Chapter 2. Creating a New Data File

Now you need a data file. Maybe you have some, but you can create an example file as shown below. Select the data-in item in the Navigator pane (which will be the folder where your input data file will be stored) and right-click this item. Select New → File from the context menu.

Figure 2.1. Creating a Flat Data File

When you click the File item, you will be prompted to type the name of your data file. It will be created and stored in the highlighted data-in subfolder.

Figure 2.2. Selecting a Folder for the Data File

You can type input.dat as the name of the data file.

Now open the file by right-clicking its item and selecting Open With → Text Editor.

Figure 2.3. Opening the Data File

You will see the following empty file:

Figure 2.4. Still Empty Data File

Write some data records in this file. Suppose these data records have three fields. Record fields should be delimited by semicolon. Terminate each record including the last one by a new line. Type some number of lines like the following: John;Smith;25000. All records must have similar structure.

Figure 2.5. Filling the Graph with Delimited Data Records

Now you will create your graph.