ReaderwareVW Import Wizard

ReaderwareVW can import data from other databases and programs. This can be useful if you are currently using another product to maintain your collection and want to upgrade to the power of ReaderwareVW. As long as your current program can export data to one of two industry standard formats, you can transfer your existing data into ReaderwareVW.

If the Allow Duplicates option is on ReaderwareVW will accept duplicate UPCs. If the Allow Duplicates option is off, duplicate UPCs will be rejected.

ReaderwareVW can handle:

CSV or Comma Separated Value files - These files contain the data for each database column separated by a comma. The first line of the file is a mapping line which allows you to map the data to ReaderwareVW database column names.

TAB Delimited Files - These Re similar to CSV files except that the data is separated by the tab character. Again the first line of the file is a mapping line which allows you to map the data to ReaderwareVW database column names.

Here is an example of a CSV file:
"Title","Director","MPAA"
"Trial and Error","Hill, James","Not Rated"
The first row identifies which ReaderwareVW database columns the data should be imported to. The remaining rows contain the data. Each column is contained in quotes and each column is separated by a comma. Notice that the field itself can contain a comma.

Use the following table to build the mapping line.  


ReaderwareVW Column Names
Column Name
Contents
Actor - Actor10 Actors, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format. 
Title Movie title, required.
UPC UPC, optional. Must be unique, an item with a duplicate UPC will be rejected.
ISBN
ISBN, optional.
Studio
Studio, optional.
Director
Composer, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format. 
ScreenWriter
Screenwriter, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format. 
Photographer
Director of Photography, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format.
Composer
Composer, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format.
Editor
Editor, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format.
Date Release date, optional.
CopyrightDate
Copyright date, optional.
Place
Place of origin
Format Format, optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the format list if necessary
Copies Number of copies, optional. Must be numeric
Rating User rating, optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the rating list if necessary
Condition Condition optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the condition list if necessary
Category Category, optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the category list if necessary
Sound
Sound, Stereo, Mono etc., optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the sound list if necessary
Color
Color, Black & White etc., optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the color list if necessary
MPAA
Official rating
WIDE
Widescreen? Optional. Must be Y or N
ClosedCap
Closed captioned? Optional. Must be Y or N
RunningTime
Length of the movie in whatever format you prefer.
Viewed
Played, optional. Must be Y or N.
Print Include in printed reports, optional.. Must be Y or N
HTMLExport Include in HTML exports, optional. Must be Y or N.
Value Estimated value, optional. Can include currency symbol, punctuation etc.
Comments Comments, optional. Maximum 4096 characters
Source Source of data, web site. Optional
Cart Include in ReaderwareVW shopping cart, optional. Must be Y or N.
Ordered Whether or not the item is on order, optional. Must be Y or N.
LCCN Library of Congress Card Catalog Number, optional
Dewey Dewey Decimal Number, optional.
UserNumber User defined number, optional
ValueDate Item valuation date, optional.
Location Item location, optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the location list if necessary
Series Series, optional. ReaderwareVW will add this to the series list if necessary
Keywords Comma separated keyword list, optional
DateEntered
Date entered. If you include this column in the mapping line all rows must contain a date entered. It must be in yyyy-mm-dd format.
Book
Book on which the movie was based, optional
Author
Author of book on which the movie was based, optional. ReaderwareVW uses a "last name, first name" format.
Track1 - Track20
Tracks, chapter stops etc., optional
User1 - User10 User defined fields, optional

If you use an invalid column name, the data in that column is not imported. This can be useful. If the file contains some columns that you do not want to import into ReaderwareVW, use a column name like "JUNK" and the data will be ignored.

Importing

These are the basic steps:
  1. Indicate the format of the file you are going to import
  2. Select the file
  3. Run the ReaderwareVW import
  4. Check the results

Format Selection

This is the first page of the ReaderwareVW import wizard. The first step is to select  which format the file you are importing is in. Your choices are CSV, (Comma Separated Value), or TAB delimited. See above for more information on the file formats.
 

File Selection

You need to tell ReaderwareVW the name of the file you wish to import and where it is located. You can either enter this in the file name field or click on the Browse button and select the file from the file selection dialog.
 

Verification Page

Next up is the verification page. This is your last chance to change your settings prior to running ReaderwareVW import. A quick summary of your choices is listed. Click on Next if you are ready to go. Click on Back if you want to change your choices.
 

Import Running Page

When you reach this page, ReaderwareVW import is running. You will see a progress bar that will update as ReaderwareVW imports the data from the file. Immediately below the progress bar is a Cancel button which you can use to interrupt the import.

When the import completes, click on the Next button to proceed to the final page of this wizard.
 

Import Completed Page

This page displays the overall import statistics:
Normally this is all the information you need to ensure your data was imported correctly. If user logging is enabled, ReaderwareVW also creates a log file called rwuser.log. This file lists each book and any error messages. Click on the View Log button or you can view this log file in any text editor.

When you are done, click the Finish  button to exit the import wizard.


Import Errors

There are a few errors that can occur when importing data:

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