Item Information Lookup and Manufacturer Management

AccuArk provides dedicated forms for looking up comprehensive item details and managing the manufacturers (brands) associated with your inventory. This article covers three forms: the Item Information lookup, the Manufacturers browser, and the Manufacturer edit form.

Item Information Form

The Item Information form provides a detailed, read-only view of a single inventory item. It pulls data from the item record along with its category, class, manufacturer, pricing tiers, stock levels per location, and associated images -- all displayed in a single scrollable panel.

How to Open

There are two ways to access this form:

1. Direct by Item ID -- When opened from another form (such as the Info button on the Stock Quantities Report or from POS item lookup), the form receives the item ID automatically. In this mode, the search bar is hidden and the item details fill the entire form. If the calling form passes the 'showEdit' flag, an Edit Item button also appears.
2. Search Mode -- When opened from the Inventory menu without a specific item, the form displays a search group box at the top. You must search or browse to load an item.

Searching for an Item

In search mode, enter a search term in the text box and press Enter or click the Search button. The search looks across the following fields:

• Item ID (exact match)
• Item Name (partial match)
• Model (partial match)
• SKU (partial match)
• Reference (partial match)

Partial matches use wildcard matching, and any spaces in your search term are treated as additional wildcards. For example, searching for 'blue shirt' will match items containing 'blue' and 'shirt' anywhere in the same field.

If no items match, the form displays the message 'No Items Found. Revise Search Term!' and returns focus to the search box.

Browse Button

Click Browse to open the full Inventory browser in selection mode. After selecting an item from the grid, the form loads that item's details by ID.

Information Displayed

Once an item is loaded, the form builds a rich-text display containing all available details from a comprehensive database query that joins across multiple tables. The following information is shown:

Item Details

Category and Class

Manufacturer Information

Pricing Tiers

If the item has pricing tiers configured, each tier is displayed with:

When an item has multiple pricing tiers, each field is numbered (e.g., 'Pricing Discount Amount (1)', 'Pricing Discount Amount (2)').

Stock Per Location

Stock quantities are displayed grouped by location. Each location section shows:

Locations are numbered sequentially (Location 1, Location 2, etc.) and duplicate location entries are automatically removed based on a combination of name, address, phone, email, and quantity.

Item Images

If the item has images, the image URLs are listed in the details panel.

Note: Fields with zero values (0.00 or 0.0000) are automatically hidden from the display to keep the view clean and focused on meaningful data.

Display Format

All fields are displayed in a rich-text format with each label shown in bold followed by its value. For example:

• Item Name: Widget Pro
• Item Price: 29.99
• Item Sku: WP-1001

Price Label

At the bottom of the form, a large price label displays the item's selling price. If the item has a price greater than zero, it shows the formatted amount. If the price is zero, it displays 'Price: Not Available'.

Action Buttons

Return Values

When the Item Information form is opened as a dialog by another form, it provides the following properties back to the calling form:

• ItemEdited -- Boolean indicating whether the item was modified via the Edit Item button
• Price -- The item's selling price as a decimal value
• Cost -- The item's cost as a decimal value

Manufacturers Browser

The Manufacturers browser (titled 'Manufacturers/Brands') provides a browsable, searchable list of all manufacturer and brand records in the system.

Accessing the Browser

Navigate to Inventory > Manufacturers from the main menu to open the browser in its default mode.

The form can also be opened in Select and Close mode by other forms (such as the manufacturer dropdown on the item form). In this mode, double-clicking a row selects the manufacturer and closes the browser, returning the selected manufacturer ID and name to the calling form.

Alphabetic Filter

The menu strip at the top of the form contains letter buttons A through Z plus an All button. Clicking a letter filters the manufacturer list to show only manufacturers whose names start with that letter. The selected letter is highlighted in green. By default, 'All' is selected and highlighted when the form first opens.

Grid Columns

Infinite Scroll Pagination

The browser loads manufacturers in pages. As you scroll down and approach the bottom of the loaded records, the next page loads automatically in the background. This means you never have to click a 'Next Page' button -- simply keep scrolling to see more records. While records are loading, the grid is temporarily disabled to prevent conflicts.

Search

Click the Search menu item in the toolbar to open a search dialog. Enter a manufacturer or brand name, telephone number, email, or address. The search matches across the following fields:

• Manufacturer ID (exact numeric match)
• Name (partial match)
• Address (partial match)
• Phone (digit match)
• Fax (digit match)

Spaces in the search term are treated as wildcards, just like item search.

If the search returns more than 100 results, you will be prompted: 'Your search term has returned and displayed over 100 results! Do you want to continue displaying the results?' Choose Yes to load all remaining results, or No to stop with the first 100.

If no results are found, the message '0 Records Found! Your search did not return any customers!' is displayed.

Record Count

The status bar at the bottom of the form shows the total number of records matching the current filter (e.g., '42 Records.'). When displaying search results, it instead shows 'Displaying X records found for [search term]'.

Double-Click Behavior

Double-click behavior depends on the mode:

• Select and Close mode -- Double-clicking a row sets the SelectedId and SelectedManufacturerName properties and closes the form with a DialogResult of OK. The calling form receives the selection.
• Default (browse) mode -- Double-clicking a row opens the Manufacturer edit form for the selected record. After saving changes and closing the edit form, the browser refreshes its list.

Creating a New Manufacturer

Click the New menu item in the toolbar to open a blank Manufacturer edit form. After saving the new manufacturer, the browser automatically filters to the first letter of the new manufacturer's name so you can see the new record in the list.

Manufacturer Edit Form

The Manufacturer edit form is used to create new manufacturers or edit existing ones. It contains eight fields for recording the manufacturer's contact and identification information.

Fields

New vs. Edit Mode

The form operates in two modes based on how it is opened:

• New mode (opened without an ID) -- The Account Number field is blank. When you click Save, a new manufacturer record is created in the database. On success, the form closes and returns DialogResult.OK to the calling form.
• Edit mode (opened with a manufacturer ID) -- The form loads the existing manufacturer's data into all fields. The Account Number displays the manufacturer's existing ID. When you click Save, the existing record is updated. On success, the form closes and returns DialogResult.OK.

If saving fails in either mode, an error message is displayed and the form remains open so you can correct the issue and try again.

Phone and Fax Validation

Both the Telephone and Fax fields use a masked input control with the pattern 1-(XXX)-XXX-XXXX. The field only accepts digits. The value is saved only when the unmasked digits total exactly 10 or when the field is completely empty (0 digits). Partially entered phone numbers are not saved, preventing invalid data from being stored.

Buttons

Where These Forms Are Used

Understanding how these forms connect to the rest of AccuArk helps you navigate efficiently.

Item Information Form

• Stock Quantities Report -- Click the Info button on any row to view full item details with the option to edit
• POS Item Lookup -- Used to look up item details during a sale
• Inventory Grids -- Various inventory grids provide access to item information

Manufacturers Browser

• Item Form (Manufacturer Dropdown) -- When creating or editing an item, click Browse next to the manufacturer field to open the Manufacturers browser in Select and Close mode. After selecting, the manufacturer is assigned to the item.
• Main Menu (Inventory > Manufacturers) -- Opens the browser in default mode for general management of manufacturer records

Manufacturer Edit Form

• Manufacturers Browser (Double-Click) -- Double-clicking a row in default browse mode opens the manufacturer for editing
• Manufacturers Browser (New Menu Item) -- Clicking New in the toolbar opens a blank manufacturer form for creating a new record

Tips

• Use Item Information for safe lookups -- The Item Information form is entirely read-only (unless the Edit button is shown), so there is no risk of accidentally modifying item data when you just need to check details
• Search with partial terms -- Both the item search and manufacturer search support partial matching. Searching for just a few characters of a name can be faster than typing the full name.
• Use the alphabetic filter for large manufacturer lists -- If you have hundreds of manufacturers, clicking a letter to filter is much faster than scrolling through the entire list
• Print item details for warehouse staff -- Use the Print button on the Item Information form to generate a printout that warehouse staff can use for receiving, stocking, or reference
• Keep manufacturer records up to date -- Accurate phone numbers, emails, and addresses on manufacturer records make it easier to contact them when you need product support or want to place orders

Related Articles

• Inventory Reports and Analytics -- Covers the Stock Quantities Report which provides access to Item Information via the Info button
• Creating and Editing Inventory Items -- Explains the item form where the manufacturer dropdown and Browse button are located
• Inventory Classes and Attributes -- Describes how classes and manufacturers relate to item organization