Cataloging the collection

[eleelandc]

I think that wanting a free platform is problematic as it takes years to put in the data entry, by which time your free platform may be obsolete. I like me some Filemaker. Not cheap, but as such it keeps having new versions. It allows me to use the app (filemakergo) to view the whole collection on my phone when out shopping and see if I already have a record (and what pressing it is and what condition it is etc) before re-buying. When I first started I was using Excel but once in a while I would sort by the wrong criteria and scramble one column of info in relation to all the subsequent columns, making the whole database useless (as I would tend to save it without knowing I had done it). It is also easy to import the whole list from Filemaker into an excel file if I want it in excel for some reason.
The real problem is the "but I never had time to get started with it. " as, no matter what the platform you use is, you have to do many many many hours of data entry to have it reflect your collection which is always time you would rather spend on record shopping or really ANYTHING else!

 

[MopTopMike]

I agree, I would pay for a program that will continue to provide updates for newer O/S and platforms down the pike.

Are you able to cut and paste information already keyed into other file formats? I already have files that contain many of the fields I would need (pressing plant / master numbers, etc.) besides the important fields (group/performer / title/ label).

 

[eleelandc]

As I tend to remain ignorant of the features that I do not use, my guess is "yes", but I do not know how to do it. I know that you CAN set up your database so that each record has whatever fields you want though...

 

[chas_kit]

It is usually very easy to move the information from one database program (not Excel, which is a spreadsheet) to another.

That is, it's easy for someone who knows what they're doing, but I was able to move my entire website's database from Drupal to Wordpress with no loss of info, and I'd never done anything like that before. Your software may go out of date, but the database still should be accessible to newer programs.

Even spreadsheets like Excel can be imported into a database without losing anything.