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1991-05-25
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The Movie Search Library
Version 1.4
Copyright (C) 1991 Scott Edgar
Files included in the MOVIE.ZIP archive:
Filename Filesize Description
-------- --------- ------------
MOVIE.EXE 45528 The movie search program
MOVIE.DAT 153008 Data file for MOVIE.EXE
MOVIE.DOC 4986 You're looking at it!
The Movie Search Library is for all you VCR-loving couch potatoes that
want a VERY fast reference library when deciding on that ever important
question - "Which video(s) am I going to rent tonight?" It contains a
database of over 3800 movies that are currently available on video. The
unregistered version contains movies up to 1985, although there are a few
(very few) more recent titles sprinkled throughout. The registered
version contains over 11,000 titles and is constantly updated. More on
that later....
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
----------------------
To run MOVIE.EXE, MOVIE.DAT *must* be in the same subdirectory. At the
DOS prompt type MOVIE. The program then uncompresses the MOVIE.DAT file
(this takes about 45 seconds on my 8mhz machine - the uncompressed file
is approx. 360k) then presents you with a brief set of instructions.
At the: "Enter a Search Key " prompt, enter a movie title or name of an
actor, actress, director or year to search for. It will then search the
database and display all of the records that match your search criteria.
The movies are displayed as they are found and pauses after each match giving
you the option of terminating the search after each "hit". After completing
it's search, you have the option of reviewing all of the movies that matched
your search criteria or performing another search. To search the entire file
from beginning to end takes approximately 6 seconds on my machine.
FORMAT OF MOVIE ENTRIES
-----------------------
I've used the format put forth by Eric Balkan of the Balkan Group to
store and display the movie data. Each entry looks like this:
Movie Title
MPAA rating
Date of Release
Major Cast members
Director - (always prefaced with a D: - as in "D:Oliver Stone")
Scriptwriter - (prefaced with a W: - as in W:Stephen King)
Original author (if not an original screenplay - appears in parentheses)
Some other designations that have special meanings:
(*) means that the entry it's next to (Title, actor, etc) got an Oscar
(A) Australian Movies
+ Good flick!
- Not so good flick
Some of the movies are also characterized by type - i.e. Drama, Action,
Horror, etc.
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
-----------------------------
I've opted for speed and flexibility vs. sophisticated search
structures. I've found that most people don't want 5 different sets of
search criteria for a movie database..."Just give me all the Clint
Eastwood movies...or all the Steven Spielberg's, or all the Jack
Nicholson's, etc... and give 'em to me fast!"
The program reads in large blocks of data and then does a simple
character string search to see if there any matches in that block. If
so, it isolates the record (each individual movie entry) massages
the data a bit to make it presentable, and then displays it for you.
It then moves it's internal pointer and repeats the process until
that block of data has been searched completely. It then reads in the
next block...etc...etc.
This simplicity has its good and bad points. On the downside searching
for "John" will not only give you all the John's, but also the
Johnson's, Johnny's etc. If you want to avoid this, be more specific
in your search keys. On the upside, the program operates VERY fast.
Also, if you aren't quite sure of the spelling of a name...just type in
a part of it that you are sure of, like "Schwar"...for Arnold
Schwarzenegger...and you're sure to find it! (Of course you could be a
real chicken and just search for "Arnold" too).
I'm sure that a great programmer would say that you don't have to
sacrifice one for the other. Unfortunately I'm not a great programmer,
I'm just a VCR-loving couch potato with moderate programming
skills...but I'm working on it.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS & ORDERING INFORMATION
------------------------------------------
If you'd like the registered version of the Movie Search Library, which
includes over 11,000 titles (current through 1991, and constantly
updated)...along with the latest version of the MOVIE search program
(yep...I'm still working on it) - Send $30.00 along with your name,
address and phone number-(optional) to:
Scott Edgar
1945 Landings Drive
Mountain View, CA 94043
Questions, comments and suggestions are free, of course
and can be sent to the above address or to my CompuServe mailbox
70053,105.
Happy Viewing!