Video Cataloger Notice of Copyright ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Video Cataloger is copyright 1987 by Robert Highway. All rights are reserved. You may not make any copies of this documentation, electronic or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher. Warranty ~~~~~~~~ Sunsmile Software warrants that this program performs as documented in this manual, and that the media is free from defects. This warranty is limited, and Sunsmile Software specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Sunsmile Software's warranty is limited to repair or replacement of the defective media. Sunsmile Software shall not be liable for damages, whether consequential or incidental, that arise from the use or misuse of this product. In no event shall the total amount of Sunsmile Software's liability exceed the purchase price of the product. This is a 30 day warranty. If, at anytime during the first 30 days after purchase of this product the purchases becomes unsatisfied with the performance of the product, it may be returned for a prompt and courteour refund (less shipping charges). Sunsmile Software reserves the right to refuse refunds to purchasers who fail to mail in their product registration cards. The 30 day money back warranty ONLY applies if you purchase the Video Cataloger through Sunsmile Softwre. It does NOT apply if you purchase the product through any other dealer/distributor. *************************YOU MUST USE KICKSTART 1.2 ********************** *****************************AND WORKBENCH 1.2**************************** NOTE: the printer Preferences are set so that 7 standard records will fit on a page using 56 lines. If you modify the page length or width you will cause the output to become messed up. Backups and Duplicates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sunsmile Software grants to the purchaser of this product the right to make duplicates for personal backup only. The purchaser does not have the right to distribute these duplicates, regardless of whether or not a fee is charged for such distribution. This program is not copy-protected and may be installed on a hard disk at will. Please note that the Video Cataloger disk has been optimized for this program. Please refrain from deleting any files. If a file is present it is there because the Video Cataloger needs it. Technical Support ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have questions about, or problems with The Video Cataloger, you can write or call: Sunsmile Software Technical Support 533 Fargo Ave. Buffalo, New York 14213 1-716-885-5670 Making a Duplicate Copy of the Master Disk ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Video Cataloger is supplied on a copy of Workbench 1.2. Please boot your machine with KickStart 1.2. The Video Cataloger is not copy-protected in any way. We at Sunsmile Software believe that the best way to discourage software piracy is to avoid annoy8ing the end-user with clunky and obstructive copy-protection schemes. If the program is useful and well written and available at a reasonable price (with no copy protection) we believe the average consumer is honest enough to avoid the unspeakable curse which shall befall him should he acquire this program by dubious means. Because of the lack of copy-protection you can make a backup copy using the standard DiskCopy routine from either Workbench or AmigaDOS. Backup on a ONE drive system: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BE POSITIVELY SURE THAT YOUR MASTER DISK IS WRITE-PROTECTED! DO THIS BY LOOKING AT THE HOLE ON THE CORNER OF THE DISK. IF YOU CAN SEE THROUGH IT, YOU ARE SAFE! From the Workbench, place the mouse pointer on top of the disk icon that represents Video Cataloger. Click the left mouse button once. At this point, the icon will become inversed. press and hold the right mouse button and choose duplicate from the Workbench menu. From this point on, the computer will prompt you along the way. From the CLI, type diskcopy df0: to df0: then press RETURN. Again, the computer will prompt you along the way of the copy. Copies using one drive usually require you change disks a total of SIX times (unless you are fortunate enough to possess a Ram Expansion card). Backup on a TWO drive system: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BE POSITIVELY SURE THAT YOUR MASTER DISK IS WRITE-PROTECTED! DO THIS BY LOOKING AT THE HOLE ON THE CORNER OF THE DISK. IF YOU CAN SEE THROUGH IT, YOU ARE SAFE! From the Workbench, place the MASTER disk into the internal drive (df0:) and the blank disk in the external drive (df1:). Place the mouse pointer on top of the disk icon that represents Video Cataloger. Click the left mouse button and HOLD IT DOWN! Proceed to move the pointer so it sits on top of the icon which represents df1: and let the left button go. From this point on, the computer will prompt you through the copy. From the CLI, type diskcopy df0: to df1: and press RETURN. Again, the computer will prompt you through the copy. We suggest you make TWO (2) backups. Be sure to put the original in a safe place. To start using the Video Cataloger: When the computer prompts you to insert Workbench, insert the copy of Video Cataloger and away you go! Getting Started ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We realize that some terms in this manual may be unfamiliar to you. Please see the Glossary of Terms if you run into a word or term you don't recognize. Read and learn! The easiest way to learn to use the Video Cataloger is to use the program. It is designed in such a way that it is very easy to use and learn. After all, you are "On The Road To Friendly Software"! All data is entered via a standard forms screen which visually prompts the user to enter the necessary information. From time to time special requestors (see your Amiga "Introduction to Amiga" manual if you are unfamiliar with requestors) will pop up. When they do simply type the required response or click on the appropriate gadget (again see your Amiga manual for a discussion of gadgets). The Video Cataloger is a specialized database program. It deals with only one form which is pre-defined for the subject - in this case the organization of your video library. The program has a restriction of a maximum of 2000 entries die to the time required to sort more records as well as memory limitations. An additional data disk is required. Simply format a blank disk and insert it when prompted for a data disk. NOTE: any disk will do as long as the disk's name is VC-DATA. Use the Workbench rename command or the AmigaDOS relabel command to rename your disk. If you wish to print any of your records out you must have the following: 1. A printer and proper connecting cable. 2. A printer driver for your printer installed in the devs/printers directory of your Video Cataloger disk 3. Set the Preferences program on your Video Cataloger disk to the printer driver you are using. 4. Make sure the power switch on the printer is on 5. Make sure the printer has a good supply of paper At any time you may cause the computer to perform a screen dump of the current record which you are working on. To do this you must hold down the control (CTRL) and "P" keys simultaneously. In the Video Cataloger the title bar at the top of the screen acts as a prompter. Watch the messages displayed there and you will find that you can navigate the program very easily. If an error occurs in the operation of this program an error requestor will appear that gives the AmigaDOS error number. You will be given the option to continue by clicking on a gadger. If the error recurs and you can't work around it please write to our Technical Service address listed earlier. Menu Selections: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PROJECT MENU: From this menu you have a total of three choices. Choice One (Print File) Is choice if the user wishes to have a hard copy of his/her inventory. Before choosing this, be sure the printer is ready to go! Choice Two (Disk Info) This selection is pretty straight forward. it will give you some information regarding the disks currently available on your system. Pressing return at the prompt will default to the internal disk drive (df9:). For you AmigaDOS users this invokes the Amiga DOS 'info' command. Hit the return key to return to Video Cataloger. The Status Line will show the CURRENT entry as the number of TOTAL RECORDS + 1. All the other gadgets (First, Next, Last, etc.) are italicized and not functional at this time. Choice Three (Exit) Just think, you cataloged 500 videotapes and you are very tired. All you want to do now is go get a cup of coffee and relax in front of the TV. So what do you do? Off with the power switch on the computer and make your way to the kitchen. Guess what? You just WASTED hours of typing, by not EXITING the program properly!!! **************************************************************************** IT CANNOT BE OVER-STRESSED HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO USE THIS OPTION WHEN YOU DECIDE TO END YOUR SESSION WITH THE VIDEO CATALOGER!! **************************************************************************** As stated above, using this option will automatically write the index file and close any open files. It will also free up any memory the program used during execution. Failure to exit the program properly will most positively lead to corrupted data files! PLEASE USE THIS. THIS IS THE REASON IT WAS INCLUDED!! Retrieve Menu: From this menu you have three selections. They are: Choice One (Enter Retrieve Mode) By selecting this menu item the user is put into Retrieve Mode. Choosing this menu option will enable you to view or edit all of the information in your inventory file. The boxes along the bottom of the screen are used to scan your inventory data. The commands in the boxes are all active and perform the following functions when you click them: USING THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON AND CLICKING ON: FIRST will bring to view the first record in the file. LAST will bring to view the last record in the file. NEXT will advance one record forward from the current position in the file. PREVIOUS will back up one record from the current file position. KEY will prompt you in the Title filed to type in the TITLE that you are looking for. Terminate this entry by pressing the RETURN key. DELETE will attempt to delete the current record. it will first prompt you to be sure you want to do this. Be careful! By deleting a record, it's gone for good! In addition, the total number of records in your inventory is displayed as well as the number of the record that you are currently working on. The title bar prompt reminds you that to exit this mode you must select the next item on the menu: Choice Two (Exit Retreve Mode) By selecting this menu item the user exits the Retrieve Mode and is returned to a blank standard data form and back to the main menu. At this point, you are free to choose any of the menu items. This option is normally unavailable unless you are in the Retrieve Mode. Choice Three (Search Non-Key Records) Upon choosing this option the "Project" menu label changes to "Search On" and a new menu of 18 items is available when you select this option. Select the name of the field that you want to search (note that the Title field is the Key field and is searched through the "Sort" menu). There is only one listing for Star/Co-Star as the computer automatically searches all three categories. The cursor will appear in this field and you can begin typing in what you are looking for. Terminate your entry by pressing RETURN. If a match is found, the entire record will be displayed and the computer will post the message "Found a match, click NEXT for another or ESC to CANCEL". At this point you can move the pointer to the word NEXT and click the left button, or you can press the ESC key on the keyboard to CANCEL and search on another field if you choose to. If no match is found, a message will appear on the screen to that effect. To exit this mode select the last option in the list "Exit This Mode". SORT MENU: From this menu you have three selections. They are: Choice One (Records on Title) This menu option causes the records to be sorted alphabetically using the title field as they key field. Choice Two (Display Sorted List) Choosing this menu option changes the title bar prompt to "Retrieve sorted records, click NEXT to advance, ESC to cancel". The NEXT key becomes unghosted and will advance you forward through the records. To go in both directions you must enter the Retrieve Mode under the Retrieve menu. Choice Three (Print Sorted List) Is chosen if the use wishes to have a hard copy of his/her inventory. Before choosing this, be sure the printer is ready to go! A "Ready to Print?" requestor will appear. You can select the appropriate gadget (either OK to begin printing or ESC to abort). DATA MENU: This is the menu to choose if you wish to enter information into the program's standard form screen. There is only one menu option. In order to make full use of the Video Cataloger's search and sort functions it is necessary to say a few words about the way in which you enter data into the standard form. For example, if you wish to search or sort using the date you must be sure that you enter all of your dates consistently. The program will return incorrect results if you switch from day/month/year format to month/day/year format. Similarly if you enter 'sixty' instead of 60 the program will not be intelligent enough to equate the two. Another potential problem will arise if you enter identical strings of characters in the key field for more than one record. For example if you enter "Star Trek" in the title field for one record and then enter the same words in the title field for another record, the search and sort routine will become confused. Try to give each entry a unique item name. For example "Star Tred#1", "Star Trek#2", etc. The search and sort routine used by this program uses a sequential match operation. If you supply the following string of characters to match: "George & Co.", the program will search until it matches at least all of the characters supplied. However the string "George & Co. & Co." would also match. This may save you some typing or the bother fo remembering exactly how you spelled a name. All you have to do is supply the first couple of characters. For example typing "TH" will match "Theodore", "the" and any other string beginning with "TH". Upper or lowercase is irrelevant to the computer. Choice One (Enter Records) Selection of this menu option causes the program to display a blank standard form for entry of data. The prompt in the title bar changes to read "Data Entry Mode, Press ESCAPE key to exit without saving current record". The ESC key (at the upper left of your Amiga keyboard) will cancel the form you are working on without saving it (all data entered in the form will be lost). Please note that in the Data Entry Mode two of the function keys are active: F1 - will automatically advance you from your current position in the form to the end of the form and enter blanks in the fields in between your current position and the end of the form. F10 - will automatically save the index (the same action as if you had selected the Exit option from the Project menu) without saving the record you have on screen. The cursor (a vertical line "|") will appear in the upper left input field area beside the words 'Title'. Anything you type will appear in that field and the cursor will move to the right as you type until it reaches the right boundary of the input field area. The text that you enter is restricted by this field to the maximum of characters that will fit in the input field area. Hit the return key to advance to the next input field. SORT MENU: This menu allows you to sort your records. There are three options: Choice One (Records on Title) By choosing this option the computer will proceed to automatically write the updated index file (using the title field as the key field) to the disk and begin sorting (alphabetize) the records. After this is complete, the computer will post a message letting you know that "you may now display or print a list sorted on title". Choice Two (display sorted list) This menu item and the following menu item are not always available. When the program is first run, the last sorted list that was saved to the disk is read into memory. At this point, this and the next menu option are available. If, however, you have added and/or deleted information from the inventory file, the display Sorted List and the Print Sorted List options will be unavailable. They will continue to be unavailable until he modified list is re-sorted. Please note that the status line will show the record number as it is displayed. Due to the fact that the records were most probably not entered in alphabetical order in the first place the record numbers displayed will not necessarily be sequential. The NEXT key is enabled thus allowing you to step forward through the records. All other keys in the status line are didabled (italicized) while the sort is in operation. To step through the records in both directions you must be in Retrieve Mode. Choice Three (Print Sorted List) By selecting this option the user causes the program to sent the sorted list to the printer device currently selected by the preferences program. if all printer drivers are properly installed and the printer is hooked up correctly you should shortly have a printed copy of your inventory. If, for any reason you wish to cancel the printing, press the ESC key. PRINT SEARCH: Choosing any option from this menu will print all the records using any single item as a key. Choice One (Print Search Mode On) Turns on the Print Search Mode. If you now select the Retrieve menu and the Search Records option the computer will sort through the records on the field you choose and print only those records that match your field (subject to the field matching conditions that were mentioned earlier). For example: to print all the records that have "Comedy" in the Class field you would do the following: 1. Select the Print Search menu. 2. Select the Print Search Mode On option. 3. Select the Retrieve menu. 4. Select the Search Non-Key Records (to print a search based on the key field, Title, you would select the Sort menu Print Sorted List option). 5. Select the Search On menu. 6. Select the Class field. 7. Wait for the cursor to appear in the Class field and type in COMEDY. 8. Wait while the computer searches and sorts the records and then click on the OK gadget on the "Ready to Print?" requestor when it appears. Choice Two (Print Search Mode Off) Turns the Print Search Mode off. Reward!!! ~~~~~~~~~ **************************************************************************** If you find any errors or bugs in this product please give us a call. If the error or bug can be verified by us we will reward you with a check for $15.00. **************************************************************************** GLOSSARY OF TERMS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FIELD - One data item in a database. For example the title. KEY FIELD - The field that the computer uses to organize the database. In the Video Catalog this is the title field. This is why each entry in the title field should be unique. FORMAT - A specific way of entering data. For example you would enter a date in the month/day/year format or dollars in 00.00 format. MENU - A list of items which, when selected, will perform various functions. GADGET - A small box in a Requester which when clicked by the mouse will perform a function (for example "cancel"). REQUESTER - A request generated by the computer for additional information or input from the user. The requestor usually contains a message and at least one gadget (for example "ok" or "cancel"). INDEX - The list of standard forms in the order that they were entered. DATABASE - The computer version of a filing cabinet. An organized list of data stored on a disk or (temporarily) in memory. COPY PROTECTION - A horrible experience that we have spared you. ============================================================================ The Video Cataloger docs are brought to you by The Southern Star.