At this point the user guide is incomplete and not reliable!
Boomega is an open-source book explorer/catalog application. Can be used for searching books on online services (e.g. Google Books) and for registering/saving books to various databases (e.g. local databases, MySQL etc...).
It was started as a hobby project, and it was originally intended to be a library-management simulation program, now it's a personal assistant for exploring and cataloging books.
You can download Boomega here or from the releases page.
Boomega can run as a native application on the given platforms:
Available binaries:
- MSI Installer package (.msi) (recommended)
- Exe installer (.exe)
- Portable (.zip)
Available binaries:
- Debian Software package (.deb) - for Debian based systems
- Portable (.tar.xz) - After extracting, you can find the launcher script in the
binfolder
MacOS-specific binaries are currently not available (help wanted), but you can still run the app as a jar
You can run the cross-platform jar file with a Java 17
runtime that has JavaFX binaries bundled inside it (e.g a custom runtime built with jlink, Zulu \ Liberica) or you have to
put the javafx modules to the module-path (see: openjfx docs).
You also have to pass the necessary JVM options when you invoke java in the command line/terminal.
Example:
java --add-exports javafx.base/com.sun.javafx=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.base/com.sun.javafx.runtime=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.application=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.base/com.sun.javafx=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.controls/com.sun.javafx.scene.control.skin.resources=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.scene=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.glass.ui=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.text=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.scene.text=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.geom=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.io=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens javafx.graphics/javafx.scene.text=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens javafx.graphics/com.sun.javafx.text=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens java.base/java.time=ALL-UNNAMED -jar Boomega_x.x.x-all.jar
If you want to launch a database file, you can pass the file location as a program argument:
java <VM Options> -jar Boomega_x.x.x-all.jar "<Path To your File>"
For more information, see Database files.
By default, Boomega is configured to check for updates automatically and notify you when a new version is available. You will be allowed to download the binary you want immediately.
Note: you can configure the update-searching settings at
Preferences/Settings (Ctrl+Alt+S) -> Updates
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Boomega stores your saved records/books into a particular Boomega (.bmdb) database file.
A Boomega Database can be secured with credentials (username & password), or it can be an open-database accessible for everyone.
Note: multiple users per database are not supported!
You can create bmdb files any time you want (see: Creating database) and open existing ones (see: Opening existing database).
If Boomega is installed by an installation file as a native application, the .bmdb files are associated with
the app, so you can launch them from your file explorer too.
You can have multiple database files opened at the same time in the app.
When Boomega runs for the first time, it will show a customization/configuration dialog.
Select whether you want to use the light, dark or os-synchronized theme.
Read more about user interface themes here.
Select your preferred language from the available language list.
Read more about user interface languages here.
The first important view you'll see is the login view.
Here, you are able to enter into a particular database, and you can access some
basic tools/functions the app provides like: Opening existing databases,
Creating database, Database manager and the Preferences dialog.
- By clicking on the
icon, you can view the Boomega info. - By clicking on the
icon, you can access the quick menu:
Here you are able to:- Search for software updates
- Open the plugin manager (read more about the Plugin Manager here)
- Open the application settings (see Preferences dialog)
- By clicking on the
icon you can open the Database manager - By clicking on the
icon you can open an existing database from your file-system
(see Opening existing database) - By clicking on the
icon on the bottom you can create a new database (see Creating database)
If you created/opened some database files, you can choose a data source in the combo-box:
After you selected a database, you can specify the credentials and sign in into the database:
If you check the remember it box before you log in to the database, the next time you launch the app, the program
will log in to that database automatically.
After you logged in, a database view shows up (read about database view here).
Note: if you did not add authentication for the particular database, you can just click the login button without typing the username & password.
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If you see the
icon next to a database list item:
that means the database is already opened in adatabase view. -
If you see the
icon next to a database list item:
that means the database file does not exist
You can open an existing database from both the login view and the database view's menubar:
If you open a database from the login view, the selected database will appear in the combo-box's list.
If you open a database from the database view (by File > Open), and the database is protected by username & password
, a quick login dialog will show up:
You can open the database creator from both the Login View and the Database View
(by File > Creating new database).
Firstly, you have to give a name for the database and choose a directory where the database file will be saved.
The full path field just shows what will be the full path of the created database file, it's not editable.
By checking the authenticatin box, you can add authentication to the database and specify the credentials.
If you create a database from the login view, the new database will appear in the combo-box's list.
If you create a database from the database view, the new database will be opened, or if it has credentials,
a quick login dialog will show up.
Database manager is used for viewing/managing the registered databases.
You can open the database manager from both the Login View and the Database View (File > Open database manager).
Also, you are able to open database file(s) in your system's file explorer by clicking on the 
icon.
For deleting databases, select the particular items (hold the ctrl or shift key if necessary) and use the 
symbol:
Note: removing a database here will not delete the database-file from your file system!
Just like in the login view there are special indicators:
- - means the database is opened at the moment
- - means the database file does not exist
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If you would like to know some basic info of your application like what version you use,
you can view all the information about your Boomega release in the Boomega info dialog:
- Version - the current version you use
- Software developer
- License
- Language
- Java home - the path to the Java Runtime Environment the app is running on
- Java VM - the name and the vendor of the Java Virtual Machine
- Java version - the version of the Java environment
- Default log file - the path to the log file
You can copy all this data to the clipboard by clicking on the 
icon.
This dialog can be launched by clicking on the top-right 
icon in the login view
or by clicking on the File > Help > About item in the database view.