Your collection in your pocket

The Data Crow Reader is the Data Crow app for your phone and tablet. It is made for reading: you load your collection into the app, and from then on you can look at it wherever you are, without an internet connection. That makes it ideal for having your information at hand, for example in a shop when you wonder whether you already own something.

The app runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS) and on Android. You do not change items in the app. You change them in the full client or in the web client, and then load the changes into the app.

What the app does #

• It shows your collection per module, with the pictures.
• You can search, filter and sort your items.
• It shows all the fields of an item, with its pictures.
• It shows what an item refers to, such as a category, and which other items have the same value.
• It shows the editions and child items of an item.
• It works without an internet connection, once you have loaded your collection.

Getting started #

1. Install the Data Crow Reader app on your phone or tablet.
2. Make sure your phone can reach your Data Crow Server, or the computer which runs the Synchronization Service. At home that is usually the same Wi-Fi network. To load your collection from somewhere else, your server has to be reachable from the internet. See Data Crow Server.
3. Open the app. It asks for access to the camera, to scan the QR code. On iPhone and iPad it also asks for access to the local network, which it needs to reach your server. Allow both.
4. Scan the QR code. You find it in the web client, under Settings, Data Crow Reader, or in the Synchronization Service of the full client.
5. Log in, see below.
6. Load your collection with Full Sync, see below.

Connecting by hand #

If you cannot scan the QR code, choose Skip – enter URL manually. Enter the server address and the port. The app suggests 8082, which is the standard port of the Data Crow Server API. Switch on HTTPS if your server uses it. You find these settings in the web client under Settings, Data Crow Reader. The app remembers them.

Logging in #

• When your server only has the standard user SA without a password, which is the situation of a new Data Crow, the app logs in by itself.
• Otherwise, enter your user name and password.
• If you switched on two-factor authentication, the app asks for the code of your authenticator app, or a recovery code, after your password. Tick Do not ask again on this device for 30 days to skip the code on this phone. See User Management.
• The app keeps your login safe in the secure storage of your phone. This way it can log in again by itself when your login has expired while the app is loading.

A few messages you may see:

• Your password has to be changed. Your password does not meet the password rules anymore, or it has expired. Change it in the full client or in the web client and log in again. See User Management.
• Too many failed login attempts. After too many wrong attempts the server blocks you for a while. Wait and try again.
• The server is being maintained. The server is busy, for example with a backup. Try again later.

Please note that a user without a password can only log in from your local network. Give the user a password if you want to load your collection from outside it.

Loading your collection #

Loading your collection is called synchronizing, or sync. The sync screen opens by itself after your first login. Later you open it with the button ⟳ at the top right of My Collection.

• Full Sync removes what is in the app and loads everything again. Use it the first time, and when you want the app to match Data Crow exactly, for example after you deleted items.
• Delta Sync appears after the first sync. It only loads the items which are new or changed since the last sync. That is much faster. The date and time of the last sync are shown at the top.
• Change server lets you scan another QR code, to connect to another server.

While the app loads you see the progress per module. The screen stays on, so keep the app open until it says Sync complete! If the connection is lost, the app tries again a few times. If it cannot continue it tells you, and keeps what it has loaded so far. Start a sync again to go on.

What is loaded #

• The items of all your modules, except the Contact Person and Container modules. Child items, such as the tracks of an album, are loaded too.
• All the fields of every item, with their names in your language. This is the language of your user in Data Crow.
• The values of the lists which items refer to, such as the categories, with their icons.
• Up to three pictures per item. The pictures are made smaller for your phone.
• Attachments are not loaded.

Using the app #

My Collection #

The first screen lists your modules, with their icons. Tap a module to see its items.

The list of items #

Every item shows its first picture and its name. When an item has editions or child items, their number is shown as well. At the top you see how many items there are. Tap an item to open it.

Searching, filtering and sorting #

• Type what you are looking for in Search for…. Next to it you choose the field to search in. By default that is All fields. Then tap Search.
• Your search appears as a tag under the search field. Search again to narrow down the result: the items then have to match all the tags. Remove a tag, or tap clear all to remove them all.
• Tap Sort to choose the field to sort on, and the arrow to switch between ascending and descending. The app remembers your choice for each module.

An item #

• The item page shows the fields and the pictures.
• A value which refers to another item, such as a category, can be tapped. You then see all the items which have this value.
• A web address opens in your browser.
• Yes and no fields show Yes or No, and ratings are shown as stars.
• The items which belong to an item are shown below it: its editions (items of the same module, such as the editions of a book) and its child items (such as the tracks of an album).

Choose which fields you see #

Use the settings button on an item page to choose which fields are shown, and in which order. Use the arrows to change the order and the switches to show or hide a field. The same is possible for the columns of the child items and the editions of an item.

Language #

The app speaks the language of your user in Data Crow: English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. If you change your language in Data Crow, do a Full Sync to load the names in the new language.

If something does not work #

• The QR code is not accepted. Scan the QR code of Data Crow: the one in the web client under Settings, Data Crow Reader, or in the Synchronization Service. A QR code from something else does not work.
• The app cannot connect. Check that your phone is on the same network as your server (or that your server can be reached from the internet), that the address and the port are right, and that HTTPS is switched on only when your server uses it. On iPhone and iPad make sure the app may use the local network. If the connection is made through the Synchronization Service of the full client, check that the right IP address was chosen, see Sync Service (Update Data Crow Reader).
• The sync stops halfway. The connection was lost. What was loaded is kept. Start a Delta Sync to go on.
• I deleted items in Data Crow but they are still in the app. Do a Full Sync.

More information #

• Sync Service (Update Data Crow Reader): connecting the app to the full client.
• Settings (Web Client): the QR code in the web client.
• Data Crow Server and User Management: the server and its users.
• What is Data Crow?: an overview of all the parts of Data Crow.