Filenames can have as few as 1, or as many as 12 characters. The format of a filename consists of 1-8 characters (optionally followed by a period and 1-3 more characters). You can create the filename using numbers, letters, and most special characters, such as underline, hyphen, or # sign. IMPORTANT: Empty spaces are not allowed. Here are some examples of legal file names:
MEMO3X92.TXT BUDGET.WK1
MAIN.PBK MAIN.ABK
SPECIAL.EQN READ_ME
XYZ123$ DO-IT.NOW
The optional period and final three characters is known as the file "extension." The 95LX's built-in applications enter the period and three-character extension for you. For example, let's say you save a Lotus file, and give it the filename BUDGET (or any 1-8 character name). 1-2-3 saves the file as BUDGET.WK1, automatically giving it the .WK1 file extension. Similarly, when you save a MEMO file as REPORT, MEMO saves the file as REPORT.TXT.
When PHONE saves its files, it gives them the .PBK extension.
So if your main phone directory is called MAIN, the PHONE application actually saves it as MAIN.PBK. APPT saves its files with the .ABK extension (e.g. MAIN.ABK). Finally, COMM saves its configuration files with the .DCF extension and HP CALC saves Solve equations with the .EQN extension.
Note that in most of the built-in applications you don't have to use the default extension when you save a file. For example, you could save a MEMO document as REPORT.DOC instead of REPORT.TXT. The disadvantage of not using the default extension is that when you try to open a file in MEMO (by pressing <MENU> File Open), only those files with the .TXT extension are listed automatically. (From MEMO you can get a listing of your files with the .DOC extension by first pressing <MENU> File Open. When you see the "File to open:" prompt, backspace once to erase the *.TXT. Type in *.DOC, and press <ENTER> for your file listing.)