The ME_indexes application has the aim to be one more tool to
read index files for the ME magazine.
There are more than 180000 articles to query.
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
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 ME index (3) - Lets the user query the database using simple
or complex criteria
Maintain the ME 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
Maintain Cross issue/date (7) - Lets
the user query and maintain the cross issue/date 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
update the information for each 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 through
e-mail. This way, the modifications made by the user will be lost so
care must be taken on this choice.
Importing: 1 – After downloading the last CSV
format file from the Mr. Bill Phillips’s site:
http://www.groundlevel.demon.co.uk/data/181-207d.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 CSV file presented in a
grid. Navigating to the top of the data file You’ll
find one or two lines You must delete before starting the import procedure.
Those lines may look more or less like the following:
1,,,,"All
rights unless specifically released reserved Bill Phillips and Chris Orchard
1998-2009",,,
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 CSV 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.
With 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.
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 his articles
to only one of the Author's occurrence and deleting the one resting which has
no records 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 ME 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).
(7) – Maintain the cross issue/date (data that when associated with the
articles let us know the date, the periodicity and other information about the
issues.
The main aim of this option is allowing the user to modify query and manipulate
the cross issue/date in a record at a time way.
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.