Copyright: P&&T Audio Database Help Version 1.2.01, (c) P&&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. 1996-97
Citation: P&&T Audio Database Help Version 1.2.01, (c) P&&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. 1996-97


Contents

Table of Contents

What is P&T Audio Database?

Program Features

Quick Reference

Map of User Interface Components

Updates and Technical Support

Legal Notes

We hope you enjoy using P&T Audio Database. Feedback is always highly appreciated - in case you miss a particular feature or have any comments please let us know. Send your comments to our mailbox at ptss@loxinfo.co.th or contact us directly. With your help we will make the next version even better.

Thomas Knierim

-Managing Director-

P&T Software Systems


What is P&T Audio Database all about?
What is P&T Audio Database?

P&T Audio Database is a database application for the Windows 95 operating system that lets you store, retrieve and play audio files such as MIDI or WAV files (*). The purpose of P&T Audio Database is to properly dispose those hundreds of audio files that might be laying around on your harddisk. With P&T Audio Database you can easily retrieve them, searching titles by criteria such as name of title, composer, music style, instrument, etc. You can play a single audio sequence or use the program’s jukebox function to play a list of your favorite titles. Highly advanced search and filter capabilities allow you to narrow searches and to build subsets of data to locate and group specific titles.

P&T Audio Database represents the “look-and-feel” of our custom database applications. It uses the same underlying technology as our Windows based business application software and thus gives you an idea of how an actual P&T database application works. The program is fully functional and we hope that it will serve those who share our fascination with digital music and sound.

(*) Your computer must be equipped with a sound card to play audio files.


Program Features

- Store, retrieve and play audio files

- Title/Time/Trackbar display

- Detail and browse views

- Multiple criteria search

- Full text search

- Multiple data filters

- Print function

- Jukebox function

- Play list editor

- Supports all Windows sound formats

- MID, RMI, WAV, AIFF, etc.

- Network enabled


Quick Reference

1. To add a new title…

…go to the Current Title Page and click on the Add Record Button button to add a new, blank record. Then type the filename of the audio file into the File Name Textbox, or use the folder icon button to select a file from disk. Type a title into the Title Textbox and click the Save Changes Button. Please note: The audio file must already be stored on your harddisk or on the network; file name and title are both required to store a record successfully.

2. To find a title…

To find a title by name, go to the Browse Titles Page and start to type the name of the title into the Locator Textbox at the top of the page. As you type characters, the program automatically moves through the database and tries to locate the title that matches the typed expression closest. If you want search for criteria other than the title, use the Search Dialog Box. You bring up the Search Dialog Box by going to Current Title Page and clicking on the Search Button.

3. To play a title…

…simply click on the Play Button. The program tries to load the current audio file (the one which is specified in the Current Title Page) and automatically starts playing it.

4. To edit a title…

…go to the Current Title Page and start to type information into the text boxes. The database will automatically switch to edit mode. When finished editing, click the Save Changes Button to save the changes you made or click the Undo Changes Button to discard changes. Changes will also be saved automatically if you move to another record without clicking on the Save Changes Button.

5. To delete a title…

…locate the title and click the Delete Record Button on the Current Title Page, then answer the confirmation dialog box by clicking on OK if you are sure to delete the record. Please note: the respective audio file will not be deleted when deleting records from the database.

6. To create a new play list…

…go to the Play List Page and click on the Clear Play List Button. Then add titles to the blank list by using the any of the Add Title Buttons on the Current Title Page or the Browse Titles Page. These buttons will add the current title to the list, so you can browse through the database and add titles one by one. When done, go back to the Play List Page, click on the Save Play List Button, specify the file name and directory and click OK.

7. To play a play list…

…just go to the Play List Page and click on Start Playing. Please note: While processing a play list, the Current Title Page and Browse Titles Page become inactive.


Map
Map of User Interface Components

How to use it

To find out more about the details of the user interface components of P&T Audio Database click on the categories and check out the details. You will learn more about the functions associated with buttons, text boxes and lists on the following pages. Alternatively you can go to the Quick Reference and use the reference links there to get more information about details.

Track Bar Indicator

Popup Menu

P&T Audio Database Page

Current Title Page

Browse Titles Page

Play List Page

Data Toolbar

Search Dialog

Filter Dialog

Print Preview


Track Bar Indicator

Use the Track Bar Indicator to control playback of audio files.

 Title Shows title and length of the audio file currently loaded.

 Elapsed Time Shows the elapsed play time in min:sec.

 Slider Shows the current position within the audio file during playback. Use the slider to fast forward or to rewind.

 Play Button Starts playing the current title. If the respective file is not yet load, P&T Audio Database will automatically load it into memory. During playback this button is dimmed.

 Stop Button Stops playback at the current position. Playback can be resumed by clicking again on the Play Button. If the program is playing a play list this button will skip the current title.


Popup Menu

To bring up the Popup Menu click the right mouse button somewhere on the background of the window or on the pages’ background.

 Starts playing the current title. If the respective file is not yet load, P&T Audio Database will automatically load it into memory. During playback this menu item is dimmed.

 Brings up the Search Dialog. Use the Search Dialog to find and retrieve titles by entering specific criteria.

 Changes the program window’s size. Depending on whether this menu item is checked or not, the size of the program window’s size shrinks or grows. When shrunk only the Track Bar Indicator is visible.

 If this menu item is checked, the P&T Audio Database window will always be displayed on top of all other windows.

 Brings up the Printer Setup Dialog. Please refer to the Windows help topics for further help on Printer Setup.

 Terminates P&T Audio Database.


Page 1

P&T Audio Database Page

 Help Button Opens the program’s help topics and displays the Contents page.

 Go Online Button Starts your web browser application and calls up the corporate home page of P&T Software Systems Company Limited.

 Close Button Terminates P&T Audio Database.


Page 2

Current Title Page

Title Textbox Contains the title (the name) of the current audio file. Field size: 48 char.

 Add Title Button Appends the current title to the play list.

Composer Textbox Contains the name of the composer or interpreter. Field size: 48 char.

Description Textbox Contains a description of the audio file. Field size: 64 char.

File Name Textbox Contains the filename of the audio file. Both, relative and absolute path names may be specified. Click the button with the folder icon to bring up the Open File dialog box and select the audio file from the list in the dialog box. Field size: 128 char.

Length Textbox Contains the length of the audio file. Please note: the information in this textbox has to be entered manually. The length is stored as a text string. Field size: 8 char.

Index Textbox Contains an optional index. You are free to define your own index system, which helps you finding audio files easier. Field size: 4 char.

Default Directory Button Click this button to bring up an input box where you enter the default directory for audio files. The default directory will be searched automatically when attempting to load an audio file. With a default directory, file names specified in the File Name Textbox can be partial path names relative to this directory.

Instrument Textbox Contains the name(s) of instrument(s) used. Field size: 32 char.

Music Style Textbox Contains the name(s) of the music style(s). Field size: 32 char.

Source Textbox Contains the name of the source where the audio file was obtained from. Field size: 32 char.

 CD-ROM Tickbox Check this box if the audio file is located on a CD-ROM.

CD-ROM Textbox Contains the title of the CD-ROM where the audio file is stored on. To edit this textbox, the CD-ROM Tickbox must be checked. Field size: 32 char.

Comments Memo Contains any optional lines of comments.

 Filter Indicator The filter indicator is visible if a filter has been defined and the dataset is currently filtered. See for Filter Dialog more details.

Data Toolbar Use this toolbar to navigate, edit, search, filter and print data in P&T Audio Database. Check out the details in Data Toolbar.


Page 3

Browse Titles Page

Locator Textbox Use this textbox to locate a title by name. As you type characters into the textbox, the program automatically moves through the database and tries to locate the title that matches the typed expression closest.

 Add Title Button Appends the current title to the play list.

Browse List Lists all audio titles in ascending alphabetical order. Clicking on an entry will automatically change the current title. The current title is indicated by the highlight bar. Switch back to the Current Title Page to see the details of the respective title.


Page 4

Play List Page

Play List Lists all titles in the play list in sequence as they are played back. Use the Add Title Button to add titles to this list and the buttons on the right to edit it. If the program is currently playing a play list, the highlight bar indicates the current title.

 Start Playing Button Click this button to start a play list. All titles in the play list will be played until the last title is reached or until the Start Playing Button is clicked again. Please note: during playing a play list, the Current Title and Browse Titles  pages are disabled, i.e. they don’t accept mouseclicks or typed characters. To skip a single title during playback, click on the Stop Button.

 Move Up Button Moves the highlighted title up in the play list.

 Move Down Button Moves the highlighted title down in the play list.

 Remove Title Button Removes the highlighted title from the play list.

 Load Play List Button Loads a play list from a play list file.

 Save Play List Button Saves the current play list to a play list file. Please note: the play list is not saved automatically when you terminate the program.

 Clear Play List Button Clears all entries from the play list to start with a new blank list.


Data Toolbar

The Data Toolbar has buttons to navigate, edit, search, filter and print data in P&T Audio Database, i.e. to perform any operations on the dataset. A dataset in this context is the entity of all titles, while a record is the information associated with a single title.

 Move First Button Moves to the first record in the dataset.

 Move Previous Button Moves to the previous record in the dataset.

 Move Next Button Moves to the next record in the dataset.

 Move Last Button Moves to the last record in the dataset.

 Add Record Button Inserts a new blank record.

 Delete Record Button Deletes the current record after getting a confirmation.

 Save Changes Button Save changes to the current record after editing.

 Undo Changes Button Reverts changes made to the current record.

 Search Button Displays the Search Dialog, which allows you to search the dataset.

 Filter Button Brings up the Filter Dialog, which allows you to filter the dataset.

 Print Button Brings up the Print Preview form, which allows you to print a list of audio titles.

Please note: Changes to the current record will be saved automatically when you move to another record using the navigation buttons or the browse and search functions. When you insert a new record, information for the Title and File Name fields is mandatory. If you omit one of those fields, the record will not be accepted and can’t be saved. Since the dataset is indexed by title, duplicated titles will not be accepted.


Search Dialog

Use the Search Dialog to locate data by specifying special search criteria. You can combine up to four different search expressions to narrow your search and you can use full text search to locate partial strings in text fields. The More>> button expands the dialog box and allows you to specify multiple criteria, while the Less>> button shrinks the dialog box so that only one search expression is visible.

To specify a single search expression, first choose the field to be searched from the Search Field drop down list, then choose the comparison operator and type the expression to be searched into the Criteria textbox. In the above example, the first search expression matches all titles where the composer is Mozart.

To specify multiple search expressions, click the More>> button to expand the dialog box, enter the first search expression as described above, click on the AND/OR tick boxes to combine the search expressions with the logical operators AND or OR and then enter further search expressions. In the above example, the combined search expression would find all titles where the composer is either Mozart or Beethoven.

To perform a full text search, switch to the second page of the Search Dialog box. Choose the field to be searched from the Search Field drop down list, then select the text match operator and type the expression to be searched into the Criteria textbox. You can optionally choose whether you want the search to be case-sensitive or not (i.e. regarding or disregarding letter case), however this option only works with indexed fields.

To perform the search, click one of the following buttons at the bottom of the dialog box:

First Finds the first record matching the search criteria (search from beginning).

Prior Finds the previous record matching the search criteria, relative to the current record (backward search).

Next Finds the next record that matches the search criteria, relative to the current record (forward search).

Last Finds the last record that matches the search criteria (search from end).

The Search Dialog is non-modal. This means you can switch back and forth between the Search Dialog box and the program window and successively search the database while performing any other operations between searches.


Filter Dialog

Use the Filter Dialog to define and apply filter(s) to the dataset. The purpose of a filter is to restrict the dataset to a subset of records that matches the specified filter criteria. Once a filter is activated, the Filter Indicator is shown on the Current Title Page and all further operations, such as printing a list of records or browsing through it, are limited to the filtered dataset. The More>> button expands the dialog box and allows you to specify multiple filter criteria, while the Less>> button shrinks the dialog box so that only one filter expression is visible.

To specify a single filter expression, first choose the field to be searched from the Filter Field drop down list, then choose the comparison operator and type the comparison text or value into the Criteria textbox. In the above example, the first filter expression matches all titles that either begin with the letter A or begin with letters that come after A. If the Filter Field is of the type boolean, like the CD-ROM tickbox, the comparison operator is always ‘=’ and the comparison value can only be ‘true’ or ‘false’.

To specify multiple search expressions, click the More>> button to expand the dialog box. Enter the first filter expression as described above, click on the AND/OR tick boxes to combine the filter expressions using one of the logical operators AND or OR and enter further filter expressions. In the above example, the combined filter expression would limit the dataset to titles that begin with letters between A and C.

Check the Match Case tickbox to make text comparisons case-sensitive and check the Partial Matching tickboxes to allow partial text matches, i.e. matches where the text field begins with the specified phrase. Both options, however, do only work with indexed text fields.

To activate the defined filter, simply click on the Apply Button. Depending on the complexity of the filter expression and the number of records in the dataset it might take some time to activate the filter. Once a filter is active you can bring up the Filter Dialog again and click on the Clear Button to deactivate the filter, so that all records become visible again.


Print Preview

 Zoom Drop-down Box Indicates the magnification factor. Select a percentage from the list or type a value into the box to zoom the document view in or out.

 Zoom To Fit Button Click this button to scale the document view so that it exactly fits into the preview window.

 Zoom To Width Button Click this button to scale the document view so that it fits horizontally into the preview window.

 Zoom 100% Button Click this button to scale the document view back to its original size.

Page Indicator Shows the current page number and the total number of pages.

 First Page Button Moves to the first page.

 Previous Page Button Moves to the previous page.

 Next Page Button Moves to the next page.

 Last Page Button Moves to the last page.

 Print Button Starts printing the document.

 Close Button Closes the Print Preview window.


Search/Filter Operators

Comparison Operators

Operator	Meaning
=	Equal to
<>	Not Equal
>	Greater than
<	Less than
>=	Greater than or equal to
<=	Less than or equal to
Note: All comparison operators can be applied to both, numerical fields and text fields. In case of text fields the alphabetical sort order is determinative.

Text Match Operators

Operator	Meaning
contains	Text field must contain the specified phrase
equals	Text field must match the specified phrase exactly
begins with	Text field must begin with the specified phrase
ends with	Text field must end with the specified phrase
Note: ‘phrase’ in this context means any sequence of characters.

Logical Operators

Operator	Meaning
AND	Result matches if both expressions match
OR	Result matches if one of the expressions matches


Updates and Technical Support

Technical support is available at:

P&T Software Systems Company Limited

76 Sukhumvit Soi 26

Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110

Thailand

E-mail: ptss@loxinfo.co.th

WWW: http://www.ptss-bangkok.com

Please contact the help desk on our web page or sent e-mail to the above address. Technical support for P&T Audio Database is limited to support via Internet e-mail. Future updates will be distributed through our web page. If you want to be automatically informed about free future updates, please send a posting with the subject title P&T Audio Database Update Service to ptss@loxinfo.co.th.


Legal Notes

First the good news: P&T Audio Database is completely FREE! However, there are some restrictions on use and distribution of the program as follows:

You may install and use the P&T Audio Database (“the software”) without any restrictions for an unlimited time and make as many copies as you want, provided that these copies are not intended for sale. P&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. (“the manufacturer”) grants you the right to redistribute the software and encourages distribution by third parties through the Internet. Distribution must be on a free-ware basis; the manufacturer does not give permission to third parties to license or sell the software or to use it commercially with the objective of making a profit.

You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the software, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation. You may also not modify the software, its documentation or any parts of it; especially the redistribution of modified program versions is prohibited.

All title and copyrights in and to the software (including but not limited to any images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, text, and applets, incorporated into the software), the accompanying printed materials, and any copies of the software, are owned by P&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. or its suppliers. The software is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions.

P&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. and its suppliers disclaim all warranties, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, with regard to the software product, and any accompanying hardware. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall P&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. or its suppliers be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or any other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software product, even if P&T Software Systems Co., Ltd. has been advised of the possibility of such damages.