Usually, when you invoke the store item dialogue (with Control+I to insert an entry, for example), the entry will be saved as an "active item" when you press ENTER or click the appropriate button. This means that the line contains a colon and when it is selected some action is performed - open a web page, open a new e-mail message, dial a telephone number or launch a program, etc. The fact that an entry of this type will be saved is indicated by the "Active item" radio button in the group near the bottom of the dialogue box being selected.

For the purpose of storing postal addresses and organising your directory into paragraphs, there are two other types of entry, line entries and paragraph headings.

A line entry might be trough of as an "inactive item", it is simply a line of text that does not contain a colon, such as appears in a postal address. You can use line entries to store lines in addresses or note items (beginning with an underscore), or just any other information that you want to use the directory for.

A paragraph heading is a line that appears with a colon before it in the directory list as displayed by Launchpad, and is saved preceded by a blank line in the copy that is stored in a file on disk. You can scan forwards and backwards between paragraph headings using the Tab and Shift+Tab keystrokes,

respectively.

To specify the type of entry that you are making, select the appropriate radio button in the "Entry type" group. You can press Alt+L and Alt+p to specify a line or paragraph heading, respectively. Line entries only use the name box, and heading entries only the information box. You can press Alt+V to specify an active item, but the dialogue will revert automatically to this setting if you are entering a line and type text in the information box or entering a paragraph heading and type text in the name box, so there is no need to explicitly tick this button.

The dialogue box normally opens ready to save an active item, unless you are modifying a line or heading entry, in which case it opens with the corresponding selection.

Additionally, when you save a line entry, Launchpad assumes you are storing a postal address or other information where you want to store consecutive lines, and automatically prepares to save a line next time you invoke the store dialogue without having closed the directory since the last line was saved. Then when you want to enter an active item such as a 'phone number, just type it in the information box to change the entry type selection.

You can also open the directory in your Windows editor (usually Notepad) by pressing Control+Shift+ENTER. This allows you to edit the directory with all the standard editing functionality for entering text and working with blocks of text, etc. Being able to edit the directory like this can be useful in some circumstances, such as if you have several lines of text on the clipboard that you want to insert into a paragraph then make changes. When you have finished editing, exit your editor and save changes in the usual way to display the directory in Launchpad again.

As well as being able to insert active entry information such as e-mail addresses into your documents, you can retrieve whole paragraphs, lines and portions of lines and paragraphs using the Send menu. Click Send on the menu bar or press Alt+N to list the items you can retrieve and the shortcut keys for doing so without choosing from the menu. These include full postal address by pressing the Right Arrow key, post code only by pressing Control+Left Arrow, and all contact information (active entries) by pressing Control+Right Arrow.

At the bottom of the send menu is a series of options enclosed in parentheses, "[]". These options select the "information mode". Pasting directory text into other document text is only one possibility and is the default action. You can also print information, copy it to the Windows clipboard and create abridgements of the directory by chaining information together into a new file. The last-mentioned option can be very useful for such purposes as compiling Christmas card lists from your full directory of contacts. When you select and information mode, the menu is displayed again for you to immediately chose the information itself.

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Making an entry in the directory that is just a line of text with no associated action