save big on Upgrade to ComicBase 9 Archive Edition If you’ve been putting off upgrading your ComicBase until something big happened, or holding out for a great deal, this is your moment. ComicBase 9 is the biggest upgrade in ComicBase history: Packed with information on over 225,000 comics, complete with fully updated pricing for 2004-2005 from Comics Buyer's Guide New, streamlined interface More powerful database engine Full-size, high-definition pictures (Archive Edition only) One-key data entry Innovative Grading Wizard

...and so many new features we had to come up with a rather spiffy new web page to list them all. ComicBase 9 is available in both a 2-CD Standard Edition version for $149, and a massive 2-DVD Archive Edition (complete with over 70,000 covers, 20,000+ in full-size, high-definition format) for $299. Best of all you can upgrade from any version of ComicBase to the ComicBase 9 Archive Edition for just $99.95 + shipping—a 66% savings until November 1st, 2004. To take advantage of this terrific deal, just give us a call at 408/266-6883, or order online.

Update Watch: ComicBase 9.0.3

We've just released ComicBase 9.0.3, a free update for all versions of ComicBase 9. The new version incorporates various bug fixes, loads much faster, and improves compatibility on Windows 98 and Me.

In response to numerous requests, ComicBase 9.0.3 also lets you set your comics’ cost as a discounted percentage of their cover price (perfect for people whose retailers give them discounts on their new purchases). ComicBase 9.0.3 also lets you export reports in a variety of formats from the Report Preview window, as well as choose a standard location for your backups. See the Release Notes for the full details on this new version.

The update can be downloaded from the ComicBase web site directly, or accessed using the “Check for Updates” command from ComicBase’s Internet menu.

ComicBase Tips & Tricks

Sharing a database between two computers

My wife and I each have our own computer, and we’d like to be able to access the same comic database from each of them. How do we set this up?

With ComicBase 9, this is pretty simple. Just set up a home network between the two machines, and put the ComicBase Database.cba file in a shared location. A network file server is ideal, but you can also use Windows’ built-in File sharing to share the ComicBase folder on one of the two machines.

After that’s done, you can open up the database from the other machine using ComicBase’s File -> Open command, locating the shared computer under “My Network Places”, then selecting the ComicBase Database file.

Upgrading ComicBase while switching to a new computer

I just got my copy of ComicBase 9, but I’m also in the process of switching to a new computer. What’s the best way to go about the upgrade?

Start by getting everything on the same machine:

1. Install your older version of ComicBase on the new machine
   
2. Transfer over your ComicBase Database file (usually from the old computer's C:\Program Files\Human Computing\ComicBase <version>\Program Data folder) to the same folder on the new machine. Since this file is quite large, you may want to burn it onto a CD-R, use a home network, or one of those very slick new USB thumb drives to copy the ComicBase Database file from the old machine to the new.
   
   Note: When you copy the ComicBase Database file into the Program Data folder on the new machine, it should ask you if you want to replace the existing ComicBase Database file. Click Yes.
   
3. Install ComicBase 9 on the new machine.
   
4. Launch ComicBase 9 and answer "Yes" when it asks if you’re upgrading. It will then locate your old ComicBase application, and pull all your old ComicBase data into ComicBase 9.

Fun with the new “Jump to Issue” command

Little-noticed under the Edit menu of ComicBase 9 is a very handy new command, “Jump to Issue”. You can use it to save time in several ways:

• Type in an issue number in a long title (like Action Comics) to jump directly to that issue instead of scrolling down to find it. For instance, Ctrl-J (which brings up the Jump to Issue command) followed by an issue number will go down the current title and highlight the selected issue. You can then type the numbers 0–9 to set the quantity in stock on that issue with a single keystroke.
  
• If you remember a title’s four-character abbreviation, you can use the Jump to Issue command to jump directly to that title. For instance typing Ctrl-J, DETS [Enter] jumps you straight to Detective Comics. (You’ll see the four-character title abbreviations listed just below the title name when you go to a given title).
  
• You can combine abbreviations and issues to jump to a given issue on a title. For instance, Ctrl-J, DETS772 [Enter] jumps you directly to Detective Comics #772.
  
• If you’ve printed out price labels with barcodes from ComicBase, you can scan the unique ComicBase barcodes to jump directly to those issues. This is great for people using ComicBase in their stores, who want to adjust their inventory as they scan out comics.

Shrinking huge databases

My ComicBase Database is huge—over 600 MBs! Is it supposed to be that large?

It sounds like your database need compacting.

With most kinds of computer documents, such as Word files, the file is loaded entirely into memory when it’s used, then saved down to disk when you’re done editing it. So, if you have a Word file that’s 5 MB in size, and delete half of it, the file will be about 2.5 MB when you save it.

Databases are different, since they’re designed to be able to grow to be many times larger than the amount of RAM on a given computer. Instead of being loaded up all at once, they get loaded bit by bit as needed. Since a database is never entirely in RAM, it handles changes and deletions differently: the database engine “crosses out” the old information, and adds on the changed information to the end.

This technique lets databases update records without writing out the whole database to disk each time it’s saved, but it does have the effect of making the database“swell” over time with the accumulation of “crossed out” data. As a result, it’s necessary to periodically compact the database—let it sift through all its records and chuck out the obsolete ones. This takes several minutes, which is why ComicBase only does it periodically (You can control how often in the Setup menu’s Preferences dialog). You can also compact the database manually using the File menu’s File Tools -> Compact & Verify command. When compacted, the average ComicBase database should take about 160–180 MB.

Mailing List Notes and Administrivia

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http://www.comicbase.com/ComicBase_Mailing_List.html.

Due to the amount of information in this newsletter, we're publishing it in HTML format. (And if you're viewing this as a sea of HTML tags in a non-HTML mail client, we beg your forbearance!). As soon as we can work out the necessary mechanics, we'll be setting up a separate list for folks who prefer to get such mailings in plain text format.