Welcome to the Readerware Newsletter
Readerware 2.87 is now shipping. New database searches, help
reorganized, new sites and other requested features and
fixes.
.
Plus, FAQ "How can I print a list of items?".
Visit the Readerware
Newsletter archive, all back issues of the newsletter are online.
Readerware 2.87 Now Shipping
Release 2.87 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 2.87 is available online:
Readerware
2.87
changes
Some of the highlights in this release.
New database searches. You can now search all fields at once,
search for empty fields, do wildcard list searches and exclude the
contents of your shopping cart from database searches.
Help has been reorganized, it is now separated by product. Each
product only has product
specific help rather than all product help files. The web site has also
been updated. There are more product specific help pages.
Some annoying bugs have been fixed, scrolling keyboard shortcuts
now
work correctly in the table view, long list values no longer add a
horizontal scroll bar to the detail view, sound effects are back, the
sites drop down list in the auto-catalog wizard now closes when you
click on the Next
button.
Several new sites added for audio books, ebooks and LaserDiscs.
Upgrade Policy
Most of you
know this by now but Readerware 2.87 is a free upgrade. All
2.x upgrades are free.
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.
By the way, Windows users will notice that the CD now has a new menu
system to make it easier to install the products and view the
documentation.
Readerware
CD
New Database Searches
A
major focus of this release has been on improving the database
searches. A lot of your feedback has gone in to new database searches
and
options.
Search All
You can now search all text fields in a single search with full
wildcard support. This includes user defined fields.
Search ReaderwareAW for "Motown", you will get back all albums with a
title that includes Motown, albums on the Motown label, albums with a
category, keyword or comments containing Motown etc.
Publisher/Label/Studio Search
By popular demand, you can now search by publisher in Readerware,
label in ReaderwareAW and studio in ReaderwareVW.
Search for Empty Fields
Another frequently requested search is the ability to search for
empty fields. Need to find all books that don't have a condition
entered? Select a Condition search and clear the entry field,
Readerware will now display all books without a condition.
This functionality was always available by sorting the search
results. If you sort your database on the Condition column, all records
with empty condition fields jump to the top. Searching for empty fields
can be more convenient, but sorting the search results is also a useful
technique for tracking down some records.
List Field Search Improvements
List searches used to be limited to picking one item from the list.
You can now enter any value in a list field. Searches operate the same
way they do for fields like title. If you search for a category of
"Murder", Readerware will display all the books that contain Murder
anywhere in the category field. You can also use wildcards, search for
"Murder*" and Readerware returns all books with a category that starts
with Murder.
Searches and the Shopping Cart
By default all searches return items in the main database and in
your shopping cart. You can now exclude the shopping cart from all
searches. Select the Preferences Menu item, Database tab.
Other Search Improvements
- Improved Copies search, you can now search for 0, 1, 1 or more,
more
than 1 copies
- ReaderwareAW Composer search now searches album and track
composer
fields. Songwriter search removed, track Songwriter field now called
Composer.
- Fixed a problem with ReaderwareAW track searches, only the first
25
tracks were searched.
Searching your database
All the search options are documented in the online help. Each product
has a separate help page which documents each search along with the
input options. Detailed examples of searches and results are included.
FAQ: How can I print a list of my items?
Another one from the FAQ file. You can print the current table view in
Readerware by simply selecting File->Print from the Readerware menu.
But sometimes you will get a bunch of narrow columns, what is going on?
The print function will print out your collection in a table
view in WYSIWYG fashion. Readerware prints the table view as displayed
on your screen. If the title column takes up 20% of the screen,
it takes up 20% of the page width. As the default table view consists
of many columns, if you print it the report will consist of the same
columns squished to fit on the page.
What you need to do is decide which columns you want to print and
create a new view containing just those columns. You can create as many
views as you want. Try this.
Select the Preferences menu item, Views tab.
Select the Default Table view in the left column.
Click on the Copy button, you will be prompted for a new name, enter
say MyReport
Your new view will appear in the left column, select it.
Keep it simple to start with, let's just print Title, Author and ISBN.
In the right column double click on the column names so that these
three columns have a green check mark, the rest have a red X. Double
clicking on the column name toggles between the two.
Click OK.
Select your new view from the view drop down list on the right of the
toolbar.
Click on the Browse
toolbar button to display your database
Only these three columns will display, size the columns as appropriate.
Select File->Print.
Using Readerware Views
You can create as many different views as you want, each with
different columns. So you can create many different reports.
The ability to create any number of views, each with different columns
in any order is a powerful feature in Readerware.
Views are used for more than just reports. You can also use views with
the export feature. If you need to create different TAB delimited or
CSV files, define a view containing the columns you want to export and
the order you want the columns exported in.
You can also create views to help you edit and organize your data. Say
you want to price your books, you can create a "Pricing View"
containing just relevant columns. Maybe title, author, format,
condition and price.
There are a lot of reasons to define views in Readerware.
Sites News
Lots
of new sites have been added and updated in this release.
Michael's Movie Mayhem are now up to over 41,000 region
1 DVD listings. Backed by IMDb, the site offers great information and
cover art
for a lot of titles. Check them out, the site is available with both
auto-catalog and drag and drop. They recently moved their server, this
release works with their new site.
Readerware now has drag and drop support for eBooks.com and
audible.com.
You can now drag and drop old vinyl LP listings from The Library of
Congress to ReaderwareAW.
ReaderwareVW now has drag and drop support for the LaserDisc database.
This has a great collection of LaserDiscs with IMDb links for many
titles.
The National Library of Australia recently moved. Readerware now
supports their new web site.
Be sure to check out the following sites. If you like their listings,
support the sites.
Michael's
Movie Mayhem
LaserDisc Database
audible.com
eBooks.com
Mac OS X News
A number of Mac OS
X specific tweaks in this release. The application menu names are now
correct, the splash screen uses a native progress bar.
A problem importing data containing some accented characters like
è has been fixed. This data will now import correctly. As the
data itself is wrong existing listings will still display the incorrect
characters. You can use auto-update to update these fields and get the
correct data.
The table view now has alternating row colors similar to iTunes. This
is on by default, you can turn this off if you prefer the old way.
Select the Preferences menu item, Views tab.
You can now choose between the normal Aqua look and feel and the
brushed metal look and feel. Brushed metal support is somewhat
experimental, there are a couple of issues still. It is also something
that some users like and others seem to hate. With Readerware the
choice is yours.
Readerware Support
There is nothing more important than answering your questions. You can
always e-mail support@readerware.com and expect a reply in a couple of
hours. 24 hours maximum. Unfortunately e-mail communications are not as
reliable as they once were. Spam and the various schemes people have
dreamed up to combat spam are interfering with normal e-mail
communications.
If you have not received a response to your support request within 24
hours, something has gone wrong.
- Check any "you know what" filters, the response may be there.
- Check with your ISP or system administrator. Sites are
implementing various defense
mechanisms which often block legitimate e-mail. For example AOL and
Earthlink were squabbling recently which resulted in AOL blocking all
e-mail from Earthlink as "you know what". I have to avoid that word or
this newsletter will get filtered out.
- If you are using a challenge system, please check to see if your
response is being held. I do try and respond to challenge e-mail, but
it can mean your response is delayed.
If you have not received a response within 24 hours, don't wait any
longer, send a follow up e-mail. If possible try and include an
alternate e-mail address. I will re-send your answer from another
e-mail server to all addresses you specify.
Obviously "you know what" is a real problem. But it is important to
realize that none of the defense mechanisms are anywhere near 100%
accurate. There is nothing more frustrating for you than feeling
ignored, you aren't being ignored. Every e-mail you send is answered
promptly. From this end there is nothing more frustrating than taking
the time to create a reply that is never seen then getting a "why
aren't you responding" e-mail a couple of days later.
All support e-mail is answered within 24 hours, if you don't get that
response, check your anti-spam measures and try again.
Thanks.
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.
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