Tutorial: Working with the Index Window

Let's look at some useful features of the Index Window. First, turn on the optional Preview Pane:

•	Open the data file SAMPLE.KNO.

If SAMPLE.KNO is not open, use the File menu to open the file. The four most recently opened files are listed at the bottom of the File menu. Click on "SAMPLE.KNO" to open it.

•	From the View menu, select the Preview Pane command. From the Preview Pane's cascading menu, select the Show Article Content option.

A new pane appears below the Titles column. This pane lets you preview articles without leaving the Index Window.

•	Click once on the first article title in the Titles column to highlight it.

The Preview Pane displays the text of this article. Note that you cannot edit the article from this pane. However, you can copy text from the pane or click on Internet addresses. To edit the article, you must open it in an Article Window.

•	Make sure the cursor is in the Titles column by clicking again on the first article title.

•	Press the down-arrow key on your keyboard to move the highlight to the next article title in the list.

The text in the Preview Pane changes to the text of the next article.

•	Continue pressing the down-arrow several times.

Watch the text in the Preview Pane change for each article. This is a useful way to browse through a number of listed articles looking for something specific.

•	From the View menu, select the Preview Pane command and again select Show Article Content from the cascading menu.

This turns off the Preview Pane, giving you more room to view article titles in the Titles column.

You can sort the article titles in the Index Window by title or by date, ascending or descending:

•	From the View menu, select the Sort by command.

A cascading menu appears with four sorting options.

•	From the cascading menu, select the Dates Descending option.

The order of the titles in the Titles column changes, so that the most recent article is listed first, and the oldest article is last. This can be a useful way to find your most recent articles quickly.

You can also sort by clicking on the column headers in the Index Window:

•	Click on the header of the Titles column.

The titles in the Titles column are now again sorted alphabetically.

You can specify whether the articles listed in the Titles column should be those associated with all or any of the keywords in the Selected column. Currently, the articles listed are associated with all the Selected keywords. This is indicated by the word (AND) which appears at the top of the Selected column.

•	From the Index column, move the keyword computer to the Selected column.

TIP:	When the cursor is in the Index list, typing the first few letters of a keyword moves the cursor to that keyword. You can then simply press Enter to move the keyword. For example, typing "com" into the Index column takes you to the keyword computer, the first keyword starting with "com".

•	Move the keyword Internet to the Selected column.

The keywords computer and Internet are in the Selected column of the window. The Titles column now lists only the titles of articles related to computers AND the Internet.

•	From the View menu, select the Selected Keyword Mode command.

A cascading menu appears with the options AND and OR. AND is currently checked.

•	From the cascading menu, select the OR option.

The indicator at the top of the Selected column is now (OR), specifying that the articles listed are associated with any of the Selected keywords. Several more titles are now listed in the Titles column. These are the articles in the file which are related to computers OR the Internet.

•	To change the mode back to AND, select the Selected Keyword Mode command from the View menu and select AND from the cascading menu.

Finally, familiarize yourself with some of the customizable options available in Personal Knowbase:

•	From the File menu, select the Preferences command.

The Preferences dialog box is displayed. Click on each of the tabs across the top of the dialog box to see the types of options which are available.

•	For more information about the currently shown options, select the Help button at the bottom of the dialog box.

•	Click on the Cancel button to leave the dialog box without making any changes to the Preferences. If you want to save some changes you've made, click on the OK button.

Proceed to the next step for some suggestions for learning more about Personal Knowbase.