This is the help page for the NM Collector Android Software. Please see NM Collector Android Software for features and suggested usage. This application is designed to be simple and easy to use. However, some functions are complex enough that they may not be obvious. These are explained here.
Search
Click the search icon and type in the value you want to search for in the fields displayed in the list. This will hide other fields until you cancel the search by hitting the X that appears in place of the search icon when you are searching.
Export
This saves your data to a csv file which can be imported into other applications or back into Android NM Collector. Headings are included in the export file. This is a great way to back up your data to your SD card for storage elsewhere. Be sure to include the ".csv" extension when you name your export file so other programs can recognize it.
Pictures for each item are stored in directories, one direcotory for each item with pictures, in the same location as your csv file. The picture directory for each item is named in accordance with the collection type and the underlying unique id of the item. The unique id is in the exported csv file. For example, pictures for item 1 in NMItems will be named NMItems1.
This retrieves your data from a csv file. This is a great way to recover your data stored elsewhere.
Pictures for each item are stored in a directory in the same location as your csv file. The picture directory for each item is named in accordance with the collection type and the underlying unique id of the item. The unique id is in the exported csv file. For example, pictures for item 1 in NMItems will be named NMItems1. NOTE: Do not delete these picture folders because they are going to be used by the Android application as the location of the pictures. If you delete these picture folders you will lose the pictures from the Android application.
If you want to import data from another application, follow the format of an exported file. The headings in the export file can be used to indicate what data goes in each column and what pictures go in which folders.
Special Note For Synching With Desktop NM Collector Software
Suggest you keep separate folders for import and export.
Since the Desktop Application is completely independent of the Android Application, pictures are managed differently so the picture folder names exported from the Desktop application will not match those exported from the Android application for the exact same items. There will be one set of picture folders for the Export from the desktop and a different set of folder names for the Export from the Android. These differences are accounted for when Importing from one to the other but it can lead to pictures loaded for items that do not have pictures if you mix and match the picture folders from one export to another. The best way to manage this is to keep the import and export folders separate (on both the Desktop and the Android) so the the picture folder names match the items associated with the import and/or export.
Press and hold the item in the list of items on the main page to get the search popup menu. From this menu you can select "Search" or "Options".
Select "Options" to setup what search engine you will use and the item fields you will search for. You can select already entered search engines or enter your own. To enter your own study how an existing search engine url is formulated for a sample search and then copy the format without the search parameters into search engine url field.
Select "Search" to initiate the internet search for the given item using the selected options.
While searching the internet, if you come across an image that you want to add to an item, copy the image location (not the image itself) and then open up the item and select Pictures > Add > From Web and then paste the copied image url into the URL field. From there you can test the url to make sure you got it right and then select the URL. Remember to click the Save Picture button to save it to the database.
Unlike previous versions of Android NM Collector Software, version 3 and above no longer stores the actual image in the database. Instead, it stores a link to the image from wherever the image is located when added to the database. This is usually a file on your Android device but can also be a url from the internet depending on where you locate the image.
Migrate Images From Old Database to New Database on Upgrade
When upgrading from an older version than version 3 the images in the database have to be migrated from the old database to the new database. Images stored in the database have to be exported to the Android file system and then the location of each picture saved to the database. You select where to save the images during the migration process.