The Navigator provides a visual way to locate, access, and open individual files. It also lets you establish your working directories and search paths.

Look In box

The Look In box shows the current directory and search path.

You can have only one current directory at a time. You can change the current directory in these ways:

Select from any previously specified paths by clicking the drop-down arrow.

Note: To be able to select a database to which you have assigned an alias in the BDE Administrator, you must be on the Tables page of the Navigator.

Type in a new path and press Enter

Click the folder button and use the directory search dialog box.

From the Command window, use the SET DIRECTORY TO or CD commands.

Supplemental search path

An Also Look In box is available for specifying additional search paths. To use it, choose Properties|Navigator Properties and check the Use Supplemental Search Path option.

You can specify multiple search paths in the Also Look In box by separating each path with a semicolon, space or comma. You can also append to the search specification by clicking the folder button and choosing additional directories—each one you choose is appended with a semicolon separator.

Note: Press Enter after adding paths to the Also Look In box.

File group tabs

Each page of the Navigator lists the files of a particular type that exist in the current working directory and any specified supplemental search directories. (At the top of each page is a horizontal list of all possible file types for that page.)

You can run or view any listed file directly from the Navigator by double-clicking it or selecting it and pressing F2. (You have additional choices from the file's right-click menu.) You can create new files by double-clicking Untitled icons. For example, to create a new form, choose the Forms page and double-click the Untitled icon (or press Shift+F2 with the icon selected). (The yellow Untitled icons are for creating custom classes.)

To view non-standard file types (types not normally associated with dBASE Plus programs), choose the Other tab and type the file-name skeleton for the file types you want listed. To view .RTF files in the current directory, for example, append *.RTF to the search string in the Other page.

Display files in different ways

Use the buttons in the toolbar to display your files with large icons, small icons, or details.

How to get there: To open the Navigator, choose View|Navigator.