Installing the application will also create some fictitious but realistic data: some items, categories and places of storage.

You will then be able to browse all the views of iStorage, and alter these data as you wish. You will quickly learn how to use the application and its possibilities.

Once you no longer need this sample data, you can of course delete it from the application (About Tab / Settings / Database Management / Delete all Data).

Go to the item or place of storage description then hit the “Edit” button in the navigation bar. Hit the camera icon and select whether you want to take a picture or use one from your library.

If you do not wish to use this functionality, leave the “Shortage” field at zero for all your items.

Otherwise, the “Shortage” value associated with each item corresponds to the quantity below which a “stock shortage” alert will be generated for this item. For instance, if you entered an item named “Recordable DVD+RW” and set the shortage level to 10:

• if the quantity is above or equal to 10, the item will not appear in the list of items which are out of stock
• if the quantity is below 10, the alert is generated and the item appears in said list

You can create a new category directly in the item description, by selecting the “Category” label and hitting the “+” button in the category list.

To modify the name of a category, delete or create new categories, simply go to “About”, then Settings, and select the “Categories / Update names” label.

Create two places of storage, such as “Bedroom” and “Closet”. All you have to do is go to the “Closet” description and hit the “located in” label. You can then select the “Bedroom” to specify that this closet is in that bedroom.

Go to the item description and select the “Lent to” or “Borrowed from” label. Activate the switch, then enter the transaction date and the name of the lender or borrower (optional).

The Notes feature allows you to record all types of events in the life of the item. For example, administrative documents, repairs and so on.

For each item, you can enter an unlimited number of notes: select the “Notes” category, and tap the “+” button to add a new note.

A note consists of several pieces of information:

• a date in the past or future
• a title
• a photo / image (optional)
• a text description (optional)

The list of notes is presented in reverse chronological order, i.e. from the newest to the oldest.

Generate any PDF report (Overview tab), and select the print option.

Zoom out the thumbnail to get the whole PDF displayed. Tap the Share button (upper right corner) to select any sharing option you want.

The bar code reader featured in the application enables you to:

1. easily add its ID to an item: select the item, select the “ID Tag” category, hit the “Scan” button and place the item’s bar code in front of your iPhone camera. If the reading is correct, the bar code you scanned will be automatically assigned as the item ID.
2. easily recover the information related to an item thanks to its bar code: select the “Overview” tab, choose the “Bar code reader” category and place the item’s bar code in front of your iPhone camera. If the reading is correct and if this bar code is found as the ID of an item in the current database, this item will be automatically displayed.

If you have a large amount of items to input into the application at the same time, you can put all the data together on your PC or Mac in a CSV file (Comma Separated Value, spreadsheet file) which will hold the whole list of items you need to enter and all their information. You can also use this functionality to import your items from any other storage management software.

Your CSV file can be of two types:

• USA/UK: the decimal separator is a period and the field separator is a comma
• Non imperial countries: the decimal separator is a comma and the field separator is a semicolon

1. Create an “itemsImport.csv” file formatted as follows (one row for each item, 17 different fields per row):
   • name
   • ID Tag (optional)
   • quantity (optional)
   • shortage level (optional)
   • description (optional)
   • value per unit (optional, numerical, can be decimal)
   • purchase date (optional, YYYYMMDD format)
   • purchase comment (optional)
   • storage name (optional)
   • category name (optional)
   • lent date (optional, YYYYMMDD format)
   • lent to (name) (optional)
   • lent to (email) (optional)
   • borrowed from date (optional, YYYYMMDD format)
   • borrowed from (name) (optional)
   • borrowed from (email) (optional)
   • return date (optional, YYYYMMDD format)
2. Note: the format above matches exactly the CSV Items Export format (Overview tab, Export by mail, Item list), except the 18th column (Global storage) that must not be included.
   The file must not contain characters with accents or quotation marks.
   Examples of valid CSV files for both types (2 items, the first one has all fields populated, the second one is a real-life example):
   USA/UK (imperial countries):
   Item #1,item ID,10,5,Item #1 description,127.75,20110720,comment about the purchase,Storage #1,Category #1,,,,,,,
   Black & Decker drill,532456467,1,0,500 W hammer drill,450.35,20110625,purchased @ local hardware store,garage,tools,,,,,,,
   Or:
   Item #1;item ID;10;5;Item #1 description;127,75;20110720;comment about the purchase;Storage #1;Category #1;;;;;;;
   Black & Decker drill;532456467;1;0;500 W hammer drill;450,35;20110625;purchased @ local hardware store;garage;tools;;;;;;;
3. Connect your device to iTunes on your computer
4. In iTunes, select your target device (below Devices), and click on the “Apps” tab
5. Below File Sharing, in the list on the left, select iStorage
6. Click on ‘Add’ in the list on the right
7. In the displayed window, select the “itemsImport.csv” file you created in step 1 (see above)
8. The file is transferred to your device
9. On your target device, select About, Settings, Database Management
10. Select “Import a CSV File”
11. If errors are detected in your file, an information message will be displayed and the import will not run. You will have to correct your file and re-import it from step 5.
12. If the system doesn’t detect any errors in your file, you can confirm the import in the selected database. Once the operation has been performed, the items, places of storage and categories will be in your iStorage database.

Please note:

– if you import an item whose name is already used in your iStorage database, the item in the file will replace the one that already exists in your database.

– if you use a place of storage that already exists in your CSV file, it won’t be modified. If you use an unknown one, it will be created.

– if you use a category that already exists in your CSV file, it won’t be modified. If you use an unknown one, it will be created.

The application comes with a single database by default: all your items, places of storage and categories will be stored in this database.

You can nevertheless create new databases to store different groups of items. For example, the items stored inside your house in the main database and the items on your boat in a another one. You will Thus be able to clearly visualize the item group you want to see at a particular moment in time.

To create a new database, select:

• About tab / Database button
• select “Current database” which will display the list of your databases
• hit the “+” button to add a new one and name it
• a new empty database will be created and selected
• you can now add items to this database

To switch between databases, select:

• About tab / Database button
• select “Current database” which will display the list of your databases
• tap on the name of the database you wish to use
• you can now consult the items stored in that database and add new ones

To delete a database, make a leftward or rightward swipe gesture on the database row, and tap the “delete” button.

Please note: when you import a data file (“import a database” functionality), the application will prompt you to import the data into the currently selected database. If you wish to import these data into another database, remember to select the correct one.

Application data backup is a built-in feature of your iPhone-iPad and iTunes/Finder, as long as you regularly synchronize your device with iTunes on your PC or Mac.

At the beginning of the syncing process, iTunes saves the following data from your device:

• App Store Application data
• Application settings, preferences and data
• Music, videos, photos, etc.

When you change your device, or even with your current device, you are able to restore that backup with iTunes. You will thus be able to retrieve all the data and content saved during the last syncing.

For more information about backup saving and restoring, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766?viewlocale=us_US

You can also use the “File Transfer / Database export” feature (see below) to run an individual backup of your application data. Be careful to properly save the “Database_Export.db” file on your PC or Mac.

Running iOS 5 or higher with a valid iCloud account, you can export your application database from your device to another device (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch) using the same iCloud account.

A) From your source device (device A):

• select About, Settings, Database Management, Import Export
• select “iCloud – Export Database”

B) From your target device (device B):

• select About, Settings, Database Management, Import Export
• select “iCloud – Import Database”. Check that the date and time correspond to the file you exported from device A.
• just confirm the import by clicking on “Yes” in order to replace the former database of device B by the one just transferred from device A.

Once finished, device B contains exactly the same app data as device A.

Note 1: iCloud sync may take several minutes to complete, especially when data size is large and Internet connection, slow.

Note 2: if you have just installed and launched the app on device B, you are advised to wait a few minutes for the app to sync with iCloud, before exporting your data from device A.

This process will allow you to export your application database to another device.

A) From your source device (device A):

1. select About, Settings, Database Management
2. select “iTunes File Sharing / Export Database”
3. connect your source device to your computer
4. in iTunes, select the device (below Devices), and click on the “Apps” button.
5. below “File Sharing” from the list on the left, select the application
6. from the list on the right, select the “Database_Export.db” file and click on “Save to”.
7. in the window that appears, select the destination where you want to save the file, and click Choose.

B) From your target device (device B):

1. connect your device to your computer
2. in iTunes, select your target device (below Devices), and click the “Apps” button.
3. Below File Sharing, in the list on the left, select the application
4. Click on ‘Add’ in the list on the right
5. in the window that appears, select the the “Database_Export.db” file you saved in step A.6 (see above).
6. the file is transferred to your device.
7. on your target device, select About, Settings, Database Management
8. select “iTunes File Sharing / Import Database”
9. Just confirm the import by clicking on “Yes” in order to replace the former database by the one just transferred.

Once finished, device B contains exactly the same data as device A.

Note 1: the Export feature can be used to back up your app database: in this case, select the ‘Database_Export.db’ file in iTunes, and click on ‘Save to’ to back it up on the chosen support (hard disk, USB storage, etc.).

Note 2: another way to back up your device is to Sync it with iTunes.