Note: These settings are made individually for each datafile.
Making File Settings:
1. With a datafile open, select Datafile Settings... from the File menu. (Or, type command-option-comma.)
3. In the dialog that comes up, select the File tab. It should look like this:
3. Once you've made your settings, click the Save button to make those changes take effect.
What the Settings Mean
Open this datafile automatically when iData starts
Enable this checkbox to have the current datafile open each time you launch iData 2. This is most suitable for datafiles that you use all the time. For example, if you do a lot of Web surfing, you might want to have your Bookmarks datafile always available for grabbing Web addresses.
Always open as read-only (don't save changes)
This option is designed for the user who need access to the datafile, but who should not make changes to it.
Warn when opening as read-only
This option is only available if the preceding option is enabled. It is designed to remind you that any changes you make to a read-only datafile will not be saved, so that you don't waste your time editing records.
File will be shared on the network (lock on opening)
In order to make iData 2 as fast as possible, it reads all of each datafile into memory when it opens it. As a result, it is not possible to lock individual records. To make datafile sharing over a network a bit safer, you can enable this item on any machine from which the datafile will be shared. The first time a shared datafile is opened from such a machine, it will be locked. Other users who open the same datafile will see that it is locked, and will open it read-only, so they will be able to read it, but will not be able to save changes. (If it is important to save changes to a locked datafile, you can save a copy of the datafile under a different name, by selecting Save As... from the File menu. Those changes can later be extracted from the copy and added to the original datafile at a later time.)
The locking mechanism involves the creation of an empty file with the same name as the datafile, but with a .lock file name extension, instead of .idata. When the datafile that created the lock file closes, the lock file is deleted. If a power outage or system crash should leave such a lock file behind, it is a simple matter to drag it to the trash and delete it.
Note that it is necessary to close and reopen the datafile for changes to this setting to take effect.
Zoom to printed page size
Enable this option to have the datafile window zoom to the width that the printed version would have. This lets you see where text will wrap when printing in Basic View, or which columns will be visible when printing in List View.
Zoom to screen size
Enable this option to have the datafile window fill the screen when zoomed (excluding only the area occupied by the Dock).
Name of Freeform Text Area
The default name of the Freeform Text Area is Freeform Text Area. (Clever, huh?) The one exception is that imported email datafiles will use the name Message for that area. This name appears over the last column in List View, when printing Basic View records, and when exporting a datafile as a text file. You may change it to anything you like.
Default Font for Freeform Text Area
This is the font (typeface and point size) that will be used for the Freeform Text Area of new records. Of course, you can change the font of any text in the Freeform Text Area at any time. Click the Select... button to bring up the Font Panel, and make any changes there. The changes will be reflected in the text field to the left of the Select... button.
Note that changes to this setting will not apply retroactively to existing records.
See the instructions on Set Font for Freeform Text (under the Format menu) to see another way to change this setting.
Apply This Font Setting to All New Datafiles
Click this button to have the font setting for the current datafile become the universal default for all new datafiles. Since this applies to all datafiles, it is technically a "preference" rather than a "datafile setting", but this seemed like a convenient place to add this option.
See the instructions on Set Font for Freeform Text (under the Format menu) to see another way to change this preference without having to have a datafile open.
