The Readerware Newsletter

Readerware 1.35

Readerware 1.35 is now available on the web site. This release focuses on Readerware import/export. Readerware can now export to the following formats:

• CSV, (Comma Separated Value)
• TAB delimited
• UIEE, (Universal Information Exchange Environment)
• HTML

Readerware can now import from:

• CSV, (Comma Separated Value)
• TAB delimited

Plus there is a new export options dialog that allows you to select which database fields to export and control data conversion.

For more information on upgrading to Readerware 1.35, please visit the web sit at http://www.readerware.com/rwDown.html

Import/Export

Readerware includes powerful import and export capabilities. You can use Readerware import/export to:

• Import data from another database program into Readerware. If you are currently using another program and you want to migrate your existing database to Readerware, you can import a CSV or TAB delimited file to create your Readerware database.
• Export data from your Readerware database to another program. Readerware auto-catalog is an extremely powerful feature, using it you can automatically catalog your library, no data entry required. Now you can use Readerware auto-catalog with other programs, use Readerware to catalog your library and then export the data in CSV, TAB delimited or UIEE formats to other applications.
• Upload books for sale to online services. Most online services support the UIEE format, with Readerware you can upload all or parts of your database to online services such as ABE or Alibris.
• Create HTML pages from your Readerware database, use Readerware for online publishing, Readerware can create HTML pages that you can then publish on your web site.

Selecting Books to Export

Readerware export works together with the powerful Readerware Search feature. You must first search to establish the data you wish to export. Then when you select one of the File->Export menu items, the current results set is used to determine the data to be exported.

This means that you can export your entire database by doing an author or title search with a value of * to return all titles, or search by category, rating, copies etc. etc.

The current results set always determines which books are written to the export file. For example if you search for a favorite author, then only those books are exported.

You can control which database fields or columns are exported in one of two ways. By default the current result set is used again to determine the database fields exported. If you selected the ISBN by Author choice from the toolbar search results view combo box, you see Author, Title and ISBN columns on the screen. These same three fields, and only these three fields will be exported. If you select All Data by Title, all fields in the database are displayed on the screen and exported. If you want to export your entire database using this method, search for all books in the database by using an author or title search with a value of *, the Readerware wild card. Ensure that one of the All Data options is selected.

You can also explicitly control, which database fields are exported field by field. Use the Export Options Dialog and pick the Select Database Fields option. You can then use the field list to include only the database fields you want to export. You can also change the order the fields are exported in. If this option is selected, Readerware still uses the current result set to determine which books to export, but the database fields exported will be the ones you select, regardless of which fields are displayed in the results table. If you want to export your entire database using this method, search for all books in the database by using an author or title search with a value of *, the Readerware wild card. Ensure that all fields in the field list are checked.

HTML Exports

Readerware will build an HTML file from the current results set. It will contain an HTML table displaying all the rows and columns from the results panel. When Readerware creates the HTML table it uses a style sheet, rware.css, which is distributed with the product. The style sheet controls various formatting options such as the colors, font styles etc. To display correctly you must copy the rware.css file to the same location as the exported HTML file.

You can customize the style sheet and change the way the HTML table is displayed, without having to actually alter the generated HTML file. You can for instance change the font or color of the HTML title, the background colors used in the table etc. The style sheet applies to all exported HTML files in the same directory. If you want different pages in different formats, create them in separate directories and customize the style sheet in each directory.

You can use the export to HTML feature to publish your collection on your web site. You can list books you have for sale, or books you are looking for. You can e-mail the HTML files to dealers or friends.

If you were to include all your books in a single HTML table, it might be very large and unwieldy. But with Readerware you can easily break down your collection and produce HTML files by category or by the first letter of the authors last name etc. Simply perform the search to produce the results you want and create the HTML files. Then all you need to do is create the main page which includes links to the individual pages.

CSV and TAB delimited files

Readerware can optionally add a database description line as the first row in the exported file. This is used to map the data in the file to database fields on import. This row is required when importing into Readerware, so you may have to add it if another application did not generate it or you may have to edit it to use the Readerware database field names. If Readerware finds a database field name that it does not recognize, the contents of that column are not imported.

It is important to understand how Readerware maps the imported data into the database fields. The data exported is typically just a collection of database fields delimited by a predefined character. But which import field goes in which database field? Readerware expects the first line of the imported file to contain a description of the file, a list of the database field names delimited by the same predefined character. Readerware will automatically generate this line for you when creating the export file, so if you are transferring data from one Readerware database to another, everything is automatic.

For example to import a list of book titles and authors using the TAB delimited format, the import file should look something like this, (the > character is used to represent the TAB character):

The first line tells Readerware that the first column in the imported file contains the Author field and the second the Title field. Readerware can then correctly map the imported data to the database fields.

The fields specified must match the Readerware database schema. The field names are:

• Author - Authors name, required. Readerware uses a "last name, first name" format
• Title - Book title, required.
• ISBN - ISBN, optional. Must be unique, a book with a duplicate ISBN will be rejected.
• Publisher - Publishers name, optional.
• First - First edition, optional. Must be Y or N
• Signed - Signed edition, optional. Must be Y or N
• PubDate - Published data, optional.
• PubPlace - Published place, optional.
• BookFormat - Book Format, Hardcover or Paperback
• Copies - Number of copies, optional. Must be numeric
• Rating - Rating, optional. Readerware will add this to the rating list if necessary
• Condition - Condition optional. Readerware will add this to the condition list if necessary
• Category - Category, optional. Readerware will add this to the category list if necessary
• Read - Read, optional. Must be Y or N.
• Print - Include in printed reports, optional.. Must be Y or N
• HTMLExport - Include in HTML exports, optional. Must be Y or N.
• Value - Estimated value, optional. Can include currency symbol, punctuation etc.
• Comments - Comments, optional
• BookClub - Book club edition, optional. Must be Y or N.

The fields can be in any order but the names must be specified exactly as above and are case sensitive. Separate the fields by the appropriate delimiter, (comma for CSV files, TAB for TAB delimited files).

UIEE, (Universal Information Exchange Environment)

Readerware can now create UIEE files. This is a common format used to define books and transfer information. The UIEE format includes both the data and the database field information, so database mapping is automatic. However the UIEE format does not support all possible fields, so some Readerware information such as the read indicator cannot be output to a UIEE file

Other Import/Export Features

Readerware CSV support has been improved to be more compatible with other applications. If you have had problems with Readerware CSV support in the past, please try the new version.

Readerware now includes an export options dialog. You can use this dialog to define exactly what fields are exported. Plus you can control data formatting, Readerware can now translate titles to uppercase on export.

Support Readerware

You can support Readerware and ensure that the new features keep on coming. Use Readerware when making your online purchases. If you order using the Readerware browser or shopping cart, Readerware normally receives a commission from the vendor. The Readerware browser uses the same encryption technology as the major browsers so you can order online, safely and securely using Readerware. Plus it ensures continued development of Readerware.

Thank you.

Your Feedback

Your feedback is always welcome. The import/export improvements were implemented because you asked for them. If you have additional import/export needs, please let us know about them. All comments and feature requests are always welcome E-Mail feedback@readerware.com.

Thanks for your support.