Defining Contexts for Switcher

The first step in defining a context is to decide which, if any, Syscob applications, Export-It and/or Export-It Plus, is to be included in the context.  Or there may be a need for a “foreign” [non-Syscob] application like Arrow™ accounting which is not compatable with Syscob applications.  Some thought should also be given to what name, or “title”, will be used to aid in identifying what the context defines.  When these decisions have been made press the Define button as illustrated here:

When that button is pressed a dialog will appear for entry of the name that will be used to identify the new context.  The name may be of any length and may contain punctuation (excepting “control” characters and special characters reserved by Microsoft), but should be less than about 200 characters for readability.  When the name has been entered press the OK button to continue the definition.  Pressing the Cancel button in this dialog will abort the process and no new context will be created.

Should the name entered contain invalid characters then an error dialog, as at the left, will be displayed.  When the OK button is pressed to acknowlege the dialog the context definition process will be aborted and no context will be added to the list.  Press the Define button again to restart the process, but choose an acceptable name this time.  Of course, when the name entered is acceptable the dialog at the left will not appear and the definition process will continue to allow selection of the application(s) to be included in the context.


When an acceptable name was chosen for the new context the two [2] dialogs seen at the left will appear in the sequence shown.  This allows a choice of the four [4] possible combinations of applications that will be included in the context:

  • Yes for both includes both Syscob applications, or
  • No for both defines a non-Syscob applications, or
  • Yes to only the first for Export-It, or
  • Yes to only the second for Export-It Plus.

A Syscob application that is not included in a context definition which includes the other Syscob application will remain unaffected when the context is activated (“switched to”).  However, switching to a “foreign” [non-Syscob] application may impact either, or both, Syscob packages—depending on the compatability of the “foreign” package with Syscob software.  Therefore, as a rule always define a “foreign” context when it is running correctly and before using the “Icon & Rego” utility to setup any Syscob application!

After Defining a New Context

Following the second application selection dialog [above right] the main window will again be enabled.  The left pane will contain the new context just defined, it will be selected and the right pane will list the files that Switcher created to allow resoration of that context.  For the example on this page that window would look like this:

Notice that the “StatusBar” content shows the name of the context that was just defined (along with the current date and time).  And, after it is in the list, the new context can be activated (“switched to”) at any time to restore the DataFlex DBMS environment as it was at the time the context was defined (or last updated).