Readerware Import Wizard

Readerware 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 Readerware. As long as your current program can export data to one of the two industry standard formats, you can transfer your existing data into Readerware.

Readerware can import:
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 Readerware database column names.

TAB Delimited Files - These are 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 Readerware database column names.

HomeBase 2.0 - This is the format used by HomeBase 2.0 and the ABE online site. To transfer data from from Homebase export to Homebase format and then import the file into Readerware.

Mapping data for import into Readerware

A CSV or TAB delimited file is organized much like a spreadsheet. Each record in the file is a row in the spreadsheet. Each record contains the data for each column in that row.

Here is an example of a CSV file:
"Author","Title","Publisher"
"Smith, Harry","My Story","HS Publ."
The problem is how does Readerware know what order the columns are in? The mapping line is key to importing data into Readerware. The first row of the file is the mapping line and it identifies which Readerware database columns the data should be imported into. This is a common technique used with CSV and TAB delimited files, your file may already have a mapping line as the first line of the file. or it may just contain the data. You need to open the file using a text editor like Notepad or TextEdit. Look at the first line. If there is a mapping line, you need to change the column names to match the Readerware column names. If it is not there, you need to add the line.

If there are columns in the file you do not want to import into Readerware you can use a column name of "Junk". Any column name that Readerware does not recognize will be skipped.

Readerware Column Names

Use the following table to build the mapping line.


Readerware Column Names
Column Name Contents
Author
Author2-Author6
Authors, Readerware supports up to 6 authors per book
Illustrator Illustrator
Translator Translator
Editor Editor
Title Book title, required
Alt_Title Alternate book title
Subtitle Book subtitle
Series Series name if the book is part of a series
Series_Number Series number if the book is part of a series
ISBN ISBN - International Standard Book Number
LCCN LCCN - Library of Congress Card Catalog Number
ISSN ISSN - International Standard Serial Number
Dewey Dewey Decimal Number
Call_Number Library of Congress Call Number
User_Number Used for your own numbering system
Barcode The raw barcode
Publisher Book publisher
Pub_Place Place of publication
Release_date Date of publication
Copyright_date Copyright date
Pages Page count
Edition Edition value, First etc.
Signed Signed value, Signed, Inscription etc.
Content_Language Language
Reading_Level Reading level or age range etc.
Lexile_Level The Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that uses a Lexile to match readers of all ages with books
Copies Number of copies of this book
Format Hardcover, Paperback etc.
Item_Condition Condition of the book
Cover_Condition Condition of the book jacket
Category1 - Category3 Book categories, Readerware supports up to 3 categories
Keywords Book related keywords separated by commas. 255 characters maximum
Product_Info Book information, synopsis, reviews etc. 65536 characters maximum
My_Comments Your comments on this book. 65536 characters maximum
My_Rating Book rating
Favorite Favorite book? True or False
Read_Count Number of times you have read this book
Date_Last_Read Last time you read this book
Location Physical location of this book
Dimensions Physical dimensions
Weight Shipping weight of this book
Source The source of the information, i.e. web site it was cataloged from
Item_Value Current value of this book
Valuation_Date Date this book was last valued
List_Price List price of book
Purchase_Price Amount paid for the book
Purchase_Date Date this book was purchased
Purchase_Place Where this book was purchased
Out_Of_Print Out of print? True or False
Currency_symbol Currency symbol used for all prices
Media_URL Link to related media, e.g. eBook file
Owner Owner of this book
Status Status, must be one of Own, Want, Ordered, For Sale, Sold, Withdrawn, Missing
External_ID External ID for this book, could be Library of Congress Number etc.
AM_ASIN Amazon ASIN
Sale_Price Sale price
Sale_Date Date sold
New_Value Value of a new copy
New_Count Number of new copies available
Used_Value Value of a used copy
Used_Count Number of used copies available
Collectible_Value Value of a collectible copy
Collectible_Count Number of collectible copies available
Buyer_Waiting Buyer waiting for a copy of this book
Sales_Rank Sales ranking of this book
User1 - User10 User defined fields. Readerware supports up to 10 user defined fields. Maximum length 255 characters


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 Readerware, 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 Readerware import
  4. Check the results
Note: If the Allow Duplicates option is on Readerware will accept duplicate ISBNs. If the Allow Duplicates option is off, duplicate ISBNs will be rejected.

Format Selection

This is the first page of the Readerware import wizard. The first step is to select which format the file you are importing is in. Your choices are CSV, (Comma Separated Value), TAB delimited or HomeBase 2.0. See above for more information on the file formats.

File Selection

You need to tell Readerware the name of the file you wish to import and where it is located. Click on the Browse button and select the file using the standard file selection dialog.

For TAB delimited and CSV files you can also select the file encoding. You are importing data from another program into Readerware. It is important that Readerware uses the correct encoding when reading the file. If there is a mismatch then data may not transfer correctly.
Automatic detection - In most cases Readerware can determine the encoding by examining the file. This is the default selection and you should normally use this and only specify an explicit encoding if there is a problem.
ANSI - This is your system encoding and is the default. It will work for databases that contain the system language.
Unicode (little endian) - Unicode is a double byte character set and can handle virtually any language and any combination of languages. Little endian is used on Intel systems.
Unicode (big endian) - Unicode is a double byte character set and can handle virtually any language and any combination of languages. Big endian is used on other systems like PPC.
UTF-8 - UTF-8 is a variable width encoding and can handle all characters in the Unicode character set. It has become popular as you don't need to worry about endianness.
In general you should use automatic detection. If Readerware is unable to determine the encoding used, you can select the correct encoding from the list.

Verification Page

Next up is the verification page. This is your last chance to change your settings prior to running Readerware 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, your Readerware import is running. You will see a progress bar that will update as Readerware imports the data from the file.

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, Readerware also creates a log file. This file lists each book and any error messages. Click on the View Log button. or you can view this log

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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