Creating Banner and Hypertext Front Pages

ISYS enables you to create pages that will load automatically when a user starts ISYS Query or when a particular index is selected. Two different types of pages can be created, and each has its own characteristics.

The first is the Banner Page. This is an ASCII text file that can contain up to 9 lines of text. This can be useful for displaying a brief message or perhaps information about a particular index. To create a Banner Page you simply create a file with the name ISYS.BAN. This file must be saved as an ASCII file either in a text editor or a word processor. It should be saved in the folder where the index configuration file (ISYS.CFG) resides.

When a user selects that index, the Banner Page will load automatically. As an alternative, you can save this file to the ISYS program folder where the ISYS executables reside. The Banner Page will then load when ISYS Query starts or whenever a new index is selected. If an ISYS.BAN file exists in both the ISYS executable folder and an index folder the ISYS.BAN file from the index folder will be used whenever that particular index is selected.

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The second is the Hypertext Front Page. This file is not restricted to just the ASCII file format. For example it could also be in Word, Excel or HTML format. This file can be useful for displaying information about the index and for creating links to other documents that contain useful information. See Hypertext Annotations in the ISYS Query help file for information about creating hyperlinks. In many instances this could be used instead of an ISYS Concept Tree.

Unlike the Banner Page the Front Page can only be created for one particular index. The Front Page document must be stored in the index folder (where the ISYS.CFG file resides). Also, unlike the Banner Page, when an index that has a Front Page is selected there will be a Front Page option on the menu bar and also (optional) a button will be available on the main toolbar. Selecting either of these will load the Front Page. This is very useful if at a later time the user wants to view this document again.

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Specifying a document to be used as a Front Page is done in ISYS Utilities by going to Tools > Index Options and then choosing the Annotations tab. Here you can either type in the full path to the Front Page document or click the browse button and browse to the document resides to select it.

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