File Management (CIE IGCSE ICT)

• A hard drive contains files and folders
• Within a folder, there may be files or other folders which are known as subfolders
• There are multiple ways to locate files
• Using Windows search
• Click on the Windows Icon at the bottom of the screen and type the file that is required and click on the ‘documents’ button

Locate a file manually

• The left hand window pane displays all drives and favourite folders
• The right hand pane displays the folders/ subfolders and files of the selected drive or folder
• Each folder can be accessed by selecting the folder and double clicking

• As the users navigate through the folders the current path location is displayed at the top

• It is a common method to simply double-click the file that you wish to open and it will load into the most suitable application/program
• Sometimes the application/program that the file opens in is not the preferred choice for the user
• There are 3 main ways to open or import files for use
• Option 1 - Open the file from the desired application

• • Option 2 - Drag the file into the desired application

• • Option 3 - Right click on the file and choose Open with

• The below screenshot shows a project structure broken into 4 different sections, Initiation, Planning, Executing and Closing
• Within each folder, files are saved according to the which part of the project they are relevant to

• Files are labelled with version numbers allowing the user to go back and review previous versions. This is known as version control

Save Files Using Appropriate File Names

• Meaningful file names should give a clue as to what the document contains

• Doc1’ does not give any idea about the contents of the file and is not a meaningful file name
• ‘Plan’ is a partially meaningful name but could be any plan or any version of the plan
• ‘Initial_Plan_Version_1 is a meaningful name as it determines that it is an initial plan and is the first version

Saving & Printing

There are different ways you can save or print your work

• Save  - Saves the current file or if the file has been saved, updates
• Save as - Save the file with a new name and/or file type
• Export - Exports a copy of the file usually as a pdf but can also be other file formats within the program
• Print - Prints the currently opened file

Web page in a browser View

• Saving
  • To save a webpage, right click on the page and choose “Save as”

• • Choose a suitable location and save

• Printing
  • To print a web page, right click on the web page and select “Print”

• • Choose your preferences and select “Print

Webpage in HTML view

• Print
  • Right-click on the web page and select “view page source”

• • Right click on the page source and select “Print”

• Save
• Right click on the source code and choose “Save as”

• • Save the folder to a suitable location and select “Save”

Screenshots

• Using the search tool, search for and select the  “snipping tool”

• Use the snipping tool to take a screenshot

• Save
• To save the screenshot, right click on the image and choose “Save as”

• Print
• To print the screenshot, select the three dots at the top right of the program and select “Print”

Database Reports

• Save
• With the report open, select File and then “Save as”

• • As only the report is to be saved select “Save object as” followed by “PDF or XPS”

• • Choose a suitable location to save the report and save the file type as “PDF”
• Print
  • To print the report, select the file and then select “Print”
  • To ensure the report s laid out correctly first preview the report

• • To finally print the report, select “Print”

Graphs & Charts

• Save
• Select the chart by clicking on it

• Click on” File” followed by “Save as”
• Select the file type as PDF and save

• Print
  • Select the chart by clicking on it
  • Select File and then Print

• Many applications have their own unique file types that are specific to their functionality and features. These file types are designed to store and represent data in a format that is specific to the application's purpose
• Below is an example of a text document being saved as a Word application package type

• Below is an example of a spreadsheet document being saved as a Excel application package type

• Below  is an example of a document being saved as a generic plain text file

• Below  is an example of a document being saved as a generic comma separated file

• The same method is used for both saving and exporting files to their required type
• If a document has already been saved the user must select SAVE AS to create a second copy of the document and choose its required file type