Peter R. Bickford

It looks like you're having a problem with the report engine (crpe32.dll) not being able to load on your system. Unfortunately, this sort of system-level issue is very hard to troubleshoot, as it typically points to an error or conflict on your Windows install. If disabling all your anti-virus/security software and uninstalling/reinstalling ComicBase doesn't set things right, your best shot may be to try it on a different machine, or even consider doing a clean install of Windows. (FWIW: Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft. For safety reasons alone, I'd strongly recommend moving to Windows 10. As a bonus, that'll also likely fix this issue). Best, -Pete

Update on this one: I checked into it and managed to replicate the initial bug report, and slipstreamed a fix for the Titles window not remembering its position into the current build. (The build number didn't increment so you may need to uninstall/re-install to get it if you already have build 3742 from before today). As for resetting prefs: that resets all user settings--there is, now that I've looked at my own notes here--a slicker way to reset window positions: just hold down SHIFT when launching the program and it _only_ resets window positions. -Pete

It should remember the position you last leave it; you can also do a File > File Tools > Reset Preferences to reset the defaults of all prefs, including Window positioning. If you still have issues, send a note to support@comicbase.com and we'll investigate further.

Just posted the full list of secret keyboard shortcuts alluded to in last week's Livestream here:

Hard to say: The app hasn't been changed for quite a while, and continues to run fine on the iOS devices I have in here (iPad, older iPhone) to test with. If this is a crash related to a specific report, I'd suspect memory, but if it's crashing just upon login/displaying the main screen, it'd seem to be a phone-related issue (unless other folks with the same config are also hitting this, meaning that it might be related to a system update of some sort) -Pete

Hi Brian, It looks like something is amiss with your database--Cover Price Currency should be displayed for all issues. Try downloading a content update and see if it sets things right for you--if not, please get in touch with tech support directly. As for the database pricing currency, it's under File > Collection Statistics, then click the Database Info icon at the center-right. -Pete

Remember, the Cost field isn't a calculation. It'd be more fully understood as the "Cost per copy". You get the calculated cost on reports and summaries. (Think of it as similar to the price, weight, or value fields--they don't go to zero if you have no copies)

That's the correct behavior. Cost is only zero in the field if you set it as such. You set your cost to default to a percentage of the price. THAT SAID-- remember that the computed cost is the qty X the cost. So if you have zero of something--even if the cost is set to a million bucks--your final cost is zero.

A Collection Report is by definition, a list of comics in your collection already--it's not the ones you're looking for. The report you likely want is either an Issue Checklist, or a Title Report/Collection Overview. -Pete

Hey folks, Go ahead and grab the latest build (3411). It should take care of things for you. -Pete

It was originally stripped out since the huge number of cover images was choking people's browsers on mobile phones. I realize this is inconsistent with the direction of things since--I'll look into whether we can support it again.

I'm wondering if there's any interest out there for an option to avoid downloading mature readers only titles as part of updates. (If this option would be combined with the current option to remove titles not in the update, it would have the effect of stripping off the mature readers only titles that aren't in stock). What does everyone think--worth it, or not? (FWIW: we've probably fielded the "why do you guys keep putting ribbons over the naughty bits" question at least as frequently). And no, before anyone asks, we're not going to start maintaining two sets of cover art to satisfy the "ribbon/non-ribbon" crowds 😉 -Pete

I think we just found the issue—download v3246 (under My Account > Registrations) and see if it doesn’t fix things for you. Best, -Pete

This is a built-in limit of the grid, and it's part of a trade-off between allowing for a free-form selection of cells. In short: allowing a free-form selection in the grid required us to give up the old behavior where selecting any cell selected the whole row. The current behavior is basically the same as with Excel: to select a whole line, you need to explicitly select the row by clicking the far-left cell.

Download the latest build (#3232) from My Account > Registrations, then do a File > File Tools > Rebuild Lists / Item Information. If you still have trouble after that, please contact support directly at support@comicbase.com

Try using File > File Tools > Rebuild Lists > Item Information, using the current build (3198)

What's the exact build of the software you're using (from Help > About ComicBase). If you download the latest build and force an update (shift while checking for updates), do your point-issues reappear? -Pete

Worth noting: the custom barcodes printed with ComicBase are unique to that particular database (they're identifying record numbers in that database). If you try to use them with a different database, you'll get random/no results. -Pete

I'm not able to reproduce what you're seeing -- I wonder if what you're experiencing is actually a refresh issue. Try playing with your view settings and seeing if it resolves. -Pete

In the case you're referring to, there is no regular issue, so all the variants are considered as needing to be shown. There's no ability to handle cases where. "1/A, 1/B, and 1/C were each 33% common covers, but 1/D was the super-limited convention special". If there was no issue that was just #1, it's considered that that issue number has no "primary issue" and the filter to "show regular + owned issues" is forced to show any issue that's either (a) in stock, (b) is a primary issue, or (c) all variants in cases where that issue # has no primary issue.

We've had a few (so far, unreproducible on our gear in the office) reports of backups not saving when you exit the program using the close box instead of File > Exit. Try to latest build -- posted yesterday -- and see if you can make the program not save a backup on your machine via any method of closing. (We changed up some of the closing routines to try to work around any cases where the process might close prematurely before saving backups when the window is disposed). -Pete

I'd suggest installing ComicBase 2017 and having a look at your original database. Do a File > File Tools > Rebuild Lists > Issue Information and confirm that your items are really there and listed as you expect. If, afterward, they somehow convert to being first printings, let us know and we'll have a look. (My suspicion is that you may have somehow entered the -1, -2, etc. part into the issue number field directly, instead of setting the printing number; if not, I'd definitely want to have a look at the database to see where things are going wrong for you). -Pete

Hi Antonio, The information we have is that 977-starting barcodes encode the ISSN number, and that--like Bookland--the supplemental typically encodes the cover price. If you're seeing that the supplemental is more frequently encoding issue/variation/printing, it'd be useful to know a few particular codes/titles so we can better determine how to handle these. -Pete

I can't comment intelligently on the cause of value changes without knowing your collection--all we really do is compute rolling averages on market pricing (a couple million data points each week). That said, one of the features we're looking to incorporate soon is to automatically generate a list of top dollar and percent gainers each week for your collection as it does the update, as well as other reporting tools. Watch for it as we get underway by checking the interim builds page on comicbase.com > support -Pete

Hi John, There was some garbage data in your Batman/Doc Savage Special title (the "Datemask" -- an internal field used to compute which years a title was published in) was null. If you delete that title and let the update reinstall it, you'll be fine. I've also rigged the latest build of ComicBase to automatically correct for this issue if it encounters it--re-download the latest build (3162) you'll be able to do the rebuild successfully. -Pete