Cumulus allows to export records, keywords and queries into text files so that they can either be imported again or processed by a text editor. The log file of Cumulus is also a text file so it can also be read by other applications.
Record Export
When transferring data records from one image database to another it can be appropriate to export those records into a text file and import this file into the other database.
A record export file of Cumulus always starts with the following line:
2. Creator type of the software that created the image file (4 characters)
3. Creation date of the image file
4. Modification date of the image file
5. Data size of the image file in bytes
6. Resource size of the image file in bytes
7. Color mode (0 = Line Art, 1 = Grayscale, 2 = Color)
8. Horizontal resolution in dpi
9. Vertikal resolution in dpi
10. Width of the image given in inches
11. Height of the image given in inches
12. Specifies whether the record can be modified ( 0 = Record can be modified, 1 = Record cannot be modified)
13. Specifies whether the record can be modified ( 0 = Record can be deleted, 1 = Record cannot be deleted)
14. Creation date of the record
15. Modification date of the record
16. Image name
17. Status
18. The name of the person who cataloged the image
19. Name of the software that created the image file
20. The Notes with all line feeds and tab character replaced by spaces.
21. The alias to the image file as hexadecimal text
22. The thumbnail as hexadecimal text
23. Type-specific information as hexadecimal text
24. The list keywords assigned to this record. Each keyword is separated by a tab character.
Keyword Export
You can export and import a list of keywords to tranfer them from one image database to the other. You can also create a text file that contains a keyword list with a text editor to extend the keyword list of your database.
A keyword export file always starts with the following line:
This allows Cumulus to insert additional sub-keyword for existing keywords by importing from a text file.
When importing keyword from a text file Cumulus checks whether there is a parent keyword specified. If the parent keyword is missing Cumulus adds the keyword to the top level. If there is a parent keyword specified in the import file then Cumulus looks for the parent keyword in the keyword list. If it does not exit then it is added to the list at top level. Then the keyword is added as a new sub-keyword to the parent keyword.
If you are creating the keyword export file with an application other than Cumulus please make sure that you first define the parent keyword before you define sub-keywords of it. Otherwise Cumulus cannot reproduce the keyword structure you have intended. There is no way to move a keyword from one parent to the other by importing a text file.
The following example defines a new keyword ("Plant") at top level and then defines two sub-keywords ("Tree" and "Flower"). The tab character is shown as“ ->| ”):
You can store multiple search queries into a text file to load them back again in Cumulus. You can also create a query export file with any text editor.
A query export file is a list of search conditions separated by line feeds. Each search condition
consists of the following fields separated by tab characters:
1. The logical operator to combine two conditions. Possible values are "and" and "or". The first condition in the file has no such operator and therefor starts with the tab character.
2. The search field, e.g.. “Image Name”. The pop-up menu for the search field of the Find window in Cumulus shows all possible values.
3. The comparison operator, e.g. “contains”. After choosing the search field in Cumulus the pop-up menu for the comparison operator shows all possible values.
4. The value to be compared. This value depends on the search field chosen.
The following example shows a query that searches for all records with the keyword "Flower" that contain the word "Rose" in their notes field and is a grayscale or color image:
->| Keyword ->| is ->| Flower
and ->| Notes ->| contains ->| Rose
and ->| Color Mode ->| is not ->| Line Art
The Log File
Cumulus optionally stores the activity log for a database into a text file. You can open that text file with a text editor.
All activities are written to the log file starting with the oldest.
Each line contains a single activity with the following fields separated by tab characters:
1. Date
2. Time
3. User
4. Action
5. Additional Name. This name identifies the object for the activity.
The following log file shows some activities that changed a database on June, 7th 1994:
6/7/94 ->| 11:32:34 ->| Norman ->| Database opened ->|
6/7/94 ->| 11:38:03 ->| Susan ->| Changed: ->| Roses in the mist
6/7/94 ->| 11:39:06 ->| Susan ->| Keyword added: ->| Keyword
6/7/94 ->| 11:41:09 ->| Norman ->| Keyword changed: ->| Flower
6/7/94 ->| 11:42:13 ->| Norman ->| Database closed ->|
