Main Index
Help Index for Index-It

Index-It

   for

Windows

      Version 1.0

Copyright ©  1993 by

Aciran Software Systems

All Rights Reserved

Index-It is a Windows Utility designed to assist in the indexing and cataloguing of text files.

At start up the main menu offers the following choices:

File

Edit

Display

Help

And four buttons along the bottom of the main window:

Yes

No

Never

STOP

General

How to Operate


File Menu

The file menu has the following options.

Open

Save

Save As

Merge

Printer SetUp

Print

Exit

Click on each item for more information.


File Open

This option is used to load the file to be scanned for Keywords. The user is presented with a File Open Dialog box, which defaults to ASCII or text files with the extension *.txt or *.doc, but other file types can be selected from the File Types options box.

Index-it is primarily designed for simple ASCII text files. It can read other file types but you may encounter weird words, which are in fact page layout information, and not part of the text.

Once a file is opened Index-It will scan the text, and place around 120 to 150 words at a time into the Edit section. This is used to show words in context. If Index-it finds a word that is not in any of its Lists, it will highlight the word, place a copy in the box next to the Buttons, and wait for the user to select what to do. The user should then click on either the YES, NO, NEVER or STOP button, as appropriate.


File Save

This option saves the Index List to a file with the extension *.Idx. The index file is a simple ASCII (text) file, arranged one word to a line. This format means that not only can the list be read by programs such as Help Edit, but it can also be used in a Desk Top Publishing program to generate a list of words to be included in indexes etc.


File Save As

This menu item performs the same function as the File Save option, but offers the user the chance to save the file under another name.


File Merge

Using this option an Index List can be built up from several smaller independent Lists. A current Project must have been opened, as the new merged Index List will be placed there. Merge allows the user to open an existing *.Idx List and merge it with the Index List of the Current Project. The words in the *.Idx file will be inserted into the current Index List provided that they do not already reside in any List. Any duplication of Words is therefore avoided.


File Printer SetUp

Use this option to configure you system Printer, eg. to select Portrait or Landscape printing.


File Print

This option will print the current Index List. This can also be done by displaying the index List and selecting the Print Button.


File Exit

This option will terminate the program


Display Menu

This menu offers three options,

Common Dictionary

Index List

Reject Words

Select one of the above for more details.


Edit Menu

This Menu has the Following Options

Common Dictionary

Index List

Reject Words

Click on each item for more information.


Edit Common Dictionary

This Menu item displays an Edit dialog box which allows the user to perform a number of operations on the Common Dictionary, ie the list of words that will never be used for indexing purposes.

The user can move a word from either the Index List or Reject List into the Common dictionary by selecting the word in one of these lists, and clicking either the Move1 or Move2 buttons to transfer the word. This is a useful feature if a word has been inadvertently placed in the wrong list.

The user can also edit the words in the Common Dictionary by Adding new words (providing they do already not exist), Delete existing words, and by Editing or correcting existing words, provided that the editing process does not produce a word that is in one of the Lists already.


Edit Index List

This Menu item displays an Edit dialog box which allows the user to perform a number of operations on the Index List, ie the list of words that will be used for indexing purposes.

The user can move a word from either the Common Dictionary or Reject Words List into the Index List by selecting the word in one of these lists, and clicking either the Move1 or Move2 buttons to transfer the word. This is a useful feature if a word has been inadvertently placed in the wrong list.

The user can also edit the words in the Index List by Adding new words (providing they do already exist in any List), Delete existing words, and by Editing or correcting existing words, provided that the editing process does not produce a word that is in one of the Lists already.


Edit Reject Words

This Menu item displays an Edit dialog box which allows the user to perform a number of operations on the Reject Words List, ie the list of words that will not be used for indexing purposes in this particular project.

The user can move a word from either the Index List or Common Dictionary into the Reject Word List by selecting the word in one of these lists, and clicking either the Move1 or Move2 buttons to transfer the word. This is a useful feature if a word has been inadvertently placed in the wrong list.

The user can also edit the words in the Reject Word List by Adding new words (providing they do already not exist in any List), Delete existing words, and by Editing or correcting existing words, provided that the editing process does not produce a word that is in one of the Lists already.


Help Menu

This menu offers the following choices

Help Index

Shareware

Order

About

Select one of the above .


Display Main Dictionary
Display Common Dictionary

This option will show a list of all the words in the Common dictionary. This dictionary contains all the words that will never be used for indexing purposes, e.g. and, but, etc.

The total number of entries in the list is shown, and the list may be printed by clicking the print button.


Display Index List

This option will show a list of all the words in the Index dictionary. This dictionary contains all the words that will be used for indexing purposes.

The total number of entries in the list is shown, and the list may be printed by clicking the print button.


Display Reject Words

This option will show a list of all the words in the reject dictionary. This dictionary contains all the words that could be index words, but will not be used for indexing purposes in this project.

The total number of entries in the list is shown, and the list may be printed by clicking the print button.


Help Index

This option invokes this help file.


Help Shareware

This option is only available in the Shareware version and explains the Shareware principle.


Help Order

This option is only available in the Shareware version and explains how to Order your registered copy of Index-It.


Help About

This option gives copyright and version information for Index-It.


Yes Button

During normal scanning of a file, Index-it will display unknown words in the box at the left of the buttons, and also highlight the word in the main window, so that the user can see it in context. If the word is to be added to the list of Index words, then the user should click the Yes button.


No Button

During normal scanning of a file, Index-it will display unknown words in the box at the left of the buttons, and also highlight the word in the main window, so that the user can see it in context. If the word is NOT to be added to the list of Index words, then the user should click the No button.


Never Button

During normal scanning of a file, Index-it will display unknown words in the box at the left of the buttons, and also highlight the word in the main window, so that the user can see it in context. If the word is NEVER to be used for indexing purposes, then the user should click the Never button.


Stop Button

This button stops the scanning of the file. The buttons become inactive, and the menu active. You can stop and continue re-scanning the file later, Index-It will simply pick up where it left off.


General Operation
General Operation.

Index-It can be used to scan most types of file including ASCII, Word for Windows, MS Works, and Windows Write files. To start select the Open options from the File menu and select the file to scan.

During normal scanning of a file, Index-it will display unknown words in the box at the left of the buttons, and also highlight the word in the main window, so that the user can see it in context.

If the word is to be added to the list of Index words, the user should click the Yes button.

If the word is not to be used for indexing in this particular case, but is still a possible candidate in other situations, then the No button should be clicked.

If the word would never be used for indexing purposes, (e.g. words like and, but, there, etc), then the user should click the Never button.

To stop scanning click the Stop button. The user can stop a scan at any time, and later continue where he/she left off next time the file is opened.

Note: You should think carefully before placing a word in your common dictionary thus stating that you will NEVER use it as an Index word. It may not seem a likely candidate as an Index word in the current context, but it may just be possible it could be used at a later date in a totally unrelated subject.


Project

In Index-It terms Project is defined to be the combination of the text file that is being Indexed, and the dictionary file of the same name, but with the extension *.dic, that Index-It produces. This Dictionary file contains the lists of Index or keywords for the file, as well as the list of Reject words. The common dictionary is stored in a separate file called Index-it.Dic, as it is common to all Projects.


Index Word

An Index word is a Keyword that you could use to describe or identify a topic in your text. For example such keywords are often used when compiling the index lists in journals or books, they form the documents Index, and this is where readers look to find information on a subject. Keywords are also used in the search facility of many Hypertext systems, to enable users to find their way around.


Help Edit

Help Edit is a Windows Utility used to create Windows Help Files. Help Edit creates all Topic and Definitions of your Help File, and automatically generates all jump labels. It will create an HPJ file and call the Microsoft Help Compiler to make a Help File, and then let you test it. All from within the Help Edit system. Help Edit can handle the inclusion of Fonts, Colour, and Bitmaps into a Help Topic. It also has an optional Spell Checking Utility which is available in both American and British versions.

This Help file was produced using Help Edit.

Help Edit is copyright ©  1993 by Aciran Software Systems.