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Reading Groups

A group of readings is a subset of your readings that match certain criteria that you set. For example, you can create a group that only includes readings entered between two dates, and/or readings entered at specific times of the day, and/or readings that contain specific words in their notes.

Groups are useful if you have been asked to record different types of readings. For example, you doctor has asked to take a reading while standing and then a reading while sitting. Or a reading on your left arm, and then on your right arm. In this example you could create a group of the standing readings, and another group for the sitting readings etc.

Note: In the current version, reading groups are limited to calculating averages, however in future versions reading groups will be extended so that you will be able to easily view charts and print reports of only the readings in a group.

Viewing your groups

To view or change your groups of readings, click on the Tools menu, then click Change Average Groups...

By default, four groups are included; 1/ All your readings, 2/ Readings taken in the last 30 days, 3/ All your readings taken in the AM, and 4/ All your readings in the PM.

Adding a new group

To add a new group:

1. Open the Averages Tool by clicking on the Tools menu, then clicking on Change Average Groups....
2. Click on the Add New Group button. This opens a new window which is illustrated in the screenshot below:

In this window you control which readings are included in the average. A reading must be within the selected Time Range Filter ,and the selected Date Range Filter, and the selected Notes Filter to be included in the group.

Add new group - Time Range Filter

• All readings - selecting this option effectively disables the time filter. No matter what time of day the reading was taken, it will be included in the group.
• AM readings only - only readings entered in the AM; between midnight and midday will be included in the group.
• PM readings only - only readings entered in the PM; between midday and midnight will be included in the group.
• Readings entered between - selecting this option activates two fields where you can enter a start time and end time. Readings entered between these two times are included in the group.
  Note: If the start time is after the end time the range wraps around midnight. For example entering 8:00PM in the first field and 2:00AM in the second field selects reading taken between 8:00 at night and 2:00 the next morning.

Add new group - Date Range Filter

• All readings - selecting this option effectively disables the date filter. No matter what date the reading was taken it will be included in the group.
• Readings entered in the last - selecting this option activates the Days field where you can enter the number of days back to include in the group. This is calculated from the date of the last reading you have entered.
• Readings entered between - selecting this option activates two fields where you can enter a start date and end date. Readings entered between these two dates are included in the groups.

Add new group - Notes Filter

New in version 2.1 of My Blood Pressure is the ability to create groups based on reading's notes.

• All readings - selecting this option effectively disables the notes filter. No matter what the reading's notes, it will be included in the group.
• Only readings with notes matching: - selecting this option activates a field where you can enter one or more words that must be present in a reading's notes before it is included in the group.

How Notes matching works

Enter a phrase similar to what you enter into a search engine. Letter case is ignored, and each word you enter must be present in the reading's notes to match.

Examples:

• sit matches: "sit" "sitting" "Sit".
• left sit matches: "I was sitting and took the reading on my left arm" but does not match: "I was sitting and took the reading on my right arm".
• left or right matches any notes with either the word "left" or the word "right".
• right -arm matches any notes with the word "right", but not the word "arm".

Show Matching Readings

Clicking on the Show Matching Readings displays the reading that are currently matched by the group. This is illustrated in the screenshot below:

Clicking on the Print Simple Report... button will print a report containing a chart and table of only those reading in the group. Note: In future versions, this feature will be more accessible and more integrated.

Notes

• In version 2.1, you can see which groups a reading belongs to by clicking on the Edit readings task, selecting a reading, and then clicking on the Show reading's groups task.
• In version 2.1, you can more easily enter the same words in a reading's notes. For more information, see the Entering a reading help topic.

Related topics

• Calculating averages of your readings
• Change how the report is printed
• Backing up your data

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