The Readerware Newsletter

Readerware 2.75 is now shipping. Larger databases, report writer improvements, Mac OS X UI updates and general fixes.

The holidays are coming! Give Readerware as a gift this holiday season. Free CueCat barcode readers are still available.

New Tech Tip: Sorting your Readerware databases.

Readerware 2.75 Now Shipping

Release 2.75 is now available for all products (Readerware, ReaderwareAW and ReaderwareVW), and all platforms, (Windows, Mac OS X and Linux). A full list of the changes included in 2.75 is available online:

Readerware 2.75 changes

Some of the highlights in this release.

Readerware 2.75 can handle much larger databases. Some users have been running up against memory problems lately caused by databases with around 10,000 items. With this release, Readerware can support databases many times that size.

Mac OS X users will want to upgrade. This version fixes some Mac specific problems with popup menus, keyboard shortcuts and the report writer.

ReaderwareAW now correctly handles user defined fields. Due to a schema error, the data was not entered into the correct field. Existing data is not moved, but all new columns will be added correctly.

A couple of important bug fixes in this release, so it is recommended that all users upgrade.

Download Readerware 2.75

Upgrade Policy

Most of you know this by now but Readerware 2.75 is a free upgrade. All 2.x upgrades are free. I haven't been spelling this out in the newsletter and every issue I get few e-mails asking how much the upgrade will cost.

You can always download the latest 2.x release for free. If you ever want the latest version on CD, you can order it from the web site for $12.

Readerware CD

CueCat Manual

Lots of new CueCat users out there, so I have recently put together a CueCat manual to help you get started. It will help you setup and install your CueCat barcode reader and answer your scanning questions. Much of the information comes from the original CueCat documentation with Readerware specific tips.

This is an Adobe Acrobat document, you can view it online or print it out.

A question that has come up a lot lately from CueCat users concerns the Upload button in the Readerware auto-catalog wizard. New users have selected this button and then become puzzled because the CueCat is not listed as a supported device.

The upload button is designed for use with portable barcode readers. These can scan barcodes without being connected to a computer. The barcodes are saved in memory and later you can upload the scans directly into Readerware.

You don't need to upload scans from a conventional barcode reader like the CueCat or EconoScan. Just scan the barcode. Wherever you would normally enter an ISBN or UPC, you can scan the barcode instead.

Readerware 2.75 includes new instructions in the auto-catalog wizard which hopefully makes this clearer.

Readerware CueCat Manual.

Give Readerware this Holiday

Yes, it's that time of the year again. If you are trying to decide on the perfect gift for the book, music and video collectors on your list, consider Readerware.

Free USB and PS/2 CueCat barcode readers are still available. A bundle of the three Readerware products and a barcode reader makes a great gift for the serious collector. Prices start at $85, all prices include shipping.

You can also give any individual product on CD for just $50. Either way Readerware makes a great gift idea.

Just follow the link below to place your order. When ordering as a gift, please be sure to include the name of the recipient so that the license key will be generated in the correct name. When ordering via RegSoft, select the gift option. When ordering via PayPal use the special instructions field to indicate that it is a gift.

The package can be shipped to you or directly to the recipient.

Readerware Gift Ideas
Great Deals on Barcode Readers

Portable Barcode Reader Update

One Readerware user pointed out that there are now Windows XP USB drivers available for the Symbol CS-1504 portable barcode reader. Symbol itself is still only providing drivers for Windows 98 and Windows 2000.

However Inside Out Networks have produced Edgeport drivers for a variety of platforms. I have tested their Windows XP driver and it works fine with my CS-1504. They also offer Mac OS X and Linux drivers, I haven't tested these.

As these drivers are not provided by Symbol, I am not sure what kind of support you can expect. But they are free downloads so give them a try. If you have a USB CS-1504, these might be just what you need.

Inside Out Networks: Edgeport Drivers

Tech Tip: Sorting your Readerware Databases

Sorting a database in Readerware is easy, just click on any column header to display your database in the desired sequence.

Of course that is only part of the story, sorting your database in exactly the sequence you want can be difficult. This tech tip covers a number of ways you can order your database. The examples use ReaderwareAW as sorting CDs can present some unique problems. But most of these tips will apply to all Readerware products.

This tech tip was developed using Readerware 2.75, it will be easier to follow if you upgrade first.

A common question is how can I sort my database on artist? Readerware extracts artist information from web sites, most list the artist in the normal format. Readable but you can't sort on the artist in this format.

For Example (Classical fans stay tuned, I will get to you):

10,000 Maniacs
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Rolling Stones
Van Morrison

You really want to sort on last name, so why doesn't Readerware just switch them? This is more difficult than it might seem. Van Morrison would change to "Morrison, Van" but do you really want "Stones, Rolling"?

One way to handle this is to use a web site that formats artists last name first. Borders is a good site that does just that. So you could auto-catalog from Borders or use auto-update to extract just the artist from Borders. This goes a long way towards sorting your database in the ideal sequence. Borders will return:

10,000 Maniacs
Costello, Elvis / The Attractions
Morrison, Van
Rolling Stones (The)

That's a lot better, but there are still some problems. Do you want 10,000 Maniacs listed first or under "T"? The artist now contains the name in a way that helps you sort the database but would you rather have the artist name displayed normally?

The solution is to use another field as your sort key. Leave the normal artist name in the artist field and add a user defined field to contain the sort values. Select Edit->Preferences, User Columns tab. Check the first user defined field to activate it and change the column name to "Artist (Sorted)". Back in the table view, right click on the Artist column header, (Mac OS X users Control-Click), and select the "Artist (Sorted)" column from the Show popup menu. So now you have the artist column and the new sort column side by side.

The first step is to populate the new field with artist names, last name first. You know that you can get them from Borders, how do you get ReaderwareAW to store the artist name in the new field? The answer is custom extraction. This is a very powerful feature in all Readerware products, it allows you to customize the data returned from the web site. You just need to add a script called awuserexit.py to your ReaderwareAW scrapers directory. A sample script is included, just rename awuserexit_sample.py to awuserexit.py. You only need to add 1 line to the script to move the artist to the user defined column:

user1 = artist

Add it after the last global line. You must start the line in the same column, indentation is important in Python scripts:

global buyerwaiting,image,fullDateFormat,source user1 = artist

Now all you have to do is run ReaderwareAW auto-update and tell it to access Borders and update the user1 column. ReaderwareAW will then extract the artist name into the sort column.

Now you can sort the table on the Artist (Sorted) column and you have the database in the sequence you want and the readable artist names too.

But 10,000 Maniacs still shows at the top of the list. You can use the Readerware replace wizard to easily change this. Search for CDs by 10,000 Maniacs. Then run the replace wizard, tell it to update the current search results and change the user1 column to "Ten Thousand Maniacs". Now the database is sorted correctly. You still see 10,000 Maniacs in the artist column and you can still search for the normal artist name. You can use this trick to get the artists displayed and sorted exactly the way you want. Maybe you want Big Brother & The Holding Company to be sorted under Janis Joplin. Use the replace wizard to change the user1 column to "Joplin, Janis".

What about various artist collections? These show up under "V", but you probably would prefer them to appear at the end of your database. Use the replace wizard to change the user1 column from "Various Artists" to "| Various Artists". This forces all your collections to the end of the listing. But they are still in random order. What if you want your collections to appear at the end of the database but sorted by title? Custom extraction can do that for you. Here is the script:

if title != "": user1 = "| " + title

Use auto-update on your various artist CDs and update the user1 column. Bingo, all your collections appear at the end of the table, sorted by title.

What about classical CDs? If you want to sort by composer, you can use the same tricks, move the composer in to the user defined column. What if you want to sort by composer and then conductor? Use custom extraction to concatenate the two fields:

user1 = composer + " / " + conductor

What if you have both rock and classical CDs in your collection? How do you want them sorted when you display your full database? If you use the artist for rock and the composer for classical, Elvis Costello will follow Chopin. Maybe that's fine, I have sometimes felt record stores should be organized just alphabetically, no categories to pigeon-hole music. But maybe that's just me. Want classical to follow rock? Use the special character trick again, put say ~ before the composer.

Getting your CDs displayed in just the sequence you want, can take some work. Readerware auto-update and replace wizards can do much of the work for you. You can tweak individual items if necessary. Using another column as the sort column provides a great deal of flexibility, you can really set things up just the way you want them.

Once you have the sort column set up, you can hide it, ReaderwareAW will still sort the database based on this column. Or you can move it off to the right out of the way.

Your Feedback

Your feedback is always welcome and does make a difference. Please send in your comments. E-Mail support@readerware.com.

Thanks for your support.