Deals are kept in folders. These have a hierarchical tree structure just like the directory pane in Windows File Explorer. This allows you to organize deals into a logical arrangement. For example:

Creating
You can create folders using the icons on the folder menu, or from the folder context (right-click) menu. There are options to create a new root (top-level) folder, to create a child of the selected folder, or to insert a new sibling after the selected folder. The folder gets created and you are left in name edit mode so that you can overwrite the default name.
Folders also get created when you use the import functions.
Naming
There is no restriction on folder names. (You can even have the same name for two folders with the same parent.) You can rename the selected folder by clicking on the name or with F2.
If you want an ampersand in the name [&], you must enter two [&&]. For instance, ‘Signals && Discards’
Moving
There are folder Move Up and Move Down buttons to allow you to move a folder up and down within its parent. You can move a folder to a different parent by dragging. It becomes the last child of its new parent. You can also use the Cut Folder from the folder context (right-click) menu, followed by Paste Folder.
To move a folder to the top level, use the Move Folder to Root function on the context menu.
Deleting
Deleting a folder includes deleting its deals, and all its descendent folders and their deals. That could be a lot of data. So, folder deletion cannot be undone. There is deliberately no icon for folder deletion on the main folder menu – the function is only available from the folder context (right-click) menu and you are always asked for confirmation.
The folder context menu also has an option to empty the folder of deals. This does not affect the descendent folders, and is integrated with undo.
Exporting & Importing

There are options on the menus for importing and exporting a folder in internal format. This applies to an entire folder sub-tree (ie including all the descendent sub-folders) and preserves all the data for the contained deals.
You can also import and export an individual folder in DLM or PBN format. This does not include descendent sub-folders. The DLM format does not include any deal commentary.
The PBN format allows comments, but there is no standard for how to use them. BDM exports the Intro and Analysis fields as separate comments attached to the PBN Results tag, and similarly tries to import them from two comments attached to the tag. This is designed to be compatible with Bridge Composer. HTML tags are stripped from the comments on import, though this can be controlled with a user setting on the Settings tab. Neither auction notes nor lead notes are preserved on PBN import or export.
Creating Reports

There are two similar reporting facilities – one for MS Word reports and one for HTML output. From the menu you can create either for all the deals in the selected folder. The Reports and HTML drop-down buttons show all the currently available report formats.
When you select a Word report to generate, BDM asks for an output filename. It remembers the last folder used, and the suggested filename contains the report format name and a timestamp. It creates the report and attempts to open the file. You would normally run BDM on a machine with MS Word or similar installed. MS Word has functions to create a PDF file. One of the Word reports can be set as the default, allowing you to use Ctrl-F10 as a short-cut.
When you select an HTML report to generate, BDM asks for an output filename in the same way, except that HTML reports can be set to generate a separate file for each deal. In that case, BDM asks for an output folder instead and a confirmation dialogue is shown if the folder is not empty.
You can also use the Shift key while generating HTML from the folder menu to create instead an XML file for the whole folder node recursively. This is designed to be imported into a WordPress website with the BDM Import plugin.
Utility Operations

BDM has powerful utility functionality to perform actions on all (or selected) deals in a folder. the Deal Utility form has comprehensive built-in help and sanity checks, but here is a list of what you can do:
- Change the board numbers by incrementing from the first board or a specified number, or add a constant to the existing numbers.
- Set the dealer to match the board number, or increment from a specified start position, by a specified number of positions, every specified number of deals. (For instance, starting with West, increment two positions every two deals.) Or you can set the dealer the same for all deals, or rotate all dealers by a specified number of positions.
- Set the vulnerability to match the board number, or to the same specified value for all deals.
- Rotate the hands to match any change to the dealer, or by a specified number of positions for every deal.
- Rotate the show hand settings to match any change to the dealer, or specified specific values. Or you can show just the dealer and partner, or just declarer and dummy.
- Set or clear the Optional output setting.
Searching

There is a search facility and one of the options is to search folder names. You can specify the case-sensitivity and whether BDM’s text short-cuts are interpreted in the search string. For example, you could search for folder names containing 2♣ by specifying 2!c.