Searching Your Database

There are two ways to search your database.

The search bar is always available in the main window and provides instant access to the powerful search facilities built into Readerware. Select the column or field you want to search, the operator to use and the value you want to search for. Click on the Search button or hit the Enter key to begin your search.

You can click on the Adv. Search button to build a more complicated search. You can enter multiple conditions and combine them with and/or. You can also save your advanced searches and easily run them at any time by selecting them from the Search->Saved searches menu item.

You can use the search bar for quick, simple searches and you can use the Advanced Search Window to build more sophisticated searches. With advanced search you can search on multiple fields, you can search fields for multiple values, date ranges etc.

A Readerware search consists of three components:

The column or field you want to search, i.e. Actor, Title, Category etc.

The operator, is, contains, begins with etc.

The value you are searching for

The operator list is new in Readerware 4 and gives you more control over your searches. In Readerware 3 you could include wildcards in the value field to achieve some of these results. In Readerware 4 the use of wildcards is discouraged, use the operators contains, begins with and ends with instead. If you do enter wildcards in your search values, the operator selection is ignored.

That is really all there is to it. A more detailed explanation of the various search options follow. At this point you might prefer to simply go and play.

The Search Bar

The search bar is always available in the main window and provides instant access to the powerful search facilities built into Readerware. Select the column or field you want to search, the operator to use and the value you want to search for. Click on the Search button or hit the Enter key to begin your search.

You can search on virtually any field. As you select the different search types you will notice that the operator list and search criteria field will change. Sometimes you will type the search criteria in an entry field, for example a title search. Sometimes you will select from a list, for example an actor search.

You can configure the search bar, put the searches you use all the time at the top of the list, hide searches you never use etc. If you are looking for one of the searches listed below but don't see it in the search list, you just need to enable it in preferences.

The operator list is new in Readerware 4 and gives you more control over your searches. The list of operators will vary based on field selection. For example if you search a text field like title the operators will include:

Is - Readerware looks for an exact match of what you enter

Contains - Readerware looks for the text you enter anywhere in the field

Begins with - Readerware looks for the specified text at the beginning of the field

Ends with - Readerware looks for the specified value at the end of the field

Is empty - The value field is ignored and Readerware looks for items that have nothing in the selected field

If you select a date search you will have operators to search for an exact match, on or after, before etc.

If you select a numeric field then you will have operators to search for an exact match, greater than, less than etc.

If you search a contributor like Artist, Director, Screenwriter etc., there is one additional option that you can set to refine your searches. Select the Preferences menu item, then Contributors. There is an option to Force a wildcard search. If that option is selected then the default operator is set to Contains and Readerware will search for all contributors containing the value. If not checked then the default operator will be set to Is and Readerware will search for an exact match.

Search	Description
Readerware Video Searches
Actor	Select an actor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Aspect ratio	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Author	Select an author from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Book	Enter search text
Borrower	Select a borrower from the list to display a list of videos currently on loan to this borrower
Borrower ID	Enter or scan a Borrower ID to display a list of videos currently on loan to this borrower
Buyer waiting	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Call Number	Enter a Call Number
Category	Select a category from the list using the mouse or keyboard. Readerware will search all category fields.
Certification	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Color	Select a value from the list to search by video color, Color, B&W etc.
Closed captioned	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Comments	Enter search text
Composer	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Condition	Select a condition from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Conductor	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Contributor	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains. Readerware will search all contributor fields, Actor, Director etc.
Copies	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard. Readerware will search based on the number of copies of a video you have
Copyright date	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar or type it in
Cover condition	Select a condition from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Date entered	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar. Choose an operator to search on just that date, on or after that date etc.
Date last updated	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar
Dewey	Enter a Dewey Decimal Number
Director	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Duplicates	The duplicates search will return possible duplicate videos. You can determine which fields are matched when checking for duplicates in preferences.
Editor	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Episode title	Enter part of a title, Readerware will return any video with an episode title containing these characters
Extras	Enter search text
Favorites	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Format	Select a value from the list to search by video format, DVD, Blu-ray, LaserDisc etc.
Full text search	Enter search text. Readerware will search all text fields for the entered value, title, actor, video info etc.
Image	Select a value from the list, Readerware will display videos with and without images
Inventory count	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard. The inventory count search is used to make sure all items are present after performing an inventory of your collection.
Keys search	Enter search text. Readerware will search all key fields for the entered value, UPC, User Number, Video ID, Call Number etc.
Keywords	Enter comma separated keywords. Choose from the operator list to determine how Readerware combines the keywords. Keyword order is not important
Language	Select a value from the list to search by language
Last played date	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar. Choose an operator to search on just that date, on or after that date etc.
LCCN	Enter a Library of Congress Card Catalog number
Location	Select a location from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Loan Count	Search based on the number of times a video has been loaned out. You can search for an exact match, less than, greater than etc.
Loans	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard. Readerware can search for videos on loan, overdue etc. If loan columns are displayed, the loan information will be included. This search returns all active loans, if you have 5 copies of a video out on loan, the video is listed 5 times with the information for each loan
My Rating	Select a rating from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Out of print	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard. Readerware will search for videos in or out of print
Owner	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard to search by owner
Photographer	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Place	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Played	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Producer	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Purchase date	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar. Choose an operator to search on just that date, on or after that date etc.
Purchase place	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Region	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Release date	Click on the down arrow and select the date using the calendar or type it in
Screenwriter	Select a contributor from the list using the mouse or keyboard. You can also type part of a name and select an operator like Contains
Series	Select a value from the list. Readerware will search for videos that are part of the specified series
Sound	Select a value from the list to search by video sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 etc.
Source	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard to search by the source used to catalog the video
Status	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Studio	Select a value from the list using the mouse or keyboard
Title	Enter part of a title, Readerware will return any item where the title contains these characters
Transfer Rating	Select a rating from the list using the mouse or keyboard
UPC/Barcode	Enter a UPC or scan the barcode.
Updated by last wizard	This search will display those items updated by the last wizard run, i.e. the last auto-catalog run. This can be useful when you want to review the changes made by a wizard
User number	Enter the user number of a video
User 1 - User 10	These searches will appear in the search list under the name you assigned for any user defined fields you activated. Enter search text
Value	Enter the video value you are looking for
Video ID	Enter a video ID
Video Info	Enter search text
ASIN	Enter an ASIN

The Advanced Search Window

When you click on the Adv. Search button the Advanced Search Window is displayed. The current search, i.e. the contents of the search bar in the main window are included as the first search bar.

To add additional search criteria click on the And or the Or button. A new search bar is added and the two searches are combined using the selected operator. If you make a mistake and select the wrong operator, you can just click on the correct operator. The selected operator is always highlighted.

The advanced window search bar is the same search bar you use in the main window so you should be familiar with defining your searches. Refer the the Search Bar section for more information.

You can add as many search bars as you need. Click on the - button to remove any extra search bars.

Click on the Run Search button to run your search. The search window remains open so you always return to it and edit your search if you do not get the expected results.

Once your search is working as expected you can save it if you plan on using it again. Click on the Save As button to save a new search. You will be prompted to name the search and this will now be displayed on the Search->Saved searches menu item. Click on the Save button to save changes made to an already saved search.

To copy an existing saved search, select it and click on the Save As button. The search is saved under the new name and you can modify it.

You can delete a saved search that you no longer need by clicking on the Delete button.

You can switch between saved searches by selecting from the Saved searches drop down list. If a search has been saved the name of the search is displayed in the window title bar and it is selected in the search list. So you always know which search you are working on.

To start a new search, click on the New Search button. The first search bar will be reset to the default search and additional search bars removed. You can then configure a new search. Only the search window is reset. If the search has been saved, it is still in the saved search list.

The Default Search

Readerware allows you to define a default search. Readerware runs this search when you start the program or open a new database. Initially the default search is set to search for all titles and display them sorted by title. To define your own default search simply perform the search as normal using the search bar in the main window. Now select the Search->Save as Default Search menu item. For example you could set the default search to display all unplayed titles or videos in a specific category.

Searching for Duplicates

The duplicates search lets you quickly find duplicate entries in your database. Select Duplicates from the search by drop down list and click on the Search button. Readerware will display a list of possible duplicate entries. If you do not see the Duplicates entry in the search list, remember that you can customize the search list. You can hide the searches you never use and move the searches you use all the time to the top of the list. If you don't see the Duplicates search, you just need to enable it in preferences.

Before you use the Duplicates search, there is one more question you need to consider, what is a duplicate? You have to tell Readerware how to detect a duplicate entry, you do this by selecting the columns Readerware should match on.

You might consider a duplicate to be a video with the same UPC. You would select the UPC column and then Readerware will display a list of videos with duplicate UPCs. The results list will include all videos where two or more videos have the same UPC. However you could have the same title with different UPCs, if you want to check for all copies of a particular title you could select the Title column. If you have both Blu-Ray and DVD versions of a favorite movie, would you consider them duplicates? If you do, then select the Title column in preferences. If you do not consider them duplicates, include the Format column too. Now Readerware will only display titles with the same format as duplicates.

You determine what constitutes a duplicate. If you are storing your videos in different locations, you might only consider videos in the same location to be duplicates, the same title in another location is not considered a duplicate. So you include the Location column in the duplicate check. This is a very flexible approach and you can always change the selection as the term duplicate may mean different things to you in different situations.

When Readerware displays the duplicates it lists only items that have two or more matches and it lists all duplicate items. If you only have one video with a specific UPC, it will not appear in the search results. If you have two videos with the same UPC, both videos are listed. Four videos with the same UPC, all four videos are listed. You can then examine each video and decide what to do. If you want to delete duplicates, you can decide what entry to keep and what entries to delete etc.

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