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.

Column Name	Contents
Readerware Column Names
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:

Indicate the format of the file you are going to import
Select the file
Run the Readerware import
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:

Books Processed - The number of books in the imported file
Errors - The number of books that could not be imported.

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:

If the Allow Duplicates option is off, Readerware requires that the ISBN, if any, is unique. If the ISBN is already in the Readerware database, it is not imported.

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