Gold Medal Software 3/Gold Medal Software - Volume 3 (Gold Medal) (1994).iso/database/ddf606a.arj/HELPDOC.EXE/INDEX.HLP

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 6KB | 110 lines

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      │                Creating and Selecting Index Files                 │
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      The index sub-menu can be accessed from either "Index Create/Select"
      in the main menu or while editing records by pressing <Alt-I>. Either
      way, the sub-menu is the same.

                           A) Create New Index
                           B) Set Controlling Index
                           C) Select Index Files

      When an index file is active it causes records in the database to
      appear in the order in which they were indexed. The key index field
      is the first field selected when creating an index file and this is
      what determines the record order.

      Records with a blank key index field appear first, numbers are
      second, then lower case and upper case characters. This order may be
      seen when paging up and down through the database from "Edit/Add
      Records" or when printing labels, letters or a master list. For
      example, if you created an index on the zip code field, records with
      a blank zip code field will appear first, others will appear in order
      starting on the east coast and ending on the west coast.

      An index is most often used for printing labels in zip code order by
      selecting the zip code as your key (1st) index field. DDFile also
      uses index files for duplicate record searching and seeking.

      If an index is active when exporting records, the records will be
      copied to the new database in index order. This is commonly known as
      a sort. The index order of the old (current) database is the natural
      order of the new (exported) database. See "Importing and Exporting"
      in the on-line documentation.


      A) Create New Index
      ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
      This selection will create an index file for the current database. Up
      to 15 index files are allowed per database. Index files have a NTX
      filename extention.

      Index files cause the records in a database to appear in the index
      order of the field(s) the index was created on. If the key index
      field is a date field, the index order would be chronological. If the
      key index field is a character field, the index order would be
      alphabetical. This index order is only active when the index file is
      selected as the controlling index. The controlling index is selected
      with the next command in this sub-menu.

      If 15 index files already exist for the selected database, you will
      have to inactivate one or more of the active index files in order to
      create others. To inactivate an index, select the "Select Index
      Files" command in this sub-menu. Then, select only the index files
      that you want to use. The unwanted index files may then be deleted
      with "Copy/Rename/Delete/Edit Files" in the main menu. See "File
      Management" in the on-line documentation.

      If less than 15 index files currently exist for the selected
      database, the fields in the database will be displayed in a window.
      You can select up to five fields to index on.

      If you select a character field, you will be prompted to specify how
      many characters of the field to include in the index. If, for
      example, you are creating an index on the zip code and the zip code
      field is 10 characters long (zip+4) you would only want to index on
      the first 5 characters, especially if your secondary index field is
      the carrier route sort field. In this example enter 5.

      NOTE: Logical and memo fields can not be indexed.

      After selecting the fields to index on, you are asked to enter a name
      to call the database. Type a name up to 8 characters long and press
      <Enter>. The index file will then be created. The new index file is
      automatically added on to the end of the list of selected index files
      as long as there are less than 15 index files selected.


      B) Set Controlling Index
      ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
      This selection will allow you to set the controlling index. This can
      only be done if one or more index files have been selected with the
      "Select Index Files" command. Select one of the current index files
      or press <Esc> to select natural record order.

      Upon selecting an index file, the list of index fields will be
      displayed in a box followed by a description of the field in
      parenthesis. The description will be either C, N or D representing
      Character, Numeric or Date field respectively. If the field is a
      character field and the index was created on a portion of the field
      the "C" will be followed by the number of characters that were
      included in the index such as (C-10).


      C) Select Index Files
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      This selection will allow you to select any index files to be used
      with the selected database. If you select an index that was created
      for another database where the field names or types do not match the
      currently selected database you will be informed so and will not be
      able to select it. Once you have selected the index files you may
      select the prior command; "Set Controlling Index" to select the
      active (controlling) index file.

      Index files selected are always kept updated automatically to insure
      record integrity. These index files will be reselected automatically
      upon selecting the database as long as they have not been used by any
      other database and as long as the database itself is not modified.