Psion 3a Series - Page 65

character code of the character to use. on the next line of the dialog. (Character
codes are listed in an appendix to this manual.)
For example, if you set 'Newline' as the delimiter, your address book would be saved
like this:
Simon Evans
081-034-0987
(a single space)
(a single space)
2 Sighthill Rd
London
SW18
9ZZ
Doctor
(a blank line)
Nick Twyman
0242 0100216
(a single space)
(a single space)
12b Orchard Rd
Bognor Regis
Sussex
There is a blank line between each entry. Note that when there is nothing on one of the
lines in an entry itself, it is saved with a single space. (In this example, neither entry has
"Work" or "Fax" phone numbers, so a single space is saved for those lines.)
You can use 'Merge in' to merge a plain text file like this into the Database. (You might
use 'New' to make a new empty database file, then merge the plain text file into it.)
Again, if you want a line inside an entry to have no information on it, use a single space.
Each line in a text file you 'Save as' or 'Merge in' is limited to 255 characters.
Saving on Flash SSDs
It is a good idea to store your database files on a Flash SSD, as it is an extremely secure
place to keep information. Additionally, as the Database reads entries from the file into
internal memory only when necessary, you can look at large database files without
running out of memory.
On a Flash SSD, you cannot use the 'Compress file' option to recover the disk space
taken up by modified or deleted entries. Instead, use the 'Save as' option to make anew
(compressed) copy of the database.
The 'Files and disks' chapter contains further information about using SSDs.
OPL and Database files
OPLcan manipulate files made in the Database. In OPL terminology, each entry is a
record, and each line of an entry is a field. There is more about this in the Programming
manual.
5: The Database 55