When a feature is not where the tutorial says, search for the action, not the button. You meet this whenever your home computer, school computer and tutorial video do not match.
This builds on the action checklist: the checklist says what to do, and this lesson helps you find how to do it in your own program.
What is the method for finding a feature?
Features move between versions and devices, but their purpose stays the same. Use these steps.
- Name the action in plain words. “Remove repeated records” is better than the tutorial’s button label.
- Use the program’s own search. Type two or three action words, such as
duplicate,remove,unique. - Browse the likely menu area. Data work is usually under a data or table area, layout under page layout.
- Try on a copy. Run the feature on a spare copy of the file, never the original.
- Record the path and the version. Write the menu path and the software name and version in your notes.
Worked example
Invented task for Lakeview Library Club (fictional): the member list has repeated records and the brief says “remove duplicate records”.
The list has these IDs: 101, 102, 102, 103, 104, 104. That is 6 rows.
Step 1: action in plain words: remove repeated rows.
Step 2: the tutorial’s “Remove Duplicates” button is not visible. Searching the help for duplicate shows a data tools entry with a near-identical name.
Step 3: run it on a copy, choosing the ID column as the test for repeats.
Step 4: check the result. The repeats 102 and 104 are each removed once, leaving 101, 102, 103, 104. That is 4 rows, and 6 − 2 = 4.
Step 5: note the path, for example “Data tools, remove duplicates”, with the software version.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to hide rows instead of removing them, because a similar-looking feature was nearer to hand.
Mistaken approach: the student uses a filter that shows one of each ID. The screen looks correct, but all 6 rows are still in the file, so a count or an export still includes the repeats.
Hiding and deleting give the same picture on screen and different data underneath.
The correction is to ask what the brief really needs: removed, not hidden. After any equivalent feature, verify the underlying data, for example by checking the row count.
Check yourself
1. Your software has no button named “Sort A to Z”. Write two search words you could try.
Show answer
For example sort and order, or ascending. Any action words that match what the feature does are fine.
2. A list has IDs 7, 8, 8, 8, 9. After removing repeated IDs, how many rows are left?
Show answer
3 rows: 7, 8, 9. Five rows minus two extra copies of 8 gives 3.
3. Why should you record the software version beside a menu path?
Show answer
Menus change between versions. The version tells you which layout the path applied to, so you can find the feature again after an update.
Where this leads next
Finding a feature is only half the job: you also need to know whether the brief requires it. Continue with distinguishing an exam requirement from an app preference. Try the read-only SQL practice lab if you want to practise the same idea in database queries on invented data.
For a teacher to look at how you search and where you get stuck on your own setup, see online one-to-one ICT tuition.