How to Combine Libraries

Wow, after this post went up, a LOT of you wrote to me asking how to combine libraries! There really isn't a straightforward or easy way to combine libraries, but with a little work it can be done. So, by popular request, I'll give you a quick tutorial.

First, you'll need to export a list of EANs to a text file. Select 'Export > To another application' from the 'File' option in the menu bar. From the Export panel that pops up, choose 'Delimited Text' and check 'E.A.N.' from the list of things to export (ASIN should also work, but make sure you only check one or the other. Do not check both!) Hit the 'Export...' button and you should get a text file that is just all your EANs in a list.

You'll need to rename that file 'Scanned UPCs Log.txt'. Make sure it has exactly that title. Once you have this text file with all your EANs in a list in it, transfer it to the other computer using e-mail, Dropbox, etc. Launch Delicious Library 2 on the second machine, and then drag the text file directly onto the library shelves of Delicious Library 2 on that machine. Those EANs should be looked up and the corresponding items added to the second library. You might have to select them and hit 'command-R' to refresh the details from Amazon.

Once you have imported the items, you can delete the file from your computer.

Like I said, this isn't the most intuitive solution, but it should work.

All About AppleScript

Delicious Library is deeply integrated with the Mac platform. As part of this, it supports AppleScript — a great way to add new and custom features to Delicious Library. Perhaps you already use them, but what are they? And why should you care?

AppleScript is a programming language used to connect apps together on the Mac. AppleScripts are used to command applications to perform a sequence of tasks, and to manipulate the data managed by those apps. Here’s a simple example that counts the number of items in your library rated 4 stars or higher, and makes a TextEdit document saying so:

To try this out, open “AppleScript Editor” in your Applications/Utilities folder, paste it in, and click the Run button.

Delicious Library provides AppleScript access to most of the things you can do by hand, such as adding new items; modifying existing items; and managing shelves, friends, and loans. Scripts can take this data and combine it in new ways. For example, you could write a script that finds all your unwatched movies, and picks a random one for you to watch (try it here). With some more work, you could write a script that looks up Oscar-winning movies by year, and then makes Library shelves with the ones that you own.

Delicious Library comes with a few pre-written scripts that you can use with just a few simple clicks. To get started, go to Preferences (located in the menu bar under ‘Delicious Library’) and check the box next to ‘Enable example scripts’. This will add a new menu item with the icon of a script.

One of the most-used examples is to add Library of Congress (LoC) call numbers to books. As most of you know, we use Amazon to look up information on each item, but sometimes you might want details that Amazon doesn’t provide. You could go through and add LoC numbers by hand, but you could also use an AppleScript to do most of the work for you. After enabling the example scripts, open the script menu, select “Sample AppleScripts” and then “Fill in Library of Congress Call Numbers on Books”. The script will look up each selected item on the LoC website and try to fill in the numbers.

Delicious Library has a little-known feature where you can place scripts anywhere in the menus. Here’s a script to show a book on Open Library. Because it has the special “Menu Path” at the start, it shows up where it belongs:

(This also works for shell scripts, Ruby, Python, and whatever else!)

Not seeing the script you want? Interested in writing one of your own? You can start by looking at the included examples by opening the scripts folder, and the ones linked above. Feel free to use any of them as a base to modify however you like. There’s lots of information on AppleScript around the web, easily found with a simple search. We’re around on the forum for any Delicious Library-specific questions you have.

If you write a script that you’re proud of, tell us about it! You can either post it as an ‘idea’ on the forum or email Lia, our customer support extraordinaire at lia@delicious-monster.com. Be sure to include the script and a brief explanation of what it does.

VERSION UPDATE: 2.7.8 is out

Just a quick post to let you know that version 2.7.8 was released earlier this week!

The release notes for this version may look short at only three bullet points, but these are major updates. First off, we know that syncing your iTunes library with Delicious Library is a really cool feature, but we realized it was causing a few hangups, including making your computer run slower and eventually crashing the app. So, we fixed the iTunes shelf's memory-use so this should not be an issue anymore! In addition, we've fixed some incorrect keyboard shortcuts that were being shown in various menus and added some item types from Amazon so more items will be found in searches and sorted to the right category.

Note: If you're still running an older version of DL2 (2.7.7, 2.7.6, 2.6.3, etc.), please try updating to the latest version before sending us a crash report, as it's likely v2.7.8 will fix your issue! Not only will the update be beneficial to you, but it will also save me from asking everyone to try this anyway. Keep in mind, I'm the only support person on our tiny team!

If you haven't installed 2.7.8 yet, just relaunch the app and a window should automatically come up asking you to update. If it doesn't, go into your Preferences and check the box next to 'Tell me when a new version of Library is available'. Alternatively, you can download that free update here. If you're a Mac App Store user, you'll need to download updates through there so please do not use that link. Instead, launch the App Store and 'updates' should pop up in the top right corner of the Store panel. You can also click here to launch. Just look for version 2.7.8!

You can check out our full list of release notes here. (Just scroll to the bottom of the page to see 2.7.8)

Enjoy and be sure to continue to check back right here every Friday for more news, tips, and updates!

Change Is Good! And Easy...

With ever-changing technology, new computers are coming out all the time. We know our users are tech-savvy and hip, so we know it's likely that a lot of you buy new Macs on occasion. We also know that transferring everything over can be a huge hassle. This week's post will explain the most effective way to transfer your Delicious Library information so that your set-up will be as smooth as possible.

For future reference in this post, we're going to say that your old computer is Computer A and the new one is Computer B. (So you have Delicious Library 2 on Computer A and you want to move it to Computer B.)

1) Start out by making sure you've downloaded Delicious Library 2 onto Computer B. You can do that here. If you're an App Store user, just sign into the App Store on your new computer using the same account you used to originally purchase and re-download the app from there.

2) Move your library file from Computer A to the same location on Computer B. To find it, go to the top menu bar on Finder and Select Go > Go to Folder... (you can also press 'shift-command-G'). Paste exactly this in to the search bar: ~/Library/Application Support/Delicious Library 2 then hit 'Go'. A finder window will open with your library folder selected. (If it doesn't work, double-check that you don't have spaces on either end of the text string.) Select the file called 'Delicious Library Items.deliciouslibrary2' and transfer that to the new computer via Bonjour, e-mail, Dropbox, or any other way of sending a file to a new location. (You may need to compress the file so it's small enough to send. To do that, Ctrl-click on it, and select "compress" which will give you a .zip file which you can then send to Computer B.)

3) Once the file is moved to Computer B, you'll need to re-locate the Delicious Library 2 folder which is found in the same location on Computer B as it was on Computer A (home > Library > Application Support > Delicious Library 2). Drag the file that you sent from Computer A directly into the Delicious Library 2 folder.

4) You may also wish to move over your settings and license code. To do this, copy over the preferences file, which is located (in your home folder) at ~/Library/Preferences. The file is called 'com.delicious-monster.library.plist' This step keeps you from having to dig up your license code (or having to ask us for it!) or reapply your settings (shelf size, AppleScripts, etc.)

That's it! Now when you launch DL2, all your data from Computer A will appear on Computer B as well. You can use one license code on up to five machines in a single network, so you'll be covered for a long time.

Just an FYI: when you do this, the data you already had on the second computer will be replaced, not combined. This means if you have the application running on both A and B, and you add new items to both, if you move library A over to library B, the new items from library B will be lost. Combining libraries is another story…for another post.