| ELDIR Overview | Directory Maintenance | Directory File Lists | Directory Printing |

ELDIR Overview

The Electronic Directory (ELDIR) application, is designed to allow both directory assistance and directory printing functions from a common database. The ELDIR System Menu is shown below.

The file maintenance and printing function portions of ELDIR are intended for file maintenance operators. A file maintenance operator is responsible for creating and maintaining the directory information, and for printing the telephone directory. Directory assistance operators, on the other hand, access the directory information in a read-only mode; except for a limited capability to store notes, they cannot make changes to the information.

ELDIR stores directory information in directory files. Up to 50 separate directory files are supported. Each directory file is like a section of the printed telephone book. There are two types of directory files - single-level and multi-level. Single-level files contain no structure (each listing stands alone). This type of file is similar to the white pages of a residential phone book, and its listings are generally alphabetized. Personnel files are usually (but not always) single-level files.

Multi-level files, on the other hand, have organizational structure; some listings belong to, or fall under, other listings. For example, in the yellow pages section of a phone book, the categorized headings are the parent, or top-level listings, and each individual listing belongs to one of the categories, or top-level listings. Multi-level files are used for many types of directory information, including organizational directories and topical cross references. In a multi-level file, only the top-level listings are alphabetized; lower-level listings are linked to parent listings in the order you specify during file maintenance.

One of the features designed into ELDIR is the capability to maintain redundant copies of the directory files. If the feature is configured, all maintenance updates are applied to two copies of the data, providing a degree of fault-tolerance.