**If this is your first time running the program, you will first have to create a databse file. To do this, select "Create Database" from the top menu. Next, follow the instructions below for "Creating a Database".
The last file used should open automatically once the program is loaded. If it doesn't, or to look at a different file, select "File - Open" from the top menu and locate the database file previously generated with Easy Catalog 2001. Attempts to open any other text file will generate an error and not be opened.
Once a database is loaded, you can search through it by name or by index (see "Using an Index"). To search by name, type your search string into the text box labeled "Search String" and click search. Do not use wildcards, only type the search string exactly as it would appear in the file's name and/or path. For example, to locate all ZIP files, just search for ".zip" not "*.zip" (do not use the quotes).
To search by index, simply click on the down arrow of the list box labeled "Index" and select an index number.
You can open a particular file (assuming that the path shown is still valid) by double clicking the file name.
The number of records for the entire database is shown in the lower left corner. You can navigate the records by either using the scroll bar on the right or the "First-Previous-Next-Last" navigation buttons at the bottom of the window.
Pressing the Reset button cancels the search by returning all the records stored in the database.
To create a database, you must first navigate to the folder that will be your root folder (i.e. the folder or drive that contains everything that you want to catalog). Navigate to the root folder using the drop down drive and the directory list boxes. Click the "Run" button. A window will open asking you where you want to save your file and what you want to call it. If it already exists, you will be prompted if you want to overwrite it. Select "Open" after you have entered the information and the program will start cataloging all files located in the current directory and each directory under that. Once it is done, you will be asked if you want to view the database in the database window that you just created. If you select Yes, the current window will close and the data will be present in the database window. If you say No, you will see all of the entries generated in the text box on the right side of the window. The total number of files are shown in the middle of the status bar at the bottom of the window.
To add an index number other than 1, select a number from the drop down list located in the Options section. This is useful if you want to add files from multiple drives or multiple CDs to the same database file and you want to be able to keep track of which is which. For example, you can catalog the files on one CD and use the default index value of 1. Next, you would select 2 for the index and check the "Append File" check box. Click Run and select the same file name used before. You will be asked if you want to Append to the selected file. This will add the contents of the second CD with an index of 2 to the results of the first CD which has an index of 1. You do not have to use an index to do multiple catalogs. If not selected, a value of 1 will always be used as the index.
