Working with Files

This section contains information on working with JFC files.

  • Opening Flash Card Files
  • Closing Flash Card Files
  • Saving Your Cards and Continuing
  • Deleting Files
  • The Statistics File

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  • Opening Flash Card Files

    Flash card files can be loaded with the File/Open... command. This will generate a standard Windows Open File dialog box and allow you to select the flash card file to load. If you are currently working with a flash card set JFC will ask you if you are sure you want to open a new flash card file.

    Whenever you open a flash card file that does not have a saved file associated with it, JFC automatically generates a new flash card set using the information in the file and the current options settings.

    Whenever you open a flash card file has a saved file associate with it JFC continue the flash card stack from exactly where you were (assuming no changes have been made to the files).

    You can also open a flash card file by dragging and dropping it on the JFC window, or by selecting the file from the recent files list (File/Recent Files), or by double clicking on any file with a .jfc extension.

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    Closing Flash Card Files

    Normally you do not need to specifically close a flash card file, JFC will automatically close the file when you reach the end of the flash card set, open a new flash card file, or exit the program. You can, however, explicitly close a flash card file using the File/Close menu command.

    If you close a flash card file that still contains cards, JFC will prompt you to generate a saved file. This file allows you to continue the flash card stack from where you left off.


    Saving Your Cards and Continuing

    It is easy to generate flash card sets that are too big to be finished in one sitting. To get around this JFC can save your position in a flash card set and continue next time you open the flash card file.

    There is no specific save command. Instead, generally when you close a flash card file with cards left in it JFC prompts you to save your status. (You can control this prompt using the Exit with Open Files Options on the General page of the Options dialog.)

    Likewise, there is no specific command necessary to reload a saved set of cards. When you open the flash card file again, JFC will automatically detect the saved file and continue from where you left off.

    The Saved File

    When progress through a set of flash cards is saved, JFC generates a saved file to store your current progress though the cards. The file is located in the same location as the flash card file, and has the same name, except the extension is .jsv.

    Normally you should not have to deal directly with the saved file. When you open the flash card file again the saved file is automatically deleted. If you delete the flash card file (through JFC), the saved file is also automatically deleted.

    To keep the size of the saved files small, and to keep them coordinated with the flash card files (this is necessary to make sure the statistics information comes out correct), only information not in the flash card file or statistics file is stored with the saved file.

    This seems straight forward, but actually has a number of problems. If you edit the flash card file then JFC cannot correctly relate the data stored in file with the data in the flash card file. The result of this is that if you edit or change the flash card file in any way JFC will generally reject the saved file and restart the flash card stack from the beginning.

    JFC tests the last modified date and the size of the flash card file. If the data and size mach the values stored in the saved file, the file is assumed to match the current flash card file. If they do not match, JFC will prompt you if you want the use the saved file anyway. If you have just moved the file, or added vocabulary to the end of the file, or made some minor changes, the saved will still be valid and you might a well use them.


    Tip: You cannot crash the system, or corrupt your data by using an invalid saved file. All that can really happen is that JFC will not accurately generate the cards set you were working on last, and you may even get some cards that were not possible with your actual settings.


    Deleting Files

    The File/Delete menu command (Alt+D) closes the current file, deletes the file from your disk. This also deletes the statistics file and any saved file associated with the main file. When you attempt delete the disk file, a dialog box will ask for confirmation before deleting the file.


    The Statistics File

    Depending on how you have the options sets JFC may be keeping statistics on the flash cards you have. This data can be used by JFC to determine which cards to emphasize when reviewing your flash cards.

    This process brought up the problem of how to store the statistics, and what to do when the user changed the flash card file. Because JFC does not want to make any changes in your actual flash card files (.jfc), the statistics information is stored in a small file with the extensions .fst. This file will be generated by JFC and stored in the same location as the flash card file.

    This seems straight forward, but actually has a number of problems. If you edit the flash card file then JFC cannot relate the data stored in the statistics file with the data in the flash card file. The result of this is that if you edit or change the flash card file in any way JFC will generally reject the statistics file and start with a completely blank statistics set.

    JFC test the last modified date and the size of the flash card file. If the data and size mach the values stored in the statistics file, the file is assumed to match the current flash card file. If they do not match, JFC will prompt you if you want the use the statistics file anyway. If you have just moved the file, or added vocabulary to the end of the file, or made some minor changes, the statistics will still be valid and you might a well use them.


    Tip: You cannot crash the system, or corrupt your data by using an invalid statistics file. All that can really happen is that JFC will think you know or don't know some vocabulary, and you may get some very strange settings.

    Related Topics


    Next Chapter: Options and Settings