Working over a network
All My Books can work with one collection from several computers on a local
network. Put the .amb file in a shared folder and open it from each
computer as usual.
is a convenient way to place the file in the shared folder in the first place.
What to expect
- Everyone can add books at the same time, but new records made elsewhere do not appear until you reload the collection. Press Ctrl+Alt+R to reopen the current database quickly and see what other people have done.
- Simultaneous edits of the same book do not merge. Whoever saves last wins, and there is no collision warning.
- Editing a book that somebody has just deleted fails, and the program tells you why.
- Speed depends on the network. A collection on a fast local share behaves normally; over Wi-Fi to a sleeping NAS it will feel slow.
Protecting a shared collection
By default the collection opens with full read and write access from every computer. That is rarely what you want on a shared catalog. Switch on Password protection of database changes in : the collection then opens read-only everywhere, and plus the password unlocks editing for that session. See Password protection.
A cloud folder is not a network folder. OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive and similar clients copy whole files back and forth; two computers with the same collection open will produce conflicted copies and can corrupt the database. Use a real network share for simultaneous access, and keep cloud folders for backups.
Free to try. Catalog up to 100 books at no cost, forever.