That needn’t happen again. There are software utilities that can index the contents of your CDs and DVDs into searchable catalogues. OOBOX XBaseCatalog is one such software-here, we take a look at how it can be used to catalogue your disk collection.
The OOBOX XBaseCatalog Standard evaluation version can be downloaded from www.oobox.com. It can catalogue Zip disks, floppies and digital tapes in addition to CDs and DVDs.
The limitation of the demo version is that you are allowed to create a maximum of three volumes; contents of ZIPped files are not indexed; MD5 authentication, which is used to verify the authenticity of the files, is not available; files cannot be compared with files already present in the database; and a nag screen is displayed every time you start or exit the program.
The Standard version is available for $19.95 (Rs 870), and the Professional version-with even more features-is $49.95 (Rs 2,170).
Step 1. The first step involves creating a new volume to be included in the catalogue-the volume of a CD or DVD is an index of the files on that disk. To create a new volume, click the Add Volume button on the toolbar. The Add new volume dialog box will come up.
Step 2. Place the disk to be catalogued in the CD or DVD drive, and select that drive in the Add new volume dialog box. Click Process Start to start the disk scanning process.
After the scanning is complete, the Info window will indicate the information about the media, such as the volume label, total size and serial number.
Step 3. Enter an ID in the ID field to identify the CD or DVD volume in the catalogue. You can also add comments to make it easy to identify the volume later. Now click Add to add the volume created from the just-scanned disk to the database. Click Close to return to the main interface. Here you will be able to view details such as the size, number of files, the serial number, and the name and ID of the volume.
In the same way, you can scan and add more such volumes to the catalogue.
Step 4. To browse a volume, right-click it and select Browse this volume. You will be presented with a window that shows the directory tree of the volume with files and their details such as size, date, etc.
Step 5. You can also search the database by clicking the Search button on the toolbar. In the Search dialog box, you may search for a file based on name, creation date, and size. Try searching for a file, and you will be pleased to see that the results are displayed in no time!
Step 6. There is also the facility to export a volume (or all volumes) in the database, so it (they) can be backed up for archival. Similarly, the import facility can be utilised to export a volume into the database.