Books, DVDs, CDs database
The media database was designed to help you organize your books, DVDs or CDs. Once you start using it you will gain fast access to detailed description of any item in your collection.The category tree allows organizing items based on their kind and keeping track of items that are rented or borrowed. For each item you can set up an alarm to notify you about upcoming lending time limit.
The category tree is editable. You can create your own categories to organize items any way you want.
For example, you can create nodes for each year and quickly organize books based on year when you read each one. There are no limits in number of different categories you need.
An item may belong to multiple categories so you can create as many different classifications as you need.
How to start
Download, install and launch Data Organizer.
If you are doing this for the first time the Create new database dialog should welcome you
(if you do not see it, click the New button in the main toolbar).
There are different database templates available. Choose one called Media and click the OK button.
A new database is created and opened immediately. You are set up to work.
Adding a new book, DVD or CD
To add a new item to your database click
button. You can also hit Ctrl+N.This will bring the New item dialog with a list of items you can create. Select the item you want to create and click the OK button.
You are taken to an empty form where you can start entering your description.
Note that the form you have opened has two fields where you can put front and back covers of your item. To do that, right click on a field and select Upload picture from the context menu. You can also drag the picture file and drop it on the field.
Take a look at the category tree on the right side. Each item in the tree has a check box. You can click that check box and thereby assign the item to the category.
Later you can use the category tree to quickly filter out items based on their kind. For example, if a friend asks you what biographies you have in your library, you simply clear the list of categories and then show only those that belong to Biographies category.
Browsing the database
You can browse your items in many different ways. First of all you can sort using the column headers. This gives you ability to browse the collection sorted by title, author, publisher, front cover, year of publishing, creation date or last modification date. If you have many items in the collection and want to find specific ones there are two ways to do it. Go to the category tree and uncheck categories you are not interested in. Use No categories command available from the context menu or the toolbar to uncheck all categories and then check only those you want to view. The list of items will be filtered automatically based on categories that you have activated. Finally, you can use the search form above the list to view only items with specific word or phrase inside. If you did not find what you are looking for and need to restart the search process hit Esc button. This will bring back the full list of items.Setting return alarms
From time to time someone is borrowing a book or other item from you. You also borrow books and media from other sources (friends, library). The media database gives you two ways to track items you have rented to someone or borrowed. For each item you can set up an alarm to notify you that some action must be taken regarding the item. To set an alarm edit the item and check the Is active checkbox of the Return alarm control. The control will activate itself allowing you to set the date and time. You can also track rented and borrowed items by assigning them to special categories in the category tree. There are two top level categories: "Rented" and "Borrowed" to which you can assign items once they leave or enter your personal library.Later you can quickly bring the list of the items using techniques described earlier (see Browsing the database).
Need more?
The media database includes forms and category tree to keep track of books, DVDs and CDs. If you happen to have a collection of different items you would like to keep track of there is a way to achieve this. Data Organizer comes with a design tool that allows you to create a form of any kind. If you collect rare motorbike parts, stamps, bronze sculptures, you name it, go ahead and create a form that will describe that item best. Next create a new tree that will categorize your items best and you are set up. It should not take you more than 15 minutes.Here's a link to a quick tutorial that will help you get up and running with custom forms: Custom database
