As mentioned in other unit related topics, Resort Bistro will normally prompt you (with the Unit Conversion Wizard) when it needs to know a unit conversion factor to convert between two different units.
When you're entering data into a fairly new database, the Unit Conversion Wizard will pop up fairly regularly prompting you for unit conversions. This can get quite annoying when you really want to concentrate on entering raw data into the program.
To circumvent this situation, you can enable deferred unit conversions in the Units page of the File Preferences Dialog.
NOTE: You can also defer unit conversions by checking the appropriate box in the Unit Conversion Wizard.
When Resort Bistro needs a unit conversion factor, and unit conversion deferral is enabled, the program will not display the Unit Conversion Wizard. Instead, it will create a unit conversion in the database and automatically use a conversion factor of 1.0 (one). It is left to you to manually enter the correct conversion factors at a later time. These can be entered via the General details page of the Unit form, the Deferred unit conversions page of the Unit form, the Unit Conversions Page of the Ingredient Form, and the Unit Conversions Page of the Recipe Form.
All forms that display unit conversions will show deferred (automatically generated) unit conversions in red to highlight to you that they need updating. The following screenshot shows the Unit Form with a deferred unit conversion highlighted in red.
The example deferred conversion above has a default conversion factor of 1 (one) which, unless you update this, the program will use indefinitely when converting from kilograms to cups (or cups to kilograms) for the unit Breadcrumbs White. Now, it's fairly obvious that 1 cup of breadcrumbs weighs a good deal less than 1 kilogram, so we need to update the conversion factor.
Whipping out the kitchen scales and taking a quick measurement, we find that 1 cup of breadcrumbs weighs about 250 grams, therefore there are 4 cups of breadcrumbs in a kilogram. So, we enter the conversion factor of 4 into the General details page of the Unit form and Resort Bistro will use that unit conversion factor for all future calculations. The following screenshot shows the General details page of the Unit form with the new unit conversion entered.
NOTE: After entering a unit conversion factor for a deferred conversion, the program will no longer draw that conversion in red and it will be displayed using the same colours as other items in the unit conversion grid.
It is possible to view all deferred unit conversions in the deferred conversions page of the unit form.
Here's the basic recommended procedure to follow when building up a new database:-
•Enable deferred unit conversions in the File Preferences Dialog or from the Unit Conversion Wizard.
•Enter your ingredients and recipes (remembering that the program will not bug you with the Unit Conversion Wizard).
•Run a batch calculation. This will force the program to automatically generate deferred unit conversions for every required pair of units. (The resulting recipe costing details will be incorrect as the program will have used the automatically generated unit conversion factors, but don't worry about this for the moment, as the costs will be calculated correctly later.)
•Update all your unit conversions entering the correct unit conversion factors. You do this via the Deferred Conversions page of the Unit Form. This page of the Unit Form displays every unit conversion in the entire database.
•Run the batch calculation again to recalculate the recipe and menu costs using the newly entered (and correct) unit conversion factors.
•Disable deferred unit conversions in the File Preferences Dialog.
NOTE: You can leave deferred unit conversions permanently enabled, if you wish, but you will need to remember to manually check all your unit conversion at regular intervals to update any automatically generated conversions (this is easy enough as all automatically generated unit conversions will appear on screen in red). If you leave deferred unit conversions enabled permanently, Resort Bistro will frequently report incorrect recipe costs as the program may be using automatically generated unit conversion factors (1.0). You should regularly check your unit conversions and correct any highlighted (red) conversions and then run a batch calculation to force a recalculation of all recipe and menu costs.