Using software to catalog a gun collection

[Hawk]

Old habits die hard: Paradox

 

[aaronrkelly]

DoubleTapDrew,

That is a pretty nice program and I will definitely be checking it out, thanks for the link.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I just use MS Word or MS Excel. I got the idea from all the RSL inventories I did as an Ordie. When I get home from a range trip, I just annote the differences, record the date, print it out and store it with the ammo. I use a digital camera for the pictures. Once I get a good pic, I use JASC's Printshop pro, (Most folks use Adobe's Photoshop,) to scale down and crop the pic so it fits in the document.

The hardest part about the pictures is getting good ones without a tripod. Natural sunlight is the best, but the neighbors might not be to understanding about me posing my guns in the lawn.

That and some of those old BP rifles don't even have SerNos.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

I would probably use TreePad

TreePad is a really simple program to use.

There is a freeware version (all of these are at www.treepad.com) and trial versions of increasingly sophisticated implementations.

TreePad Plus allows the storage of images along with the text. The program can be run from removable media (like a floppy or flash drive).

I have used various versions of TreePad for nearly 10 years. The author (Henk) is in the Netherlands and supports his program well.

Of course, the hazard is that once you start using it for anything, it becomes an attractive tool for all kinds of other stuff.

I've used it to break up complex software and database schemas, to store photos, and to create a reference library for a variety of things.

Heck, give it a try. Don't cost you nuthin' for a try.

 

[Zundfolge]

Anything out there for us Mac users?

In particular free stuff.

 

[Snagglepuss]

Average Mac Users, I went to the Gunsafe site. It said it should work on a Mac. I downloaded it and could not get it to open. The folder contained typical windows looking stuff. Oh well.......

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Average Mac Users, I went to the Gunsafe site. It said it should work on a Mac. I downloaded it and could not get it to open. The folder contained typical windows looking stuff. Oh well.......

Snagglepuss- That's the one odd thing about the program. You unzip it into a folder then to run the program you double click the icon labeled gunsafe.exe. It worked on 3 of my computers, but they are all Windows XP so I don't know if it works on Mac or not.

 

[dasmi]

If it's an exe file, it will not work on your mac.
I use pico and a .txt file. For mac users, you might try TextEdit for a basic gun log.

 

[Zundfolge]

I found a nice distro of MySQL for OSX

http://www.serverlogistics.com/mysql.php

I'll play with it and then report back.


Ok, thats nice ...it just installs the back end ... now I gotta find a nice GUI for editing my MySQL database

 

[Snagglepuss]

I should have said "run" instead of "open". As soon as I was the exe file I knew we Mac users were dead in the water.

 

[DarkStar11]

Hi There,

I am the author of GunSafe. A new version was just posted today that contains a few minor bug fixes, adds a field for barrel length, etc.

Snagglepuss, I am surprised it doesn't work on a Mac, since it was created in FileMaker. I'll do some research to see what I can do to get it to play well on a Mac.

 

[Geno]

Drag & Drop Pics to Spreadsheet: It Is That Simple.

It is actually that easy with a Mac. I have a Mac with Excel and iPhoto. When I generated my spreadsheet with data such as manufacturer, model, caliber, serial number, etc., I took digital pictures and simply dragged them to the rows/columns beside the data to which the picture corresponded. I used the edges of the pics to resize them to be consistent, but that's it. It was extremely simple.

Doc2005

 

[Blue_Mongoose]

the GunSafe software will work fine on a mac if you have or download Filemaker Pro.

You can get a 30day free trial from the mfg website. I have not found a free version yet, but you can at least play around with it and see how it works for you

 

[aaronrkelly]

How do I get my information into the new version of Gunsafe, is it as simple as copying the 3 database files into the new directory?

 

[DarkStar11]

Aaron,

1) Download and unzip the new version to a location different from your original.
2) Open your original version of GunSafe. On the main menu screen, click the button labeled View All (Including Sold). Then exit.
3) Open the new version.
4) From the File menu, choose Import Records.
5) An Open File screen will appear. Navigate to the directory containing your old version, and select GunSafe.gsf and click Open
6) Next you will see The Import Field Mappings screen. The default mappings and selections should be fine. There are 2 fields in bold that won't have a match because they are new to this version. Be sure the Import Action is set to Add New Records. Click Import.
7) Import Options screen will appear. The defaults should be fine.
8) Click OK.

Repeat for the files Images and Mfgs.

Let me know if you have any problems.

Edit: With the major change to the maintenance section, you may lose maintenance history. Also, the new association to the images (fix for same serial number bug) may require you to reassociate your images with your firearms. Sorry for the troubles.

 

[CoachVince]

OpenOffice has word processing, spreadsheet and database programs that, for the most part, are similar to Excel and Acces, so cost shoudln't be an issue (Oo is free).

 

[LexusNexus]

It looks like you need a real extensive collection, say more than 100, to enjoy the search capabilities.