Import/Export

Readerware includes powerful import and export capabilities. You can use Readerware import/export to:
Transfer your database to Readerware Palm Edition, a lightweight edition of Readerware that runs on any Palm OS device. Readerware Palm Edition is Readerware "to go", take your entire database with you on your next trip to your favorite brick and mortar bookstore.

Import data from another database program into Readerware. If you are currently using another program and want to upgrade to the power of Readerware, you can import a CSV or TAB delimited file to create your Readerware database. HomeBase users can import a HomeBase 2.0 file directly into Readerware.

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. Direct support is provided for BookHound and HomeBase.

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.

As you can see the Readerware import/export feature is a powerful tool to help you build your database and manage your collection. Exporting data from Readerware is discussed first or jump to the import section.
 
 

Selecting Books to Export

Readerware export works together with the  views and search features. You can first search to establish the data you wish to export and the current view can define the columns you want to export and the order you want to export them in. Consider defining separate "export" views if you have regular exports you want to run. This is the preferred method of using Readerware export. But you can also select specific columns to export.

When you select the File->Export menu item the Readerware Export Wizard will take you step by step through the process of exporting your Readerware data.

Readerware can export data to the following file formats:

Exporting to Readerware Palm Edition

Readerware Palm Edition is a lightweight edition of Readerware that runs on the Palm Pilot and compatible devices. It is optimized for small devices providing a quick and easy way to search your entire database and your shopping cart on a portable device.

To actually create your Readerware Palm Edition database, run the Readerware Export Wizard, selecting the Palm format. Select a directory for the database, the database name must be readerware. TIP: select your Palm HotSync Add On directory to create the database in. This will make it easier to actually transfer the file to your Palm. When you click on create, Readerware will create a file called readerware.pdb, the next step is to transfer it.

Start your Palm Desktop, click on the Install button. Click on Add and select readerware.pdb using the file selection dialog. Then click Done. The Palm software will display a dialog telling you that the file will be transferred on the next HotSync. Start the HotSync from your Palm as normal. Now when you start Readerware on your Palm, your new database is loaded automatically.

That's it, your now mobile.
 

Exporting to HTML

To create an HTML file, run the Readerware Export Wizard, selecting HTML as the file format.

Readerware will build an HTML file containing the items you select. It will contain an HTML table displaying all the selected rows and columns. 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. Rerun the searches and re-export to update your web site as often as you want. Online publishing was never easier!

You can also create more advanced HTML pages using the Readerware Report Writer. You can create your own HTML templates and save rather than print the generated HTML.
 

Exporting to a CSV file

To create a CSV file, run the Readerware Export Wizard, selecting CSV as the file format.

A CSV file is a common data interchange format that can be read by other programs.

You can exchange CSV files with other Readerware users. A CSV file can be easily imported into any Readerware database. You may also be able to import/export CSV files into/from other systems. You can use the CSV import/export functions to divide or combine your databases.

The first line of the CSV file can optionally contain the database column names, subsequent lines contain the search result rows. Each row contains the value of each column in that row, separated by commas. Hence the name comma separated value.
 

Exporting to a UIEE (Universal Information Exchange Environment) file

To create a UIEE file, run the Readerware Export Wizard, selecting UIEE as the file format.

A UIEE file is a common format for describing books and is used by a number of other applications and online services.

A UIEE file is designed to be used to export data from your Readerware database into another application. Using this technique you could utilize the Readerware auto-catalog feature to provide data for other applications. You can also use this format to upload books you have for sale to online vendors such as ABE and Alibris.
 

Exporting to a TAB delimited file

To create a TAB delimited file, run the Readerware Export Wizard, selecting TAB delimited as the file format.

A TAB delimited file is a common data interchange format that can be read by other programs.

A TAB delimited file is designed to be used to export data from your Readerware database into another application. Using this technique you could utilize the Readerware auto-catalog feature to provide data for other applications.

The first line of the TAB delimited file can optionally contain the database column names, subsequent lines contain the search result rows. Each row contains the value of each column in that row, separated by tabs.
 
 

Exporting to a HomeBase 2.0 file

To transfer data to HomeBase, run the Readerware Export Wizard as normal and select the HomeBase 2.0 format. As you go through the wizard, Readerware will create a file in HomeBase format containing the books you select.

To import this into HomeBase, select File->Import / Export->Import from the HomeBase menu. Select the merge or zap option and click OK. Select the file you created in Readerware. HomeBase will ask you if you are sure and then import the records. HomeBase will display a statistics window showing you the results of the import. It is best to ignore these statistics as the counts don't seem to make much sense.

You can also upload the HomeBase file created by the Readerware Export Wizard directly to the ABE web site. Just follow the normal procedure for uploading files.

Here is a tip if you plan to regularly transfer files between HomeBase and Readerware. HomeBase does not remember the directory you choose during the import and export, but Readerware does. So if you are exporting from Readerware, save the file in the HomeBase export directory. Then when you try and import the file into HomeBase it will be right there. Readerware will remember the location when you create your next export
 
 

Importing into Readerware

Readerware can import data in the following file formats: When importing from CSV or TAB delimited files, 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 fields 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. But if the file was created by another program, you might need to add this line so that the data is mapped correctly when it is imported into Readerware. If Readerware finds a database field name that it does not recognize, the contents of that column are not imported.

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):

Author»Title
Beaton, M. C.»Death of an Addict
Yorke, Margaret»The Girlfriend
Vine, Barbara»Asta's Book
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 database schema. The field names are:

The fields can be in any order but the names must be specified exactly as above. Separate the fields by the appropriate delimiter, (comma for CSV files, TAB for TAB delimited files). Refer to the Readerware detail view for more information on field contents.
 

Importing from a CSV file

Any CSV file created by Readerware can be imported into any Readerware database. You may also be able to import data from other systems. The CSV file format is a generic format supported by a number of products. If you already have your library cataloged in another product, you may be able to initialize your Readerware database by importing from your existing system.

To import a CSV file, select the File->Import menu item the Readerware Import Wizard will take you step by step through the process of importing data into your Readerware database.

Once the import completes the wizard displays counts of the books imported and rejected. Normally this is all the information you need to ensure your data was imported correctly. If user logging is enabled, Readerware also creates a log file called rwuser.log. This file lists each book and any error messages. You can view this log file in any text editor.

If the ISBN already exists in the database, Readerware will reject the book during the import run. However if the book does not contain an ISBN it will not be considered a duplicate. This has important implications if you try and run the same import file twice. Books with an ISBN will be rejected as duplicates, but books without ISBN's will be added to the database a second time. So do not rerun an import file without first manually editing the file and removing books that have already been added. It is a good idea to import a file into a new  empty database. This will enable you to check for errors before actually importing it into your real database. You can then delete the temporary database.

If any fields contains a comma, the author for example, you must put the data in quotes. This will prevent Readerware from interpreting the comma as a field delimiter. You can use single or double quotes, but you must be consistent. It is important that the mapping line also contain quotes. Readerware examines this line to determine which delimiter you are using, single quotes or double quotes. For  example:
 

"Author","Title"
"Beaton, M. C.","Death of an Addict"
"Yorke, Margaret","The Girlfriend"
"Vine, Barbara","Asta's Book"


This is handled automatically when you export from a Readerware database. If exporting from another source, you may have to manually edit the exported file.
 

Importing from a TAB Delimited file

Any TAB delimited file created by Readerware can be imported into any Readerware database. You may also be able to import data from other systems. The TAB delimited file format is a fairly generic format supported by a number of products. If you already have your library cataloged in another product, you may be able to initialize your Readerware database by importing from your existing system.

To import a TAB delimited file, select the File->Import menu item, the Readerware Import Wizard will take you step by step through the process of importing data into your Readerware database.

Once the import completes the wizard displays counts of the books imported and rejected. Normally this is all the information you need to ensure your data was imported correctly. If user logging is enabled, Readerware also creates a log file called rwuser.log. This file lists each book and any error messages. You can view this log file in any text editor.

If the ISBN already exists in the database, Readerware will reject the book during the import run. However if the book does not contain an ISBN it will not be considered a duplicate. This has important implications if you try and run the same import file twice. Books with an ISBN will be rejected as duplicates, but books without ISBN's will be added to the database a second time. So do not rerun an import file without first manually editing the file and removing books that have already been added. It is a good idea to import a file into a new  empty database. This will enable you to check for errors before actually importing it into your real database. You can then delete the temporary database.
 
 

Importing from a HomeBase 2.0 file

To transfer data from from Homebase, first start HomeBase and create the HomeBase 2.0 file. Select File->Import / Export->Export from the HomeBase menu. Select the books you want to export and click OK. Then select the location and name of the export file. Make sure the file type is set to HomeBase 2.0. HomeBase will then export the selected rows to a HomeBase format file.

To import a HomeBase 2.0 file into Readerware, select the File->Import menu item, the Readerware Import Wizard will take you step by step through the process of importing the HomeBase data into your Readerware database.
 

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