Taking care of your files

TIP

QuickBooks? should be XE "file maintenance" shut down before working on any QuickBooks? files. At the very least, be certain the file you access is not in use by QuickBooks? . No good can come from pulling one file in two different directions. Note, however, that the next step requires QuickBooks? to be running.

Finding your file is necessary, if you XE "find:files" XE "search:for files" want to copy, rename or delete it. Knowing the name will help. With QuickBooks? (version 3 or later) running, click File|Open Company. (In earlier versions, you may have to close the company first.) QuickBooks? will suggest the last company that was open. Before you open it again, read the road map. (In QuickBooks? 2 for Windows, before closing the file, note the file name, from the title bar.)

For convenience of operation, when the company file is highlighted, click OK, and open the company file. Then exit QuickBooks? . The next time QuickBooks? is started, the same company file will be opened.

Finding files is not difficult. In the Main program group, click on File Manager. The pattern on the left is a “tree,” (illustrated in the next section.) Scroll to the top (if necessary) and click on C: if that is your hard drive designator. (Only one drive or partition can be searched at one time.) In the menu bar, click File then Search.

Search For takes what you know of the file you want to find. The wild card ? replaces any one character. The asterisk * serves as a wild card replacing any following characters, but the meaning is tricky. If the entry is HEA* the search will be for any filenames beginning with HEA, and with any suffix. If the entry is HEA.QBW* the search is for any files beginning HEA and having .QBW as a suffix.

Start From takes instructions about where to look for the files. The suggested location will be whatever was selected (above) in the tree in File Manager. If this is not what you want, you will have to type in the complete DOS path. In a few cases, you will want to clear the X in front of Search All Subdirectories.

Windows 95, like Macintosh, can use long file names, XE "long file names" and any application that requires Windows 95 should be able use long names. Windows 3.1 can only use the old “eight plus three” DOS file names. The long file names must be an advantage to some people. After fifteen years of cramming significance into eight characters, I find little value in the long names.