When you create a database, you import the initial load files to populate the database with records. These initial files can be either PST files, electronic documents, or delimited text files prepared by a vendor (or other party), and can be imported as you create the new Concordance Desktop database. Concordance Desktop provides a Creation Wizard to help you create and import the documents all together.
•You can import the following types of files:
•Delimited text file
•Native files
•Electronic documents
•E-mails and attachments
•Transcripts
•Concordance Desktop databases
Each Concordance Desktop database uses several files during operation. Only four are absolutely required to open and use a database. The four mandatory files are the database control block (.dcb), the numeric, date, and text file (.ndx), the text file (.txt), and the user management file (.sec). All of the other files can be recreated without damaging the integrity of the data. At a minimum, these four files should be backed up for archival purposes.
For more information see backing up databases.
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A B-tree file uses a tree data structure to provide fast search results. The tree data structure minimizes the number of times the database is accessed when searching for a record, resulting in faster searches. |
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The .TRK file in Concordance Desktop uses SQLite. SQLite is an embedded relational database engine, which brings more stability to the functions of the .TRK file. Because SQLite is an embedded database, SQLite does not increase the required maintenance and administration of Concordance Desktop. |
Concordance Database Files
Name |
File Description |
Usage |
File Type |
|---|---|---|---|
.cat |
Concatenation |
Stores a list of concatenated databases |
Text file |
.cib |
Imagebase |
Stores association between media keys and native and image files including markup history |
SQLite file |
.cpl |
CPL script |
Store Concordance Desktop Programming Language (CPL) scripts |
Script file |
.cpt |
CPL script |
Stores compiled versions of CPL script |
Script file |
.csv |
User management |
Stores field and menu access for all users (when exported by user) |
Text file |
.dat |
Delimited text |
Contains metadata and sometimes OCR for document records |
Text file |
.dcb |
Data control block |
Database definition, including fields, document count, and other settings |
|
.dct |
Dictionary |
All unique words in the database, in alphabetical order This is not a plain text file, it cannot be read or edited by a text editor or word processor |
B-tree file |
.fmt |
Print settings |
Saves print settings for reports generated using the standard print feature User generated file |
|
.fyi |
Concordance Desktop Concordance Desktop server database |
A link file that opens a database on a remote Concordance Desktop server |
Text file |
.fzy |
Fuzzy search dictionary |
The fuzzy search dictionary contains homonyms for words in the search dictionary This file is created and updated by indexing and reindexing |
B-tree file |
.gat |
Back Up |
A tag backup file that stores tagging information. Generated by running the TagSaver.cpl |
|
.ini |
Configuration settings |
Stores various configuration settings |
Text file |
.ivt |
Inverted text |
Used with the dictionary during searches |
|
.key |
Key fields |
Field storage for fast relational searching |
B-tree file |
.layout |
Table layout |
Stores the defined table layouts |
B-tree file |
.sortlayout |
Sorting layout |
Stores the defined sorting layouts for the current database |
|
.editlayout |
Editing layout |
Stores the defined editing layouts for the current database |
|
.lst |
Word lists |
Contains predefined values that can be selected from a list when editing fields When a list is assigned to a specific field, it's called an Authority List |
B-tree file |
.ndx |
Numeric, date, and text fields |
Stores data for the fixed length field types: Numeric, Date, and Text |
|
.opf |
Print settings |
A Concordance Desktop Image print file that stores print settings for print jobs generated by Concordance Desktop Image (Opticon) User generated |
|
.qry |
Query |
Stores search query strings |
|
.sec |
User management control |
Stores user management settings |
B-tree file |
.snp |
Snapshot |
Stores search history and auto-restore settings |
|
.stp |
Stopwords |
Contains the noise words that are ignored during database indexing |
B-tree file |
.syn |
Synonyms |
Stores the user defined synonyms |
B-tree file |
.tex |
Text |
Full text paragraph field storage |
Text file |
.trk |
Transaction tracking |
Relational SQLite file structure that stores tags and tag histories, security (field and menu access for all users) and replication data |
SQLite file |
.xrl |
Markup |
Stores the current state of markups and placeholders |
|
Temporary Files
Concordance Desktop creates and uses temporary files, which are automatically erased when you leave the program. However, temporary files are not erased if there is a power outage or other problem which causes an irregular program termination. Concordance Desktop places the files in the system's temporary directory as defined by the Windows TEMP environment variable. The two most common functions that create temporary files are indexing and reindexing.
When indexing a database, two temporary files are saved in the local computer's temp directory. Both files begin with the prefix C- and end with the .tmp extension. These files represent the temporary .dct and .ivt files. They are not initially saved on the network server since network latency would severely decrease performance. When indexing is complete, the resulting .dct and .ivt files are copied to the Concordance Desktop server.
When reindexing a database, the same temporary files are saved in the local computer's temp directory. In addition, a temporary dictionary file with a .dcb file extension is saved in the local computer's database directory. This file contains information from the newly created records. Near the end of the reindexing process, this dictionary file is merged with the main dictionary file on the network server.
For more information about indexing and reindexing, see Indexing Databases.