Settings

Summary

This page describes all the features of the Settings screen and how to use them.

• Data & Collection management
  • Collection folder and data mode (Memory / File / Hosted)
  • Collection Import & Update: import devices from another collection or refresh previously imported ones
  • Images folder: configure where device pictures are stored
• Language & Theme
• About

Data & Collection management

Collection

A Collection is a single group of devices and all related information such as statistics.
The Collection folder is the folder on your computer where all data of a collection are stored.
It is possible to have several Collections.

Data modes

Katalog provides 3 "Data modes" or different ways of storing and handling data.

Note: changing the mode requires clicking Apply and restart.

Mode	Database type	Data storage	Files	Search Speed	Cataloging speed
Memory (default)	computer memory	in .csv tab separated files (for devices, statistics, etc.) and in .idx files (for catalogs file lists)	Better for regular synch of the files to a cloud	Fastest search speed once catalogs are in memory (longer time for the first time a catalog is used)	Slightly Faster
File	SQLite file, low memory use	all in the SQLite file	all data clubbed in 1 file that can grow to several hundred Mb in size	Faster for 1st search, slower for repetitive search in a big collection	Slightly slower
Hosted	MySQL/MariaDB server	all data stored in the hosted database server	Data centralized on a server, accessible from multiple machines on the network	Server-side query performance, suitable for large collections	Slightly slower (network overhead)

Database Memory mode

Collection folder actions:

• Type the path of the Collection folder and press Enter to load the collection
• Select the path of the Collection folder and load the collection
• Open the collection folder in the system's default file manager
• Export to SQLite file: export the collection to a single SQLite database file, to switch to File mode

Settings for Memory mode:

• Back up: Enable or disable (default) keeping a copy of a catalog before updating it (the copy will have a .bak extension)
• Start up: Enable or disable (default) preloading the last used catalogs (last selection) to get faster search after
• Start up: Enable or disable (default) loading the last opened Catalog in the Explore screen

Database File mode

Collection file actions:

• Type the path of the file and press Enter to load the collection
• Select and open database file: select and load an existing collection file
• Edit: Open the SQLite database in a database editor (e.g. SQLite Browser)
• New: Create a new collection file and load it
• Export to Memory mode (csv): export the collection to CSV and index files, to switch to Memory mode

Database Hosted mode

The collection data is saved to a database hosted on a local or network server (MySQL/MariaDB).

Connection settings:

• Host Name — The hostname or IP address of the database server (default: localhost)
• Database Name — The name of the database on the server
• Port — The port number (default: 3306 for MySQL/MariaDB)
• User Name — The database user name
• Password — The database password

Fill in all fields and click Apply and restart to connect.

Export

A hosted collection can be exported to a local format for offline use or to share with others:

• Export to SQLite file: export the entire hosted collection to a single SQLite .db file (File mode)
• Export to Memory mode (csv): export the collection to CSV and index files (Memory mode)

Security

• Only local (localhost, 127.x.x.x) and private network (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 172.16-31.x.x) hostnames are accepted. Public IPs and domain names are rejected.
• When connecting to a private network address, a confirmation dialog is displayed before proceeding.

Prerequisites

• A MySQL/MariaDB server must be running and accessible.
• The database must already exist on the server (Katalog will create the required tables automatically).
• The corresponding Qt SQL driver plugin must be installed (QMYSQL for MySQL/MariaDB).

Collection export summary

Each mode can be exported to another format. Exported collections can then be opened directly in the target mode, or used as a source for importing devices into another collection (see Import and Update).

Current mode	Export to SQLite file	Export to Memory mode
Memory	✅	—
File	—	✅
Hosted	✅	✅

Importing and updating from a Hosted collection requires an intermediate export step: export first to File or Memory mode, then use the exported collection as the import source.

Import and Update

Katalog can import devices from another collection, or refresh the catalog contents of previously imported devices when the source changes.

Source and target

• The source collection is an existing Katalog collection opened read-only — it is never modified.
• The target is the current active collection where devices and catalogs are added.

What is imported

Devices, their catalogs, catalog file indexes, statistics, backup links, and exclude folder settings are transferred. The source folder structure is preserved in the target by inserting the necessary parent levels as container devices. If a device or catalog name already exists in the target, it is automatically renamed (for example, My Drive (2)) to avoid conflicts.

Operations

Operation	Description
Import Selected Device	Imports one device and all its contents from the source into the target. Select the source collection, pick a device in the source tree, then click Import Selected Device. Selecting the collection root imports all devices and also includes tags.
Update Selected Device	Refreshes the catalog contents of a previously imported device with the latest data from its source. The source is reopened automatically — no need to browse again. Container devices in the target hierarchy are not affected.

note

Update Selected Device is only active when the selected device (or one of its children) was previously imported and still has a valid link to a source collection.

Source collection format

Source format	How to open
Memory (CSV folder)	Select the collection folder
File (SQLite .db file)	Select the .db file
Hosted (MySQL/MariaDB)	Export to File or Memory mode first (see Hosted mode export), then use the exported collection as the source

Images folder

The Images folder is the folder where device pictures are stored. It is a per-collection setting.

• Type a path directly in the field and press Enter, or click Select to browse for a folder.
• Defaults to <collection_folder>/images if not configured.

Pictures placed in this folder can then be assigned to storage devices in the Devices screen.

Language & Theme

• Choose the Language for the application.
• Choose the theme for the application and restart to apply it.
• Option to use bigger icon size.
• Option to enable case-sensitive file sorting.
• Button to Open Settings file (local file where Katalog options and last selections are stored).

Themes

Katalog theme	Context for use
Default Theme	auto adapts to any OS and light/dark themes
Katalog Color (light)	only for Light desktop themes (not suitable for dark desktop themes)
Katalog Color (dark)	only for Dark desktop themes (not suitable for light desktop themes)

Examples:

• Light desktop / Katalog Colors (light)

• Dark desktop / Katalog Colors (dark)

• Dark desktop / Default Theme

About

• Version and Date of the application.
• Option to check for a new version at start up.
• Button to open this Documentation site.
• Button to open the Release Notes.