Organise collections with Data Crow

Ever needed to keep a catalogue of important items you own?

YOU’LL NEED THIS DATA CROW

Download it from www.datacrow.net.

JAVA

Download it from www.java.com

Perhaps your DVD collection needs organising before you start lending it out to friends or family, or you want to keep tabs on your books. Maybe you’d like to make a definitive list of your music to avoid going out and accidentally buying another copy of an album you already own. Or perhaps you’re looking to record a more personal treasure, from cigarette cards to stamps.

Whatever your cataloguing needs are, Data Crow is the tool for you. This underrated freebie makes it easy to start building and managing collections of all sizes, and thanks to some nifty timesaving tools, you don’t necessary have to meticulously record everything yourself. Instead, Data Crow has linked in with several online providers to make it possible to automatically populate the information you need from various web-based services (sadly, not all currently work, due to changed API settings on the part of Amazon and IMDB).

Read on to learn how to collate your collection, access it from any computer on your network, and set up a loan-administration system so you know who’s borrowed what.

Client-only installation

Data Crow comes in both standalone and server-client configurations – whichever you choose, it requires the Java Runtime Environment. If it’s not already installed, go to http://java. com and click Java Download. If you’re happy running the 32bit version of Data Crow (most people are), just click Agree and Start Free Download, otherwise click See all Java Downloads to choose the Windows Offline (64-bit) installer instead. Save the installer to your Downloads folder, then doubleclick it, and click Install when the Java setup appears. Click Close when complete.

Once installed, type “java” into Windows’ search box, and click Configure Java. Switch to the Security tab – if you only plan to use Java with Data Crow, uncheck Enable Java content for browser and Web Start applications. Select Very High as the security level, then click OK [Image A]. The box over the page reveals how to get started with a server-client configuration for multi-device access. For standalone configuration (or to install the client on your PC), head over to www.datacrow.net, select Downloads from the left-hand pane, and click Data Crow Windows Installer to go to the FossHub website.

Here you’ve got a choice between Portable (All Platforms) for adding Data Crow to your portable toolkit, or Windows Installer.

Either way, save the zip file to somewhere convenient like your Downloads folder. Once done, locate the zip file, right-click it, and choose Extract All. Then it’s a case of double-clicking the correct 32bit or 64bit file (clearly marked) to either install the program or run the portable version. Follow the wizard to its end – the default choices are fine for most users – then click Done.

Create catalog

Run Data Crow. First, choose where to store the program’s data, such as inside your Documents folder or OneDrive storage. Click OK, select your language, and click OK again. When the program opens, click

Close to open the Tool Select Wizard. Choose the type of information you’d like to catalogue [Image B]. Data Crow stores information in modules – think of each one as a separate database, with the ability to link related databases together.

Data Crow specialises in media collections, with prebuilt modules for books, images, movies

(including TV shows), music, and software. In addition, you’ll see modules for users, contacts, and containers. Containers provide a physical repository (such as a box or filing cabinet) to store your items in, while Contacts allows you to build up a list of people to whom you lend items. The Users module enables you to set up multi-user access.

You’ll also see a Media module – this provides a single interface for viewing all your collections. There’s also a “hidden” Property module type, which can be used to simplify data entry in other modules. If your collection isn’t covered by any of the pre-built modules, you can build your own in step 6.

Enter items via wizard

There are two ways to enter information: a simple wizardbased approach, and the manual approach. Click Item Wizard to get started by adding an item from an online database. If you’re in the Media section, you’re prompted for the item type, otherwise you jump straight to the search tool. Remember, Amazon servers are off limits, so the Software search is useless because no other online databases are provided (instead, skip to the next step to input information manually).

Next, select your online database, then enter the name of your item, such as a book’s author or title, and click Find. A list of matching results appears. Switch to the Table View tab for an easier way to review them. If there are multiple matches, select one and click Open to check it’s the correct match using the tabs – Picture Front often helps [Image C]. Once you’ve found the right match, click Next. The information is downloaded, allowing you to review the entry, plus make further edits or additions. To keep your items organized, look for suitable fields on the Summary and Information tabs, such as Category or Genre. Click the ‘+’ button to add additional entries if they don’t cover your collection (books are poorly represented, for example). Once done, click Finish & New to add another.

Enter info manually

To enter an item’s information yourself, click the green ‘+’ button. You’ll see a multi-tabbed window with a series of fields to fill in, geared toward the type of information you’re cataloging. Some of these fields require typing into, others have drop-down menus from which you can pick a choice, such as rating or category.

These link to category modules (more on this shortly) – look for the new folder button next to these, where you can create your own custom entries if none of the ones provided matches what you’re looking for.

How much information you supply is up to you – most fields should be self-explanatory, and only those fields marked in red are compulsory. If it’s present, use the “Update” button to try your luck with any supported online search providers. The Picture Front tab provides the ability to import a cover image one of three ways: from an existing file on your PC, via an online URL, or from ‘memory’ (the clipboard). These latter two options are perfect when used in conjunction with an online image search in your browser. There are also tools on the Edit menu for blurring, sharpening, rotating and converting the image to black and white, plus deleting it.

Edit and organise items

Keep adding items to your collection. If you want to edit an item, right-click it, and choose

Edit. If you want to make the same edits to multiple items, select them using the classic Ctrl + click method, before right-clicking, and choosing Update all. Make your changes, then click either Save or Apply to apply them to the selected entry or entries in your database [Image D]. You can also perform Find/Replaces of text across your entire collection.

As your collection grows, you’ll need to organise it to make it easier to browse. To do this, click the Group by button in the left-hand window and choose Select Fields to choose which field to organise them by, such as author or category. To create a multi-level hierarchy, select multiple fields in the order you wish them to appear.

Another way to organise items is through the Container module. Here you can define repositories – physical or virtual – inside which your items are stored. Creating a container works in a similar way as other modules, with one key addition: the Container Type field. You’ll see several examples provided – three types of physical CD storage – but you could use it to define a location – virtual for ebooks, physical for actual items (such as a box or cabinet). Container Types can be managed from the Administration > Maintain Container Types menu.

Build your own catalogue

The Modules menu is where you need to go if you wish to either tweak an existing module (say to add a missing field or remove fields you don’t use) or build your own collection type from scratch. Choose Modules > Alter Module Wizard to alter existing modules, where you open access to a load of hitherto hidden modules, relating to ancillary information such as actors, directors, or record labels. These are Property modules, used to provide the options that appear on fields that allow you to select one or more entries from a list. Select one to make changes to it.

What about cataloguing something not covered by the pre-defined modules, such as your grandfather’s cigarette card collection? Choose Modules > Create Module Wizard. A choice of four module types are provided, and we’re using two of them. We need to create two separate Property modules, one

to list available card sets you own, and the other to list baseball teams. Start with the card set: Click Property Module to enter a name (Cigarette card set), optional description, plus item name in singular and plural (“card set” and “card sets”). You can assign 16x16 and 32x32 icons by clicking the existing ones and choosing your replacements [Image E]. Click Next. The pre-defined fields should be adequate for your needs, so click Finish & New.

Set up module fields

Repeat for your baseball team module, then after clicking Finish & New again, choose Other Module (no predefined fields) to set up the main module. The process is identical to the Property module, but here you need to spend some time setting up the fields you want to record – no pre-defined ones are available . The good news is that you can always tweak the module after creating it, so perhaps now focus on the bare minimum you need to get your collection up and running.

Click Add Field – this is like setting up a regular database. Give each field a name, type, and whether it’s searchable, part of the description, or a key field (only required if you plan to link in with another database). To tie into a Property module, such as your card sets or baseball teams, choose one of the Reference Field options (Dropdown for a single choice, Multi-select if you’ll be selecting multiple entries), then choose the module you created in the previous step. Click OK.

Repeat for any other fields and click Finish, then Yes. Data Crow quits, but when you restart you should see your new module’s icon is now visible next to the existing modules, allowing you to focus on inputting your collection’s details.

Select the module icon, then click the green ‘+’ button to enter your first record, as outlined in step 4 above. When it comes to filling in details from the Property modules you created earlier, they start off blank – just click the ‘+’ button next to the drop-down menu to create your first entry, then it’ll be available as an option from the drop-down menu.

Browse and visualise

You’ll see how easy it is to browse your collection from the main Data Crow window, but once your collection grows beyond a certain point, you’ll want to make use of other tools to visualise your items.

A Quick Search tool provides an instant filter – click the magnifying glass icon to perform a more advanced search using a combination of custom-built filters, with the ability to sort results a specific way. Use the Maintain tab to save your carefully crafted searches.

Also explore the Tools menu, where you’ll see an option to create reports and even pie or bar charts to help visualise data from the currently selected module – with charts, simply select a field to generate the chart [Image F].

Set up a loan system

Finally, one of Data Crow’s primary functions is to serve as a tool for administering loans of items in your collection. Use the Contacts module to build up a collection of family and friends you’re going to lend items to. Select the item you plan to loan out and double-click it.

Switch to the Loan Administration tab, and select start and end dates for your loan, plus select the person you’re lending to. Click Lend this Item to mark it as on loan. You can see who’s previously borrowed the item from here, plus select Administration > Loan Administration to keep an eye on who’s currently got what, and when they’re due to give it back.