@database "MovieMUI.guide" @node main "MovieDataBase-Documentation" Movie Database V3.0 Amiga - 25.07.1994 ======================================== - a new dimension in speed and comfort!! @{" 1.1 Introduction & Requirements " link Introduction} @{" 1.2 Legal Matters " link "Legal Matters"} @{" 2. About the MovieDataBase " link General} @{" 3. Installation, Update & Maintenance " link Installation} @{" 4. MovieMUI " link MovieMUI} @{" 4.1 MovieMUI's GUI-Interface " link GUI} @{" 4.2 MovieMUI's AREXX-Interface " link AREXX} @{" 4.3 MovieMUI's AREXX-scripts " link AREXX_SCRIPTS} Appendix: @{" A. Keeping the Database Up-To-Date " link Updating} @{" B. Adding information to the database " link 2.5} @{" C. Key to movie titles " link 2.9} @{" D. Key to symbols in filmographies " link 2.10} @{" E. Votes " link Votes} @{" F. Genres " link Genres} @{" G. Tooltype & CLI-Options " link Tooltypes} @{" H. Addresses " link Addresses} @{" I. Technical Information " link "Technical Information"} @{" J. Known bugs & problems " link Troubleshooting} Send comments, suggestions, bugreports or ARexx-scripts to @endnode @node Introduction 1.1 Introduction & Requirements =============================== Welcome to the MovieDataBase v3.0 Amiga! @{"What is the MovieDataBase?" link 2.1} @{"Objective & Distribution " link 2.7} This package provides a fully featured, easy-to-use graphical user interface (based on Stefan Stuntz's @{"MagicUserInterface" link MUI}, so hopefully it can answer almost any movie query you might have. Therefore MUI has to be installed on your system before you try to install the MovieDataBase. Kickstart 2.0 or higher is required. If you want to use all features of the MovieDataBase, you need to have at least 20 MB-diskspace (more diskspace will be needed during the @{"installation" link Installation} process, depending on which method you prefer to set up the database) and about 2 MB Ram. A fast processor and a fast harddisk would also be very handy, if the time for the installation and data look-up is to be kept to a minimum. If you have any questions concerning the Amiga Version of the Movie Database, please write to me (André Bernhardt). General questions on the Database should be directed to the people who are responsible for maintaining the Database. Please refer to the appendix for @{"Addresses" link Addresses}. @endnode @node "Legal Matters" 1.2 LEGAL STUFF =============== @{"1.2.1 Copyrights " link Copyrights} @{"1.2.2 Disclaimer " link Disclaimer} @{"1.2.3 License " link License} @{"1.2.4 MUI " link MUI} @{"1.2.5 Acknowledgements " link Acknowledgements} @endnode @node Copyrights 1.2.1 Copyrights ================ MovieMUI and all its documentation and supplementary scripts: (c) 1993-94 by André Bernhardt Installer and Installer project icon (c) Copyright 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced and distributed under license from Commodore. MUI is MagicUserInterface (c) Copyright 1993 by Stefan Stuntz @endnode @node Disclaimer 1.2.2 DISCLAIMER ================ THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING 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 AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM 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 ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM 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 PROGRAM (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 PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. INSTALLER SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ''AS-IS'' AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE; NO WARRANTIES ARE MADE. ALL USE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED. @endnode @node License 1.2.3 LICENSE ============= For objective and distribution see @{"2.7" link 2.7}. Permission is granted by the copyright holder to distribute this package in its original archive form only, providing all the files are unmodified, with all copyright notices intact and including all the accompanying documentation. Any redistribution of the package must be in electronic form only with a valid e-mail path back to the original authors/list managers. You may not charge any money for copying or distributing, not even the money to cover the costs. Any violation of this results in an immediate loss of the right to use the program under this license. You may not use any part of the program, its documents or the data commercially in any way. You may not copy, modify, sublicense, distribute or transfer the program except as expressly provided under this license. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, distribute or transfer the program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights to use the program under this license. However, parties who have received copies, or rights to use copies, from you under this license will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance. By copying, distributing and/or using the program you indicate your acceptance of this license to do so, and all its terms and conditions. Each time you redistribute the program, the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute and/or use the program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You agree to cease distributing the program and data involved if requested to do so by the author. If any part of this license proves to be not corresponding to applicable law, this does not affect the other parts of this licence. @endnode @node MUI 1.2.4 MUI ========= The graphical user interface for the MovieDataBase is 'MovieMUI'. It will only run with Kickstart 2.0 or higher being installed. If this is your first MUI-application you will have to get a copy of 'MUI' and have it installed as described in MUI's documents. MUI - MagicUserInterface (c) Copyright 1993/94 by Stefan Stuntz MUI is a system to generate and maintain graphical user interfaces. With the aid of a preferences program, the user of an application has the ability to customize the outfit according to his personal taste. MUI is distributed as shareware. To obtain a complete package containing lots of examples and more information about registration please look for a file called "muiXXusr.lha" (XX means the latest version number) on your local bulletin boards or on public domain disks. If you want to register directly, feel free to send DM 30.- or US$ 20.- to Stefan Stuntz Eduard-Spranger-Straße 7 80935 München GERMANY NOTE: 'MovieMUI' will still work, even if you don't register MUI, but you will not be able to make use of all of mui's features. Please read the 'mui.docs' for more information. @endnode @node Acknowledgements 1.2.5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ====================== I would like to thank the following persons: - Col Needham for chapter two of this manual, for his work of correcting the whole document and of course for keeping the database together. - The people who built up, maintain and improve the MovieDataBase - Christian Warren for his basic ideas on the new database structure and some routines. This saved a lot of time. - Dirk Schwaderer for his work on this guide-file and beta-testing. - Samir Gajjar for his Installer-script, beta-testing and suggestions. - Mark 'TheMUG' Rose for his 'MagicMovie'-icons - Sami Radwan and Georg 'Gio' Magschok for writing the transamiga-script and installing the database on their BBSs. - Joachim Polzer, René Graf, Bernd Ernesti, Hans-Juergen Roesch and Edwin Yau for additional beta-testing. - Stefan Stuntz for 'MUI' - Eric Totel for MUIBuilder. MUIBuilder is a very nice tool to test your ideas of a GUI, although I did most of MovieMUI's GUI myself. @endnode @node General 2. General Information on the Database ====================================== The following topics are taken from the Movie-Database-FAQ that is regularly updated by Colin Needham and postet in the newsgroup rec.arts.movies: @{"2.1 What is the movie database? " link 2.1} @{"2.2 Searching the database " link 2.2} @{"2.3 How is the database organised? " link 2.3} @{"2.4 Where does the information come from? " link 2.4} @{"2.5 How can I add to the database? " link 2.5} @{"2.6 Expanding the type of information covered " link 2.6} @{"2.7 Distributing the database " link 2.7} @{"2.8 A brief history of the whole project " link 2.8} @{"2.9 Key to the titles " link 2.9} @{"2.10 Key to the symbols appearing in filmographies " link 2.10} @{"2.11 Appearances in TV-series before an actor was even born! " link 2.11} @{"2.12 Who are the list managers and what do they look like? " link 2.12} @{"2.13 Can I get hold of the source datafiles in plain ASCII? " link 2.13} @{"2.14 How frequently is the database updated? " link 2.14} @{"2.15 How long does it to take for updates to be processed? " link 2.15} @endnode @node 2.1 2.1 What is the movie database? =============================== The movie database is an international volunteer effort coordinated via the USENET newsgroup rec.arts.movies. The objective of the database is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. It currently covers over 31,000 movies with over 370,000 filmography entries and is expanding continuously. The database includes filmographies for actors, directors, writers, composers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, costume designers and producers; plot summaries; character names; movie ratings; year of release; running times; movie trivia; quotes; goofs; soundtracks; personal trivia and Academy Award information. Several thousand of the movies are covered completely from the major actors to the minor bit players. In their ASCII form, the source datafiles currently occupy about 20Mb of disk-space. All the information comes from the users of the database so please continue to support it and help it to grow. See @{"How can I add to the database?" link 2.5} for how to do this. @endnode @node 2.2 2.2 Searching the database ========================== The database can be searched in a variety of ways either on the internet or by directly installing the information locally on your system. @{"2.2.1 E-Mail Interface " link 2.2.1} @{"2.2.2 WWW Interface " link 2.2.2} @{"2.2.3 Local Installation (Unix) " link 2.2.3} @{"2.2.4 Local Installation (MS-DOS) " link 2.2.4} @{"2.2.5 Local Installation (Acorn) " link 2.2.5} @{"2.2.6 Telnet via WWW " link 2.2.6} @endnode @node 2.2.1 2.2.1 E-Mail Interface ====================== For details send a message with the subject HELP to and the movie mail-server will respond with a guide. @endnode @node 2.2.2 2.2.2 WWW Interface =================== The database is available via the World Wide Web. Access is via a "browser". The two main WWW browsers are Mosaic and Lynx... Mosaic (X windows, MS-Windows, Mac, Amiga) ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu /Web lynx (vt100) ftp.wustl.edu /packages/www/lynx From your browser, OPEN or GO to the any of the following documents: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ (European users prefered) http://www.msstate.edu/Movies/ (USA/rest of world prefered) http://ballet.cit.gu.edu.au/Movies/ (Australian users *only*) Please help spread the load on these servers and use the one nearest to you. See the comp.infosystems.www FAQ for more information on the WWW. @endnode @node 2.2.3 2.2.3 Local Installation (Unix) =============================== The movie database package enables you to install the data locally and provides a variety of search tools. It is available via anonymous FTP: cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/moviedb-3.0.tar.Z ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/moviedb-3.0.tar.gz see the README file in the same directories for more information. You will need between 3 and 12 Mb of local disk-space depending on how much of the data you want to access and whether you choose to compress it or not. All the programs automatically support compressed database files with just a reasonable performance hit. @endnode @node 2.2.4 2.2.4 Local Installation (MS-DOS) ================================= The CineBASE program provides an MS-DOS interface to the database and is also available via anonymous FTP: cathouse.org in /pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/cb140.arj ftp.funet.fi in /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/msdos/cb140.arj The preloaded database files have also been made available on the ftp.funet.fi site. You can avoid the lengthy install process by downloading all the files in the /pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/msdos directory and following the instructions in the program archive. Alternatively, the database can be loaded directly from the .list files as posted to rec.arts.movies. @endnode @node 2.2.5 2.2.5 Local Installation (Acorn Machines) ========================================= The Credits program provides a RISC OS interface to the database for Acorn machines and is available via anonymous FTP from: jpb.cse.bris.ac.uk @endnode @node 2.2.6 2.2.6 Telnet Access via WWW =========================== There are several telnet'able WWW servers. Here are some examples; telnet info.cern.ch then type go http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ telnet www.njit.edu (login: www) then type g http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ telnet ukanaix.cc.ukans.edu (login: www) needs vt100 then look under "by Subject" then "Movies" @endnode @node 2.3 2.3 How is the database organised? ================================== The database is made up of many lists which are maintained by different people on the internet. The following table gives an overview: List | Maintained by ---------------------|--------------------------------------------| Actors | Col Needham Actresses | Col Needham Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner Biographies | Mark Harding Character Names | Steve Hammond Cinematographers | Michel Hafner Composers | Michel Hafner Costume Designers | Michel Hafner Crazy Credits | Mark Harding Directors | Col Needham Editors | Col Needham Goofs | Michael Gaines Movie Titles | Michel Hafner Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto Producers | Andre Bernhardt Production Designers | Michel Hafner Quotes | Lars J Aas Ratings | Col Needham Running Times | Gene Volovich Soundtracks | Ron Higgins Trivia | Murray Chapman Writers | Jon Reeves ---------------------|--------------------------------------------| All of the lists are available via anonymous FTP from: cathouse.org in pub/cathouse/movies/database ftp.funet.fi in pub/culture/tv+film/lists some of the lists are posted either in full or in a highlighted form to the newsgroup rec.arts.movies on a regular basis. The coverage is being expanded continously and the database grows by several thousand entries per month. The latest versions are always on the FTP sites listed above. The following subsections describe the source lists in more detail. @{"2.3.1 Cast Lists " link 2.3.1} @{"2.3.2 Crew Lists " link 2.3.2} @{"2.3.3 Titles Lists " link 2.3.3} @{"2.3.4 Biographies List " link 2.3.4} @endnode @node 2.3.1 2.3.1 Cast Lists ================ The character names information is now published with the main list files, but is still maintained separately by Steve Hammond. List | Maintained by -----------------|-------------------------------------- Actors | Col Needham Actresses | Col Needham Character Names | Steve Hammond -----------------|-------------------------------------- Highlights from the actors and actresses lists are posted to rec.arts.movies on a regular basis and contain filmographies for most popular performers in those categories. The versions on the FTP sites contain the full lists with all the actors and actresses known to the database. Each filmography entry consists of three pieces of information: the name, the title and an attributes field to store, for example, academy award nominations. Please note that guest appearances on TV-shows are not eligible for the cast databases owing to the volume and accuracy of this type of information. Note that the actors and actress lists only contain filmography information - biographical data such as date and place of birth, real name etc. is stored in the biographies list. @endnode @node 2.3.2 2.3.2 Crew Lists ================ The following lists are of a similar format to the cast lists in that they contain filmographies for people in the respective fields: List | Maintained by ---------------------|-------------------------------------------- Cinematographers | Michel Hafner Composers | Michel Hafner Costume Designers | Michel Hafner Directors | Col Needham Editors | Col Needham Producers | Andre Bernhardt Production Designers | Michel Hafner Writers | Jon Reeves ---------------------|-------------------------------------------- @endnode @node 2.3.3 2.3.3 Titles Lists ================== The following lists contain information that relates to individual titles: List | Maintained by -------------------|--------------------------------------- Alternative Titles | Michel Hafner Crazy Credits | Mark Harding Goofs | Michael Gaines Movies | Michel Hafner Plot Summaries | Colin Tinto Quotes | Lars J Aas Ratings | Col Needham Running Times | Gene Volovich Soundtracks | Ron Higgins Trivia | Murray Chapman -------------------|--------------------------------------- The alternative titles list contains original foreign language, video titles, TV titles etc. for the primary titles in the database. The crazy credits list contains trivia and jokes that appear in movie credits. The goofs list contains a list of mistakes (or goofs) in movies. The movies list contains the year of release of most movies in the database, along with any awards given to the movie as a whole. The plot summaries list has brief outlines of some of the movies in the database along with the genres which the movies fit into (war, sf etc.). The quotes list contains memorable quotes from movies. The ratings list is the rec.arts.movies Movie Ratings Report which is a massive on-going electronic poll wherein readers of the group rate movies on a scale from 1 (bad) to 10 (good).(see @{"Votes" link Votes}) The running times list contains the length in minutes of movies in the database. The soundtracks list contains details of songs used on the soundtracks of movies. The trivia list contains all kinds of trivia for movies from cameo appearances to behind-the-scenes information. @endnode @node 2.3.4 2.3.4 Biographies List ====================== The biographies list contains personal trivia on people in the database including dates of birth, dates of death, mini-biographies, agent's addresses and books about them. @endnode @node 2.4 2.4 Where does the information come from? ========================================= The list managers rely on users of the database to keep the information as complete as possible. The data has been collected by people on the internet over the last four or five years. If you notice something missing from the database then please send it in - see question @{"2.5" link 2.5} for more information. Several thousand movies and people are covered completely, but there are still huge gaps in the coverage and help is always appreciated. Owing to the way the database is organized it can take anything from a couple of days to several weeks for information to make it into the individual lists so please be patient. @endnode @node 2.5 2.5 How can I add to the database? ================================== The most convenient way to send in new additions or corrections is via the movie mail-sever's central collection service. For a submission guide send a message with the subject: HELP ADD to and the server will mail one back to you. Information sent this way is batched up and mailed weekly to all the list managers. It is then processed by the individual managers with the aid of some automatic list management tools. Data sent to the mail-server can therefore be included much more quickly than mailing the managers directly, although we are happy to receive data directly if you prefer. This submissions interface has recently been updated to mail a summary of your additions back and a report of any lines not matching the required formats. For users accessing the database via the WWW, it is possible to use your WWW browser to submit certain additions and/or corrections. The interface provides a template for submissions and will email them to the appropriate address on your behalf. We are always working on making it easier to submit additions and corrections to the database so suggestions are welcome. If you find a particular interface hard to use and have some ideas on how to simplify it, please let us know. As a result of the continual update of the additions interfaces please ensure you have an up to date copy of the submission guidelines. @endnode @node 2.6 2.6 Expanding the type of information covered ============================================= If you have a new idea for information currently missing from the database then please let me know. All we need is a willing volunteer to manage the new list and it could be added quite quickly. Colin has a full suite of list management support tools to help make the task easier. All you would need is an interest in a particular area, access to anonymous FTP and the USENET group rec.arts.movies (so the data could be published) and some disk space to store the information and management tools. @endnode @node 2.7 2.7 Distributing the database ============================= The objective of the database is to provide useful and up to date movie information *freely* available on-line, across as many systems and platforms as possible. The information is NOT public domain, however, permission is granted to distribute it freely in an electronic form only, providing the following conditions are met: firstly, all the header and trailer information in the various database files remain intact, and secondly, that NO FEE OF ANY KIND IS CHARGED FOR ITS DISTRIBUTION. The data has been given freely by users of the database over the years and managed on a volunteer basis, therefore we do not feel it appropriate for anyone to profit financially from its distribution. Please contact the various database managers directly for more information. This specifically forbids the distribution of the database on CD-ROM without permission, again contact the database managers directly for more information. @endnode @node 2.8 2.8 A brief history of the whole project ======================================== [Note: First person "I" refers to Colin Needham] So where did it all start? Well, it all began back in 1989 when someone started a discussion in rec.arts.movies about who were the most attractive looking actresses around. In response to this thread, a college student in the US began to collect a list of all the actresses, along with the movies they had appeared in. The list was pretty disorganised to say the least and the original maintainer disappeared from the net after a few months. At this point Andy Krieg picked up the list, sorted it properly and began to post it monthly to rec.arts.movies under the title "THE LIST". In May of 1989 Chuck Musciano started the Movie Ratings Report, an on-going poll of movies posted weekly to the group. The two projects remained entirely separate for a couple of years, but it is appropriate to mention the start of the report here. I approached Andy Krieg in July 1990 asking why he didn't do an actors list. He said he was too busy but suggested I manage one. The actors list was created early in August and grew very rapidly. It was limited to living actors (like the actress list) to keep the size down. Being a fan of older movies I was disappointed that I couldn't include some of my favourite actors since they were dead. Later that month I asked for volunteers to run a dead actors/actresses list and when nobody came forward I started the dead list. At this point it's appropriate to mention the biggest contributor to the cast lists, Kevin Arvin. Kevin had been collecting movie information on-line and around this time he agreed to keep us supplied with data - something he's continued to do every month for the last four years. I estimate that 100,000 entries in the database originate from Kevin and there's no doubt we owe an awful lot of the success to him. In September 1990 Dave Knight volunteered to manage a directors list to complement the cast lists. Seeing all the lists in rec.arts.movies, Grant Mason, a post-graduate student at Edinburgh, posted a request asking for some software to search the lists as a whole. Since I already had some very basic list processing shell scripts, I volunteered to publish them and the movie database package was born. Within a month, Jeff Sullivan volunteered to manage a writers list and by the end of 1990 Michel Hafner was managing the composers and cinematographers lists. Michel had some ideas on creating master reference lists of names and titles to keep everything consistent across the lists. He also suggested a list structure based on relations that was adopted. Throughout '91 and '92 the lists and software grew rapidly. Support was added for the movie ratings report and Michel's titles list which now meant you could access ratings and the year-of-release information in the database. Michel also launched a master reference list of alternative titles which enabled lots of redundancy in the database to be eliminated. Some of the original list managers had to give up their lists so things swapped around a little during this time. We got access to an FTP site at the University of Colorado which helped significantly since the data was then available all the time. Towards the end of '92 Steve Hammond volunteered to manage a character names database and Murray Chapman started the trivia list, agreeing to make it compatible with the software. Early in '93 Colin Tinto volunteered to start a plot summaries list and February '93 saw the launch of the first version of the software that was mostly in C. Jon Reeves also joined the team, taking over the writers list from Andy who had been looking after it temporarily. Around this time we discussed the idea of making the database available on an e-mail server somewhere. Alan Jay volunteered to create and run it at the PC users group in London. The movie mail-server went public in the summer of '93 and receives an average of 400 requests per day, although this rate is rising continuously. In August '93 the cast lists were reorganised slightly so that all the data was available to the movie database package (up until then only entries for people with a certain number of requests were available publicly). In September '93 Mark Harding volunteered to manage a biographies list and the crazy credits section which used to be part of the trivia list. Rob Hartill set up a WWW interface to the database and the Cardiff movie server was created. The WWW server receives tens of thousands of requests each *day* and again this figure is rising. Also at this time, Andre Bernhardt expressed an interest in porting the movie database software to the Amiga and a release followed shortly afterwards. At the end of '93 I took over the actresses list from Andy Krieg who at that point was the longest serving list manager. The six cast lists were merged to two, with the posted versions just being subsets of the full versions on the anonymous FTP sites. New filmography lists for editors, production designers and costume designers were also released. Henry Lebovic approached us about an MS-DOS interface to the database that he had been working on. In March '94 Andre volunteered to manage a producers filmography list, Lars Joergen Aas a quotes list, Ron Higgins a soundtracks list and Mike Gaines agreed to make the movie goofs list compatible with the database. Rob began to look at setting up mirror sites for his heavily used WWW interface database and there are now mirrors in Mississippi (run by Frank Peters), Australia (run by Mike Lawley) and Iceland (run by Mark Townley). Also, Henry released CineBASE, the MS-DOS interface to the database, making the whole system accessible to even more people. In May '94 the running times list was added to the database and the cast lists were reorganised to include the character names, although the char name information is still managed by Steve as a separate activity. @endnode @node 2.9 2.9 Key to the titles ===================== The titles in the database fall into one of five categories: (1) movies, unless otherwise indicated the title is a movie (2) made for TV movies, indicated by a (TV) tag (3) made for video movies, indicated by a (V) tag (4) TV-series, indicated by enclosing the title in "'s (5) mini-series, indicated by enclosing the title in "'s and a (mini) tag @endnode @node 2.10 2.10 Key to the symbols appearing in filmographies ================================================== The filmography databases enable details of awards earned for or notes on a particular performance/contribution to be recorded. Each database has a different set of symbols, although some overlap where appropriate. Universal Symbols ----------------- (AA) = Academy Award winner in relevant category (AAN) = Academy Award nomination in relevant category (GG) = Golden Globe winner in relevant category (GGN) = Golden Globe nomination winner in relevant category (BFA) = British Academy Award ( = British Film Award ) (Cesar) = French Academy Award (David) = Italian Academy Award (Felix) = European Academy Award ( = European Film Award ) Title Key --------- (D) = Documentary (A) = Animated Film (Se) = Serial (Sh) = Short feature Acting Key ---------- (S:AA) = academy award winner (best supporting actor/actress) (S:AAN) = academy award nominee (best supporting actor/actress) (C:GG) = golden globe winner (best comedy/musical actor/actress) (C:GGN) = golden globe nominee (best comedy/musical actor/actress) (S:GG) = golden globe winner (best supporting actor/actress) (S:GGN) = golden globe nominee (best supporting actor/actress) (N:GG) = golden globe winner (best newcomer) Writers Key ----------- (song) = The writer is the author (composer?) of a song on which the screenplay was based. (story) = The writer contributed on the story for the screenplay only or the writer is the author of a story on which the movie was based. (play) = The writer is the author of the play on which the screenplay was based. (novel) = The writer is the author of the novel on which the screenplay was based. (novel XXX) = The writer is the author of the novel on which the screenplay was based, but the novel is not the same title as the movie. (book) = The writer is the author of the book on which the screenplay was based. (article) = The writer is the author of the article on which the screenplay was based. (operetta) = The writer is the author of the operetta on which the screenplay was based. (also XXX) = The writer was involved in some other aspect than just writing the screenplay. They may have authored the novel the screenplay was based on, or developed the story, etc. (A:AA) = Academy Award for Best Adaptation (A:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Adaptation (DS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (DS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (MPS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story (MPS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Motion Picture Story (S:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay (S:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay (SA:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - Adapted (SA:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - Adapted (SAM:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - based on Another Medium (SAM:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - based on Another Medium (SAO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material (SAO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material (SO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Screenplay - Original (SO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Screenplay - Original (SS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay (SS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay (SSF:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay - based on Factual material or material not previously published or produced (SSF:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay - based on Factual material or material not prev. published or produced (SSS:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay - written directly for the Screen (SSS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story and Screenplay - written directly for the Screen (StO:AA) = Academy Award for Best Story - Original (StO:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Best Story - Original (T:AA) = Academy Award for Title Writing (T:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Title Writing (WA:AA) = Academy Award for Writing Achievement (WA:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for Writing Acheivement (BA) = British Academy of Film and Television Arts for Best Screenplay (G) = Genie for Best Screenplay (GG) = Golden Globe for Best Screenplay Composers Key ------------- (A:AA) = Academy Award for best score adapted from another musical source (A:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score adapted from another musical source (AAA) = Australian Academy Award (D:AA) = Academy Award for best score in a drama or a comedy (D:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score in a drama or a comedy (M:AA) = Academy Award for best score in a musical (M:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best score in a musical (O:AA) = Academy Award for best original score (O:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best original score (BS:AA) = Academy Award for best song (BS:AAN) = Academy Award Nomination for best song (songs) = The composer composed songs for the movie (also songs) = The composer composed also songs for the movie @endnode @node 2.11 2.11 Appearances in TV-series before an actor was even born! ============================================================ There are several TV-series which have been running for many years, for example "As the World Turns" started in 1956 and "The Doctors" in 1963. Several actors and actresses began their careers by appearing in series such as these, for example, Meg Ryan played Betsy Montgomery in "As the World Turns". Queries to the database are usually sorted into chronological order, the year used being the year that the movie was released, or in the case of long running TV-series, the year it was first broadcast. This means that you can sometimes get information indicating a particular performer appeared in a TV-series before they were even born. In our example, Meg Ryan was born in 1961, but her filmography indicates she appeared in "As the World Turns" in 1956! To overcome this limitation in the database we normally use the character name to indicate the range of years the people appeared in the show. Let's say Ryan's appearance was from 1981 to 1982 so her character name becomes "Betsy Montgomery (1981-1982)". @endnode @node 2.12 2.12 Who are the list managers and what do they look like? ========================================================== The list managers are all volunteers with an interest in movies. The database is provided free of charge as a service to the internet and nobody is paid to manage this stuff. See section three for a list of who manages which bits of the database. If you've ever wondered what we look like, check out the rogues gallery on the Cardiff WWW interface to the database: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/rogues_gallery.html which has pictures of several of the database managers. @endnode @node 2.13 2.13 Can I get hold of the source datafiles in plain ASCII? =========================================================== If you're not on a Unix system and don't have access to the decompression tools 'uncompress' or 'gunzip' then use anonymous FTP to the ftp.funet.fi site (more details in question @{"2.3" link 2.3}). This ftp server supports automatic decompression of the files as they are transfered to you. All you have to do is 'get' the files you are interested in as usual, but do *not* include the final .gz extension in the filenames. Note: The decompression tools 'compress' (extension .Z) and 'gzip' (extension .gz) are available for the Amiga too. @endnode @node 2.14 2.14 How frequently is the database updated? ============================================ As outlined in @{"2.3" link 2.3}, the various list files in the database are managed by several people across the internet. The time between updates for the individual lists therefore varies according to the amount of free time available to their respective managers. We try to update each list at least once per month and post either the complete list or a sample subset to rec.arts.movies. Several of the lists are updated more frequently than this, but only on the FTP sites. You should check cathouse.org and ftp.funet.fi for the very latest versions. @endnode @node 2.15 2.15 How long should I expect it to take for updates to be processed? ===================================================================== It all depends on the individual list manager and when in the update cycle you sent the information. It can be anything from a few days to several weeks. We are always working on ways to improve the time it takes additions to be processed, but the volume is continually rising as the internet and the database grows. If you have any suggestions to make submitting additions easier, we are always happy to hear them. Colin Needham usually processes additions every other week. The other filmography lists tend to get updated at least once per month depending on the managers workload - Michel frequently manages two updates per month. Most of the other managers try to get an update out every month, although work/study commitments sometimes delay them for longer. If you just miss an update it's possible to wait several weeks before your additions will be included. Some lists require a lot of manual intervention and take longer to update, for example, Colin Tinto has to spend a lot of time correcting spelling and formating errors on the plot summaries list. We are also working on a new submissions interface with a much more user friendly format and tool support to reduce the time to process the additions received by it. To summarise then, "it depends" :-), but all data is processed eventually so please don't be put off sending more additions in the meantime. The fastest way to get your updates processed is to send them to the movie mail-server, see @{"2.5" link 2.5} for more details. @endnode @node Installation 3. Installation, Update & Maintenance ===================================== Depending on how much space is available on your harddisk read the following section. Note that if you don't want to regularly update the database all *.list - files may be deleted which halves the size of the database after installation. Note: If you don't have a 2.3 MB piece of free memory (check the 'Largest' field in the output of the 'avail'-command), you'll need another 2.3 MB on your harddisk for temporary files. Additionally, updating will take a little longer. @{"3.1 Updating from MDB 2.8 and earlier " link 3.1} @{"3.2 Automatic installation via Installer (>37 MB) " link 3.2} @{"3.3 Manual Installation (about 37 MB free diskspace) " link 3.3} @{"3.4 Manual Installation (less than 37 MB diskspace) " link 3.4} @{"3.5 Maintenance (updating new database files) " link 3.5} After installation has been completed, I suggest to open as many windows as possible and place them where ever it suits you. Then save the Prefs. MovieMUI will remember the size and position of each window. @endnode @node "3.1" 3.1 Updating from MDB 2.8 and earlier ===================================== MovieMUI 3.0 has nothing in common with its earlier versions. Even most of the database-files have (slightly) changed their formats. Therefore you should delete all files related to earlier releases. Remove existing assigns, prefs-files and all MovieMUI-files in ENVARC:Mui/ and ENV:Mui/ and get the archives from the 3.0 distribution. @{"3.2 Automatic installation via Installer (>37 MB) " link 3.2} @{"3.3 Manual Installation (about 37 MB free diskspace) " link 3.3} @{"3.4 Manual Installation (less than 37 MB diskspace) " link 3.4} @{"3.5 Maintenance (updating new database files) " link 3.5} @endnode @node "3.2" 3.2 Automatic installation via Installer ======================================== Verify that you have a recent version of @{"MUI" link MUI} installed on your system. Unpack the binary-archive and have the data-archives ready on request (do not unpack them!). Start the installation procedure by double-clicking the MovieMUI-Install-Icon. Follow the instructions given by the Installation script. The database will be set up automatically. This will take some time (about 15 minutes A3000 / 10 MB Ram). A progress indicator will tell you about the state of progress. If you do not intend to update the database regularly, you may delete the data-archives and all *.list-files. However I recommend to keep a backup-copy of the archives at some place. You are a registered user of MUI? Then I would recommend you to select the register-mode in MUI-prefs. This makes the Show-Title-Window clearer. @endnode @node "3.3" 3.3 Manual Installation (about 37 MB free diskspace) ==================================================== Verify that you have a recent version of @{"MUI" link MUI} installed on your system. Unpack the binary-archive. Copy MovieMUI, its Icon and the guide-file to any directory on your harddisk. Copy the ARexx-Scripts to REXX: Unpack the data-archives to any directory on your harddisk. Create a directory where the database shall be kept. Start MovieMUI by double-clicking its icon. On startup MovieMUI will claim that the database cannot be accessed. Select the @{"Menu Preferences-Paths" link 4.1.7} and set the correct pathnames for list- and dbs-files. Save the prefs. Select the @{"Menu Maintenance-Database" link 4.1.6} and click on UPDATE. The database will be set up automatically. This will take some time (about 15 minutes A3000 / 10 MB Ram). A progress indicator will tell you about the state of progress. If you do not intend to update the database regularly, you may delete the data-archives and all *.list-files. However I recommend to keep a backup-copy of the archives at some place. You are a registered user of MUI? Then I would recommend you to select the register-mode in MUI-prefs. This makes the Show-Title-Window clearer. @endnode @node "3.4" 3.4 Manual Installation (less than 37 MB diskspace) =================================================== I recommend to keep a backup-copy of the archives at some place. If anything goes wrong during installation you will have to start again from the beginning. Verify that you have a recent version of @{"MUI" link MUI} installed on your system. Unpack the binary-archive. Copy MovieMUI, its Icon and the guide-file to any directory on your harddisk. Copy the ARexx-Scripts to REXX: Create a directory where the listfiles shall be kept. Create a directory where the database shall be kept. Start MovieMUI by double-clicking its icon. On startup MovieMUI will claim that the database cannot be accessed. Select the @{"Menu Preferences-Paths" link 4.1.7} and set the correct pathnames for list- and dbs-files. Save the prefs. Unpack the first data-archive to the listfiles-directory on your harddisk. Delete any database-file that you don't want to install. IMPORTANT: Do not delete the 'movies.list' ! Select the @{"Menu Maintenance-Database" link 4.1.6} and click on UPDATE. The database will be partially set up. A progress indicator will tell you about the state of progress. Remove all listfiles (especially the 'movies.list'!) from the listfiles-directory. Now unpack the second data-archive to the listfiles-directory on your harddisk. Delete any database-file that you don't want to install. Again, select the Menu Maintenance-Database and click on UPDATE. Remove all listfiles from the listfiles-directory. At last unpack the third data-archive to the listfiles-directory on your harddisk and delete any database-file that you don't want to install.Then select the Menu Maintenance-Database and click on UPDATE. Remove all listfiles from the listfiles-directory. You are a registered user of MUI? Then I would recommend you to select the register-mode in MUI-prefs. This makes the Show-Title-Window clearer. @endnode @node "3.5" 3.5 Maintenance =============== This section describes how to update single database-files. IMPORTANT: It is not possible to update the movies.list without updating every other listfile! It is not possible to update the directors.list without the trivia.list! Copy the listfile(s) to be updated to the listfiles-directory. Every file in this directory will be updated (Therefore be careful that the movies.list is not in that directory). Select the @{"Menu Maintenance-Database" link 4.1.6} and click on UPDATE. The database will be updated. A progress indicator will tell you about the state of progress. Remove all listfiles from the listfiles-directory if you like. @endnode @node MovieMUI 4. MovieMUI =========== Start MovieMUI by double-clicking its icon or by running it from the CLI (note: set the stack-size to about 10 kbytes when running from CLI). The Amiga is capable of multitasking. That means that MovieMUI may be addressed from various sources at the same time (e.g. the GUI and several ARexx-programs in a multi-line-BBS). It is not possible to run two MovieMUIs at the same time. MovieMUI can handle multi-user-acces via the ARexx-Port, but due to a bug/ missing-feature in MUI you have to prevent simultaneous access via GUI and ARexx (see @{"Known bugs & problems" link Troubleshooting}). @{" 4.1 MovieMUI's GUI-Interface " link GUI} @{" 4.2 MovieMUI's AREXX-Interface " link AREXX} @{" 4.3 MovieMUI's AREXX-scripts " link AREXX_SCRIPTS} See @{"Tooltypes & CLI-Options" link Tooltypes} for how to influence MovieMUI's behaviour. @endnode @node GUI 4.1 The GraphicalUserInterface of MovieMUI ========================================== This is one of the two ways to access the data in the database. As MovieMUI has been completely rewritten and does not use the Unix-commands like 'mfind' or 'mtitle' anymore, the handling of the GUI has been improved a lot. Most features are more or less self-explaining. Remember that you may have up to 30 output-windows open at the same time and you may continue your search by simply double-clicking any entry in any outputwindow. This also includes top/worst-output window! @{"4.1.1 Pulldown-menues " link 4.1.1} @{"4.1.2 Main Window " link 4.1.2} @{"4.1.3 Show Window " link 4.1.3} @{"4.1.4 Show Person Window " link 4.1.4} @{"4.1.5 Show Title Window " link 4.1.5} @{"4.1.6 Database Maintenance " link 4.1.6} @{"4.1.7 Preferences Paths " link 4.1.7} @{"4.1.8 Preferences Options " link 4.1.8} @{"4.1.9 Statistics Database Entries " link 4.1.9} @{"4.1.10 Statistics Top/Worst Movies " link 4.1.10} @endnode @node 4.1.1 4.1.1 The PullDown-Menues of the Main Window ============================================ Project - About: gives some useful information on MovieMUI and its creator :-) Project - Quit: quits MovieMUI Maintenance - Database: see @{"Database Maintenance" link 4.1.6} Preferences - Paths: see @{"Path Preferences" link 4.1.7} Preferences - Options: see @{"Option Preferences" link 4.1.8} Preferences - Prefs - Load, Save: As you might suspect, this one enables you to load and save your preferences (paths & options). Additionally the state of the cycle-gadget in the mainwindow and the state of the two proportional gadgets in the statistic window will be saved. Furthermore the position and dimension of all windows will be saved. Statistics - Database Entries: see @{"Statistics Database Entries" link 4.1.9} Statistics - Top/Worst Movies: see @{"Statistics Top/Worst Movies" link 4.1.10} @endnode @node 4.1.2 4.1.2 The Main Window ===================== If you start MovieMUI, the first thing to appear is the MainWindow. This Window as well as every other window (apart from the maintenance window) features some @{"PullDown-Menues" link 4.1.1}. At the top of the Main Window you will find a listview called "Search Entries". All criteria you entered for the next search will be shown here. If there is more than one entry, click on any entry to edit it. Directly below the "Search Entries"-Listview are two buttons: Clicking on the "Add"-Button will generate a new entry in the "Search Entries" - Listview, ready to be edited. The "Delete"-Button will delete the active entry. Below these two buttons there is a stringgadget and a cyclegadget. With the stringgadget you can add or edit the searchpattern, whereas the cyclegadget defines the type of data you entered in the stringgadget. Select MOVIE if you are looking for a movie. Use ANY if you want to search for a specific person in all cast-lists, or use any of the other types if you want to limit the search to a single cast list. I suggest to use ANY for person - searches. Note: - leading articles in movies are placed at the end (e.g. Terminator, The) - names have to be entered in the format: last name, first name (e.g. Ford, Harrison) - the year of release is used to distinguish between movies with the same or similar titles (e.g. "Cape Fear (1962)" and "Cape Fear (1991)") - TV-series are enclosed in quotation marks ("). - All searches are not case sensitive. There are several ways of accessing the data from the Main Window: @{"4.1.2.A. Search for a specific movie/person " link 4.1.2.A} @{"4.1.2.B. Substring Search " link 4.1.2.B} @{"4.1.2.C. Pattern Search " link 4.1.2.C} @{"4.1.2.D. Combined Search " link 4.1.2.D} @endnode @node 4.1.2.A 4.1.2.A. Search for a specific movie/person =========================================== If you want to access information of a specific movie or person, simply enter the person/movie in the stringgadget press RETURN and choose the correct type with the cycling gadget. If this is the only entry in the listview, clicking the 'Execute'-Button will search for the movie/person. If there is more than one entry in the listview, clicking 'Execute' would start a @{"Combined Search" link 4.1.4.D}. In this case you'll have to double-click on the listview-entry. If the movie/person can be found in the database, then, after a few seconds a new output window (@{"Show Person Window" link 4.1.4} or @{"Show Title Window" link 4.1.5}) will appear. If no entry can be matched, a requester will appear, asking you, if a @{"Substring Search" link 4.1.4.B} shall be performed. If the name/title contains any special pattern-characters MovieMUI will directly perform a @{"Pattern Search" link 4.1.4.C}. Maybe an example will make this a little bit clearer: Assuming you want to know about all movies where Harrison Ford appeared in, you'll first have to make sure that the "Search Entries"-Listview is empty (if not, use the "delete"-Button). Then click into the stringgadget and enter: Ford, Harrison; press Return and set the cyclegadget to either "any" or "actor". Afterwards press the "Execute"-Button. After some seconds another @{"Show Person Window" link 4.1.4} will appear including all information on Harrison Ford and his movies. @endnode @node 4.1.2.B 4.1.2.B. Substring Search ========================= In case you are not sure about the correct spelling enter the part of the name/title that know for sure. Now you can perform a substring search, by clicking 'Execute' (or double-clicking the entry in the listview) and answering the requester with 'Substring'. After some seconds another @{"Show Window" link 4.1.3} will appear, including all entries containing that substring. Note: Substring search is equal to a pattern-search with #?name#?, only faster. @endnode @node 4.1.2.C 4.1.2.C. Pattern Search ======================= In case you are not sure about the correct spelling enter the part of the name/title that know for sure. Now you can perform a pattern search, by using special Amiga-Dos search patterns and clicking 'Execute' (or double-clicking the entry in the listview). After some seconds another @{"Show Window" link 4.1.3} will appear, including all entries containing that pattern. The following special characters (Jokers) may be used (For more information read your AmigaDos manual): - # The following expression or character may be repeated any number of times, including 0. - ? Matches any single character. - | Matches any expression separated by '|'. The syntax is "(abc|xyz)" - () With these parentheses it's possible to modify the evaluation sequence while parsing the string. The parentheses may be nested. - % A joker for an empty expression like "". - ' The following character will not be taken as a special character, e.g. "'?" is equivalent to the character "?". - ~ Negates the following expression and matches all strings that do not match exactly to the expression. E.g. ~(abc) matches to every string that is not exactly "abc", e.g. "_abc". - [] The characters or expressions inside these brackets - e.g. [a#bc(de)] will be interpreted as (a|#b|c|de). This is much shorter than the AmigaDOS 1.3 pattern. There may also be a character-range within the brackets, e.g.[c-h], which allows any characters from "c" to "h". If you want the charater "-" to be in the class, put it directly after "[" or in front of "]". [~chars] matches any of the characters that are not in the class. NOTE: AmigaDOS 2.0 will match "[#?]" to the characters "#" and "?" and not with any string. IMPORTANT: Only the special characters '#', '?', '|', '~', '*', '%', '[' and ']' are used to determine, whether a Pattern-Search shall be carried out. If you want to use the "'", '(' or ')' you'll have to add a 'real' joker character (such as the '#?'). EXAMPLES: #?1#0 Matches e.g. Amiga1000, Amiga1 ~(Amiga500) Matches e.g. Amiga1000, _Amiga500 ~(#?Amiga500) Matches e.g Amiga1000, not _Amiga500 #[~0-9]1#0 Matches e.g. Amiga1000 Amig?#[~a-zA-Z125-9] Matches e.g. Amiga0003 Amiga'#?000 Matches only Amiga*000 #a(#m(#i(#g(#a#?)))) Matches e.g. Ammiiigaaaagaagaack (Amiga|Amig[io])(1000|%) Matches e.g. Amiga, Amigo1000 #A#m#i#g#a|A#?a Matches e.g. Angela @endnode @node 4.1.2.D 4.1.2.D. Combined search ======================== A combined search is useful, if you want to find out, if there are common persons in two (or more) movies. Simply enter the titles of the movies (one movie per entry) and click 'Execute'. After some seconds another @{"Show Window" link 4.1.3} will appear, including all entries containing common cast & crew members to these movies. On the other hand you can use the Combined Search to find out all movies where certain persons were involved in together. Simply enter the persons (one person per entry) and click 'Execute'. After some seconds another @{"Show Window" link 4.1.3} will appear, including all entries containing common movies. IMPORTANT: It is necessary that the names/titles are spelled correctly. If you are not sure about this (or if you get an error-message) double click on the entry that is in question and perform a substring search. Then correct the entry manually and press 'Execute' The Combined Search is even more versatile: You may use special joker characters in person/title names. e.g. the movie "alien#?" and the actress "Weaver, Sigourney" will produce the three Alien-movies where Sigourney Weaver appeared in. When using the Combined Search with Joker characters, it is important to put the more specific search entries first. Otherwise the result buffer can overflow (you'll get a message if this happens). So, instead of looking for the MOVIE "a#?" with the ACTRESS "Weaver, Sigourney", you should look for the ACTRESS "Weaver, Sigourney" in the MOVIE "a#?". About the joker characters see @{"Pattern Search" link 4.1.2.C} IMPORTANT: Using joker character in more than one entry which are not of the same type will produce nothing! e.g. the movie "alien#?" and the actress "Weaver,#?" will produce nothing! VERY VERY IMPORTANT: Movies with a special joker character (especially '?') cannot be accessed in this way. Exception: the "'", '(' and ')' are not treated as special characters. @endnode @node 4.1.3 4.1.3. The Show Window ====================== This window will always appear if you search for a certain pattern/substring in the database, or if a Combined Search has been performed. The listview contains all matched entries. A double-click on any entry will open the apropriate @{"Show Person Window" link 4.1.4} or @{"Show Title Window" link 4.1.5}. There may be up to 10 Show Windows open at the same time. @endnode @node 4.1.4 4.1.4. The Show Person Window ============================= This window will always appear if you search for a certain person in the database. The upper listview shows some general information about this person (like his/her birthday, real name, biography, etc.). In the lower listview you can find all the movies this person has been involved with (the so-called filmography) with year of release, Movietitle, character name and if the option 'Add Rating in Person Windows' is selected, the rating of that movie. (see @{"Option Preferences" link 4.1.8}) At the bottom there are several buttons and one cyclegadget which are all self-explaining. For the cryptic award- and votes-information see the appendix of this manual. @{" Formats " link 2.9} @{" Awards " link 2.10} @{" Votes " link votes} Highlighting a movie-title and then clicking the button "More Info" has the same effect as a double-click on a movie-title: MovieMUI will search all information available on this entry and open a new @{"Show Title Window" link 4.1.5}. There may be up to 10 Show Person Windows open at the same time. @endnode @node 4.1.5 4.1.5. The Show Title Window ============================ This window will always appear if you search for a certain movie in the database. The upper listview shows some general information about this movie. For the cryptic award- and votes-information see the appendix of this manual. @{" Formats " link 2.9} @{" Awards " link 2.10} @{" Votes " link votes} Below this listview, there are up to three cycleentries(registers) depending on the information available: (If you are a registered user of @{"MUI" link MUI}, it is very helpful to select the register-mode in MUI-prefs. This makes the Show-Title-Window clearer.) "Cast & Crew" shows the parts of the movie credits the database contains. "Plot Summary" is a short summary of this film. If this entry doesn't appear then there is no summary in the moviedatabase. So it's up to you to write an abstract. See @{"Adding information to the database " link 2.5} "Trivia" will bring up some special background information of this film - information which not everyone knows. Try out and you´ll see! This entry will only appear if there is any trivia information on this movie available in the database. Of course you can double-click on a person in the "Cast & Crew" register again and a new @{"Show Person Window" link 4.1.4} will appear showing everything about this person found in the database. Then you can select another film again, and so on... This way you can easiely browse through the whole database and proof that Kevin Bacon indeed is the center of the universe :-) There may be up to 10 Show Title Windows open at the same time. @endnode @node 4.1.6 4.1.6. The Maintenance Window ============================= Everytime you get new *.list-files, you need to integrate them into the database. This is done by selecting this menue-entry and then pressing the "Update"-Button in the appearing window. It could take a little time to generate the database files (about 15 minutes on my Amiga 3000 / 10MB RAM). The progress-gauge indicates how many per cent of the database has been created. The status line below the progress indicators display what lists are currently processed and how many entries (first number) and links (second number) have been added. Note: If you don't have a 2.3 MB piece of free memory (check the 'Largest' field in the output of the 'avail'-command), you'll need another 2.3 MB on your harddisk for temporary files. Additionally, updating will take a little longer. Check out the menu @{"Statistics Database Entries" link 4.1.9} to verify that all database files have been added correctly. See: @{"Technical Information" link "Technical Information"} @{"Keeping the Database Up-To-Date" link Updating} @endnode @node 4.1.7 4.1.7. The Paths Window ======================= In this window can set the paths to the certain subdirectories. If the database has been installed by the Installer-Script all entries should contain the correct pathname. Change these settings only if there is need for it and if you know what you do. Currently only 'german-aka-titles' are supported as locale akas. NOTE: reviews-& pictures-pathname and picture-viewer are not yet supported. @endnode @node 4.1.8 4.1.8. The Options Window ========================= In this window you can define some presets that will also be used by all @{"ARexx-Commands" link AREXX}. - Keep Partial Tables in Memory Not yet implemented. - Use ANY for subsequent searches Whenever you double-click on a person in a Show Window or Show Title Window this person is searched only in a single cast/crew-list. Turning ON this option will MovieMUI have to search for this person in every cast/crew-list. Since this option does not significantly slow the search-speed down, I suggest to turn this option on (default). - Add Biographies adds biographies if available. Since this option does not significantly slow the search-speed down, I suggest to turn this option on (default). - Add Plot Summaries adds plot summaries if available. Since this option does not significantly slow the search-speed down, I suggest to turn this option on (default). - Add Trivia Information adds trivia information if available. Since this option does not significantly slow the search-speed down, I suggest to turn this option on (default). - Add Reviews Not yet implemented. - Add Pictures Not yet implemented. - Add Rating in Person Windows Selecting RATING will cause MovieMUI to add ratings to any movietitle in the Personwindow. This takes a considerable amount of time. In title-windows ratings are always added though. I suggest to turn OFF this option when you don't need it (default). - Search Results Max Limits the number of entries that will be displayed in a @{"Show Window" link 4.1.3}. If run into memory trouble during @{"Substring Search" link 4.1.2.B}, @{"Pattern Search" link 4.1.2.C} or @{"Combined Search" link 4.1.2.D} you should decrease this value. - Default Sort Order - Sort by year sorts all entries in a Show Person Window by year of release. - Sort by name sorts all entries in a Show Person Window by the movie title. - Sort by rating sorts all entries in a Show Person Window by rating (works only, if the Option 'Add Rating in Person Windows' is selected). @endnode @node 4.1.9 4.1.9. The Database Entries Window ================================== A window will appear, showing the total number of different actors, actresses, akas, biographies, cinematographers, etc. These figures do not reflect the total number actual links, e.g. actors who appeared in more than one movie. You can use this function to verify that the database has been set up correctly. Note: Reviews and Pictures will always show 0 entries (because they are not supported yet). @endnode @node 4.1.10 4.1.10. Top/Worst Movies - Window ================================= With this special feature of MovieMUI you can find out which Movies are considered best or worst by the Internet community. With the two proportional-gadgets at the bottom you can define how many Movies you want to have listed (e.g. Top-10, Top-20 or Top-100) and how many votes are necessary for a movie to be taken into account (I generally think that a rating is only representative with 50 or more votes). A double-click on a movie-title will get all information available on this movie and open a new @{"Show Title Window" link 4.1.5}. See: @{"Votes" link votes} @endnode @node AREXX 4.2 The ARexx-Interface ======================= This is one of the two ways to access the data in the database. As MovieMUI has been completely rewritten and does not use the Unix-commands like 'mfind' or 'mtitle' anymore, the handling has been improved a lot. This section describes the powerful ARexx-Port which allows to user to write scripts of his own for special purposes (see @{"MovieMUI's AREXX-scripts" link AREXX_SCRIPTS} for some examples). Portname: MOVIEMUI @{"4.2.1 Example " link 4.2.1} @{"4.2.2 Commands " link 4.2.2} @{"4.2.3 Error-Codes " link 4.2.3} @endnode @node 4.2.1 4.2.1 Example ============= See @{"4.3 ARexx-Scripts " link AREXX_SCRIPTS} for more examples. The KEY-concept allows a very large number of ARexx-programms to access the database at the same time, however, search-requests are handled one after the other. If there is no danger of interference with other ARexx-scripts, you may as well ignore all keys. Usage: Example of ARexx multi-user-access to the MovieDataBase: UNSELECT KEY=0 get an for a selection in RESULT SELECT KEY "Aliens" FROM MOVIE returns number of selected entries in RESULT SELECT KEY "b#?" FROM ACTORS returns number of selected entries in RESULT GETSELECTION returns all actors with "b#?" that starred in "Aliens" in RESULT GETFROMSELECTION 1 get all information on the first entry in the selection (here: Michael Biehn) ENDSELECTION free selection and return memory GET "Aliens" FROM MOVIE get all information on the movie "Aliens" GET "Biehn, Michael" FROM ACTORS get all information on the actor Michael Biehn Note: TV-Series can not be accessed by GET in this way! Note: Movies that have a Pattern-Character (like '?') in their name can not be accessed via SELECTION! (However, "'", '(' and ')' do not count as joker characters.) @endnode @node 4.2.2 4.2.2. Commands =============== The Commands may be divided into three main groups: @{"4.2.2.A. Basic Commands " link 4.2.2.A} @{"4.2.2.B. Database Access Commands " link 4.2.2.B} @{"4.2.2.C. Options & Prefs Commands " link 4.2.2.C} @endnode @node 4.2.2.A 4.2.2.A. Basic Commands ======================= - QUIT Ends the application. - HIDE Hides (iconifies) the application - SHOW Shows (pops up) an iconified application. - INFO ITEM/A According to the given parameter the result string is filled with the following contents: - "title" Title of the application - "author" Author of the application - "copyright" Copyright message - "description" Short description - "version" Version string - "base" Name of the ARexx port - "screen" Name of the public screen - HELP FILE/A A list of all ARexx commands available for the application is written into the given file. - GETERROR Returns the last error message in RESULT. Default string is program name & version N.B: Do not use GETERROR with multiuser access. @endnode @node 4.2.2.B 4.2.2.B. Database Access Commands ================================= - UNSELECT KEY/N/K initializes Selection. The KEY-Parameter is optional. Examples: UNSELECT initializes the global selection UNSELECT KEY=0 initializes the next-vacant selection and returns ID of this selection in RESULT UNSELECT KEY= where has to be greater than 0 re-iniatializes an already existing selection - ENDSELECTION KEY/N/K removes a selection from memory and frees the selection ID Examples: ENDSELECTION frees the global selection ENDSELECTION KEY= frees the selection with the ID - SELECT KEY/N/K,NAME/A,FROM/A/K,WHERE/K performs a selection. The number of selected entries is limited to the Maximum as specified in Prefs/Options. More specific searches should be carried out first. FROM is one of: ANY MOVIE ACR or ACTORS ACS or ACTRESSES CINE or CINEMATOGRAPHERS COMP or COMPOSERS COST or COSTUME-DESIGNERS DIRE or DIRECTORS EDIT or EDITORS PRDE or PRODUCTION-DESIGNERS PROD or PRODUCERS WRIT or WRITERS WHERE is not supported yet. The number of selected entries is returned in RESULT Examples: SELECT "aliens" FROM MOVIE selects every member of the cast & crew of "Aliens" SELECT "alien#?" FROM MOVIE selects every movie that begins with ALIEN and stores the result in the global selection SELECT "cameron, james" FROM WRITERS selects all movies written by James Cameron SELECT KEY= "Cameron, #?" from PROD selects all producers with the surname 'Cameron' in the selection with the ID Correct: SELECT "Weaver, Sigourney" FROM ACS SELECT "A#?" FROM MOVIE Wrong: SELECT "A#?" FROM MOVIE SELECT "Weaver, Sigourney" FROM ACS - UNDOSELECT KEY/N/K undo the last selection. The number of selected entries is returned in RESULT - GETSELECTION KEY/N/K FORMAT/N/K returns all selected entries in RESULT The result can be directly accessed by GETFROMSELECTION FORMAT defines the output-format: 0 no formatting 1 entries are numbered 2 entries are formatted, i.e. the type of a group of entries is printed out 3 (default) formatted & numbered output - GETFROMSELECTION KEY/N/K NUMBER/N/A returns the result of a movietitle/person search in RESULT. number is the number of the selection entry that is searched for. The 'use ANY for subsequent searches'-flag will be taken into account. - GET NAME/A,FROM/A/K According to the given parameter FROM, the RESULT string is filled with the result of a movietitle/person search: ANY MOVIE ACR or ACTORS ACS or ACTRESSES CINE or CINEMATOGRAPHERS COMP or COMPOSERS COST or COSTUME-DESIGNERS DIRE or DIRECTORS EDIT or EDITORS PRDE or PRODUCTION-DESIGNERS PROD or PRODUCERS WRIT or WRITERS Example: GET "Aliens" FROM MOVIE - GETSTATISTIC result returns number of entries of each database - GETRANKING TOP/N/K WORST/N/K VOTES/N/K get top or worst movies with a minimum of n votes. Example: GETRANKING TOP=10 VOTES=100 get top 10 movies with 100 votes minimum GETRANKING WORST=20 get worst 20 movies with default minimum of votes GETRANKING get default top movies with default minimum of votes Note: The default values are set and saved in the Top/Worst-Window. The value for TOP and WORST has to be between 10 and 100 (This might change in the future) The value for VOTES has to be between 0 and 500 (This might change in the future) If the values exceed the limit, the default value will be used. - UPDATE updates the whole database. NOTE: This is currently the only Arexx-Command that supports the GUI to show the update progress. ATTENTION: Due to a bug/missing feature in MUI, it is possible to submit a new Arexx-command while updating is still in progress. This however has to be prevented by the user. I suggest not to use this Arexx-Command at all. It was only implemented to support the installer-script. @endnode @node 4.2.2.C 4.2.2.C. Options & Prefs Commands ================================= - SETPATH TYPE/A NAME/A sets a pathname. TYPE is one of LIST DBS PRINTER LOCALE - GETPATH TYPE/A return pathname in RESULT. TYPE is one of LIST DBS PRINTER LOCALE - SETFLAG OPTION/A,OFF/S/K sets flag in Prefs/Options-Window, where OPTION is: TABLE ANY use ANY for subsequent searches (Default is ON) BIO add data from biography (Default is ON) PLOT add plot summaries (Default is ON) TRIVIA add trivia-information (Default is ON) REVIEWS PICS RATING add ratings with a person's movies (Default is OFF) OFF turns off the Option - GETFLAG OPTION/A gets state of flag in Prefs/Options-Window, where OPTION is: TABLE ANY use ANY for subsequent searches (Default is ON) BIO add data from biography (Default is ON) PLOT add plot summaries (Default is ON) TRIVIA add trivia-information (Default is ON) REVIEWS PICS RATING add ratings with a person's movies (Default is OFF) - SETSORT ORDER/A sets sorting order in person-windows and Output, where ORDER is: YEAR NAME RATING (works in person-windows only, not in the text-output and only if the 'Add rating...' - option has been activated) - GETSORT returns current state of the sortorder cyclegadget - SETMAX MAX/A sets the maximum number of results to a new value (10 <= MAX <= 5000) - GETMAX gets the maximum number of results (10 <= RESULT <= 5000) - SAVEPREFS saves the paths- & options-preferences to ENV & ENVARC: - LOADPREFS loads the paths- & options-preferences from ENVARC: @endnode @node 4.2.3 4.2.3 Errornumbers ================== In case of an error, MUI returns the following values in RC to the rexx-script (the ARexx-command GETERROR returns a more specific error-message in RESULT): 0 No error. RESULT contains the result of the executed command. In every other case (RC <> 0) RESULT will be unchanged. - 1 Wrong command definition in host program. Should never happen. (MUI-Error) - 2 Out of memory. (MUI-Error) - 3 Unknown ARexx command. (MUI-Error) - 4 Syntax error. (MUI-Error) 1 The movietitle/person is not in the database. Please check spelling. 10 Unsupported command/option. 11 Unknown option. 12 Syntax error. 20 The database has not been created. See docs. 21 The format of the database has changed. Reinstall the whole database. 22 The data-initstring in a *.list file could not be found. 23 The ratings are not available. 24 Impossible link. This should never happen. 50 Maximum number of windows reached (GUI only). 51 Search buffer is full. 52 Nothing to look for (GUI only). 53 A limit has been exceeded. 60 The given key does not exist. 61 Selection is empty. 62 The given number is bigger than the number of entries in a selection. 63 Selection has not been initialized. 80 Failed to open a file. 81 Failed to find a position in a file. 82 Error when reading from a file. 83 Error when writing to a file. 100 Out of memory. 101 Failed to create the Application. 102 Failed to open a library. @endnode @node AREXX_SCRIPTS 4.3 The ARexx-Scripts ===================== There are currently three ARexx-scripts distributed with MovieMUI. If you write any useful script, feel free to mail it to me. I would love to include it with the next release of the MovieDataBase. @{"4.3.1 mtrace.rexx " link 4.3.1} @{"4.3.2 listall.rexx " link 4.3.2} @{"4.3.3 MDB.TRANS " link 4.3.3} @endnode @node 4.3.1 4.3.1 mtrace.rexx ================= This program displays all the information about each of the movies that someone has worked on. For a good example try: rx mtrace.rexx Hitchcock, Alfred finds the list of Hitchcock's movies then reports full details on each one. Use Amigados redirection to save the output to a file or printer. Note: This script may take several minutes to be executed. @endnode @node 4.3.2 4.3.2 listall.rexx ================== 'listall' takes a movie title as an argument and for each person involved in that movie, lists all the other movies they have worked on. Example: rx listall.rexx Abyss, The Use Amigados redirection to save the output to a file or printer. Note: This script may take several minutes to be executed. @endnode @node 4.3.3 4.3.3 MDB.TRANS ================= MovieMUI can be used online with TransAmiga and the supplied ARexx script. This little paragraph describes the installation procedure. Copy the ARexx script mdb.trans that came with MovieMui in your rexx directory of TransAmiga. If your TransAmiga installation follows the suggestions of the manual it is BBS:Rexx. Edit the .Rx file of the menu you wish to add MovieMUI to. I suggest the Extra or main menu. In case of extra menu you would edit BBS:Configs/Extra.Rx and in case of the main menu you need to edit Main.Rx. Add the following line at the end of the file: M MovieMUI 0 -------- mdb.trans ATTENTION! Spacing is really important. The best way is to snap the line of this document and insert it in the file. If the menu you want to add MovieMUI already uses M as a command replace the first letter of the line by the key you want. If you don't know what to do read the corresponding chapter of TransAmiga's manual. The ARexx-script is multiline aware so you can use it without any change on all lines. The script expects MovieMUI in the system path. If you do not want MovieMUI in your path you have to edit the script and add the path at line 18. mdb.trans uses a menu to let the user choose the action. There are example menu files included. They all start with mdb as filename. Copy them to your BBS:text directory. If you wish to change them load them to your favourite (ANSI-)editor. Give them the personal touch you like. They follow TransAmiga's naming system. That's all you're ready for use - if you allready installed MovieMUI :-) The ARexx script was written by Georg 'Gio' Magschok and slightly improved (especially multiline possibility) by Sami Radwan. We have some future plans of new online software that uses MovieMUI so keep your eyes open. :-) I would really appreciate it, if anybody could write scripts to support the MovieDataBase with other BBS-programs. @endnode @node Updating A. Maintaining the Database =========================== For updating your MovieDataBase, you need to get a copy of the latest database files. Of course, with every new version of MovieMUI you will get the latest lists, but as there will not be a new version every month - whereas the lists are updated more often - there are other ways to be more up-to-date. @{" Updating via FTP " link "Updating via FTP"} @{" Updating from rec.arts.movies " link "Updating from rec.arts.movies"} @{" Updating from Mailboxes " link "Updating from Mailboxes"} See @{" Maintenance " link 3.5} to learn, what to to with the new list-files. @endnode @node "Updating via FTP" A.1 Updating via FTP ==================== For this one you'll need direct access to the INTERNET. You may prefer to update the Database directly from the ftp site and in fact, some lists are only available via ftp. Simply get a copy of the lists put them in your list-files directory and start 'MovieMUI'. The lists are stored on the ftp site in compressed form (.Z extensions), therefore you have to uncompress them first. At least the following ftp-sites should have the latest databasefiles: cathouse.org:/pub/cathouse/movies/database ftp.funet.fi:/pub/culture/tv+film/lists @endnode @node "Updating from rec.arts.movies" A.2 Updating from REC.ARTS.MOVIES ================================= Rec.arts.movies is a USENET-newsgroup where you can find discussions, opinions or reviews about movies. Some of the list-files are posted here, too. Most of the posted lists are split over several smaller articles. You will need to join all the articles together and remove the news headers from part two and any subsequent parts. Do not delete any of the header text from part one since the system needs it to detect the start of data. @endnode @node "Updating from Mailboxes" A.3 Updating from Mailboxes =========================== Whenever the Amiga-software is updated, a snapshot of the latest database files together with the executables is uploaded to AMINET. Any mailbox that mirrors AMINET should have a copy of the moviedatabase too. As the Amiga-software is updated only once in while, the last databasefiles on AMINET may not be up-to-date. Maybe there are some mailboxes, which have the latest list-files mirrored from the INTERNET. Look a little bit around in your area and ask the sysops. @endnode @node votes E. Votes ======== All ratings available in the MovieDataBase are taken from the ratings.list. In this list, movies have been rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being good and 1 being bad. For each movie, the total number of votes, the average rating, and the vote distribution are shown. New movies are indicated by a "*" before their entry. The vote distribution uses a single character to represent the percentage of votes for each ranking. The following characters codes can appear: "." no votes cast "3" 30-39% of the votes "7" 70-79% of the votes "0" 1-9% of the votes "4" 40-49% of the votes "8" 80-89% of the votes "1" 10-19% of the votes "5" 50-59% of the votes "9" 90-99% of the votes "2" 20-29% of the votes "6" 60-69% of the votes "*" 100% of the votes To have your votes tallied in the list, send mail to movies@trantor.harris-atd.com, or ...!uunet!trantor.harris-atd.com!movies. In your mail, any line beginning with the word "vote" will be considered as a vote. All other lines ARE IGNORED. No human will see your mail. Votes must be of the form vote where <rating> is an integer between 1 and 10, and <title> is everything on the line after the <rating>. Case is not considered in movie titles. Valid votes might be vote 8 Annie Hall vote 1 santa claus conquers the martians This report is available via anonymous FTP from: cathouse.org in pub/cathouse/movies/database/ratings.list.Z ftp.funet.fi in pub/culture/tv+film/lists/ratings.list.gz penguin.gatech.edu in pub/movie A set of Unix shell scripts to help manage your votes is available via anonymous FTP: cathouse.org in pub/cathouse/movies/database/tools/voting_scripts.Z ftp.funet.fi in pub/culture/tv+film/lists/tools/voting_scripts.gz If you want a record of your previous votes to use in combination with the scripts, write an E-Mail to Colin Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk> If you have access to a WWW browser such as Mosaic, the movie database WWW server now provides a simple way to vote in the report. You can browse the database and easily create a vote file for mailing to the tabulator. This interface is available through the document: http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk/Movies/ Mosaic runs on many systems and is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu in the directory /Web The movie ratings report is now a joint project between Chuck Musciano <chuck@trantor.harris-atd.com> and Colin Needham <cn@ibmpcug.co.uk>. All questions concerning the day to day running of the report should be addressed to Colin. @endnode @node Genres F. Genres ========= Listed here are some genres for the more popular types of movies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drama | Comedy | War | Crime | Musical Romance | Biography | Adventure | Horror | Thriller Historical | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Fantasy | Sports Spy | Childrens | Political | Animated | Action Prison | Religious | Opera | Disaster | Dance ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node Tooltypes G. Tooltypes & CLI-Options ========================== You may influence MovieMUI's behaviour with the following CLI-options: (Note: When run from CLI, don't forget to increase the stack to about 10KB) QUIET will start MovieMUI iconified. ERRORFILE=<filename> or ERRORFILE will produce an errorfile when the database is compiled. Default filename is T:errorfile ERRORLEVEL=n will only produce an error-requester if the error-penalty is greater or equal n (see below). Default is 10 DEBUGLEVEL=n will add additional information to any error-requester if if the error- penalty is greater or equal n (see below). Default is 20 Values for error-penalty: ------------------------- 0 no error 5 harmless error 10 serious error 20 a very serious that should be reported to me, because a bug in the code is very likely. @endnode @node Addresses H. Addresses ============ Please use the following E-Mail adresses for making contact. If you do not have the possibility to send E-Mails to the usenet please contact me (André Bernhardt) and I will pass the mail on. Name Aas, Lars J E-Mail larsa@colargol.edb.tih.no Name Bernhardt, Andre S-Mail Pfaffstr.6 76227 Karlsruhe Germany E-Mail ujad@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de Name Chapman, Murray E-Mail muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au Name Hafner, Michel E-Mail hafner@ifi.unizh.ch Name Hammond, Steve E-Mail shammond@indirect.com Name Harding, Mark E-Mail ccsmh@ss1.bath.ac.uk Name Higgins, Ron E-Mail rhiggins@carroll1.cc.edu Name Needham, Col E-Mail cn@ibmpcug.co.uk Name Reeves, Jon E-Mail reeves@zk3.dec.com Name Tinto, Colin E-Mail colint@spider.co.uk Name Volovich, Gene E-Mail volovich@netcom.com @endnode @node "Technical Information" I. Technical Information ======================== The *.list files contain, in addition to the database files, some general information on the Database, its maintainers etc. During the installing/maintanance of the database the movie-data itself will be extracted and some additional index-information and hash-files will be genereated to accelerate the search-procedures (if you know the older versions of MovieMUI you´ll know what I´m talking of). This additional information will be stored in extra files so don´t wonder if one *.list file produces more than one database-file. After this, the *.list files are obsolete and may be deleted. However, if you plan to currently update the database you should keep the *.list files somewhere around. Apart from the 'movies.list', you do not need to install all *.listfiles of this distribution. Database files that cannot be found, will simply be ignored. @endnode @node Troubleshooting J. Known bugs & problems, final notes ===================================== I welcome feedback on the package. If you have any problems or would like to see a particular feature added, please let me know by e-mail. Read the History-file to learn about future enhancements of MovieMUI. If you have any problems with MovieMUI then continue to read the following list. Maybe there is an explanation for MovieMUI's behaviour on your system. If you still encounter any bugs or problems, please do report them! - "MovieMUI crashes when performing a Substring- or Pattern Search." This one has been reported by one of my Beta-Testers. Unfortunately I have not been able to find the cause of this problem. He uses an "Supra Turbo 28 accelerator". Please notify me, if you have similar problems. One reason might be, that your system uses different (patched) memory-move-routines. Remove all utilities such as 'copymemquicker' etc. and try again. - "I really would love to cycle through the registers in Show Title Windows with the keyboard." Unfortunately this is not supported by MUI. I will try to solve this problem by adding some menues to the Title Windows which would allow to select a certain register by using shortkeys. - "MovieMUI seems to eat memory." Well I haven't found out the reason why, but you'll miss some memory (only a few KByte) when quitting MovieMUI. I'm working on this problem, but maybe it's a bug in MUI? - "I always run into memory trouble." Well, MovieMUI consumes a lot of memory. When updating/creating the database you'll need about 800 KByte at the very minimum, preferably in one piece. However updating is fastest with a 2.3 MByte piece of memory. If you run into trouble when updating the database, I suggest to reset your Amiga (maybe the memory is fragmented) and only run as few programs as possible. If you have memory problems during database-access, I suggest keep the number of open windows to a minimum. Decrease the "search results max" in @{"Preferences Options" link 4.1.8} - "I can't access my favorite TV-series via the ARexx-Port." Unfortunately, the '"' which indicates TV-series are not passed to MovieMUI. A way to solve this problem is to do a selection and then use the GETFROMSELECTION-command to access the data. - "I can't directly access the movie 'Why Me? (1990)' from the GUI." This is because of the '?' in the Movietitle. MovieMUI considers the question mark to be a special joker character (see @{"Pattern Search" link 4.1.2.C}). Therefore a pattern search is carried out. When using the GUI this is no problem - simply double-click the movie in the Show Window and you'll get what you want. The ARexx-command GET works perfectly, because it does not support any pattern matching. ARexx-Pattern Searches have to be performed using the selection method. - "I can't start another MovieMUI while the first one is still running." This is correct, since I don't consider it any advantage, if two tasks are fighting for harddisk-access at the same time. MovieMUI is fast enough, there is no need to run two MovieMUIs at the same time. - "Accessing the database from ARexx and the GUI at the same time, does somtimes not work properly." MovieMUI can handle multi-user-acces via the ARexx-Port, but due to a bug/ missing-feature in MUI you have to prevent simultaneous access via GUI and ARexx. This is because I use several global variables (shame on me) and I can't prevent MUI from performing an ARexx-command, while already performing a search with the GUI. As a Sysop of a BBS that offers MovieDataBase access, you should be careful to use the GUI when some users are accessing the database. - "Something went wrong during the installation-process and now I don't get the damn thing to work." In some very rare cases, when anything that can go wrong, goes wrong (always remember Murphy), the database structure may be corrupted, without MovieMUI taking notice of it. In this case, you'll usually tend to get those nice "A very serious error ... please report it ..." - requesters. Delete the whole database-directory (deleting the MovieDatabase.count file will actually have the same effect) and start over again. @endnode