HEC-DSSVue's File menu allows you to create a New HEC-DSS file, Open an existing HEC-DSS file, Close DSS File(s) you have opened, show the Print Catalog Preview, Print Catalog, open a recently viewed file, and Exit the program. If you are running HEC-DSSVue in a client-server mode, you can Open a Remote file or create a New Remote file. The following sections discuss these operations in detail.

Creating a New HEC-DSS File

To create a new HEC-DSS database file, from the File menu, click New. When the Create new HEC-DSS File dialog box opens, select where you would like to create the file using the Look in list or file icons. Type in a name for the new file in the File name box and then click the Create button.

Create new HEC-DSS File Dialog Box

 A new HEC-DSSVue file will be created in the location you selected. Data can then be added using the tools located under the Data Entry menu, copied in through the many different plug-ins available, or copied from other DSS files*.
*Note: If you copy records from an existing file, a new DSS file will be created automatically if one does not already exist.

Opening an HEC-DSS File

To open a DSS file, from the File menu, click Open. The Open HEC-DSS File browser will display, shown below.

Open HEC-DSS File Browser

Note: If you know the name of the HEC-DSS database file you wish to open, you can type the file name (including the path) directly into the File Name box on the main DSSVue window.
From the Open HEC-DSS File browser, use the standard Windows controls to browse to the HEC-DSS file that you wish to open, click Open.
The name of the file you have selected will now appear in the File name box, and the pathnames of the records contained in the file will display in the List of HEC-DSS Pathnames.

Closing an HEC-DSS File

To close the currently selected HEC-DSS database file, from the File menu, click Close. This will allow some older MS-DOS based programs to access the file or for you to rename or delete the file. HEC-DSS will automatically close un-accessed file files after about a minute. They will be automatically re-opened on the next access.
Note: HEC-DSS is a multi-user database system. Some older MS-DOS programs exclusively locked HEC-DSS files. HEC-DSS will automatically close un-accessed file files after about a minute. They will be automatically re-opened on the next access.

Printing the Catalog

You can print the catalog of a DSS file directly (Print Catalog) or you can preview what the catalog will look like before you print (Print Catalog Preview). For further printing of DSS catalogs, see Chapter 4.
A catalog for the DSS file consists of a list of the pathnames contained in the file, similar to what is displayed in the DSS Pathname list area. From the View menu the user can determine how the catalog will display the pathnames. For example, the catalog could be displayed as a sorted list or by pathname parts. The catalog for the currently selected DSS file can be printed or viewed in a separate window.
To preview the catalog in a separate window and then print:

1.From the File menu, click Print Catalog Preview, a Properties dialog box will open that is specific for setting up a report for printing. The Properties dialog box offers various print options, on three separate tabs.

2.The Page tab allows you to specify the page Orientation, Scaling, and Selection; you can also choose to print the table as ASCII, Repeat Headers on every page, and print the Gridlines.
3.On the Header/Footer tab, you can type in the header and footer you want to appear on your printed pages.
4.The Table Title tab offers a default title for the table based on the data source. You may edit this title.
5.Once the user has the report setup, click Preview, the Print Preview dialog box will open.

Properties Dialog Box

Print Preview Dialog Box

To print the catalog, click Print, a Print dialog box will open, click OK, and the report will print to the selected printer.
To preview the catalog in a separate window and then print:

1.From the File menu, click Print Catalog, a Properties dialog box will open that is specific for setting up a report for printing. The Properties dialog box offers various print options, on three separate tabs.
2. From above, review Steps 2 thru 4 for available print options.
3.Click Print, a Print dialog box will open, click OK, and the report will print to the selected printer.

Exiting HEC-DSSVue

To exit HEC-DSSVue, from the File menu, click Exit. (If you have opened HEC-DSSVue from another application, such as CWMS or ResSim, click Close from HEC-DSSVue's File menu.)