-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Index -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preliminary PROFESSIONAL VIDEO CATALOGUE v1.0 Copyright 1993 T.L.Bullock a. 'Legal Documentation' Read ALL contents before you start b. 'What is PVC? ' A brief introduction c. 'Installation ' How to set up PVC d. 'Functionality ' What the buttons/menus do e. 'Registration ' How to obtain a full version f. 'Support ' What to do if theres a bug g. 'History ' Developemental history h. 'Future ' Plans for future releases i. 'Credits ' Acknowledgements by the author j. 'Apology for Delays ' Sorry to those early demo requests -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. LEGAL DOCUMENTATION i. 'Copyright Notice ' ii. 'Terms of Licence ' + Contents iii. 'Demo or Registered?' iv. 'Disclaimer ' To all potential product users, Please read ALL of the sections above before doing anything whatsoever with this product outside of this documentation. The legal documentation is in place so that you know your rights as a user of this product and the conditions under which you may use it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT NOTICE Professional Video Catalogue (PVC) is a copyrighted product that is available to you through the SHAREWARE concept. The full version is NOT public domain and as such any unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this product in its REGISTERED form is strictly prohibited. These restrictions also apply to any SPECIAL versions that may exist. However, the STANDARD EVALUATION version may be freely distributed in the public domain, but only under the following terms of license. Please read on for REGISTERED, DEMO and SPECIAL version information. © T.L.Bullock 1993. All rights reserved. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEMONSTRATION OR REGISTERED? A simple method of finding out which version of Professional Video Catalogue you have can be found out by viewing the "About" box (which appears once PVC is loaded. You can also view this by clicking on the button marked "A" or select "About" under the "Project" heading in the pull down menus. vX.Xe and VX.Xd (where X is a number 0 to 9) (DEMONSTRATIONS) If your version number is in the format vX.Xe (eg. v1.0e) or vX.Xd (eg. v1.0d) where X is a number 0 to 9 then you have an EVALUATION/DEMO version of Professional Video Catalogue. There will also be a mention of EVALUATION or DEMO somewhere. If you have a DEMO version you may freely distribute the DEMO but only if the terms of license are upheld when doing so and are imposed on anyone receipt of said DEMO. vX.Xes (SPECIAL DEMOS) There are a limited number of special demonstration versions. These are to be treated with the same approach as REGISTERED versions. Such versions only exis t as gifts from the author to individuals (to whom they are licensed too - see "About" text). Persons with this version will notice NON-DISTRIBUTABLE cropping up all over the place - remember it well. All Other Versions (typically vX.Xr) (REGISTERED) If your version number is NOT in the format of vX.Xe, vX.Xd or vX.Xes then you have a REGISTERED version of Professional Video Catalogue and to prove this your name and address will be present somewhere in the "About" text. There will also be a mention of it being REGISTERED somewhere. Such a version is copyrighted and is NOT freely distributable. If you have a registered version but you have not registered, the terms of license granted herein are void. You will also breaking the law by commiting software theft and breach of copyright. A part from risking prosecution, you will be assisting in the decline of the Amiga which is mostly due to the amount of pirates out there. Each registered version is customised such that illegal distribution can be easily traced to source. People that offend WILL be black-listed from any future product registrations, WILL lose all registration status (ie. no discounts, no email news letters etc) and may be prosecuted for breach of copyright. To paraphrase "If it's worth using then it's worth paying for". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TERMS OF LICENSE All references to "PVC", "product", "Professional Video Catalogue", "programs" and "documentation" refer to the set of files contained with the Professional Video Catalogue package (see 1 for package contents), including any documentation, examples or other files in the original distribution as produced and published by the author, Tony Lea Bullock. This license is for the Commodore Amiga version only. Any references involving " written permission" refer to documentation outside of this product's distribution. Any such documents will be supplied from the author, by the author via "snail" mail if the author agrees to any proposals made by parties concerning the use, distribution, transfer, copying, sublicensing and/or modifications to the product. 1a. EVALUATION distribution The DEMO version may only be distributed in it's original unmodified form; this archive containing the following unaltered files:- PVC : Professional Video Catalogue executable PVC.info : Icon for the above PVC.guide : This document PVC.guide.info : Icon for the above You may NOT distribute Professional Video Catalogue Demo without the accompanying unaltered documentation. This documentation MUST contain the copyright notice, terms of license and the disclaimer. YOU THE CUSTOMER If this distribution varies from the above then this distribution is invalid and you should seek out a better supplier (email users may ask for a free DEMO distribution direct from the author although the author does not guarentee any reply). DISTRIBUTION CHARGE OF EVALUATION (indicated by v1.Xe NOT V1.Xes):- You may charge a fee to recover distribution costs. This fee for diskette distribution may not exceed the cost of obtaining a public domain diskette from the Fred Fish collection. In any case this value may not exceed £3 sterling (British). 1b. Full SHAREWARE version (indicated by v1.Xr) AND SPECIAL DEMONSTRATION versions (indicated by v1.Xes) No person(s) or business(es) other than the author are authorised to accept any registration fees or distribution fees in any form for the SHAREWARE version of Professional Video Catalogue (PVC). Commercial licenses concerning the distribution of the SHAREWARE version are subject to negotiation with the author. 2. Coverdisks and Compilations This product may not be distributed on magazine coverdisks or as part of a compilation disk in any form without written permission of the author. See [1b] for further restrictions. 3. Hacking etc. Under no circumstances may any copyright notices, license notice, disclaimer or program data be altered, hacked or otherwise changed. 4. Distribution You may not copy, modify, distribute, sublicense or transfer this product except as expressly provided under this license. Any attempt to otherwise copy, modify, distribute, sublicense or transfer this product is void, and will terminate your rights to use this product. 5. Licensing Any parties recieving a valid copy of this product will be be subject to the same terms of license as stated here unless the author gives witnessed written permission to the contrary. In the event of such permission the terms stated therein are directed explicitely at said parties. Any receiver of a distribution made by said parties are bound by this license only. No subsequent restrictions may be imposed and/or amended to those granted herein. 6. Acceptance of Terms By using, copying and/or distributing this product you indicate your acceptance of this license to do so and all accompanying terms and conditions. 7. Reverse Engineering You may NOT decompile, dissassemble, re-source or otherwise reverse engineer any of the programs that make up this product. 8. Product Use You may not use any part of this product in part or in whole in other program(s) without the written permission of the author, with the exception of this license notice, which may be altered appropriately. This is done at the users own risk. 9. Cessation of Distribution You agree to cease distributing this product (programs and data) if requested to do so by the author. 10. Withdrawal of Product The author reserves the right to withdraw the product from the market place without warning. The author will only make such alterations where a new version and/or the economic climate form a reason to do so. 11. Price Changes The author reserves the right to alter subscription charges for newer versions without advance any notice. Orders made to the value of a previous version will only be entitled to that previous version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER THIS PRODUCT COMES WITH NO WARRANTY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY OF PERFORMANCE OF THIS PRODUCT IS WITH YOU, THE PRODUCT USER. SHOULD THE PRODUCT PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR OTHER PARTY WHO MAY REDISTRIBUTE THE PRODUCT AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PRODUCT (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PRODUCT TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PRODUCTS). EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. EVERY EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO ENSURE THAT THIS PRODUCT IS VIRUS FREE. HOWEVER, THE AUTHOR TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PRESENCE OF ANY VIRUSES THAT MAY HAVE INFECTED YOUR DISTRIBUTION. NB. Virus Checker v6.33, VirusZ v2.07 and VirusZ II v1.00 give a good bill of health. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E. REGISTRATION What do you get? + Registered users will receive a disk with the latest release of PVC. You may also be allowed small discounts on further versions of PVC and of any Professional Video tools that may be released (see 'future') although this is not a right. + All features disabled in the demonstration of the same version will be enabled and a palette more conducive for working with used. These features include:- * Upto 1000 videos (memory permitting). * Upto 100 films per video (memory permitting). * Upto 26 entries for Film Type, Channel, Video Owner and Video Make. * Ability to print out the video base to both printer and file. * Fully embedded security with added privacy as required by individual video owners. * ProTracker module support. * Videobase file encryption as required. * Configuration system supporting default and preset preference files. * Auto videobase comment inheritance tagging. * A multitude of bug fixes. How to Register In order to receive the latest full SHAREWARE version you must first send a registration fee to the value of £6 sterling (British) + postage of:- £1.00 sterling for people inside the UK £2.50 sterling for the rest of the world To the following address:- Tony Bullock c/o 74A Shilton Road, Carterton, Oxfordshire, OX18 1EL, England (Europe). NOTE: I am afraid i can NOT except any foreign cheques/money orders (ie. non-British) as these cost me a fortune to pay in. Any foreign payments should be made in cash only (sandwiched it between two pieces of card to stop prying eyes) however, i take no responsibility for any moneys lost in the post. DON'T forget to enclose your name and address (including country). Please allow anything up to eight weeks for delivery. You will usually receive your registered version ASAP, but in the event of a new version nearing completion I may delay until the new version is completed (unless you request that I send you a version immediately). SIDE NOTE: This is a preliminary release. As such foreign payment details are not complete; I'm looking into money orders, but at the time of writing the post office is closed (*sigh*). Details will be posted as soon as i get them. NB. The prices shown above are correct at the time of writing this doc (16th January 1994) and are subject to variation. The author will only make such alterations where a new version and/or the economic climate form a reason to do so. If in doubt of the current price you may write for a quote to the above address. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B. WHAT IS PVC? How many times have you started to record a film only to find that the @$%£^ tape runs out in the last 10 minutes of the film? And those with large collections will know what it is like trying to find a film or programme amongst the billions of scrawled labels that your baby sister has scribbled crayon on? Well, this is where Professional Video Catalogue (or PVC) steps out of the shadows to save your sanity as you hunt aimlessly for "Neighbours and Keeping them Away" tape (a prime target for erasal if anyone else should find it). So how does this latter day white knight help? PVC allows you to keep a record of what's on each video, how long each entry is, what channel recordings are made from etc. Obviously, the more data you give PVC, the more you'll get out of using it. PVC will even estimate how much space is left on a tape and attempt to calculate the amount of tape gained when leaving out adverts (it's amazing what a difference this makes on 8 hours of long play)! In short, PVC is an invaluable tool for maintaining your collection of videos (or anything else that is recorded). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C. INSTALLATION Readers of novice AND expert knowledge about the amiga should read the following text to ensure a fully working installation:- 'Demonstration/Special versions' Worth a look even for REGISTERED users 'Full Registered version ' Demo users need not apply -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEMONSTRATION INSTALLATION You MUST have the following programs for PVC (demo) to function: PVC (This may be renamed) PVC.guide (May NOT be renamed) To install simply type the following:- ASSIGN PVC: ;Where is the desired location for PVC LHARC X /PRVIDEOC.LHA PVC: ;Where is the current location for the PVC archive NB. PVC executable may be anywhere. PVC:PVC.Guide must exist for your version to run! The Author advises (any REGISTERED users reading may ignore this) * OS3.0+ users should attempt to ensure the existance of:- SYS:UTILITIES/MULTIVIEW * Other users should obtain the AMIGAGUIDE® distribution available from AmiNet. Follow the directions for installation and type:- RENAME AMIGAGUIDE SYS:UTILITIES/MULTIVIEW COPY AMIGAGUIDE.LIBRARY LIBS: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REGISTERED INSTALLATION To install PVC (REGISTERED):- LHARC X /PRVIDEOC.LHA ; Where is the current location for the PVC archive ; And where is the place you want PVCs system files You may assign PVC: to (see above). Alternatively, you can run PVC1_0r (see below), ignore all error messages and :- Select SET PREFS under the PREFS heading from the pull down menu. Select SEL next under the PVC PATH heading hand a file requester will appear. Select any file from the PVC path (same as ). Select OK on the file requester and click USE (bottom left) on the Config/prefs window. Select SAVE DEFAULT PREFS from the PREFS menu. This will create S:PVC.PREFS This sounds very complicated but is very simple in practise. If you experience any problems temporarily assign PVC: to the path of PVC_samples.abk . SET PREFS allows you to configure what text viewer you would like to read this document with first, which ProTracker module you want to play, the name of this file and the accompanying readme file and much more besides. Play around with it (the SET PREFS option!) until your happy with things, but don't forget to save your options. Please see 'Set Prefs' for more on it's operation. Things to Note If you're like me, you will hate programs that create files all over the &!**@% place. So rather than let you wake up one dreary morning and find rogue files littering your disk(s) i'm gonna tell ya... S:PVC.prefs Preferences/Config file And that's it! The rest of 'em are entirely upto you. Default Configuration LastVideo=999 ¯| These may need to be reduced if LastFilm=99 -+- you keep getting the out of memory LastMisc=25 _| "Invalid function call" errors. VideoLen=240 AdvertLen=4 AdFreqTol=34 PVCpath=PVC: DatFile=PVC:VidList HelpFile=PVC:PVC.guide NewsFile=PVC:PVC_ReadMe.guide FileView=Sys:utilities/MultiView SongFile=ST-01:mod.protracker Sound=Yes Blank=60 TagData=Yes Crypt=No --- This speeds up loading considerably (Encryption is mind numbingly slow due to AMOS having trouble with the algorithm!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CYCLE BUTTONS Cycle buttons appear quite frequently in PVC. The most common graphical one contains two or all of the following three states:- - (hyphen) Don't Care X (cross) Disabled ./ (tick) Enabled If other cycle button types are used, they will be stated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OWNED & LOCKED VIDEOS Underneath the main selection window, you will notice a small line in which either video details, the selected film or "Unused video slot" can be seen. The colour of this text reflects:- Text Locked from Ownership Read/Write/ colour changes? Delete access CYAN Unlocked Yours RWD BLUE Unlocked Not Yours R PINK Locked Yours R (unlockable) RED Locked Not Yours R If an owner other than yourself has a password, then those videos that belong to him or her will have "**** Video contents are private ****" in the first film entry making all films on that video unviewable. See also:- 'Function/Amend Video ' for un/locking videos. 'Function/Owners List ' for adding new owners. 'Prefs/Set Options ' for password setting. 'Prefs/Select Identity' for switching to a different user id. 'Security Checks ' for loading with an ID. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SECURITY CHECKS When loading or merging videobases on REGISTERED versions a security check will appear:- ___________________ NB. Quit button |__|Security_Check__| same as Null | _______________ | | |UseridK |_| | | |UseridL |#| | | |UseridM |_| | | |_____________|_| | | |_Password______| | | ____ ____ | | |Null| | OK | | |___________________| You will be asked for an id and a password. This is so that videos belonging to that id can be viewed only by the person knowing the correct password. If you are new to the system then click on an empty slot (preferably the next available) in the users table (displayed at the security check) so that it is highlighted and press return for password. Then once you have"logged in", edit the slot you selected naming it using 'Owners List' . You may then edit your password with 'Set Options' option in the configuration menu. An alternative for new users just wishing to browse is to select either "NULL" or click on the close gadget. This will make you an unnamed user with no powers of ownership. For further security, the whole video base can be encrypted, with a second pass password encryption taking place on all entries that belong to the current owner. BACKUP your videobase first, i'm not to sure how it will behave with several people encrypting. NOTE: Encryption slows loading, merging and saving operations down to something slower than the average snail. I'm hoping to sort this out in a future version when i've got the time to re-code PVC into C or Blitz Basic where such intensive(?) tasks are better handled (with a 2-pass compiler). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D. FUNCTIONALITY 1. 'Project ' 2. 'Editor ' 3. 'Function' 4. 'Search ' 5. 'Prefs ' (Not Demo) 6. 'Docs ' The section follows the menu options. Icons details are given as they are met. NB. Within PVC, text colours are used to indicate if a field is optional (orange/brown) or important (yellow/white/red). Some early DEMO versions have one or two fields that got through the net (sorry). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. PROJECT MENU 1.1. 'New ' 1.2. 'Load ' 1.3. 'Merge ' ------------- 1.4. 'Save ' 1.5. 'Save As' ------------- 1.6. 'Print ' (Not Demo) ------------- 1.7. 'About ' ------------- 1.8. 'Quit ' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 NEW PROJECT Called from either the "New" option of the Project Menu or from the GUI (in yellow text. 2nd row up above "Mini"):- ________ | | | |\ | E | | | \| w | |________| This option clears the videobase of all video, film and miscellaneous data. Before clearing occurs you will be asked if you are sure you wish to do so. Click on the appropriate button to clear or quit this option. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.2 LOAD PROJECT Called from either the "Load" option of the Project Menu or from the GUI (disk with cyan arrow pointing this <|. 2nd row up, next to NEW):- ________ | ____ | | | | | |<|+--+| | | ||__|| | |________| This option clears the videobase of all video, film and miscellaneous data and then loads in a selected file. You may cancel from the file selector, leaving all data in the state it was in prior to Load selection. Registered users should read about 'Security Checks' . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.3 MERGE PROJECT Called from the "Merge" option of the Project Menu only. This option is very similar to "Load". However, instead of losing any existing data, Merge simply overwrites the videobase with the contents of the file selected with the file selector. This can be particularly useful in pooling videobases. NOTE: Videos and films are stored positionally. So if film 4 on video 3 was Miss N D Marbles "Batty in the Bellfry" in the file about to be merged onto the current videobase, then that is what would be at in film 4 of video 3 reguardless of what was there prior to it! You may quit this option by clicking on the "Cancel" button of the file selector as with LOAD and SAVE AS. Registered users should read about 'Security Checks' . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.4 SAVE AS PROJECT Called from the "Save" option of the Project Menu. This option stores all of the data stored in the videobase to a file, the name of which is determined when you load a videobase. This option will not save a file unless you have made changes to the videobase. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.5 SAVE AS PROJECT Called from either the "Save As" option of the Project Menu or from GUI (disk with red arrow pointing this |>, 2nd row up, above "Mobl"):- ________ | ____ | | | | | ||>+--+| | | ||__|| | |________| This option stores all of the data stored in the videobase to a file, the name of which you will input through the file selector. You may quit this option at this point by clicking on "cancel". Once you have selected a file click on "OK" to save (double clicking a filename does the same. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.6 PRINT PROJECT MENU 1.6.1. 'File ' (Not Demo) 1.6.2. 'Printer' (Not Demo) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.6.1 FILE PRINT PROJECT This is a safe way of getting a videobase listing from PVC. Instead of, printing to printer the list is redirected to a file preventing any problems that my occur when printers are off-line (hangs). This option also allows users without printers to take listings to people who have *GRIN* -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.6.2 PRINTING PROJECT This option allows the user to obtain hard copies of the videobase as a listing. Problems that will often occur (AMOS' fault honest):- Hangs your Amiga until printer is on-line. Have to wait for videobase to finish printing. The solution to the above is to use the 'File' option from the menu. Then you can print your videobase when and where you are like (ASCII format output see..) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.7 ABOUT BOX This panel gives you information concerning which version of PVC you are using. It is displayed when ever you select Project/About from the menus or click on the button marked with a white A (2nd row up, right most column):- ________ | __ | | / \ | | |____| | | | | | |________| Click here for further information on 'versions' . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.8 QUIT PVC Now why would you want to click on the icon in the very top left of the screen or select Project/Quit from the menu? I can understand users of normal EVALUATION versions wanting to because that bright green isn't exactly conducive to long term use. But, the other users... well... i don't know... it's not on them quitting.... *sigh* Anyway, this option returns you back to where PVC was launch from (and hopefully releasing all memory used). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. EDITOR MENU 2.1. 'Set Amend ' 2.2. 'Set Remove ' 2.3. 'Set Scale ' 2.4. 'Set A/D Nav' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1 SET AMEND Amend mode, selected from Editor/Set Amend/ menu option or clicking on the button marked "Ins" (3rd row up, left column), allows the user to define how PVC behaves when it adds videos and films. NOTE: The hot keys defined for these modes of operation can be obtained from the menu. For mode toggles just press the F-Key with no shift/alt. MENU OPERATION The following menu options are submenus of Editor/Amend/... EDIT/ALTER See RELEASED part of ICON OPERATION below. INSERT See DEPRESSED part of ICON OPERATION below. ICON OPERATION The button marked "Ins" (3rd row, left column):- RELEASED This enables editing mode (OVERWRITE). Films can be double-clicked on, edited and then updated. DEPRESSED When ever an addition is made they will be inserted into the slot displayed (video = video number, film = video number and film number), moving all subsequent entries forward. IN SHORT: it means INSERT. Double-clicked film entries can be edited and then inserted before the entry added (useful for copying episode times for serials). See 'Set A/D Nav' for modifiers. 'Amend Film ' for film entry process. 'Amend Video' for video entry process. ' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2 SET REMOVE Remove mode, selected from Editor/Set Remove/ menu option or clicking on the button marked "Del" (3rd row up, right column), allows the user to define how PVC behaves when it deletes videos and films. NOTE: The hot keys defined for these modes of operation can be obtained from the menu. For mode toggles just press the F-Key with no shift/alt. MENU OPERATION The following menu options are submenus of Editor/Amend/... BLANK See RELEASED part of ICON OPERATION below. DELETE See DEPRESSED part of ICON OPERATION below. ICON OPERATION The button marked "Del" (3rd row, right column):- RELEASED This enables blanking mode. Any removals made result in the selected film being unallocated. If you unallocate the penultimate film of a video then it will be unallocated, but the space will still be taken up. You haven't spliced the film, just said you can use the space taken up by it for something else. If you now remove the last film both it's film length and the unallocated film will be erased. When removing a video the first click will clear it of all films but leave all video details (ownership, length etc) intact. If there were no films on the video or remove is called a second time then the video will be unallocated of all details (sort of like formating it). DEPRESSED This enables delete mode. Any removals result in all subsequent entries (video or film depending on which you are removing) being pulled back one slot. To visualize this, go to a Shell and type lots of junk and then move to the middle and press the DEL key. See how the characters are dragged back. See 'Set A/D Nav ' for modifiers. 'Remove Film ' for film removal process. 'Remove Video' for video removal process. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3 SCALE MODES This set of functions simplifies movement through the videobase by use of scale factors. They only effect the slider bars on the main screen (because they are less necessary on miscellaneous data types). NOTE: The hot keys defined for these modes of operation can be obtained from the menu. For mode toggles just press the F-Key with no shift/alt. MENU OPERATION The following menu options are submenus of Editor/Set Scale/ . NORMAL See RELEASED entry in ICON OPERATION (below). SCALE See DEPRESSED entry in ICON OPERATION (below). ICON OPERATION The button marked "mini" (bottom row, left). RELEASED This is the system default. Each position of the slider represents 1/(maximum videos or films depending on slider) thus giving an overview of the video base as a whole. DEPRESSED This function enables a "Mini" environment; a magnified slider view so that you only see areas of importance. Each position of the slider represents 1/(last entry + 1). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.4 A/D NAV MODES This set of functions alters the way in which all add/delete functions behave in terms of what they do after they have added/deleted. IE. They affect whether the relevant interfaces are locked in place for multiple add/delete functions. You can tell which mode of operation is being used by inspecting the top right hand corner of main interface:- STATIC One edit, no automatic slot selection (or auto movement). MOBILE Multiple edits, auto movement. MENU OPERATION The following menu options are submenus of Editor/"Set A/D Nav"/ . STATIC See RELEASED entry in ICON OPERATION (below). MOBILE See DEPRESSED entry in ICON OPERATION (below). ICON OPERATION The button marked "Mobl" (bottom row, right) for mobile. RELEASED This is the system default. Multiple videobase alterations are carried out by repeatedly selecting the required function as explained in:- 'Amend Film' , 'Amend Video' , 'Remove Film' and 'Remove Video' DEPRESSED Below are listed the affects obtainable with "Mobl" depressed:- VIEWPORT CONTROL Moving between videos no longer resets so that film 01 is visible (ie. the viewport is completely under the users control!). ADDING WITH INS RELEASED ("Quit" button exits) Interface does not vanish. Ideal if adding several slots (film or video) that are not contiguous (one after the other). Note: All additions require the user to input any positional information (video "Number", "Next" film etc.) ADDING WITH INS DEPRESSED ("Quit" button exits) Interface does not vanish, but unlike above contigous entries can be made quickly by clicking on the button marked "OK" (1 click per new slot). NOTE: Each new video is inserted at the position shown / declared in the box marked "Number". DELETING WITH DEL RELEASED When you delete an entry you will blank the selected entry (film or video - depending on which operation you click on ) and the previous entry will be selected ready for the next deletion. DELETING WITH DEL DEPRESSED When you delete an entry the previous entry will be over- -written by the currently selected entry with all data after the selected one shuffling up behind it. It's a bit like using the backspace key on some text. NOTE: Some early demo versions will not have these features, although at the time of writting this the REGISTERED one has them all. NOTE: Some areas of the system use Navigation functions differently (to make them more applicable to each areas needs). See 'Function ' for major functions. 'Set Amend ' for "Add" mode. 'Set Remove' for "Del" mode. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. FUNCTION MENU 3.1. 'Amend Film ' 3.2. 'Amend Video ' 3.3. 'Remove Film ' 3.4. 'Remove Video' ------------------ 3.5. 'Channels ' 3.6. 'Film Types ' 3.7. 'Owners List ' 3.8. 'Video Makes ' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.1 AMEND FILM This major function can be called up in any one of three ways:- Menu Select Function/"Amend Film" from the pull down menu. Icon Select the film icon with a green plus sign on it (4th row up,left most column). Select Clicking left mouse button on any film already selected. NOTE: You may only use this button where a video exists (and only if it belongs to you)! Interface (Yellow text headings indicate semi-compulsory fields) This should be fairly self-explanatory, but here is a list of what each field does (starting left to right, top to bottom):- QUIT GADGET Exits this panel ignoring any unsubmitted (USEd changes) leaving the user back at the main screen. RECORD ADVERTS (top right 'cycle button') This button takes any 'channel' data that concerns films recorded with adverts cut out by the user. This function estimates the real length with data entered in prefs (percentage tolerance of breaks for a length) and also in the Channel function (length and frequency of adverts for a given channel) and assigns the film length accordingly. Use of this button can be a bit of a game if you don't understand how it evaluated. Basically, the gadget is evaluated when you click on "Use". If you start with a tick and end with a cross then the length of a film will contract accordingly. If you start with a cross and end with a tick then the film will expand in size. At the time of writing this, all version have this fiddly system, but hopefully (i make no promises), by the time the first application for a REGISTERED cversion arrives this should be improved some! If the selected film channel does not use adverts then this option is rendered useless (until such time as you allocate a channel with adverts for the film!) NB. Lengths are rounded to the nearest whole minute so small anomalies with the original lengths will be present if the function is repeated to expand a contracted length. FILM TITLE (Entry point beneath the "Film Title" text) Where the name of the film, program or whatever is entered. LP CYCLE GADGET (At right end of "Film Title" entry box) This toggles how much room the film take up on the tape:- ./ Enabled Long Play (½ of Short Play) X Disabled Short Play (2x Long Play) LENGTH This is where you can enter the length of a film / program. Links are internally made to S.TIME and F.TIME such that an entry in any two fields will calculate the third field. As with the other S.TIME and F.TIME the length may be entered in mmm minute format (eg. "180" for 3 hours). DATE Here the user may, if he/she wishes, place the date when the film was recorded. Please use the format dd.mm.yy where possible (for future compatibility) S.TIME This is the time at which the film/program started. The time can be entered in a number of formats:- mmm Minutes eg. 780 1pm hh:mm 24hr eg. 14:00 2pm hh.mm Time AM eg. 11.00 11am hh·mm Time PM ("·" = Alt+8) eg. 11·00 11pm F.TIME This is the time when the film/program finished. The time formats are identical to S.TIME. CHANNEL This (and TYPE/CLASS) consist of a scrollable window which is manipulated via the slider bar and 1-step arrows to the right of the window. Beneath, the currently selected entry is displayed. This field is selected using the mouse, representing which channel the program was recorded on. It dictates whether the REC ADVERT cycle gadget may be used (depending if the channel selected uses advert breaks). The 'channel entries' may be edited. TYPE/CLASS This uses a similar interface to CHANNEL (see above) and is used as an optional field for anything the user has edited into the 'type/class' field. EG. BFCC Classification, Film types (action, horror..) etc. QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. PREV Pulls the previous film into the film editor panel. NEXT Pulls the next film into the film editor panel. USE Submits changes, saving them to the current videobase. NOTE If the "MOBL" button is depressed (Mobile visible in the top right of the main screen) is depressed then you may edit several films (Pressing "USE" after each) before QUITing the interface. All edits will be copied to the videobase. NOTES ON SENSIBLE OPERATION You may amend/insert films upto the slot after the last allocated one (ie. If you have 5 allocated films then only slots 1 to 6 may be worked on). This ensures that films are stored contiguously on the tape. In short, films 1 to N should have at least the length data field filled, where N is the penultimate working film slot available. Obviously, the available working slots can be from one to the maximum number of films declared in 'Pref/Set Options'. If you like recording in the middle of a blank section then you should allocate a film before the one recorded, giving it no name and the length of the blank area . I do not advise such reckless recording (it serves to make life harder for yourself both in PVC and physically finding a films/programmes position). See Also:- 'Editor/Set Amend ' for "Add" mode. 'Editor/Set A/D Nav ' for function modifiers. 'Locked & Owned Videos' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 AMEND VIDEO This function panel allows you to edit video details. You may access it by selecting Function/"Amend Video" from the pull down menus or clicking on the icon with a black video with a green plus sign on it. The Interface (Yellow text indicates semi-compulsory entry fields) Reading from left to right, top to bottom the buttons for this panel are as follows:- QUIT GADGET Exits this panel without saving any changes (except those any submitted with VID/ADD buttons when in MOBILE mode). LOCK CYCLE GADGET Dictates whether or not the video and it's contents can readily changed/deleted: a write protect for video entries. Protect videos maybe unprotected by disabling (clicking the cycle gadget until an "X" is visible) lock. NUMBER This is the video number you wish to make edits for. On the fully REGISTERED version this may be 0 to 999 (memory permitting). The value always defaults to the video that was in the main display you selected the Amend Video function. LENGTH E This field is concerned with the video length. Nearly all videos state this on their packaging as Ennn (eg. E180, E210, E240 etc). Use the number after the E - PVC takes care of Long Play lengths on it's own. By the way, you may specify anything from 0 to 499. VIDEO MAKE This uses a list of 'company names' that is amended elsewhere. The list is in a scrollable window that may be scrolled using the slider bar (down the right edge) or the single increment buttons (top and bottom of the slider bar). Underneath is placed the currently selected make. VIDEO OWNER This allows the user to prevent people from editing the video. You may also prevent people from actively reading entries by giving yourself a 'password' . Why you'd want/need to do this is your business, but the feature is there if you should. On registered version this defaults to the ID currently in use. The interface style is identical to VIDEO MAKE (above). QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. VID This update button alters any video details without clearing any film entries that might exist on that video number already. ADD This button updates any video details, blanking any existing films for the video number (see NUMBER above). NOTE If the "MOBL" button is depressed (Mobile visible in the top right of the main screen) is depressed then you may edit several videos (Pressing "VID" or "ADD" after each) before QUITing the interface. All edits will be copied to the videobase. NOTE Any video may be allocated (unlike films they do not have to have slots 1 to n filled with n is the last entry). See Also:- 'Editor/Set Amend ' for "Add" mode. 'Editor/Set A/D Nav ' for function modifiers. 'Locked & Owned Videos' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3 REMOVE FILM By now, you should understand how to add a video and then (and only then) it's films. Now, unless you never make a mistake adding a film on the wrong video or never record over your videos, you will surely want some way of blanking and/or deleteing entries altogether. As i have previously discussed (and will go on to discuss further) you can remove a film by selecting the Remove Video button/menu option. Obviously, blanking a video is a little drastic if you only want to get rid of one film. Thats where this function comes in. You may select this function by clicking on the button that looks like piece of film with a red subtract sign on it (4th row up, 3rd column, just above the button marked "Del"), or by selecting Function/"Remove Film" from the menu. A summary of this buttons various modes follows:- Mode of Operation "Del" "Mobl" Blanks Released Released Back-Blanks Released Depressed Deletes Depressed Released Backspaces Depressed Depressed These four modes of operation are discussed fully in 'Set Remove' & 'Set A/D Nav' elsewhere. See Also:- 'Function/Remove Video' 'Locked & Owned Videos' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.4 REMOVE VIDEO This function may be selected by either clicking on the icon appearing as a video with a red subtract sign upon (4th row up, right most column just above "Del") or from the menu option Function/"Remove Video". Normal operation involves a click to clear any existing films on the selected video and a second click (if the video had films on it) to remove the video. Removal of videos and films are affected by 'Set Remove' and 'Set A/D Nav' described in full elsewhere. A summary of this buttons various modes follows:- Mode of Operation "Del" "Mobl" Blanks Released Released Back-Blanks Released Depressed Deletes Depressed Released Backspaces Depressed Depressed These four modes of operation are discussed fully in 'Set Remove' & 'Set A/D Nav' elsewhere. See Also:- 'Locked & Owned Videos' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.5 CHANNELS This function may be selected by either clicking on the icon appearing as the letters "CH" in yellow (5th row up, left most column) or from the menu option Function/Channels. The operation of the interface is quite simple. Taking each field from right to left, top to bottom we have:- QUIT GADGET Returns the user to the main interface. Any changes that have not had "Add" or "Del" buttons pressed are ignored. If you are using 'Mobl' mode RETURN and DEL keys have the same response as "Add" and "Del" respectfully. AD FREQ. This is where the advert frequency (how often adverts occur on average) for a channel is entered. If the channel that is selected or in the process of being added (see selection window below) does not have adverts leave this field as 0 (default). Unit = Minutes. British terestrial commercial channels are usually between 20 and 40 minutes apart (I use 35 mins - experiment for a happy medium). AD LEN. The value entered here dictates how long each advert is in minutes. In Britain, the two terestrial commercial channels work out at about 4/5 minutes on average. ALWAYS use the lowest value, making sure that the estimate never over estimates the amount of video space left. SELECTION WINDOW (no heading) This uses a list of existing channel slots in a scrollable window that may be scrolled using the slider bar (down the right edge) or the single increment buttons (top and bottom of the slider bar). Underneath is placed the currently selected channel. Here you may edit the name of the channel if wished by clicking inside it so that a rectangular cursor is visible. Once you have finished editing it pess RETURN or select "Add". QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. DEL This button simply blanks the currently selected slot. If you are using 'Mobile Mode' then the interface will not vanish at this point, but will select the entry prior to the one deleted. You may exit by using the "Quit Gadget", "Quit" or by pressing ESC key. ADD Once you have changed the data fields you must press this button (or the RETURN key) to submit changes. At this point the interface will exit normally. If however, you are using Mobile mode then the interface will not disappear until you press ESC, select "Quit" or click on the "Quit Gadget". The selection bar will move forward selecting the next slot. BUG ALERT The bug on DEMO version with the selector has not been fixed yet! It can be lived with for now: just note that the selection bar does not move on properly (even though the selection is made! The REGISTERED version feature a corrected selection update. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.6 FILM TYPES This function may be selected by either clicking on the icon appearing as a dagger and tennis racket (5th row up, 2nd column) or from the menu option Function/"Film Types". This interface gives you complete freedom to classify your films as you wish (eg. BFCC certificates, genre, personal ratings etc). Taking each field from right to left, top to bottom:- QUIT GADGET Returns the user to the main interface. Any changes that have not had "Add" or "Del" buttons pressed are ignored. If you are using 'Mobl' mode RETURN and DEL keys have the same response as "Add" and "Del" respectfully. SELECTION WINDOW (no heading) This lists all existing film type slots in a scrollable window that may be scrolled using the slider bar (down the right edge) or the single increment buttons (top and bottom of the slider bar). Underneath is placed the currently selected type. It is here that you may edit the film type by clicking inside it, so that a cursor becomes visible. Once you have finished editing it press RETURN or select "Add". QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. DEL This button simply blanks the currently selected slot. If you are using 'Mobile Mode' then the interface will not vanish at this point, but will select the entry prior to the one deleted. You may exit by using the "Quit Gadget", "Quit" or by pressing ESC key. ADD Once you have changed the data fields you must press this button (or the RETURN key) to submit changes. At this point the interface will exit normally. If however, you are using Mobile mode then the interface will not disappear until you press ESC, select "Quit" or click on the "Quit Gadget". The selection bar will move forward selecting the next slot. BUG ALERT The bug on DEMO version with the selector has not been fixed yet! It can be lived with for now: just note that the selection bar does not move on properly (even though the selection is made! The REGISTERED version feature a corrected selection update. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.7 OWNERS LIST This function may be selected by either clicking on the icon appearing as a luggage-type label (5th row up, 3nd column) or from the menu option Function/"Film Types". This interface allows you to define yourself as a named user of PVC. By doing this you prevent people from editing you video data at all. And should you want to hide the data altogether you may do so by giving yourself a password using 'Prefs/Set Options' . Taking each field from right to left, top to bottom:- QUIT GADGET Returns the user to the main interface. Any changes that have not had "Add" or "Del" buttons pressed are ignored. If you are using 'Mobl' mode RETURN and DEL keys have the same response as "Add" and "Del" respectfully. SELECTION WINDOW (no heading) This lists all existing owner slots in a scrollable window that may be scrolled using the slider bar (down the right edge) or the single increment buttons (top and bottom of the slider bar). Underneath is placed the currently selected owner. It is here that you may edit blank owner names by clicking inside it, so that a cursor becomes visible. Owners may only change their own name. You will be alerted to this if the screen flashes (indicating that you have accidently tried to alter/delete another owners name. When you have finished editing it press RETURN or select "Add". QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. DEL This button simply blanks the currently selected slot. If you are using 'Mobile Mode' then the interface will not vanish at this point, but will select the entry prior to the one deleted. You may exit by using the "Quit Gadget", "Quit" or by pressing ESC key. ADD Once you have changed the data fields you must press this button (or the RETURN key) to submit changes. At this point the interface will exit normally. If however, you are using Mobile mode then the interface will not disappear until you press ESC, select "Quit" or click on the "Quit Gadget". The selection bar will move forward selecting the next slot. BUG ALERT The bug on DEMO version with the selector has not been fixed yet! It can be lived with for now: just note that the selection bar does not move on properly (even though the selection is made! The REGISTERED version feature a corrected selection update. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.8 VIDEO MAKES This function may be selected by either clicking on the icon appearing as multi-coloured ball (5th row up, right most column) or from the menu option Function/"Video Makes". This interface allows you to define which manufacturer made the video tape in use. This can make life a lot easier when finding a tape. You can also use this function to identify dodgey video brands when you get more fuzz than picture after your first recording. Taking each field from right to left, top to bottom:- QUIT GADGET Returns the user to the main interface. Any changes that have not had "Add" or "Del" buttons pressed are ignored. If you are using 'Mobl' mode RETURN and DEL keys have the same response as "Add" and "Del" respectfully. SELECTION WINDOW (no heading) This lists all existing owner slots in a scrollable window that may be scrolled using the slider bar (down the right edge) or the single increment buttons (top and bottom of the slider bar). Underneath is placed the currently selected owner. Here you may amend any video makes or blank slots by clicking inside it, such that a cursor becomes visible. When you have finished editing press RETURN or select "Add". QUIT See QUIT GADGET above. DEL This button simply blanks the currently selected slot. If you are using 'Mobile Mode' then the interface will not vanish at this point, but will select the entry prior to the one deleted. You may exit by using the "Quit Gadget", "Quit" or by pressing ESC key. ADD Once you have changed the data fields you must press this button (or the RETURN key) to submit changes. At this point the interface will exit normally. If however, you are using Mobile mode then the interface will not disappear until you press ESC, select "Quit" or click on the "Quit Gadget". The selection bar will move forward selecting the next slot. BUG ALERT The bug on DEMO version with the selector has not been fixed yet! It can be lived with for now: just note that the selection bar does not move on properly (even though the selection is made! The REGISTERED version feature a corrected selection update. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. SEARCH MENU 4.1. 'Search Query ' 4.2. 'Find Next ' 4.3. 'Find Previous' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 SEARCH QUERY This is the heart of the search system. It is here that you define exactly what you are searching for. Click on the button containing a single question mark [?], press * on the numeric keypad or select the first option under the search menu. What will appear will be a panel that looks extremely complex. This is in fact not the case. For simplicity we shall look at this panel as four separate panels (labeled vertically on the real thing) with each button/field taken left to right, top to bottom:- TITLE BAR QUIT GADGET Click here (or press ESC key) to quit this interface and return to the main interface level. The data last searched with will not be lost, but will be accessed again with the 'Find Next ' , 'Find Previous' or here again. DISP. PROGRESS This cycle gadget, when ticked, shows video/film search progress in top box out of the CONTROL PANEL. However, searching is quicker without a progress report (set gadget to "X"), but each to their own! EXTRAS PANEL V.FREE This parameter dictates how much minimum space PVC looks for on each video of the current videobase. Any videos with less space will be skipped over. Times may take the forms:- mmm Minutes eg. 780 1pm hh:mm 24hr eg. 14:00 2pm hh.mm Time AM eg. 11.00 11am hh·mm Time PM ("·" = Alt+8) eg. 11·00 11pm V.USED The opposite of the above, this is only used if V.Free is omitted. V.LOCK PVC supports write protection of video tapes. This was included for a future addition to the PVC tools range. However, it's of use for anyone not wishing to accidentally alter certain videos. This 'cycle button' allows you to search for various protection states. If you aren't interested in whether a video is protected or not, cycle until a "-" is visible. This indicates a "Don't Care" state (see 'Cycle Buttons' . F.REC AD PVC also supports advert handling. Some people spend lots of time cutting adverts out of their recordings, making it difficult to work out exactly how long a film is. PVC attempts to work this gained length out by using data entered with 'Function/Channels' . CONTROL PANEL (Underneath the Extras panel) VIDEO Don't try to click here. You won't get anything - this box is used for displaying search progress only (See Extras "Disp. Progress" above - tick it for activation). FILM Same applies here. This displays the current video being searched (don't blink or you'll miss it) only if the Extras "Disp.Progress" box has a tick in it. SEARCH FROM This is a special form of cycle gadget. When you click on it the button text will change from "Strt" (Start) to "Defn" (define):- STRT Searches the videobase from 1 to the last video checking film data for each, where necessary, as it goes. When the last film slot on the last video is reached the search resumes from video 0 film 1, continuing the search until the first position searched is met. If a match is made then the search will select the matched location and exit. If this is not the case then the last immediately available slot will be selected. DEFN This starts the search at the location defined in the "Define" box (below). The same search method is applied DEFN When SEARCH FROM shows DEFN, this entry point may be used to input which video is searched first. Searching always moves up through the videobase, cycling back around to 0 when the last video is reached, continuing until the first video searched is encountered. If a match is found then the search will exit at the first match found. If no matches are found then the search stops and the video number defined in the Video Field panels NUMBER box is selected. CLR Clears all search criteria previously defined. USE Start the search for a video or film matching all of the data defined here (this interface, not this button - Tut!). QUIT Return to the main interface without searching. FILM FIELD PANEL This panel is the same as the 'Amend Film' amend film panel. If the following is not clear please refer to the amend film section of this document. FILM TITLE The name of the film searched for. LP Is film in Long Play (ticked), Short Play (crossed) or are you not interested in it's play speed (dash)? LENGTH The length of the film you are looking for. DATE The date the recording was made. S.TIME The time at which the film started. See below for formats:- mmm Minutes eg. 780 1pm hh:mm 24hr eg. 14:00 2pm hh.mm Time AM eg. 11.00 11am hh·mm Time PM ("·" = Alt+8) eg. 11·00 11pm F.TIME The time the film finished. Use the same time formats as S.TIME (above). CHANNEL The channel the film was recorded on. TYPE/CLASS Miscellaneous description of the film (eg. Horror, BFCC cert etc). VIDEO FIELD PANEL This panel is identical to that used to 'Amend Videos' . Please refer to that section if you are still unsure of what each field means after reading the following. NUMBER The video number you wish to jump to if no matches are found when searching. This function only works if you search from here. Using search on demo versions does not use this feature at all (although the box is still present). LENGTH The length of the video as marked on the videos sleeve (eg. E180). VIDEO MAKE The brand of video searched for (eg. Scotch, TDK, Maxell etc.) VIDEO OWNER The video ownership searched for. Note, although a search may give results of a search using this field it does not mean you will be allowed to see any of the videos contents if the video is secured (see 'Owned & Locked Videos' ). SELECTION WINDOWS Selection windows have been described elsewhere (try 'Amend Film' for starters). However, all of the ones here have an additional cycle gadget on the item selected display line. This enables (tick) / disables (cross) the selection made to become (or not become) a part of the search. If you mean to use the selected item as a part of the search make sure it has a tick next to it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.2 FIND NEXT This function is selected by clicking on the fast forward type arrow ( » ), the second option under the search menu or with "/" on the numeric keypad. Basically, this function allows you to continue searching for any data defined in the 'Search Query' interface. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.3 FIND PREV This function is selected by clicking on the rewind type arrow ( « ), the second option under the search menu or with "/" on the numeric keypad. Basically, this function allows you to continue searching for any data defined in the 'Search Query' search query interface previous to the currently selected position (the video in view and the film selected) in the videobase. That's it really. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. PREFS MENU 5.1. 'Set Options ' (Not Demo) 5.2. 'Select Identity ' (Not Demo) ------------------------- 5.3. 'Load Default Config' (Not Demo) 5.4. 'Save Default Config' (Not Demo) ------------------------- 5.5. 'Load Config ' (Not Demo) 5.6. 'Save Config ' (Not Demo) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.2 SET OPTIONS This panel is used to configure PVC. It may only be selected from the pull down menus (Prefs/"Set Options"). Taking each panel in turn and their contents from left to right, we have:- MEM PANEL This panel defines how big the videobase and misc data stores are. LAST VIDEO NO. This box is where the last video number in the videobase is defined. The value may not be greater than 999. LAST FILM NO. It is here that the number of films per video is defined. This value should be kept a small as reasonably possible (about 10 - 15 is a good start). Remember, you can always alter this figure, save the changes as the default config and re-load PVC if you run out of room. Keeping the videobase size under control is a way of making it behave under tight memory restrictions. LAST MISC NO. This value defines the number of video owners and makes as well as the number of film types and channels. The maximum is 26 and, for the most part, it need never be set less. SYSTEM PANEL This panel replaces the need to assign PVC: . Both have manual text entry boxes, and to the left "SEL" buttons which allow you to define the same data as you might type via the file selector. PVC PATH This is where PVC looks for this guide, the news file (if one is available) and other bit's and bobs that may become available in future versions (but probably won't *GRIN*) DATA FILENAME If you use one videobase often, you might like to load it as default it by entering it's name and it's path. All videobase file operations should default to this path. INFO PANEL This allows PVC PATH overrides for this and other documentation as well as your prefered AmigaGuide® viewer and it's path. See SYSTEM PANEL foreword concerning this type of interface. HELP FILENAME This can contain the path and name of this help file (which isn't compulsory on REGISTERED versions). NEWS FILENAME Updates to PVC (as and when they appear) will contain a News file. This box and button allow you to define where and under what name you wish to store it as (as if the default isn't good enough!). TEXT VIEWER PVC isn't very good at viewing AmigaGuide files on it's own (like AMOS Pro really). Instead, PVC allows you to select a suitable viewing system that you may flip to using Left Amiga and "A" together. OS3.x owners (like myself) will have Multiview. Other persons should download the AmigaGuide distribution available from all good ftp sites (AmiNet at anyway) and PD libraries. At worst you could muddle through with a text viewer such as More. Anyway, point is, this button allows you to define what viewer can be used and where it is located. GO PANEL This button is used when you have finished configuring PVC. I know that I should mention this last, but it's the next panel down *sigh*. QUIT This button quits the configuration, forgetting any changes made. USE Press this button to enable all changes. However, this will not save them. For that you should see:- 'Save Default Config' 'Save Config ' MISC PANEL This panel is used to define various useful bits 'n' bobs! (There's a general statement if ever there were one!) VIDEO LENGTH This allows you to define the default video length. So if you use E180 videos most of the time you should set this to 180 to save you blessed little fingers from wearing away. ADVERT LENGTH Useful if the comercial channels all waste the same amount of time selling lawn mowers and the like to 3 year olds (the only people that seem to be influenced by them). When amending a channel the value defined here will save typing in the "AD LEN" field. ADVERT FREQ TOL (Advert Frequency Tolerance) Basically, the value here is the percentage increase/decrease that is used to define whether a slot has n adverts or n+1 adverts. It's hard to explain without getting technical, but to illustrate the use of this value better, let's make some assumptions and work out roughly what this value should reasonably be:- Advert Frequency = 30 Advert Frequency Tolerance = 33 (percent) With these values a program of 40 minutes would have have only 1 advert break and not 2. A film of 85 would have 3 breaks like a film of 90 minutes and not 2 breaks like a 60 minute film. The best thing to obtain an understanding is expe riment with the value. Remember it is a percentage increase/decrease. G/SFX This concerns the aesthetics of PVC. MUSIC/SFX This comprises of the text box, "SEL" file selector button and the cycle gadget labelled "Sound". The cycle gadget defines whether anything will be heard from PVC (set it to a cross for no sound at all). If "Sound" cycle gadget contains a tick then sound will be audible be it music of spot effects. Which of these is defined by whether the protracker module defined in the text box exists (you can name one by typing the path and file names into the box or by clicking on "sel" and selecting a file from the file requester). If the module does not exist then sound effects will be played, otherwise it's spot effects for you. BLANK TIME PVC has it's own screen blanker that dims the screen after there has been no input from the user for the number of seconds defined here. 0 switches blanking off altogether. OUT This panel defines how data is output. TAG DATA This is the "Auto videobase comment inheritance tagging" mentioned in the registration details. Basically, any comments added to the videobase saves before the marker or after the marker are maintained in future saves if there is a tick in this cycle gadget. If not then such comments are not inherited between video- -base saves. ENCRYPT This adds a level of security to the saved data. The whole save is encrypted, with any passworded users recieving a second encryption based on their password. This doesn't come cheap though. Amos has a serious problem doing what is essentially quite a simple task in anything faster than a Network SouthEast train in autumn (leaves on the track pah!). IE. This means SLOOOOOWWW file loading, merging and saving. Makes for time to make a cup-a-tea... SECURITY This area is dedicated to making password changes. You must fill in all of the text boxes in this panel to achieve a change of password. OLD PASSWORD Type in your old password here if you have one. If no just press the RETURN key (ie. enter a blank entry). NEW PASSWORD Now type in your new password carefully in this text box. VERIFY PASSWORD And finally type in your new password again in this text box. If the old password matches the one your current ID has and the new and verify passwords are the same, your password will be changed. If, when you press RETURN in the verify text box, any of the data is incorrect the screen will flash. NOTE: Demo version will stay a funny colour. This was an old bug that stayed hidden for a long time (Bryan said nothing to me about it) but has been fixed in the REGISTERED version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.2 SELECT IDENTITY This function is designed to allows users to move from one named owner to another, provided they know the password (if any is defined) for the selected owner name, without the need to reload the videobase. Putting it simply, you can have more than one id (public & private?) and control who sees the contents of your video collection. The interface is identical in both appearence and operation to the one used for 'Security Checks' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.3 LOAD DEFAULT CONFIG This loads the default configuration/preferences file:- S:PVC.prefs All data stored therein will become active immediately, with the exception of Last Video, Last Film and Last Misc parameters. The file format used is compatible with all of the other file operators under the 'Preferences Menu' menu heading. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.4 SAVE DEFAULT CONFIG This menu option saves the current system configuration and preferences to the file:- S:PVC.prefs The file format is fully compatible with the other configuration file operators under the 'Preferences Menu' menu heading. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.5 LOAD CONFIG This option loads up any pre-defined configuration (preference) file created by using the 'Save Default Config' or the 'Save Config' options under the 'Preferences Menu' . All options within the said file will become immediately active with the exception of any functions coming under MEM(ory management). These are Last Video, Last Film and Last Misc options as seen in 'Set Options' panel and as LASTVIDEO, LASTFILM and LASTMISC constructs in the actual file. Load Config uses the standard AMOS Pro file requestor and should be fairly self explanatory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.6 SAVE CONFIG This option save the current system configuration and preference settings as defined in the 'Set Options' panel under the 'Prefereces Menu' . All options are saved in the same format as the 'Save Default Config' under the same menu and thereby, making both files 100% compatible. Save Config uses the standard AMOS Pro file requestor and ishould be faily self explanatory. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. DOCS MENU 6.1. 'External Help' 6.2. 'External News' (Not Demo) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.1 EXTERNAL HELP The "Help" part of the name refers to this document. The "External" part is a little more complicated. As you will already know, this documentation is in the AmigaGuide® format and requires MultiView to read it (or the AmigaGuide distribution for WB2.04 and below). So to save any legal problems PVC calls any text viewer or your choice (except on the demo in which case it hunts for SYS:Utilities/Multiview). If it can't find this then PVC will use an internal text viewer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.2 EXTERNAL NEWS This document works exactly the same way as the 'External Help' , but unlike it, it is only available to REGISTERED users. So whats it all about? Well, it's generally an opening for new product announcements. It is unlikely that there is anything new in there of any such announcements until after Christmas'93. Read it anyway.. just to be sure though! (O8*? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F. SUPPORT At the time writting, PVC is under Beta test. With any luck none will escape my self or Bryan "Fraggle" Baigent. However, PVC is well equiped for bug reporting. In the event of the program failing a window will appear (unless the error is fatal) giving you an SDF$(xx) code. Simply, make a note of what you were doing at the time (eg adding a film called "BuG!",with a length of 090 SP, on channel... (you get the idea)), what machine configuration you have (CPU, memory, OS etc) and that all important SDF$(xx) code. Mail this to the address given earlier or email it to:- InterNet: s5002298@brookes.ac.uk If you use email, mail me a copy of the videobase you were using at the time. The more comprehensive your report the more chance there is of me finding the little bleeder (er .. bug). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G. HISTORY Nov'92 Initial designs for ProVIDence (sequential fore-runner of PVC). Dec'92 Coding started and continued for the next month or so. Feb'93 ProVIDence abandoned as it was too slow from floppy. Most of ProVIDence's code was transferred to a new system... Mar'93 PVC v0.0 completed. No interface, simple add, del, search. Jun'93 PVC v0.1 finished. Major functions in place and 90% operational. Sept'93 Security features added to PVC v0.4 (v0.2 and v0.3 were mostly bug fixes with a few code optimisations). Oct'93 PVC v0.5 completed. Preference system added. Nov'93 PVC v0.6. Added printer options + a number of bug fixes. (Planned release on 11th v1.0e/rß bugs found and documentations not completed - decided to hold off). Dec'93 Minor improvements to efficiency. Jan'94 Minor bug fixes. Improvements to documentation. Further improvements to PVC "Mobl" mode. Ownership bug fixed as is the alert ownership flash (silly mistake). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 18th Jan'94 First (limited) public release. Known bugs: The misc data interfaces seem to have a problem with the last entry. I'm hoping to have this sorted out shortly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry for any Delays PVC has taken it's sweet time in making it to full release. Most problems weren't with actually coding, but with finding the time amid my other commitments. Unfortunately this meant that the initial release date slipped and slipped. I would like to thank members of the AMOS mailing list (amos-list@net.digex.access) for their patience as this was where the initial release date was placed. Some bugs still exist, but I haven't got enough time to fix them just yet. Still, by the time the first person registers they will hopefully have been sprayed *GRIN* Better late than never... T.L.Bullock (S5002298@brookes.ac.uk) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- H. FUTURE The future of Professional Video Catalogue is inextricably linked with how successful the registered version sells. Currently there are plans to release a number of tools (all of which under design currently and all very cloak-and-dagger at the moment). These may be added as enhancements to PVC or as a separate tools pack. This depends mostly on whether EuroPress release an AMOS Professional Compiler with a 2-pass compile option (thus producing object code close to other compiled languages such as Pascal, C and Modula-2 in terms of size and execution speeds). There are also plans for improving the current system in general, most of which are concerned with how videobase data is stored and utilised to give you, the user, a flexible system that will run on all Amigas reguardless of if it's a 512k machine or an 8Mb one. Detailed plans are in place using knowledge gleaned from other languages. I'm just waiting for Europress... (so I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you!) Acid Softwares Blitz BASIC 2 looks like an alternative that will enable all of the tools and future enhancements I intend to add. So if Europress keep holding me up I may just convert it all over! I think I must point out though that any plans for PVC are just that. They are not definite commitments (even though i have drawn up specs, file structures and general new features already). It all depends on how much free time i can find to pursue this, my hobby. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. CREDITS I would like to acknowledge the following people/organisations:- Mrs Bullock For temporarily becoming a computer widow and for spending her time proof reading, helping with bug fixes, cooking for me, doing the washing etc (you get the idea)! Bryan Baigent For his assistance during PVCs test phase. My parents For having me and not least for paying the electricity for part of the coding phase. EuroPress/François Lionet for: AMOS Professional ©1992 EuroPress Software AMOS Professional Compiler ©1993 Europress Software without which this program would not exist. Much as i may niggle about them both, they are, without doubt, a must for any self-respecting Amiga owner). My brain For thinking clearly at 4am (not to mention the rest of the time)!