Searching Your Database
The ReaderwareVW Main Window contains
the search
bar. This is always available and provides instant and easy access
to the powerful search facilities built into ReaderwareVW.
To use the search bar simply select the type of search, Actor, Title
etc., fill in the search criteria and hit the Enter key
or press the Search button. The search
criteria is case insensitive and by default will return videos that
contain
the search criteria anywhere in the field. For example, doing a title
search for Night might return:
In the Heat of the Night
Midnight Cowboy
Night Moves
Nightmare Before Christmas
You can also use an asterisk as a wild
card
in your searches. For example if you want to search for movie titles
that begin
with Night, you could enter Night*. Using the above list only the
following
would be returned:
Night Moves
Nightmare Before Christmas
If you don't enter a value in the search field, ReaderwareVW will
return
all records with no data in the selected field. For example, select a
Studio search and press the Search button
without entering a value. ReaderwareVW will return all videos without a
studio.
The search results will be displayed in the main window using the
currently selected view. You can then edit
the
data, display the detail view etc. Exactly how you do this will depend
on the view type you selected. You can customize the views so you can
display exactly the data you want, in the order you want.
Normally the search results are automatically refreshed when you
update
a video in your database. However this default behavior can be turned
off
using Database Preferences. Use the
toolbar
reload button,
,
to refresh the search results.
That is really all there is to it. A more detailed explanation of
the
various search types and options follow. At this point you might prefer
to simply go and play.
The Default Search
ReaderwareVW allows you to define a default search. This has two uses,
you
can configure ReaderwareVW to run the
default
search whenever you start the program or open a new database. You can
also
run the default search at any time by clicking on the Default
Search
button,
,
in the toolbar. Initially the default search is set to search for all
titles
and display them by title. To define your own default search simply
perform
the search as normal and select Search->Save as Default Search
from the menu bar. For example you could set the default search to
display
all unwatched titles or videos in a specific category.
The Search Bar
You can search on virtually any field. As you select the different
search
types you will notice that the search criteria field will change.
Sometimes
you will type the search criteria in an entry field, for example an
actor
search. Sometimes you will select from a list, for example a category
search.
The search types are:
-
UPC/Bar Code
- Enter the UPC code and hit the enter
key or press the search button. Or use your barcode reader.
ReaderwareVW
barcode reader support lets you search for a video by simply scanning
it's
barcode. ReaderwareVW will automatically convert the bar code to a UPC.
ReaderwareVW starts the search as you scan the barcode, no need to hit
the
enter key or press the search button.
-
Actor - Enter an actor, last name first and hit the enter
key
or press Search. ReaderwareVW will return all videos
starring the specified actor.
-
Title - Enter a title and hit the enter key or press Search.
-
All Fields - This will search for the specified value in all
text fields; Actor, Title, Director, Screenwriter, Writer, Composer,
Photographer, Editor, Studio, Place, Book, Author, Keywords, Comments,
Format, User Rating, Condition, Category, Location,
Series, Sound, Color, Film/TV rating, Tracks and all user defined
fields. Enter the search criteria and hit the enter key or press Search.
-
Director - Enter a director, last name first and hit the
enter key or press Search.
-
Screenwriter - Enter a screenwriter, last name first and hit
the enter key or press Search.
-
Writer - Enter a writer, last name first and hit the enter
key or press Search.
-
Composer - Enter a composer, last name first and hit the
enter key or press Search.
-
Photographer - Enter a photographer, last name first and hit
the enter key or press Search.
-
Editor - Enter an editor, last name first and hit the enter
key or press Search.
-
Studio - Enter a studio and hit the enter key or press Search.
-
Book - Enter a book title and hit the enter key or press Search.
-
Author - Enter an author, last name first and hit the enter
key
or press Search.
-
Tracks - Enter a track title and press Search.
-
Comments - Enter the text to search for and hit the enter
key or
press Search.
-
Keywords - Enter keywords or phrases separated by commas and
press
Search.
-
Series - Pick from the list of Series titles and press Search
-
Category - Pick from the list of categories or enter the
text to and press Search.
-
User Rating - Pick from the list of ratings or enter the
text to and press Search.
-
Location - Pick from the list of locations or enter the text
to and press Search.
-
Rating - Pick from the list of ratings or enter the text to
and press Search.
-
Format - Pick from the list of formats or enter the text to
and press Search.
-
Viewed - Pick from Viewed or Unwatched and press Search.
-
Widescreen - Pick from Widescreen or Regular and press Search.
-
Captions - Pick from Closed Captioned or No Captions and
press Search.
-
Date Entered - Enter a date in YYYY-MM-DD format and hit the
enter
key or press Search. This search returns videos entered
into
the database on the specified date or later. It provides an easy way to
verify your new entries.
-
Copies - Pick from None, One, One or more, More than one and
press Search.
This search is designed to allow you to select videos you may be
looking
for or have on order, (None), as well as videos you may have duplicates
of and want to sell, (More than one).
-
User Number - Enter the number to search for and hit the
enter key or
press Search. ReaderwareVW lets you assign your own
numbers to videos, your inventory number for example.
- Dewey Decimal Number - Enter the Dewey Decimal
Number to search for and hit the
enter key or press Search.
-
ISBN - Enter an ISBN number, with or without punctuation,
and hit the enter
key or press the search button.
-
Images - Pick from With Image or Without Image and press Search.
Use this search to find items without images so that you can add them.
-
On Loan - Pick from Out on loan or Overdue videos and press Search.
-
Updated by last wizard - Pick from updated by last wizard or
unchanged
by last wizard and press Search. This search will
display
those items updated or unchanged by the last wizard run, i.e. the last
auto-catalog, auto-update
or replace run. This can be
useful
when you want to review the changes made by the replace wizard for
example.
-
User Columns - If there are additional searches displayed,
it means
you have defined user columns in your
database.
Pick the column you want to search, enter the search criteria and hit
the
enter key or press Search.
Wild Card Searches
ReaderwareVW uses the asterisk (*) as a wild card character, you can
also use
the SQL percent (%) character if you prefer. You can use the wildcard
character in the Actor, Title, All Fields, Composer, Director,
Screenwriter, Writer,
Photographer, Editor, Studio, Book, Author,
Comments, Series, Category, Rating, Location, Format, track and user
defined field searches. It can be placed anywhere in the search text.
If
you do not use the wild card characters in your search, ReaderwareVW
assumes
both leading and trailing wild card characters.
For example:
- Night* - This will search for any movie titles beginning
with Night.
- *Night - This will search for any movie titles that end
with Night.
- *Night* - This will search for any movie titles that
contain Night. This
is the default search if you do not explicitly specify wild card
characters.
Note that searches are case insensitive, "Night" and "night" are the
same.
If you enter just an * in
the search field, ReaderwareVW will return all books in the database.
If you enter just a % in
the search field, ReaderwareVW will return all books that contain data
in the selected field.
If you enter nothing in the search field, ReaderwareVW will return
all books that do not contain data in the selected field.
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