# Questions and Answers

How do I start the program?

After downloading and unpacking Bookcase, run ``configure` `--disable-debug` `--enable-final`` to configure everything. You may need to modify some of the command line options. After that, running ``make`` will compile Bookcase. Then, as root, run ``make install`` to install everything. Being root is only necessary if you install somewhere where you don't have write permissions. The command line to start Bookcase is ``bookcase``. If you install one of the pre-packaged binaries, a menu item will be inserted for Bookcase.

How do I enter multiple authors?

Author names should be separated by a semi-colon, like so: `Brian W. Kernighan; Dennis M. Ritchie`. Don't include the word "and" or anything similar, even if you have 20 authors. If you have the auto-format option checked, then the last name will automatically be shown first for each author.

Other properties which allow multiple values, like "genre" and "keywords", are entered in the same way, with a semi-colon (;) separating each value.

Can I modify what the printed page looks like?

Yes, most certainly. Find the file `bookcase-printing.xsl` which should be in the $`KDEDIR`/share/apps/bookcase/ directory. You can copy that to $`KDEHOME`/share/apps/bookcase/ for personal modifications. You'll have to know XSLT, but modifying that file is how you change the printing layout. HTML is generated from the file, and the easiest way to change the appearance of the printout is to modify the CSS in the top portion. Feel free to email me with questions. Any alternate XSLT printing files will be available on the &bookcase; website.

Be aware that the `bookcase-printing.xsl` references another file, `bookcase-common.xsl`, that contains some common XSLT templates. If you copy `bookcase-printing.xsl` to $`KDEHOME`, you must either modify the <xsl:import> element to point to the actual location of the `bookcase-common.xsl` file or copy the common file as well.

How do I group by a property other than the ones listed in the toolbar?

To allow grouping by a field which doesn't allow grouping by default, check the "Allow Grouping" box for that particular field in the "Collection Fields" dialog.

How do I rename my book collection?

In the left side column, right-click on the top-level item representing the collection. Select the "Rename Collection" option.

Why does all that gobbledy-gook show up when I run &bookcase;?

Stuff like:

    Bookcase::updateCollectionToolBar
    BCGroupView::setGroupAttribute - author
    BCGroupView::slotAddCollection
    QCheckBox::property( "title" ) failed: property invalid
    or does not exist

is debug info. At compile time, this can be stopped by compiling with the ``--disable-debug`` flag. You might also want to use ``--enable-final``, too, which takes a bit more memory when compiling, but is more efficient when running the application.

The last message is slightly different, it just means your Qt installation was compiled with some debugging information.

Or, if &bookcase; is already installed, run ``kdebugdialog`` and make sure that "0 (generic)" is unchecked. That turns off debug messages from all generic KDE apps i.e. those not distributed officially by KDE.

How do I change which columns are shown?

Right-click on the header bar. You can also drag the headers to re-order the columns, and click on them to sort by that field.

How do I filter by something like the "Read" field?

Internally, the checkbox fields in &bookcase; are saved as "true", so if you'd like to filter to show only the science fiction books which you've not read, for example, then you have two rules. Make sure the "Match all of the following" button is checked. Set the first rule to have "Genre" "contains" "Science Fiction" (no quotes) and the second rule to have "Read" "does not contain" "true" (no quotes).

Also, the quick filter in the toolbar will match any field, and if there is a non-word character, the text is interpreted as a regular expression. So if you quickly want to filter your books to show those by Weber or Bujold, then type "weber|bujold" (no quotes) in the toolbar.

How do I add new entry templates?

Entry templates should be saved in `$`KDEHOME`/share/apps/bookcase/entry-templates/` for access for a single user or `$`KDEDIR`/share/apps/bookcase/entry-templates/` for access by everyone. Templates in $`KDEHOME` will override any files by the same name in $`KDEDIRS`. The entry templates can be set on a per collection-type basis in the settings dialog.

Compiling and installing went fine, but when &bookcase; starts up, the window is blank. What's wrong?

KDE programs look for data in the locations defined in the $`KDEDIRS` environmental variable. If you install in `/usr/local` for example, but $`KDEDIRS` is empty or just `/usr`, then &bookcase; won't be able to find the files it needs. This is particularly true for SuSE, for which you should compile with ``--prefix`=`/opt/kde3``. Alternatively, you could add a line to your `.profile` file to set $`KDEDIRS`. Check the documentation for your shell.

How do I export additional bibtex fields?

&bookcase; uses the bibtex property to know how to export bibtex fields. If you want to add additional fields to export, such as an abstract, open up the &fields-dialog;, and click the Extended Properties button. Add a bibtex property with value abstract. Then, when you export to bibtex or bibtexml, that property will be used for the bibtex field name.