GAP Toolkit 5
Training in basic drug abuse data management
and analysis
Training session 2
File management
Objectives
• To review the physical storage of information on a
computer
• To review the referencing of storage mediums
• To describe the software partition of the storage space
into directories
• To establish a taxonomy of files
• To review the file-management facilities in Windows
Computer storage
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A binary system with information stored as on or off
A bit
A byte
A kilobyte (KB)
A megabyte (MB)
A gigabyte (GB) …
Permanent storage
• Disks – physical storage:
– Hard disks
– Floppy disks; CDs; Zip disks …
• Disk Drives – input/output devices to the disks:
– Hard drive
– Floppy disk drive; Zip drive; CD drive or CD read/writer …
Referencing disk drives
• Disk drives are referenced by using a letter followed by
a colon:
– A:
– C:
the floppy disk drive
the hard disk drive
• Depending on the configuration of the computer:
D: or E: a CD drive or Zip drive
• F: or greater
a network drive
Filing cabinet analogy
• Think of the storage space on the computer as a filing
cabinet
• Disks can be thought of as drawers in a filing cabinet
• At present, we have a cabinet in which we could start
throwing files into the various drawers, but there would
soon be a muddle of program and data files, with no
order or plan
Directories/folders
• Directories or folders are the key to creating order on a
disk
• Directories can contain files and/or other directories
• Analogous to folders in the filing cabinet drawers
The root directory
• A root (or original) directory is automatically created for
each disk
• The root is the start of the directory structure
• It is referenced by a backward-leaning slash: \
• For example, A:\ C:\ D:\
The hierarchical structure
• As directories can hold other directories, the disks
become split into a hierarchy of directories
/ Root
My Documents
Letters
2001
2002
Reports
Program Files
Contracts
Word
SPSS
Windows NT
Pictures
Files
• Types of file:
- program
- user-created
- executable
- batch, etc.
• Naming
File suffixes
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.doc
.xls
.htm(l)
.pdf
.ppt
.mdb
= Word
= Excel
= Internet
= Acrobat
= PowerPoint
= Access
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.sav = SPSS data file
.sps = SPSS syntax file
.spo = SPSS output file
There are a number of other
SPSS file types left over from
previous versions such as
.por, etc., but the above are
the most important
Windows Explorer
• Used:
– To navigate the file structure
– To create, move and delete directories
– To copy, cut and paste files
• To Open:
– Start/Programs/Windows Explorer
– Windows key + E
Windows Explorer
Folders tool to view computer
and directory contents
Displaying contents
Click here to collapse the view
of C: drive/directory contents
Collapsing an entry
Drive/directory contents
View options
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Large icons – large folder icons
Small icons – small folder icons
List – list of files and directories, but no details
Details – the most useful option, contains directory and
file details
• Thumbnails – icons once again
Exercise
• Open Windows Explorer
• Display the contents of the root directory of the C: drive
in the right hand window
• Display the contents of the directory My Documents
(Documents and Settings if using NT or XP)
• Try all five available views
Directories
• Important directories:
– My Documents
– Program Files
– Windows
• Main operations:
– Creating
– Moving
– Deleting
Hierarchical directory structure
My Documents
• A directory created by default by the Windows software
to contain user-created files
• Save all files to the My Documents directory or a subset
of that directory
My Documents
My Documents
Creating a sub-directory
• Select the location for the new directory
– My Documents in this case; the new directory is a subdirectory of My Documents
• File/New/Folder
• Enter a name for the new directory
– GAP in this case
File/New/Folder
Enter a meaningful name
Possible hierarchy of directories
Moving a directory
• Click and Drag
• Copy/Cut and Paste
– Copy leaves the original directory in place; a copy of the
directory and all the files and sub-directories it holds is
created at the Paste location
– Cut removes or deletes the original directory, moving the
directory and all the files and sub-directories it holds to the
Paste location
Cut and Paste
• Edit menu
– Edit/Cut; Edit/Copy; Edit/Paste
• Quick menu
– Point at the object to be moved and click the right hand
mouse button
• Keyboard shortcuts
– Ctrl + C = copy
– Ctrl + X = cut
– Ctrl + V = paste
The quick menu — Copy
The quick menu — Paste
Directory added to treatment centre
Data directory added here
Deleting a directory
• BEWARE!
Deleting a directory will delete all the files it
contains and all the sub-directories it contains
• Make the directory to be deleted current and press the
Delete button on the keyboard
Directories to avoid
• Program Files
– Contains the files that comprise software programmes
– All software programmes should be loaded by default to subdirectories of Program Files
• Windows
– Contains the files that comprise the Windows operating
system
Moving up the directory structure
• The toolbar contains an icon of a folder with an arrow
imprinted on it; this is used to move up the directory
structure
• The top of the directory structure is the root; moving up
the directory structure is equivalent to moving towards
the root
Exercise
Construct the following hierarchy on your computer:
My Documents
GAP
Notes
Data
Exercises
Files
• Copying, moving and deleting files
• Opening and saving files
Copying, moving and deleting files
• Using Windows Explorer, the procedure is the same as
for directories
• Make the file current by pointing and clicking using the
mouse
• Cut, Copy and Paste, or Drag and Drop
• Delete using the Delete key or the quick menu
Open/saving files
• Software packages require previously created files to be
opened and newly created files to be saved for future
use
• File/Open
• File/Save or File/Save As from within the software
package
SPSS Save As dialogue box
click here for full directory list
The wider directory structure
The Save As dialogue box
Find
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Find is used to search for lost files
Find is accessed by either
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Windows Key + F or
Start/Search/For Files or Folders
(Windows 2000)
Find
Exercise
• Create a word processing file called Test and save it to
the GAP\Data directory
• From Windows Explorer, copy Test into the directories
GAP\Exercises and GAP\Notes
• Use the Find facility to locate the file spsswin.exe
• Copy the file spsswin.exe to the desktop
Summary
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Drives
Directories
Files
Hierarchical directory
structure
• Navigating
• Creating, moving and
deleting directories
• Copying, cutting and pasting
files
• Saving files to a directory
• Find