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Text File | 1995-08-31 | 89KB | 2,132 lines

DiscTrak System - Version 8.11 Copyright (c)1995 Blam Entertainment Group, All Rights Reserved What's New! Due to the dynamic nature of this program and my uncontrollable need to tinker, changes are always in the works. Because of these factors, it was necessary to devise an abridged list documenting the visual or functional differences from version to version. It goes back as far as I can possibly remember or try to reconstruct by looking at old source code. Feel free to pick the excuse you like better. GENERAL NOTE: Version numbering has been revamped. Please don't think you've been left out in the cold and utterly missed versions 2 thru 7. Version 8.11 * The spelling of "Matte" has been corrected in the Widescreen displays. * A capitalization error on Panavision widescreen films has been corrected. * The Multi Audio question has been trimmed up slightly. * The Widescreen option has been enhanced, slightly. "Total Video Frame" has been renamed to "Full Frame/Open Matte" for use on those titles like "Sword in the Stone" and "Dick Tracy". A new entry of "Super35" has been added to account for those films, which were shot in Super35 and shown 2.35 in the theatre and transfered to video in Full Frame. Prime examples of this are the non-widescreen editions of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "The Abyss". * The option for THX Digital Master has been added to the Video Tape mode. This is to account for the new Star Wars Trilogy which has been released on VHS tape. * The option for THX LaserDisc / THX Digital Master now force Digital Video Transfer to on in both the Laserdisc and Video Tape modes. The Digital Video Transfer question will be skipped in these cases. * If a configuration switch was specified when launching DiscTrak, that switch would remain in-force. This would cause what might seem as random mode shifts when coming out of a DOS shell. This has been corrected. * A share violation has been corrected in the File Sort routine. The error would not cause a program crash, but the sort routine was throwing away the sorted information. No data was lost due to this error. * A problem with sorting titles which began with He', such as "He Said, She Said", has been corrected. Version 8.10 LaserDisc Mode: * The option for the new AC-3 Digital Surround audio system has been added. The option for DTS Coherent Acoustics is also present. These options are enhancements of the Digital Sound question. * The Multi-Audio option has been rebuilt. This allows for the modifications of AC-3 Digital and DTS Coherent Acoustics, and for the option of Stereo commentary tracks. This is now accessed through a Yes/No' question. * The Multi-Audio section now has an option for Running Audio Commentary LaserDisc & Video Tape Modes: * The Subtitles option has been moved to immediately after the Closed Caption selection. * The option for Sepia Tone has been moved to after Color Selection. * There has been minor tweaking on the view screens. * The presence of Magnetic Audio Masters and CDS Digital audio have been discovered. While we always tracked for both, it never occurred to us that they might exist together. This has been fixed. * The Widescreen naming conventions have been modified slightly. While the supported ratios are the same, the names have been changed. For example, Normal Pan & Scan' has been changed to just Pan & Scan'. It was brought to my attention that there is, indeed, nothing NORMAL about Pan & Scan. As a result, Panavision has been changed to CinemaScope/Panavision.' The entries stating Standard' have been changed to Matt'. (ie, American Matt, Foreign Matt.) * The Special Features Fields Generator options have been regrouped to be better categorized. All Disc specific things have been grouped together, with all Audio topics are together. You'll get the idea. Compact Disc Mode: * A new field has been added for DTS Coherent Acoustics CDS. * A new field has been added for 24k Gold CDS. All Modes: * Detailed information on Record printouts has been moved down the page by one line. This includes Episode Information (LD & VT modes), Chapter Indexes (LD Mode), Story Summary (LD & VT Modes) and Track Listings (CD & Tape Modes). * When editing a record, pressing ESC no longer jumps to the next set questions or screens. It will exit you to the EDIT MENU. * When adding a record, if ESC is pressed in any of the screens, you will be allowed to abort the record. A question will pop up. * The Add question has been removed. If you enter the ADD section on accident (and who hasn't?), leave the line blank to abort adding the record. If any data is in the line, the add routine will continue. Of course, you can still abort by pressing ESC. * The name shifting routine has been tweaked to correct a problem where a title contained and' which isn't part of a name. * A minor (program crashing) anomaly has been corrected. If, for some unknown reason, you backup and change the number of sides/discs (depending on mode) and then progressed on through the record, the program would crash, spitting out little pieces of IC chips through the slot on the floppy drive. This has been corrected. (Just kidding about that spit thing.) * In version 8.00 the flexible scan ability was removed. I kicked myself for that. We've added it back in, but this time, it's a selectable option which can be configured in the configuration menu. It also is more flexible and will search for proper names within titles. * In the EDIT MENU, if the title of a LaserDisc or Video Tape used the full 80 characters, it would line wrap the last character to the next line. We've changed this to trim off the last two characters for the Edit Menu screen. The title remains unchanged, however. General: * We are now specifying the length of the evaluation period. See the main system documentation for full details. * The DT.EXE has been tweaked. You cannot use previous versions of DT.EXE with 8.10 and you cannot use this DT.EXE with older version of DiscTrak. * All printer related options have been moved into a new sub-menu off the Configuration screen. * A new option is available. EJECT PAGE is designed to suppress the blank page which is present at the end of reports which are printed on Laser or Ink Jet printers. It defaults to off and is in the Printer Setup Menu. Please note that some printers perform a page eject as part of a command reset. You will still get a blank page if this is the case with your printer. * The option for Perforation skip has been modified. It now reduces lines per page by 3 to compensate for printers which force specific margins, namely HP LaserJet printers. * A new option for Currency marks has been added. It will toggle between the $ (US) and £(UK). If there are other options required, let us know. This option IS NOT documented in the user manual as it was added at the last moment. * An error installing the serial number has been corrected. The program would remember the number correctly and install it correctly on the next execution. * To avoid potential troubles with the Update and Install routines failing, the .DAT files have been renamed to .BEG. Version 8.01 * An error in the scanning routine which skipped the testing of the last record on a disc, if the total records were 5 based (ie, 5-10-15), has been fixed. * Blam Entertainment Group has moved again. The program has been updated. Version 8.00a * A nasty little quirk with the Automatic Registration Transferal has been fixed. This update will REPLACE version 8.00 on your hard drive. Version 8.00 LaserDisc Mode: * With the introduction of THX LaserDisc program, a flag has been added in the Special Fields Generator. * Side/Chapter orientation has been added. This will include side numbers when displaying chapter information. The menu contains several options to compensate for chapter numbering schemes which vary from studio to studio. * When editing/viewing chapter information, you can now PAGE-UP beyond the first page to the previous screen. * The Replication method (IE, Cold Casting/Injection Molding), which was displayed in the view screens, has been removed. * All references to SuperLaser have been removed. This format never materialized, so tracking for it was kinda ridiculous. * If updating a LaserDisc record due to a new issue of the disc becoming available, it was possible for some of the data from the previous disc to get locked. For example, the Minute Only Encoding and Manual CX Encoding could become stuck on. This has been fixed. This fix was included in v1.706. * Added MegaLD-LaserActive flag to Disc Type in the Special Feature Fields Generator. * Enhanced side identification with Short Side CAV. If multiple sides are CAV, leave out the side number and the program will simply display both CLV & CAV without any side information. * Simplified Short Side CAV / Long Side Extended Play question to Recording Format Deviation. * Reformatted the Minute Only Encoding and Manual CX view data. * Changed display of Multi-Channel information to Multi-Audio to conform with standard LaserDisc naming conventions. * In the reports, LaserDiscs which had no chapter stops were displaying '0' chapters. This has been changed back to show nothing. Video Tape Mode: There are no Video Tape mode specific changed in this release. LaserDisc & Video Tape Modes: * There has been a general face lift on the view screens. This was necessary to facilitate specific wording and to try and minimize screen crowding. * Dolby Labs new digital sound format, SR*D does not necessarily have to be SR*D. The use of Dolby Digital audio in motion picture film does not necessarily mandate Spectral Recording on the optical soundtrack. In most applications of Dolby Digital however, the optical audio is SR. For this reason, the Spectral Recording question has been changed back to a YES/NO question. * The Dolby Digital option has been moved to the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR and has been combined with the existing Cinema Digital Sound flag. In addition, entries for Digital Theatre Systems (DTS), Sony Dynamic Digital Sound (SDDS) and combinations of the three battling systems have been included. * The widescreen option for Scanned Panavision 1.85:1 has been removed. Any titles which were marked as Scanned Panavision in previous versions of the database will be updated to American Ratio Widescreen 1.85:1. * The Episode field has been added to the VIEW screens. * While scanning the Special Features area in the Scan Records routine, it was possible to tag invalid records and display them as being valid. While this was originally fixed in v1.62, we've managed to break it again. With this release, it has been corrected. * The episodes data would mysteriously vanish after editing or entering a record. This trouble was experienced in all versions starting with v1.703. This has been corrected. This fix was also included in v1.706. * The sort key are now larger to better sort similar titles. * In the Special Feature Fields Generator, the question for "Brown Tint" has been given its proper name...Sepia Tone. * Program Summary has been added. This is a 'free-form' text editor for storing program notes, story summaries and other handy information. I also use it to list out episode specific information on those great Star Trek(R) discs. * The Episode viewer/editor now allows PAGE-UP beyond the first entry. * The length of the STARS fields, the CREDITS fields and the DISC FORMAT fields have been increased, slightly. * A spelling mistake of the word THEATRICAL has been corrected. * A spelling mistake of the word MONAURAL has been corrected. This fix also included in v1.706. Compact Disc Mode: * Disc/Track orientation has been added. This will include disc numbers when displaying track information. * Fields are now included for individual run times of each disc. This information can be added up and put into the total time field if desired. * A new question has been added to track for CD-Singles (CD-5's) which are standard CD sized. * Useless text in the header at the beginning of each report page has been removed. Cassette Tape/Record Album Mode: * Side/Track orientation has been added. This will include side numbers when displaying track information. * Fields are now included for individual run times of each side of a tape/album. This information can be added up and put into the total time field if desired. * Added option for 45's, 12" singles & EP's. Compact Disc & Cassette Tape/Record Album Modes: * The basic engine is new, sorta. It now resembles the old LaserDisc/Videotape engine in screen presentation. See the program documentation for full information. * The ability to store artist information for various artist discs has been added. Refer to the system documentation for details on using this feature. * Artist searches are now available. This search is similar to the song search routine. This routine will locate all artist matches for entire albums and also matches within the new various artist fields as well. See system documentation for full details. * The length of Record Label & Distributor information has been increased to 35 characters each. * Manufacturing facility field is has been added. * When the Track Time Calculator is run, it will automatically stuff the calculated total into the time field if the field was left blank. * Activation of the Time Calculator has been modified. It will now run when ever the total number of tracks is altered, regardless of the setting of TIME CALCULATE in the configuration menu. * When editing/viewing track information, you can now PAGE-UP beyond the first page to the previous screen. * Adding a record will now bring up a record generator screen similar to that of the LaserDisc mode. You must enter the Artist information here. * Record Label display has been added to the EDIT MENU. * A spacing error in reports created by the REPORT MENU has been corrected. * If trying to delete a record, putting a lowercase 'd' in the library field would not delete the record unless the record was deleted twice (Doesn't that sound silly to you, too?). This has been corrected. This fix was also included in v1.707. All Modes (except as noted): * Something we call Name Shifting has been added. In it's previous incarnations, it simply compensated for THE, AN & A at the beginning of a title. It now will make a great effort to compensate for proper names like Phil Collins and possessive names such as Steven King's IT. * When adding a record, the default year will now be the current year, regardless of the date. In past versions, if the current computer date was after July 1st, the default release year would be the current year + 1. This was too confusing and a general pain in the neck. * A new report format has been added. The Tiny report is a standard 80 column report. No printer codes will be output for this report. * When running reports, and the title/artist requires a line wrap, the next line is now indented by 2 spaces to properly isolate the titles when looking at the printed page. * There was a problem with changes to a specific record getting lost when altering the number of Chapters / Episodes / Tracks (depending on the active mode). This error has also caused loss of data while adding records to the database. This loss occurred if the <Page Up> key is used to back up to before the editing of the Chapters, Episodes or Track Titles. A simple modification has corrected this problem. * If there was a deep burning desire to leave the catalog field empty, the program WOULD lock up. The program now will put some record specific data into the catalog number field to prevent undesired program crashes. This fix is also included in v1.707. * There was a mistake in the SCAN MENU. If the ESC button was pushed, the FIND TITLE prompt would execute. Only problem is that FIND TITLE isn't an option from that screen. This has been corrected. * The search variable size in the EDIT MENU has been increased. * The flexible match locator functionality in the FIND section of the EDIT MENU has been removed. * When adding a record, the routine is proceeded by a confirmation question. I hate it when I hit the wrong keys. General: * DT.EXE is new. It is no longer just a compiled batch file. (In case you had figured out that it was a compiled batch file.) It no longer sets any environment variables, therefore you should not experience any loading errors due to insufficient environment memory. In addition, it is expected that this DT.EXE file will be compatible with all future releases of DiscTrak System. Here's hoping. * The install program has been replaced. The new version is a much more user friendly. * The Automatic Registration Transferal now will bring the serial number from all previous loads. Bug fixes loads are now included in this general statement. * The Update routine will no longer request your approval before running, it will just simply do the deed. It is also much more intelligent in it's determination of which updates need to be applied to your database. * There are 4 new indexes which are created. This speeds up some areas of the program which use catalog numbers. * Registration now includes registered name display on the Program Information screen. Users of previous versions will be allowed to enter their name as desired. * The references to Master/Slave databases have been removed. For the sake of political correctness and actual relational jargon, the references have been changed to Parent/Child. * When upgrading from version 1.61, the CFG file converter worked great, provided there was a CFG file. If the file was missing, the program would crash. This has been corrected. * The keyboard buffer is now cleared after each option in the Edit/Match menu has run. * The UTILITY MENU has a new option. This option, CLEAR DELETED will purge all records marked for deletion and return to the main menu. * The UTILITY MENU has another new option. The VERIFY LINKING option will scan all children databases for valid parent files. If there are no parent matches for a child, the child data will be purged. Any affected indexes will be rebuilt. * SHARE.EXE users were experiencing a crash during the SCAN MENU routine. Turns out an illegal access was occurring while validating matches. This has been corrected. * A new configuration option is available. PERFORATION SKIP reduces the number of lines included in each report page by 2 to compensate for printers which cannot have perforation skipping disabled. * Pressing ESC now will exit all menus EXCEPT the MAIN MENU. Version 1.71 NOTE: This release has no new functionality over 1.707. * Blam Entertainment Group has moved back to the US. As a result, the new address has been included in the program and in the docs. * The new graphic opening screen intended for v8.00 has been included with this version. * This release includes an all new DT.EXE program which eliminates the need for environment variables. * The installation program is new. Version 1.707 * If there is a deep burning desire to leave the catalog field empty, the program WILL lock up. The program now will put some record specific data into the catalog number field to prevent undesired program crashes. * If trying to delete a record in the Compact Disc or Cassette Tape modes, putting a lowercase 'd' in the library field would not delete the record unless the record is deleted twice (Doesn't that sound silly to you, too?). This has been corrected. Version 1.706 * If updating a LaserDisc record due to a new issue of the disc becoming available, it was possible for some of the data from the previous disc to get locked. For example, the Minute Only Encoding and Manual CX Encoding could become stuck on. This has been fixed. * The episodes on a LaserDisc or Video Tape record would mysteriously vanish after editing or entering a record. This trouble was experienced in all versions starting with 1.703. This has been corrected. * A spelling mistake of the word MONAURAL has been corrected. Version 1.705 * The flag for Surround Sound Checks in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes was getting lost. This has been corrected. Version 1.704 * There was a problem with program crashes during the editing of LaserDisc and Video Tape records. This typically occurred in limited system memory environments, roughly less than 450k FREE RAM. This has been corrected. * The Scan Records routine could miss valid matches while running in any mode. This problem has been corrected. * When changing the Multi-Audio flag in the LaserDisc mode, the screen was not getting updated correctly with the new data. This has been corrected. * Jewel Boxes were left out of the LaserDisc Jacket Selection menu due to an oversight. We've corrected this. * The Windows icon included with all previous versions of 1.70 tended to be rather bland and has been redrawn. I hope you like it. * Pressing ESC at any question will now restore the previous value (or default) to the question. * The PAGE UP key has been enhanced. On screens with multiple questions, pressing PAGE UP will now go backward one question. In the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, PAGE UP will also back up one full screen. For example, from the Special Information screen back to the Stars/Credits screen. * Pressing ESC while answering questions in any mode will skip all remaining questions for that section and proceed to the next screen. If adding a record, ESC will proceed to the next question only. Version 1.703 * Oops. Version 1.702 managed to break the Compact Disc and Cassette Tape modes completely. Program crashes galore. Everything is okay now, really. * When adding a record in the Compact Disc or Cassette Tape / Album mode, the Time Calculate routine will now run regardless of the setting in the configuration menu. The switch is only valid when editing an existing record. * In the CONFIGURATION MENU, the three toggle switch options will now show the current state of the option. Version 1.702 * A truncation problem exists in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes in the Category and/or Manufacturer fields. The storage routines have been modified to combat this problem. * A Track Time Calculator added to the Compact Disc and Cassette Tape modes. This routine can be disabled through a switch in the Configuration Menu. Version 1.701 * The Match Menu was not clearing properly during the Match Report creation. This has been corrected. Version 1.70 * Blam Entertainment Group has moved again, although this time we stayed in the same country. The program and docs have been updated with the new address and phone number. * The four Child databases used by the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes have been combined into one large database. This is a further extension of changes made back in version 1.61 to the song storage in the Compact Disc and Record Album modes. The update routine is a partial conversion only. Editing old records will systematically reformat the data into the new matrix. * The Child databases are now exclusive to specific modes. Therefore the Catalog Number Verification routine now only tests for duplicates in the Parent databases which use the same Child. For example, the LaserDisc and Videotape modes uses Child database 1 & 2 and the Compact Disc and Record Album modes use Child 4. These changes will allow for some catalog duplication when entering CD-Video discs to be entered in both the Compact Disc Database and the LaserDisc Database. * Doubles Verification has been moved in the Compact Disc and Cassette Tape mode. Doubles are now checked between the Main screen and the Tracks screen. This as been done to locate doubles before an attempt is made to extract the song titles from the child databases. * New data compression routines have been implemented. Additional storage space may be deleted when editing existing records as the data is formatted into the new matrix. * The LaserDisc and Video Tape modes have had the Edit screens reworked. The top of the screen will no longer show cryptic information for you to decode. The screens will show the same data as the VIEW option. Some screen refreshes will take place from time to time to keep the correct information displayed. * The questions which ask if you would like to edit specific information have been altered for when adding a new record. Initially, the only valid answer during an add option was to answer YES. The question is no longer asked when adding and the first question is displayed. While editing an existing record, there are no changes to these questions. * As the world Compact Disc market continues to grow, It has become necessary to modify things slightly. We are now capable of tracking up to 999 titles per disc entry in the Compact Disc and Record Album modes. I realize that there is no such thing as a 999 track CD, but 8 disc box sets do exist. * The ability to track for individual Chapter Index names in the LaserDisc mode has been added. DiscTrak will track up to 999 individual chapter indexes. * With the added ability to track so many chapter indexes, episodes and track titles, it was necessary to install an exit key to keep from having to step through all the entries if not necessary. Pressing the "ESC" key will skip the remaining entries and proceed to the next step of the program in the EDIT and VIEW screens. NOTE: If editing a screen of 10 chapters, titles or episodes, and the "ESC" key is pressed, any changes made to that screen of 10 will not be saved. Any previous screens which were changed and any subsequent screens which were not changed will be stored correctly. * The ability to track increased numbers of chapter indexes, song titles and episodes has made it necessary to install a backup key. Pressing "PAGE UP" will back the screen by one page of 10 entries in the Chapter Index, Song Titles and Episode Information screens ONLY. Any changes made to the current screen prior to pressing either the "PAGE UP" or "PAGE DOWN" keys will be saved. * The Scan Records routine has a new option to search for possible matches in the Index of Chapters within the LaserDisc Mode. * The Scan Records routine has a brand new look once the scan has been completed. A new menu is presented which looks much like the edit menu screen which allows you to step forward and backward through all found matches. This menu also adds the ability to generate a report based on all the matches. The report can be created at any point in the menu. Reports will be grouped by catalog number, as this is how the matches are sorted. This menu is active until Quit is selected. * The Edit Menu is now active until QUIT MENU is selected. After a VIEW, PRINT, EDIT or whatever, the EDIT MENU will return, displaying the current record. * When editing a record in the Compact Disc and Record Album modes, you will now be asked if you want to edit the track information. This question is skipped if you are adding a record. This will keep you from having to step through all the songs unnecessarily. * The catalog number field in the Video Tape mode has been enhanced. Originally, only the first 9 characters of the field would be retained. All 12 characters are now used. * There are several IMAX(R) films which have LaserDisc versions available. This aspect ratio has been added to the widescreen format question. * Widescreen definitions have been reworked. Also, the aspect ratio of each is displayed on the VIEW Record option from the EDIT menu. This is valid for the LaserDisc and Video Tapes modes only. * The Video Tape mode now has a field for Date of Purchase. * The Library field in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes has been changed on the Edit screens to show the actual name of the library, rather than a single character identification. The library field in all other modes remains unchanged. * Super Laser, a fairly new and some-what compatible LaserDisc enhancement, is now supported. * The EPISODE INFORMATION has been expanded in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. The total number of episodes which can be tracked per record is now flexible, in a range from 0 to 99. The entries are paged in the same manner as the Chapter Index in the LaserDisc mode and Track Listings in the Compact Disc mode. NOTE: Any episode information recorded with a previous version of DiscTrak will be preserved within this new matrix. However, it will be assumed there are four (4) episodes regardless of how many are actually being tracked. If desired, the record can be edited, changing the Episodes field to reflect the actual number of episodes on the specified record. Any old space occupied by the vacant records will be deleted. * Due to the expanded screen use in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, the "MORE" message between screens has been moved to the top of the screen. To make it's presence felt, it will also flash annoyingly. If you're running DiscTrak inside a Dos Window (rather than full screen) from inside Windows, the 'MORE' will not flash. It's a quirk with the fonts used inside Dos Windows. * Serial numbers have been expanded. Previous versions of DiscTrak only stored 6 of the characters in the serial number. The full 8 characters are now saved and previous users will have the original 8 characters restored to their serial numbers. The Automatic Registration Transfer Process will restore your 6 digit serial number to it's original 8 digits. * Serial numbers are now tested upon program loading to detect any possible tampering. If tampering is detected, the program will abort. Contact Blam Entertainment Group for help should this occur. * Although references to Video Singles (CD-Video Discs) were removed back in version 1.21, it has been decided to restore them in some way. So, there is now a flag for DISC TYPE in the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR to track for all currently available disc types. * In the LaserDisc mode, the Jacket Select menu has received the following enhancements: . Disc Box has been changed to BOX SET . Digi-Pak has been added. * The SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR has been given an enhancement with regards to JAPANESE SUBTITLES. This flag has been expanded to include ENGLISH, FRENCH, SPANISH and ITALIAN SUBTITLES. * The UTILITIES MENU has had the following modifications. . Program Information screen access is now through this menu. . Dos Shell access has been moved to this menu. * A new Library Location has been added to the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. This location is called TO BE VIEWED. I use it for titles I have purchased, but haven't viewed yet. Once viewed, the titles should be placed in their proper library. * The REPORT MENU has a new inclusion option for the TO BE VIEWED library location. The report will contain only those titles as being tagged TO BE VIEWED. These titles will also be included in the OWNED category. * Back in version 1.62 when the Catalog Number report was added in the REPORT MENU, the Category option was changed to Type/category. This has been changed back to Category as the Type option conflicted with the Title option in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. This conflict was only noticed when selecting the reports with the key stroke rather than the light bar. * Catalog Number grouping in the REPORT MENU has been changed to NUMBERED CATALOG. A bit cryptic, but unavoidable. This is to correct for the operational goof made when introducing this report grouping in version 1.62. * The Compact Disc and Album/Tape catalog now includes a flag for Dolby Surround Sound. * If upgrading from a past version, the last active record in each mode will not be remembered, for the first running of this version. This is due to new data storage routines. * The indicator bar at the top of the screen which displays INS when in the insert mode is now turned on any time extended keyboard input is required. * The ARJ archive program has been added to the list of supported archive programs. * All configuration switches and options have been moved to the CONFIGURATION MENU off the main menu. As a result, the following changes have been made: . SELECT ARCHIVE has replaced the old PKZip and LHA switch. . PRINTER CODES has been renamed to INCLUDE CODES. . SETUP PRINTER MENU has been renamed to PRINTER SETUP MENU. * With the introduction of Spectral Recording Dolby Stereo Digital, or Dolby SR*D, there needed to be a new flag to track for the process. The Spectral Recording question in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes has been enhanced to include this new process. * The modification of the title in the LaserDisc and Video tape modes has been revamped. ANY time the title is visible, it is reassembled to it's correct format (IE, "The Hunt for Red October" from "Hunt for Red October, The"). The altered format (with "THE" at the end) SHOULD never be visible and is maintained in the database for sorting reasons. * The maximum length of the production credits fields has been increased to 29 in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. * The maximum allowable song title length is now 60 characters. * In the Video Tape and LaserDisc modes, the episode number field has been increased to 5 characters to help accommodate the very odd episode numbering for programs like "The Simpsons". * The option settings for 156 character & 132 Character reports has been removed. The system incorporates a REPORT FORMAT MENU which will allow you to pick between the three reports available. This new menu is under the CONFIGURATION MENU. The three choices are: Small, Landscape and Portrait. See the system documentation for details on these reports and what they offer. * The PRINTER SETUP MENU has been given two additional sections to allow for the new Portrait report. * Under the REPORTS MENU, the report format status line has been modified to display the new format types. * In the Compact Disc mode, when selecting the REPORTS MENU, you were presented with "All Records" and "Quit Menu" in the first menu. This was a pointless menu, so we now skip directly to the grouping menu. All other modes remain unaffected. * In the Compact Disc and Record Album/Tape modes, the order of the fields being presented has been changed to allow for more logical program flow. * The EDIT and VIEW screens have been reformatted in the Compact Disc and Record Album/Tape modes. * The ARCHIVE DATA routine now includes the DT.CFG file into the archive. * The ARCHIVE DATA routine now runs maintenance before archiving the databases to insure that no deleted records are stored. * The update routine will delete all indexes and rebuild them when upgrading to a new version. This is to correct for some index corruption during the update routines. * The .CFG file from version 1.61 could not be read correctly by version 1.62. This version will configure the .CFG file from version 1.61 properly. * After using the SCAN MENU routines and viewing the default record in the EDIT MENU, the slave data from the last view in the SCAN routine was being displayed. This has been corrected. * In the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, if an empty report was chosen, the active record number would be remembered incorrectly. This has been corrected. * There was a problem with program crashes during the printing of reports directly from inside DiscTrak. The program will now drop to DOS momentarily and initiate the printout. * Some printers would eject 2 pages after the completion of a printed report rather than just one. This has been corrected. * The 156 character report (LANDSCAPE) has been changed to write only 47 lines per page rather than 48. This was to prevent problems with blank pages being included between the pages of the report. * When changing the Stereo Type from anything other than MONO to MONO in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes and the Magnetic Audio field had been previously set in the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR, the default number of tracks was not getting updated correctly. This is a carryover I missed in the modifications made in version 1.62. This has been corrected. * In the Compact Disc and Record Album/Tape modes, if for some reason an entire group of five songs and their run times were left blank (songs 1-5, 6-10, etc.) DiscTrak would cleverly decide that YOU goofed and left those five titles blank by mistake. In reality, DiscTrak was goofing. This situation has been corrected. If you feel the need to have the first 15 songs blank for some reason, we'll maintain the integrity. NOTE: If the data you have run into this problem, you must edit the record and correct it manually. * If lower case letters were used to change a catalog number while in the Catalog Duplication Check, it was possible to assign two different entries with the same catalog number. This has been corrected. * If a record was set to be deleted in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes was reedited, the default answer would be incorrect for the library location. This has been corrected. * In some very rare circumstances, it was possible for empty slaves to get saved in the Compact Disc and Record/Tape modes. This has been corrected. * While writing reports in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, there were problems with the line wrapping of the second line of the title, if a third line was necessary. This has been corrected. * In the Record Album / Cassette Tape modes, when a report was run, the top letter of the word FILE was missing in the report header. This has been corrected. * While viewing a record, the character of key pressed to step to the next screen was being displayed on the bottom line next to the words "DiscTrak System". This has been corrected. * If in the GROUPING MENU and the QUIT option was selected rather than running a report, the last active record would be remembered incorrectly. This has been corrected. Version 1.62 * Q-Sound, which we have been tracking for some time in the Compact Disc and Album/Tape modes, has been included on some films. The SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR has been given a booster. * When changing the Stereo Type from anything other than MONO to MONO, the Spectral Recording, Surround Sound and Magnetic Audio flags were not getting updated. This has been corrected. * The menu to select JACKET TYPE on the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR in the LaserDisc mode incorrectly displayed TRI-FOLD as GATE-FOLD. This has been fixed. * Invalid matches were being tagged while performing a scan of the Special Features field while in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. This has been corrected. * In the UTILITIES MENU, the option CHARACTERS has been renamed EXTEND CHR to allow for the new CODES flag. It is now accessed through "E". * The new PRINTER MENU has replaced the Printer Setup option. This menu will allow the modification of the codes one at a time. In addition, all control codes from DEC 00 through DEC 31 are now supported. * The environment variable CLIPPER was being set at the program onset then removed after exiting. However, if you had CLIPPER in your environment originally, it was removed completely. DiscTrak will now modify any existing CLIPPER variable for our specific needs and restore it to it's original value upon program completion. * The Utilities Menu has got a new option, CODES. With this option set to on (Default) the printer codes you specify in the PRINTER MENU will be added to the printed reports. If you turn CODES off, they will be omitted from the reports. * Under the REPORT GROUPING MENU there is a new option to group the report based on the Catalog Number. * In the REPORT MENU under GROUPING, the Category option has been changed to TYPE/Category to accommodate the new Catalog Number option. * Report file names have been modified to allow for all the new report options. Refer to the DT-USER.DOC file for the full description of this change. * The REPORT MENU in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes has been given a new report. Reports can now be run based on all titles in the Movie and Non-Movie libraries as well as each library independently. * Reports written from the Video Tape mode, when grouped by the Replication field were being presented incorrectly. This has been corrected. * Screen colors have been properly reset upon program exit. * Users manual has been reworked to clear up some minor errors. * A problem with leaving empty slave records in the Compact Disc and Record Album / Cassette Tape modes has been corrected. * Some minor screen writing corrections in the Record View/Print in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes have been made. * Version numbers were being remembered wrong in specific cases. Not very serious, but potentially troublesome. Version 1.611 * Cinema Digital Sound has appeared on several video releases. This flag is available under the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR. * Changes to the various documentation files as shipped. The Installation program is also modified. * If the program were to end unnaturally, but without any errors, the temporary control file wasn't being deleted. This has been corrected. Version 1.61 * Membership in the Association of Shareware Professionals has been approved. Their logo is under the Program Information Screen. * Several discs now include a Surround Sound Check pattern at the end of the program. In keeping up with the Jones, there is a question which has been added to the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR of the Video Tape and LaserDisc Modes. This question will not be asked if Surround Sound has not been marked on the disc or tape. * DiscTrak now writes DT.CFG which holds important configuration and program information. Please don't delete it. * The exit routine has been sped up if there is no file maintenance to be done. * With color bars being included on numerous discs lately, the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR now asks if they are present. As usual, this is only for the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. * The default record number generated when adding a new record should now be unique. This will attempt to prevent troubles with mislinking the child databases. Please refer to DT-USER.DOC for full information on the use of the catalog field. * The Environment Variable set by DT.COM is now cleared from memory when the program is finished. * When in the UTILITIES MENU, after an option is selected the UTILITIES MENU will return rather than exiting back to the MAIN MENU. * The song title storage routine has been completely rewritten. You now have the ability to track ALL 40 CHARACTERS in EVERY ONE of the 99 song titles without dropping a single character. This modification has also corrected troubles with title truncation and screen writing errors. * DiscTrak now tracks for the run times of each individual song in the Compact Disc and Album/Tape modes. * We now allow you to send printer codes directly to the printer during the report writing routine. You specify the codes to send in the UTILITIES MENU. * DiscTrak will not load if the .COM cannot set an environment variable. If you get an OUT OF ENVIRONMENT message, you may need to increase your environment size. Check with your DOS manuals to find out how to do this. * In the Record Album / Cassette Tape mode, the words "Noise Reduction" would appear all the time during the edit and view screens. The words are now displayed when appropriate. * Program lockups during the indexing within the report writer have been corrected. * Crash recovery systems have been implemented. * The FIND option under the EDIT MENU has been modified. If an exact match is not found, the system will look for a close possible match the same way it looks for matches in the SCAN Records routine. Version 1.601 * Back in version 1.22b, we increased the Dos Shell environment space to 400 bytes. There are some instances where even this wasn't enough. For this release, the environmental space in the Shell has been increased to 1k. * While editing a LaserDisc, the Multi-Channel question in the SPECIAL FIELDS GENERATOR had been made more intelligent. You will only be presented options for Digital Multi-Channel sound if you select Digital Sound on the initial screen. * There are some cosmetic VIEW changes with regards to Multi-Channel Audio in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. * Some versions of DOS, when calculating the number of seconds elapsed since midnight, begin their count from "0" rather than "00000". With this release, we will always calculate a 5 digit number for individual record printout names. Version 1.60 * The 35 song title per record limit in the Compact Disc and Record Album modes has been altered. The new limit is 99 titles per record. * When editing an existing record in the Compact Disc and Cassette Tape / Record Album modes, the song titles are not displayed until the program reads the number of tracks entered. This is to prevent problems recording information in titles 6-10 if they don't already exist. * The loader file has been changed from a .BAT file to a .COM file. DiscTrak will not create it for you if it is missing and the program will not load without it. * Due to overwhelming demands, DiscTrak now writes two different length reports. The UTILITIES MENU has an option for 132 Character Reports as well as 156 Character reports. * Report names have been modified to show the format of the report and extended character setting. The program documentation gives full details regarding the names of the reports themselves. * DiscTrak now supports printing a report direct from within the program. After a report is run, you will be asked if you wish to print the report. If yes, the program will tell you how to set your printer before the printing begins. PRINT.COM, provided with your DOS files, must be resident for this functionality. * In the Compact Disc and Cassette Tape / Record Album modes, the 156 column report has been altered. The positions of the Year and Category columns have been reversed. This brings the reports in line with the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. * The light bar menus now wrap from the top to the bottom. * Selections in the stereo type question in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes have changed. The option for "Re-Mix" is now "Electronically Re-Mixed". * In the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, changes have been made to the Surround Sound selection menu. * The ADD RECORD option is the only one which will work with an empty database. All other options, except for of course the QUIT option, will display an invalid option message. * Troubles with getting song titles cut off have been addressed. The modifications made here will not fully correct the problem, but will give you some extra space in the database. The full corrections are made available in a later release (This description was written much later during an abridgement of the WHATS NEW file.) * In the UTILITY MENU, LHA (formerly LHARC) is now supported in addition to PKZip. This setting works the same as the Character On/Off switch. The option shown is which compression routine will be active if selected. * In the UTILITY MENU, the ZIP database option has been renamed ARCHIVE DATA to allow for the new LHA support. * In the interest of proper grammar, all references in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes to THEATRIC TRAILERS have been changed to THEATRICAL TRAILERS. * A closing message has been added when the program exits. * The Widescreen question has been modified into a much broader scope. Version 1.50 * The GATE FOLD question in the SPECIAL FEATURES GENERATOR in the LaserDisc mode has been changed to SELECT JACKET TYPE. This will allow for the selection of the usual Single Sleeve, Gate Fold, Disc Box or the new Tri-Fold Jacket. * Those guys at Dolby Labs have come up with something called DOLBY S and as we are always on the cutting edge here, the Cassette Tape / Record Album mode has been given this new option. * A flag for Q-Sound has been added in the Compact Disc and Tape / Album modes. * When using DiscTrak for the first time, all databases are empty and when entering the EDIT MENU, a null record was displayed. This has been changed to state that the database is empty. * The 25 record per mode limitation for unregistered versions of this program has been removed. * In the SCAN RECORDS routine, while in the LaserDisc or Video Tape modes, once a selection had been made, the screen cleared the menu of choices, leaving the "Cast" prompt by mistake. The screen is no longer cleared, displaying the type of search being done. * Running the file maintenance routine from any mode except the LaserDisc mode, if there were records to be deleted and the current record was not to be deleted, the record could be remembered incorrectly. This has been corrected. * During file maintenance, if a record was marked for deletion and then remarked to another selection and no other records were marked for deletion in any mode, indexes would be erased and recreated. This has been corrected. * There were troubles with marking a record for deletion and the program not deleting it. Variations on a theme existed as well, in marking a record for deletion then changing it back to a normal status and the Child being deleted anyway. These problems are now corrected. * Intelligent coding has sped up the record saving routine and cleaned up some other half-assed ways of doing things. * If you select "Zip Database" in the Utilities Menu, the program would zip everything with a ".DBF" extension. With this version, only DiscTrak System database files will be included in the .ZIP file. * Back in version 1.40, the routine which puts the "A", "AN", and "THE" at the end of the title in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes was modified. Somehow, the lower case "A" option was missed. It's fixed now, really. Version 1.402 * The Scan Records routine has a new option under the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes. You can now also search the special features field for possible matches. * The program would crash if the ESC key was pressed in the MODE SELECT MENU. This has been corrected. * The file "DT.CFG" is no longer written or used. * The update routine has been completely rewritten to correct for program crashes when upgrading from very old versions or running the program after a crash. * If a report is written during the 10am hour from the REPORT MENU, the "1" would get cut off, resulting in a time that read "0:00am". This has been corrected. * Internal modifications have been made to increase program execution speed. Version 1.401 * The routine for adding additional records has been cleaned up to remove potential internal stack problems. * The update routine has been modified for future expansion. In the interests of keeping your sanity and due to it's total invalid status as of version 8.00, this items complete description has been removed. Version 1.40 * ALL NEW!!! All choices are now first letter driven. In addition, a lighted menu bar can cursor from option to option. * DiscTrak System now test for the presence of a color monitor. You know what that means, MONOCHROME is now directly supported. * DiscTrak now tests for a parallel printer during the Record Print routine and the Scan records routine. If the printer is not found, the information is written directly to disk with a unique name. Full information can be found in the program documentation. * The Video Cassette mode has been renamed Video Tape for simplicity reasons. * All references to Stars in this program have been changed to Cast. * References to Credits has been expanded to Production Credits to remove conflicts with the new "Cast" Designation. * When adding a record in any mode, the system now asks if you would like to enter another record. Answering yes repeats the record add routine. No takes you back to the main menu. * During the VIEW option in the LaserDisc and Video Tape modes, empty data screens are not displayed. * Operation in the Scan Record routine has changed. Instead of the select output question, you will be shown the valid match and then asked if you want to print it. This is to save paper and sanity. * The Scan Record routine has been given a new option. Under the LaserDisc and Video Tape Modes, you can now search for any information in the episodes information. * Dos Shell new remembers the proper drive in use by DiscTrak. * In the LaserDisc and Video Tape mode, the default selection for the library classification has been changed from DELETE to AVAILABLE NOW. * In the EDIT MENU, if you select either NEXT RECORD or PREVIOUS RECORD, the system will change that to the default for the next key press. * All references to "EXIT" have been changed to "QUIT" and is now accessed trough "Q". * With the addition of the UTILITY MENU, the following changes have been made: . Archiving the databases with PKZip has been moved to here. . File Maintenance has been moved to this menu. * The MAIN MENU has incorporated the following changes: . Scan Record routine has been moved from the EDIT MENU. . DOS SHELL and is now accessed through the letter "D". * The EDIT MENU has incorporated the following modifications: . Add Record has been moved to this menu. . Record Print is now accessed with "R". * Under the REPORT MENU, the following changes have been made: . Now Available is now accessed with "N". . All Records is now accessed with "A". . Option to include only the Tapes OR Records in the Tape Mode * Under the GROUPING MENU, which is under the REPORT MENU, the following changes have been made: . MPAA Rating is now accessed with "M". . Replication is now accessed with "R". . Video Label is now accessed with "V". . Record Label is now accessed with "R". * The Album/Tape mode has been renamed the Tape/Album mode. * Under the Tape/Album mode, the option for Dolby HX Pro as a Noise reduction method has been removed. Instead, it is asked as a question in addition to the Noise Reduction setting. * The Tape/Album mode asks a new question. Extended Dynamic Range cassettes are everywhere. I neglected to notice this when building the mode initially. The program references this system by it's trademark call letters XDR. * In the LaserDisc and Video Tape Modes, a selection has been added to the Color Type question. Electronically Colorized movies are out there no matter how much the public hates them. * Extensive source code rewrites to allow for a more user-friendly interface and future expansion. Program speed has also been improved. * Catalog Duplication checks have been modified to increase speed when a duplicate is found. Unfortunately, the speed with which the checks themselves are made can't be sped up any further. * The update routines have been sped up. Messages will flash on the screen very quickly. * During File Maintenance, DiscTrak now remembers the active record for all modes when sorting. Previously only the current mode was remembered. * Report headers in the Compact Disc and Tape/Album modes have been updated. In addition, the time stamp on the top of each page now calculates for 12 hour time more accurately in all modes. * Reports in the Compact Disc and Tape/Album mode have a new grouping option. You can now group your reports by Library classification. * After your serial number is installed in the PROGRAM INFORMATION screen, the registration solicitation message will no longer be displayed. * When adding a record to the LaserDisc or Video Tape Catalog, the program checks for the presence of "The", "An" and "A" in both UPPER and lower case. * For those of you out there who's printer can't print the extended character set, there is now an option in the Utility Menu to disable the Extended characters on any output to file or printer. * In the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR, if you answer YES to Magnetic Audio Master and you also selected MONO in the Stereo type, you will not be asked the number of tracks. The number will default to 1. * While viewing a record in the Video Tape mode, the top of the screen displayed "LaserDisc Catalog" rather than "Video Tape Catalog". This has been corrected. * In the File Maintenance Routine, the Video Tape database was being sorted incorrectly. The only drawbacks were delays in skipping forward and backward record by record in the EDIT MENU. This has been corrected. * Isolated troubles with the serial number installation have been corrected. * The system would allow you to delete a catalog number and not put anything in it's place. Since this field is the basis for Child to Parent linking, this field will never be blank, no matter what you do to it. * Troubles in the Catalog Duplication Routine while in the Video Tape mode have been corrected. * In any mode, if you marked a record for DELETION and then undelete it by marking it with another option, the program would run the extended maintenance routine when exiting. To correct for anything getting missed, the program will make a final scan of the database marked with possible deletions and verify there are records to be deleted. If not, the extended routine will not be run. * During the FILE MAINTENANCE routine, if a file contains deleted records or was sorted, the file was indexed and the progression bar was not cleared from the screen during the next database scan mode. This has been corrected. Version 1.311 * The unprompted option "Z" from the MAIN MENU has been restored and calls up PKZIP to archive all the .DBF Files. It is up to you to have PKZIP somewhere on you hard drive. It must be pathed. * Program crashes during the File Maintenance routine when records have been deleted are fixed. The routine now indexes before exiting. * If a title is viewed in either the LaserDisc or Video Cassette mode and there are no stars or credits listed and there is information in the special field or episode information (next screen), the colors on that screen are wrong. This has been corrected. * The current record is now remembered after running the reports. * Intermittent appearance of the progression bar has been corrected. * If exiting from the program in either the Compact Disc or Album/Tape modes with the "X" option from the MAIN MENU, the last active record number was saved incorrectly. This has been corrected. * If in either the Compact Disc or Album/Tape modes and a FILE SORT is performed, the last active record would be remembered wrong. This has been corrected. * Two new report groupings have been added. RELEASING LABEL has been added to all modes and REPLICATION has been added to the LaserDisc and Video Cassette modes. Version 1.31 * Search for Names of Stars and Names in Credits has been added to the LaserDisc and Video Cassette Modes. This is very much the same as the song search for the Compact Disc and Album/Tape modes. * In the Report Menu, the name of the report being written is now displayed on the screen. Remember, all reports are written directly to disk, never to the screen or printer. * The Dos Shell function wrote a 161 byte file called "DT-SHELL.MEM" to disk which was used to maintain specific exit sanity information. This file is no longer written or used. * In the Song/Star/Credit search routine, the record number active when entering the routine is remembered and restored upon returning to the main menu. * Mixed recording formats on discs have continued to grow. Especially where an odd side is in CLV/CAA. I've added an option for this in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. * The DISC MENU has been renamed the EDIT MENU and is now accessed with the letter "E". * The FIND RECORD option under the EDIT MENU is now also available from the MAIN MENU as well. Press "F", which is unprompted, to find a specific Disc or Tape. * FILE SORT access key has changed to "L". This is to facilitate the Find option from the main menu. * DiscTrak System now remembers the last active record in all modes. * After a FILE SORT, the current record is now remembered, rather than defaulting back to the first record. * The update routine for v1.30 tended to update when not necessary, especially if the update ran again, after the initial update was applied. This has been corrected. * The program would crash during the Mode Select Screen if a program record had been either added or edited at any time before trying to change the mode. This has been corrected. * The exit routines have been upgraded. There was a problem with records which were marked for deletion, not actually getting deleted. This has been corrected. * Troubles with recording information on Bilingual Discs in the LaserDisc mode has been corrected. * Catalog Duplication checks were not being performed under specific circumstances when adding records. This has been corrected. * During the Song/Star Search routine, the copyright line across the bottom of the screen used the wrong colors. This is fixed. * The Star/Song Search routine would tag a record as invalid for the match incorrectly. There will still be invalid matches, but they are indeed invalid. * After adding a Compact Disc or a Cassette Tape/Album, the program would check catalog duplication at any subsequent editing of any record in that mode. This has been corrected. * During Song Search, the system failed to pause between the first and second matches, provided both were valid, to allow you to exit to the main menu. This has been corrected. * In the view option of the LaserDisc and Video Cassette modes, the last two characters of the credits fields would wrap around to the other side of the screen, provided they contained the full 27 characters. This has been corrected. * Spacing on the view option in the LaserDisc field has been corrected on manual CX encoded discs. Version 1.30 * Non Registered users are now restricted to 25 records per mode, due to the now dynamic nature of the program. * Two new modes of operation are available. Albums/Cassettes and Video Cassettes. * With the introduction of v1.30, the program must be invoked with a batch file, called "DT.BAT". This is included within the PKZIP file. In addition, the trouble with EXPANDED MEMORY has been addressed. EXTENDED MEMORY is disabled for ALL CLIPPER COMPILED programs until your computers next reboot. * The executable file for DiscTrak System is no longer called "DISCTRAK.EXE". The file is now "DT-xxx.EXE" where xxx is the version number of the program. (i.e. version 1.30 is called "DT-130.EXE") * A new option is available for Compact Disc collectors. The ability to search the entire database for a specific song has been added. You can output the information to the Screen or to the Printer. * Screen changes to the Compact Disc Mode to make things look a little bit cleaner. * In the Compact Disc mode now asks two questions, much like those at the beginning of the LaserDisc edit and add screens. The fields for AAD/ADD/DDD and CD3/CDV/CDG are now questions rather than direct edit fields. * The Compact Disc mode used to step you through all 35 possible tracks during a disc add or edit. The number of fields displayed is now controlled by the number of tracks you specify. You are still allowed only 35 track titles. * DiscTrak now remembers the last active record as well as the active mode. Any time you re-enter DiscTrak System without a command line switch, the program will automatically go to the last record active on the system in the appropriate mode. * Shell to Dos option now removes the program entirely from memory, allowing you to run any application you wish while in the shell. When you return to DiscTrak, the program will remember which mode, record and directory which were active at the point of exit. * Program exits have been significantly sped up. The program now runs very quick maintenance on the files unless you have tagged a record for deletion during the session. * Program crashes when an invalid grouping selection was made in REPORTS MENU has been corrected. * Program crashes in the Mode Select menu have been corrected. * The number of Stars the program will track per movie in the LaserDisc and Video Cassette modes has been increased to 8. * The number of characters allowed in each of the Stars Fields in the LaserDisc and Video Cassette modes has been increased to 32. * The number of characters allowed in each of the Credits Fields in the LaserDisc and Video Cassette modes has been increased to 27. * The "More" prompt has been moved to the left side of the screen. * When files were missing, the program said they were listed on the right. They've always been on the left. * There have been several movies, which in their credits specifically reference being recorded in a LucasFilm THX equipped theatre. For these pictures, I have added a flag in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. * Additional footage is something that pops up from time to time. You are now asked this question during the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. * The Default answer for the side number for the Short Side CAV question in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR now defaults to the last side specified for the disc being edited. * The Special Field on the Episode Screen in both the LaserDisc and Video Cassette Modes has been increased to 70 characters. * The DISC MENU is now accessed with the letter "D". * Under the DISC MENU, the option to LOCATE a specific disc has been changed. The option is now "FIND DISC", accessed through the letter "F". * There were problems with the Automatic Registration Transferal. From time to time, the program would appear to work correctly, but upon exiting the program it would be discovered the .EXE file had somehow shrunk to a very compact 69 bytes. With this version, the A.R.T. has been improved and should operate correctly. * In very old discs, the CX Noise Reduction didn't turn on automatically, even on players equipped with automatic CX Switching. There is now a option to tag for this in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR, provided the disc was issued prior to 1986. * In the LaserDisc mode, there are new conditions to being asked two of the questions in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. The "Table of Contents" question is asked only if the Disc Issued Date is after 1988. The "Minute only Encoded" question is only asked if the Disc Issued date is prior to 1986. * The program no longer allows lower case characters in the catalog fields. If you put lowercase characters in the catalog entry, they will be converted to uppercase. Version 1.22b * Progression Bars have changed color again. * The Shell to Dos option could loose characters in the prompt in limited environments. This is corrected. * Program crashes in the Catalog Verification mode have been corrected. * In the LaserDisc Mode, the "MORE" prompt appeared at every screen pause, rather than only when there was actually more information. This has been corrected. Version 1.22 * To switch between Compact Discs and LaserDiscs, there is now a menu which appears. Mode select will allow you to move between LD's and CD's. This is to facilitate future expansion. * The Program information screen now totals the number of discs being tracked by each mode. * The information in the 5 Child files are only written when required. Originally they were rewritten every time the Parent records were updated. * The empty progression bar routine has been modified. * DiscTrak now checks for duplicate Catalog Numbers in all modes of operation to keep the Child's accurately linked to the Parents. * The unprompted "Z" option from the MAIN MENU, used to archive the databases, is no longer available. * The pop up menus for Disc and Reports no longer appear on the side of the main menu. Instead, they replace the main menu in the center of the screen. This is also applicable for the File Maintenance Routine. * The Surround Sound mode has a new option. If the Stereo Type is "Ultra" the Surround Mode is "US" for "Ultra Surround". * Automatic Registration Transferal is now implemented. If your version is at least 1.21, DiscTrak will read your serial number out of the "DISCTRAK.EXE" file and install it in the new version. * The "Shell to Dos" option now invokes your original prompt, rather than writing it's own. However, the prompt will have the "Type 'EXIT' to Return to DiscTrak" message at the beginning. * Reports were being written at only 72 lines per page rather than 73 as stated in the documentation. With this version, reports are at the correct 73 line length. * In Reports, the line separating the header from the report body was one character too short. * In the LaserDisc mode, the Surround Sound field was being generated when it shouldn't have. To correct this, you are now asked the surround mode if the STEREO TYPE field is selected as ANALOG or DIGITAL. * In the LaserDisc mode, the Stereo Type field did not display in the View Record section. This has been corrected. Version 1.21 * The SHELL TO DOS option from the MAIN menu no longer requires the SHEL.BAT file. Feel free to delete it from your drive. * The file DTSET.MEM is no longer used. You can delete it from your drive if you wish. * There is no longer a separate update program. The update is built into the code and will test the files for update application the first time you run any new version of DiscTrak. * The questions asked at the beginning and end of the LaserDisc edit screen now only allow the options presented. If an invalid answer is given, the default or previous answer will apply. * The program information screen now includes a registration encouragement message, as well as your serial number. * Theatrical Trailers are becoming popular. There is now an option for this in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. * Gate Fold Jackets are increasing in numbers. There is now an option for this feature in the SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR. * There is no longer a specific field for CD-Video Format in the LaserDisc mode of the program. In addition, the CD-Video format name has been removed from existence. Everything is now called LaserDisc, as it should. * Sample database files (SAMPLE.ZIP) are no longer included. * The program now supports verifiable serial numbers. Non-registered users will be limited to 50 LaserDisc's and 50 Compact Discs before being forced to register. See the main documentation on how to register. * Once again the report names have been modified. See the program documentation for full information. * Internal program logic continues to improve program size and execution speed. * The SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR has become smarter. Questions will only be asked if they could possibly be valid. Version 1.20a * New title screen added at program loading. * Main menu screens have been updated. * Disctrak now creates any index (.NTX) files if they don't exist. * Color control has been improved. * Japanese Subtitle information in the View Record screen of the LaserDisc mode now appears where the closed caption prompt appears. This is since both do not usually appear in the same program. * There is now a hidden option, "Z", from the main menu. This will call up PKZIP to archive all the databases. * The Compact Disc database is now DT7.DBF and the LaserDisc database has been renamed to DT6.DBF. * The system will now remember the last active mode and will return to that mode with the next use of DiscTrak. A command line switch will override this functionality. * Report grouping is now available. Reports generated by DiscTrak can be grouped by things such as Title, Category, MPAA Rating and Year of release. Due to this change, the report names now have been modified. Refer to the system documentation for full information. * The link for SIDEWAYS has been removed. The system still creates reports with the same dimensions of 156 x 73 in ASCII. Use the printing program or printer of your choice capable of these specifications. * In the LaserDisc mode, the order in which the CAST/CREDITS screen and the EPISODE INFORMATION screens are presented have been reversed. * There is now a progression bar during File Maintenance and during Index Creation. The bar also updates during report generation. * Internal system logic has been further modified to decrease program size, reduce memory requirements and increase execution speed. Version 1.19 * Report names have changed. The reports now generate a file with a name related to the report run. See the program documentation for full information. * The report writer now looks for "SIDEWAYS.COM" in the current directory when printing reports. * There are changes to the "Multi-Channel Audio" field inside the LaserDisc Mode. Any records you have encoded with BILINGUAL soundtracks must be updated manually as the update routine can't pull enough information from the existing data to make the proper adjustments. * The add routine now defaults the catalog number. * All timed screen messages are now based on the system clock, not an internal counter. * The LaserDisc View option has been completely rewritten. Version 1.18b * The Number of Episodes which can be tracked per record in the LaserDisc mode has been increased to 4. * The Add Disc routine in the LaserDisc mode has been automated. * Screen colors have been significantly altered. * In the LaserDisc mode, the LIBRARY classifications have been changed. Main Library and Back Library have been changed to Movie and Non-Movie respectively. * The VIEW option under the LaserDisc mode has been restructured to be faster and more accurate with information. * The database for the Compact Discs has been renamed from DT00.DBF to DT6.DBF. * As DISCTRONICS does not use COLD CAST Replication, nor do they even press their own LaserDiscs, the internal trap to display this misinformation has been removed. * A Program Information screen has been added, displaying version, compile time and date. * Command line switches for each mode have been added. * The Report Menu is now accessed with "R". * In the LaserDisc mode, only valid library options are allowed. Version 1.17c * First issue as shareware. * An exit message has been added. * DiscTrak now scans for missing files while loading. All missing file names are displayed. * Beginning and End of File bumpers in the Next/Previous routines inside the DISC MENU are improved. * Smart programming as allowed greater execution speed. * References to CD-Video Singles in the LaserDisc mode have been removed. * Edit and view screens on the LaserDisc mode now are paged only on the lower half of the screen, displaying the title, audio, video and disc information at all times during the edit and view. * While recording information into the database, a status message is now displayed. * The File Maintenance routine has been completely rewritten for greater speed and logic. * Reports now test for the possibility of an empty report before beginning. Version 1.06 * In addition to LaserDisc's, DiscTrak now also tracks Compact Discs in a separate database. The CD mode can track up to 35 individual song titles for each disc and also has tags for CD-Video and CD3 discs. * Rather than one database as used in the past, we now use multiple databases. As a result, DiscTrak now is seven database files. * Multiple reports are now available through the REPORTS MENU. * SHELL to Dos is now available. * The STEPPER MENU has been called the DISC MENU now. * The SELECT DISC has now been called LOCATE DISC in the Disc Menu. * The copyright line across the bottom of the screen is displayed throughout the program now. The version of the program is now on this line as well. * File Maintenance, while not faster in entire process due to the increase number of databases, is more intelligent and sorts quicker, per database. * User variances have been eliminated to a certain extent when entering data. For example, Stereo Type now offers several choices, rather than requiring the data be typed in. * A TAG field has been added to compensate for multiple locations of a disc throughout your collection. This field also marks records for deletion. * The SPECIAL FIELD GENERATOR now includes flags for Minute Encoding, Japanese Subtitles, Table of Contents, Multi-Channel Audio, Digital Video Transfer, Supplemental Material, Magnetic Audio Masters, Sepia Tone Coloring and Short Side CAV rather than dedicating fields to them directly. This data is written into a separate field within the database which will not infringe on the Special Features field as with previous versions. * The Multi-Channel audio has been modified to allow for Digital Sound applications as well as Bilingual and Analog Multi-Channel sound. * A non-controllable flag is now present during the LaserDisc View routine stating the replication process used by the pressing facility. Most of the time, this will state INJECTION MOLD. Discs pressed at 3M use COLD CAST MOLD which will be stated as such. In order for this to work, the first four characters of the pressing field must be "3M M" exactly. Discs pressed by DISCTRONICS will also state COLD CAST which was later determined to be incorrect. * The PRETITLE field, used for sorting of titles beginning with A, AN & THE, has been removed. DiscTrak will attempt to work a little magic and assemble titles correctly. In the ADD routine for the LaserDiscs, type the title exactly as spoken, such as "An Officer and a Gentleman". The title will be stored as "Officer and a Gentleman, An", but during the VIEW and PRINT routines for individual records, the title is reassembled into back to its proper format. If, for some bizarre reason, the title should be formatted incorrectly during VIEW/PRINT, you may edit the title any way you wish. * We've increased the number of Stars the program can track up to 7 from 6. * The number of Episode titles the LaserDisc mode can track has been upgraded from 2 to 3. * The Next/Previous options in the DISC MENU now include end of file and beginning of file bumpers to keep from displaying null records. * Report headers are printed in much greater detail than before, giving date, time, page number, Report name, program version and other handy data. * Reports are now internally written rather than calling in outside .FRM files. * Ah, the grand experiment. Modular programming has made the program infinitely faster and really cleaned up lots of code duplication. Version 0.90 * Well this could be considered a rebirth. This version looks nothing like the anything done previously. It can stand alone (IE, not in a dBASE environment) although I was still writing in dBASE at the time. * Everything has been reformatted. All fields are geared toward actual abbreviations rather than an "X" in a block. * The STAR report, which was never completed, has been removed. * Key letter access on all menu choices rather than numbered access. * Add, Edit and View screens have been completely reformatted. * Credits now include Writer and Screenplay Authors. * SPECIAL FEATURES FIELD GENERATOR has been added to track things such as Supplemental Material, Short Side CAV, Magnetic Audio Tracks, Digital Video Transfer and Sepia Tone. The answers for these questions will be displayed in the Special Features Field. * The Stepper Menu now gives full interaction to the database, allowing you to see which record you're about to view or edit before you do. Also this will let you step from record to record, forward or backward through the entire database. * All program code is now internal except for the report writer which still requires the .FRM file. * Printing an individual record is now supported. * Screen colors are a nice added touch. * All data, when viewed is displayed in simple English terms rather than the abbreviated codes used to enter the data. Version 0.10 * Initial version. If you can call it that.