NM Collector Software JE

In version 2.1.0 and above you can choose where your pictures are stored. Not only that, but you can have the program copy or migrate your pictures from your database to your file system and vise-versa. If you copy your pictures they will remain in their original location after being copied to the new location. If you migrate the pictures they will be deleted from their original location.

This provides an easy function by which you can take pictures that are scattered throughout your file system and migrate them to the same directory as NM Collector Software JE. If that directory happens to be on a USB flash drive (which is the preferred method for running NM Collector Software) you will now have a copy of all of your pictures on the same USB flash drive.

This example covers a lot of NM Collector software customization features for those interested in creating their own collection templates. By following the illustrated process, you will be able to create your own collection template for whatever you want to track.

• Save Pictures in Database – Images are actually stored in the database. Although the picture path is also stored in the database this is not used to access the pictures.
• Save Pictures in File System – Images are NOT stored in the database. Only the path to the pictures is stored. NM Collector Software JE uses this path to access the images in the file system.
• Copy Pictures into Database – Images are copied from the file system into the database.
• Copy Pictures to File System – Images are copied from the database into the pictures sub-directory of the NM Collector Software JE installation directory.

By copying pictures from their original locations in the File System into the database and then copying pictures from the database to the pictures sub-directory of the NM Collector Software JE installation directory you can consolidate all of your pictures into that one location.

1. By default, “Save in Database” is selected. This will be changed to “Save in File System” if you migrate data from NM Gun Collector to NM Collector JE.
2. You can specify that your pictures be referenced from your file system rather than storing them in the database by selecting “Options > Pictures > Save in File System.”
3. For the purposes of this example for consolidating pictures spread throughout your file system into the same directory as NM Collector Software, we will start here with “Save in File System” selected.
4. With “Save in File System” selected, we now select “Options > Pictures > Save in Database.” This will initiate a series of actions and choices starting with a confirmation that you really want to copy your images into the database. If you choose not to copy the existing pictures into the database only new pictures that you add later will be stored in the database. You can always migrate the rest later by choosing “Options > Pictures > Copy Pictures into Database.” The reason for this confirmation now is that a large database with a lot of pictures can seriously slow NM Collector Software down. This is a price you will need to pay if you want to consolidate your pictures into one location. It can be changed later to get fast performance again.
5. Chose Yes to continue. Once the migration is complete you will see the following confirmation message. We have successfully copied pictures from their original locations into the database.
6. Now we want to copy the pictures from the database to our NM Collector Software installation directory (preferably a USB Flash drive!). Start the process by selecting “Options > Pictures > Save in File System.”
7. This will initiate a series of actions and choices starting with a confirmation that you really want to copy your images into the file system. If you choose not to copy the existing pictures into the file system only new pictures that you add later will be stored in the file system. You can always migrate the rest later by choosing “Options > Pictures > Copy Pictures into File system.”
8. Choosing Yes will start the process. You will get a short explanation of what will happen next.
9. Once the pictures have been copied to the file system, you will be asked if you wish to delete them from the database. This is a very important decision for those with very large collections and lots of pictures. Choose yes to delete images from the database and improve performance.
10. A few more confirmation messages will appear and then the process will be complete. You have successfully consolidated all of your pictures into one location.