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Starting with Elixir version 3.20 you can now group a specified number of .ELX forms together and edit them as a separate group within the Elixir FormBuilder, this group is referenced in a text file with a .DAT extension that resides in the Elixir Documents folder.

Creating a DAT file

1. Within the forms folder select all of the .ELX files that you would like in your .DAT file
2. Drag and drop them on the Documents folder the Documents folder will display.
3. Drop your files on the Elixir Documents folder then click once inside that folder.
4. You be prompted to enter a file name for your DAT file (fig.1).
   
   
   fig.1
   
5. You can view your DAT file in Notepad or Write. It is located in the [drive]:\ELIXIR\docs\doclist directory, locate your file and double click on it or drag and drop it on the viewer in on the Elixir Desktop.  It will look something like this (fig.2)

   Note: To view a DAT file in notepad you will need to add the following line to your ELX.INI file DAT=NOTEPAD.EXE to view and edit this file right click on the viewer icon add this line to the ELX.INI and save (always be careful when editing an INI file) (fig. 2a)

   
   fig. 2

   You can also create a .DAT file by entering your information into Notepad, like in figure 2 using your file names and directory structure. Save your file with a .DAT extension.  I think you will agree that the Drag and drop option is much easier.

6.  

Using your .DAT file within the FormBuilder

To load a .DAT file into ElixirForm:

1. Select [Open DAT File] from the File menu.
2. Select the DAT file that you created

To select a form to edit:

1. Click on [Load Form].
2. A list of the pages (.ELX files) referenced by the DAT file display. (fig. 3)
   
3. Select the form to edit and click [OK]
4. You can also select multiple forms and they will all load in a untitled form.   Fig 2a

To load the next page, repeat the process. You will be prompted to save the current page if any edits have been made

When a DAT file is loaded, you can also merge pages on top of the currently loaded page by selecting [Merge Form Group] from the File menu. In the dialog that displays, select the page(s) you want to merge to the edit window.

When you have finished editing the pages, select [Close DAT File] from the File menu to set the session back to single page loading mode.

Note: You can set the directory for DAT files using [Filing Options] from the System menu