Notes on Simplified UnZip
This page last modified on 04 December, 2008
In Windows XP (probably similar in other recent versions of Windows) use the Windows Explorer program (don't confuse with the Internet-Explorer). If you don't yet have a shortcut icon for the Windows Explorer on your Desktop, you'll find one by clicking Start, then All Programs, and then Accessories.
Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the directory where you want the UnZipped file (or subdirectory of files) to appear. For simplicity, you should save the downloaded .ZIP file in this same directory. Left Double-Click the icon of the ZIP file - - it looks like a slightly altered directory icon. The result should be a second Windows Explorer window (possibly completely hiding the original), which you should shift so as to reveal the original Win Explorer. The second window will show the file, or subdirectory of files, which is contained in the .ZIP file. Holding down the left mouse button, drag-drop the icon of that file content into the original Windows Explorer window.
That's all it takes. You may wish to delete the .ZIP file after completing the drag-drop in order to release space used on your hard-disk.
Need More Details ??
Many Windows users don't normally have much use for the built-in Windows Explorer program and so frequently don't know how to find it. In continued work with our XID key we'll be assuming that you regularly use Windows Explorer at least for downloading occasional updated files from this project. The shortcut icon for the program looks like this:
If you don't find this on your Windows Desktop (your main screen, behind all active windows), then look in the Start Menu under All Programs >> Accessories. This icon (without the little arrow indicating a Shortcut) will probably show that Windows Explorer is near bottom of the list of available programs. You can put a Shortcut to this program on your Desktop by right-clicking your mouse with the Windows Explorer line highlighted in the menu that pops-up. Select Create Shortcut in this pop-up menu (and "drag" the result onto your desktop if necessary).
After clicking the this ZIPfile link (in the paragraph under Test Database in XID: ) a dialog box resembling the following should appear on your browser page:
Make sure "Save to Disk" is selected, and click OK. Note the OK button may be grayed-out initially. If so, click OK anyway, and the OK button should shortly show that it is ready to be clicked. The result of clicking OK should be a dialog box asking where to save the downloaded file, as in the following:
For this discussion, we have created a new temporary directory called "Temp" where the downloaded and unZipped files will be placed. You can use any convenient directory for this purpose, but it will be least confusing to place the files in a directory not shared with other uses. The directory you use can have any name you find convenient.
Query for Reviewer: Should I add instructions on how to create a new directory?? Reply to bowlesk@att.net with Subject starting "UnZip Help ..."
Temp Dir After Download Completed
This Windows Explorer view shows the Temp directory after the download has been completed.
This view of Windows Explorer, showing the tree-list of directories in the left panel, and relevant details of files listed in the right panel, is the one I prefer to use. Microsoft's initial settings of Folder Options in the Tools menu generally leave out the left panel entirely, and set the View menu with Icons checked whereas I use Details. The view shown in this HelpFile should make the various steps needed understandable, but it isn't required for a user who understands how to make the needed operations using a different Windows Explorer view.
Note to Reviewers: I will shortly add a separate section (at end of this HelpFile) with screenshot illustrations on how to set the Folder Options in the Tools menu to get the view shown in this note.
Copying ZipFile Contents to Temp Directory
Note the little icon next to the filename SDFamiliesWebPkg.zip. That icon is similar to the one used to mark directories (as in the left panel), but it indicates that a ZipFile can be treated almost as a directory in Windows XP (and presumably Windows Vista, and Windows 7). Double-Click that ZipFile icon to pop-up the following view of the contents of the ZipFile:
This window will co-exist with the Windows Explorer window containing your Temp directory. For the easiest way to UnZip the Web Package of files to Temp, both windows (at least parts of them) should be visible simultaneously.
Point your mouse pointer at the directory icon in the view above, hold down the left mouse button, then continuously drag the mouse pointer into the window containing the Temp directory. Finally, with the mouse pointer in the open area within that window, release the mouse pointer. Windows should respond briefly with a dialog box saying that the ZipFile is being copied (i.e. uncompressed).
The result of this "drag-drop" operation should be to leave the SDFamiliesWebPkg directory, and all its content files in the Temp directory.
There are other ways to accomplish this same goal, but this is the simplest and least vulnerable to errors that I know of.
Final Step - Using the XID Program
With the SDFamiliesWebPkg directory now installed as a subdirectory of your Temp directory, expand the Windows Explorer view to show contents of the XID subdirectory as in the following screenshot:
Execute the program file XIDRO.exe by double-clicking the icon to left of the filename. The first result should be this large dialog box:
The filename shown highlighted in the short section of directory listing is the file containing the main XID key (a.k.a. database). If not already highlighted, you should click this line in the listing to show the highlighting.
Finally, click the [Open XID database] button in middle of the dialog box. The initial screen of the XID key will look like this:
Illustrated Help on searching for a familiar San Diego area wildflower will be subject for a separate paper which is in preparation.
Simple Download/Copy of an Updated XID key file
From time to time we will post notices that the Test Key has been updated. When this happens all you need to do is copy the new XID-SDfamiliesWebMi.xid file from the small XID-SDfamiliesWebMi.ZIP file which can be downloaded using a separate link. Illustrations showing how to do this will be added here shortly.
- - klb