The Indexer allows you to save an index in either text format or The Indexer’s own format. It is suggested that indexes be saved in The Indexer’s own format until ready to be used in production, at which point it should simply be exported, not overwritten. This is because due to the complicated format of text exported by The Indexer, an index exported by The Indexer may not be readable by The Indexer. Also, files saved in The Indexer format open about 10 times faster.
6.1 Saving files normally
To save a file in The Indexer format, choose “Save” from the “File” menu. If the current index was an opened Indexer index, the file will be saved. Otherwise, a dialog box will be displayed asking for a file name to save the index under. Type in the file name, find the folder where the file should be saved, and click save. The dialog box looks like the following:
The popup menu along the bottom of the dialog box allows for an index to be saves as either an Indexer type, or exported as text.
6.2 Saving a file as text, Exporting
When the time comes to send in the index, a text version of the index will be required. After making sure that the exporting preferences are set correctly in the “Exporting 1” and “Exporting 2” panels of the preferences, choose “Export Index…” from the “File” menu. This will bring up a save dialog box that will ask for a name for the exported index.
Alternatively, choose “Save As…” from the “File” menu, click on the popup menu at the bottom of the dialog box (see Section 6.1), and choose “Text”.
7. Etc. – Other things to know
The Indexer is full of small features that make life easier, as well as some major features that weren’t explained above. They are listed and explained in this section.
7.1 Creating class associations
The internal format for classes in The Indexer was explained above. The Indexer stores classes as numbers rather than text for consistency. What this means is that associations need to be made between class levels and the text that represents them. By default, The Indexer comes with some standard text associations which were listed previously. They include such things as “Sophomore” representing 10th grade.
To create class associations, either use the “Exporting 1” preferences panel in the preferences dialog box, and click on “Define Text…” or type a random string in the class field, and press tab. The Indexer will display a dialog box stating that an invalid class text was entered. This dialog box contains a button that, when pressed, brings up the “Define Text” dialog box. The “Define Text” dialog looks like this:
The first column displays whether or not the item is the default for its class. The default item is what is printed or displayed when an association is typed in. An example was given in the “Entering names individually” section. Briefly, given the above parameters, typing “Graduate” into the class field will automatically replace it with “Senior.”
The second column displays the number that is associated with the text. This means that any of “Senior, “Sr.”, “Graduate”, or “12” by itself would refer to 12th grade.
The third column displays the associated text. Case sensitivity for entering is as defined by the “Find Prefs” preferences panel. By default, case sensitivity is turned off.
As always, clicking on the “OK” button accepts and saves changes made to the class associations dialog box, and clicking on the “Cancel” button ignores all changes made.
The buttons along the right hand side of the window allow creation, editing, and removal of class associations. “New” will create a new association and prompt for a class and text to go along with it. If the class number does not already exist, The Indexer will make that item the default for the class. “Edit” will edit the current selection, allowing for changes in the text or class association. (Editing can also be done by double clicking on an item.) “Remove” removes the selected association from the list.
The “Make Default” button will make the current selection the default for the class number. It will deselect the previous default.
7.2 The preferences
The preferences that have been discussed widely in this document can be found by choosing “Preferences” from the “Edit” menu (or typing -L). This brings up a window containing the viewing preferences. These preferences can be modified, and all other preferences are accessible from this dialog box. Using the popup menu at the top of the screen allows for switching between preferences windows. It is useful to explore the preferences, and make The Indexer work the way you want it to.
7.3 Printing
The Indexer allows for printing of indexes. By default, items are printed as they are given by the exporting options. However, by using the “Printing Prefs” panel in the preferences dialog box, individual items can be turned on and off for printing so unnecessary information is not printed. Also in this panel, the font and size for printing can be set. Choosing “Print…” from the “File” menu will display a dialog box with options for printing. Clicking the “Print” button will print the index.
8. Other Stuff
The Indexer has been tested on a variety of systems, and appears to be compatible with both Power Macintosh and 680x0 systems. It has also been tested under use of utilities such as virtual memory (Apple) and RamDoubler (Connectix Corporation), and did not display any problems as such that have not been fixed since.
If you need to reach the author, I gladly accept praise, comments, and criticism (OK, maybe I don’t gladly accept criticism, but I accept it =) concerning this product and how to improve it. If you have any questions, contact me somehow as listed below (in order of preference):
E-Mail: Todd_Clements@hmc.edu
or
todd@kagi.com
Snail-Mail:
Todd Clements
4955 Cervato Way
Santa Barbara, CA 93111 USA
Through 1997, the home page for The Indexer can be found at
Although The Indexer has been tested on a variety of systems, and found to run smoothly, no guarantees are made concerning the reliability of the program, or the integrity of the data. Lost or destroyed data is not the responsibility of the author. The author cannot take responsibility for damages which may or may not have been caused by the use of the program “The Indexer.” The user takes full responsibility in using the program for any consequences thereof.
