is set, the program prints an audit report for each addition
and change you make to events. It’s called “On-the-Fly” because the audit report is printed as you are do-
ing data entry. The Include associated document information setting instructs the program to include
document information in the audit report for events that are linked to a document.
Vision can be set up to send appointments and task directly to Outlook or GroupWise for the timekeepers
scheduled on events or you can use the PIM Synchronize Program to link an attorneys desktop calendar
with their Vision dates. The PIM Synchronize Program supports Outlook, GroupWise and Lotus Notes. The
PIM Link settings allows you to link your Vision data with your groupware product. See the PIM Synchro-
nization Program chapter and alternatively the Outlook and GroupWise link chapters for more information
on this feature.
4-5
Customize Field Names
Figure 4-13: Customize Field Names Entry form
The Field Names option on the Setup menu allows you to change most of Vision’s entry form fields in
order to allow Vision to best suit your individual needs. Select this option and look through the names of
the various fields. It is very likely that you will find fields whose names you wish to change.
Each of the field labels contains the original value of its corresponding field when Vision was first installed.
Changing a field’s value changes the name of that field throughout the program’s menus, entry forms and
reports. For example, many firms change the Timekeeper field to Attorney, or Lawyer.
The Restore Label Group option on the form’s popup menu allows you to restore field labels to their
original names. To restore a label group, simply tab into one of the fields in the group and select the
Restore Label Group option. This restores the field labels to the names used by the program when it
was first installed. For example, to restore the field labels in the Client/Matter group, simply activate one
of the fields in the group, right mouse click on the form and select the Restore Label Group option.
Once you have made your changes, click the Save button to save your new field labels. All occurrences
of the field names you changed will be changed throughout the program.
4-6
Office Holidays
Figure 4-14: The Office Holidays list
Office Holidays are non-workdays observed by your firm. Vision uses these days to determine if the due
date of an Event or a To Do item falls on a day when your office is closed. If this happens, Vision issues a
warning message and allows you to change the date of the event.
Important! Office holidays are not taken into account when calculating due dates from
Court Rules. The court’s schedule determines the holidays and non-workdays. Most
CompuLaw Rule Sets include Court Holidays for the next five years. Certain sets, such as
Patent and Trademark rules, may include court holidays for up to 20 years.
The Office Holidays list contains no special functions, other than those which have been discussed in the
Basic Functions section of the Main Screen and Basic Functions chapter.
Select the Add option on the popup menu, or press the [Insert] key, to add an office holiday to the list.
Select the Edit option, or press the [Enter] key, to edit the highlighted office holiday. The Office Holiday
Entry form will appear on your screen.
4-7
5. Codes and Tables Setup

♦ The Setup Menu
♦ Setup Code Tables
♦ Conclusion
In this chapter we’ll discuss the Code submenu located on the Setup menu. The Code submenu pro-
vides access to the setup functions for all of Vision’s table information. These tables are used for data
selection and validation purposes. Examples of table information include, Timekeepers, Locations, De-
partments, Categories, etc. Some options on this menu have an arrow to the right of the option. This
arrow indicates that a submenu exists that contains related options.
Setup Code Tables
Click the Setup option on the main menu bar and the Setup menu will appear. Highlight the Codes op-
tion to display the Codes submenu. The Codes submenu allows access to all of Vision’s validation tables.
As you can see, you have options for Timekeepers, Locations, Matter Types, etc. Each of these options
works in an identical fashion.
For the following discussion, we will use the first option on the Codes submenu, which is Timekeeper.
Note. Your menu may look different from the menus pictured here, as Vision does allow
you to customize its field names. For the purposes of the discussions contained in this
chapter, we will refer to the first option on the Codes submenu as the Timekeeper op-
tion but it may be named something else it this field name has been changed.
Select the Timekeeper option. If no Timekeepers exist, you will immediately see the Timekeeper entry
form. Otherwise you will see the Timekeeper List containing your list of timekeepers.
Note. If you edit an item that is already in use (i.e. a Timekeeper for whom events have
been scheduled) you will not be able to edit the Initials or Code field.
The following discussions assume that you are familiar with the information in the preceding chapter enti-
tled The Main Screen and Basic Functions. Specifically, we refer to the section entitled Basic Func-
tions in that chapter, where Lists and Entry Forms are explained.
5-1
Setup Timekeepers
Figure 5-1: The Timekeeper list
The term Timekeeper refers to an individual for whom Events and To Do items are scheduled. A Timekeeper
can be a member of a Department, but can belong to multiple Teams. See the discussion on Departments
and Teams later in this chapter.
The Timekeeper list (shown above) contains no special functions, other than those which have been discussed
in the Basic Functions section of the Main Screen and Basic Functions chapter.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new timekeeper to the
list. To change the information about a timekeeper, simply highlight the timekeeper in the list and press
the [Enter] key or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
5-2
The Timekeeper Entry form
Figure 5-2: The Timekeeper Entry form
The Timekeeper Entry form contains information about a timekeeper. Here is a description of the data
entry fields on this form:
Initials. Enter the initials of the timekeeper in this field. You will enter these initials whenever you
wish to refer to this timekeeper. For example, when scheduling Events or assigning timekeepers to a
Matter.
Name. Enter the full name of the timekeeper in this field. This name appears on reports, lists and en-
try forms where this timekeeper is referenced.
Department. Enter the code for this timekeeper’s department. For example, you may want to assign
a timekeeper to the Litigation Department. Department codes begin with a “@” and can be up to four
characters. Vision expects an existing department code. If you need a list of valid department codes,
press the [F2] key or select the List Selection option from the popup menu. If you enter a code that
does not exist, you will be able to add it right from this form.
Rank. This is a ranking, or classification level that will be applied to this timekeeper. This value is a
timekeeper hierarchy used when ordering timekeepers on events and in certain lists, such as the Team
Member list.
Office. This field appears if you have a version of the program that supports offices. Enter the office
where the timekeeper is located into this field. You can use the office grouping when printing the “By
Timekeeper” or any of the graphical calendar reports. Office codes begin with a “%” (percent symbol)
and can be up to four characters. If you need a list of valid office codes, press the [F2] key or select
the List Selection option from the popup menu. If you enter an office code that does not exist, you
will be able to add it “on the fly”.
Active. This field which, under normal circumstances is checked, determines whether a timekeeper is
active. If the box is not checked, you cannot schedule events for this timekeeper. Having this field is a
useful alternative to deleting all records of a timekeeper who is no longer with the firm. For example,
you may want to continue printing audit information for the timekeeper even though he/she is no
longer with the firm.
5-3
Workdays. These settings indicate the days that this timekeeper usually works. Vision will warn you if
you attempt to schedule an Event or To Do item for a timekeeper on a day that is not a normal workday
for him or her.
As you probably know, a timekeeper is an integral part of your firms case management and docketing
process. Vision makes it easy to create and manage your timekeepers.
As mentioned above, Vision allows you to group timekeepers into Departments and Teams. We’ll take a
closer look at departments and teams in the following sections.
Setup Departments
The term Department refers to a group of timekeepers. Departments are used to group personnel and
events. Some examples of departments include: Litigation, Estate Planning, Corporate and Family Law. A
timekeeper can only belong to only one department.
Vision allows you to schedule events for any combination of Timekeepers, Teams and Departments.
Selecting the Department option from the Codes submenu displays the list of your departments. If no
departments have been created yet, the Department Entry form is displayed allowing you to create the first
department.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new department to the
list. To change the information about a department, simply highlight the department in the list and press
To see the members of any department, simply highlight the department and select the Member List op-
tion from the list’s popup menu. This displays a list of all the timekeepers in the department.
The Department Entry form is very simple. It contains only two data entry fields. The Code field holds
the department code and the Name field holds it’s description. Department codes must begin with the “@”
symbol and can be up to four characters long (actually five characters if you count the “@”). After entering
your information on the form, press the [F10] key or click the Save button to save the information and re-
turn to the Department List.
Now let’s have a look at Teams.
Setup Teams
The term Team refers to a group of timekeepers working together on a matter or project. These timekeep-
ers are referred to as Members of the team. Unlike departments, a timekeeper can belong to any number
of teams. Vision allows you to schedule events for any combination of Timekeepers, Teams and Depart-
ments.
The advantage of using Teams is that they allow you to have an unlimited number of timekeepers assigned
to a case. Additionally, teams make it easy to manage the timekeepers assigned to a case. Teams provide
an easy mechanism for adding and removing timekeepers assigned to matters and events. For example,
instead of assigning individual timekeepers to a matter and then having to maintain that list, you could sim-
ply create a Team and assign the team to the matter. If a timekeeper needs to be added, or removed from,
a case, all you need to do is add or remove the timekeeper from the team’s member list.
5-4
Selecting the Team option from the Codes submenu displays the Team List. If no teams have been cre-
ated yet, the Team Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first team.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new team to the list. To
change the information about a team, simply highlight the team in the list and press the [Enter] key or
select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The Team Entry form is very simple. It contains only two fields. One field for the team code and an-
other for the description of the team. Team codes must begin with the “%” (percent symbol) and can be
up to four characters.
To add team members, or change the member list of a team, highlight the team in the list and select the
Member List option. The list of team members is displayed.
Team Member List
As it’s name suggests, the Team Member list contains the members of a team. Press the [Insert] key, or
select the Add Member option from the popup menu, to add a new member to the list. Press the [Delete]
key or select the Delete Member option from the popup menu to delete a member.
You can order the timekeepers in the member list anyway you like. Simply drag and drop the member in
the list. The is where the timekeeper’s Rank comes in handy. Remember, the a timekeeper’s Rank deter-
mines relative importance. Sometimes you’ll want to order the team members based on rank (relative im-
portance) so that higher ranking timekeepers appear first in the list of timekeepers printed on reports.
If relative importance isn’t a consideration when adding members to the list and you simply want to alpha-
betize the list, select the Sort Members option located on the popup menu. This option alphabetically
orders the list for you.
When you have finished making changes to the member list, press the [F10] key, or select the Save option
from the popup menu, to save your changes.
As you can see, the Department and Team feature of Vision provides an easy way of managing, and report-
ing on, groups of timekeepers.
Setup Categories
The term Category refers to a classification or type of an Event or To Do item. Categories are used pri-
marily to group like Events and To Do items. Categories can be as general or specific as you like. Some
examples of categories are Discovery, Pre-Trial Deadline, Meeting, Appearance and Court Appearance. For
example, you may want to print a report of all “Pre-Trial” deadlines for a particular matter.
Selecting the Category option from the Codes submenu displays the Category List. If no categories
have been created yet, the Category Entry form is displayed (shown below) allowing you to add the first
category.
If you have installed court rules then you will already have some pre-defined category codes in the list.
These category codes begin with the “$” (dollar) symbol. This signifies that the category code is a “Sys-
tem” code. System category codes are maintained by CompuLaw and, with the exception of reminder off-
sets (discussed below), cannot be changed. You will also not be able to delete, or add your own, System
category codes.
5-5
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new category to the list.
To change the information about a category, simply highlight the category in the list and press the [En-
ter] key or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The Category Entry form
Figure 5-3: The Category Entry form
The Category Entry form contains more information than most other types of Vision codes. You can as-
sign a priority and reminder offsets to your categories.
Notice in the example above that the Code field is “grayed” and the message “(code in use)” is displayed
next to the field. This indicates that the code value is being referenced (used) by another record in the sys-
tem. For example, if you had scheduled an event using this category code. The program will not allow you
to change any code value that is currently in use.
Here is a description of the fields on this form:
Code field. Enter the code that will identify this category. You will enter this code whenever you wish
to refer to this category. Remember, the program does not allow you to add category codes beginning
with the “$” symbol. Category codes using the symbol are referred to as “System” codes and are main-
tained by CompuLaw.
Description field. Enter the description of the category in this field. This description will appear on
reports, lists and screens where this category is referenced.
Priority field. Enter the priority code associated with this category in this field. This will be used as
the default priority when you use this category on events. A priority code can be used to indicate the
importance of an Event or To Do item.
Reminders field(s). Enter up to five reminder offset values can be entered into these fields. Offsets
are always subtracted from the event due date — numbers are, therefore, always entered as positive
values. Suppose you wish to always be reminded of Court Appearances 15 days and again 5 days be-
fore the appearance. You would simply enter a 15 and 5 in the Reminders field(s). Each time the
category “Court Appearance” is scheduled, a reminder will automatically be set for 15 days before and
another for 5 days before it is due date.
Setup Locations
The term Location refers to where a specific Event or To Do item will take place. You can use locations to
group events by City, Courthouse, Office or other classification.
5-6
Selecting the Location option from the Codes submenu displays the Location List. If no locations have
been created yet, the Location Entry form is displayed (shown below) allowing you to add the first loca-
tion.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new location to the list.
To change the information about a location, simply highlight the location in the list and press the [Enter]
key or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The Location Entry form
Figure 5-4: The Location Entry form
The Location Entry form contains information about a location. Here is a description of the data entry
fields on this form:
Code. Enter the code that will identify this location. You will enter this code whenever you wish to re-
fer to this location.
Description. Enter the description of the location in this field. This description appears on reports,
lists and screens where this location is referenced.
Extension. Extensions are usually used for grouping or classifying locations. They come in handy
when events are retrieved for lists and reports. For example, Superior Court might be an extension
used to help group all superior court locations, where the location might be Los Angeles Superior Court
or Orange County Superior Court. Enter the code for the extension that you wish to associate with this
location. This extension automatically appears in new events when this location is entered.
Address fields. These four address fields are associated with this location.
Setup Priorities
The term Priority refers to the relative importance of Events and To Do items. Priorities can be used as a
selection criteria for your Event and To Do lists, as well as in generating reports. Therefore, you should put
some thought into how you will classify your priorities.
You can enter a priority for each category. These priorities will be used as default values as categories are
entered in the event entry form. Categories were discussed earlier in this chapter.
5-7
Selecting the Priority option from the Codes submenu displays the Priority List. If no priorities have
been created yet, the Priority Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first priority.
If you have installed the court rule database, you will probably have a special priority in the list with the
code “*” (asterisk). This priority code is used by the court rule database when scheduling court dates.
You can change the description of this code but you can not changed the code.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new priority to the list.
To change the information about a priority, simply highlight the priority in the list and press the [Enter]
The Priority Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. The priority code
is entered into the Code field and it’s description is entered in the Name field.
Setup Extensions
The use of Extensions often varies from firm to firm. The most obvious, and perhaps the most useful, is
for grouping, or sub-classifying, Locations. If you assign an Extension to a Location, when you enter the
Location code on an entry form, the Extension field is filled in for you automatically.
Hint. You can change the name of most of Vision’s field labels. This can aid tremendously in
those instances where you wish to use a field, such as Extension to suit your individual needs.
Selecting the Extension option from the Codes submenu displays the Extension List. If no extensions
have been created yet, the Extension Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first extension.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new extension to the list.
To change the information about an extension, simply highlight the extension in the list and press the
[Enter] key or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The Extension Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter the
code into the Code field and it’s description into the Name field.
Setup Matter Types
The term Matter Type refers to the type of matter, or area of practice. Matter Types are useful when you
wish to filter your matters by specific area of practice within lists and reports.
Selecting the Matter Type option from the Codes submenu displays the Matter Type List. If no matter
types have been created yet, the Matter Type Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first matter
type.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new matter type to the
list. To change the information about a matter type, simply highlight the matter type in the list and press
The Matter Type Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter
the code into the Code field and it’s description into the Name field.
5-8
Setup Key Codes
Key Codes refer to deadlines within the court rule database. For example, to schedule the deadlines that
relate to a Trial, you would use the $TR key code. This tells the program that you want to schedule the
deadlines associated with a trial date.
If you have installed court rules, you will have several pre-defined codes in the Key Code List. These Key
Codes begin with the “$” (dollar sign) symbol and are referred to as “System” codes. “System” codes are
maintained by CompuLaw and can not be changed or deleted. You will also not be able to add “System”
codes. However, you can add your own Key Codes to the list.
Normally you will not need to worry about creating your own Key Codes or learning what each of the “Sys-
tem” key codes is used for. Vision provides a series of experts that assist you in selecting the correct juris-
diction and event when scheduling court deadlines using the court rule database.
Selecting the Key Code option from the Codes submenu displays the Key Code List. If no key codes
have been created yet, the Key Code Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first key code.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new key code to the list.
To change the information about a key code, simply highlight the code in the list and press the [Enter]
The Key Code Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter the
code into the Code field and it’s description into the Name field. The description of your key codes
should indicate how the code should be used when scheduling court rule dates. Again, you’ll only need
to define your own key codes if you are creating your own rules and don’t want to use any of the prede-
fined key codes.
Setup User Codes (#1 and #2)
The User1 code and User2 code #2 options give you two completely user definable validated fields. You
can use these fields for any purpose you wish, but the most obvious benefit is the increased searching and
filtering flexibility they afford in reporting and record selection.
Note. We will refer to both of these fields, User1 code and User2 code, simply as User
code fields.
Hint. You can change the names of these fields using the Field Names option located on
the Setup menu.
Selecting the appropriate User code option from the Codes submenu displays the code list. If no codes
have been created yet, the User Code Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first code.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new code to the list. To
change the information about a user code, simply highlight the code in the list and press the [Enter] key
or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The User Code Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter the
5-9
Setup Document Codes
Document Codes allow you to organize and categorize your documents for reporting purposes. For ex-
ample, you may wish to print an inventory of all pleadings for a specific matter. You might create document
codes like “Bankruptcy Pleading”, “Correspondence”, “Discovery”, “Draft”, “Pleading”, etc.
Selecting the Code option from the Codes submenu displays the Document Code List. If no document
codes have been created yet, the Document Code Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first
document code.
Press the [Insert] key, or select the Add option from the popup menu, to add a new document code to
the list. To change the information about a document code, simply highlight the code in the list and
press the [Enter] key or select the Edit option from the popup menu.
The Document Code Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field.
Enter the code into the Code field and it’s description into the Name field.
Setup Case Note Codes
The Case Notes allow you to enter, track and report on notes that you enter for a case. Case Note
Codes allow you to organize and categorize your case notes for reporting purposes. For example, you may
wish to print all the notes you made about telephone conversations you had with your client regarding a
particular matter. Examples of case note codes are “Client Note”, “Deposition Note”, “Opposing Counsel”,
“Personal Note” or “Telephone Conversation”.
Selecting the Case Note Code option from the Codes submenu displays the Case Note Code List. If no
document codes have been created yet, the Case Note Code Entry form is displayed allowing you to add
the first code.
change the information about a code, simply highlight the code in the list and press the [Enter] key or
The Case Note Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter the
Setup Office Codes
Note. Your version of Vision may not have the “office” feature. The office feature is
available if you have a 30 timekeeper (or more) version of the program or have pur-
chased the multiple office version of the program.
Office Codes are timekeeper locations. Office Codes allow you to group timekeepers by office. The ad-
vantage of this is that you can run some reports for groups of timekeepers based on the office to which
they belong. For example, the “By Timekeeper” and all graphical Calendar reports can be printed for the
timekeepers in an office or range of offices.
Selecting the Offices option from the Codes submenu displays the Office Code List. If no document
codes have been created yet, the Office Code Entry form is displayed allowing you to add the first code.
5-10
change the information about a code, simply highlight the code in the list and press the [Enter] key or
The Office Code Entry form is a simple code entry form. It contains a Code and Name field. Enter
the code into the Code field and it’s description into the Name field.
Conclusion
As you have seen, Vision provides you with a variety of ways to organize your data using code values.
Once you have decided on a coding scheme, retrieving just the information you are interested in is quick
and easy.
5-11
6. Clients and Matters

♦ Client List
♦ Client Information Entry Form
♦ Client List Popup Menu
♦ Matter List
♦ Matter Information Entry Form
♦ Matter List Popup Menu
♦ Conclusion
Important. Certain functions described in this chapter may not be available to you if you do
not have the appropriate security access.
Clients and Matters are the foundation of data entry in Vision. Without clients and matters you can not
schedule events, enter case notes or make document entries.
Client List
To display the Client List, select the Clients option from the Data Entry menu, or click the Client List but-
ton on the main toolbar.
Alternatively, you can click on the Client List button from the Main Toolbar (shown to the
left).
The Client List is displayed as shown in the figure below.
Figure 6-5: The Client List
6-1
Usually an empty Client List is initially displayed. You must either enter some filter criteria or click on the
Show All button to populate this list. You can tell the program to always display all your clients when the
list is initially displayed by setting the “Show all clients if no filter provided” option in Features. Obviously,
you won’t want to do this if you have a very large number of clients as this might take some time to display.
To find the clients you’re interested in, simply enter all, or part of the name of the client into the Client
name field at the top of the form. For example, to find all clients whose name begins with “Acme” you
would type “Acme*” into the Client name field and then tab out of the field. The asterisk (“*”) at the
end of the word tells the program to retrieve all clients whose name begins with “Acme”. Here are some
more examples:
To find all clients whose name contains the word “Acme” you would enter “*Acme*” into the Cli-
ent name field.
To find all clients whose name ends with the word “Corporation” you would enter “*Corporation”
into the Client name field.
You can use the asterisk (“*”) character at either end of the text you are searching for to find the client
or clients your looking for. The same search method applies to the Client number fields as well.
Click the Advanced button for more advanced filter options. For example, you could use the advanced
filter options to find clients based on a contact name.
To delete a client from the list, highlight the client and press the [Delete] key. You can not delete a cli-
ent if that client has any matters.
To add a client to the list, simply press the [Insert] key or select the Add option from the popup menu. To
edit a client’s information, highlight the client and press the [Enter] key or select the Edit option from the
popup menu. In either case, the Client Information Entry form is displayed as shown below.
Client Entry Form
Figure 6-1: The Client Information Entry form
6-2
The information that you enter here is used as default values for corresponding fields on the Matter In-
formation Entry form when adding matters for this client. Naturally, these are only default values and can
be changed when you add a new matter.
Hint. You can change the name of nearly every field on this form. For example, you may wish
to change the Phone #2 field to Fax number, etc. See the Field Names topic for more infor-
mation.
You must provide information for the Client name and Client # fields before you can save a new client
record. The data entry fields on this form are:
Client name. Enter the name of the client into this field. If you attempt to enter the name of a cli-
ent that already exists in Vision’s database, an error message is displayed and Vision rejects the cli-
ent name.
Address fields. Enter up to three address lines in these fields.
City, State and Zip. Enter the client’s City into the first field, then the State and Zip code into the
next two fields.
Contact. Enter the name of the contact person into this field.
Phone number fields. Enter up to three telephone numbers in these fields. The most common
use of the Phone number fields is Phone #1: Main voice number; Phone #2: Fax number; Phone
#3: Contact person’s direct line or a cellular phone number.
E-mail address. The clients e-mail address, or web site address, can be entered into this field.
Client #. The client number can be up to 15 characters. The client number uniquely identifies a cli-
ent. The Client Number field plus the Matter Number field (on the matter record) together are
referred to as the File Number, and can be used to uniquely identify a matter. More on this later.
When finished entering the client’s information, click the Save button, or press the [F10] key to save the
client.
Client List Popup Menu
The Client List popup menu has several options that allow you to access the information stored in the data-
base for a client. Here is a list of the options available from this popup menu:
Add Select this option to add a new client to the list.
Edit Select this option to edit the information for an existing client.
Delete Use this option to delete a client from the list. You cannot delete a
client if that client has any matters.
Show All Displays all clients in your database. This operation can be slow if
you have a large amount of client records.
Filter Displays the advanced filter options for the client list.
Find Allows you to search for clients in the list. You might ask “Why
6-3
would I need to search for a client name, isn’t that what the filter is
for?” The find option allows you to search for clients without effect-
ing your current filter settings. This allows you to limit your search
to the subset of records provided by your filter settings.
Find Again Performs the last search again.
Matter List Displays the list of matters for a client.
Event List Displays the list of Events and To Do items for a client.
Documents Displays the list of Documents for a client.
Case Notes Display the case notes for a client.
Related Parties Display the related parties for all matters for a client.
Selecting the Event List, Documents or Case Notes options displays a list of those items for all mat-
ters for the highlighted client. For example, if a client has five matters, selecting the Event List option
displays the events for all five matters.
Matter List
Figure 6-2: The Matter List
The Matter List can be displayed from the main screen by selecting the Matters option located on the
Data Entry menu or by pressing the [Ctrl]+[M] key combination. Alternatively, you can click on the
Matter List button from the Main Toolbar.
6-4
The Matter List can also be displayed from the Client List as mentioned in the previous section.
The initial contents of the Matter List depends on where it was displayed from. If the matter list is dis-
played from the main screen, a blank list is displayed as shown above. If the matter list is displayed from
the Client List, the list will contain all the matters for the selected client.
The fields at the top of the form are filter fields. Use these fields to locate the matter or matters you are
interested in. If an empty Matter List is displayed, you can either enter some filter criteria or click on
the Show All button to populate the list. You can tell the program to always display all your matter
when the list is initially displayed by setting the “Show all matters if no filter provided” option in Fea-
tures. Obviously, you won’t want to do this if you have a very large number of matters as this might
take a long time to populate the list.
To find the matters you’re interested in, simply enter all, or part of the name of the matter into the Mat-
ter name field at the top of the form. For example, to find all matters whose name begins with “Smith”
you would type “Smith*” into the Matter name field and then tab out of the field. The asterisk (“*”) at
the end of the word tells the program to retrieve all matters whose name begins with “Smith”. Here are
some more examples:
To find all matters whose name contains the word “Smith” you would enter “*Smith*” into the
Matter name field.
To find all matters whose name ends with the word “Smith” you would enter “*Smith” into the
Matter name field.
You can use the asterisk (“*”) character at either end of the text you are searching for to find the matter
or matters your looking for. The same search method applies to the Client name, File number and
Docket ID fields as well.
Click the Advanced button for more advanced filter options. For example, you could use the advanced
filter options to find all matters based on their zip code or matter type.
To delete a matter from the list, highlight the matter and press the [Delete] key. You can not delete a
matter if that matter has any events, documents or case notes assigned to it.
To add a matter to the list, simply press the [Insert] key or select the Add option from the popup menu. To
edit a matter’s information, highlight the matter and press the [Enter] key or select the Edit option from the
popup menu. In either case, the Matter Information Entry form is displayed as shown below.
Sub-Matters
A matter can have any number of sub-matters. Sub-matters are useful in maintaining a matter hierarchy
that better represents the progress of a case. For example, when a case transfers to a different court juris-
diction, it is useful to be able to create a sub-matter for the matter that contains the new court deadlines,
case notes, related parties, etc.
Matters that have sub-matters are indicated with a "+" symbol on the matter list. To access the sub-
matters for a matter, highlight the matter and select the Sub Matters option from the popup menu or
press [Ctrl+S]. This displays the Sub Matter List for the matter. Use the options on the popup menu to
add and edit sub-matters.
The sub-matter list popup menu will contain some new items that pertain only to sub-matters. The Create
from Sub Matter option allows you to quickly create another sub-matter from an existing sub-matter. To
6-5
do this, simply highlight the sub-matter you wish to replicate and select this option. A new sub-matter re-
cord will be created based on the selected sub-matter and you are presented with the Matter Informa-
tion Entry form allowing you to change any of the information for the new sub-matter before saving it.
The Create from Parent option allows you to create a sub-matter using the information contained in the
parent matter. Selecting this option creates a new sub-matter using the information from the parent matter
and displays the Matter Information Entry form.
The Convert To Parent Matter option changes the sub-matter into a parent matter for the client. Doing
this also removes any consolidation history linked to the matter (see below for information on matter con-
solidation).
Sub-Matter Consolidation
It is often necessary as a case progresses to combine the information from two or more sub-matters into
either the parent matter or another sub-matter. The Consolidation option on the sub-matter list popup
menu allows you to do this. Selecting this option displays a sub-menu with two options. The Consolidate
option is used to consolidate matters and the Un-Consolidate option is used to reverse a prior consolida-
tion. Selecting either of these options displays a wizard that steps you through the process.
Matter Information Entry Form
Figure 6-3: The Matter Information Entry form: Info Tab
6-6
The Matter Information Entry form is a tabbed notebook whose pages can be accessed by clicking on
the tabs that appear along the bottom of the form. The Info tab (as shown above) contains its own set of
notebook style tabs. Clicking on one of these tabs displays the entry fields for that tab.
The fields on the General tab hold some basic information about the matter such as which the matter
name and number, the matter type, date the matter was opened, etc. The Defaults tab is used as default
values for corresponding fields on the Event and To Do entry forms when scheduling dates for the matter.
The Jurisdiction tab is used to select the jurisdiction used when scheduling court ruled events for the mat-
ter. The Address tab contains matter address information. If you have provided address information for
the client associated with this matter, it is used as the default values for the matter address fields.
For detailed information about each field on this form, click the Help button or press the [F1] key.
Notice the information at the top of the form just below the form’s caption. It shows the who added the
matter and when. It also shows when the matter was last changed and who made the change. This can
be useful audit information. For example, you can use this information to print a report of all matters
added by a certain user on a certain date.
Exclusions Tab
There are times when you do not want to schedule certain deadlines for a matter and/or prevent certain
deadlines from appearing on an attorney's calendar for a matter. The information on this tab provides this
functionality.
If a jurisdiction (that is, the set of rule sets you assign to a matter) has "exclusions" associated with it, the
Exclusions tab will appear along the bottom of the form. This tab contains the list of exclusion questions for
the selected jurisdiction. Using the options on this tab, you can exclude certain types of deadlines that ei-
ther don't apply to the case or shouldn't appear on an attorney's calendar.
See the Exclusions section of the documentation for more information on this feature.
Summary Tab
The Summary tab is only displayed if you select a jurisdiction for which a summary template has been
defined by CompuLaw. The Summary tab contains extra data entry fields that apply specifically to the
selected jurisdiction. For example, selecting U.S. Patent rule sets causes this tab to contain extra data
entry fields for tracking a U.S. patent case.
The left side of this tab contains the extra data entry fields specific to the selected jurisdiction. If you are
a supervisor, you can change the names of these fields by selecting the “Field Names” option from the
popup menu.
The right side of the tab contains a case summary of the court deadlines for the matter. The case sum-
mary area uses the rule sets entered on the General tab to determine what information to display.
The case summary area can be used to add and edit the deadlines for a matter. The data displayed here
is ordered in a way that makes it easy to locate and schedule court deadlines. To schedule a deadline for
a summary topic, simply click the blank area next to the topic heading. This displays the Event Entry
form allowing you to enter the new date. To change or view an exiting date, click on the date next to
the summary topic.
6-7
For more information on the Summary tab for a particular jurisdiction, click the Help button or press the
[F1] key while viewing the tab.
Since the fields that appear on this tab depend on the jurisdiction (rule sets) selected, we cannot show
you an example of this tab. For more information about the fields displayed on this tab, press the Help
button or press the [F1] key while viewing the Summary tab.
See the Case Summary section of the documentation for more information on this feature.
Events, Related Parties, Case Notes and Documents Tabs
When editing or viewing an existing matter, the Matter Information entry form will have several extra
tabs. The Event tab contains all the Events and To Do items scheduled for the matter. This tab allows
you to add and maintain the events scheduled for the matter. The Related Parties tab contains the
related parties that have been assigned to the matter. The Case Notes tab contains the case notes for
the matter and the Documents tab contains the document reference list for the matter.
While you can access the events, related parties, case notes and documents for a matter in many differ-
ent ways, the Matter Information entry form provides a central location for all matter data.
Event Synchronize Option
The Matter Information Entry form’s popup menu contains an option called Synchronize. Using this op-
tion, you can update all events scheduled for the matter with the information you have entered in the corre-
sponding fields on the Matter Information Entry form.
Here’s an example of the usefulness of this option. Suppose you’ve assigned timekeepers “A”, “B” and “C”
to a matter and have scheduled events for this matter using the default timekeepers (that is, each event is
scheduled for timekeepers “A”, “B” and “C”). Now suppose you need to add timekeeper “D” to all the
events for this matter. Will you have to add timekeeper “D” to all the events for this matter? No you won’t.
As long as all events for the matter are using the same timekeeper information, you can use the Time-
keeper option on the Synchronize menu to change this information for you automatically. Simply add
timekeeper “D” to the list of timekeepers on this matter then select the Timekeeper synchronize option.
Here is a list of Synchronize options:
Timekeepers. Each Event and To Do item can be assigned to a combination of up to six (6) time-
keepers, teams departments (“personnel”). Select this option to remove the personnel from this mat-
ter’s Event and To Do item records and reset each one to the personnel contained in the Matter Infor-
mation Entry form.
Manager. Select this option to change the contents of the Manager field in all of the Events and To
Do items for this matter to the contents of the manager field in this matter’s Matter Information Entry
form.
Other. This option changes the contents of the Other field in all Events and To Do items for this mat-
ter to match the contents of the Other field in this matter’s Matter Information Entry form.
User1 code. This option changes the contents of the User1 code field in all Events and To Do items
for this matter to match the same field in this matter’s Matter Information Entry form.
User2 code. This option behaves in a similar fashion to that of the Synchronize User1 code option
except that it works on the User2 code field.
6-8
Assigning Timekeeper PIM Transfer Options
If you have activated the PIM Link options (you are transferring Events and/or To Do items to Outlook or
GroupWise) you can assign event transfer options for each timekeeper on the matter. For example, sup-
pose one of the timekeepers assigned to the matter only wants to receive court ruled Key events while the
other timekeeper assigned to the matter will receive all types of events.
To set the timekeeper transfer options for a timekeeper assigned to the matter select the PIM Transfer
Options item from the form’s popup menu. This displays a list of the timekeepers assigned to the matter
allowing you to set the transfer options for each. Here’s how:
1. If no timekeepers, departments or teams have been assigned to this matter then add them now by
filling in the timekeeper fields on the Matter Information entry form.
2. Select the PIM Transfer Options item from the popup menu to display the list of timekeepers as-
signed to the matter.
3. Double click on a timekeeper in the list to display the transfer options for that timekeeper. Set the
options and click the Save button. Repeat this step for all timekeepers whose transfer options you
wish to set.
Matter List Popup Menu
The popup menu for the matter list contains options for all available list functions. Aside from the stan-
dard Add, Edit, Delete and Find options, this menu contains options for:
Event List Selecting this option displays the Events and To Do items for the
matter.
Documents Selecting this option displays the document list for the matter.
Case Notes Selecting this option displays the case notes for the matter.
Related Parties Selecting this option displays the related parties for the matter.
Move Allows you to move matters from one client to another. This
option is only available if the matter list contains only matters
for a specific client and you have the proper permission settings.
Print Allows you to print any of the standard Client/Matter reports.
Clone Matter Allows you to create a new matter using the information from
the currently highlighted matter. This option is only available
when the matter list is being displayed for a specific client.
List Formats Used to modify the list display.
Sub Matters Allows access to the list of sub-matters for a parent matter. You
use this option to add and change sub-matters for a parent mat-
ter.
The list displayed after selecting the Event List, Documents or Case Notes options contains only
items for that currently highlighted matter. This is a quick and easy way to view and edit all the informa-
tion relating to a matter.
6-9
Selecting the Move options displays a sub-menu allowing you to move All matters in the list or just the
ones you have selected. To move a matter to another client, simply click on it with the mouse while
holding down the [Ctrl] key and select the Selected option from the Move sub-menu. To move all the
matters in the list to another client, select the All option from the Move sub-menu. Moving matters to
another client also moves any events, documents and case notes associated with the moved matters to
the new client.
Selecting the Print option allows you to print any of the standard Client/Matter reports. The report will
contain all the matters currently in the list regardless of whether or not the matter has been marked “se-
lected”.
Conclusion
As you have seen in this chapter, the client and matter lists provides you with all the functionality you
need to manage your clients and matters, as well as their associated data.
Remember, you can add clients and matters during data entry. For example, when adding an event if
you enter a client name on the Event Entry form that doesn’t exist, you are given the chance to add it.
The same applies for matter information. You do not have to add clients and matters before you begin
adding events and other data.
6-10
7. Events and To Do Items

♦ Events and To Do Items
♦ Add a New Event
♦ Edit an Existing Event
♦ Delete an Existing Event
♦ Add, Edit, Delete To Do Items
An Important Note Regarding Events
Vision allows you to add and manipulate your events from many places throughout the program, including
from the:
¾ Data Entry Menu

¾ Main Toolbar
¾ Event List
¾ Client List
¾ Matter List
¾ Graphical Calendar Display
This chapter mainly focuses on adding and editing Events and To Do Items, and does not delve to deeply
into the various parts of the program from which you can access this information.
Events and To Do Items
An Event is an Appointment or Deadline that has been scheduled in Vision. All events have “due dates”,
but may or may not have a “due time.” Appointments have due times, while Deadlines do not.
Some Events, such as the Service of Interrogatories, cause other dates to trigger (be scheduled), such as
the Response which is due. These “trigger events” are called Key Dates, which are input through Vision’s
Key Codes. More on this later.
A To Do item is a special type of event. To Do items are usually personal items that apply only to you.
Nevertheless, you can schedule multiple timekeepers, teams and departments on To Do items.
Add a New Event
Select the Add Event option from the Data Entry menu. The Event Entry form will be displayed on your
screen.
Alternatively, you can click on the Add Event button on the Main Toolbar or press the
[Ctrl]+[E] key combination.
7-1
The Event Entry form
Figure 7-1: The Event Entry form
Note. If you know the Matter name, the Matter number or the Docket ID #, the quick-
est method of entering event data is to click on one of those fields, press the [F2] key (or list
button) and select the appropriate matter.
The Event Entry form is where information about an event is added or changed. You will spend a lot of
time at this entry form, so we’ve tried to make it as easy to use as possible.
Most of the fields on this form are validated. Unless you leave a field blank, you will not be able to move
to any other field on the form until valid information has been entered. Pressing the [F2] key while in a
validated field displays a list of valid data items for the field (or some other data item selection form like
the Multi-Calendar from the due date field).
You can add new data items to the list associated with the validated field by simply entering the new in-
formation into the field. When you exit the field, you’ll be given the opportunity to add the new item.
Finding a Client/Matter
There are several ways to locate a client and matter. The Client name, Matter name, File number and
Docket ID fields allow you to select information from a list of valid items by pressing the [F2] key from
7-2
within either of these fields. If the data entry field is empty, pressing the [F2] key displays a list of all
data items. For example, if your in an empty Client name field and press [F2] you’ll get a list of all your
clients. While this can be useful it isn’t usually what you’ll want to do. You’ll usually know part of the
information your looking for.
If you don’t know the full text of the Client name, Matter name, File number or Docket ID, you can enter
the part of the text you know and let the program find the client or matter information for you.
For example, let’s say you know that the matter you’re looking for has the word “Acme” at the beginning
of the matter name. If you enter “Acme*” into the Matter name field and press the [F2] key, the pro-
gram attempts to find all matters beginning with the word “Acme”. If only one matter is found, the mat-
ter name is filled in for you. If more than one matter is found, a list of matters beginning with “Acme” is
displayed allowing you to select the one you’re looking for. In this example, the asterisk (“*”) tells the
program to find all matters beginning with the word “Acme”. You can place the asterisk (“*”) before,
after or on each end of the word or phrase you’re looking for. For example, entering “*Smith*” in the
matter name field and pressing [F2] would find any matters with the word “Smith” anywhere in the mat-
ter name. Using “*Smith” in the same example would find all matters with “Smith” at the end of the
matter name.
This, by far, a better way of looking for the information you need.
Matter Defaults
When adding new matters to your database, you can provide information that is used to automatically fill
in the fields on the Event Entry form when a matter is selected. For example, you will usually know
which timekeepers will be assigned to work on a matter. You can enter these timekeepers when the
matter is created so that you don’t have to remember who they are when scheduling events for the mat-
ter.
After selecting a matter, the default information you assigned to the matter is used to fill in the corre-
sponding fields on the form. In the above example, selecting a matter would automatically fill in the
timekeeper fields on the form.
This is a great time saving and data integrity feature. You should provide as much information as you
can when creating a new matter to insure that the information on an event is as accurate as possible.
Perpetual Dates
Vision allows you to create recurring events by enter a perpetual date as the due date. Here are some
examples of perpetual dates:
Perpetual date Description

>MON Every Monday
>MON2 Second Monday of each month
>11 The 11th of every month
>6/22 Every June 22nd
>THU3NO The 3rd Thursday in November
Suppose you need to schedule a department meeting every Friday. Simply enter “>FRI” as the due date
and the event will appear on your calendar until you delete it. The month abbreviations used by the last
perpetual type shown in the list above are:
7-3
Ja January Ma May Se September
Fe February Ju June Oc October
Mr March Jl July No November
Ap April Au August De December
Schedule Conflicts
You have several tools at your disposal to prevent scheduling conflicts. For example, you don’t want to
accidentally schedule more than one event for a timekeeper during the same period of time.
Vision automatically checks for scheduling conflicts when saving an event. You can also check for avail-
able free time for the timekeepers listed on the event by pressing the [F2] from within one of the time
fields. This displays a list of available blocks of time for the combination of timekeepers listed on the
event. You can either select an appropriate block of time, or use the information as a guide when enter
the time on the event.
Linking a Document to an Event
Vision allows you to link a document entry to an event. Document entries are contained in the document
database and are used to record information about a document. This is useful when the receipt of a docu-
ment, or response to a document, triggers the scheduling of deadlines. The Document # field on the
form allows you to link a document entry to an event.
To link a document entry to an event, simply enter the number of the document into the Document #
field. If a document entry has already been created for the document, but you don’t know which number
to use, you can press the [F2] key to select it from the list of documents for the matter. If no document
entry exists, you can add one simply by entering a new document number into this field.
Data Entry Fields
Here is a description of the data entry fields on this form:
Client name. Enter the name of the client you wish to schedule in this field. After entering a valid cli-
ent name, Vision will fill in the Client number portion of the File number field for you. Pressing the
[F2] key allows you to select a client name from a list of clients. You can also use the search capability
described above to locate a client.
Matter name. Enter the name of the matter in this field. If you don’t know the full name of the mat-
ter, you can use the search capabilities described above to locate it.
File number. The Client number, Matter number and File number extension fields make up
the File number field. Entering a valid client number fills in the client name field. Entering a valid mat-
ter number fills in the client and matter information fields on the form. Press the [F2] key for a selec-
tion list for whichever field you happen to be in. You can also use the search capability described above
to locate this information.
Docket ID #. Enter the Docket ID of the matter into this field. Entering a valid Docket ID number
automatically fills in the client and matter fields on the form. Press the [F2] key for a list of valid
Docket ID’s or use the search capability of the field to locate a matter.
7-4
Rule sets. You only need to fill in these fields if you are scheduling dates using court rules. You can
enter up to five (5) rule sets into these fields. These fields tell the program which jurisdiction to use
when scheduling events from the court rule database. The Key code field (described below) tells the
program which deadlines from the selected jurisdiction to schedule. You can not edit these fields di-
rectly. To change the jurisdiction information on the event, click the “Edit…” button to the right of the
fields. A dialog is displayed that assists you in the selection of the rule sets needed to scheduled dead-
lines using CompuLaw court rules.
Key code. This field is usually used in conjunction with the Rule sets fields when scheduling dead-
lines using the court rules. The combination of the Rule sets and Key code fields triggers the schedul-
ing of deadlines. Once a valid key code is entered, the program fills in the Category, Priority and Expla-
nation fields from the formula that will be used to schedule the event. Pressing [F2] from within this
field displays the Event Selection Expert which displays a categorized list of events to select from.
Due date. Enter the event due date into this field. You must provide a due date on all events. If you
need to enter an event without a due date then you must use a To Do item. The due date can be a regu-
lar or perpetual date. This field has several helpful features:
¾ If you enter a due date that falls on a non-workday for any timekeepers listed on the event,
you are warned and given the chance to change the date.
¾ Enter the word “TODAY” for today’s date. Enter “TODAY+1” for tomorrow, etc.
¾ If a date already exists in the field, enter one number to change the day (i.e. 22 for the 22nd)
or two numbers to change the month and the day (i.e. 6/22 for June 22nd).
¾ The “slashes” separating parts of the date are optional. For example, instead of entering
“9/27/2000” your could enter “9 27 2000”.
¾ Supports perpetual dates. Perpetual dates are recurring, or repeating, dates. See the
perpetual date discussion above for details.
¾ Date selection from using the Multi-Calendar. Pressing the [F2] key, or selecting the List
Selection option from the form’s popup menu, displays the Multi-Calendar allowing you to
select a date from a graphical calendar.
¾ Use the CalcuDator to calculate a date. Selecting the CalcuDator option from the form’s
popup menu allows you to perform complex date calculations to help determine an appropri-
ate due date.
Time fields. Enter the start and end time in these fields. You can leave both of these fields blank,
provide just a start time, or provide a start and end time. Events with no start or end time are referred
to as Deadlines. Events with at least a start time are referred to as Appointments. Pressing the
[F2] key from within one of these fields displays the Free Time List that shows the available times for
the timekeepers on the event.
Explanation. Use this field to enter an explanation for the event. This field is filled in automatically
when scheduling events using the court rules. You can enter up to 4096 characters into this field.
Timekeepers. You can enter up to six (6) Timekeepers, Departments and Teams into these fields.
Enter a timekeeper by specifying his or her initials. For example, “AAA” might refer to “Arthur A. Alex-
ander.” Enter a team by preceding the team code with a percent symbol (%). For example, “%ASB”
might refer to the “Asbestos Litigation Team.” Enter a department by preceding the department code
with an ‘at sign’ (@). For example, “@CL” might refer to the “Civil Litigation Department.”
Vision’s schedule checker works on all six fields simultaneously, checking each Timekeeper and the
individual members of Teams and Departments as well.
7-5
Press the [F2] key to display the Timekeeper Selection List. This list allows you to select from a list
of timekeepers, departments or teams.
Manager. Enter the initials of the manager, or timekeeper, who is responsible for this event. Only
timekeepers can be entered into this field. You cannot enter a department or team here.
Document #. A document number provides a link from an event to a document entry. This is useful
when the receipt or a document, or response to a document, triggers the scheduling of deadlines. To
link a document entry to an event, simply enter the number of the document into this field. If a docu-
ment entry has already been created for the document but you don’t know which number to use, you
can press the [F2] key to select it from the list of documents for the matter.. If no document entry ex-
ists, you can add one simply by entering a new document number into this field.
Category. Enter the category code used to classify this event into this field. For example, you may
have category codes for event classifications such as Discovery, Hearing, Pre-Trial Deadline, Meeting,
etc. This field can later be used as a filter option for including events in reports and lists. When a valid
category code is entered into this field, its associated default Priority code is inserted into the empty
Priority field on this form. If you are scheduling dates using court rules, this field is automatically
filled in for you.
Priority. Enter the priority code in this field. The contents of this field are filled in for you when a
valid category code is entered. This field can be used to indicate the relative importance of the event.
For example, statutes and court imposed deadlines tend to be of very high importance. The use of this
field is not limited to the example discussed above. You can change the name of this field and use it as
you wish.
Location. Enter the location code in this field. The Location field can be used to group events by
their location. You can use the Location field to group events by City, Courthouse and Office, depend-
ing on your needs. When a valid location code is entered, its associated extension code is entered as
the default value into the Extension field.
Extension. Enter the extension code in this field. The contents of the extension field will be auto-
matically entered for you when a valid location code is entered in the Location field. Extensions can
be used to sort and group related locations. For example, extension “MUNI” might indicate that loca-
tion “LAM” is a Municipal Court. This field is a sort and filter key. You can use it for any other purpose
you wish.
Reminders. Enter up to five (5) reminder dates in these fields. Reminders for events appear on cer-
tain reports and event displays. If a due date has been provided for the event, you can enter a date
offset, such as –5, in any of these fields and Vision automatically inserts the appropriate date for you.
Hint. When categories are set up (or edited), you can enter up to five (5) reminder
offsets that are automatically calculated and inserted when the corresponding Cate-
gory is used when scheduling Events.
Other. This is a free form text field that allows you to enter up to 30 characters of text to be used for
any purpose you like. Vision’s reports and event lists can be filtered on this field, allowing you to select
events according to the contents of this field.
User1 code and User2 code fields. These fields are included for you to use as you wish. You will
most likely want to rename these fields to better reflect your needs.
7-6
Completed. Click this checkbox field to indicate that the event has been completed. Completed
events can be included or excluded from lists and reports. When an event’s status is changed to “com-
pleted” a completion date entry field is displayed allowing you to enter the date the event was com-
pleted.
After you have filled in the necessary fields on the form, click the Save button or press the [F10] key to
save the event.
The “Scheduling Events” chapter later in this guide provides more information on adding events using
court rules. Please refer to this chapter for a complete description and tutorial on adding and editing
events scheduled using court rules.
Edit an Existing Event
Events are changed from an Event List. The Event List can be displayed from the main screen, the Client
List, the Matter List, the Matter Information entry form and from the graphical calendar display. Dis-
playing an event list from the client, matter list or matter information entry form displays only those events
that have been scheduled for the specified client or matter. The event list displayed from the graphical cal-
endar display shows only the events for a specific day of the week.
This section shows how to use the Event List accessed from the Data Entry menu, or by clicking on the
Event List button on the main screen’s toolbar. Accessing the Event List from here allows you to specify
which events you are interested in. When the Event List is displayed, you will be asked to provide filter op-
tions that tell the program which events to retrieve from the database. When the Event List is displayed it
will contain only those events that match your filter options (like the event list shown below). See the
“Event Filter and Event List” chapter for more information on filtering events.
Figure 7-2: The Event list
7-7
To edit an event, simply double click on it in the list. If the item you wish to edit does not appear in the list,
use the vertical scroll bar located to the right of the list to scroll events into view. Alternatively, you can use
your [Up] and [Down] arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the item you wish to edit and press the [En-
ter] key.
When an event is selected from the Event List, the Event Entry Form is displayed allowing you to make
changes or view the event.
Navigating the Event List from the Entry Form
The buttons shown below appear on the form if you have selected an event from an Event List that contains
only Events or To Do items (but not both). These buttons allow you navigate through the list and edit the
items, without having to exit from the Event Entry form.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[Home], to replace the contents of the

Event Entry form with the first item in the Event List, allowing you to edit
that Event or To Do item.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[PgUp], to replace the contents of the
Event Entry form with the previous Event or To Do item in the Event List.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[PgDn], to replace the contents of the
Event Entry form with the next Event or To Do item in the Event List.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[End], to replace the contents of the
Event Entry form with the last item in the Event List, allowing you to edit
that Event or To Do item.
Event Change History
Vision tracks the changes made to events. You can get a complete history of all changes made to an event
by selecting the Event History option from the form’s popup menu. If no Event History option is available
then the event has never been changed.
Selecting the Event History option displays a list of the changes made to the event since it was added.
Double click an item in this list for details on the change.
Change Notes
After changing an event, you can enter a note describing the reason for the change. If your “Auto add
change notes” option has been set (in your personal user preference settings) the program will ask for a
change note after you save changes to an event. Use the note to record any information about the change,
like the reason you made the change, into the change note entry form.
Delete an Existing Event
To delete an Event or To Do item, first highlight it in the list as if you were going to select the record for
editing. Now simply press the [Delete] key. You will be asked if it is okay to delete this record. Answer
“Yes” to delete, or “No” to cancel.
There are a few extra prompts if you are deleting a “trigger” date (that is, a court date that has other dates
associated with it) from the list. Scheduling court dates using the court rule database and maintaining
those dates are discussed in detail in the “Scheduling Events” chapter later in this guide.
7-8
Add, Edit Delete To Do Items
To Do items are events that usually apply only to you. Furthermore, To Do items are usually personal
events. To Do items are scheduled in a fashion that is nearly identical to that of “standard” Events.
Note. Throughout this manual, the term “event” is used to describe events as a whole (in-
cluding To Do items) as well as “non To Do” events. These references should be obvious to
you when taken in context. In every case we have tried to be as clear as possible as to the
type(s) of events we are referring to.
Add a New To Do Item
As with events, To Do items can be added from many places in the program. The section talks about add-
ing a To Do item using the Add To Do option on the Data Entry menu.
Selecting the Add To Do option from the Data Entry menu displays the To Do Entry form (shown below).
Alternatively, you can click on the Add To Do button from the Main Toolbar.
Notice that this form is nearly identical to that of the Event Entry form, the only difference being that the To
Do Entry form is missing some of the fields that appear in the Event Entry form.
Figure 7-2: The To Do Entry form
7-9
For information about the individual fields of the To Do Entry form, please refer to the previous discussion
about the Event Entry form or click the Help button.
Notice the Private setting in the upper right corner of the form. This setting allows you to create a pri-
vate To Do item. Private To Do item can only be viewed and changed by you.
Edit an Existing To Do Item
To Do items are edited the same way other events are. Simply select the Event List option from the Data
Entry menu and provide appropriate filter options. Once you have found the To Do item you wish to edit,
simply double-click on it and make your changes.
Delete an Existing To Do Item
To delete a To Do item, first highlight it in the Event List as if you were going to select the record for edit-
ing. Now simply press the [Delete] key. You will be asked if it is okay to delete this record. Answer “Yes”
to delete, and “No” to cancel.
7-10
8. Event Filter and Event List

♦ The Event Filter
♦ The Event List
Important. Certain functions described in this chapter may not be available to you if you do not
have the appropriate security access.
The Event Filter
Figure 8-1: Event Filter Options: Date/Times/Include Page
The Event Filter is a group of fields that tell the program which Events and To Do items to include in Re-
ports and in the Event List. This functionality is arguably the most important feature of Vision. Through the
use of the Event Filter you can gather events for Reporting and Editing purposes for:
¾ All Events relating to a specific trial.

¾ All court related dates scheduled for a specific client or matter.
¾ All trial dates for the office.
¾ A block of free time for specific teams, departments and/or timekeepers.
¾ Auditing all events added or changed by a specified user or users for a specific period.
¾ All critical dates for a specific timekeeper.
¾ All dates of a specific type, such as Pre-Trial for a client, matter, timekeeper or group of timekeep-
ers.
¾ All personal items for a specific timekeeper or group of timekeepers.
These examples represent only a small fraction of the functionality that is afforded through proper use of
the Event Filter. Undoubtedly, you will come up with other scenarios as you learn more about the program.
Most of the fields in the Matter, Event and To Do Entry forms appear on the Event Filter Options form and
can be used to decide which events to include in Reports and the Event List.
8-1
To make effective use of the Event Filter Options, you must think of them collectively as a single group.
Events must match ALL of the filter criteria. Consider the word “and” between each field, rather than the
word “or.” For example, Due dates within range AND matching the Timekeeper criteria.
These options, when properly utilized, give you the power to extract virtually any combination of Events and
To Do items your firm will need to effectively manage your dates.
The Event Filter Options form is a tabbed notebook whose pages are used to group the filter options into
distinct categories. You can select any of the filter option pages by clicking on one of the six tabs that ap-
pear at the bottom of the form.
We’ll need to describe some filter concepts before we continue to explore each tab on this form.
Entering Filter Lists and Ranges
Some fields on the form allow you to enter a list and/or range of code values. A code value could be a
Timekeeper, Location, Category, or any other valid Vision code. The fields on the filter form that allow you
to enter ranges are called “code range” fields. Here are some sample code ranges that can be entered into
a code range field on this form:
A, B Include only those events using codes A or B.

A-D Include only those events using the code A through D.
A-D, F Include any events using code A through D and code F.
A-D, !C Include any events using codes A through B but not code C.
As you can see, code ranges provide you with the flexibility to find just the events you are interested in.
Date Ranges
The date range filters on the form are comprised of two date fields. The first date field in the range is
referred to as the “From” date and the second field as the “To” field. If you provide a date for both the
“From” and “To” fields in the date range it is considered a regular date range. A regular date range
would be something like “1/1/2000 through 1/31/2000”. This type of date range allows you to retrieve
only those events between these dates. Another example of a regular date range is “1/1/2000 through
1/1/2000”. Using this range would only retrieve events for “1/1/2000”.
You can also enter an “open ended” date range. This type of date range allows you to retrieve events up
to, or past, a certain date. For example, enter “1/1/2000” in the “From” field of the range (the first field)
would retrieve all events on or after 1/1/2000. If you leave the “From” date blank and enter a date into
the “To” field (the second field in the range) you’ll get all events on or before the specified date.
“Open ended” date ranges are handy when you know what date you want to begin or end your search
but don’t know how far in the past, or in the future, you need to search.
Text Searches
Some fields on the form are “Text Search” fields. These fields work with Text Search Expressions,
which allow you to search the contents of a text field. For example, proper use of a test search field
would allow you to display an Event List that includes only events with a certain word or phrase in the
explanation field.
8-2
You can search for a specific word or words, part of a phrase, or a combination of words and phrases. The
search that is performed is not case sensitive. That is, capitalization is ignored. Here are some examples of
text search expressions:
"now"
The event will be included if the word "now" appears anywhere within the text field being searched.
"water,float"
The event will be included if the word "water" OR "float" appear anywhere within the text field begin
searched. The comma in this expression means "OR".
"now..time"
The record will be included if the word "time" appears after the word "now" anywhere in the text field be-
ing searched. This is an example of an ellipsis, or phrase, search.
"now..time,country"
The record will be included if the word "time" appears after the word "now" OR the word "country" is
found anywhere in the text field being searched.
"now..time,boat..water"
The record will be included if the word "time" appears after the word "now" OR the word "water" ap-
pears after the word "boat" anywhere in the text field being searched.
Date/Times/Include Tab
The fields on this page allow you to filter events by a range of dates (and times) or by event attributes,
such as type, completed or whether or not it recurs (is a perpetual event).
A special field, called Disable filters tells the Vision to ignore all of the filter settings with the exception of
those under Include (on this tab).
Here’s an explanation of the filter options available on the tab:
8-3
Disable filters. Check this box to quickly disable all of the settings in the Event Filter Options except the
Include options.
Due date range. Enter a date range for the Events you wish to include. Only the events whose due date
falls within this range will be included. You can also enter “Today” or “Today+n” (where n is a number) into
the date range. For example, to see get all events that have a due date that fall within a 7 day period from
today’s date you would enter “Today” as the first date in the range and “Today+7” as the ending date in the
range.
Time range. Enter a time range into this field. Only those events whose time falls within this range will
be included.
Reminders. Reminder (date) fields tell Vision when you wish to be reminded of an Event. Enter a re-
minder date range for the events you wish to include.
Include. The settings in this box are always active, even if the Disable filters option is set. The set-
tings in this group are:
Event type. This field determines the type of events that will be included. Possible settings for
this field include:
¾ All - Include Events and To Do items.

¾ Event - Include Events only (exclude To Do items).
¾ To Do - Include To Do items only (exclude Events).
¾ Key Dates - Include only Events that are Key (trigger) dates. For more information on Key
dates, see the Court Rules chapter.
Completed. This field allows you to include or exclude events based on the setting of the Com-
pleted field. Possible settings for this field include:
¾ Include - Include both Completed and Un-Completed events.

¾ Exclude - Include only events that have not been marked as Completed.
¾ Only - Include only Completed events.
Perpetual. This field determines whether or not Perpetual, or recurrent events, such as “every
Thursday” or “every June 6th” will be included. Possible settings for this field include:
¾ Include - Include Perpetual as well as standard events that fall within the date range (and
other filters).
¾ Exclude - Do not include any Perpetual events.
¾ Only - Include only those Perpetual events that match all of the other filter tests as well.
Timed. This filter option can be used to include Events and/or To Do items based on the contents
of their start and end time fields. The possible settings for this field are:
¾ All - Include all Event and/or To Do items regardless of their start or end times.
¾ Start+End Time - Include only Events and/or To Do items with both a start and end time.
¾ Start Time Only - Include only Events and/or To Do items that have only a start time.
¾ No Time. Include only Events and/or To Do items that do not have any time assigned to
them.
¾ Has Time - Include only Events and/or To Do items that have a time assigned to them.
8-4
Timekeeper Tab
Figure 8-3: Event Filter Options: Timekeeper Page
All of the fields on this tab are code filter fields. As such, you can enter ranges and lists into any of these
fields. See the description of filter lists and ranges at the beginning of this chapter. The filter fields on this
form are:
Timekeeper. Enter a list and/or range of timekeepers to include. Press the [F2] key to select from a
list of valid timekeepers.
Include Dept/Team Evs field. This field determines whether Departments and Teams will be
checked for the timekeepers listed in the Timekeeper filter field. Possible settings for this field include:
¾ Include Dept/Team Evs – This setting finds any events that have been scheduled for the time-
keepers listed in the timekeeper filter.
¾ Exclude Dept/Team Evs - Do not consider Departments and Teams when searching for events.
Department. Enter a list and/or range of departments to include.
Include Member Evs. This field determines whether individual department members will be looked
for when searching for events. Possible settings for this field include:
¾ Include Member Evs - Include events scheduled for the departments listed in the department
filter as well as the events for the members of those departments.
¾ Exclude Member Evs – Only include events scheduled for the departments listed in the depart-
ment filter.
Team. Enter a list and/or range of teams to include.
Include Member Evs. This field determines whether individual team members will be looked for
when searching for events. Possible settings for this field include:
¾ Include Member Evs - Include events scheduled for the teams listed in the team filter as well as
the events for the members of those teams.
¾ Exclude Member Evs – Only include events scheduled for the teams listed in the team filter.
8-5
Manager. Enter a list and/or range of managers to include.
Client/Matter Filter Options
Figure 8-4: Event Filter Options: Client/Matter Page
The fields on this tab allow you to find events for a client or matter. The fields on this tab are:
Client name. Enter a client name into this field to find events for that client. Vision will automatically
insert the client number portion of the File number when a valid client name is entered.
Matter name. Enter a matter name into this field to find events for that matter. Once a valid matter
name has been entered, Vision automatically fills in all of the other matter information fields on this
page.
File number. If you know the file number of a case, enter it into these two fields.
Docket ID #. Enter a valid Docket ID # and Vision will fill in all of the other fields on this page.
Docu #. Use this field to find all events that reference a particular document.
8-6
Codes Filter Options
Figure 8-5: Event Filter Options: Codes Page
The fields on the Codes page are used to locate events based on certain code fields. With the exception of
the Rule sets fields, they are all code filters. You can enter ranges and lists in each of these fields. See the
discussion of filters and ranges at the beginning of this chapter.
Category, Priority, Location, Extension, Dkt code #1, Dkt code #2, Key code. Enter a list
and/or range of codes to include. Press the [F2] key for a list of valid codes.
Rule set(s). These fields are used to locate events that use a particular set of rule set codes, for ex-
ample, all events scheduled using the CA:LA-FT (California: Los Angeles Fast Track) rule set.
Text Filter Options
Figure 8-6: Event Filter Options: Text Page
8-7
The fields on the Text Page are Text Search fields. These fields work with Text Search Expressions,
which allow you to search the contents of a free form text field for the purpose of filtering records. These
fields allow you to, for example, display an Event List that includes only events with a certain word or
phrase in the explanation field.
See the Text Searches topic at the begging of this chapter for information on how to use these filter op-
tions.
Audit Filter Options
Figure 8-7: Event Filter Options: Audit Page
The settings on this page allow you to produce some extremely useful audit reports and to perform some
very useful audit functions.
Group ID. A “group ID” is used to group related events together when scheduling dates using court
rules. To find all the deadlines for a particular group of events, simply enter the group ID number here.
The GID appears in the lower right hand corner of all Court Rule Events on the Event Entry form.
Group ID’s are discussed in the Court Rules chapter.
Event ID. Each time you save an event, Vision assigns it an Event ID number (“EID”). This EID ap-
pears in the lower right hand corner of the Event Entry form. Enter the EID in this field to find a spe-
cific event.
Added by. To find events that were added by a user, or range of users, enter a list and/or range of
user initials into this field.
Added on. Enter a date, or date range, into this field. This finds events added on the specified date
range.
Changed by. To find events that were changed by a user, or range of users, enter a list and/or range
of user initials into this field.
Changed on. Enter a date, or date range, into this field. This finds events that were changed on the
specified date range.
8-8
The Event List
The Event List provides access to the events that you have selected with the Event Filter Options de-
scribed above. Although it is very similar in many respects to Vision’s other lists, its functionality is far more
robust.
In this section we’ll explore most of the functions available from this list. Clicking the right mouse button
anywhere on the Event List displays the popup menu for the list. If your following along in the program as
you read this, then you’ll see that the popup menu for the Event List contains a lot of options. Aside for the
standard Add, Edit and Delete options, there are quit a few other options available to you. We’ll start by
looking at the options on the Selected submenu.
Selected Submenu
The options on this menu allow you to perform certain operations on selected events. To select an event in
the list, simply click on the event in the list while holding down the [Ctrl] key. To select multiple events,
hold down the [Shift] key while clicking on events.
There are some options from this submenu that are pretty much self explanatory. The Complete option
marks the selected events completed, while the Un-complete option switches the completed status of the
selected events to un-completed. The Delete option allows you to delete selected events. You will not be
able to complete or delete events if you don’t have the proper security settings that allow you to perform
these operations.
There are other options on this submenu that need further explanation.
The Change To Do Date option allows you to change the due date on selected To Do items. This is useful
when you need to change the due date of a set of To Do items to the same date.
The Change options allows you to change the information on selected events. Using this option you can
change client and matter information for selected event, the timekeepers assigned to the events, etc. After
selecting this option, the Event Change Information form is displayed as described below.
8-9
Event Change Information
Figure 8-8: The Event Change Information Entry form
Suppose that you want to change the manager for several events in the Event List. Once the events have
been selected, clicking on the Change option from the Selected submenu displays the Event Change Infor-
mation form shown above. All you have to do now is enter the new manager into the manager field on the
form and press the [Save] button. This will change the manager on each selected event to the new one.
This same procedure applies to the other fields on this form.
Any information you provide on this form replaces the existing information on the selected events. Suppose
you need to add a timekeeper to the timekeepers scheduled on the events you have selected. If timekeep-
ers “A” and “B” are already scheduled on the events and you need to add timekeeper “C”, you would enter
“A”, “B” and “C” into the timekeeper fields on this form and then click the Save button to apply the change.
This replaces the timekeeper list for each event with the new one you provided.
All Submenu
The options on this submenu allow you to perform operations on all the events in the list. Most of the op-
tions on this menu function identically to the same option on the Selected submenu described above only
they work on all the events in the list.
The only options that haven’t been discussed already are the Select and Deselect options. As you can
probably guess, these options allow you to select and deselect all the events in the list.
Completed Submenu
As the name of this submenu implies, the options on this menu allow you to manipulate completed events.
Use the Un-complete option to change the completed events contain in the Event List to uncompleted.
Select the Delete option to delete the completed events contained in the list.
8-10
Print Submenu
The options on this submenu allow you to print the events in the list. There are options to print the cur-
rently highlighted event, the selected events, the completed events and all events. Each of these options
allows you to print the report in either detailed or abbreviated formats. The detailed format shows you all
the information on the event while the abbreviated format prints a compressed version of the information in
paragraph format. See the examples below.
Figure 8-9: Event Audit Listing - Detailed Format
Figure 8-10: Event Audit Listing - Abbreviated Format
General Options
Now let’s take a closer look at the other options on the popup menu. These options are general in nature
and do not have any submenus.
Complete Yes/No – Select this option to complete/un-complete the highlighted event.
Filter Options – Selecting this option displays the filter options form allowing you to search for a dif-
ferent set of events.
Refresh – Select this option to re-query the database using your current filter settings.
Event Group – The options on this menu allow you to quickly filter the list to include on those events
within the same event group as highlighted event. An Event Group contains a set of interrelated dead-
lines that have been scheduled using court rules. Oftentimes it is useful to be able to retrieve all the
events within a group for an event within that group. For example, if you see a deadline relating to a
trial date an you would like to see all the deadlines for that trial. The Get Group Events option is
used to perform this task. The Add Non-Ruled Event to Group option allows you to add a regular
(non-court ruled event) into the same event group as the highlighted event.
View Formula Info – Selection this option allows you to view the formula used to calculate the dead-
line for a court ruled event.
8-11
Toggle On-the-Fly Audit - Click this menu option to toggle the current state of the “On-the-Fly” au-
dit feature. This option is only available if the “On-the-Fly” option has been enabled using the Feature
option located on the Setup menu form the program’s main menu.
List Formats – Vision allows each user to modify what information is displayed in the Event List. Use
this option to create, edit and use Event List formats. See the Event List Formats topic below for de-
tailed information.
Event History – Vision tracks all the changes made to an event since it was added. The Event His-
tory option is used to view this history. Selecting this option displays a chronological list of the changes
made to the event. To see the detail on a specific change simply double click on an item in the list.
This displays a detailed description of the change.
Extra Text – This option allows you to apply extra verbiage to selected events. You must first select
events before you can use this option. See the Extra Text topic below for details.
Text Replace - This option allows you to perform a text search and replace operation on the explana-
tion field of the either all the event in the list or just selected events.
Event List Formats
Vision allows you to change the order and type of information that is displayed in the Event List. This order
and type information is called a List Format. Each user can define their own List Formats and can even
set their default, or preferred, list format.
The Event List allows you to move and resize it’s columns simply by dragging a column or column divider.
To move a column, click the column header using the left mouse button and drag the column to the left or
right. To resize a column, point the mouse over the separator to the right of the column. The mouse
pointer changes to a column resize pointer. Click and hold down the left mouse button to move the column
separator and resize the column.
Once you have made your changes, select the List Formats option from the popup menu. This displays
the Your Event List Formats form as shown below.
Figure 8-10: The Your Event List Formats form
8-12
Using this form you can create, edit and delete your list formats.
To create a new list format, simply enter a descriptive name into the Format name field and click the
Save or Use buttons. Clicking the Save button simply saves the format and leaves the form open so
that you can edit or add more formats. Clicking the Use button stores the new format, closes the form
and uses the new format for the Event List.
To edit an existing format, simply select it from the list of formats by clicking the down arrow button next
to the Format name field and select the format you wish to change. Once selected, the field order for
the format is displayed in the Field order list. If all you need to do is change the order of fields, you can
do it here by highlighting the field in the list and clicking either the up or down arrow to move the column
name up or down in the list. If you need to change the width of a column, you’ll need to click the Use
button, resize the column in the Event List, select the List Formats option again then click the Save
button.
Setting the Your default option makes the currently selected format your default format. That is, when
the Event List is displayed this will be the format it will use.
If you are logged into the program as a supervisor, the System default setting will be available. This
setting allows you to define a List Format that will be used as the system wide default format for all users
until they define and start using their own formats.
Extra Text
Figure 8-11: The Extra Text Entry form
This option can be used to add text to an event’s explanation to selected events. Selecting this option dis-
plays the Extra Text Entry form as shown above.
You can add extra text to one or more selected events through this option by simply typing the text in the
space provided. Set the location of the text to At beginning or At end and Vision will add the text to the
appropriate section of the Explanation field of each selected event.
8-13
Text Replace
Figure 8-12: The Extra Text Entry form
The Search and Replace dialog (as shown above) is displayed after selecting the Text Replace option
from the Event List popup menu. This dialog is used to find and replace text contained in event explana-
tions. Simply enter the text you wish to replace into the Find What field and the replacement text into the
Replace With field then click on any of the replace buttons to start the operation. Use the Replace but-
ton to replace the currently highlighted occurrence, use the Replace All button to replace all occurrences
in the current displayed explanation, use the Replace in All Events button to do the text replacement for
all events without further prompting and use the Find Next button to find the next occurrence with out
replacing the currently highlighted occurrence.
If you have selected events on the list then the text replace operation will only be performed on those
events. If no events have been selected then the text replace operation is performed on all events in the
list.
8-14
9. Scheduling Events
♦ Court Rules and the Court Rule Database
♦ Group ID Numbers
♦ Tutorial
♦ Part 1 Set up a Tutorial Client and Matter
♦ Part 2 Add a Group of Court Rule Events
♦ Part 3 Advanced Event List Options
- Retrieve an Event Group
- Change all Selected Events
- Print an Audit Listing
♦ Part 4 Delete the Tutorial Data
- Delete All Events for a Matter
- Delete the Tutorial Matter and Client
♦ Conclusion
Court Rules and the Court Rule Database
Court Rules are the regulations set forth by each court governing the deadlines that relate to the admini-
stration of a court case. These rules dictate the statutes and other important deadlines that, if ignored can
have consequences ranging from embarrassment and court imposed sanctions to losing a client and the
malpractice exposure that results from losing a case by missing an important statute.
Court Rules range from simple statute date calculations to complicated deadlines based on filings, service or
other actions that cause the scheduling of multiple dates. Some rules contain secondary formulae that base
certain dates on “earlier” or “later” calculations.
Court Rules vary by jurisdiction and specialty. For example, two adjacent counties may have different dead-
lines and even different holiday sets. Court Rules vary by state and court as well. City and State Courts
have different rules than Federal Courts while Bankruptcy rules vary from Family Law rules.
As of this writing, CompuLaw offers court rules subscriptions for a large number of jurisdictions and for indi-
vidual counties in multiple states, courts and specialties. For more information please contact CompuLaw’s
sales department or visit our web site at www.compulaw.com.
Vision has built in functionality that allows it to automatically and accurately interpret and schedule dates
using all of the rule sets offered by CompuLaw. If these rules are implemented properly, in accordance with
CompuLaw’s Court Rules License Agreement, your firm is likely to realize a tremendous time and money
savings and a diminished malpractice exposure. Your malpractice insurance carrier will probably even pro-
vide your firm with substantial premium discounts.
Your firm can even implement its own court rules or procedural rules that can be set up to specifically suit
your needs.
Important! If you have not yet installed Vision’s Court Rule Database, you must do so before
running this tutorial. The installation procedures for the Court Rules Database appear in the In-
stallation chapter or are included with the Court Rule Data disk.
9-1
Tutorial: Part 1 - Set up a Tutorial Client and Matter
Vision allow you to change the names of most field labels. If you have changed any field labels, some of
the field descriptions and illustrations in this tutorial may appear to be slightly different on your screen.
Before you begin, let’s set up a tutorial client and matter that we can use in scheduling our Court Rule
Events. At the end of the tutorial, you will delete this client and matter and the associated events.
Set up a Tutorial Client
From the main screen, click the Clients button located on the main toolbar. When the Client List is dis-
played, click the Show All button. If you have already created some clients, you’re list will be populated
with those clients. If not, you’ll have an empty list. Select the Add option from the popup menu to add
a new client. The popup menu is displayed by clicking the right mouse button anywhere on the list. The
Client Information Entry form should be displayed on your screen.
Enter the following information into the various fields of the Client Information Entry form. Leave blank
any fields that are not listed here.
Hint. If you receive an message indicating that Acme Refrigeration, Inc. already exists,
someone has already run through this tutorial but did not follow Part 4 - Delete the Tu-
torial Data. If this is the case, please proceed to Step 4 now. Then, restart this tutorial.
Client name: Acme Refrigeration, Inc.

Address #1: 8855 Telegraph Road
Address #2: P.O. Box 10024
City/St/Zip: Los Angeles CA 90011
Contact: Jan Montgomery
Phone #1: (213) 555-7752
Phone #2: (213) 555-7080
E-Mail adr: jmontgomery@acmeref.com
Client #: 10000
Your screen should appear as in figure below. Press the [F10] key to save this information. You will be re-
turned to the Client List.
9-2
Figure 9-1: The Client Information Entry form - Tutorial Data
Set up a Tutorial Matter
Be sure that the tutorial client, Acme Refrigeration, Inc. is highlighted. To do so, use your [Arrow] keys to
move the highlight to the client, or click your mouse on it.
Now select the Matter List option from the popup menu or press the [Ctrl]+[M] key combination. Since
this is the first matter for your tutorial client, Acme Refrigeration, Inc., Vision will display the Matter In-
formation Entry form. Otherwise, you will see the Matter List.
Enter the following information into the various fields of the Matter Information Entry form. Leave blank any
fields that are not listed here, just as you did when you entered the tutorial client above.
Notice that the Client name and Client number have been filled in for you. This is because the matter is
being added from a specific client’s matter list. Also notice that, since this is a new matter, Vision has en-
tered today’s date in the Date opened field.
This information came from the client information that you entered earlier in this tutorial.
Matter name: Miscellaneous Corporate Matters

File number: 00001
Vision automatically fills in the Docket ID # field if the Auto Insert IDs field on the Settings tab
of the Features Entry form is set.
Matter type: CORP (Corporate)
If Vision does not have a CORP Matter type already on file, you will be asked if you would like to
add it now. Answer “Yes” and enter “Corporate” in the Name field on the Matter Type entry form.
Press the [F10] key to save the new Matter type.
9-3
Your screen should appear as in the figure below.
Figure 9-2: The Matter Information Entry form - Tutorial Data
Now click on the “Defaults” tab located at the top of the form. This displays the fields that default to the
events you schedule for this matter. Fill in the following information:
Location: LAS (Los Angeles Superior Court)
If you are asked if you wish to add Location LAS, answer “Yes” and the Location Entry form will ap-
pear. Enter “Los Angeles Superior Court” in the Description field, and SUP in the Extension field.
If you are asked if you wish to add Extension SUP, answer “Yes” and the Extension Entry form will
appear. Enter “Superior Court” in the Name field. Press the [F10] key to save this extension and
you will return to the Location Entry form.
Press [F10] to save Location LAS and you will return to the Matter Information Entry form.
Vision will automatically put “SUP” in the Extension field because you entered it as the default for
Location LAS (Los Angeles Superior Court).
Manager: AAA(Arthur A. Alexander)
You will probably be asked if you wish to add Timekeeper AAA. Answer “Yes”, just as you did for
the fields above, and the Timekeeper Entry form will appear. Enter “Arthur A. Alexander” in the
Name field and press the [F10] key to save this timekeeper. You will return to the Matter Informa-
tion Entry form.
9-4
Timekeepers: AAA(Arthur A. Alexander)
Now click on the “Jurisdiction” tab. This displays the Jurisdiction selection page as shown below.
Figure 9-3: The Matter Information Entry form - Tutorial Jurisdiction Data
Now click on the “Jurisdiction” tab. This displays the Jurisdiction selection page as shown below. This is
where you select the default Jurisdiction for the matter. Click on the “Select a CompuLaw Jurisdiction”
link to display the Jurisdiction Selection Expert as shown below.
Figure 9-4: The Matter Information Entry form - Tutorial JSE
9-5
Expand the “Sample Rules” section by clicking on the “+” next to the heading. Now double click on the “Sam-
ple Civil Litigation Rules” item. This will set the first Rule Set field to “SAMPLE”.
Now, press [F10] to save this information. You will be presented with the Matter List. Now press the [Esc]
key until you have returned to Vision’s main screen.
Now that we have a client and matter, let’s add some court dates.
Tutorial: Part 2 - Add a Group of Court Rule Events
In this section, we will add Events using the Sample (“SAMPLE”) rule set which comes with Vision and is
active when the Court Rule Database is installed. We will remove these events in the following section, De-
lete a Group of Court Rule Events.
Adding an event using court rules begins like adding any other event.
Scheduling a Trial Date
Select the Add Event option from the Data Entry menu. The Event Entry form will be displayed on your
screen.
Alternatively, you can click on the Add Event button from the Main Toolbar or press the
[Ctrl]+[E] key combination.
Enter the following information into the specified fields of the Event Entry form. Leave blank any fields that
are not listed here. Click on the Matter name field, or use the [Tab] key to advance the cursor to this
field.
Matter name: Misc*
When you tab out of the field, Vision finds the matter name that begins with “Misc” and automatically
selects it for you. If more than one matter name exists with “Misc” as the first four characters, you will
be presented with a list of these matters from which to select. If this happens, select the “Miscellane-
ous Corporate Matters” matter for the Acme client. The entry form should look like the one in the fig-
ure below.
9-6
Figure 9-5: The Event Entry form - Tutorial Data #1
Notice how many of the fields on this form have been filled in for you using the defaults you entered
when this matter was created. Now tab into the first Rule set field.
Rule sets fields: These fields hold up to five (5) Rule Set codes, which work simultaneously. Rule
sets tell Vision which rules to select from the Court Rule Database. For this example, we will use the
Sample rule set, which is the default value that Vision took from our tutorial matter record. Now tab
into the Key code field.
Key code: We’re going to select the trial date event from the Event Selection Expert. Press the [F2]
key to display the Event Selection Expert. When the Event Selection Expert is displayed, click the “plus”
next to the Trial topic then select the “Trial Date” event by double clicking on it. This selects the appro-
priate trial date key code and fills in the Key code field for you. Tab out of the field now by pressing
the [Tab] key once. As soon as you leave the Key code field the Category, Priority and Explanation
fields are automatically filled in using the information about a trial date contained in the court rules.
Hint. $TR is called a trigger code, because it “triggers” at least one other court
rule date (in this case dozens of other dates).
Due date: For our example we will use December 15, 2000 as the trial date so enter 12/15/2000
into this field.
For the purposes of this tutorial, we will leave the rest of the fields in the Event Entry form blank. Your
screen should look like the figure below.
9-7
Figure 9-6: The Event Entry form - Tutorial Data #2
Saving the Trial Date
Click the Save button, or press the [F10] key, to store this event and begin the automatic court rule sched-
uling process.
In a few seconds you will see the Auto store or Edit/Verify form (shown below) which is where you tell Vi-
sion whether to Auto Store or Edit/Verify the events that relate to this trial date.
Figure 9-7: Auto store or Edit/Verify form
If you select the Auto store related events option, all of the $TR (trial) related events are stored without
giving you the opportunity to edit or skip any.
Selecting the Edit/Verify related events option provides you with a list of the deadlines that will be
scheduled, giving you the opportunity to change or skip any event in the list. We will use this option for our
example.
Click the Edit/Verify related events option and then the OK button to proceed.
9-8
The Edit/Verify Events list
Figure 9-8: The Edit/Verify Events list (Outline)
The Edit/Verify Events list should now be displayed on your screen as shown in the above figure. In the
Outline view the deadlines for the trial date are displayed in a hierarchical list of events with the trial date at
the top of the list. All the deadlines with a “plus” next to them are called “key” or “trigger” dates. Clicking
on the “plus” expands a key date to display all the dates related to that deadline. These dates are called
“related” dates.
Now click on the Table tab located at the bottom of the list. This switches the display to table mode. See
the figure below.
Use whichever view of the events list that you are most comfortable with.
9-9
Figure 9-9: The Edit/Verify Events list (Table)
We’ll use the Table view for the purposes of this tutorial. Make sure that the table view is active by clicking
on the Table tab. Now press the [Home] key to jump to the top of the Edit/Verify Events list. The first
deadline should be highlighted.
Skipping an Event
Sometimes you may find it useful to skip one or more events while in Edit/Verify mode. In this example, we
will skip the first event in the list.
Press the [Ctrl]+[S] key combination. The word “Skip” should appear next in the skip column next to the
deadline. Notice that the Skipped indicator in the lower right corner of the screen shows that one (1) event
will be skipped.
Press the [Ctrl]+[S] key combination again while the same event is highlighted. The “Skip” indicator should
disappear and the skipped counter will show zero (0) events being skipped.
Since this event is a related event (and not a key event) only that event would have been skipped. Let’s
see what happens when we mark a key (trigger) event to be skipped.
Press the [PgDn] key to jump to the next screen of events. Then press the [Down] arrow key several times
until you have highlighted the first key deadline in the list (key deadlines have the word “Key” in the “Type”
column).
9-10
This event is a trigger event. Even though you didn’t schedule it with a key code directly from the Event
Entry form, one of the rules within the Sample rule set (in this case, for scheduling a trial), triggered an
event which, in turn, triggered this key code.
By definition, a trigger event causes other events to be automatically scheduled. To illustrate this point, we
will set this key event to be skipped.
Skip the key event by highlighting it and press the [Ctrl]+[S] key combination as we did earlier. The
Skipped counter at the right corner of the screen now shows the number of events which will be skipped
(the key event you clicked, plus its related events). In addition to the “Skip” that appears next to the key
event, more related events on this screen may have been marked. Other skipped events may appear else-
where in this list. Scroll the list up and down to see other skipped events.
Now hold down the [Ctrl] key and, once again, click the key event that you set to “skipped” above (the first
key event in the list). All of the “Skip”s should disappear from all skipped deadlines.
Now let’s store the events that make up our trial deadlines. Press the [F10] key, or select the Save option
from the popup menu, to save the trial deadlines.
You have just scheduled a complete set of events relating to, and including, a trial date. Vision takes care
of the complicated calculations and holiday checking for you.
Click the cancel button or press the [Esc] key to return to the main screen.
Group ID Numbers
Each time you schedule events using court rules, you create a new group (or can add events to an existing
group). This group is given an identification number, called a Group ID Number or simply Group ID.
When you scheduled the $TR (trial) date above, that trial and the collection of events that were automati-
cally scheduled along with the trial were stored as a group and given a Group ID. You can use this Group
ID in the Event Filter as discussed in the Event Filter and Event List chapter.
As you will see in the next section, there is an easier way of retrieving a group of events, rather than using
the Group ID.
Tutorial: Part 3 - Advanced Event List Options
The exercises in Part 3 of our tutorial require that you have the events from the $TR (trial) that we sched-
uled in Part 2 displayed on your Event List.
First, you will learn an easy way to display all of the events for a matter, in this case our tutorial matter,
Acme Refrigeration Inc. Miscellaneous Corporate Matters.
Click the Client List button (shown to the left), which is located on the main toolbar. After a mo-
ment, you will see the Client List.
If your Client List is empty, click the Show All button to display all your clients.
Highlight our tutorial client, Acme Refrigeration Inc. by clicking on it. Alternatively, you can use your [Ar-
row] keys to highlight it. Now press the [Ctrl]+[M] key combination to display the Matter List for this client.
9-11
The Matter List for Acme Refrigeration Inc. will soon be displayed on your screen with its single matter, Mis-
cellaneous Corporate Matters highlighted. Press the [Ctrl]+[E] key combination for a list of the events
scheduled for this matter. This displays the trial deadlines that we scheduled in Part 2 of the tutorial.
Now we’ll use the popup menu for the Event List to explore some of the options available from the Event
List. To display the popup menu, use your right mouse button and click anywhere on the Event List.
Retrieve an Event Group from the Key (trigger) Event
You should now have all of the events for Acme Refrigeration Inc. Miscellaneous Corporate Matters dis-
played in the Event List. Let’s retrieve only those events that make up the 12/15/00 trial that we scheduled.
Select the Filter Options option from the popup menu. This displays the Event Filter Options form as
shown in the figure below.
Enter 12/15/2000 in both Date fields.
Click the button that appears on the right side of the Event type field in the Include group of options.
Select Key Dates from the Event type list.
Click the Save button, or press the [F10] key, to find all Key events which are dated 12/30/1999.
An Event List that contains only the Trial Date that we scheduled earlier should now be displayed. Now click
the right mouse button anywhere on the Event List to display the Event List pop up Menu.
Select the Get Event Group option from the pop up menu. The Event List now shows only those events
that make up the group containing the highlighted key event (in this case, our trial).
9-12
Change all Selected Events
In this example we’ll add another timekeeper to all of the events for our trial. We will be working with the
events that are currently displayed in the Event List.
Highlight the All option on the popup menu and select the Change option. The Event Change Information
entry form will be displayed as shown below.
Figure 9-9: The Event Change Information Entry form
Now let’s add another timekeeper to all of the events in the Event List. It is assumed that you originally
added these events with only one timekeeper, AAA as you were instructed earlier in this tutorial.
Enter AAA into the first Timekeeper field.
Enter another timekeeper’s initials in the second Timekeeper field. If you have not yet set up another
timekeeper in Vision, do so now by simply entering the new timekeepers initials into the second timekeeper
field. You will be asked if you want to add that timekeeper now. Answer “Yes” and add the new timekeeper.
Now click the Save button, or press the [F10] key, and Vision will indicate that “You have chosen to change
fields for some or all of the events in the Event List. Continue?” Answer “Yes.” The indicator at the lower
left of the Event List displays the progress as events in the list are changed.
When the change is complete, double click one of the events in the Event List. The Event Entry form will
appear containing that event. Notice the change to the Timekeeper fields. Now press the [Esc] key to
close the Event Entry form and return to the Event List.
9-13
Event History
You will often make changes to events. In practice, deadlines are continued, event explanations change,
timekeepers on events change (as in the previous example above), etc. One of the most valuable features
of Vision is it’s ability to track every change made to an event since it was originally added. Let’s have a
look at this feature.
Highlight one of the events in the Event List and select the Event History option from the popup menu. A
list of changes is displayed as shown below.
Figure 9-10: Event History
As you can see, this list has an entry for each change (in this case just one) showing when the change was
made and by whom. Now double click on the change item to see the detail.
Figure 9-11: Event Change Detail
9-14
The detail of the change that you made to the timekeeper list on the event is shown. The timekeeper list
was “AAA” and now it’s “AAA,BBB”. The text field above the change detail area of the form allows you to
enter a note regarding the change.
Notice the arrow buttons in the bottom left and right of the form. If the change list contains more than one
change, you can use this buttons to scroll though the changes in the list.
Now click the Cancel button, or press the [Esc] key, to close the form. Press [Esc] once more to close the
Event History list and return to the Event List.
Print an Audit Listing
Now let’s print a detailed audit listing for some of the events in the Event List. First you’ll select the events
and then you’ll use the Print option to print a detailed listing of the selected events.
Let’s select the first ten (10) events in the list. Press the [Home] key to make sure that your at the top of
the list and that the first event is highlighted. Now hold down the [Shift] key and click on the tenth item in
the list. The first 10 items should be highlighted and the selected count in the bottom right corner of the
form should be 10.
Now click the right mouse button anywhere on the list, select the Print option. Select the Selected option
from the Print option submenu then click on Detailed.
The Report Setup dialog will be displayed. Select the “Screen/Preview” option (if it isn’t already selected)
then click on the OK button.
After a moment or so, the Report Preview form is displayed as shown in the figure below.
9-15
Figure 9-12: The Print Preview screen
To enlarge the Print Preview screen, for readability, it is easiest to use your mouse and click on the enlarge
button ( ) located in the upper right corner of the Print Preview screen.
As you can see, this report contains detailed information about each of the selected events. Spend some
time here. Experiment with the buttons and options on the toolbar at the bottom of the form. When fin-
ished click on the Close button to return to the Event List.
Deselect all Events
Now let’s deselect all of the events in the list. Highlight the All option from the popup menu. Select the
Deselect option from the All submenu. This un-selects all the selected events in the list.
Tutorial: Part 4 - Delete the Tutorial Data
In this section, we will delete the tutorial event, matter and client information. Be sure to return to Vision’s
main screen before starting this section. Press the [Esc] key repeatedly until the main screen appears on
your display.
9-16
Display an Event List with All Events for a Matter
From Vision’s main screen, press the [Ctrl]+[C] key combination or click the Client List button on the
main toolbar. This displays the Client List.
With the Client List displayed, click on the Acme Refrigeration Inc. to highlight that client. If your client list
is empty then click on the Show All button.
Now select the Matter List option from the popup menu. This displays the Matter List for Acme Refrigera-
tion, Inc. client. Now highlight the Miscellaneous Corporate Matters matter by clicking on it.
With Miscellaneous Corporate Matters highlighted, select the Event List option from the popup menu. This
displays an Event List containing all of the events on file for the matter.
Delete the Events in the List
Now that we have gathered all of the events that we wish to delete into one list, we can easily delete them.
Highlight the All option on the popup menu. Select the Delete option from the All submenu. A warning
message will be displayed informing you that you are about to delete “key” events and that their related
events will be deleted as well even if they are not displayed in the list. Answer “Yes” to this prompt to de-
lete the events. After a few moments you will be returned to an empty Event List.
Press the [Esc] key to return to the Matter List.
Delete the Tutorial Matter
Now that the events for Acme Refrigeration Inc. Miscellaneous Matters have been deleted, we can delete
the matter itself.
You should now see the Matter List for Acme Refrigeration Inc. on your screen. Click on the Miscellaneous
Corporate Matters matter to highlight that matter. Now press the [Delete] key, or select the Delete option
from the popup menu, to delete the matter. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to delete this mat-
ter. Answer “Yes” and Miscellaneous Corporate Matters will be deleted. You will be returned to an empty
Matter List.
Press the [Esc] key to return to the Client List.
Delete the Tutorial Client
You should now see the Client List on your screen. Click on the Acme Refrigeration Inc. to highlight that
client. Press the [Delete] key to delete the client record. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to de-
lete this client. Answer “Yes” and the Acme Refrigeration Inc. client will be deleted.
Note. If Miscellaneous Corporate Matters was not the only matter for Acme Refrigeration,
Inc., Vision will not allow you to delete the client until you first delete all of its matters.
Press the [Esc] key until you are returned to Vision’s main screen.
9-17
Conclusion
In this brief tutorial we’ve shown you how to create deadlines using court rules and how to retrieve the dates
for the purposes of viewing and changing them.
Obviously, the program provides much more functionality than can be covered in a tutorial. Please review the
information in the following chapters for information on some of the other Vision features.
9-18
10. Exclusions
Figure 10-1: The Print Preview screen
There are times when you do not want to schedule certain deadlines for a matter and/or prevent certain
deadlines from appearing on an attorney's calendar for a matter. The Exclusions feature provides this
functionality.
If a jurisdiction (that is, the set of rule sets you assign to a matter) has "exclusions" assigned to it, the Ex-
clusions tab will appear along the bottom of the Matter Information Entry form. This tab contains the list of
exclusion questions for the jurisdiction. Using the options on this tab, you can exclude certain types of
deadlines that either don't apply to the case or shouldn't appear on an attorney's calendar.
Using Exclusions
The first thing to do is to enter the basic matter information for each sub-tab on the Info tab on the Matter
Information Entry form. You’ll need to assign at least one timekeeper as well as assign a CompuLaw juris-
diction to the matter. To assign the jurisdiction, click on the Jurisdiction sub-tab located on the Info tab.
Use the options on this tab to select the appropriate jurisdiction for the matter.
If the jurisdiction you selected has exclusion information, an Exclusions tab will appear along the bottom
of the form. Click on this tab to display the list of available exclusion options (see the figure above for an
example).
10-1
Let’s have a look at each part of this tab. At the top of the tab is a selection box that contains an item
called "[MATTER]" (this is the default) and an item for each timekeeper assigned to the matter. We’ll ex-
plain these selections in a bit. In the middle of the tab are the exclusion options for the selected jurisdic-
tion. Each option has a check box next to it allowing you to select or un-select the option. As you highlight
an exclusion option, its full description is displayed at the bottom of the tab. This description is can help
you decide what exclusion options to select.
Now suppose you have a matter in which any fax deadlines do not apply. If the jurisdiction assigned to the
matter contains fax deadlines, you'll have an "Exclude fax deadlines" exclusion option listed. In this exam-
ple you would select the "[Matter]" option (which is the default) and then click on the "Exclude fax dead-
lines" option. Setting this option for the entire matter prevents any fax deadlines from being scheduled (no
date will be calculated).
Using the same example as above, suppose that you want to schedule fax deadlines for the matter but one
or more of the attorneys assigned to the case don't need to see them on their calendars. In this case, you
simply apply the exclusion options to each of the attorneys that don't need the fax deadlines. In this exam-
ple, you would select each attorney using the selection box at the top of the tab and then set the "Exclude
fax deadlines" option for each. Note, that in this scenario, you are not setting the exclusion option for the
matter so the deadlines will be generated, they just won’t appear on the selected attorneys calendars.
The thing to remember here is that setting exclusion options for the matter will not generate the excluded
dates, and, in fact, will automatically set that exclusion option for each attorney. If you want to schedule
the deadlines, but just don’t want them to appear on one or more of the attorneys calendars then you’ll
want to leave the exclusion option un-checked for the matter and then set the option for each attorney that
does not need to see the deadlines.
Popup Menu Options
The exclusion list popup menu (accessed by clicking the right mouse button over the exclusion list) contains
several useful options. Here’s a description of each:
Print Exclusions - If you are not sure what exclusions to apply to a matter, or the attorneys as-
signed to a matter, you can print the exclusion questions for review by the attorney(s) involved in
the case. You can send this report to screen, printer, file or via e-mail.
Exclusion History - The application tracks the changes made to the exclusion list by any user. A
complete history of changes can be viewed using this option.
Reset From Jurisdiction - Selecting this option resets all the exclusion selections to the default
selections established by our Rules Department for the jurisdiction assigned to the matter. That is,
the exclusion defaults initially selected after selecting the jurisdiction for a matter.
Commonly Asked Questions
Below are the most commonly asked questions regarding the exclusions feature.
If I un-check an exclusion for the "[MATTER]" option, will the excluded deadlines be sched-
uled?
No. If you set an exclusion option for the matter and then schedule some deadlines, the excluded deadlines
will not be generated. Un-checking the exclusion for the matter will not regenerate the excluded deadlines.
In this case, you’ll need to delete and then reschedule the group that is missing the excluded deadlines.
10-2
Do I have to use exclusions when scheduling deadlines?
No you don’t. This feature is designed so that, if no exclusions are selected, all deadlines are generated.
Can I create my own exclusions?
No. Exclusions are created and maintained by our Court Rules Department.
10-3
11. Case Summary

Vision has the capability of providing case summary information for matters that have been assigned cer-
tain jurisdictions. The combination of rule sets you assign to a matter determine the matters jurisdiction.
If you select a jurisdiction for a matter that provides case summary information, a new tab named
Summary appears along the bottom of the form. This tab (some examples are provided below) allows
you to track extra information specific to the matters jurisdiction and provides useful case summary in-
formation.
Again, not all jurisdictions you select will provide case summary information. If after selecting a jurisdic-
tion the Summary tab is not displayed, the rule sets that comprise that jurisdiction do not support case
summary information.
Summary Tab
As mentioned above, the Summary tab uses the jurisdiction you provide to display appropriate case
summary information. Clicking the Summary tab displays the case summary information for the juris-
diction assigned to the matter.
The panel on the left side of this form has a set of data entry tabs that contain the extra data fields for
tracking information specific to the selected jurisdiction (see below for examples).
The right side of this form contains a summary of court deadlines. An error message is displayed here if
you haven’t selected the correct rule set information for the selected jurisdiction. The summary is in out-
line format with the due date for each deadline (if any) to the right of each item. Blank space to the
right of an item indicates that no date has been provided for that deadline.
To enter a date for a deadline, simply double click on the item in the list. This displays the Event Entry
form allowing you to enter the date for the deadline. If the item has a date assigned to it, you can edit,
or view the detail of the event by clicking on the date. Once you have created a new deadline, or
changed and existing one, the case summary is updated with the new deadline information.
You can change the field and grouping labels used by the data entry fields contained on the left side
panel by clicking the right mouse over any tab that contains data entry fields and using any of the op-
tions on the Field Names sub-menu.
The following topic describes the summary tab for U.S. Patent jurisdictions. These topics are provided as
examples of how case summary information is presented and how typical data entry is performed on the
fields of this tab.
11-1
Summary for U.S. Patent Case
Figure 11-1: U.S. Patent Summary
The Summary tab for the U.S. Patent jurisdiction is shown above. On the left side of the form are fields
that allows you to track information relating to the patent matter. The right side of the form contains the
case summary for the matter.
Your field names may not be the same as shown in the example above. If you have changed any of the
field names or grouping labels then your tab may look different. The description of this tab assumes that
you are using the data entry fields as initially intended by CompuLaw.
To set a date for a deadline in the case summary, simply double click on any item with a blank area (un-
derline) next to the text of the deadline. To change the date, or view the detail of a deadline, simply
double click on it.
See the applications on line help for detailed information regarding the data entry fields on the left side
panel of the summary display.
11-2
Case Summary Outline Options
There are several options available on the Summary Outline that allow you to manipulate the outline to
show just the information you need. You can hide section headings or individual deadline items. The appli-
cation even remembers the current state of the outline for each user for each matter. When that user ac-
cess the summary tab for a matter, the outline is displayed as it was when the user last viewed it.
Here is a description of each of the options available from the popup menu of the summary outline:
Add/Edit Date – Select this option to provide a date for an item in the summary or to change or view the
details of a date.
Expand Events – Use the options on this menu to show more summary items. Selecting the All option
expands all topics in the outline. Use the Current option to expand on the currently highlighted item. The
Selected option is used to expand all currently selected items. The With Dates option will expand only
those items that contain a deadline.
Collapse Events – The options on this menu are used to collapse the view of a item.
Toggle Select – Use this option to select one or more outline item.
Hide Selected Headings – This option is used to hide currently selected headings. This removes the
headings from the display.
Hide/Un-Hide – Selecting this option hides or un-hides the currently highlighted item. You use this option
mainly to hide the current item or, in conjunction with the Show Hidden Items option, to un-hide previ-
ously hidden items.
Show Hidden Items – Selecting this option shows all currently hidden items. The hidden items will ap-
pear in italics and in a lighter color than the other items in the outline. Once the hidden items are dis-
played, you can un-hide them using the Hide/Un-Hide option.
Restore All Hiddens – This option un-hides all hidden items.
Refresh Case Summary – Refreshes the summary outline. This is useful if you know that other users are
accessing and changing the events for the matter.
Print Summary – Use this option to print the case summary for the matter.
Conclusion
As you can see in the examples above, the Summary tab provides quick and easy access to the dead-
lines, and other information, associated with a matter.
11-3
12. Parties Insert

The Parties Insert feature provides the ability to automatically include party information in the explanation
text of the deadlines generated for a matter. This feature uses the matter’s Related Party list to provide
replacement text for the party information on events.
Overview
The party replacement information is provided by our Rules Department. They place special text called
"tags" within formula descriptions which are used as event explanations. These "tags" are replaced with
the related party information created for the matter. So, instead of having to add this information to the
event descriptions yourself, you can have the program do it for you automatically.
For example, assigning a related party (or parties) the "Defendant" tag would cause the application to re-
place any "Defendant" tags found in the description of events being scheduled with the appropriate related
party information. You can even alter the party list used for tag replacement at the time a trigger event is
scheduled.
Enable the Parties Insert Feature
Figure 12-1: Enable Parties Insert
The Parties Insert feature just be enabled before it can be used. This feature is disable by default. To acti-
vate this feature, select the Features option located on the Setup menu. This displays the Features
form. Now click on the Settings tab and then navigate the settings looking for the "Parties Insert" section
(see the above figure). Make sure the "Enable parties insert feature" is checked.
12-1
Adding Related Parties to a Matter
Figure 12-2: Related Parties for a Matter
The next step in the process is to add Related Parties to the matter. To do this you simply select the mat-
ter from the Matter List to display the Matter Information entry form and then click on the Related Parties
tab (see the figure above).
Related Parties are just Contacts that are associated with a matter. You can add a new contact which
will then automatically be assigned as a related party by clicking on the New button. You can select an
existing contact by clicking on the Contacts button and then selecting a contact from your list of contacts.
Once you have your list of related parties you need to assign each a party replace tag. To do this, highlight
a related party in the list and click the Edit button. This displays the Related Party Information entry
form as shown below.
12-2
Related Party Information
Figure 12-3: Related Party Information
To set the party tag, click on the lookup button next to the “Party insert tag” field and select the appropriate
tag from the list. In the example above, the “Defendant” party tag has been selected.
Note. If the Jurisdiction assigned to the matter does not have any party tags associated with it,
you will not be able to set any of the party insert information and the form will not show these
fields. Remember, party replacement tags are added and maintained by our Rules Department and
are not provided for all Jurisdictions.
The Replace text with option is used when replacing a party tag with text. Set this to an option that suits
your needs. Select the Other option if you want to enter your own replacement text for the related party.
If the Other option is selected, you can enter your own replacement text into the Replacement text
used field.
When you’re done making changes to the related party information on this form, click the Save button to
save the information and return to the Related Parties list.
You can have any number of related parties referencing the same party tag. For example, you can assign
the "Defendant" tag to any number of related parties in the list.
Repeat the above process for each related party that will be used for party information on the events you
schedule for the matter.
Scheduling Events using Parties Insert
You’ll notice some new things as you schedule your deadlines for the matter. First, not all events you
schedule will have replacement tags. Tags are only provided where they make sense. In these cases, you
will not notice any difference when adding a new court rule related event. Since no replacement tags exist
for the event you’re scheduling, you won’t see any of the Parties Insert options.
12-3
If the court rule related event you are scheduling contains party replacement tags, then you’ll have some
extra functionality that allows you to manipulate the party replacement text before scheduling the event.
The first thing that you’ll notice after entering a key code is that the related party information will automati-
cally be included in the event description. You’ll also notice a small "switch" button appear to the left of the
explanation field.
Click (or tab) into the explanation field and then click the right mouse button to display the popup menu.
The Parties Insert option contains a sub-menu with the following items:
Switch Parties
Remove Parties
Edit Parties
Use the Switch Parties option, or the "switch" button to the left of the explanation field, to switch the par-
ties around in the text. This option is only available when the description contains only two replacement
tags.
Use the Remove Parties option to remove the party replacement text from the event description.
Use the Edit Parties option to manipulate the party list used to replace the party tags, for example, to re-
move a party from the list of parties. See the Parties Insert Selection topic below for details on how this
works.
Parties Insert Selection
Figure 12-4: Related Party Information
This dialog is used to manipulate the list of parties used as replacement text for the party information that is
being included in event descriptions. To exclude either an entire party tag (and thus all the associated par-
ties) simply un-check that party tag in the Party Tags list. To exclude an individual party from a specific
12-4
party tag, highlight the party tag in the Party Tags list and then un-check the party (or parties) in the Par-
ties list.
You’ll notice as you manipulate the party tag and parties lists, a copy of the event explanation will be af-
fected by the changes. You notice also that as you highlight a party tag in the Party Tags list, the section
of the explanation affected by that tag will be highlighted.
Once you are finished manipulating the replacement text, click the OK button to return to the Event Entry
form.
Save the Event
Once you’re happy with the party information included in the event description, just save the event as you
normally would. Related party information will automatically be included on any related events scheduled.
As you can see, with a little bit of initial preparation, the Parties Insert feature can automatically add the
party information for each event that you would normally have to manually enter.
12-5
13. The Graphical Calendar Display

♦ The Graphical Calendar Display (Event Calendar)
The Event Calendar Monthly Format
The Event Calendar Weekly Format
The Event Calendar Daily Format
♦ The Event Calendar Options Form
♦ Conclusion
Important. Certain functions described in this chapter may not be available to you if you have
not be granted the appropriate security access.
The Graphical Calendar Display (Event Calendar)
The Graphical Calendar Display (“Event Calendar”) provides the quickest visual access to your Events and To
Do items.
Vision’s Event Calendar allows you to access Event and To Do information in Monthly, Weekly and Daily for-
mats. Individual Events and To Do items can be viewed, edited and added from all of these formats.
The Event Calendar can be accessed by clicking the Calendar button on Vision’s Main Toolbar, by
pressing the [Ctrl]+[L] key combination, or by selecting the Calendar option from the Data Entry menu.
The Event Calendar Monthly Format
The Event Calendar Monthly format allows you to quickly see on which dates you have Events or To Do
items scheduled. Display options allow you to show the number of events scheduled for each day. An illus-
tration of the Monthly format appears in the figure below.
13-1
Figure 13-1: Event Calendar (monthly format)
This is a tabbed form. Clicking on a tab at the bottom of the form displays that view. The toolbar at the
top of the form contains buttons for the most commonly used calendar functions.
The “arrow” buttons at the left of the toolbar are navigation buttons and are used to change the calendar
month, day and year. If the calendar is in Month view, these buttons can be used to change the calen-
dar year and month. If the Week view is displayed, these buttons change the month and week. In the
Day view, the navigation buttons change the calendar week and day.
Let’s look at the rest of the buttons on the toolbar:
The Today button sets the calendar’s currently highlighted day to today’s date. The month
and year of the calendar will adjust as necessary to reflect this change.
Click the Multi-Calendar button, or press [Ctrl]+[M], to display Vision’s Multi-Calendar dis-
play. The Multi-Calendar allows you to select dates from a three or six month calendar array
and to perform date arithmetic.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[T], to change the calendar display to include a specific time-
keeper’s Events and To Do items. Clicking this button displays the timekeeper list from which
you can select a timekeeper. Use this function to include only events for a specific timekeeper.
If you wish to include events for a multiple timekeepers, departments, teams, any combination
thereof or for the entire office, use the Filter button.
Click the Filter button, or press [Ctrl]+[F], to access the Event Filter for the calendar. Vision
uses this filter to display the information you are interested in.
Click this button, or press [F11], to invoke the CalcuDator. The CalcuDator allows you to per-
form a variety of date arithmetic operations. The CalcuDator can even consider court holidays
when calculating dates. The CalcuDator is discussed in detail in the CalcuDator chapter later
in this guide.
13-2
The Indicate Events button is a toggle. As such, when clicked (activated), it stays down.
When clicked again (deactivated), it pops up. This button affects only the Monthly format of
the calendar display. Click it to display information about each day’s events. The setting of the
Event indicator field on the Other page of the Event Calendar Options determines which
information will be shown for each day. The [Ctrl]+[I] key combination can also be used to
toggle this setting. For a discussion of the Event Calendar Options form, see the Event Cal-
endar Options form section above.
Click this button, or press [Ctrl]+[O], to display the Event Calendar Options form. For more
information, see the Event Calendar Options form section above.
These functions are also available from the calendar’s popup menu. Let’s have a look at the function
available from the popup menu.
The Monthly Format Pop Up Menu
Right click anywhere on the Event Calendar Monthly format to display its pop up menu. This menu is di-
vided into three sections. The top section contains navigation options, the middle section contains calendar
options and the bottom section contains event options. See the figure below.
Figure 13-2: Monthly Format Pop Up Menu
The navigation options change depending on which tab is selected. These options work the same as the
navigation buttons on the toolbar. Let’s look at what the other options are:
Today. The Today option changes the currently highlighted day to Today.
Multi-Cal. Select this option, or press the [Ctrl]+[M] key combination, to invoke Vision’s Multi-
Calendar display. The Multi-Calendar display is discussed in the Multi-Calendar and CalcuDator
chapter.
Change Timekeeper. Use this option to view another timekeepers calendar. You cannot select more
than one timekeeper, team or department using this option. However, you can do this using the filter
options described later in this chapter.
13-3
Filter. Select the Filter option, or press the [Ctrl]+[F] key combination, to set or change the filter op-
tions for the calendar.
CalcuDator. Select the CalcuDator option, or press the [F11] key, to display Vision’s built in date cal-
culator. The CalcuDator is described in detail in the Multi-Calendar and Calcudator chapter.
Indicate Events. Select this option, or press the [Ctrl]+[I] key combination, to mark each day box
with an indicator for those days that have events. The indicator will change according to the Event
Indicator field on the Other tab of the Event Calendar Options form.
Important! If the Indicate Events option does not show any events for those
days that do, in fact have events, check the setting of the Event Indicator field
mentioned above. Be sure this field is not set to None.
Zoom on Day. Select this option, press the [Enter] key or double click the currently highlighted day to
expand it from a box to a list of Events and To Do items for that day. This list is explained in detail un-
der the Zoomed Daily Event List section below.
Options. Press the [Ctrl]+[O] key combination or select Options to display the Event Calendar Options
form. This form contains options that allow you to determine the holidays and the various settings that
affect the appearance of the calendar display. The Event Calendar Options form is described in detail
later in this chapter.
Report Options. This option allows you to change the report options for each of the calendar view.
Add Event. Select this option, or press the [Insert] key, to add an Event to the highlighted date.
Add To Do. Select this option or press the [Shift]+[Insert] key combination to add a To Do item to the
highlighted date.
13-4
The Zoomed Daily Event List
Figure 13-3: Zoomed Daily Event List
The Zoomed Daily Event List (shown above) is displayed from the Monthly calendar when you…
¾ Select the Zoom on Day option from the pop up menu;

¾ Press the Enter key to zoom in on the highlighted date;
¾ Double click on a day.
From the Zoomed Daily Event List you can add, change and delete Events and To Do items. Click the right
mouse button anywhere on the list to display the popup menu of available functions.
Hint. You can expand this window. Move your mouse pointer to the right edge of the win-
dow until it changes to a double arrow. Now press the left mouse button and “drag” the
edge to the right. You can move the window by dragging the top caption (blue title bar) in
a similar fashion. Vision remembers the size of this window for the next time you access it.
The detail section consists of three columns and an explanation section at the bottom of the list.
Column 1 (Type). This column contains a one letter abbreviation that describes the type of event.
This abbreviation can be a “D” (Deadline), “T” (To Do item) or an “A” (Appointment).
Column 2 (Time). This column contains the start time of the associated event. It may be blank if no
start time is specified for the event.
Column 3 (Detail). This column contains a detail of the information that is associated with the event.
You can easily change the format of the information shown in this column. For an explanation, please
see the Event Calendar Options Form discussion below.
13-5
The Event Calendar Weekly Format
The Weekly format allows you to quickly see a list of Events and To Do items for each day of a particular
week. The figure below demonstrates this.
Figure 13-4: Event Calendar (weekly format)
If you look closely you will notice that one of the days has a darker title that the rest (in figure 13-4,
“Wednesday 7”). This is the “active day”.
You can enlarge any day by clicking on its caption. This allows you to see more information on each event
in the list. Clicking on the caption again shrinks the day to its normal size.
Clicking the right mouse button anywhere on this form displays the popup menu for this view containing all
available options. Most of the options on this menu are fairly self explanatory so we don’t need to explain
them here. Remember, the navigation options work differently depending on which calendar view is active.
13-6
The Event Calendar Daily Format
Figure 13-5: Event Calendar (daily format)
The calendar Daily format shows the Events and To Do items for a single day organized into the following
sections:
Appointments The Appointments section contains events that have a time.

Deadlines The Deadlines section contains events with no time.
Reminders The Reminders section contains events that you have chosen to be reminded of
(before their due dates).
To Do items The To Do items section contains To Do items for the day.
If you look closely you will notice that one of the sections has a darker title that the rest (in the figure
above it’s the Appointments section). This is the “active section”.
Each of the sections that appear in the Event Calendar Daily format can be expanded to fill the entire dis-
play. Simply click on the caption (title) of the section you wish to expand. Clicking the caption again shrinks
the section to its normal size.
With the exception of the navigation options, the options on the popup menu for this view are the same as
the Weekly view.
The Event Calendar Options Form
The Event Calendar Options allow you to modify the appearance and behavior of the Event Calendar.
For example, through the use of these options, you can set the Event Calendar’s Holiday List, select the in-
formation to be displayed for each Event and To Do item, determine the event indicator used on the
Monthly Format and set the default calendar view that displays when the Event Calendar is selected.
13-7
Clicking the button on the toolbar, or pressing the [Ctrl]+[O] key combination, allows you to change
the Event Calendar Options.
The Event Calendar Options form is a tabbed notebook. Each of the tabs can be accessed by clicking its
title at the bottom of the form.
The Event Calendar Options Holidays Page
Figure 13-6: Event Calendar Options form (holidays page)
The Holidays page contains fields that you can use to set the various holiday options of the Event Calendar.
Each field is discussed below.
Holiday list. Click the List Selection button or press the [F2] key to display the list of Active rule sets.
From this list you can select a jurisdiction from which local holidays will be displayed on the Event Cal-
endar. Holidays can (and often do) vary according to the jurisdiction of a Rule Set and are displayed in
red on the calendar display.
Clear button. Click this button, or press the [Alt]+[C] key combination, to clear the Holiday list field.
This can be used to “tell” Vision not to use a Rule Set Holiday List to determine holidays for the calen-
dar display.
Use holiday list. If this box is checked, holidays in the Rule Set that appears in the Holiday list field
are used to display holidays in the calendar display.
Use firm holiday list. If this box is checked, the firm’s holiday list is used to display holiday dates on
the calendar display. For a discussion of Office Holidays, see the Setup Office Holidays section of the
Codes and Tables Setup chapter.
Include major US holidays. Check this box to include major United States holidays on the calendar
display. You should set this option only if you are not using your firm holiday list or the holiday list from
a particular rule set.
Default. This field only appears if you are a “supervisor” user. The options on this form are saved on
a “per user” basis. That is, each user has their own settings. When a user sets and then saves these
13-8
options, they are retained for that user only. The new settings do not affect any other user’s settings.
If the Default option is set, the settings will appear as the initial (default) settings for users who have
not yet saved any calendar Options.
Note. The holiday options you set here effect only the calendar display and in no way
effect the scheduling of events using the court rules.
The Event Calendar Options Layouts Page
Figure 13-7: Event Calendar Options form (layouts page)
Using the fields on this form, you can set individual formats for the information that is displayed for each
type of Event (appointments, deadlines and reminders) and for To Do items.
The Appointments, Deadlines, Reminders and To Do items fields are used to determine the content of
the sections on each view of the Event Calendar. For example, you may wish to include the Location and
Explanation in the Appointments section of the Daily Format — for To Do items, you may wish to include the
word “Tmkpr:” followed by the Timekeeper(s) Initials, then the Category code and Explanation. The infor-
mation you provide in these fields is referred to as a “Field layout”.
Field layouts consist of literal text, such as “Tmkpr” and field names, such as Explanation. Literal text is any
text between quotation marks. Literal text appears exactly as it is entered. Field names are translated into
the actual data contained in the field for the Event or To Do item. Field layouts are entered by either typing
directly into the layout field or by pressing the [F2] key and selecting from a list of valid fields.
Literal text and field names must be separated by commas. For example, "Tmkpr:",Timekeeper
inits,Explanation. If you select a field from a list, Vision will automatically provide the comma separator
for you.
The Separator field determines the character that will separate the fields as designated by the layout fields
when events are displayed on the Event Calendar. Vision will not add the separator character between lit-
eral text and any field that follows it when displaying the information.
Using the example that we used earlier, “Tmkpr:",Timekeeper inits,Explanation, and considering a
separator character of “-“ (hyphen), the displayed data would look like this:
13-9
Tmkpr:ABC-Meeting with client.
Notice that there is no hyphen (separator character) between the literal field “Tmkpr:” and the Time-
keeper inits field.
After changing a layout field, it is checked it for validity. If the layout information you entered is not valid
an error message is displayed and the invalid section of the layout text is highlighted. In most cases, the
error is a missing comma or a misspelled field name.
The Event Calendar Options Other Page
Figure 13-8: Event Calendar Options form (other page)
The Other page of the Event Calendar Options form contains fields that control the appearance and default
behavior of the calendar display.
Event indicator - This field affects only the Monthly view of the calendar display. The possible set-
tings for this field are:
None. The boxes that contain the days of the month do not contain information about each day’s
events. Vision does not have to read your event data in this mode, so this setting is the fastest.
Mark. The boxes that contain the days of the month are marked as to whether they contain any
Events or To Do items.
Count. If this setting is used, each day contains the number of events scheduled for each day. As
with the other settings, those days that don’t have events are left blank.
Note. On most computers, any one of these settings will be acceptable in

terms of its speed. Unless you have a large number of events for the displayed
month, the Event Count setting should be acceptable. We recommend that you
start with this setting. If the speed of the display is an issue, try the Mark and
then the None setting.
Default view. This setting determines which page is displayed when the Event Calendar is displayed.
Possible settings for this field include Month, Week and Day. The default setting for this field is
13-10
Month. Therefore, unless this field is changed, each time the Event Calendar is selected, the Monthly
Format is displayed. If this field is set to Week, the Weekly Format will be displayed when the Event
Calendar is selected.
Conclusion
The Event Calendar provides a graphical view of your Events and To Do items that makes the addition
and maintenance of these events extremely easy. The ability to modify the appearance of the displayed
data is also a very handy feature.
13-11
14. Contacts
The Contact database allows you to store entity/relationship information for the purposes of assigning
related parties to your cases (matters).
As of this writing, the program only supports the assignment of contacts to matters creating for U.S. Pat-
ent cases as an Agent or as an Inventor. Future versions of Vision will allow the assignment of contacts
on matters as related parties of other types. Please refer to the program’s on-line help system for cur-
rently supported related party types.
Contact List
Figure 14-1: Contacts List
The contacts list allows you to maintain your list of contacts. The master contact list is accessed by se-
lecting the Contacts option from the Contacts submenu located on the Data Entry menu. While we’ll
be looking at the master contact list here keep in mind that the Contacts list can be displayed from other
locations in the program.
Click on any column heading to order the list by that column. Double clicking on a contact allows you to
view or edit it. The lists popup menu contains the following options:
Contact List Popup Menu

Option Description
Add Add a new contact to the list.
14-1
Edit Edit a contacts information.

Select This option only appears when the Contacts list is displayed for selec-
tion purposes. Selecting this option closes the list and returns the se-
lected contacts to the parent form or list.
Delete Deletes the highlighted contact.
Matter List Displays a list of matters on which the highlighted contact has been
assigned.
Contact Firms Contacts can be assigned to a firm. Selecting this option displays an
editable list of currently defined contact firms.
Contact Types A contact can be assigned a type code. Selecting this option displays
an editable list of currently defined contact types.
Filter This option allows you to apply a filter to the contact list. See the
“Contact Filter Options” section below for details.
Clear Filter Clears the current filter and refreshes the list display.
Find Allows you to quickly locate a particular contact contained in the con-
tact list.
Find Again Repeats the last Find operation.
The Matter List option (as described above) allows you to quickly locate all the matter on which the se-
lected contact has an association. For example, you may have several U.S. Patent matters on which a
particular contact is as an inventor or agent. Once the matter list is displayed, you can click on any mat-
ter to view or edit its information.
Contact Filter Options
Figure 14-2: Contacts List Filter
The filter options shown above allow you to locate contacts based on specific criteria. This form is dis-
played after selecting the Filter option from the Contacts list popup menu.
All text fields on this form have an associated search type selection that tells the program how you would
like to search for information in this field. The possible search type are: “Begins with”, “Exact” and “Con-
tains”. The “Begins with” setting will locate all contacts whose field begins with the specified text. The
“Exact” setting means that the field being filtered must contain the exact text that you entered. The
“Contains” setting is used when you wish to find a contact that has a field that contains the specified text
anywhere in the specified field.
14-2
Once you have entered your filter criteria, click the Save button to apply the filter to the contact list.
You can quickly clear any filter settings by clicking the Clear button.
Contact Information Entry Form
Figure 14-3: Contact Information
This form is displayed when adding or editing a contact. You must provide a “Full name” before saving
the information on this form. Here is a description of each field on this form:
Field Description
Title You can select from a list of titles by clicking on the button next
to the field or you can simply type in any title you like.
First name The contacts first name.
MI The contacts middle initial.
Last name The contacts last name.
Full name This field is required. The contacts full name. This is the field
that will be used on most lists that display contact information.
If you have already provided a first name, last name and middle
initial, the program can fill this field in for you by clicking on the
“<<” button located to the right of the field.
Job title Contains the job title for the contact.
Firm/Company Contains the contacts firm or company affiliation. You can se-
name lect from a list of contact firms by clicking on the button next to
the field. You can add a new firm name by simply typing it into
the field. When you exit the field you will be asked if you would
like to add it to the contact firm list.
14-3
Type This field allows you to assign a type value to a contact for fil-
tering purposes. For example, if the contact you are creating is
an expert witness then setting this field to “Expert Witness” al-
lows you to group this contact with other expert witnesses. You
can select from a list of types by clicking the button next to the
field or you can simply type it into the field. If the text you en-
ter does not exist then you will be asked if you would like to add
it.
Addresses This is actually a combination of fields. Which address is dis-
played in the address box depends on the setting of the address
selection option. Clicking the down arrow displays the list of
address type from which to choose. Once you have selected the
address type, you can change it by clicking on the Edit button
next to the field.
Phone numbers This field is used to add and edit phone numbers. To enter or
change a phone number, select the phone number type from
the selection list located above the field then enter or change
the number.
E-mail addresses This field is used to add and edit e-mail addresses for a contact.
To enter or change an e-mail address, select the e-mail address
type from the selection list above the field and enter or change
the address.
Notes You can enter as many notes about this contact as you like.
This field can be checked for spelling error by activating the field
and selecting the Spell Check option from the popup menu.
Contact Firms List
Figure 14-4: Contact Firms List
14-4
This list is accessed by selecting the Firms option from the Contacts submenu located on the Data En-
try menu. It is also available from the Contacts list by selecting the Contact Firms option from that
list’s popup menu.
This list contains all firm or company names associated with contacts. Assigning firm/company names to
contacts allows you to group them by the firm or company to which they belong.
The popup menu for this list contains the standard Add, Edit, Delete and Find options. It also contains an
option called Matter List. This option is used to locate all matters on which any contact for the selected
firm name has been assigned. For example, if two contacts belong to the firm “Computer Forensics
Inc.”, selecting this option will display a list of those matters associated with these two contacts.
You will not be able to delete a firm entries that are referenced by any contact records.
Contact Types List
Figure 14-5: Contact Types List
This list is accessed by selecting the Types option from the Contacts submenu located on the Data En-
try menu. It is also available from the Contacts list by selecting the Contact Types option from that
list’s popup menu.
This list contains all contact types used to categorize your contacts. The popup menu for this list con-
tains standard Add, Edit and Delete options. You will not be able to delete a contact type if it is being
referenced by any contact records.
14-5
15. Accessories: The Multi-Calendar and Cal-

cuDator
♦ The Multi-Calendar Display
♦ The Multi-Calendar Toolbar
♦ The CalcuDator
This chapter covers the Multi-Calendar and the CalcuDator. These tools make it easy to select a date and
to perform complex date calculations.
The Multi-Calendar Display
Figure 15-1: Multi-Calendar Display (six month)
The Multi-Calendar display (“Multi-Cal”) allows you to select dates and perform date calculations using ei-
ther a three or a six month display. The six month display is shown in the above figure and the three
month display is shown below.
Figure 15-2: Multi-Calendar Display (three month)
15-1
Accessing the Multi-Calendar Display
The Multi-Cal can be accessed in either of two ways:
¾ Click the Multi-Calendar button from any format of the Event Calendar or press the [Ctrl]+[M]
key combination from the Event Calendar display.
¾ Press the [F2] key from any entry form field that requires a date entry. For example, the Multi-
Calendar is available from any of the Reminder fields in the Event Entry form.
The Multi-Cal form is made up of a toolbar and an array of either three or six calendars. Six is the most
widely used format and is the default.
The Multi-Calendar Pop Up Menu
Figure 15-3: Multi-Calendar Pop Up Menu
Position your mouse pointer over any of the calendars and click the right button to display the Multi-Cal
Pop Up Menu. The Multi-Cal popup menu contains all of the functionality that is offered by the Multi-Cal
Toolbar, which appears at the top of the display.
Here’s a description of the available options:
Previous Year. Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Up] key combination to change the calendar
display to the prior year.
Previous Month. Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Left] key combination to move the highlight
to the previous month. The months in the calendar array will adjust and redisplay as necessary.
Next Month. Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Right] key combination to move the highlight to
the next month. The months in the calendar array will adjust and redisplay as necessary.
Next Year. Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Down] key combination to change the calendar dis-
play to the following year.
Today. The Today option changes the calendar array as necessary and highlights today’s date.
Display 3 months. Select this option or press the [3] key to change the display from a six month cal-
endar array to a three month calendar array.
15-2
Display 6 months. Select this option or press the [6] key to change the display from a three month
calendar array to a six month calendar array.
CalcuDator. Select the CalcuDator option or press the [F11] key to display Vision’s built in date calcu-
lator. The CalcuDator is described in detail in the CalcuDator section of this chapter.
Select highlighted date. Select this option or press the [Enter] select the highlighted date. When
the Multi-Cal is invoked from the Event Calendar, this option returns to the Event Calendar and resets
the currently highlighted date. When invoked from an entry form’s date field, this option returns to the
entry form and enters the highlighted date from the Multi-Cal.
Snap to highlighted date. Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[S] key combination and the month
containing the highlighted date will “snap” to the top center position of the Multi-Cal. This function is
especially useful if you have scrolled the highlighted date off of the Multi-Calendar display.
Cancel. Select the Cancel option or press the [Esc] key to close the Multi-Cal without selecting a date.
The Multi-Calendar Toolbar
Figure 15-4: Multi-Calendar Toolbar
The Multi-Calendar Toolbar contains shortcuts to the most common functions of the Multi-Cal. Most of these
functions have been discussed in detail earlier in this manual. Where appropriate, you will be referred spe-
cifically to those sections.
Click this button or press the [Ctrl]+[Up] key combination to change the calendar display to the
prior year.
Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Left] key combination to move the highlight to the previ-
ous month. The months in the calendar array will adjust and redisplay as necessary.
Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Right] key combination to move the highlight to the next
month. The months in the calendar array will adjust and redisplay as necessary.
Select this option or press the [Ctrl]+[Down] key combination to change the calendar display
to the following year.
The Today option changes the calendar array as necessary and highlights today’s date.
Click this button to change the number of months in the calendar array. If the array contains
six months, it will change to three and vice versa. Alternatively, you can press the [3] key for a
three month array or the [6] key for a six month array.
Click the Snap To button or press the [Ctrl]+[S] key combination and the month containing the
highlighted date will “snap” to the top center position of the Multi-Cal.
Click this button or press the [F11] key to display Vision’s built in date calculator. The CalcuDa-
tor is described in detail in the CalcuDator section of this chapter.
15-3
Changing the Current Date in the Multi-Calendar
Changing the current date is as simple as moving the highlight to a different date on the Multi-Cal. If the
date is not already in one of the calendars in the array use the navigation buttons to display the appropriate
calendars (see Navigation buttons above). Then, simply click once on that date to highlight it.
Selecting a Date from the Multi-Calendar
If the date you wish to select is not currently displayed in the array, use the navigation buttons to display
the appropriate calendars. Once the date is displayed, simply double click it.
If the Multi-Cal was invoked from the Event Calendar, you will return to the Event Calendar, which will be
reset to the selected date. If it was invoked from an entry form’s date field, you will return to the entry
form and the selected date will be entered into that field.
The CalcuDator
The CalcuDator allows you to perform date calculations with ease using a common calculator metaphor.
You can optionally base these date calculations on docket specific criteria, such as Hours, Days, Court Days,
Weeks Months and Years. When Court Days are considered, you can set the Court Rule Jurisdiction to use
for applying holiday lists. The CalcuDator can consider Firm holidays as well.
Figure 15-5: CalcuDator
All date calculation operations used by Vision’s Court Rule scheduler are available to you through the Calcu-
Dator.
15-4
CalcuDator Functions and Keys
Note. The following sections refer specifically to the labels in the figure above.
Tape Display
The Tape Display shows previous calculations. Double click on any calculated date in this display to
reset the CalcuDator to that date.
Tape Control
Click the Tape Control button to alternately show and hide the Tape Display.
Date Display
The last calculated date is shown in this section of the CalcuDator. If that date falls on a weekend
or holiday, it is displayed in red. Initially, this display shows the current date.
Calculation Text
As calculations are entered into the CalcuDator, they appear in this window. The results of such cal-
culations appear here as well.
Memory Buttons
Memory Add. Click this button to replace the current contents of the CalcuDator’s Mem-
ory Display with the date in the Date Display. Keyboard command: [Ctrl]+[M] key combi-
nation.
Memory Clear. Click the Memory Clear button to clear the CalcuDator’s Memory Display.
Keyboard command: [Ctrl]+[C] key combination.
Memory Recall. Click this button to set the Date Display to the current contents of the
Memory Display. This date will appear in the Tape Display, preceded by the letters “mr”
(memory recall). Keyboard command: [Ctrl]+[R] key combination.
Memory Display
The Memory display window shows the current contents of the CalcuDator’s memory. The Memory
Add, Memory Clear and Memory Recall buttons are used to set, clear and retrieve the date that ap-
pears here.
Clear Buttons
Clear. Click this button to clear the current CalcuDator date and reset it to Today’s date.
The current CalcuDator date appears in the Date display. Keyboard command: [C] key.
Clear Entry. Click this button to clear the current calculation entry in the Calculation Text
window and reset it to the previously calculated date. Keyboard command: [E] key.
Clear Tape. Click this button to clear the contents of the tape display. Keyboard com-
mand: [T] key.
15-5
Calculation Entry Buttons
The Calculation Entry buttons can be divided into three categories — Numeric, Operation and Other.
Numeric Buttons
The Numeric buttons operate just like their counterparts on a calculator. Use these buttons to enter
dates, times and “the number of” (such as days). As you click these buttons or press the corre-
sponding keys on the keyboard, you will see the associated text displayed in the Calculation Text
Window. Keyboard commands: [0] through [9] keys.
Operation Buttons
The “plus” and “minus” Operation buttons determine whether the CalcuDator will count forward or
backward in calculating a date or time. The “equal” Operation button causes the final calculation
(answer) to appear in the Tape display, Date display and in the Calculation text window. Keyboard
commands: [+], [-] and [=] keys.
Other Buttons
Space button. The space button puts a space at the end of a date. This is used when
you wish to enter a date followed by a time. Keyboard command: [Space] key.
Date/Time Separator buttons. Use the slash (/) to separate months, days and years,
such as “12/15/1997” and the colon (:) to separate hours and minutes, such as “12:15”.
Keyboard commands: [/] and [:] keys.
AM/PM buttons. Use the AM/PM buttons to indicate morning or evening when entering
times. For example, click “12:00p” to indicate noon. Keyboard commands: [a] and [p]
keys.
Increment Buttons
The increment buttons are used to calculate dates based on specific periods of time. Selections in-
clude Hours, Days, Court days, Weeks, Years and Months.
For example, to add 5 days to the current date, first click the plus sign button to indicate that you
wish to add to the current date, then click the number 5 and then the Days button to indicate the
time increment to use. Finally, click the equal sign to perform the calculation.
Select Button
Click this button, or press the [Alt]+[S] key combination, to select the current date and return to
the calling entry form or calendar display.
The CalcuDator Options Button
Click the CalcuDator Options button to display the CalcuDator Options form, as illustrated
below. The keyboard command for this is [Ctrl]+[O].
15-6
The CalcuDator Options Form
Figure 15-6: CalcuDator Options form
The CalcuDator Options form allows you to set the Holiday settings used by the CalcuDator when calculat-
ing dates based on Court Days.
The Holiday list field is a non-editable text field which can only be set by pressing the [F2] key and select-
ing a rule set from the list. The Clear button is used to clear the contents of the field. The holiday list for
the rule set displayed in this field is used when performing calculations using the CalcuDator.
The options group of settings consists of three check box fields. Each of these fields is set and cleared
by clicking it with the mouse. These setting are:
Use holiday list. This option allows you to disable the use of the current holiday list without the need
to clear the Holiday list field.
Use firm holiday list. Click this option to use your Firm Holiday list in performing CalcuDator date
calculations. Your firm holiday list is created using the Office Holidays option located on the Setup
menu on the main screen.
Include major US holidays. Select this option to include major United States holidays when calculat-
ing dates using the CalcuDator. You can use this setting by itself, or in conjunction with a particular
Rule Set holiday list and/or your firm holiday list.
15-7
16. Documents
♦ Documents
♦ Add a New Document
♦ The Document List
♦ The Document Filter
Documents
The Documents option is used to access documents contained in Vision’s Document Database. The
Document Database tracks documents received, sent or internally used by your firm in relation to calen-
dared events.
A Document Entry (“Document”) is a record in the Document Database that refers to a specific document.
A Document Entry contains information about a particular document — it is not the actual document.
Document Entries contain information such as:
¾ The Client and Matter to which the document belongs.

¾ The Document Number.
¾ The Title of the document.
¾ The Date the document was Sent or Received.
¾ The Timekeeper who is responsible for the document.
¾ The Location of the document.
¾ Other information pertinent to the document.
Documents can be linked to Events. However, they cannot be linked to To Do items. By linking a document
to one or more Events, you can easily find all Events that relate to a particular document, or a document
that relates to an Event.
For example, you may have received a document, such as a Notice, that caused you to schedule one or
more Events for a particular matter. You can retrieve those events using the Document Number of the No-
tice.
There is virtually no limit to the number of documents that Vision’s Document Database can maintain.
Add a New Document
Select the Documents options from the Data Entry menu. If you have any documents on file, the
Document List and the Document Filter are displayed. A brief description of the Document Filter fol-
lows, with an in depth discussion later in this chapter.
If no documents are on file, the Document Entry form will immediately be displayed. The Document List
and Document Filter are displayed only when the Document Database is not empty.
16-1
The Document Filter is a group of fields that tell Vision which Documents to include in the Document List.
Through the use of the Document Filter you can gather groups of documents for a single Client, a single
Matter, or for all Clients and Matters (the entire document database).
If the Document List and Filter is currently on your screen, click the Cancel button or press the [Esc] key to
cancel the Document Filter. If the Document List is currently on your screen, click the Add button, or press
the [Insert] key, to display the Document Entry form as shown below.
Document Entry Form
Figure 16-1: Document Entry form
The Document Entry form provides fields that allow you to enter information about a document. The form
contains several free form text fields whose purpose can be defined by you. A few of the fields on this
form are required. You must provide:
9 Enough information to identify a matter, such as the Client name and Matter name, or the File
number, Docket ID.
9 The Date field, which usually holds the document date.
9 Title
Here is a description of the fields on thi form:
16-2
Client name. Enter the name of the client you wish to associate with this document in this field. After
you fill in this field, Vision will fill in the Client number portion of the File number field for you.
Matter name. Enter the name of the matter you wish to associate with the document in this field.
File number. Enter the Client number (first field) and Matter number (second field) into these two
fields. Vision fills in the Client name field and other matter information when you provide a valid file
number.
Docket ID #. Enter the Docket ID # of the matter you wish to associate with this document in this
field. Vision fills in the client and matter information when a valid ID is entered.
Document #. This field allows you to link a document with an Event or Events. Click the Select the
Get Next Document # option from the popup menu to automatically insert the next available docu-
ment number for the matter (provided you’ve entered matter information on the form). The Get Next
Document # option is active only when you are adding a new document.
Note. If you have set the Automatically Insert Document #s checkbox

field for this matter to checked, the next available Document Number is auto-
matically inserted into this field. The Automatically Insert Document #s
checkbox field appears on each matter’s Matter Information Entry form.
Date. Enter the date of the document into this field. Press the [F2] key to select a date from the
Multi-Calendar.
Title. Enter the title of the document in this field. This title is displayed on document lists and print-
outs, allowing you to easily identify and select document entries.
Code. Document Codes allow you to easily categorize documents for reporting purposes. For example,
you may wish to set up document categories such as Motions and Correspondence.
Status. This field contains the current status of the document. This drop down list contains a variety of
selections, such as:
♦ Received ♦ Docketed
♦ Sent ♦ Dated
♦ Internal ♦ Other
♦ Served ♦ Preserved
♦ Filed ♦ Next day
♦ Entered ♦ Faxed
♦ Lodged ♦ Electronically filed
On. This date field will usually relate to the contents of the Status field. For example, if the Status field
is set to Filed, this field should probably contain the date which the document was filed.
Pages. Enter the number of pages that comprise the document in this field. This information is useful
when retrieving a document from your file system to ensure that you have all the pages of the document.
From. This is a user defined field. As such you can use it for anything you like. We have named this field
“From”, as a suggestion that you use it to indicate the source of this document. However, you can rename
this field (and most other Vision fields) to better suit your needs.
16-3
To. This is a user defined field. As such you can use it for anything you wish. We have named this field
“To”, as a suggestion that you use it to hold the destination of the document. However, you can rename
this field (and most other Vision fields) to better suit your needs.
Resp tmkpr. Enter the initials of the timekeeper who is responsible for this document.
Location. This is a user defined field. Our suggestion is that you use this field to hold the location of a
document. A file cabinet number, index number, word processor subdirectory, etc., are all examples of
document locations. You can select a file from a list and view the contents of a file using the buttons to the
right of this field.
User fields. These three user fields can be renamed and used for any purpose you wish.
Description. Enter the document description into this field. You can enter up to 4096 characters into this
field.
The Document List
Figure 16-2: The Document List
The Document List (shown above) displays some or all of the documents in Vision’s database. When the
documents are displayed, they are ordered by Document Number. You can change the order of the list by
clicking on the appropriate column header.
If more than one matter’s documents are displayed, in the case of duplicate numbers, the documents are
further ordered by Document Title. For example, if the Document List is selected from the Client List, the
documents pertaining to all matters for the highlighted client are included in the list. In this case, the
16-4
documents will be ordered by number. Where duplicate numbers are encountered, those documents will be
sub-ordered alphabetically by title.
Marking documents as “Selected” allows you to work with specific document entries as a group. For exam-
ple, you may wish to delete a group of documents. Clicking on document entries while holding down the
[Ctrl] key selects individual document entries. Clicking on document entries while holding down the [Shift]
key allows you to select a range of documents.
Like all other lists in Vision, the Document List has its own popup menu that contains all the options avail-
able from the list. Let’s look at the option available from the Document List.
The Document List Pop Up Menu
Click your right mouse button anywhere on the Document List to display the popup menu. Aside for the
standard menu options such as Add, Edit, Delete, Filter and Cancel, this menu contains several other
options that allow you to easily manipulate the documents in the list. Here’s a description of these options.
Select All. Selecting this option selects all the documents in the list. After selecting this option all
documents will be highlighted.
De-select All. This option de-selects all the document in the list.
Renumber. This option allows you to sequentially renumber all of the documents in the Document
List. Note that you can access this option only when the Document List contains documents for one
matter only. See the Renumber Documents topic below for details.
Move. This option allows you to move selected documents in the list to another matter. See the Mov-
ing Documents topic below for more information.
Delete Selected. Use the option to delete selected documents from the list.
Print. Use this option to print the documents contained in the list. See the Printing Documents
topic below for details.
All the other options on this menu are standard options that you should be very familiar with by now.
Renumber Documents
This feature allows you to sequentially renumber selected documents in the Document List. Note that you
can access the Renumber option only when the Document List contains documents for one matter only.
To ensure that only one matter’s documents are in the list, press the [Ctrl]+[F] key combination for the
Document Filter and select only one matter’s documents.
Selecting the Renumber option from the popup menu displays the Renumber Documents entry form
shown below.
16-5
Figure 16-3: Renumber Documents Entry form
Begin number sequence with. Enter a starting number in this field and Vision will use this number as
the first number in the sequence as it renumbers your documents. For example, if you have three docu-
ments in your list, numbered 1, 2 and 3 and you wish to renumber them as 10, 11 and 12, you would sim-
ply enter a 10 into this field.
Include document 0’s. Check this box to include documents which are numbered “zero” (0). This option
is most often used to exclude zero numbered documents from the newly renumbered sequence. That is,
this field is usually left unchecked.
Click the Save button to begin the renumbering process. Clicking the Cancel button cancels the process
and returns you to the Document List.
Moving Documents
Figure 16-4: Move Document Options form
The Move option on the popup menu allows you to move selected documents to another matter. Selecting
the Move option displays the Move Document Options entry form shown above. The options on this
form allow you to select a matter and determine how the documents will be moved.
16-6
Use the Client name, Matter name, File number and Docket ID # fields to enter the destination mat-
ter information for the documents. Once you have provided valid matter information, set the appropriate
Move option and click the Save button to move the selected documents.
Printing Documents
Figure 16-5: Document Report Options form: Report options page
The Print option on the popup menu allows you to print the documents contained in the list. Selecting this
option displays the Document Report Options form shown above.
The Document Report Options form presents its options in a format that should now be familiar to you.
This tabbed notebook categorizes its fields as:
¾ Report options. These options control the look and content of the report.
¾ Audit. These sorting options allow you to select documents for printing according to their content or
by user initials and date/time of entry.
¾ Client/Matter. These sorting options allow you to print only documents for a specific client and/or
matter.
Report Options Page
The fields on this tab (shown above) allow you to select the format of the report.
Orientation. Possible choices include Portrait or Landscape. Portrait orients the page as tall (8½”
by 11”), while Landscape orients the page as wide (11” by 8½”). Obviously, Portrait includes more
lines per page, while Landscape includes more information per line. Portrait is the 8½” by 11” format
that is most common.
Note. Naturally, if you are using legal size paper, your pages will be 14” high (por-
trait) or 14” wide (landscape).
Font size. Font size determines the height of the letters and numbers on the page. Six (6) is the
smallest, while fourteen (14) is the largest font size which is supported on this report.
16-7
Spacing. Indicate the number of blank lines for Vision to print between document entries.
Format. Vision offers several formats of most reports. It is suggested that you take a look at each of
the formats for your reports in order to determine which best suits your needs.
Order by. This field determines the order in which the documents will appear in your report. Possible
choices for this field include Date and Number. If you choose Date, your documents will appear in
date order. If you choose Number, they will appear in document number order.
Exclude empty fields. Check this box and any field that has no data will not print.
Include field titles. Check this box to print the name of each field on the report.
Include. The include fields group is a series of checkboxes that allow you to indicate the fields you
wish to include on your report. When the Document Report Options form first appears, all of the fields
in the group are checked (set to be included). Simply click each field you wish to remove from your re-
port. The checkbox will disappear, indicating its removal.
Audit Page
Figure 16-6: Document Report Options form: Audit page
The fields on this page are filter options, which allow you to select the documents for printing according to
their content, by the initials of the person who added or changed them or by the date and time the docu-
ments were entered (or changed).
Code Filter fields (“Code Range fields”) allow you to enter more than one value, which can be very useful
when you wish to use multiple search criteria, such as more than one Document Code or a range of Docu-
ment Numbers. For a detailed discussion and examples of Code Filter fields, see the discussion that ap-
pears in the Entering Filter Lists and Ranges section of the Event Filter and Event List chapter.
Input by. This code filter field allows you to search for documents by the initials of the person(s) who
entered them.
16-8
Document #. This code filter field allows you to enter a single document number or a range of
documents that you wish to find.
Document code. This field (also a code filter field) allows you to find documents by a code or range
of document codes.
Resp tmkpr. This field, which is a code filter field, allows you to search for documents by responsible
timekeeper.
Input date. These fields, which are often used in conjunction with the Input by field, allow you to
search for documents by a range of dates that refer to when they were entered into Vision.
Docu date. This field range allows you to locate documents by their dates.
Status. Set this field to the value of the corresponding Status field in the documents you wish to
find. Notice the “ALL” setting, which has the effect of ignoring this field when the search is performed,
finding all documents, regardless of each one’s status.
On. The “On” date range refers to the date fields by the same name that appears on the document
entry screen. This field range allows you to search for documents whose “On” date falls within the
specified range.
Client/Matter Page
Figure 16-7: Document Report Options form: Client/Matter page
The fields on this page are filter options, which allow you to select the documents for printing according to
the client and matter information contained within each record.
Client name. Enter the name of a client in this field to narrow this search to a single client. Vision will
automatically insert the client number portion of the file number.
Matter name. Enter the name of a matter in this field to narrow this search to a single matter. You
must either pick the matter from the selection list or already have a valid entry in the client name field.
Vision will automatically fill in all of the other fields on this page.
16-9
File number. Enter a valid client number into the first field and a matter number into the second. Vi-
sion automatically fills in the matter information fields once a valid file number has been entered.
Docket ID #. Enter a valid Docket ID # and Vision will fill in all of the other fields on this page.
The Document Filter
Figure 16-8: The Document Filter form
The Document Filter is a group of fields that tells Vision which Documents to include in the Document
List. The Document Filter allows you to gather groups of documents for a single Client, a single Matter, or
for all Clients and Matters (the entire document database), as well as locating documents based on the con-
tent of most of the fields on a document record.
Simply enter your filter criteria into the form and click the Ok button, or press the [F10] key, to redisplay
the Document List, including only those documents that match your filter options. Click the Cancel button,
or press the [Esc] key, to cancel the filter process.
The date range filters on the form are comprised of two date fields. The first date field in the range is
referred to as the “From” date and the second field as the “To” field. If you provide a date for both the
“From” and “To” fields in the date range it is considered a regular date range. A regular date range
16-10
would be something like “1/1/2002 through 1/31/2002”. This type of date range allows you to retrieve
only those documents with a date field between these dates. Another example of a regular date range is
“1/1/2002 through 1/1/2002”. Using this range would only retrieve documents with a date field set to
“1/1/2002”.
You can also enter an “open ended” date range. This type of date range allows you to retrieve docu-
ments up to, or past, a certain date. For example, enter “1/1/2002” in the “From” field of the range (the
first field) would retrieve all documents on or after 1/1/2002 for that field. If you leave the “From” date
blank and enter a date into the “To” field (the second field in the range) you’ll get all documents on or
before the specified date for that field.
“Open ended” date ranges are handy when you know what date you want to begin or end your search but
don’t know how far in the past, or in the future, you need to search.
The Docu Code and Resp fields (your actual field names may differ) on the form allow you to enter a list
and/or range of code values. The fields on the filter form that allow you to enter ranges are called “code
range” fields. Here are some sample code ranges that can be entered into a code range field on this form:
A, B Include only those documents using codes A or B.

A-D Include only those documents using the code A through D.
A-D, F Include any documents using code A through D and code F.
A-D, !C Include any documents using codes A through B but not code C.
As you can see, code ranges provide you with the flexibility to find just the documents you are interested
in.
The text fields on this form all have a search type setting associated with them. The search type can be set
to either “Begins With”, “Exact” or “Contains”. The “Begins With” setting is used to find documents with a
text field that begins with the specified word or phrase. The “Exact” setting is used to find and exact match
with the text entered. The “Contains” setting is used to find documents with a text field that contains the
specified word or phrase anywhere within the field.
16-11
17. Case Notes

♦ Case Notes
♦ Case Note Entry Form
♦ Case Note Filter Options
♦ Case Note Report
The Case Notes feature allows you to enter, track and report on notes that you have entered for a case.
The Case Notes List (shown below) contains case notes for a specific matter, all case notes for all matters
for a client, or all case notes entered into the system. The case notes included in this list are determined by
where the list was displayed from and its filter options.
Selecting the Case Notes option from the Data Entry menu allows access to all case notes in the system.
After selecting this option, the Case Notes List is displayed with the Case Notes Filter options form. Enter
your filter criteria into the fields on this form and click the Save button, or press the [F10] key, to display
the Case Note List. Your list will contain only those case notes that pass your filter criteria. See below for
more information on Case Note Filter options.
Case Note List
Figure 17-1: Case Notes List
If the Case Notes List is selected from the client list, only case notes for the currently highlighted client are
displayed in the list. If the Case Notes List is selected from the matter list, only case notes for the currently
highlighted matter are displayed in the list. You can further filter the case note records in either of these
lists by selecting the Filter option from the list’s popup menu and entering your filter criteria.
17-1
Client and matter information for the highlighted case note is displayed at the top of the form. Beneath this
is the list of case notes. Beneath the case notes list is the description of the highlighted case note.
The Print options on the popup menu allows you to print all case notes in the list or just the ones you have
selected.
Case notes can be displayed in either Ascending or Descending order using the current order column.
Remember, you can order the items in this list on any of the displayed columns by simply clicking on the
appropriate column header. To order the currently selected order column simply select the appropriate op-
tion from the popup menu.
Case Note Entry Form
Figure 17-2: Case Note Entry form
The Case Note entry form (shown above) is used to enter case note information. Client and matter infor-
mation and title are some of the information that is entered on this form.
The Navigation buttons located at the bottom corners of the form allow you to scroll through the case
notes contained in the case note list without having to exit the entry form. While in the description field on
the case note, select the Spell option from the popup menu to check the spelling of the text you have en-
tered. Select the Add To Do option to add a To Do item.
Once you have entered or changed the case note information, press the [F10] key or click on the Save but-
ton to save the case note.
17-2
Case Note Filter Options
Figure 17-3: Case Note Filter (Client/Matter)
The Case Note Filter options form is where you enter case note filter criteria. The Case Notes List contains
on those case notes that pass the filter options you set here. The Client/Matter tab (shown above) contains
client and matter information filter options. Use the Audit tab (shown below) to enter filter criteria such as
when and by whom a case note was added or last changed.
Some of the fields on the Audit tab are code filter fields. Code filter fields allow you to enter individual
codes or code ranges for filtration purposes. The Description field on the Audit tab is a text expression
field allowing you to locate case notes based on words and phrases contained in the case note descrip-
tion.
Figure 17-4: Case Note Filter (Audit)
17-3
Code range and text expression filters are discussed in previous chapters. For more information on entering
code ranges and text expressions, click the Help button and review the help topic for this form.
Case Note Report
The Print option on the Case Notes List popup menu allows you to print all case notes in the list or just the
ones you have selected. Case note are printed in the same order as they appear in the Case Notes List.
Once you have selected the case notes you wish to print, click on the Print button to display the Case Note
Report Options form (shown below).
Figure 17-5: Case Note Report Options
The Case Note Report options allow you to specify the appearance and order of the information on a case
note report.
The Field Layouts section of the entry form determines the information that is printed for each case note.
You can enter literal text and field names into this field. To select a field from a list of allowed fields, press
the [F2] key while in this field.
For information on a specific field on this form, click the small question mark button located on the form’s
caption then click on the field you want information on.
17-4
18. Jurisdiction and Event Experts

♦ Jurisdiction Selection Expert (rule sets)
♦ Event Selection Expert (key codes)
♦ Using the Correct Rule Sets
♦ Event Selection Expert Data File
♦ Enable/Disable the Experts
The Jurisdiction and Event Selection Experts in Vision provide the easiest and most reliable method of
selecting correct jurisdictional and deadline information when scheduling deadlines using court rules. We
strongly recommend that you use these experts as they insure that you are using the correct information
when scheduling court dates.
Jurisdiction Selection Expert
Figure 18-1: Jurisdiction Selction Expert
The Jurisdiction Selection Expert (shown above) contains a categorized list of all the rule sets that Compu-
Law maintains. This hierarchical list eliminates the need to remember which CompuLaw rule sets need to
be used when scheduling your court dates and deadlines. Rule sets are ordered in a logical fashion accord-
ing to the category of dates you wish to schedule.
The Jurisdiction Selection Expert is available from within any of the Rule Set fields located on the Event
Entry or Matter Information Entry forms by pressing the [F2] key. The Jurisidiction Selection Expert can
also be displayed by clicking the right mouse button while within a rule set field and selecting the “Select
from Jurisdiction Expert” option.
Once the Jurisdiction Selection Expert is displayed, you can use either your mouse, or the keyboard, to
navigate the list. If you are using the keyboard, the up and down arrow keys are used to move the high-
18-1
light bar up and down in the list, and the left and right arrow keys are used to collapse and expand the cur-
rently highlighted item. To select a rule set category simply double click on it or press the [Enter] key.
The Jurisdiction Selection Expert is on by default. If you prefer to select rule sets from an alphabetical list
of installed rule sets, click the right mouse button while within one of the rule set fields and select the
“Standard Rule Set List” option. To permanently disable the Jurisdiction Selection expert, simply set the
Disable Jurisdiction Selection Expert option on the Settings tab of the Features options form. The
Features options form is accessed from the Setup menu.
Note: The Jurisdiction Selection Expert contains all CompuLaw rule sets not just the ones
that you have purchased. There will probably always be more rule sets in this list than
you have actually installed in the Court Rules Database. The program will not allow you
to select rule sets that have not been installed on your system.
Event Selection Expert
Key Codes are used to schedule events using the court rule database. The Event Selection Expert provides
an intuitive and easy way of selecting deadlines (Key Codes) from the court rule database.
Pressing [F2] from the Key Code field on the Event Entry form after entering your rule sets displays the
Event Selection Expert (shown below).
Figure 18-2: Event Selection Expert
The Event Selection Expert organizes deadlines (Key Codes) by category. For example, all Discovery dead-
lines are located under the DISCOVERY topic. To see the Discovery deadlines, either double click on
DISCOVERY or click the “+” symbol next to the DISCOVERY item. This expands the Discovery item showing
all Discovery related deadlines as shown below.
18-2
Figure 18-3: Key Code Expert (Expanded)
In the figure above, the Interrogatories item as been expanded to show the items “Served by Hand”,
“Served by Mail” and “Served by Fax/Overnight Delivery”. The “Served by Hand” item has been ex-
panded to show the actual Key Code that is used to schedule deadlines relating to Interrogatories that
are served by hand. Double clicking on either “Served by Hand” or the actual Key Code selects that item
for scheduling.
Clicking on the Expand button located at the bottom of the form expands all items in the list. Clicking
on the Collapse button collapses all items.
Using the Correct Rule Sets
Using the Event Selection Expert to select deadlines helps to insure that you are using the rules correctly.
18-3
Figure 18-4: Improper Use of Rules
The example shown in the figure above, the CA:DISC rule set was not found in the list of rule sets that
were entered on the Event Entry form. As you can see at the top of the form, the program warns you
that not all the required rule set have been provided. The Expected line shows the rule sets that should
have been used. The Found line shows the rule sets that were entered on the Event Entry form. In this
case, you should make the correction to the rule sets listed on the Event Entry form and then display the
Key Code Expert again by pressing [F2] from the Key Code field.
Enable/Disable the Experts
The Jurisdiction and Event Selection experts can be turned on/off using the appropriate option on the
Event Entry form’s popup menu. To permanently disable the experts use the appropriate option on the
Features entry form. The Features entry form is displayed by clicking on the Features option located on
the Setup menu.
18-4
19. Report Modifier

Note. This feature is only available if you have purchased the Report Modifier module.
Vision has a complete set of reports that are referred to as “standard” reports. These reports are ac-
cessed by selecting the Docket Reports option from the Reports menu. Although the standard reports
should handle most of your reporting requirements, Vision provides you with a way to modify these re-
ports to fit your special needs.
The Report Modifier allows you to create your own reports based on existing standard reports. The re-
ports that you create using the Report Modifier are referred to as User Defined Reports.
Using the Report Modifier you can:
¾ Modify the information printed for each record on a report.

¾ Print column data using different text attributes and colors.
¾ Print literal data in a column (for example, a check box).
¾ Assign permanent settings and filter options to a report.
¾ Use “Group Codes” to group your reports.
¾ Print multiple reports.
User Defined Reports are created and maintained using the Report Creation Wizard. This wizard steps
you through the process of creating or editing a report.
The “Report Modifier” option on the Reports menu allows you to run the Report Creation Wizard to create
a report. You can also create a report from the “User Defined Reports” list accessed by selecting the
“User Defined Reports” option on the Reports menu. You will not have theses options if you have not
purchased the Report Modifier module.
Creating a User Defined Report
19-1
As mentioned earlier, the Report Creation Wizard is used to create or modify a User Defined Report. To
create a new report you can either select the “Report Modifier” option from the Reports menu, or select
the “User Defined Reports” option and click the Add button when the User Defined Reports list is dis-
played. Either way, you will be presented with the Report Creation Wizard as shown above.
You can cancel the wizard at any time using the Cancel button. Click the Help button to get help on the
current step. Use the Previous and Next buttons to navigate between steps.
Clicking the Next button displays the first step in the process.
Step 1 – Select a Base Report
In this step you’ll select the Vision report on which to base your User Defined Report. Essentially, you
are telling the wizard which standard Vision report you wish to use as a model for the User Defined Re-
port. The User Defined Report will print using the same order and grouping structure as the selected
standard report. Once you have selected a base report, click the Next button to continue.
19-2
Step 2 – Select/Create a Report Format
In this step you are asked to select or create a format for the report. The format you assign to the re-
port determines what information is printed on the report for each record. In other words, you define
the data that will be printed in each column contained in the body of the report.
To create a new format, simply click the button next the entry field (the one with the three dots on it).
This displays the “Report Formats” list as shown below.
Report Formats
19-3
This list contains the report formats that you have created. If this is the first report you have created
then this list will be empty. To select an existing format, simply double click on it.
To add a new format to the list, press the [Insert] key or select the “Add” option from the list’s popup
menu. This displays the “Format Editor” as shown below.
This form is used to define the layout of the body of the report. A blank format (as shown above) con-
tains 8 columns and 5 rows. However, you can add as many rows and columns as you like as well as
remove any extra columns and rows.
The first thing you need to do is give the new format a name. Since you can use this format for other
User Defined Reports you create, you should make its name as descriptive as possible. Next you select
the orientation and font size for the report. The font size you select will be used when printing the body
of the report.
Now you’ll need to define what information you want printed. This is done using the layout grid.
Each column of the grid has a cell for each row of the report. Each cell can contain any field from an
event or document record. To add a field to a cell, simply position the mouse over the cell and click the
right mouse button to display the forms popup menu. Now select the “Field Properties” option. This dis-
plays the “Field Properties” dialog as shown below.
19-4
To select the field you wish to print in the selected cell, click the down arrow button next to the “Field”
field and select the field from the list. Any field on an event or its associated document record (if any)
can be selected.
There are two special fields in the field selection list. The “Literal” field allows you to enter any text you
like as the data for the cell. This is often used in “check list” style reports to place a check box in either
the first or last column. When this field is selected, a text field is displayed allowing you to enter the text
you want placed in the cell.
The other special field is the “Detail” field. This field uses the appropriate format that is defined for the
options for the report. The “Detail” field allows you to include a block of text that is comprised of differ-
ent fields on the event or its associated document in a single column on the report. If you are familiar
with the standard reports, then you probably already know how this mechanism works. See the descrip-
tion of the next step for more information on the link between the “Detail” field and the report options
layout information.
The other settings on this dialog allow you to define the style of the text and its color, and whether or
not the data in the column should be word wrapped.
You’ll notice that when you assign a field to a cell using the Field Properties dialog, the column header is
changed to the name of the selected field. You can change this using the “Column Properties” option.
Simply move your mouse over the column whose heading you wish to change, click the right mouse but-
ton and select the “Column Properties” option. This displays the dialog shown below.
19-5
Use the “Column Properties” dialog to set the column title, the title text attributes, the column width and
whether or not the column is visible on the report. Once you have set the column properties, clicking the
Save button saves the changes and returns you to the Format Editor.
You can resize columns in the Format Editor by simply dragging the right edge of the columns header to
the left (makes it smaller) or the right (makes it wider). You can also move columns around in the editor.
Simply click on the column header and hold down by mouse button. This changes the left edge of the
column to a position indicator. Now just drag the position indicator to the left or right. When the posi-
tion indicator is in the correct place, release the mouse button and the column will be moved to the new
location.
Once you have defined the format of the report, it is always good practice to remove any unused col-
umns and rows. To remove a column from the format, right click on the column you wish to remove and
select the “Delete Column” option. To remove a row from the format, right click on the row you wish to
remove and select the “Delete Row” option.
Once you are satisfied with the format, click the Save button to save the format information and return to
the Reports Format List.
Now that you have added a format to the list, you’ll need to associate the new format with the report.
To do this you simply double click on format name. This will return you to the Report Format selection
step.
Now click the next button to go to the next step.
19-6
Step 3 – Set the Report Options
This step allows you to set the options for the report. Clicking the Options button displays the options
dialog for the report.
Some of the options for a report depend on which base report you have selected for modification. But
most report option forms have spacing, separator and ordering options. They will also have “Event for-
mat”, “Rem. format” and “To Do format” fields. These fields are used if one of your report columns con-
tains a “Detail” field. The report uses the format information contained in these fields to determine what
information is included in the “Detail” field.
Once you have set your report options, click the Save button to return to the Report Options step. Click
the Next button to go to the next step.
Step 4 – Set the Filter Criteria
19-7
This step allows you to set the filter criteria for the report. While not required, you will usually want to
assign some filter criteria to the report so that you don’t end up printing all records in the database.
Clicking the Filter button displays the Filter Criteria selection list as shown below.
This list contains all currently defined filter criteria records. This list will be empty when creating your
first report, or if you haven’t created any filter criteria records for any of your existing User Defined Re-
ports.
Use the buttons at the bottom of the list to add, edit or select a filter criteria for the report. You can also
use the options on the list’s popup menu.
Click the Add button to add a new filter criteria record for your report. This displays our standard Event
Filter dialog. Simply provide your filter options and click the Save button. You are asked to provide a
name for the filter. Since you can use the same filter for multiple User Defined Reports, you should use a
name that is as descriptive as possible. Once you have entered the name, click the OK button to save
the filter criteria record.
Now you just need to associate the new filter criteria with the report. To do this, simply double click on
the new filter record. This will return you to the Filter Criteria step. You’ll notice that the name of the
filter criteria you selected appears beneath the Filters button.
Click the Next button to go to the next step.
19-8
Step 5 – Assign a Grouping Code
You can assign a group code to the report. This allows you to create groups of User Defined Reports for
organization and selection purposes. For example, you might create a group of “Weekly” reports that are
printed at the beginning of the week.
Simply enter the grouping code into the field provided. You can select a group code that you have al-
ready used by clicking the down arrow button next to the field.
Once you have provided the group code, click the next button to go to the next step.
Step 6 – Name the Report
19-9
This is the last step in the report creation process. In this step you’ll give the new report a name. Re-
member, the name that you enter here appears on the User Defined Report list so be as descriptive as
possible.
Once you have provided a name for the report, click the Next button to complete the process.
Step 7 - Finish
If you are satisfied with your new report, click the Finish button to create it. Use the Previous button to
make any changes.
Printing a User Defined Report
19-10
User Defined Reports are printed from the User Defined Reports List (as shown above). Reports can be
printed individually or in groups. All reports are shown when the list is first displayed. You can limit the
reports shown in the list by changing the “Report Group” information.
To print a single report from the list, simply click on the report and then click the Print button. To print
multiple reports, select the reports you wish to print and click the Print button. To select multiple re-
ports, hold down the [Ctrl] key while clicking on the reports.
Maintaining Your User Defined Reports
The User Defined Reports list (accessed by selecting the User Defined Reports option from the Reports
menu) has many options that allow you to easily maintain your reports. The buttons along the right side
of this list (see the previous topic for a illustration) allow you to print, add, edit and delete reports. Mov-
ing your mouse over the list and clicking the right mouse button displays the popup menu for the list.
This popup menu contains even more maintenance options.
Highlighting a report in the list and clicking the Edit button displays the Report Creation Wizard allowing
you to change any part of the report. You can also change a report by double clicking on it. You can
delete a report simply by highlighting it and pressing the Delete button (or the [Delete] key).
To copy an existing report, simply highlight the report you wish to copy and select the Clone option from
the popup menu. You can quickly change a reports Group Information, Filter Criteria and Format by se-
lecting the appropriate option on the popup menu.
19-11
20. Utilities
♦ User Login Info
♦ Switch User
♦ Table Information
♦ PIM Sync Maintenance
♦ Change Code
♦ Database Functions
The Utilities menu contains options that allow you to perform a variety of tasks. The options available
from this menu allow you to:
¾ View a list of currently logged in Vision users. An addition option from this list allows you to log
out a user. However, you are strongly cautioned to use this “brute force” method only under the
specific circumstances described below.
¾ Log out and log in as a different user. This function serves as a short cut to having to exit Vision,
restart the program and log in as another user.
¾ View information about each of your Vision database tables.
¾ Administer the PIM Synchronization options for all timekeepers.
¾ Globally replace an existing code with another code.
¾ Perform database operations like Backup and Restore.
User Login Info
Selecting the User Login Info option displays a list of the users currently logged into the program. Each
entry in the list shows the users initials and the date and time that user logged into the program.
Sometimes it is necessary to delete an entry from this list. If a user didn’t exit the program properly due
to a hardware, electrical or some other problem, that user will still have an entry in this list and won’t be
able to log into the program. In other words, the program will think that user is still logged into the pro-
gram. To delete a users log entry from this list, simply highlight the entry and press the [Delete] key.
The ability to delete entries from this list is only available if you log into the program as a “supervisor”
user.
Log Out a User
This option is meant to be used only in the event of a hardware, electrical (power) or operating system
problem that prevents a user from logging out by exiting the program normally. If this happens, when
Vision restarted, it will “think” that the user who was logged in at the time of the problem is still logged
in.
Important. Do not use this option to log out any user who is actually in the program. Do-
ing so can damage your data files. If the maximum number of timekeepers allowed by your
version of Vision is not adequate for your firm, please contact CompuLaw for additional ca-
pacity.
20-1
Switch User
This option allows you to log in as a different user. This can be very useful in situations where a supervi-
sor wishes to test security settings for other users or in those instances where a function must be per-
formed and the currently logged user does not have security clearance to perform the operation.
Selecting this option displays the User Login form into which you can enter the initials and password of
the user you wish to log in as. Click the OK button, or press the [F10] key, to log in as that user.
Table Information
Selecting this menu option displays a list of the database tables used by the program with the number of
records currently in each table. This list may take a while to build depending on the speed of your net-
work and the amount of traffic on your SQL server.
PIM Synchronize (maintenance)
This menu option is only available if you are logged into the program as a “supervisor” user. This option
allows you administer the settings for the timekeepers using the PIM Synchronization program. See the
PIM Synchronization Program chapter of the documentation for more information on this feature.
Change Code
This menu option is only available if you are logged into the program as a “supervisor” user. This option
allows you to change all occurrences of a code value. Selecting this option displays the Change Code
entry form as shown above.
One good use of this feature is to replace all occurrences of a timekeepers initials with another time-
keeper. Doing this allows you to delete the original timekeeper from your timekeeper list.
To perform a code replacement, you must first select the “Code Type” of the code that you wish to
change. Click the button next to the “Code Type” field for a list of code types. Next, select the code
value you wish to replace by clicking the button next to the “From” field. Now set the “To” field to the
replacement code by clicking the button next to the field and selected the replacement code from the list.
Once this is done, click the Change button to perform the change. You can cancel the process at any
time by clicking the Cancel button.
You cannot perform code replacement on System codes (codes that begin with “$”).
20-2
Replacing a Timekeeper, Team or Department with another code value updates all scheduling information
accordingly.
Database
This menu option is only available if you are logged into the program as a “supervisor” user. Selecting
this option display a submenu of options that allow you to perform certain maintenance tasks on your
CompuLaw database. Below is a brief description of the options on this menu. See the “Database” sec-
tion of this manual for detailed information on the database functions performed by the options on this
menu.
Backup. This option is used to backup your CompuLaw database.
Restore. This option is used to restore your CompuLaw database from a previous backup. The
backup file used to restore the database must either be created using the Vision Backup option (see
above) or by the Enterprise Manager.
Repair. In the unlikely event that your CompuLaw SQL database is damaged, this option can be used
to repair it.
Compress. This option is used to reduce the size of the data file that contains your CompuLaw data-
base. You should only perform a compression operation if you are running out of space on the disk
containing the Vision data or you have recently deleted large numbers of records from the database
and would like to recover some of the space used by the database.
Run SQL Script. This option allows you to run a SQL script against your CompuLaw database. Some-
times it is necessary for our Technical Support department to create SQL scripts and send them to you
for execution. We provide this option as a convenient way to run these scripts.
Select Database. This option allows you to select and use another CompuLaw database.
20-3
21. PIM Synchronization Program (PSP)

The PIM Synchronization Program (or PSP) allows a Vision timekeeper (attorney or other office personnel)
to synchronize his/her Outlook, GroupWise or Lotus Notes calendars with Vision. Unlike the Vision “PIM
Link” feature, which “pushes” additions and changes to the attorneys PIM, the PSP “pulls” dates and tasks
from Vision and syncs them directly to the attorneys desktop PIM. This is the recommended method of link-
ing your Vision timekeeper desktop calendars with Vision.
Using the PSP to sync timekeeper desktop calendars with Vision eliminates several limitations and setup
issues inherent in the use of the “PIM Link” feature of Vision (as described in the Outlook Link and
GroupWise Link chapters of this manual). Here are some of the reasons that we suggest using the PSP
instead of the other PIM Link mechanisms provided by Vision:
¾ No special setup is required for the PIM being used. Vision users do not have to share each other’s
PIM calendar folders and don’t have to worry about making sure each user has the proper rights to
each calendar folder.
¾ Attorneys can fine tune their own synchronization settings to get just the information they are in-
terested in and in a format of their choice. The attorney has full control over the synchronization
process.
¾ Each attorney in the firm can link to either Outlook, GroupWise or Lotus Notes.
¾ The PSP can be set to automatically transfer an attorneys Vision data at any time during the day or
on a specific time on a specific day of the week.
¾ Administrators can setup and alter attorneys PSP settings from a central location within Vision.
Setting Up an Attorneys Workstation
The PSP setup program (PSPSetup.exe) located in the Vision program folder is used to prepare a work-
station for use with the PSP. You must run the PSPSetup program on all workstations that will be running
the PSP.
As an added security measure, the PSP setup program can only be run by a valid Vision user with “supervi-
sor” access to the Vision application. The PSP setup program asks you to enter a supervisors initials and
password before allowing you to continue with the workstation setup.
The primary purpose of the PSPSetup program is to link the PSP with a timekeeper in Vision. In order for
an attorney to use the PSP program, he/she must exist as a timekeeper in the Vision application. Before
you run the PSPSetup program you must have the correct timekeeper initials in Vision for the attorney
whose workstation you are setting up.
To setup a workstation for use with the PSP, simply run the PSPSetup program and follow the instructions
presented to you. The PSP setup program will prompt you for the above information. Upon completion,
you should run the PSP and set the attorneys synchronization options (see “Using the PSP” below for more
information).
Note: Instead of setting each timekeepers PIM Sync options at the workstation via the PSP,
you can set them up before hand using the PSP administration feature of Vision. See the
“Administering your PSP Users in Vision” topic below for details).
21-1
Administering your PSP Users in Vision
PSP timekeeper administration can be performed from within the Vision application by any user with super-
visor access. You can add and remove attorneys as well as change their PSP synchronization options. To
see the list of current PSP attorneys simply select the PIM Synchronize option located on the Utilities
menu. Upon selecting this option, a list containing entries for each timekeeper currently using (or will be
using) the PSP program is displayed (see below).
PIMSync Administration List
This list contains all the Vision timekeepers that have been, or will be, setup to use the PSP from their work-
station. This list of timekeepers is also referred to as PSP “Participants”.
You do not have to setup each timekeeper here. The PSP workstation setup program will add information
to this list if an entry does not already exist. However, after setting up the workstation you will need to set
the synchronization options for that workstation using the PSP or by editing the timekeepers PSP entry us-
ing this option.
Press the [Insert] key or select the Add option from the lists popup menu to add a new entry to the list.
Double clicking on an item, or selecting the Edit option from the popup menu, allows you to change an
attorneys options.
You can copy the settings for an existing entry by using the Clone option located on the popup menu. Se-
lecting this option creates a new entry using the currently highlighted timekeepers options as the default.
This is a quick way to add a new PSP participants to the list.
To select an entry, hold down the [Ctrl] key and click on the entry with the mouse. Use the Select All op-
tion to select all items in the list.
21-2
The options on the Change sub-menu are used to change the options for selected timekeepers. The Sync
Options option is used to change the primary synchronization options (like the filer, schedule and content
settings). The Appts/Tasks Advanced Options and Reminders Advanced Options menu items allow
you to change the content of the body of appointments, tasks and reminders e-mails for the selected attor-
neys. The Appts/Tasks/Reminders Options option is used to change settings that determine which
types of Vision events are transferred and whether they are transferred as appointments or tasks.
The Clear option is used to clear the synchronization log for the highlighted attorney. This option should
only be used when you know that the attorney has already removed all transferred items from their PIM. If
the attorney has already transferred items from Vision to their PIM, you should use the PSP’s Clear option to
remove all Vision PIM entries and clear the synchronization log. See “Using the PSP” below for more infor-
mation.
Sync Options Entry Form
This entry form is displayed when adding or editing a PSP participant (timekeeper) list entry. The settings
on the form allow you to set PSP transfer options like the Link Type (which PIM is the timekeeper using at
his/her desktop), which Vision dates will be transferred, which types of Vision dates to include, and what
information will be included on each appointment, task and reminder transferred. Click the Help button for
detailed information about each of the setting on this form.
21-3
Using the PSP
The PSP is an application that retrieves a timekeepers date information from Vision and transfers it to the
timekeepers desktop PIM (Personal Information Manager). The PSP currently supports transferring to Out-
look, GroupWise and Lotus Notes. The PSP can be setup to launch automatically when starting the work-
station. To access the PSP application to perform a manual sync or to set the sync options simply click on
the “Vision PIM Sync” desktop icon or if the PSP is already running, select the Open Vision PIM Sync op-
tion by clicking the “Vision PIM Sync” icon located in your System tray.
The PSP application main form (above) allows you to view and change your synchronization options as well
as perform an immediate sync.
Clicking the Sync Now button performs an immediate synchronization with your PIM. The progress meters
located in the PIM Synchronize section of the form show the progress of the sync process. Clicking the
Cancel button cancels the sync process.
The View Options button is used to display your PSP settings. Click this button to view and change your
PSP options. Refer to the PSP help system for detailed information on available settings.
Setting the “Auto-start on system startup?” option causes the PSP to be loaded automatically when the
workstation is started. If this option is set, a small launching program is placed in your Windows System
Tray and provides access to the PSP application and provides the mechanism to automatically perform a
synchronization based on the schedule information provide (on the Schedule tab of the PSP Options form).
The Clear option located on the File menu allows you to remove all appointments and tasks from your PIM
that have been transferred from Vision. This option is useful when you want permanently remove all Vision
items from your PIM or would like to re-transfer all your Vision dates.
The Close button closes the PSP application.
21-4
Important Information about the PSP Transfer
The current state of your Vision data overrides any changes that you make to any transferred items. The
sync process only synchronizes your desktop PIM with your Vision data. With the exception of text that you
add outside the area in the description (body) of the item designated for use by Vision, changes to any PIM
items transferred from Vision will be overwritten when you perform a sync.
You should never change the date or time of an item transferred from Vision. Since these dates are con-
trolled by your Docketing department, any changes should be performed by your Docket personnel using
the Vision application. If you do change a date or time on an appointment or task in your PIM, the PSP will
change it to match the information contained in Vision.
Vision perpetual dates are not supported by GroupWise and Lotus Notes. Perpetual dates will be ignored
when syncing with these groupware products.
21-5
22. Outlook Link

♦ Install Outlook 98 (or higher) on your computer.
♦ Setting up Outlook to work with Vision
♦ Activate the Outlook Link.
♦ Set the Outlook Link Options.
♦ Assign e-mail addresses to your timekeepers.
Important. The Outlook Link option requires that you have an understanding of how Out-
look and Exchange folder sharing works. If each users Outlook is not setup correctly, the
link will not function properly. Because of the complexities involved in setting up Outlook
for proper use with the Outlook Link feature, and the limitation inherent in this type of Link,
we recommend that the PIM Synchronization program be used instead. See the PIM Syn-
chronization section of this manual for more information.
The “Outlook Link” feature allows you to post Events and To Do items to Microsoft Outlook and Exchange
Server as Events and To Do items are being added and changed in Vision. The Outlook Link allows you to
distribute Vision calendar dates directly to a timekeeper(s) Outlook calendar. This feature requires Outlook
98 or higher.
There are a few step involved in setting up Vision for use with Microsoft Outlook. Each of these steps is
listed below followed by a section that covers each step in detail. To use the new Outlook link feature you
must:
9 Install Outlook 98 (or higher) on your computer.

9 Activate the Outlook Link.
9 Set the Outlook Link Options.
9 Assign e-mail addresses to your timekeepers.
9 Assign timekeeper default transfer options.
The sections that follow detail each of the above steps.
Install Outlook 98 (or higher)
Microsoft Outlook must be installed on all workstations that will be running Vision and on the workstations
of individuals in your firm that will be receiving dates and deadlines from Vision. Refer to your Outlook
documentation for information on installing Outlook on your computer.
Setting up Outlook to work with Vision
Each Vision user must have access to the Outlook calendar folders for the other Vision users. This allows
each Vision user to manipulate the appointment and task items stored in other Vision user Outlook calendar
folders. This group of Vision users is referred to as the Docket Group. If calendar folders are not shared
amongst the users in the Docket Group, then it is possible for appointment items to become inconsistent
with the events stored in Vision.
You cannot use Outlook PST (personal information store) files in a multi-user envi-
ronment because PSTs can’t be shared the way Exchange mailboxes can. For ex-
ample, a user who needs to access someone else’s calendar won’t be able to while
22-1
that person is using it and has their PST file open.
To allow another user access to your calendar folder, click on your calendar folder with the right mouse but-
ton, select the Properties option and then click on the Permissions tab. Use the Add button to add a
user, or users, to the list of users that have access to your calendar. Make sure to set the Permissions for
each user by highlighting the user in the list and setting the Permission options for that user. Each user
should have “Create items”, “Read Items” and “Folder Visible” options checked. Also the “Edit Items” and
“Delete Items” settings should be set to “All”.
Activate the Outlook Link
The Outlook Link feature is activated by setting the Enable PIM Link option located on the Settings tab
of the Features entry form to “Outlook”. The Features entry form is accessed by selecting the Features
option from the Setup menu (as shown below).
Figure 22-1: Features Form – Settings tab
After activating the Outlook Link option you will need to set the PIM Link Options and assign addresses to
your timekeepers.
22-2
Set the Outlook Link Options
Figure 22-2: PIM Link Options Form
The PIM Link Options entry form is accessed by selecting the PIM Link Options item from the Setup
menu. The options you set on this form determine what information is transferred from Vision to Outlook.
You have options for transferring non-court rule related events, court ruled events, perpetual (recurring)
events and To Do items. These options also allow you to set the content of the Outlook Appointment and
Task items.
Once you have set these options you will need to assign e-mail addresses to each of your timekeepers.
22-3
Assign Timekeeper E-mail Addresses
Figure 22-3: Timekeeper E-Mail Addresses
As mentioned earlier, when the Outlook Link feature is activated, Event and To Do items saved in Vision are
sent to Outlook as either Appointment or Task items as defined by the PIM Link Options described above.
Before an Event or To Do item can be sent to the timekeeper(s) assigned to one of these items you must
first set each timekeepers Outlook address information.
The address list for a timekeeper is accessed from your timekeeper list or from the timekeeper entry form.
Selecting the Address List option from the popup menu of either of these forms displays the address list
for the selected timekeeper. Before a timekeeper can receive events from Vision you must set the “To” field
to that timekeepers Outlook e-mail address. You can also optionally assign “CC” e-mail addresses for each
timekeeper so that copies of a timekeepers e-mail can be sent to other Outlook users.
To set the main “To” address for the timekeeper, simply highlight that timekeepers address in the “Select
name from” list and click the “To ->” button. To select “CC” addresses, select the addresses in the “Select
name from” list that you wish to add to the “CC” list and click the “CC ->” button. To select multiple ad-
dresses from the “Select name from” list, hold down the [Ctrl] key while clicking on the address in this list.
22-4
Assign Timekeeper Default Transfer Options
Figure 22-4: Timekeeper Default Transfer Options
After assigning e-mail addresses to your timekeepers, you can optionally set their default transfer options.
These options allow you to selectively transfer only certain types of events for a timekeeper. The transfer
options you set here are used as the default if no transfer options are set for a timekeeper at the matter
level.
The options on this form allow you to set the Outlook or GroupWise transfer options for a timekeeper. If
displayed from the Timekeeper List (as shown above), the options you set will be the default transfer op-
tions for the timekeeper. If displayed from the Matter Entry form, the options you set will be the transfer
options for the selected timekeeper for that matter.
If no timekeeper transfer options are set for a timekeeper on a matter, the program uses the default trans-
fer options set for the timekeeper. If no default transfer options have been set then all items will be sent to
that timekeeper.
How Transfer Options Work
When Vision sends an event to Outlook or GroupWise it first checks the global PIM Link Options to de-
termine if the event should be transferred. After checking these options, the transfer options for each of
the timekeepers assigned to the event are checked. For each timekeeper on the event the program checks
for any transfer options defined at the matter level. If no transfer options are found at the matter level for
the timekeeper, the program checks if any default transfer options have been set for the timekeeper. If no
default transfer options have been set, the program assumes that you want this timekeeper to receive all
types of events.
Here is the order in which the transfer options are checked when sending an event to Outlook or Group-
Wise:
1. The PIM Link Options are checked.
22-5
2. The timekeeper transfer options for the matter are checked.

3. The timekeepers default transfer options are checked.
4. If no transfer options are found, the program sends all events.
Transfer Option Settings
Below is a description of each of the settings on this form. Each of the settings has a reminder setting
which determines if reminders are sent for that type of event.
Timed events. Select this option to transfer regular (non-ruled) events with a time (appoint-
ment). If the reminder option for Timed event is set then reminders are sent as well.
No Time events. Select this option to transfer regular (non-ruled) events with no time (deadline).
If the reminder option for No Time events is set then reminders are sent as well.
Key dates. Select this option to transfer court rule Key dates (also referred to as trigger dates). If
the reminder option for Key dates is set then reminders are sent as well.
Related dates. Select this option to transfer court rule Related dates. If the reminder option for
Related dates is set then reminders are sent as well.
To Do items. Select this option to transfer To Do items. If the reminder option for To Items is set
then reminders are sent as well.
How the Outlook Link Works
Once you have activated the Outlook Link feature, set your Link Options and assigned e-mail addresses to
your timekeepers, Vision is ready to send Events and/or To Do items to Outlook.
When an Event or To Do item is saved in Vision, an Appointment or Task item is created and sent to the
timekeepers listed on the Event or To Do item. The recipients of the Appointment or Task item receive an
Appointment Request or Task Item Request in their Outlook In-Box. The recipient has the option of accept-
ing or declining the request. If an Appointment item is accepted, the appointment is added to the recipi-
ent’s calendar. If a Task item is accepted, the task is added to the recipient’s task list.
If Events are being transferred to Outlook as Appointment Items and an Event that has already been trans-
ferred to Outlook is changed, an Update Request is sent to the timekeepers listed on the Event. If the Up-
date Request is accepted, the recipients calendar is updated with the change.
There are many ways of automating the process of routing Appointment and Task item requests directly to
your Outlook Calendar or Task List. If you are using Exchange Server, you can assign a “delegate” to your
Calendar and/or Task folders allowing items sent by your Docket Department to be routed directly to these
folders. Please refer to your Outlook or Exchange Server documentation for more information on this topic.
If an Event or To Do item has reminder dates and you have set the “Send reminders at program startup”
Outlook Link option, the program sends reminder e-mails for all Event and To Do items that have reminders
that fall during the time period you specified for the option. The default setting uses today’s date minus
seven days as the reminder date range to check. Only reminders that have not already been sent for to-
day’s date will be sent during this process.
22-6
23. GroupWise Link

♦ Install GroupWise on your computer.
♦ Create a GroupWise Distribution Calendar User.
♦ Activate the GroupWise Link.
♦ Set the GroupWise Link options.
♦ Assign e-mail addresses to your timekeepers.
♦ How the GroupWise Link works.
♦ Limitations
Important. The GroupWise Link option requires that you have an understanding of how
GroupWise folder sharing works. If each users GroupWise is not setup correctly, the link
will not function properly. Because of the complexities involved in setting up GroupWise for
proper use with the GroupWise Link feature, and the limitation inherent in this type of link,
we recommend that the PIM Synchronization program be used instead. See the PIM Syn-
chronization section of this manual for more information.
The “GroupWise Link” feature allows you to post Events and To Do items from Vision to the GroupWise cal-
endar as Events and To Do items are being added and changed in Vision. The GroupWise link allows you to
distribute Vision calendar dates to a timekeeper(s) GroupWise calendar. This feature requires GroupWise
5.1 or higher.
There are a few steps involved in setting up Vision for use with GroupWise. Each of these steps is listed
below followed by a section that covers each step in detail. To use the new GroupWise link feature you
must:
9 Install GroupWise on your computer.

9 Create a GroupWise Distribution Calendar User.
9 Activate the GroupWise Link.
9 Set the GroupWise Link options.
9 Assign e-mail addresses to your timekeepers.
9 Assign timekeeper default transfer options.
The sections that follow detail each of the above steps.
Install GroupWise
GroupWise must be installed on all workstations that will be running Vision and on the workstations of indi-
viduals in your firm that will be receiving dates and deadlines from Vision. Refer to you GroupWise docu-
mentation for information on installing GroupWise on your computer.
Create a GroupWise Distribution Calendar User
The GroupWise Distribution Calendar User account (DCU) is used by Vision for the purpose of centralizing
the appointments and tasks sent by Vision to GroupWise. This account will contain all items transferred
from Vision to GroupWise.
23-1
Before you can begin sending appointments and task items to GroupWise, you must first create an account
in GroupWise for the DCU. While you can use any name you like for the DCU account, we recommend us-
ing “CompuLaw DCU” or “CompuLaw Vision DCU”.
Once the DCU account has been created, you must create a Rule that automatically accepts appointment
and task items sent to the DCU account by Vision. This will prevent the In-Box for the DCU account from
getting full. Create the Rule such that all appointment and task items are automatically accepted upon re-
ceipt of an item from the DCU user. For example, if the DCU name is “CompuLaw DCU” then the Rule
should automatically accept the appointment or task if the “From” field contains the word “CompuLaw
DCU”.
If the Rule option is not active then you will need to login to GroupWise as the DCU. GroupWise does not
allow access to the Rule option if you are using the Proxy feature to access the DCU account.
If you are unfamiliar with how to create GroupWise accounts and rules, have your GroupWise, or network
administrator, create the DCU account for you. Also ask your administrator to give you the account name
and password of the DCU after it has been created. You will need this information later when activating the
GroupWise link.
Activate the GroupWise Link
Figure 23-1: Features Form – Settings tab
The GroupWise Link feature is activated by setting the Enable PIM Link option located on the Settings
tab of the Features entry form to “GroupWise”. The Features entry form is accessed by selecting the
Features option from the Setup menu. This displays the Features entry form as shown above.
Setting the “Enable PIM Link” option to “GroupWise” displays the GroupWise Distribution Calendar User
(DCU) form as shown below. This is where you enter the DCU account name and password that was cre-
ated in the previous step. Enter the name of the DCU into the User field and the password (if there is one)
into the Password and Validate password fields.
23-2
Figure 23-2: DCU User Information
If you make a mistake, or otherwise need to change the DCU information after it has been saved, you can
do so by clicking the Advanced button on the PIM Link Options form (see the next topic).
After activating the GroupWise link you will need to set the GroupWise link options.
Set the GroupWise Link Options
Figure 23-3: PIM Link Options
The PIM Link Options entry form is accessed by selecting the PIM Link Options item from the Setup
menu. The options you set on this form determine what information is transferred from Vision to Group-
Wise. You have options for transferring non-court rule related events, court ruled events and To Do items.
These options also allow you to set the content of the GroupWise Appointment and Task items.
The Advanced button is used to edit the GroupWise Distribution Calendar User (DCU). Clicking this button
displays the DCU entry form allowing you to change the DCU name and password.
23-3
Once you have set these options you will need to assign e-mail addresses to each of your timekeepers.
Assign Timekeeper E-mail Addresses
Figure 23-4: Timekeeper E-Mail Addresses
As mentioned earlier, when the GroupWise Link feature is activated, Event and To Do items saved in Vision
are sent to GroupWise as either Appointment or Task Items as defined by the PIM Link Options described
earlier. Before an Event or To Do item can be sent to the timekeeper(s) assigned to one of these items, you
must first set each timekeepers GroupWise address information.
The address list for a timekeeper is accessed from the timekeeper list or from the timekeeper entry form.
Selecting the Address List option from the popup menu of either of these forms displays the address list
for the selected timekeeper. Before a timekeeper can receive events from Vision you must set the “To” field
to that timekeepers GroupWise e-mail address. You can also optionally assign “CC” e-mail addresses for
each timekeeper so that copies of a timekeepers e-mail can be sent to other GroupWise users.
To set the main “To” address for the timekeeper, simply click the button to the right of the field and select
the timekeepers address from the GroupWise address book. Follow the same procedure to assign “CC” ad-
dresses.
23-4
Assign Timekeeper Default Transfer Options
Figure 23-4: Timekeeper Default Transfer Options
After assigning e-mail addresses to your timekeepers, you can optionally set their default transfer options.
These options allow you to selectively transfer only certain types of events for a timekeeper. The transfer
options you set here are used as the default if no transfer options are set for a timekeeper at the matter
level.
The options on this form allow you to set the Outlook or GroupWise transfer options for a timekeeper. If
displayed from the Timekeeper List (as shown above), the options you set will be the default transfer op-
tions for the timekeeper. If displayed from the Matter Entry form, the options you set will be the transfer
options for the selected timekeeper for that matter.
If no timekeeper transfer options are set for a timekeeper on a matter, the program uses the default trans-
fer options set for the timekeeper. If no default transfer options have been set then all items will be sent to
that timekeeper.
How Transfer Options Work
When Vision sends an event to Outlook or GroupWise it first checks the global PIM Link Options to de-
termine if the event should be transferred. After checking these options, the transfer options for each of
the timekeepers assigned to the event are checked. For each timekeeper on the event the program checks
for any transfer options defined at the matter level. If no transfer options are found at the matter level for
the timekeeper, the program checks if any default transfer options have been set for the timekeeper. If no
default transfer options have been set, the program assumes that you want this timekeeper to receive all
types of events.
Here is the order in which the transfer options are checked when sending an event to Outlook or Group-
Wise:
1. The PIM Link Options are checked.
23-5
2. The timekeeper transfer options for the matter are checked.

3. The timekeepers default transfer options are checked.
4. If no transfer options are found, the program sends all events.
Transfer Option Settings
Below is a description of each of the settings on this form. Each of the settings has a reminder setting
which determines if reminders are sent for that type of event.
Timed events. Select this option to transfer events with a time (appointment). If the reminder
option for Timed event is set then reminders are sent as well.
No Time events. Select this option to transfer events with no time (deadline). If the reminder
option for No Time events is set then reminders are sent as well.
To Do items. Select this option to transfer To Do items. If the reminder option for To Items is set
then reminders are sent as well.
Key dates. Select this option to transfer court rule Key dates (also referred to as trigger dates). If
the reminder option for Key dates is set then reminders are sent as well.
Related dates. Select this option to transfer court rule Related dates. If the reminder option for
Related dates is set then reminders are sent as well.
How the GroupWise Link Works
Once you have activated the GroupWise Link feature, set your PIM Link Options and assigned e-mail ad-
dresses to your timekeepers, Vision is ready to send Events and/or To Do items to GroupWise.
When an Event or To Do item is saved in Vision, an Appointment or Task item is created and sent to the
timekeepers listed on the Event or To Do item. The recipients of the Appointment or Task item receive an
appointment or task request in their GroupWise In-Box. The recipient has the option of accepting or declin-
ing the request. If an appointment is accepted it is added to the recipient’s calendar. If a task is accepted it
is added to the recipient’s task list.
If Events are being transferred to GroupWise as appointments and an Event that has already been trans-
ferred to GroupWise is changed, an Update Request is sent to the timekeepers listed on the Event. If the
Update Request is accepted, the recipients calendar is updated with the change.
If an Event or To Do item has reminder dates and you have set the “Send reminders at program startup”
PIM Link Option, the program sends reminder e-mails for all Event and To Do items that have reminders
that fall during the time period you specified for the option. The default setting uses today’s date minus
seven days as the reminder date range to check. Only reminders that have not already been sent for to-
day’s date will be sent during this process.
Limitations
There are some limitations to the functionality provided by the GroupWise link. These are:
¾ Perpetual dates are not supported in GroupWise. Scheduling a perpetual date in Vision will not be
converted to a Recurring Date in GroupWise. Unfortunately, GroupWise does not have the equiva-
lent of a Vision Perpetual date. GroupWise does have a mechanism to schedule recurring dates but
23-6
they can only be scheduled for a specific period of time. You will have to schedule any perpetual
dates you enter into Vision using a GroupWise recurring date.
¾ Vision private To Do items are not transferred to GroupWise.
¾ To Do items with no date are not transferred to GroupWise.
¾ Completing an Event or To Do item in Vision does not complete the item in GroupWise.
23-7
24. Auto Text

This section covers the Auto Text feature of Vision. The Auto Text feature allows you to replace common
phrases contained in Event and To Do explanations with abbreviations.
Figure 24-1: Auto Text Replacement Entry Form
The Auto Text feature is used to apply replacement text to Event and To Do explanations displayed in lists
and on reports. For example, you may wish to replace the words “last court day” with “LCD” when viewing
Events on the Event List or on the Graphical Calendar display.
The Auto Text Replacement entry form (shown above) is accessed by selecting the Auto Text Entries op-
tion located on the Setup menu. The settings at the top of this form allow you to apply the replacement
text you provide to various parts of the program. If none of these options are set no replacement text is
applied.
The bottom half of the form contains the word replacement list. The word replacement list contains the
words and phrases used by the Auto Text feature when replacing text for display and printing purposes.
Note: Replacement text is used mainly for abbreviating text and is applied to the expla-
nation of Event and To Do items for display and printing purposes only. The actual text
of an explanation is not effected.
When the Auto Text Replacement form is displayed, the replacement list is in order by the “Replacement”
column. The replacement list can be ordered by either the “Replacement” or “With” columns by clicking on
the column header with your mouse. The words “(in order)” appear next to the column name used to order
the list.
24-1
Click the Add button, or press the [Insert] key, to add a replacement item to the list. Double click on an
item to edit it, or use the arrow keys to highlight an item you wish to edit and press the [Enter] key. Click
the Delete button, or press the [Delete] key, to delete the currently highlighted item. Click the Exit but-
ton, or press the [Escape] key to close the form and save your changes.
24-2
25. Database
This section covers the database operations you can perform from within the application such as Backup
and Restore.
The Database option located on the Utilities menu provides several database maintenance options. This
section covers each of these options in detail. The Database option is only available when you are
logged into the application as a user with supervisor rights.
Backup
This option is used to backup your CompuLaw database. See the on-line help for more information about
this option.
Restore
This option is used to restore your CompuLaw database from a previous backup. The backup file used to
restore the database must either be created using the Vision Backup option (see above) or by the Enter-
prise Manager.
Repair
In the unlikely event that your CompuLaw SQL database is damaged, this option can be used to repair it.
Compress
This option is used to reduce the size of the data file that contains your CompuLaw database. You should
only perform a compression operation if you are running out of space on the disk containing the Vision
data or you have recently deleted large numbers of records from the database and would like to recover
some of the space used by the database.
Run SQL Script
This option allows you to run a SQL script against your CompuLaw database. Sometimes it is necessary
for our Technical Support department to create SQL scripts and send them to you for execution. We pro-
vide this option as a convenient way to run these scripts.
Select Database
This option allows you to select and use another CompuLaw database. Selecting this option displays the
Connection String List shown below.
25-1
The Connection String List lists all currently defined connection strings that are used to connect to any of
your CompuLaw database. It displays the name you assigned to the connection string and the connection
string used to connect to that database.
The “(Default)” connection string is the connection string that you have assigned to the DBConnect setting
in your local COMPULAW.INI file (the COMPULAW.INI file located in the same folder from which the Vision
application was run). The default connection string is used when the Vision application is run.
Changes to this connection string information is not saved until you press the Save button or select a con-
nection string entry for use using the Select option. Pressing the Cancel button cancels any changes you
have made to any of the connection string entries in the list.
To add or change a connection string entry in the list, simply select the Add or Edit option from the lists
popup menu. The Connection String Entry form is displayed as shown below.
Simply enter the name of your connection string (this is for your reference only) in the Name field and the
actual connection string used to connect to the database in the Connection String field. It is always a
25-2
good idea to test the connection string before saving a new entry, or after changing an existing entry, by
clicking the Test button.
Often times, the parts of a connection string differ only slightly. Perhaps only the server name or database
name needs to be changed for a new entry. In this case, use the Duplicate option to copy the currently
highlighted connection string entry.
To switch to another CompuLaw database, simply highlight the connection string entry and select the Se-
lect option from the popup menu. You will receive a warning message that you are about to disconnect
from the current database and connect to a new one. If this is okay then click the Yes button to switch to
the selected database.
The connection string information is read from and written to the DBCONNECT.INI file located in the same
folder as the Vision executable file. While you can directly edit this file, we recommend that you always use
the Select Database feature of Vision to add, change and delete database connection string information.
25-3
Appendix A – Trouble Shooting

This appendix will help with problems that may surface in the following areas:
♦ Installation
♦ Calendar Display
♦ Court Rules Maintenance Module
♦ Starting Vision
♦ Log-in Capacity
♦ Date (entry) Errors
♦ Reporting
♦ Utility Program: Data Fixing
♦ Miscellaneous
♦ Performance Issues
This troubleshooting chapter was created with information provided by our customer service and product
development departments. Much of the information contained within these pages comes directly from feed-
back received from our customers.
Please refer to our web site at www.compulw.com for additional troubleshooting and court rules topics.
Your questions and suggestions are very important to the continuing success of Vision. If you think of top-
ics that you would like to see in this chapter or have general suggestions as to ways of improving Vision,
please let us know via U.S. Mail or e-mail us at “info@compulaw.com”.
Installation
Below are some of the problems you may encounter when installing Vision or when running the program for
the first time.
Problem: Sharing violation on file <filename>.
This message will be displayed by the installation program if a file that it needs to copy to your hard
disk is currently being used by your computer or workstation.
Exit all applications, restart your computer and rerun the Vision installation program.
Problem: Certain program functions cause an “out of system resources” error message.
1. Close some of your currently running applications and try the operation(s) again.
2. Check the video driver used by your computer. Try setting the driver to one of the standard Win-
dows VGA drivers (VGA Version 3, or one of the SVGA drivers) and try the operation again. If this
works, the original video driver may have been damaged or not the correct driver for the video
hardware in your computer.
Problem: One or more rule sets are no longer available.
1. A rule set(s) may have been disabled. To check this, run the CRD Maintenance program (from
the Vision program group), select the System or User Rule Sets options from the View menu.
Highlight the rule set in question and click the right mouse button to display the list forms menu.
25-1
Select the Edit Info option from this menu. If the Active check box is not checked, the rule set
has been disabled.
2. If you have just installed or updated the Court Rule Database, you must enter your Rule Set Ac-
cess codes for each rule set you have purchased. To enter the Access Code for a particular rule
set, run the CRD Maintenance program as described above and select the System Rule Sets op-
tion from the View menu. After the list of system rule sets is displayed, highlight the rule set for
which you wish to enter the access code. Click the right mouse button to display the lists popup
menu. Select the Access Codes option from the menu. Enter the access code in the space pro-
vided and press the [F10] key, or click the Save button.
Problem: Some field names (labels) do not match the manual or on-line help.
Vision allows you to modify nearly every field name. Another user may have changed some field
names from their original default values which appear in the documentation and help.
Calendar Display
If your having a problem with the Calendar display you might find help in this section.
Problem: Events do not appear in the Monthly View
Even though events do exist, there is no indication of this in the monthly calendar display. There is
no event count or “has events” message in the appropriate day boxes.
Check the Event Calendar Options (the Options button on the calendar toolbar). Select the Other tab.
The Event indicator field must be set to anything other than “None.” Hint: The setting “Mark” is
faster than “Count”, as it does not count the events on file for each day, but just checks to see if at
least one event exists per day.
Court Rules Maintenance Module
These are errors and problems that might occur when running the Court Rule Maintenance program. Prob-
lems with loading and activating rule sets are also discussed here.
Problem: Is there a way to set the Event Maintenance options for certain rule sets globally
before I install my Court Rule Database update?
Yes. From within the Court Rules Database Maintenance (CRDMAINT) program, select the Global
Rule Set Info option from the Misc menu and enter the Event Maintenance options that you wish
to apply to your rule sets. Now select the System Rule Sets option from the View menu. Select
the rule sets that you want to apply the global settings to by holding down the [Ctrl] key and clicking
on them with the left mouse button. To select all of the rule sets in the list, select the Select All op-
tion from the Rule Set menu. When you finish selecting rule sets, highlight the Global Mainte-
nance Settings option from the Rule Set popup menu then select the appropriate sub-menu op-
tion (in this case “Apply to Selected”). This will set the Use global default settings option for each
of the selected rule sets. Now load your Court Rule Database update.
Reporting
This section contains solutions to common reporting problems.
25-2
Problem: Each page seems to take a long time to print.
Be sure you have selected the correct printer driver for the model of your printer. This is done in
Windows. If you are unsure of how to check for the correct printer driver, contact your computer
dealer or network administrator. Sometimes updating your printer driver can dramatically speed up
printing.
25-3
Appendix B – Manually Create Database

This appendix contains instructions on how to use the Microsoft SQL Enterprise Manager to create the
CompuLaw Vision SQL database. Normally you would use the Database Creation Wizard to create the
database. The instructions in this appendix are provided in case circumstances prevent you from using
the wizard to create the database.
Important. Creating a database on your server database should be performed by your

network or database administrator. The instructions in this section of the manual assume
some basic knowledge of operating systems and Microsoft SQL Server.
Create the CompuLaw Database
Run the Microsoft SQL Enterprise Manager and double-click on the MS-SQL server that will house the
CompuLaw database. Expand the Databases folder for a list of the currently defined databases for the
selected server. Right mouse click on the Databases folder and select the New Database option.
On the Database Properties form, enter “CompuLaw” into the Name field and set the database file loca-
tion if different than the default provided. Click OK when finished.
Create the Tables
Run the SQL Server Query Analyzer located on the Tools menu from the Enterprise Manager main
menu.
MAKE SURE THAT THE COMPULAW DATABASE IS SELECTED BEFORE YOU RUN THIS SCRIPT.
To select the CompuLaw database, click on the arrow button next to the DB list box field and select it
from the list. Load the “CompuLaw Database.SQL” file into the query analyzer. This file is located in the
Vision SQL program folder. Once the script is loaded, select the Execute option from the Query menu.
When the query is complete close the Query Analyzer and check the CompuLaw database using the En-
terprise Manager to ensure that the tables were created. If you do not see the tables, click the Refresh
button located on the toolbar. If you still don’t see the tables then you probably selected the wrong da-
tabase before you ran the “CompuLaw Database.SQL” script. In this case you must repeat this step.
Set the Database Connection String
Edit the COMPULAW.INI file located in the Vision SQL program folder. Change the “DataPath” and “User
INI Path” settings to the locations of these folders in the Vision SQL folder. Note if these folders haven’t
been created yet, the program will create them when it is run for the first time. Now change the
“DBConnect” setting to the proper connection string. For example:
DBConnect=Driver={SQL Server};Server=SBS;Database=CompuLaw
The “Server=” setting needs to be set to the name of the MS-SQL server machine that contains the Com-
puLaw database.
25-1
Conclusion
You should now be able to run the program and enter the first user by following the instruction presented
at the beginning of this guide.
25-2

Vision Manual

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vision Manual

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CompuLaw Vision SQL User Guide

CompuLaw Vision SQL User Guide

© 1996-2005 CompuLaw LLC. All rights reserved.

1. LICENSE AGREEMENT 1-1

Setup Key Codes .................................................................................................... 5-9

11. CASE SUMMARY 11-1

Event Selection Expert ............................................................................................ 18-2

25. DATABASE 25-1

IMPORTANT: BY OPENING THE ACCOMPANYING CD PACKAGE, INSTALLING OR USING THIS PRODUCT OR

A. License Grant and Restrictions

2. You May, as the Licensee:

3. You May Not, except as expressly provided herein:

6. Term and Termination. This Agreement shall

B. Special Court Rules Licensee Obligations

1. Definitions. The following definitions shall apply to this Section B:

C. General Warranties and Disclaimers

INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS. IN PROVIDING THE LAWS, RULES, DATA AND INFORMATION

Product: Serial # Version # Number of timekeeper licenses:

Product is installed on how many CPUs/servers?

Important. Please sign Paragraph B.3 as well.

(continued on next page)

FOR THE FIRM/COMPANY OF:

Phone: (_____) FAX: (_____)

CompuLaw’s FAX Number: (310) 553-7670

2. Welcome to CompuLaw Vision Docket

Welcome to CompuLaw Vision

♦ Unrivaled date calculation and Court Rules technology.

Purpose of this Manual

Vision’s On Line Help System

The On Line Help Screen Buttons

Figure 2-1: On Line Help Options

Before You Begin

3. The Main Screen and Basic Functions

Figure 3-1: The Main Screen

The Main Screen

The Main Menu

The Main Toolbar

Figure 3-2: The Main Toolbar

Here is a brief description of each button on the main toolbar:

Contacts Clicking this button displays the firm contact information.

The Navigation Panel

CompuLaw Information Center

The Status Bar

Figure 3-3: The User and Password list

Selection Lists vs. Edit Lists

Common List Elements

Print. Allows you to print items in the list.

The Search Entry form

Figure 3-4: The Search Entry form

Fields. This field determines which field will be searched.

Timekeeper, Team, Department Selection List

Figure 3-5: Timekeeper, Team, Department Selection list

Figure 3-6: The Location Entry form

Common Entry Form Elements

Entry Form Fields

Field Editing Keys

Adding Information “On the Fly”

Figure 3-7: Confirmation for Adding on the Fly

4. Security and Features

Users and Security

Common User Information

User Preference Information

User Security Information

Phone: (_) FAX: (_)