How can I merge two Readerware 3 databases?

Last Updated: October 05, 2019
Keywords: merge, import, export

Readerware 4 adds the ability to copy/paste entire books, music and videos between databases. This article is for older versions of Readerware where you can merge using export and import

Readerware does not have a merge feature as such, but you can merge two databases using Readerware Import/Export. First you need to export from your source database. You can export the entire database or only selected items. To export an entire database:

Open your source database, the database you are merging from
Select File->Export to launch the Readerware Export Wizard
From the drop down list, select the tab delimited format
Make sure the Output header line option is checked and that the Escape new lines option is not checked. Click Next.
Enter or select the name of the export file, Click Next.
Select the All items radio button, Click Next.
Select the Selected Database Columns radio button. Ensure that all columns are selected. If a column has a green check mark next to it, it is selected. If it has a red X, it is not selected. Double click on any column to toggle its status. Click Next.
Review your choices and Click Next.
When the export completes, Click Next. Readerware will display a count of the items exported.
Click Finish to close the wizard.

Now that you have created your export file, you can import it into your target database:

Open your target database, the database you are merging to.
Although not required if you are merging into an existing database it is a good idea to backup your database before the merge. Select File->Backup Database.
Select File->Import to launch the Readerware Import Wizard.
From the drop down list, select the tab delimited format, Click Next.
Click on the Browse button to select the file you exported earlier, Click Next.
Review your choices and Click Next.
When the import completes, Click Next. Readerware will display a count of the items imported.
Click Finish to close the wizard.

If there are any errors on the import, you can review the Readerware log file, rwuser.log for a full description of the errors.

Your target Readerware database will now contain all the items imported from your source database. But export/import does not handle images or ReaderwareAW track information. Fortunately auto-update has the ability to search for images and tracks and add them to existing items. You can use auto-update to add the images and tracks to your merged database.

You now have a fully merged database.

If you only want to do a partial merge, the export procedure is as follows:

Open your source database, the database you are merging from
Search for the items you want to export. You can search by date entered, category, author etc. The results displayed will be the items exported.
Select File->Export to launch the Readerware Export Wizard
From the drop down list, select the tab delimited format
Make sure the Output header line option is checked and that the Escape new lines option is not checked. Click Next.
Enter or select the name of the export file, Click Next.
Select the Current Search Results radio button, Click Next.
Select the Selected Database Columns radio button. Ensure that all columns are selected. If a column has a green check mark next to it, it is selected. If it has a red X, it is not selected. Double click on any column to toggle its status. Click Next.
Review your choices and Click Next
When the export completes, Click Next. Readerware will display a count of the items exported.
Click Finish to close the wizard.

Once you have created your partial export file, continue with the import as described above.

How can I merge two Readerware databases?
With Readerware 4 you can easily copy/paste complete items in the same database and between databases. So to merge databases, simple copy/paste. If you are using an earlier version of Readerware, please see the linked article at the bottom of this...

How can I merge two Readerware 3 databases?

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