The Database Toolkit dialog makes it possible to perform the following operations on the database:

replace strings - substituting selected strings in the database with a chosen set of replacement string. This option may be useful to change diacritical characters in foreign language databases from one coding standard to another.

transfer items - transferring a subset of items, or all items from one database to another.

sort database - sorting the database with respect to the difficulty of particular items. The sorting is done according to the data collected in the learning process that is used to determine the difficulty of particular items. In sorted databases, easy items come first, while difficult items are placed at the end of the item sequence.

export text - exporting a text file with the content of a database

import text - importing a text file to a database. The imported text items are converted to items in the SuperMemo format and appended to the end of the destination database.

import audiovis - importing bitmaps or sound files into a database. The bitmap files should be named 1.bmp, 2.bmp, 3.bmp, etc. while sound files should be named 1.wav, 2.wav, 3.wav, etc. where the numbers 1,2,3,... denote the number of items with which particular bitmap or sound files should be associated

export SM6 - exporting the source database in the format acceptable by SuperMemo 6 for DOS. SuperMemo 6 for DOS cannot display bitmaps nor can it produce sounds. The conversion concerns mostly the formatting of the text in database items. In SuperMemo 7 for Windows, with the option word-wrapping turned on, items may exceed the limit of maximum 48 characters per line imposed by SuperMemo 6. This problem is eliminated by the option export SM6.

See instructions at the bottom of the Toolkit dialog for the summary of actions needed to complete the currently selected Toolkit operation.

The following are the parameters accepted by the procedures of the Toolkit.

Source - path and filename of the source database (or text file). This parameter can be specified by typing in its value into the relevant edit control or by using the associated Browse button.

Destination - path and filename of the destination database or text file (if any).

Filter file - path and filename of the filter file used in replacing, transferring, sorting or exporting items. Filter files are text files with the extension FLT that define replacement strings, ordinal numbers, items to be excluded from output, etc. See TOOLKIT.TXT for detail of the FLT file syntax. Optionally, CNV files used with REPSTR.EXE in earlier versions of SuperMemo may be used in place of filter files.

Reset - this parameter will reset items in the destination database (e.g. in transferring or sorting items).

Sort - this parameter will sort items in the destination database. Easy items are placed first on the output.

Slim - this parameter will result in generating slim database text files, i.e. files that contain only the text of questions and items. The output will not include item parameters, bitmap filenames, sound filenames, ordinal numbers, etc.

Ignore WAV - this parameter speeds up processing databases that do not include sound.

Ignore BMP - this parameter speeds up processing databases that do not include bitmaps.

Size - this parameter determines the maximum size of the newly created destination database (e.g. when sorting a large database). If the number of items processed is greater than the maximum size of the destination database, new destination databases will be created with 6-letter names concatenated with 00, 01, 02, etc. For example, database ENGLISH might generate databases ENGLIS00, ENGLIS01, etc.

Range - this parameter determines the range of items taken from the source database.

Keep files - this parameter determines which intermediate text files created by Toolkit operations should not be deleted. For example, transferring items from one database to another always goes through a buffering text file, which is deleted upon completing the process. By checking Keep files : TXT text file, you can inspect the text file after the transfer. STB files are sortable files used by the sorting procedure. SRT files are also used in sorting, and are sorted equivalents of STB files. REP files are report files that keep the record of the Toolkit operations.