CDS/ISIS for Windows Manual (Version 1.5)
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Reference Manual (Version 1.5) UNESCO Information Society Division Sector of Communication and Information © UNESCO, June 2004 (This manual refers to Winisis 1.5 build 3) Revised by: Ben Winnubst, New Zealand (June 2004) Foreword CDS/ISIS is a menu-driven generalized Information Storage and Retrieval system designed specifically for the computerized management of structured non-numerical data bases. One of the major advantages offered by the generalized design of the system is that CDS/ISIS is able to manipulate an unlimited number of data bases each of which may consist of completely different data elements. Although some features of CDS/ISIS require knowledge of and experience with computerized information systems, once an application has been designed the system may be used by persons having had little or no prior computer experience. For advanced users, CDS/ISIS offers a wide range of programming facility allowing the development of specialized applications through the use of its powerful print formats. For real computer programmers, an external programming library, the ISIS_DLL1, provide all necessary tools for developing CDS/ISIS based applications. The first version of this manual, referring to CDS/ISIS 1.3 for Windows, was written by the creator of the original CDS/ISIS, Giampaolo Del Bigio. It describes the operations of the Windows version of CDS/ISIS and is meant to be complementary to other CDS/ISIS manuals, such as the CDS/ISIS for Windows Handbook and the CDS/ISIS Reference Manual for the MS-DOS version. In particular, it describes changes and/or new features which are only available in the Windows version. This version is fully compatible with the MS-DOS2 version of CDS/ISIS. Data bases created with the latter operates without change under the Windows version. However, in order to take advantage of the new features (e.g. the graphical or hypertext commands of the formatting language) you may want to review and modify your display formats and/or FST’s. This version of CDS/ISIS for Windows includes all the features of the MS-DOS version and its capabilities are complemented by a number of external programs, such as ImpExp2709 or the XML utilities. It is designed as well as for current MS-DOS users who wish to migrate to the Windows environment, than for new users that will be able to create and manage their own databases. Finally, the Windows version of CDS/ISIS is better known as “Winisis”. For some reasons some tend to consider the two as totally distinguished programmes. Winisis is one of today’s available software based on the CDS/ISIS technology. Davide Storti Information Society Division UNESCO 1 ISIS_DLL is developed by BIREME/PAHO and UNESCO. Available on UNESCO (www.unesco.org/isis) and BIREME’s (www.bireme.br) sites. 2 In this manual reference is made to the following trademarks: Microsoft®, MS-DOS® and Windows® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. TABLE OF CONTENTS F OREWORD ................................................................................................................................ 2 1. SYSTEM OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................... 7 A. THE CDS/ISIS DATA BASE................................................................................................... 7 B. SYSTEM FUNCTIONS..................................................................................................................7 C. DATA BASE STRUCTURE............................................................................................................ 7 1. DATA BASE DEFINITION FILES...................................................................................................8 2. MASTER FILE........................................................................................................................8 3. INVERTED FILE...................................................................................................................... 8 4. ANY FILE...........................................................................................................................9 5. RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE FILES..........................................................................................9 D. SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE............................................................................................................9 1. MENUS............................................................................................................................... 9 2. MULTILINGUAL DIALOGUE.....................................................................................................10 3. DIALOG BOXES....................................................................................................................10 4. WINDOWS..........................................................................................................................11 2. SYSTEM INSTALLATION ................................................................................................. 12 A. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS.................................................................................................... 12 B. INSTALLING CDS/ISIS ON YOUR COMPUTER........................................................................... 12 1. CDS/ISIS SETUP...............................................................................................................12 2. CDS/ISIS DIRECTORIES......................................................................................................13 3. ISISPAS.PIF...................................................................................................................13 4. WINDOWS VERSIONS COMPATIBILITY.......................................................................................13 C. SYSTEM PARAMETER FILES.....................................................................................................15 1. SYSPAR.PAR: GLOBAL PARAMETERS................................................................................ 15 2. DBN.PAR: DATA BASE PARAMETERS..................................................................................... 26 D. SYSTEM RESTRICTIONS........................................................................................................... 26 3. CDS/ISIS MENUS ................................................................................................................. 27 A. THE MAIN WINDOW............................................................................................................. 27 B. DATABASE MENU....................................................................................................................27 C. BROWSE MENU...................................................................................................................... 29 D. SEARCH MENU.......................................................................................................................30 E. EDIT MENU........................................................................................................................... 31 F. CONFIGURE MENU.................................................................................................................. 33 G. UTILITIES MENU.................................................................................................................... 36 1. MORE HIDDEN UTILITIES.........................................................................................................37 H. WINDOWS MENU................................................................................................................... 38 I. HELP MENU............................................................................................................................39 4. CDS/ISIS WINDOWS ........................................................................................................... 40 A. THE DATABASE WINDOW...................................................................................................... 40 B. THE DATA ENTRY WINDOW......................................................................................................43 1. EDITING A FIELD................................................................................................................. 45 2. ADDING A FIELD..................................................................................................................47 3. DELETING A FIELD............................................................................................................... 47 4. FIELD AND RECORD VALIDATION.............................................................................................47 4. BEGIN AND END CODING.................................................................................................48 5. PICK LISTS......................................................................................................................... 49 6. UPDATING THE INVERTED FILE...............................................................................................49 C. THE EXPERT SEARCH WINDOW............................................................................................. 49 D. THE GUIDED SEARCH WINDOW............................................................................................. 50 E. THE DICTIONARY WINDOW....................................................................................................52 5. CDS/ISIS DIALOG BOXES ...............................................................................................