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# Symbian CommDB Editor

## USAGE INFORMATION

The CommDB Editor is an application which allows the modification of a CommDB configuration file, in XML format, or the creation of a new one from scratch. This file can then be used as input to the CED command-line utility in order to generate a binary CommDB database file (DBMS) for use by Symbian OS.

### 1. First Step

The first step after the application is started is the specification of the directory that contains the XML Schema files which define the structure of the CommDB database to be edited. The user must select the Set CommDB XML Schema option from the Actions menu and using the File Chooser select the directory which contains the XML Schema files for the version of CommDB he or she wants to use. The editor will then parse the XML Schema files and learn the structure of the CommDB database to be used. At the same time, the Tables menu is automatically generated with contents the names of the CommDB Tables which can be edited.

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### 2. Importing a CommDB Settings File

When the CommDB Editor has processed the CommDB XML Schema files and is aware of the structure of the CommDB database to be used, the user can then select the ImportXML File... option from the Actions menu in order to import an existing CommDB configuration file (*.xml) and edit its entries. Alternatively, the user can select the Import CFG File... option from the Actions menuin order to import an existing CommDB configuration file in the old (*.cfg) format. The information in this file is then converted to the new XML format.

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### 3. Examing the CommDB structure

The user can select the DisplayInformation menu option from the Actions menu in order to view information concerning the structure of the current CommDB. The information displayed is the following:

- The name of each CommDB table
- The current number of table entries for each CommDB table
- The names of the XML Schema files which contain the definition of each table
- The maximum number of table entries that the user can specify for each CommDB table.

If the user keeps this window open, it is automatically refreshed as the database is edited.

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### 4. Editing the CommDB Tables

The CommDB tables can be edited by selecting the appropriate table from the Tables menu which is dynamically generated once a directory with CommDB XML Schema files is specified. The table editor window allows the user to edit all existing table entries as well as create new entries. Each table entry contains a number of parameters which can be edited to take specific values. Each table parameter is of a specific type and if this type is an enumeration then the user has to select one of the values forming the enumeration, as specified in the appropriate CommDB XML Schema files which define the structure of the CommDB database under editing. Some of these parameters must always be defined for the table entry to be valid and they are marked with red colour. If one or more of these parameters have not been defined, the user is not allowed to save this entry because it is considered to be invalid. The information displayed for each table entry is the following:

- The name of each table parameter (in red for mandatory parameters)
- The current value for each table parameter (this field can be edited)
- The type of each table parameter

It is also possible for a table parameter to have as a value the name of an existing table entry. In this case, as the user edits CommDB, it is possible that one or more of these references become invalid if the user deletes the referenced table entries. However, the editor always checks th evalidity of the references and therefore it does not allow the creation of an invalid CommDB XML configuration file.At the same time, the user can check the validity of the table entry references at any time by selecting the Check Table Entry References menu option from the Actions menu. If the editor discovers that some parameters refer to table entries which no longer exist then it displays all the invalid table entry names together with the table parameters which refer to them for the user to fix them.

The naming convention employed for each table parameter is the following:

<TableName>.<TableEntryName>.<ParameterName>

where:

<TableName> is the name of the table which contains the table entry.

<TableEntryName> is the name of the table entry, i.e. the value of the "Name" parameter which exists for all table entries.

<ParameterName> is the name of the parameter.

Similarly, the naming convention employed for each table entry is the following:

<TableName>.<TableEntryName>

### 5. Exporting the CommDB

The edited CommDB database can be exported to an XML file by using the Export File... menu option from the Actions menu. The user must then specify the name and location of the file to export the database. This file can be imported back to the CommDB Editor for further modifications or supplied as an input file to the CED utility. Note that the CommDB XML configuration file will not be created if the CommDB contains invalid information e.g. references to non-existing table entries.

### 6. Copyright Information

Copyright information together with the version of this application can be viewed by selecting the About menu option from the Help menu.