Contents

The Bookworm

Welcome to the Bookworm program.  This software allows you to efficiently manage your book collection and store a wide variety of information with regards to your books including authors, publishers, synopsis, reviews and more.

Select a topic below to get started

Introduction

Installing the Bookworm

Overview of using the program

Information tracked by this program

Detailed Information

Using the Book Window

Using the Author Window

Using the Publisher Window

Printing Reports

Packing Tables

Setting Preferences

Creating Bibliographies

Other Information

Contacting the Author

Future Plans


Installation
Installing the Program

Files

The bookworm program is split into two files:

BKWRMSP.ZIP - This file contains the Borland Database Engine which is necessary to run Bookworm.  Users of Delphi or the latest versions of Paradox and DBase for Windows do not need to download this file if any of these products are installed on their machine.

BKWRMxx.ZIP - This file contains the actual bookworm program.  The xx in the file name will contain the version number of the program.

Installation

Follow these steps to install bookworm:

1.  Copy BKWRMSP.ZIP to a temporary directory.  From that temporary directory, unzip the file using PKUNZIP or an equivalent program.  One of the files which will be unzipped is SETUP.EXE.

2.  From Windows,  run SETUP.EXE.  This setup program will guide you through the process of setting up the Borland Database Engine.  If you accepted the defaults, you should have a new directory on your harddrive called IDAPI.

3.  Once the Borland Database Engine is installed, you can delete BKWRMSP.ZIP and the files created by unzipping it from your temporary directory you used in step 1.

4.  Copy BKWRMxx.ZIP to a temporary directory.  From that  directory, unzip the file using PKUNZIP or an equivalent program.

5.  From Windows, run SETUP.EXE.  The setup program will copy the program files to a directory you specify and enable you to create Program Manager groups.

6.  Once the program is installed, you may delete the files in the temporary directory you created in step 4.


Program Overview
Overview of using the Program

When you initially start the Bookworm program, you will notice that there are three main Windows: the book window, the author window and the publisher window.  The book window will be open while both the author and publishers window will be minimized.

The program has been structured so that all three windows work in the same way.  Adding a book is done in exactly the same manner as adding an author or a publisher.  A standard toolbar appears in all three windows and the menu options are virtually identical for all three windows.

The main window of the program is the book window.  It is here you will be spending the majority of your time adding books to the database and updating the information as required.  For further information on the Book Window, click here.

The author and publisher windows both contain secondary information which is used by the book window.  The author window is where all authors in the database are listed while the publisher window holds all information about the various publishers.  Any information entered into these windows becomes available for use in the book window.  For example, before you can link a writer to a specific book, you must first enter the writer into the author window first.  Then you can proceed to to link the writer to the book, thereby telling the program that the selected writer is the author of the current book.  Once you have added a writer to the database, he or she never has to be added again.


Book Window

The book window is where you will be entering all of the information pertaining to each book.  This window is split into five pages: Main, Synopsis, Review, Publisher and Cover.  Pages are selected by clicking on the appropriate tab which runs across the top of the window.  Alternatively, you also use the function kes shown on the tabs to go to different pages.  If you want to see more about the information stored in the book window click here.

A toolbar runs across the top of this window and allows you to access the most commonly used commands.  The toolbars for the book, author and publisher windows are all identical.  For more information on the toolbar click here.

Additional information about using the book window is available as follows:

Adding a Book

Deleting a Book

Finding a Book.

Linking an Author to a Book

Linking a Publisher to a Book


Linking an Author to a Book

To link an author to a book, click on the button labelled 'ADD' on the right hand side of the authors section.  Another window as shown above will appear with a list of all authors in the database.  To locate a specific author, type the first few letters of the author's last name and either hit Enter or click on the find button.  Scroll the grid until you find the author you want and then click on OK to link him to the book.  His name should now appear in the authors section of the book window.

There may be times when the author you wish to link to a book has not been added to the authors database.  You can add authors to the database directly from the the window above by clicking on the NEW button.  When the NEW button is clicked on, the dialog box will expand in size and a new section will appear with blank fields for ready for you to enter a new author.  To add the new author, enter the appropriate information into the fields and click on the SELECT button.  The author will then be added to the authors database and linked to the current book.

To remove an author from a book, first click on the author's name in the author section of the book window.  Next, click on the button labelled 'REMOVE' on the right hand side of the author section.  You will be asked to confirm your selection, and if you do, the link between the author and the book will be removed from the database.  Note that only the link is deleted, the writer remains in the author database.


Linking a Publisher to a Book

To link a publisher to a book, click on the plus button on the publishers page of the book window.  Another window as shown above will appear with a list of all publishers in the database.  To locate a specific publisher, type the first few letters of the publisher and either hit Enter or click on the find button.  Scroll the grid until you find the publisher you want and then click on OK to link him to the book.  His name should now appear in the publishers section of the book window.

There may be times when the publisher you wish to link to a book has not been added to the publishers database.  You can add publishers to the database directly from the the window above by clicking on the NEW button.  When the NEW button is clicked on, the dialog box will expand in size and a new section will appear with blank fields ready for you to enter a new publisher.  To add the new publisher, enter the appropriate information into the fields and click on the SELECT button.  The publisher will then be added to the publishers database and linked to the current book.

To remove a publisher from a book, click on the minus button in the publishers section.  Note that only the link is deleted, the publisher remains in the publishers database.


Finding a Book
Search | Find Book

This option enables you to search for a book by it's title.  When this option is selected a search dialog as shown below will appear.

Prior to initating a search you must enter the title string to look for in the box labelled 'Enter Title to Search for'.   To start the search, you can click on the find button to the right of where you entered the title or press the Enter key.  The computer will then locate the closest title to the string you entered and show it to you in the Search Results area.  To move to a book, either click on the OK button or double click on the desired book.

Another type of search, called a fuzzy search, is also available for finding books.


Finding a Book, Fuzzy Search
Search | Fuzzy Search (Book)

This option enables you to perform a fuzzy search on a book title.  A fuzzy search is different then a normal search in that books do not have to exactly match the string being searched for.  The fuzzy search uses a Soundex code to find books with similar titles and is particularly useful if you can't remember the exact spelling of a book.

Prior to initating a search you must enter the title string to look for in the box labelled 'Enter Title to Search for'.   To start the search, you can click on the find button to the right of where you entered the title or press the Enter key.  The computer will then locate the closest title to the string you entered and show it to you in the Search Results area.  To move to a book, either click on the OK button or double click on the desired book.


Adding a new Book
Record | New Book

This option inserts a new book into the database.  When selected, the fields in the book window will clear and the cursor will be placed on the title field.  To add a book, type in all of the information you have about the book, and then click on Record | Save changes or the Save button on the toolbar.  You must have entered a Title into the title field before the program will save it as a new book.

Note: You cannot add authors to a new book until you have saved it.


Deleting a Book
Record | Delete Book

This option deletes the current book from the database.  The program will ask you to confirm the deletion before it actually proceeds with the operation.


Author Window

The author window is where you will be entering all of the information pertaining to authors.  The only information that the program tracks with regards to authors is the last name, first name and biography.    There are three different pages of information in this window.

The first page allows you to view and edit a single author.  To make any changes to an author, simply place the cursor over the desired field and start typing.  You will notice that as soon as you make one change, some options on the toolbar become unavailable while others become enabled.  This is to show that you are now in edit mode.  Once you have finished your changes, click on the save button to commit them.

The second page enables you to view all authors and locate a particular one.  You can use the alphabetical buttons to quickly move to the authors starting with that letter.  Double click on one of the authors to make one him the current one.

The last page enables you to view all books in the database which have been written by the currently selected author.  If you double click on a book, the book window will come to the front and show the selected book.

A toolbar runs across the top of this window and allows you to access the most commonly used commands.  The toolbars for the book, author and publisher windows are all identical.  For more information on the toolbar click here.

Additional information is available as follows:

Adding an Author

Deleting an Author	Finding an Author


Finding an Author
Search | Find Author

This option enables you to search for an author by his last name.  When this option is selected a search dialog as shown below will appear.

Prior to initating a search you must enter the last name to look for in the box labelled 'Enter Name to Search for'.   To start the search, you can click on the find button to the right of where you entered the title or press the Enter key.  The computer will then locate the closest last name to the string you entered and show it to you in the Search Results area.  To move to an author, either click on the OK button or double click on the desired book.

Another type of search, called a fuzzy search, is also available for finding authors.


Finding an Author, Fuzzy Search
Search | Fuzzy Search (Author)

This option enables you to perform a fuzzy search on an Author's last name.  A fuzzy search is different then a normal search in that author's names do not have to exactly match the string being searched for.  The fuzzy search uses a Soundex code to find authors with similar last names and is particularly useful if you can't remember the exact spelling of a name.

Prior to initating a search you must enter the last name to look for in the box labelled 'Enter Last Name to Search for'.   To start the search, you can click on the find button to the right of where you entered the name or press the Enter key.  The computer will then locate the closest name to the one you entered and show it to you in the Search Results area.  To move to an author, either click on the OK button or double click on the desired author in the Search Results area.


Adding a new Author
Record | New Author

This option inserts a new author into the database.  When selected, the fields in the author window will clear and the cursor will be placed on the last name field.  To add an author, type in all of the information you have about the author, and then click on Record | Save changes or the Save button on the toolbar.  You must have entered an author into the last name field before the program will save it as a new author.


Deleting an Author
Record | Delete Author

This option deletes the current author from the database.  The program will ask you to confirm the deletion before it actually proceeds with the operation.


Publishers Window
Publisher Window

The publisher window is where you will be entering all of the information pertaining to publishers.  The  the program tracks the publishers name and address.  There are three different pages of information in this window.

The first page allows you to view and edit a single publisher.  To make any changes to a publisher, simply place the cursor over the desired field and start typing.  You will notice that as soon as you make one change, some options on the toolbar become unavailable while others become enabled.  This is to show that you are now in edit mode.  Once you have finished your changes, click on the save button to commit them.

The second page enables you to view all publishers and locate a particular one.  You can use the alphabetical buttons to quickly move to the publishers starting with that letter.  Double click on one of the publishers to make one him the current one.

The last page enables you to view all books in the database which have been published by the currently selected publisher.  If you double click on a book, the book window will come to the front and show the selected book.

A toolbar runs across the top of this window and allows you to access the most commonly used commands.  The toolbars for the book, author and publisher windows are all identical.  For more information on the toolbar click here.

Additional information is available as follows:

Adding a Publisher

Deleting a Publisher

Finding a Publisher


Finding a Publisher
Search | Find Publisher

This option enables you to search for a publisher.  When this option is selected a search dialog as shown below will appear.

Prior to initating a search you must enter the publisher to look for in the box labelled 'Enter Publisher to Search for'.   To start the search, you can click on the find button to the right of where you entered the title or press the Enter key.  The computer will then locate the closest publisher to the string you entered and show it to you in the Search Results area.  To move to a publisher, either click on the OK button or double click on the desired book.


Adding a new Publisher
Record | New Publisher

This option inserts a new publisher into the database.  When selected, the fields in the publisher window will clear and the cursor will be placed on the last name field.  To add an publisher, type in all of the information you have about the publisher, and then click on Record | Save changes or the Save button on the toolbar.


Deleting a Publisher
Record | Delete Publisher

This option deletes the current publisher from the database.  The program will ask you to confirm the deletion before it actually proceeds with the operation.  Note that any links which link the publisher to a book will be deleted as well.


Toolbar

The toolbar is common to the book, author and publisher windows.  The buttons perform the tasks as shown below.

 Go to the previous record

 Go to the next record

 Go to the first record in the database

 Go to the last record in the database

 Find a specified record in the database

 Insert a new record into the database

 Delete the current record from the database

 Save any changes made to the current record

 Cancel any changes made to the current record

 Cut the selected item to the clipboard

 Copy the selected item to the clipboard

 Paste an item from the clipboard to the active field


Field Information
Information Stored in Bookworm

Information stored by the Book window:

Title

Series

Category

ISBN

Rating

Copyright date

Format

Cost

Cover Price

Value

Authors

Synopsis

Review

Cover

Cover Artist

Publisher

Date Published

Condition

Edition

Pages

Information stored by the Author window:

Last Name

First Name

Biography

Information stored by the Publish window:

Publisher

Address

City

Province/State

Postal Code

Country


Field, Title
Title

This field contains the title of the book.

i.e. Green Eggs and Ham, Return of the King, etc


Field, Series
Series

If the book belongs to a series, such as a trilogy for example, enter the series name here.

For example, Return of the King is the third book in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Title=Return of the King

Series=Lord of the Rings


Field, Category
Category

This field is used to show what category the book belongs to.

i.e. Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy, etc

Categories may be selected from the available drop down list.  To customize the list, access the File | Preferences option.


Condiion
Condition

This field is used to show what condition the book is in.

i.e. Mint, Near Mint, Fine, etc...

Conditions may be selected from the available drop down list.  To customize the list, access the File | Preferences option.


Edition

Enter the edition of the book here, i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc...


Pages

The number of pages in a book is entered into this field.


Field, ISBN
ISBN

Enter the ISBN of the book here.


Field, Rating
Rating

The Bookworm program allows you to enter a rating from 1 to 10 for each book into the rating field.


Field, Copyright
Copyright

The date the book was orginally copyrighted is entered into this field.  This field only accepts four digit year values, i.e. 1989,1990, etc


Field, Format
Format

Enter the format the book is in this field.  Formats include Hardcover, Paperback, Trade Paperback, etc...

You can change the list of formats available in the drop down list by selecting File | Preferences


Field, Cost
Cost

How much the book cost to purchase should be entered in this field.


Field, Cover Price
Cover Price

What the price of the book is on the cover.


Field, Value
Value

What the value of the book is.


Field, Authors
Authors

This is where you link an author to a book to show who wrote the book.  To add an author to a book, click on the Add button.  A window will appear with a list of authors.  Once you have selected the correct author, click on OK to add him or her to the book.

To remove an author from a book, first highlight the desired author and then click on the Remove button.


Field, Synopsis
Synopsis

This field is located on the second page of the book window.  It is used to enter a brief description of the contents of book.


Field, Review
Review

This field is located on the third page of the book window.  Enter a review of the book here.


Field, Cover
Cover

This field is used to show a picture of the book's cover if you have one available.  To show a cover here, first open the picture of the cover in another application such as PC Paintbrush.  Next copy the cover to the clipboard.  Finally, click once on the cover field to select it and then click on the Edit | Paste option to paste the picture in.  Alternatively, you can drag picture files from file manner and drop them on the book window.


Field, Cover Artist
Cover Artist

Enter the cover artist of the book here. i.e. Whelan, Micheal


Field, Publisher
Publisher

This field is used to show the publishers name.  It is not editable and can only be changed by using the add button shown below.

 Add or change the publisher of the book.

 Remove the publisher from the book.


Field, Date Published
Date Published

Enter the date the book was published here.  When selected, a template for entering the date will appear.


Field, Last Name
Last Name

Enter the last name of the author into this field.


Field, First Name
First Name

Enter the first name of the author into this field.


Field, Publisher
Publisher

Enter the name of the publisher into this field.


Field, Address
Address

Enter the address of the publisher into these two lines.


Field, City
City

Enter the city the publisher is located in here.


Field, Province/State
Province/State

The Province or State the publisher is located in is entered here.


Field, Postal Code
Postal Code

The postal or zip code of the publisher


Field, Country
Country

The country the publisher is located in.


Field, Biography
Biography

This field is where you enter the biography of the author.


Packing Tables
Packing Database Tables

The packing of database tables is done by a seperate program, PACK.EXE.  To understand why the packing of records is required you must first understand how records are deleted from the database.

When you delete a book or an author from the database it is not physically removed from the database.  Instead it is marked in a special way so that the record is never used again by the program.  Most databases behave this way including Access, Paradox and DBase.  The reason that deleted records are handled this way is that it would be far too time consuming to rewrite the table everytime a record is deleted.

Therefore, if you have thousands of deleted records in a database they could be taking up a considerable amount of space and generally slowing things down.  Packing the database table physically removes these records.

The pack program shown above packs all of the tables used by Bookworm.  You should only have to run this program after deleting a large number of records (more then hundred), however it does no damage if you run it as often as you want.

Note that to pack the database tables, no other program must be accessing them.  Therefore prior to packing the tables, ensure the Bookworm program is not running.  To start the packing process click on the Pack button.  As each table is packed, the light next to it's name will turn red.  Once the process is completed and all the lights are red you can close the pack program.


Contacting the Author

You can reach the author in a couple of different ways.

By E-Mail: NSTN3168@FOX.NSTN.CA

By Post:	Gerald B Nunn

721-100 Hinchey Ave

Ottawa, Ontario

K1Y 4L9

Canada

By Phone:  613-798-8105

Donations

This program is freeware and there is no requirement for you to pay a dime if you want to use it.  However, having said that, I never turn down money if it's sent!  Any money sent will be considered a donation and all donations received for this program will be applied to additional software and hardware which will be used to increase the quality of this software.  Below is a list of development software which could be purchased to improve the Bookworm program and how much it costs.  All dollars are in US.  Some of this software I may purchase myself for other projects and if so, I will incorporate it into Bookworm.  However if there is some feature listed below that you are dying to have, sending a donation will get it included into the program faster then if you waited for me to buy it.  Users who send donations will be informed of what their money was spent on.

QuickReport $65 - Purchase of this product would allow Bookworm users to design their own reports.  It would also allow me to included user definable fields in a meaningfull manner.  The program currently uses a Beta version of QuickReport which is freeware.  The final version of QuickReport will be shareware and is the version which will allow users to design their own reports.

JPEG/PCX support $45 - This would enable the program to handle JPEG and PCX graphic files in addition to the BMP file format currently used.

Spell Checker $100 - I'm not a huge fan of the spell checker included with this program and I would like to include a better one in the future.

Succesware's Apollo $300 - This product would allow me to replace the currently used database engine with one which is smaller and faster then the Borland Database Engine currently being used.  It would reduce the download size of the program from 3MB to approximately 1.5MB.


Future Plans

I have some plans for the future of this program.  Some of them depend on donations, as stated in the Contacting the Author section while others do not.  Below are some of the ideas I have and dates I hope to be able to deliver them on.

Bookworm Version 2.0 - The next version of the program.  I plan to have it completed by the end of January 1996.  Major new features being planned include:

- More flexibility.  In it's current state the program is fairly rigid in how it deals with data as the user cannot define his own fields nor create his own reports.  I hope to address this in the next version of the program by allowing the user a certain amount of custom fields and to include them in custom reports.

- Bibliographic reference module.  This would allow users to select titles from the program and have the software automatically prepare an appropriate bibliography.   Users would be able to define the bibliographic format.  Now included in version 1.1!

- Selection Module for Bookmatching Services.  This module would enable a user to maintain want and sell lists for use with the various book matching services which exist.

- Add a subject database.  This would allow the user to track books by the subject of the material they deal with.  This would largely only be of use for people who use the program to track reference type works.

- Allow scanning of book covers from within the program.

- Allow the inclusion of articles from magazines.

Bookworm Reference Program - This is still quite a ways into the future.  What I hope to do is to have everyone who is using the program send me their book databases periodically.  The books from these databases would be amalgamated into one large database which people could download on FTP and use to locate specific books.  If the bookworm program is succesful and a fair number of people send me their databases, I plan to have this reference program available near the end of 1997.  Note:  Don't start sending me you're databases now.  I will advise on the newsgroups when, or stated better, if I am ready to undertake this task.  This is still a rather vague concept in my mind so if anyone has any thoughts on this idea, either pro or con, let me know.

A final note - I am not a book collector, just a programmer with a fairly large personal library of science-fiction and fantasy books.  This program was orginally developed to allow a friend to catalogue her own collection of books and was intended for more informal users then the serious book collector.  However, I have added many fields which I think would help the serious book collector and the program should now be able to handle most requirements.  If there are any items which I have failed to include with respect to information serious book collectors track about their collections, then please feel free to E-Mail me with your suggestions.  This program won't improve without your help and suggestions.


Reports
File | Print...

This option calls up the report window as shown below.

To use a report, simply select one from the list and either click on preview or print.  Clicking on the preview button will show you the report in a window where you can view the report prior to printing it.

Note:  I have not included many reports in this initial version of the program.  If there are specific reports that you need, please feel free to E-Mail them to me and I will try to incorporate them into the program.  I am counting on suggestions and feedback from users to improve both the quality and quantity of reports.


Preferences
File | Preferences...

This option allows you to set various preferences of the program.  The preferences is divided into three pages and controls the following options:

Preferences

Allow Enter key to move between fields.  When this feature is enabled, hitting the enter key will cause the cursor to advance to the next field as if you had pressed the tab key.

Save Window Positions on Exit.  When this feature is enabled, the program restores the windows to the position they were in the last time you ran the program.

Show Bubble Help.  This feature controls whether help appears in the form of a bubble when you hold the mouse cursor over a button on the toolbar.

Auto load book covers.  This feature controls the auto loading of pictures of the book covers stored in the database.  If this option is enabled, book covers are automatically loaded and shown everytime a new book is shown.  When disabled, book covers are not automatically shown and you must double click on the cover field to load the picture stored in the database.

Check copyright date for valid year.  By default the program ensures that the copyright date field is checked to ensure a valid year has been entered.  If a valid year has not been entered the program will not save the record.  This feature can be disabled by disabling this check box in the Preferences window.  If this option is disabled and an inavlid year is present in the copyright field, the record will still be saved however the invalid year will not be saved with the rest of the record.

Bibliography template.  This section allows you to define the standard template to use when creating bibliographies.  To select a template, click on the button next to the edit box.

Picklists

This page allows you to customize the picklists used for the condition, format and category fields.

Background

This page allows you to set a bitmap as the background for the main window.  Using a background can enhance the look of the program.  In order to load a bitmap, the 'Use bitmap as background' checkbox must be turned on.  Once that is done, click on the button next to file to select a .BMP file.  A nice background bitmap which simulates paper has been included with the program.  Use BACKHIGH.BMP if you are running in a 16 bit (more then 256 colors) or BACKGRND.BMP if your system is only using 256 colors.  Of course you can always use your own bitmap as the background graphic.


Setup, Select Directory

This dialog allows you to select the directory you wish to install the Bookworm program into.   You can either type the directory into the text box or select a directory in the directory list box by double left clicking on the directory of choice.


Setup
Setting up the Bookworm program

This setup program will allow you to easily install the Bookworm program.  The setup program performs the following activities:

- it allows you to select an installation directory and then copies the necessary files there

- it creates a program group with the appropriate icons in Program Manager

To start a new installation, click on the NEW INSTALL button.

To upgrade a previous version of the Bookworm program to a new version, click on the UPGRADE button.

To terminate the program without performing an install click on the CANCEL button.


Bibliography Overview
Bibliographies

The Bookworm program allows you to easily create bibliographies.  These bibliographies can be in whatever format the user desires.  As well, the user has complete control over the information used to create each bibliography.

Bibliographies are managed through user defined templates which tell the program how to format them and what information to include.  Each template is saved in a different file and uses the file extension of BIB.  This enables the user to maintain several different templates as not all documents have the same bibliographic requirements.  For specific information on how to create a template, click here.

Once the user has a defined template, bibliographies can them be created at will.  Bibliographies are created by the user first selecting a template to use, and then selecting the books to include in the bibliography.  For specific information on how to create a bibliography, click here.


Bibliography, Create
Tools | Bibliography | Create

This option enables you to create a bibliography using a predefined template.  The left portion of the window contains a list of books while the right portion shows the bibliography.  The bibliography may be edited and altered by cutting and pasting or simply by typing at the keyboard.

The edit box in the lower right hand side of the window contains an edit box showing the current template.  To select a new template, click on the button to the right of the edit box.

To select a book, simply click on the book and then click on the button with right pointing arrow.  The book will then appear in the bibliography section.  Note that when the arrow button is clicked on the book is inserted wherever the cursor is located.

Once you have finished constructing your bibliography you can copy it to the clipboard by selecting all of the text and pressing the copy button.  Alternatively, you can save it to a text file by clicking on the save button located at the top right hand corner.


Bibliography, Template
Tools | Bibliography | Template

The window shown above enables you to create a template for use in creating bibliographies.  The left side of the window shows the tables and fields in the database which are available to be included in bibliography.  Tables can be expanded by doublicking on them.  For example, double clicking on BOOK TABLE causes a list to appear underneath it showing all of the fields available.

The right portion of the window shows the actual template.  If you click on it you will notice that a caret type cursor appears showing that you can type directly into this box.  Templates are a mixture of fields and literal characters.  When the program processes a template to create a bibliography, fields are replaced by the data in the database while literal characters, such as commas, are included in the bibliography with no change.

To add a database field to the template, simply click on a field and then click on the button with the arrow pointing to the right.  For example if you select the Title field in the book table and click on the arrow, the string {B.Title} appears in the template.  The curly brackets tell the program that the word between them is a field name.

To help make this clearer let's look at an example template.

Template:  {B.Title}, {B.Series}, {Edition}

Bibliography:  King Beyond the Gate, The Drenai Saga, First Edition

The fields are inserted in the template by using the arrow button while the commas are inserted by typing them directly into the template.

Authors are special case in the template because there may be more then one author to a book.  The program allows you to specify additional information about how authors are handled.  To insert this information, click on the button labelled Author.


Bibliography, Template, Authors

When creating a template, the program allows you to specifiy additional information about how authors are handled.  This is required because there can be more then one author per book and how the program needs to know how they are formatted.

The process of adding fields to the template window is handled in the same manner as the main template window.  Simply select a field and then click on the arrow button to add it to the template.

At the bottom of the window is an edit box labelled Author Seperator.  This is the string used to seperate multiple authors.  For example, if there is a semi-colon in this box then the program would use a semi-colon when seperating the first author from the second.