Autosearch Won’t Work

Several readers have written of problems when trying to make an ordered search. In order to utilize this function in PRO/FILE you must enter your data carefully or the computer will not be able to find the number you type in.

Remember that the number held in the file MUST be the last word of the file. Equally important, the number MUST be preceeded by a space if it is less than 5 digits in length.

If you were to create several test files like:

*TEST *TEST *TEST *TEST
2     1     4     3

the program would not recognize the numbers even though they are the last words of each file. They don’t have a space in front of them. If you edit each file so they read:

*TEST *TEST *TEST *TEST
NO. 2 NO. 1 NO. 4 NO. 3

an ordered display would be successful because before each number there is a space.

Another problem that crops up occasionally is that files added using the “tricks” on page 24 of the manual cannot be ordered. This “bug” is caused by the fact that files added in this. 4 manner have an inverse pound sign tacked on to the end of the last file line (see manual page 28). This fools the computer when it looks for a number. It finds a “£” instead of a number and goes on to the next file.

Normally the last word of a file has an asterisk immediately following it and this is what the machine is expecting.

Fortunately there is a fix that is relatively painless. Look up each file using the “*” as a Search Command. Some other appropriate character would work equally well. Then, with the file displayed on the TV, press “E” to EDIT followed by “C” to CLOSE. This doesn’t change any of your data, but the inverse “£” at the end of each file is taken off. After you do this to every file, ordered searches are possible.