What's new in Comic Collector for Windows? (page 5)

Improvements:

• Add Comics from CLZ Core:
  • Right click menu:
    • You can now right click a series result to “check/uncheck” all issues.
    • Sort series by Title or by Publisher on “by Title”, “Pull List” and “Daily Updates” tab.
  • New “barcode not found” result in your list if a barcode doesn’t return any results.
  • Performance optimizations of the result list on all tabs.

Fixed:

• Add Comics from CLZ Core:
  • “This barcode is already in the search list” would be returned when searching for two variants of the same issue with slightly different barcodes.
  • After entering a barcode manually (or with certain barcode scanners) focus didn’t return to the barcode entry box.
  • The “Quick Fill” popup could pop up outside of the screen area.

Big changes today! For version 17.1 we have completely re-designed the “Add Comics from CLZ Core” screen (previously called “Add Comics Automatically”). The new screen is both easier-to-use and easier-on-the-eye:

• A clear two-panel design: Search Results on the left, Preview on the right.
• The Search Results now show cover images for both series and issues.
• Automatic Preview of selected issues (no more double clicking).

See it in action:

Here’s the full list of improvements:

Read more

Fixed:

• Edit Screen: clicking “Update” would cause an Access Violation

Fixed:

• Edit Screen: switching tabs could throw a “Cannot focus a disabled or invisible window” error when the screen was still loading.

New:

• Links to renew your update plan will now automatically log you into your account on the website.
• Check for Updates: now has a link to the “What’s New” blog on our website.
• My CLZ Account popup: now has a link to the “What’s New” blog on our website.

Fixed:

• Edit Comic: using ALT+N or ALT+P to navigate to Next or Previous Comic could throw a “Cannot focus a disabled or invisible window” error

Fixed:

• Quick Search Suggestions:
  • selecting an item from the suggestion list would sometimes do nothing with a grouping on more than one field active
  • clicking the “show all results for…” label after pasting a search string with the mouse didn’t always perform the search
• Quick Search: “matches:” followed by nothing would result in a “regular expression required” error
• Scaled images for thumbnails, CLZ Comics export, etc. are now saved without metadata for smaller file sizes and better performance
• Main Screen:
  • Images Popup didn’t show box set covers
  • Nothing would show when switching to Cards view after applying the quick filters
  • Select random didn’t always work properly in a filtered list
• Manage Pick Lists: deleting text from the search box would initiate “remove item”
• Import from XML: price and value fields weren’t always imported correctly
• Import from Text: fields were not properly imported when delimiter appeared in field value
• Sync with Cloud: HTML in plot and notes fields didn’t always sync down properly
• Editing/Adding Pick List items: it was possible to create duplicate items with identical Display Names
• Add Comic: Double clicking “show all results” would scroll to the top of the list
• Details View: character links were not active in Cobalt,Carbon and Quicksilver templates
• User Defined Fields: adding a user defined field will now add it to the same group as the one currently selected

We’ve expanded the quick search box to now also allow “search-as-you-type” with suggestions for pick list fields.

How does it work?

In the quick search box top right of your screen you should see a “dropdown” button. Use this to select which field you wish to perform a search on. If “search-as-you-type” is available for that field, it will instantly work once you start typing in the box.

Example

You can now select the field “Publisher” in the quick search box, start typing a publisher name, and instantly see suggestions (based on what you typed) of publishers you have in your database. Click on a publisher to see all comics of that publisher.

Try it with the “Character” field too! Instantly filter down to all comics have that specific character in them.

Fixes in this version

We also fixed some issues with the program in this version:

• Images Popup:
  • “size window to picture” showed image slightly smaller
  • .tiff images were not showing
• Sync with CLZ Cloud: Series with identical Display Names could be confused when down syncing

Fixed:

• Quick Search: Access Violation when selecting a suggestion with “no folders” active
• Images Popup:
  • “size window to picture” showed image slightly smaller
  • .tiff images were not showing

New:

• Images popup now also supports “Size Picture to Window without stretching” option
• Quick search: suggestions now also are shown when searching on “Title” field

Fixed:

• Main Screen:
• Quick Search: applying a filter could cause unexpected behaviour
• Images Popup:
  • the status bar wasn’t always showing the right image path when opening
  • .bmp images were not showing
• CueCat scanner wasn’t working properly any more

Quick Search: Search-As-You-Type suggestions

Instantly find and select a particular series in your local database:

• In the Quick Search box, just start typing the first few letters of the series you are looking for.
• While typing, a drop-down list will appear, showing the first five matching series.
  (for most series, it only takes 2 or 3 letters before it shows up.)
• Once you see the one you were looking for, use the up/down keys to select it, then hit Enter.
• The series will now be selected in your folder panel, with the issues showing in the list panel.

Read more

Fixed:

• Crashes during Check for Update process

Fixed:

• Edit Comic:
  • On User Defined Fields tab, “_[Add pick list item]_” didn’t work for comboboxes
  • Changing the role for a credit would mark all comics dirty where that person appeared instead of just the edited comic
• person grids: adding a person with a display name that existed multiple times, would sometimes save the wrong one
• Manage Pick Lists: removing pick list items didn’t mark their corresponding comics as modified
• Main Screen: accelerator keys in main menu (like “ALT+F” for files menu) didn’t work
• Update File Links: Story front cover paths were not updated properly

New:

• Quick search now also supports Regular Expressions. Enter “matches:” followed by regular expression in the quick search box.
• Free Trial now has an information panel to show the user how to get started.
• Trial Popup has been simplified to make it easier to pick one of the options.
• The Trial Popup sometimes showed when it shouldn’t for existing users.

New: “Search-As-You-Type” suggestions when adding comics by title

If you are adding most of your comics “By Title”, then this will be a huge time-saver.

Here’s how the new “Search-As-You-Type” feature works:

1. In the Add Comics Automatically screen, just start typing the first letters of the series title you want to add issues for.
2. While typing, a drop-down list will appear, instantly showing the five most popular series that match,
   including the date range, the number of issues contained and a small thumbnail image.
3. For popular series, it usually takes only 2 or 3 letters before it shows up.
   For older or less popular series, type a few more letters.
4. Once you see your series appear, use the arrow keys to select it, then hit Enter.
5. Then under Search Results, that exact series will be listed, with its’ issue list.

Read more

Fixed:

• Export to XML is now capable of exporting large databases without “Out of Memory” errors, as it now writes the XML directly to hard disk. This is a bit slower though.
• Edit Comic:
  • Creators and Character grid column widths not restored properly sometimes
  • Contents tab: when trying to move a story up or down it would throw an “Abstract Error”
• Sync with Cloud: Wrap Around and TPB fields were cleared when syncing down from the cloud
• Add/Modify Filter: “Contains” filters were always case insensitive even when “case sensitive” was checked
• Edit Multiple Comics:
  • cancelling without making changes would still ask for confirmation
  • F8 didn’t clear price values

Fixed:

• Program could throw an “Handle is invalid” error after multiple edits
• Add Comics Automatically: checked results would stay checked after adding them

Fixed:

• Main Screen:
  • The folder tree was wrapping the values in the list
  • A double hint was showing for the thumbnail slider to resize thumbnails in Images View
• When working offline, closing the program could cause Access Violations
• Edit Comic:
  • It was possible to sort the stories list where it shouldn’t which caused drawing issues
  • Moving story up or down could make selected story look empty
• User Defined Fields: values of check box lists were not loaded correctly in some cases

Improvements:

• Cloud Syncing: Now does up to 5 retries when a sync action fails because of a temporary connection problem.
• Edit Comic: Improved “search as you type” behaviour of search boxes for adding creators and characters.
• Dark Skin: active window now has a light grey border, making it stand out more when windows overlap.

Fixed:

• Screen started to “flicker” after leaving the program inactive for a few minutes.
• Add Automatically: selecting/checking issues could be *very* slow in some cases.
• Add Automatically: adding a checked result would sometimes uncheck a result from another search in the queue.
• Main Screen / Two Panel Mode: selection status text would sometimes show an invalid text when no comics were showing in the list.
• Edit Multiple: F8 to clear didn’t work for memo fields like Plot and Notes.
• Edit Multiple: “Quantity” field was always cleared.
• Link Comics: multiple problems since the introduction of the Dark Skin.

Fixed:

• Edit Comic:
  • Changing collection status sometimes would uncheck a radiobutton but not check the selected one
  • It wasn’t possible to enter an empty Issue Number, it would always show ‘0’
  • Previous/Next/Ok could mess up data when the edit screen was still loading

Fixed:

• Export to HTML: access violation could occur in some cases when using a custom index template
• Edit Screen: Checkbox List hints would sometimes not disappear
• Main Screen: changing font size could make some screen elements disappear
• Quick Filter Panel: filters weren’t applied directly at startup when panel was closed but “Keep Active” was checked

Changes

• Date Fields: Year field’s position now also depends on system’s shortdate setting

Fixed:

• Edit Comic:
  • Date fields didn’t clear their Month and Day values using next/previous when they weren’t filled in for the next/previous item
  • Delete key didn’t work in Month and Day fields to clear their values. Backspace did work normally.
  • Clicking stars to add rating didn’t set “read it” field according to setting

Changes

• Date fields now have dropdowns for Month and Day. Order of Month and Day dropdown depends on system’s shortdate setting now

Fixed:

• Edit Multiple: F8 in date fields didn’t clear them
• Main Screen:
  • horizontal scrollbar was sometimes showing in folder tree when it shouldn’t
  • Cards View: scrolling using the mouse wheel wasn’t working properly
  • layout wasn’t always restored properly when quick filter panel was showing
• Quick Filter Panel: collection status filter wasn’t showing in filter description at bottom of the screen

Fixed:

• Edit Multiple Comics would clear “Quantity” field

NEW: Choose between Light, Dark or System skins

Yes, We’re getting rid of the gray!

Comic Collector now comes with a skin system, which affects the look of all screens in the program,
main screen, edit screens, add auto-screen, sync screen etc.. even the settings screens.

We have designed two different skins for you to choose from: Light and Dark.
The third option “System” is basically the old pre-v16.3 look.

• Light: A clean look, white backgrounds, dark fonts. Very readable, easy on the eye.
• Dark: A cool looking, modern design, with dark backgrounds, light fonts.
• System: Keep things as it was, with the program following your Windows theme.

Please note:
The program now defaults to the Dark Skin. You can change to a different Skin using the Skin option in the View menu.
Read more

Fixed:

• Edit Multiple Comics would always uncheck the “Trade Paperback” checkbox
• Main Screen: Scrolling the Details View with the mouse wheel would scroll the list when the scroll bar reached the top
• Sync with Cloud: cancelling sync didn’t always work