The data entry panel contains the following fields:
Cover Image - Cover images are optional. They are enabled using Readerware Database Preferences. If enabled the cover image for a book is displayed at the top of this panel. You can click on Select Image to use an image you have on your hard drive. Normally the cover image is extracted automatically from a web site when you catalog a book. Click on the Delete Image button to remove an image from the database.
Title - This is a required field. It can contain a maximum of 256 characters. Title is a searchable field, to display other books with the same title, right click to display the popup menu and select Search.
Author - This is a required field. It can contain a maximum of 75 characters. Author is a searchable field, to display other books by the same author, right click to display the popup menu and select Search. Readerware can handle up to 6 authors, translators etc. To enter or update additional authors, select the appropriate author field from the drop down list.
ISBN - This is an optional field. It can contain a maximum of 11 characters, excluding the punctuation characters. You do not have to enter the punctuation characters, just the ISBN itself. The ISBN must be unique. You will get an error if another book has the same ISBN. Update the Copies field instead if you have multiple copies of the same book. When you hit the Enter key in this field, the ISBN is validated and punctuation automatically added. If the ISBN is invalid a dialog will be displayed asking you to reject the ISBN or accept it as is. This is necessary as some books, especially older titles, will sometimes have invalid ISBN's. Normally you should correct any invalid ISBN, but if after close inspection you determine that it really is the correct ISBN, you can accept it. Note that normally the Enter key will add or update the book, the ISBN field is the only exception. Here the Enter key is used to indicate the end of an ISBN. This is required to support Bar Code readers. Rather than enter the ISBN manually, you can simply scan the bar code of a book and Readerware will translate the bar code to an ISBN for you.
LCCN - Library of Congress Card Catalog Number, select this field from the ISBN drop down list to display the LCCN.
Dewey - Dewey Decimal Number, select this field from the ISBN drop down list to display the Dewey Decimal Number.
User Defined Number - Designed for a user defined numbering scheme, select this field from the ISBN drop down list to display the user defined number.
Series - This is an optional field used to track books in a series. You can select a value from the list of available series entries. To remove the selection and not enter a series, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. Note that initially there will be no series values listed. To add a series, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Series can contain a maximum of 128 characters. You can edit or delete existing series entries in the same way. The series values you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular series value to a number of books and then change that series value, the change applies to all books with that series. See list maintenance.
Publisher - This is an optional field. It can contain a maximum of 75 characters.
Date - This is an optional field and should contain the date of publication. It can contain a maximum of 32 characters. There is no required format for this field, you can enter whatever you want. Obviously it is easier if you decide on a specific format and stick to it. This can be just the year, month and year etc.
Place - This is an optional field and denotes the country or city of publication. It can contain a maximum of 75 characters. Again there is no specific format required.
Copyright Date - This is an optional field and should contain the copyright date. It can contain a maximum of 32 characters. There is no required format for this field, you can enter whatever you want. Obviously it is easier if you decide on a specific format and stick to it. This can be just the year, month and year etc.
Format - This is an optional field used to track book formats. You can select a value from the list of available format entries. To remove the selection and not enter a format, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. To add a new format, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Series can contain a maximum of 128 characters. You can edit or delete existing format entries in the same way. The format values you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular format value to a number of books and then change that format value, the change applies to all books with that format. See list maintenance.
First Edition - Check whether or not this book is a first edition.
Signed - Check whether or not this book is signed
Read - Check whether or not this book has been read..
Copies - This is an optional field and contains the number of copies of the book you own. This field will accept 0 as a valid entry. For example you might specify 0 copies to indicate a book is on order. You can easily search for books with 0 copies and update an entry when the book comes in. This is a numeric field.
Pages - This is an optional field and contains the number of pages in the book. This is a numeric field.
Dimensions - This is an optional field designed to hold a books dimensions in whatever format you want.
Estimated value - This is an optional field. When Readerware imports data from an internet site, it will put the price in here, if available. You can use it to keep track of the estimated value of your collection.
Valuation Date - This is an optional field and should contain the valuation date, i.e. the date the estimated value was set. It can contain a maximum of 32 characters. There is no required format for this field, you can enter whatever you want. Obviously it is easier if you decide on a specific format and stick to it. This can be just the year, month and year etc.
Include in - These fields are optional and are used in conjunction with Readerware export and reporting functions. By default these fields are checked, meaning that the book can be exported to an HTML file and included in a report. Uncheck either of these fields to exclude this book. The Shopping Cart check box will add or remove a book from The Readerware Shopping Cart.
Location - This is an optional field used to track the books physical location. You can select a value from the list of available location entries. To remove the selection and not enter a location, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. Note that initially there will be no location values listed. To add a new location, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Location can contain a maximum of 128 characters. You can edit or delete existing location entries in the same way. The location values you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular location value to a number of books and then change that location value, the change applies to all books with that format. See list maintenance.
Condition - This is an optional field used to track the condition of each book. You can select a value from the list of available condition entries. To remove the selection and not enter a condition, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. Note that initially there will be no condition values listed. To add a condition, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Condition can contain a maximum of 32 characters. You can edit or delete existing condition entries in the same way. The condition values you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular condition value to a number of books and then change that value, the change applies to all books with that condition. See list maintenance.
Category - This is an optional field used to categorize each book. You can select a value from the list of available categories. To remove the selection and not enter a category, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. Note that initially there will be no category values listed. To add a category, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Category can contain a maximum of 128 characters. You can edit or delete existing category entries in the same way. The categories you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular category to a number of books and then change that category, the change applies to all books in that category. See list maintenance. Note that when importing books from an internet catalog, Readerware will use the categories contained on the web site, if any. This has important implications when searching different sites to catalog your library. If you favor a categorization scheme used by a particular site, always ensure you pick that site first to minimize manual editing. Category is a searchable field, to display other books in the same category, right click to display the popup menu and select Search.
Rating - This is an optional field used to track the rating assigned to each book. You can select a value from the list of available rating entries. To remove the selection and not enter a rating, drop down the list and then ctrl-click on the currently selected entry. Note that initially there will be no rating values listed. To add a rating, type it into the field and right click to display the popup menu. Then select Add to Database. Rating can contain a maximum of 32 characters. You can edit or delete existing rating entries in the same way. The ratings you choose are entirely up to you. Important, if you assign a particular rating to a number of books and then change that rating, the change applies to all books with that rating. See list maintenance. Rating is a searchable field, to display other books with the same rating, right click to display the popup menu and select Search.
Keywords - This is an optional field. Keywords are comma separated words or phrases. The keywords field can contain a maximum of 256 characters. Keywords is a searchable field, to display other books with the same keywords, right click to display the popup menu and select Search.
User Defined Fields - If you define additional fields in the Readerware database they are displayed here in the detail view. Only a single user defined field is visible at one time. Select the required user defined field from the drop down list, the data for that field is then displayed. User defined fields are searchable fields, to display other books with the same value, right click to display the popup menu and select Search.
Comments - This is an optional field. It can contain up to 4096 characters. You can use it for reviews or what ever purposes you like.
Finally at the bottom of the data entry panel is the button bar.
The default button, the one that will be clicked when you hit the enter
key, is indicated by a darker frame. When you are displaying an
existing
book, the default button is Update, when displaying an
empty
panel, the default button is Add. Whichever button you
select
then becomes the default button. The individual buttons perform the
following
functions: