HP 95LX - Page 33

Using Your Phone Book as a Simple Database
Phone Book is a very simple database containing three fields, two of which (Name
and Number) are indexed and listed in alphabetical order for quick and easy
searching (see page 37). Don’t overlook the fact that it can be used for information
other than names, phone numbers and addresses.
For example, consider using the Phone Book to create a price list for the products
or services. In the “Name” field, you would enter the product number or name; in
the “Number field,” the price; in the “Address” field, the selling points, sizes, or
special discount pricing—whatever might be relevant additional information.
The Card view of this price list still labels the fields, “Name” “Number,” and
“Address,” even though you are not using them in that way. You can’t change this.
However, in the Index view of this price list, there are no labels—all you see is a
list of products in alphabetical order and their prices. You can type in the first few
letters of the product name, see its price, and then, if necessary, highlight it and
look at the Card view to see the additional background information. Call this file
something like, PRICES . PBK, to distinguish it from your regular phone books.
Creating a Subset of a Large Phone Book
There's a limit as to how large a Phone Book can be (see page 127). But, long before
you reach this limit, you may wish to create smaller, more targeted subsets of a
large ungainly Phone book. Here’s how you do it:
1. Open the large “master” Phone Book.
2. Either highlight a single name that you want in the subset Phone Book or
create a list of records based on a search text (see page 37).
3. Press WEE).
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with each name that you wish to put in the new Phone
Book. If you make a mistake, press (F3)@lEI®) again to untag a particular name.
5. Press (MENU), (Flile, (X}tract, then type in a filename (8 characters maximum) for
the new subset Phone Book, and press (ENTER).
Your Phone Book 33