File Operations

Naming Files

To name or rename the file in memory, give the Rename File command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Files Rename file FC

The name you specify appears on the window's title bar and in the Save dialogue box when you save the file.

Saving Files

You can save an entire document to a named file. Alternatively, you can save just a range of columns or a marked block. You can also save all rows satisfying a condition, enabling you to create a subset of a database or a document. The Save dialogue box enables you to specify the format of the file to be saved.

If you have finished editing a file and you want to save it, the simplest way is to close the window.

If the file has been modified, a prompt will appear asking you whether you want to save the updated file.

Click on Yes. The Save dialogue box then appears.

Type in the name with which you want the file to be saved. If you originally loaded the file from disc or have previously named the file with the Rename file command, the filename already appears at this point.

Click the OK button or press Enter to save the file.

Another way to save the file is to drag its icon from the Save dialogue box into the directory you want to save it in. Obviously, you need to have the required directory viewer on the screen. Then drag the file's icon from the Save dialogue box into the directory viewer. It will be saved there with the leafname you gave it in the Save dialogue box.

To save part of a document

1. Give the Save command.

2. When the Save dialogue box appears, type in the name of the file if necessary and specify the other options as follows:

If you want to save a marked block:

The block you want to save must be marked before you give the Save command.

If you want to save a selection of rows:

1. Click Select on the Save selection of rows option.

2. Type in the condition you want to apply.

The condition you type in will be evaluated before each row is saved. Only if the result is true will the row be saved. The condition will normally contain ranges. These are updated one row for each new line.

For example, if you type B1B100>600 as the condition, all rows up to row 100 where the second column evaluates to a number greater than 600 will be saved.

You can include text strings in the condition, but they must be placed within double quotation marks.

For example, A1A100>"Fred" will save all rows up to row 100 lying alphabetically after Fred.

A string can contain the wildcards ^? (any single character) and ^# (any multiple character). All string comparisons treat lower- and upper-case letters as matching.

You can save rows which satisfy more than one condition by using the & (AND) operator and rows which match one of several conditions by using the | (OR) operator.

To save a document in different formats

Click on the format you want. The format of the file you loaded will appear as the default setting.

PipeDream saves a file in PipeDream format. This will be the default value for a new file.

CSV saves the file in CSV (comma separated values) format.

ASCII saves the file in ASCII format.

VIEW saves the file in VIEW format.

1WP saves the file in First Word Plus format so that it can be loaded into First Word Plus.

Paragraph saves the file in Paragraph format for transfer to desktop publishing programs.

Loading Files

You can load an entire document into the computer. You can also add to a document already in memory. You can load part of a document by specifying a range of row numbers that you want to load; this enables you to load a file in sections that would be too large to load in one piece. Plain text from another program can be loaded into PipeDream; fields separated by TAB characters will automatically be put into separate columns on the document. PipeDream automatically recognises the format of files and loads them in the correct format.

To load a PipeDream document

The simplest way to load a PipeDream document is to get the directory viewer containing the file on the screen and double-click Select on the file's icon.

To load another file format

If the file is not a PipeDream file, drag the file's icon from the directory viewer onto the PipeDream icon on the icon bar.

Loading a file on start-up

If you are not already running PipeDream, double-clicking Select on a PipeDream file's icon will start up PipeDream and load the file.

To insert one file into another

Position the caret at the point in one document (file-a) where you want the other file (file-b) to be inserted. Drag file-b's icon into file-a's window. The merged file will take file-a's column structure and settings.

To load part of a document

1. Give the Load command. You will see the Load dialogue box.

2. Type in the name of the file of which you want to load part.

3. Click Select on the Load only range of rows option.

4. Type in the first and last rows of the range.

To load a file in different formats

Click Select on the required format in the Load dialogue box.

Auto is the default format. If you do not change this, PipeDream looks at the start of the file to decide what type of file it is and loads it assuming that format. It is possible, but very rare, for PipeDream to make the wrong choice for unusual files. If this happens, reload the file but this time specify the type explicitly. To do this, bring up the Load dialogue box from the Files menu. This will have remembered the name of the file last loaded. Click Select on the desired file format and then click the OK button or press Enter. When PipeDream has loaded a file in a particular format, it sets the default format in the Save dialogue box to match, so that when you save the file again, it will be replaced in its original format.

If the file was a ViewSheet file, PipeDream will set the file type in the Save dialogue box to PipeDream because it cannot save ViewSheet files.

For information on See
Using file templates Template Files
Different formats ASCII and Paragraph File
CSV Format
First Word Plus Format
PipeDream File Format
VIEW Transfer
ViewSheet Transfer
Z88 Transfer