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
Ty p esmenu.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
adequateforyourneeds,soclickFinish& 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 [Image F]. 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.
To speed up the creation of Property module entries, use the
Administration > Maintain [module name] menu. You can add items
singly (with icons if required), or set up a load of entries with just a title
field via the Create Multiple button.BROWSEANDVISUALISEYOURCOLLECTIONS
You’llseehoweasyitistobrowseyourcollectionfrom
themainDataCrowwindow,butonceyourcollection
growsbeyonda certainpoint,you’llwanttomakeuseofother
toolstohelpvisualiseyouritems.
AQuickSearchtoolprovidesaninstantfilter–clickthe
magnifyingglassicontoperformamoreadvancedsearch
usinga combinationofcustom-builtfilters,withtheabilityto
sortresultsa specificway.UsetheMaintaintabtosave– and
laterreapply– yourcarefullycraftedsearches.
AlsoexploretheToolsmenu,whereyou’llseeanoptionto
createreportsandevenpieorbarchartstohelpvisualisedata
fromthecurrentlyselectedmodule– withcharts,simplyselect
yourchosenfieldtogeneratethechart[ImageG].SETUPALOANSYSTEM
Finally,oneofDataCrow’sprimaryfunctionsis toserveas
a toolforadministeringloansofitemsinyourcollection.
UsetheContactsmoduletobuildupa collectionoffamilyand
friendsyou’regoingtolenditemsto.Selecttheitemyouplanto
loanoutanddouble-clickit.
Switch to the Loan Administration tab, where you can
select start and end dates for your loan, plus select the
personyou’relendingto.ClickLendthisItemtomarkit ason
loan.Youcanseewho’spreviouslyborrowedtheitemfrom
here, plus select Administration > Loan Administration to
keepaneyeonwho’scurrentlygotwhat,andwhenthey’redue
© TAILS, FACEBOOK togiveit back.Q
Onewaytoshareaccesswithotherusers– ortogiveyourself
accesstoyourowncollectionsfrommultipledevicesonyour
network– is toinstalltheserverversionofDataCrow.Likethe
client,it requiresJava,socanrunonanyserverthatsupportsthat.
Downloadit fromthesameFossHubsite(w w w.fosshub.com/
Data-Crow.html)astheclient.Fullinstructionscanbefoundat
http://datacrow.net/manuals/data_crow_client_server_howto.
pdfshouldyougodownthisroute.
A DockerversionofDataCrowis alsoavailable(https://hub.
docker.com/r/linhares/data-crow-server)– butbewarned:this
versiondoesn’tsupportusercredentials(soyouwon’tbeable
toassignthedefaultSAusera passwordwithoutcripplingthe
wholesetup).
Onceupandrunning,verifytheserveris workingbyopening
yourwebbrowserandbrowsingtohttp://192.168.x.y:8080/
datacrow,substituting‘192.168.x.y’withyourserver’sIPaddress
and‘8080’withwhicheverportthatyouassignedtoit.Login
andyoucanperformmanyfeaturesthroughhere.Forcomplete
functionality,however,usetheDataCrowclient:Modifythe
existingshortcuttoappend“- client”totheendoftheTargetbox.
Nowopentheshortcutandyou’llseea loginscreen– fillinthe
detailsandclickOKtoconnect.SERVER INSTALL
FGMay 2020 | |^37
Advanced Windows 10
Catalogue collections in Data Crow