Graphic files can be acquired and/or created in many ways, including digital cameras, drafting and/or design software programs, by scanners or downloading files from the Internet. How the graphic file was created is not the critical issue. The critical issue for graphic files is the format in which they are saved or created. The format in which the graphic is saved will determine if the file can be displayed in CASST.

Downloading graphics from the Internet is the most restrictive of the methods, in that most of the downloaded files will be available in one format. Most of the other methods for acquiring and/or creating graphic files provide the user with the ability to determine the format in which the graphic file will be saved. CASST can display graphic files of the following formats: .bmp (Windows and OS/2 bitmap images), .dwf (AutoDesk Whip! Files), .gif (Compuserve images), .jpg (JPEG images), .wmf and .emf (Windows Metafiles).

For more information about acquiring and/or creating graphic images through any of the methods mentioned here or any other method, refer to the documentation that came with your camera, scanner, software, or contact the source of the method you are planning to use.

Please note that there are software programs are available that will convert the format of an existing graphic file to another format. Some of these conversion programs are actually available for download over the Internet.

Before actually attaching a graphic file to a system record in CASST, it is helpful to have some idea about how to organize your graphic images so that they are easy to locate and also easy to attach to a specific system record.

In an effort to explain just how to organize your graphic files (actually this could and should apply to any and all types of files on your computer) you need to get an understanding of just how files should be arranged on your computer. Normally all files are stored on your hard drive. The exception to this is that today there are specific types storage capabilities like Zip Drives, Tape Drives and Recordable CD’s that can also be used to store files. But for our discussion here, we will assume that your primary storage media is your hard drive.

We will use the analogy of comparing your storage media to a filing cabinet in your office. You use this cabinet to store many different kinds of files and information. You also spend time trying to organize this information by separating it first by drawer and then by perhaps placing dividers in these drawers and by using folders to further divide the information.

Your hard drive is very much like a large filing cabinet, in that there can be many separate drawers (Directories) and within each drawer (Directory) there can be many file folders (Sub-Directories) or ever individual sheets of paper (files). In each file folder (Sub-Directory) there can be other file folders (Sub-Directories) along with individual sheets of paper (files). As you know from your own experience, the more organized the information is in one of these filing cabinets, the easier it is to locate exactly what your are trying to find.

Imagine, if you will, having a filing cabinet in which all of your personal papers have just been thrown in with no specific organization. If you did not know which drawer to look in or which folder within that drawer to look in, you can only imagine the frustration you would experience trying to find anything. So are the files that you will need to save and later retrieve on your computer.

Many people seem to have a hard time trying to understand how to organize their files on their hard drive. First, try to think of your computer’s hard drive as being that large filing cabinet. You have received this filing cabinet from someone else who has already placed several things in the filing cabinet. These are the folders and files that have been created on your hard drive when Windows or other programs where installed on your computer. You can take a look at these folders and files through the use of the "Windows Explorer". This is not the same thing as the Windows Internet Explorer. The "Windows Explorer" is simply a tool that allows you to view the entire filing cabinet (your C: Drive) or to open a specific drawer (a folder on the hard drive) and see the many folders (Sub-Directories) and papers (files) are in the filing cabinet and how they are arranged.

The organization of your graphic files should start by adding new folders to the default directory as defined in the "Images" tab of the "Options" dialog box as described above.

Just as surly as you would need start a new folder to go in a filing cabinet for a new customer, you will need to create a new folder that will hold the files that relate to one system record. All files, graphic or not, that relate to that specific file should be saved to this new folder. Just as you would not just throw documents and other papers related to multiple customers into one file drawer, you should never save or store files for multiple customers or subjects in the same folder on your computer. They would get all mixed up you would never expect to quickly, accurately and efficiently retrieve a specific document without spending hours looking for it.

In order to be successful in organizing, locating and using files it is almost essential that you have a good understanding of just how to open and use the Windows Explorer. As was stated before, it is just another tool. It is just a graphic representation of a storage container such as a hard drive.

As with most Windows objects, there is more than one way to open the Windows Explorer. One of the simplest and easy methods for opening the Windows Explorer is to place your cursor over the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and click once with the "right" mouse button. From the menu that is presented, select the "Explore" option. This will present the Explorer as depicted below:

Be aware that the actual list folders that will be displayed on your screen will be different from those presented in the graphic above. Remember that the Explorer is a tool for presenting a graphic representation of your storage containers.

The important things to note about this dialog box (the Windows Explorer) is that it is divided into two halves, the "All Folders" on the left side and the "Contents of …" on the right side. You will use the "All Folders" side to view the various containers (file drawers or individual file folders), and you will use the right side to view the contents of one of the containers. To view the contents of a specific container, simply select the desired container by clicking on it once with the left mouse button. When one of the containers is selected the contents of that container will be displayed on the "Contents" or right side of the Explorer dialog box. Remember that any of the containers can contain other containers and/or actual files of various kinds.

Through the use of the Windows Explorer, you can add folders, move files, delete files and in general manage your "filing cabinet" of information.

Please look closely at the graphic above and notice the plus sign (+) that is located to the left side of the "C:" drive. When this plus sign is present this is an indication that other folders are contained in this folder. Clicking the plus sign will cause the Windows Explorer to display only the "folder" contents of the folder for which you click the plus sign. When the plus sign is clicked and the contents of the folder displayed on the right side of the Explorer, the plus sign will be replaced with a minus sign (-). One simple rule of thumb here is to remember that the left side of the Explorer will only display or list drives (filing cabinets) or folders (drawers and file folders), while the right side will display folders (drawers and file folders) and files (documents, etc.).

In the graphic view of the Windows Explorer shown below, please note the plus sign has been clicked on the "C:" drive and has now become a minus sign. This is an indication that the list of available folders is being presented. The "C:" drive has now also been selected by clicking on it with the left mouse button and the contents of the container selected on the left (C:) are displayed on the right side.

Please notice that in this example of the Windows Explorer that after the "C:" drive was selected on the left side, the list of the contents on the right was then scrolled down. This was done in order to show that the selected container may contain both folders and files.

For our example of organizing graphics for use in CASST, we will concentrate on the "Images" folder, which is located beneath the installation directory of CASST, which is normally the "CASST2" folder. If the path for installing CASST was changed during the installation process, you will need to adjust the descriptions of the processes described in the remainder of this document.

If CASST has been installed using the default installation path then the graphic below will represent the structure of the installation directory and its sub-directories.

In trying to organize your files, you will need to add new folders that will hold your files. The question is where do you add these folders?

When CASST is installed, it is normally installed in a directory named "CASST2" on the C Drive. This installation directory can be changed at the time of the installation, but the default directory is: "C:\CASST2". Several required files are then saved to this installation directory.

Not only is the installation directory created but there are additional directories created as depicted in the graphic below. The standard CASST installation directory, CASST2, and the sub-directories that accompany it are shown here.

The primary folder or sub-directory of interest to users of CASST that want to utilize the Images feature of CASST is the "Images" folder. This folder has been created during the installation of CASST as a starting point for the organizing of the users graphic images.

CASST is designed to always know the location of the primary starting point for locating all graphic files. This primary starting point or default folder is defined through the "Options" dialog box of CASST. This dialog box is accessed by selecting the "Options…" option from the "Tools" pull-down menu in CASST. When this menu option is selected, the following dialog box will be presented:

The "Default Directory" text box contains the path to the default directory or starting point for locating all graphic images. The button at the right end of this text box with the three dots can be used to locate and provide this path. By setting the path in this text to the desired folder for starting to locate graphic files, users will find it much easier to locate a desired file.

Although other methods for organizing files other than the one that will be discussed below can also be used, the method that will be presented is simply a method that we suggest as being a simple yet effective method.

You need to realize that most if not all of the graphic images that you would want to attach to a specific system record in CASST should relate to that specific system. Not all systems will have graphic files associated with them unless the user specifically is trying to use these graphic files to document information about each system. Regardless of how many systems will actually have graphic images associated with them, it is suggested that there should be a relationship between the organization of the files and the system record.

The most desirable method for relating files stored on your hard drive with a specific system record in CASST is to have something about a system that does not change and relate that to the name of a container in which to store related files. The reason for trying to have some understandable and easily recognized method for relating the system record in CASST to the folder on the hard drive that will hold the actual files is actually quite logical. Suppose that you need to locate the entire folder that contains all of the graphics and files for one system, or you need to locate the system record in CASST that relates to the files in a specific directory on your hard drive. In these cases it would be quite helpful to be able to have a common link between the system record in CASST and the folder containing the files.

The one most common factor that does not change about any system is the Permit Number issued by the Regulatory Authority. This Permit Number makes a great Name for each new folder.

To use this method for organizing graphic and other files related to a specific system record in CASST, first open the Windows Explorer as described previously in this document.

When the Windows Explorer is opened, click the plus sign (+) to the left of the drive where CASST was installed. (Normally this is C-drive.). Your Explorer should resemble the graphic below, except that it will list the contents of your hard drive.

Next, look in the list below the "C:" drive and you should see the "CASST2" folder. Click the plus sign (+) to the left of this folder to reveal the contents of the CASST2 folder. Explorer should resemble the graphic below:

Look in the list below the CASST2 folder and locate the "Images" folder. This folder will not have a plus sign (+) to the left of it. This is because as yet there are no additional folders in this folder.

Next, click on the "Images" folder. The Explorer should look like the image below.

Please note that only one file is currently listed in the "Images" directory. This is only a text file that provides a short description of what this directory is to be used for.

This is where you will finally begin to start creating other folders for organizing your graphic files for use in CASST. Remember that CASST will already know where to locate the "Images" folder.  Therefore when you select the "Add" option from the "Images Tab" in CASST to add or link a new graphic image to the current system record, CASST will immediately start your search for the desired file in the predetermined starting directory. Under normal installation conditions, this would be the "C:\CASST2\Images" folder.

Next, we will create a new folder which will contain any graphic or other files that relate to a specific system whose information already exists in CASST. We could name this folder anything that we choose, however, as discussed previously, we need something that will tie the actual folder that contains the files and the system record in CASST together which will be the Permit Number.

The first step is to create a new folder. With the Windows Explorer open and the "Images" folder selected as depicted in the previous graphic, place your mouse over the right side of the Explorer window and click once with the "right" mouse button. The following menu will be presented:

Move the mouse pointer over the "New" option in this menu. The sub-menu shown below will be presented.

From this menu select the "Folder" option (located at the very top of the menu). When this option is selected, the Explorer will appear as depicted below.

A new folder has been created and named, "New Folder". The name, "New Folder", has been highlighted for editing. We will now rename this new folder using the permit number for the specific system for which we have graphics that will need to be stored.

Permit numbers are traditionally difficult to remember and, therefore, are difficult to type. We can utilize the Windows "Cut" and "Paste" functions to help us with getting and entering the permit number.

To aquire the permit number, first open CASST and locate the system record for which you wish to store or save graphic or other files. Then click on the "Agency Tab". A section of the "Agency Tab" is presented below.

The Permit Number will be available from this screen. Highlight the permit number and with the mouse cursor over the highlighted permit number, "right" click once. The menu presented below will be presented.

From this menu select the "Copy" option. (Alturnatively you can press "Ctrl - C", hold down the "Ctrl" key and press the "C" key). This will copy the permit number to the Windows Clipboard.

Now that you have copied the permit number to the clipboard, you can leave CASST open and switch back to the Windows Explorer. One method for accomplishing this is to locate the "Exlorer" button on the "Task Bar" at the bottom of the screen. This is the bar that has the "Start" menu button at the end of it. When you see a button that looks like this: , click it. This will cause the Windows Exporer window to again be presented in front of the CASST window. Your screen might look simular to the following graphic.

With the Explorer window displayed and the "New Folder" highlighted, press the "F2" key at the top of your keyboard. Next, place your mouse cursor over the highlighted "New Folder" and again "right" click with you mouse. (Alturnatively you can press "Ctrl - V", hold down the "Ctrl" key and press the "V" key). This will paste the permit number that we copied to the clipboard as the new name of this folder. The Explorer window will look similar to the graphic below.

You may want to simply type in the permit number as the name of this new folder rather than use the "Cut and Paste" feature. Which ever method you use, when the permit number has been entered as the name of the new folder, press the "Enter" key to complete the renaming of this new folder.

You can now save any and all graphic and other files related to this specific system in this folder that can be found listed in the "Images" folder of the "CASST2" directory.

When you have saved your graphic images to the directory that has been made for the system, you can then use the instructions in the CASST manual for adding a graphic to a system record. CASST will present the contents of the "Images" folder where you will be able to simply scroll and locate the desired folder. You can then double click the desired folder and you will see the graphic images you have saved there. Select the desired graphic image and continue following the instructions for attaching a graphic image.

It would be expected that you would use this same proceedure to create and name a new folder for each system that you are going to store or save grahpics.

This method should make the locating, attaching and using of graphic images much eaiser to manage.

By having the starting directory or path in the "Option" dialog box pointed to the "Images" folder and then having all of the sub-directories that are named by using the permit number of each system record for which files are to be saved, when the "Add" button is clicked from the "Images" tab, CASST will display the contents of the "Images" folder which will present the list of directories created for each system record. Users can then scroll through this list until the desired folder is located and then double click it to display the files that have been saved there.

Using this process will make locating specific files simple and easy.