With Book Bag, you can have a list of all of the books that you have read when heading out to the bookstore or library. Simply tap on an author to see a list of titles, the year published and if you have read the book or not.
With the ability to import author/title files that you can download from the Book Bag Library at www.puzzlexpress.com, getting started is a breeze.
Features include:
- Import author/title files that you can create on your desktop or download from The Book Bag Library
- Companion desktop application
- Add, edit and delete individual book entries
- Add, edit and delete author information
- Automatic sort by author
- Sort lists by title, year or read
- Create as many databases as you like
- Export individual author files as text
- Print individual author files (Desktop version only)
- Easy data entry
- Import TXT files created with the original Book Bag
- Complete help file
- Complete setup and uninstall
For each record, you may enter the author, title, year published and whether you have read the book or not.
To start using the program you must first create a new file or load a file. A sample file (bookbag_sample.xml) is supplied with the program and I would load this first and play around with it to learn how the program works.
After loading the file, simply tap on one of the authors displayed in the list at the top of the screen. Doing so will list any titles that have been entered along with the year published. A "+" sign indicates that you have read the book, a "-" sign indicates that you have not.
You can change the way the titles are sorted by tapping on the Title, Year or Read column headers.
You can then add, edit or delete individual records from the Edit Menu or try a simple import of author/titles from the File Menu. A few samples of these files are may be found in the My Documents directory or you can download them from The Book Bag Library. They are named bb_authorname.txt.
You can also add, edit or delete authors by selecting Edit Author from the Edit Menu.
After getting the hang of things, close the file and create one of your own.
To create a new file select New from the File Menu. You will then be asked to enter the name of your new file. Tap OK and you will be ready to input data.
When a new file is created an author (New Author) is also created. So after setting up your file, go to Edit/Edit Authors and rename this to an author that you would like.
Note: You must have at least one author in your file at all times.
To open a file that you have already created select File/Open. Then tap on the file you would like to load. All files have an XML extension. A sample file (bookbag_sample.xml) is included with the program. The name of the opened file is listed in the status bar near the bottom of the screen.
To save your file with the same name, select File/Save.
If you wish to save your file with a new name, select File/Save As. Enter the new name for your file and tap on OK.
Note: These two options are not available in the trial version.
You may print out author/book information by selecting this option. Select an author from the list, sort your book data the way that you would like, and then print.
Note: This option is only available in the desktop version.
One of the main features of the program is the ability to import a text file that contains an author and his or her works. The data, a simple text file, has the following form:
Author Name
Title 1,Year,+
Title 2, Year
Title 3, Year,-
Title 4
The Year value is optional as is the 'Read' value (+ or -).
Important: commas may not be used in the titles but may be used in the author name.
I have provided over a hundred such files for your use at the Book Bag Library at www.puzzlexpress.com. Simply download the file, copy it to your Pocket PC in the my documents directory. Then when running Book Bag, select Import from the File Menu and tap on the file. The author's name will be added to your database along with the title information. The titles are marked as unread by default unless otherwise indicated.
You may also export an author and his or her titles in text format. This option will export whatever dataset you have currently showing in the grid. The resulting file will look like this.
Cussler, Clive
Iceberg,1975,+
Inca Gold,1998,-
Sahara,,-
These files are compatible with the text files that you can import. The file name will be authorname.txt.
To add a new book title to your file select Add from the Edit Menu.
To add a new book, first select the author from the author drop down list. If the author you want is not there you will have to exit and update the authors from the Edit/Edit Authors Menu. Then type in the year and the title and select yes or no depending on whether you have read the book or not. Then tap on Add. Continue in this fashion until all records are entered. Tap on Cancel to return to the main screen.
To edit a particular book, highlight the entry in the grid and select Edit from the Edit Menu. Make your changes and tap OK. To exit without making a change, tap on Cancel.
You may only change the title, year or read field. The author information is fixed.
To delete a particular book, highlight the entry in the grid and select Delete from the Edit Menu. Tap YES to delete the record, NO to exit without deleting the record.
First, select Edit Authors from the Edit Menu.
To add an author, tap on Add, type in the name and tap on OK. You may use commas. Examples might include Cussler or Cussler (C) or Cussler, Clive. To cancel this action, tap on Cancel.
To delete an author, select it in the list and then tap on Delete. You will be given a chance to confirm. Please note that deleting an author also deletes the titles associated with him or her.
To edit an author's name, select it in the list box and then tap on Edit. Change the name and then tap on OK. All corresponding records in the database will also be changed so that you will not lose any data.
Tap on Exit to return to the main screen.
To mark or unmark an individual title as read, simply highlight the title in the grid and then select Mark/Unmark from the Edit menu.
Desktop: You may also double-click the book title.
Pocket PC: You may also use tap-and-hold with the stylus. Then select Mark/Unmark.
You may sort your book list on the three fields by tapping on the Title, Year or Read column. Tapping a second time on the same column will change the sort order from ascending to descending and vice versa.
The files created with both the desktop and device are compatible so you may update your files on the desktop and then copy them to your device or vice versa.
Desktop to Device:
- Connect your device to your desktop via ActiveSync
- Using Windows Explorer or My Computer locate your file
- Highlight the file and then choose Edit/Copy from the menu
- Navigate to MOBILE DEVICE
- Choose Edit/Paste from the menu
Device to Desktop
- Connect your device to your desktop via ActiveSync
- Using Windows Explorer, navigate to MOBILE DEVICE
- Select and copy the file
- Navigate to the directory of your choice on your hard drive and choose Edit/Paste from the menu
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