Printing Work Orders

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The simplest way to print one or more work orders is to select Work Orders —> Browse Work Orders from the menu. Alternatively, you can click the Print button in the Work Order browser or the Save & Print button in the Work Order editor. The window for printing work orders contains the following:

• W/O Number: Lets you specify a range of work order numbers. For example, if you specify 100 in the "From" column and 200 in the "To" column, MainBoss will print all work orders that have numbers in the range 100-200 (inclusive) and that satisfy the criteria specified by other fields and buttons in the window.
• Building: Lets you specify a range of building codes. For example, if you specify A in the "From" column and M in the "To" column, MainBoss prints all work orders for buildings that have codes in the range A-M (inclusive) and that satisfy the criteria specified by other fields and buttons in the window.
• Unit: Lets you specify a range of unit codes. In this field, the list of codes includes codes for both spaces and equipment. For example, if you specify A in the "From" column and F in the "To" column, MainBoss prints all work orders for equipment and for spaces that have codes in the range A-F (inclusive) and that satisfy the criteria specified by other fields and buttons in the window.
• Select for Printing: If you checkmark this box, MainBoss only prints work orders that have the box Select for Printing checkmarked. Therefore:
  • Checkmarking Select for Printing on a work order means that you want to print off the work order the next time you are printing off a batch of work orders.
  • Checkmarking Select for Printing in the Print Work Orders window means you are now ready to print off all the work orders that you marked.
• Status: Lets you specify what type of work orders you want to print.
  • Open Work Orders: Select this if you want to print open work orders.
  • Closed Work Orders: Select this if you want to print closed work orders. You cannot print both open and closed work orders at the same time.
• Work Order Class: Lets you specify what class of work orders you want to print.
  • Corrective: Prints corrective work orders.
  • Preventive: Prints preventive work orders.
• Printing Options: The accompanying checkboxes let you control what gets printed.
  • Turn off Select for Printing after printing: Clears the Select for Printing checkmark on each work order after the work order is printed. (Since Select for Printing is an indication that you want to print the work order, you usually want to remove the checkmark after the work order has been printed.)
  • Sort by Building: Tells MainBoss that you want the work orders to be sorted according to the building where the work is done. If this box is not checkmarked, the work orders will be printed in order according to work order number.
  • Include description: Tells MainBoss that the print-outs should include descriptions (from the Description section of each work order).
  • Include labor information: Tells MainBoss that the print-outs should include labor information (from the Labor section of each work order).
  • Include material information: Tells MainBoss that the print-outs should include information about materials (from the Material section of each work order).
  • Include unit specifications: Tells MainBoss to print out attachment references and any templates associated with the unit involved in the work order.
  • Suppress costs: Tells MainBoss not to show any costs on the printed work orders.
  • Additional labor lines: A printed work order may include blank lines where workers can write in additional labor information. For example, when you print out a new work order, you might want to add some blank lines where workers can record actual information about the job, such as their start and ending times, plus the actual amount of time they spent on the work. The "Additional labor lines" number tells how many of these blank lines should be added to the printed work orders.
  • Additional material lines: A printed work order may include blank lines where workers can write in additional information about materials. For example, when you print out a new work order, you might want to add some blank lines where workers can record what materials were actually used (as opposed to the preliminary estimates). The "Additional material lines" number tells how many of these blank lines should be added to the printed work orders.
• Preview: Displays the selected work orders on the screen. This gives you a chance to see what will be printed out when you click Print.
• Print: Prints the selected work orders on the current printer. (The name of the current printer is shown above the row of buttons.)
• Print Setup: Lets you change printers if your computer is connected to more than one printer. It also lets you change the page setup for the printer, including paper size, margin size, and so on.
• Export: Writes work order information to a file, in a format that can be used by other programs. There are two possible formats:
  • Text format writes the information as plain text.
  • DBF format writes the information as a DBF database. This can be opened by programs like Microsoft Excel and Access. For more information, see Exporting Data.
• Close: Closes the print window.

For information about creating and editing work orders, see Creating and Editing Work Orders. For information on the Work Order browser, see Browsing Work Orders.

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