Advanced Application: Prefixes

  You can use the Names & Subjects editor to help you to implement the Prefix/Suffix Naming Convention  for your documents.

   By adopting the prefix/suffix naming style for your documents, you will be able to type the document's name onto your editing screen and then recall the contents of the document into the document simply by pressing <Alt-G>. Don't worry that documents bearing cryptic names such as wil100 or cont345 won't be usable by those who don't know what they contain. That's what the subject field is all about.

   Even if you decide to use prefix/suffix naming, before you assign the prefix/suffix names, you may first want to make the list appear in a more logical order. That order should following the sequence in which the clauses will actually be called into a document.

  Note that when the table first appears, it will display the names of the clauses in alphabetical order according to document name. That may not be the ultimate order in which you want the clauses to appear in the Clause Selection Screen or DropDown List displays. For example, in the below display which showing the contents of a folder containing contract clauses), ‘Closing Terms’ appears before ‘Cover Page.’ (Other clauses are also out of ‘logical,’ as opposed to ‘alphabetical,’ order.)

   To make this happen, you most likely will have to artificially sort the files. Do so as follows:

(1) Click the <Display Sort Boxes> button in the lower left section of the screen.

(2) In the new column, type a number reflecting the order in which you want each term to appear.

(3) When you have finished,  click the <Sort by Sort Boxes> button. This will cause the entire table will be resorted based on the numbering you provided in the Sort column. (Don't worry for now if you have two 2s or three 5s. You can easily refine the order. Just repeat the steps. When you click "Display Sort Boxes" again, the column will renumber.

Figure 3.  Sorting Numbers Added to right of screen

After the initial sort, if everything is not 'quite right,'  you can change the ordering of any element by again editing the Sort boxes and then resort using <Sort by Sort Boxes>. There is no limit to the number of 'sorts' you can perform.

   Once the Editor contains the clauses in the proper order, you can rename all of the documents to the prefix/suffix naming style:

1.Click the <Designate Prefix> button. A new set of text boxes will display at the bottom left of the screen.

2.a. Provide the prefix you want the clauses in this folder to be known by. Here we have selected 'cont' for 'contracts'. The prefix can be any combinations of letter, but must be 2, 3 or 4 characters long.

b.  Confirm or modify the Increment (numerical 'space' between document names--you should have at least 5 so that there is room to add more clauses) and the Start Value. The start value must be three (preferred) or four digits long.

c.  Continue to modify the subjects (third column) as appropriate. No naming rules apply to the third column. Just remember that the subject is what will appear when the user chooses ‘Display by Subject' for the Clause Selection Screen or DropDown Lists displays. As a rule (of thumb), however, a subject should not exceed 40 characters.

3.Click the <Go> button (still in the Prefix/Suffix section of the screen) and Pathagoras will convert the names in the "New Name" (second) column to those following the prefix/suffix naming style.

NOTE: CHANGES TO THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT NAMES HAVE NOT YET OCCURRED. You can continue to experiment with document names, prefixes, sort order, etc. until you are satisfied with what you have.
(And even after you commit, you can still make changes. Do not 'fear' this process.)

   Once you are satisfied with the names and subject you have selected, click the green <Apply Edits> button.

•If you have not yet registered the prefix to Pathagoras' Prefix Table, you will be asked if you wish to do so now. Say Yes.

•You will also be asked if you wish to create a backup of the original files, using their original names, in a 'backup' folder. You probably should say yes in case you decide to reverse the entire process.

•Then, Pathagoras will begin the process of renaming the original documents (shown in column 1) to those names provided in column 2 and with the subjects provided in column 3. There will be a bit of screen flashing as each document is opened, renamed and saved.

•You are done. Assign this folder to a book or a DropDown List. And remember that you can recall any document from this folder from now on by typing its name to the editing screen and pressing <Alt-G>.