The grouping feature is used to determine which records that are displayed, and makes it possible to work with a subset of the database (for example, programs published by a specific publisher).

Using the grouping feature is similar to using a filter, except that it is easier to change the value used in the filtering process. For example, if you group by category, you can simply select another category to display the programs in this category (if you used a filter you would have to modify the filter to get the same result).

The grouping values are presented in a so-called "tree view" to the left of the browse list. A tree view is a user interface control that displays a hierarchical list of items, similar to the left pane in Windows Explorer. Each item in the list consists of a text label and an icon. If more than one field is used in the grouping definition (you can group on up to five fields), only the values of the first field are displayed by default. Click the + button to the left of an item to display the values of the second field.

The first item in the list represents the open database. Select this item to display all records in the table.

To update the list of grouping values, right-click and choose Refresh from the popup menu. For example, if you add a new program by a publisher that was not previously in the database, you must use the Refresh command to include the new publisher in this list.

If you use both the grouping and filter features, the filter and grouping are combined in the filtering process. In addition, the subset feature is also used if it is activated (only marked records are displayed).

The Grouping Definitions drop-down list to the left of the browse list indicates which grouping definition that is currently active. The grouping values are displayed in the list below.

If you cannot see the two grouping lists, choose Lists -> Grouping from the View menu.

Simply select a definition from this drop-down list to change the active grouping definition. Right-click the drop-down list to display a popup menu with more options: