The MEW_index application has the aim to be one more tool to
read index files for the MEW magazine.
Installation:
You only need to put all the files in a directory (or folder) for its
own, with a name that better suits You.
The application is
organized by a menu with the following options:
File
Exit
- Finishes the application
Import
from CSV file (1) - Allows the user to import data from the CSV
format file to add to existing information in his database
Chose
font for the application (2) - Lets the user chose the font for the
application
Query the MEW index (3) - Lets the user query the database using simple
or complex criteria
Maintain the MEW index (4)
- Lets the user manually maintain
the articles
Maintain Authors (5) - Lets the user maintain the authors
information
Maintain Subjects (6) - Lets the user maintain the subjects
information
Help - Displays this information in Your
default browser
About - It's all in the name...
Notes:
(1) – The purpose of this option is to let the user
manage the information and load the information from each new issue by himself.
This
process permits the user to keep information he may have previously added to
the data for Articles, Authors or Subjects.
Be informed the basic file from Mr. Colin Usher has
information You may want altered or added, mainly with Your own notes, to the
article, OR to the Author OR to the Subject.
For the time being, for each new
issue, I'll make the new version of the database available. But, please, be careful.
This way, the modifications made by the user will be lost so care must be taken
on this choice.
Importing: 1 – After
downloading the CSV format file from the Colin Usher's site: www.colinusher.info/Model%20Engineering%20Indexes/mewxls.zip, start
the importing procedure and in the newly opened window chose the file to be
used in the import. A new window will be opened and the data in the Excel file
presented in a grid. Navigating to the
bottom of the data file You’ll find one or two lines You must delete before
starting the import procedure. Those lines look more or less like the
following:
4658,184,"Issued",
Though being informative they are not index
information and, since they may vary, the program has no way to recognize them
to delete them automatically.
In the middle upper of the screen there's a field
showing the number of lines in the Excel file.
In the upper left of the screen there's a field where
You can see the number of the last issue
already registered in the database.
You only need to proceed with the import if the content
of the file has articles for an issue higher than the “last issue registered”
field.
You can check the adequate column in the grid to know
.
In the
lower of the screen there's a navigation bar
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10
The first four buttons have the purpose to let the
user navigate to access a particular record. After clicking on any grid cell,
the combination of keys Ctrl + Home,
Ctrl + Up, Ctrl + Down and Ctrl + End
have the same function as 1, 2, 3 and 4
respectively. The other buttons have the following actions associated:
5 – add a record;
6 – delete a record; 7 – edit
a record;
8 – post the modifications made; 9 – cancel the modifications made; 10 – re-execute the last query
Finally
the Start Import button does what is expected - import each line in the CSV
file, non-existing in the database – into the database in the following order:
1 – If the Author doesn't exist in the
database it will be inserted
2 – If the subject doesn't exist in
the database it will be inserted
3 – All of the new articles are
inserted and linked by code to its Author and its Subject
Important: Some records in the Excel file have mainly in
the article title field special characters or strings which appear not to be
relevant. The ones I found and removed or replaced are: ¬ «
`S' (acute sign
instead of single quote) .
If those characters or strings appear in the
information for the new records, the application is prepared to take care of
them. If You find other special
characters that must be removed please let me know.
(2) – Chose font
for the application always You to chose the font of your preference as well as
its size. All formularies are affected by this choice.
The menu always
keep the same font.
(3) – Query the MEW
index option allows the user to query the database of articles by clicking on
the button EntQry, then writing in the field where
You want to search some value followed by clicking on ExecQry
button.
The definition of
the search criterion is not case sensitive.
In the following
example I want to show You various aspects related with the querying the MEW
index database.
Suppose You want to
find an article whose Author contains the character string “Allend”
in the Author name.
You'll find two
Articles. One in Scribe a line in the 147 issue and other as a complete article
titled “Improving a low-cost rotary table” in the 181 issue. In a closer
observation You'll discover there's a little difference in writing the name of
the Author in both articles (Mr. Allend in one and
Mr. Allends in the other).
If You had written
“Allends” in the criteria You could only find one:
Mr. Allends.
By the way, that
difference reveals a basic problem in the Mr. Colin Usher data.
Now suppose You
want to correct the name of the Author so in future queries You don't need to
remember of this particular problem with data.
All You have to do
is to chose Maintain Authors in the menu and after finding the Author You want,
correct the name and save (“post”) the modifications.
If You correct both
occurrences of one Author to the same content, now You have another problem
which is the duplication of information. This can be corrected by linking all
occurrences of all Author’s articles to only one of the Author's occurrence and
deleting the one resting which has no articles associated.
If You need to
modify some data in the Subjects, all You have to do is to follow the procedure
as in the Authors.
You can also modify
data in the database, either by adding Your comments to the Articles, to the
Authors or to the Subjects.
If You use only the
MEW index application to manage the data in the database You can be sure all
the modifications You'll do to the data will be kept securely.
Important: By default
the query is made using an operator AND which forces all the criterion is
connected by an AND operator. So if the user writes “HALL” in the
Author filed and “Milling” in the article field all the retrieved data has the
“HALL” string in the Author filed AND the “Milling” string in the Article
field.
If the user wants
to see all Articles where the Author contains the string “HALL” OR the Article
title contains the string “Milling” the query result will be all the articles
of Mr. HALL whether or not they have “Milling” in the Article, PLUS all
articles containing the string “Milling” even if the Author is not Mr. HALL.
To toggle between
both operators (AND / OR), the user must right-click on the query form except
when the mouse pointer is over the data fields.
By default the
result of a query is presented in a record at a time fashion. When a
right-click is made on the form there's one more option that allows the data to
be viewed in a grid instead of an article at a time. This duplicates the function
of the button “Browse results”. Then, another button “to Form” - or the
right-click - allows You to return to the a record at a time display.
(4) – Maintain the
MEW index (Articles)
The main aim of
this option is allowing the user to modify data in an Article at a time. After
finding the desired article, the user can modify its data and then save it
(“post” button in the navigator bar).
(5) – Maintain the
Authors
The main aim of
this option is allowing the user to modify data in an Author at a time. After
finding the desired Author, the user can modify its data and then save it
(“post” button in the navigator bar).
(6) – Maintain the
Subjects
The main aim of
this option is allowing the user to modify data in an Subject at a time. After
finding the desired Subject, the user can modify its data and then save it
(“post” button in the navigator bar).
General notes:
1 - The fields coloured light yellow in the querying form are benefited by an
index so the queries having some criteria in these fields are quicker.
2 – In some moments or periods the ME issues were not published (I count 9 not
published issues). To know more about it You can search in the option Maintain cross issue/date and enter ‘’
(two apostrophes) as criterion, in the issue filed, and then execute the query.
This is so because the convenience to keep the organization of data made by the
original creators of the data files.