Overview
Because eyeCatalog can handle any type of category, it becomes necessary to speak about program topics somewhat differently in an effort to maintain consistency.  If, for example, it were a literature only program, we could speak in terms of books and authors.

Following are several concepts that will be used throughout the help file and the program itself which will allow us to talk about the program and its operations in terms of any category.

Categories

A category is quite simply the main type of item that is being cataloged at any one time.  Any number of categories are possible.  Examples of categories include "Audio," "Literature," and "Video."

Subjects

A subject is any particular division of a category.  Subjects are presented as a hierarchical tree, organizing information in a visual way.  As a comparison, it may be best to think of subjects as folders on your computer with certain files in each.  Examples of subjects include "Non-Fiction" in "Literature," "Classic Rock" in "Audio," and "Action/Adventure" in "Video."

Categories can also be considered subjects, however they are the main root of any tree of subjects.

Items

An item is the actual information stored in the catalog.  Where subjects were compared to folders on your computer, items are comparable to the files inside them.

Columns

A column is a division of an item just as a subject is a division of a category.  Columns are the individual fields of information that make up an item.  Examples of columns are "Title," "Edition," "Author," and "Purchase Date."

All of the above can be customized to suit your specific needs.


Searching

eyeCatalog allows searches with up to 35 separate criteria.  Searches can be made either via the search dialog, or persisted for future use as a "Query".

Search Dialog

To open the search dialog, access the "Search" menu item from the "Catalog" menu.  To create a simple search, first select the column to search, followed by the condition, and then the value to search for.  Press return to add the criteria to the list.  Click on the button labeled "Search" to begin searching based on the defined criteria.

Queries

Any subject can be definied as a query.  Rather than storing items, a query searches for certain items based on criteria that you define.

To define criteria for a subject's query, open the subject's properties dialog  and click on the "Query" tab.


About

eyeCatalog - for everything you'll ever catalog.

eyeCatalog, an integrated multi-category cataloging program, is intended as a replacement for the multitude of cataloging programs published by other companies, each varying in only the fields they contain.  eyeCatalog does away with this entirely, allowing you to catalog any number of categories and even define your own, as well as having full control over the fields within each.  eyeCatalog wraps all of this into one program and one common interface.

eyeCatalog is a unique cataloging solution "i"ntegrating many different categories including Audio, Literature, Video, People, Internet, and your own custom categories into an elegant and intuitive interface.  Information is organized visually within a customizable, hierarchical tree facilitating a vast collection of fields which can be added to and customized completely.  eyeCatalog includes such features as multiple queries and search organization, cross referencing of any category with another, parent-child category relationships with endless possibilities, HTML and rich text publishing, import and export, flagging, dewey decimal parsing, password protection, auto-complete, and much more!  An intuitive interface for casual users with features for everyone from researchers to collectors.


Contacting

We want to hear from you!  Let us know what you think of iCatalog, any feature you'd like to see added, or any problems you might be having with the program.  Our website will always have the latest version of the software.

Email: rdewell@vecdev.com

Website: http://www.eyecatalog.com/


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Ordering

Ordering Information

iCatalog is a shareware program.  You are licensed to use it for thirty days after which you must order the program or stop using it.  Please respect this.  We've worked quite hard to make iCatalog the best cataloging software available.  Supporting the software will help keep updates coming as frequently as possible and will entitle you to a license for all future versions of the program as they become available.

For secure online ordering with your credit card please visit our website at:

http://www.vecdev.com/dem/

You can also order by postal mail using the following order form.


Item View

The Item View is the top, right-most window in eyeCatalog.  The Item View is where a list of the catalog's contents appear depending on what subject you've selected in the tree.  With the exception of memos and images, all information can be edited from directly within the Item View.  You can quickly add items to the Item View by typing in the "top bar".  ort information alphabetically by clicking on the column headers.  Columns can also by rearranged by simple drag and drop.

Items appearing in the Item View represent the contents of the catalog.  To open an item, double click, or right click on the item and select Open Item.  The dialog that appears is standard for all categories and only the columns will vary between categories.

Right clicking in an Item View will display a menu of several operations.


Item Dialog

This dialog and the Item View will probably be the two most frequently used dialogs in the program.  The Item Dialog is where all editing of an item's data takes place and allows name look up, internet enabled features, image viewing, and rich text editing.

General Tab

From this tab you have access to all of an item's text columns.  There are three methods of editing a column -- single clicking the column and then clicking again, right clicking the column and selecting "Edit" from the menu that appears, or pressing the space bar on a selected column.

This tab is where you will encounter a column's "special" attributes if any.  For example, auto-complete, a calendar pop up box, name look up, internet address opening, etc.

Memos Tab

This tab provides access to any memo columns that the current item's category has.  Each is selectable from the drop down box on this tab.

Images Tab

This tab provides access to any image columns that the current item's category has.  Each is selectable from the drop down box on this tab.

Sub-Items Tab

This tab provides access to any sub-items within the currently opened item.  To set any category as a sub-category of another, see the category's properties.


Types of Columns

There are several types of columns that you will encounter in eyeCatalog.  Columns are displayed in the Item View and Item Dialog.  Quite simply, columns store information.  Each column type has its own specific properties and behavior making it important to know about each.

People

This type of column is denoted with the icon of a person's profile.  While in an Item Dialog, double clicking this type of column will pop open a dialog of all people located in the current category.

For example, if you are editing an author's name in the category "Literature," then double clicking this column will display all authors in "Literature."  In this column, a name that does not yet exist in the "People" category will automatically be added and associated with the current category.

Right clicking on this column in an Item Dialog will display a menu allowing you to look up and open the specified person's item if it exists.

This type of column supports auto-complete based of names already in the catalog and associated with the current category.

With this type of column and the description above "current category" may be affected by your settings in the category's properties if it is a sub-category.  In other words, it may use its parent category's values.

Option

Double clicking this type of column opens a dialog of all values associated with that column.  For example, if you had previously saved a Literature item with a Rating of "Average," then "Average" would be selectable in the box that pops up.

This type of column supports auto-complete based on values already in the catalog for that particular column.

With this type of column and the description above the column used for values may be affected by your settings in the category's properties if it is a sub-category.  In other words, it may use the same column of its parent category if that column exists.  Otherwise, it will use its own.

Calendar

This type of column is denoted with the icon of a calendar.  Double clicking this type of column opens a dialog displaying a calendar with the current date selected.

Currency

This type of column is denoted with the icon of coins.

Internet

This type of column is denoted with the icon of a globe and used to store Internet URLs and email addresses.  Right clicking on this column in an Item Dialog will display a menu allowing you to open your web browser with a URL, or your email program with an email address.

Image

This type of column is denoted with the icon of a color palette.  All columns of this type are found on the "Images" tab of any Item Dialog.   This type of column stores a path to an image on your hard drive and displays all common image formats.

Memo

This type of field can hold 2 gigabytes of text and OLE objects.  OLE objects are added by drag and drop and by pasting.  An OLE object might be anything from a Microsoft Word document to a photograph.  Examples of this column are any "Notes" or "Summary" columns.  Columns of this type are found on the "Memos" tab of any Item Dialog.


Subject View

The Subject View, as the name implies, is a view of all subjects in the program.  Subjects are displayed as a hierarchical tree.

Single clicking a subject in this view will open an Item View with all items associated with that particular subject.

Right clicking in this view will display a menu of various operations that you can perform on the selected subject.

To move subjects, simply drag and drop.


Category Properties

To open the properties of any category, right click on the category in the Subject View and select the Category | Properties item from the menu that is displayed.  This will display the selected category's property dialog.

The property dialog for a Category is the heart of eyeCatalog's customization and more advanced features.  This dialog provides access to column customization, flag captions, and parent-child category relationships, among others.

General Tab

This tab is informational, displaying the number of Items in the Category and also the number of flagged Items.  You can also change the current icon associated with the category.

Columns Tab

From this tab, it is possible to add new columns, delete existing columns, modify a column's type, change its name, and change its default value (the value the column has each time a new item is created).

This tab is also used for determining what is displayed in an Item View.  Columns can be rearranged via drag/drop and hidden for optimal performance.

Flags Tab

Flag captions for a category are modified from this tab.

Advanced Tab

Checking "Behaves as part of the category…" allows the current category to become a sub-category of the category you select in the drop down box.  The most common example of this is the relationship between the audio category and the track category where track is a sub-category of audio.  This allows one audio item to have many track items associated with it.  This type of relationship can be set up for any two categories.

In addition, you can choose whether or not the category draws on its parent category for people and values by checking the box "Draw on this category for..."  This option only affects the two types of columns People and Option.  This would be recommended for a relationship such as audio and track but not, however, for a relationship such as borrowers and literature (see sample catalogs).

A parent category can have any number of sub-categories.  The sub-categories of a parent are accessed via the "Sub-Items" tab of any Item Dialog.


eyeCatalog Contents

Subject Properties

To access a subject's properties, right click on the subject in the Subject View and select "Properties" from the menu that is displayed.  The dialog that opens will allow you to provide a description for the subject as well as change its name.

Any subject can be set to provide the advanced searching functionality of a query.  The "Query" tab will allow you to define up to 35 separate criteria for searching a specific category.  These criteria are matched against conditions that you select and pertain to the column and word or words that you enter.  Overall, queries are a much more powerful search method than Quick Search.

A subject's properties are not the same as a category's properties.


Printing

Publishing Items

Items in eyeCatalog are published to HTML format which can then be opened in your favorite web browser for printing our used on your web site.

To publish items in HTML format:

1)  Select the items you'd like to publish in any open Item View.

2)  Right click in the Item View and selected the "Publish" menu item from the menu that appears.

3)  For quickest viewing of the report, simply select "Open in Browser".


Compacting

Repair/Compact

As you delete records, the catalog can become fragmented and use disk space inefficiently.  Compacting the database rearranges how the database file is stored on disk and helps to ensure overall data integrity as well as keeping the file size small.  To compact a catalog, select the "Repair/Compact" menu item from the Catalog | Utilities menu.  If a catalog is currently open, this menu item will be disabled.


Relational

Relational Category

The "Relational" category is found in the Subject View along with other categories, but differs in that it doesn't have items of its own that can be added to it.  Think of this category as one that simply hold copies of items from other categories.  Specifically, this category can hold any type of item be it "Audio," "Literature," "Video," etc. This is useful for grouping or cross referencing related items, such as a music album and a magazine that might have some relation to each other or that you are temporarily using for research.

Copying an item to a Relational subject is as simple as drag and drop, much like moving an item anywhere else.  The only difference being that it doesn't actually move it anywhere, it only creates a copy of the item in the Relational subject.  Items in Relational subjects are opened and moved just like any other item.  Deleting an item in a Relational subject does not actually delete the item, but only the reference to (or copy of) that item.


Creating Categories

To create a new category for storing information:

1)  Open the "New Category Wizard" by right clicking in the Subject View and accessing the Category | New Category Wizard... menu item.  This will open a new dialog and begin the wizard.

2)  The first screen of the wizard that appears prompts you for the name of the category you are creating.  Examples of this might be "Literature" or "Audio."  After you type in a name for the category, press the "Next" button.

3)  On the next screen that appears, choose a name for the main title column.  This is the main column that will be used to identify an item.  For example, "Name" for "People," or "Title" for "Literature."  You will be able to change this at a later time from the category's properties.  After you type in a name for the main title column, press the "Next" button.

4)  The next screen of the wizard displays a list of images to use for the new category.  The image that you choose will represent the category throughout the program.  You will be able to change the image from the category's properties at a later time.  After you choose an image to represent the category, press the "Next" button.

5)  The final screen of the wizard is completely optional and simply allows you to tap into some of eyeCatalog's built in categories.  Selecting a category from the list that appears and checking the appropriate box will fill in the new category that you are creating with a set of default columns.  After you have finished with this screen, press the "Next" button.

6)  At this point eyeCatalog has all of the information it requires to create the actual category and by clicking the "Finish" button will complete the process.

7)  After clicking the "Finish" button, the wizard will close and the new category you have created will appear in the Subject View.  From this point you can add new columns to the category by right clicking the new category in the Subject View and accessing the Properties menu item.


Moving Items

To move items to another subject, simply select the items, right click, and select Move To -> Subject.