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1988-03-21
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265 lines
R E V O L V E R
Version 1.0
Copyright D. Brown, 1988
Revolving Video Tape Catalog
Like any good software, Revolver is self-documenting, guiding users
through a series of self-explanatory menus. The purpose of this file
is to further explain how the program should be used, its inherent
strengths and weaknesses, and to trace its development.
PURPOSE:
Revolver is a tiny List Manager, designed specifically for
maintaining a revolving catalog of video tape recordings. The current
version maintains two data files, one for VHS tapes and another for
BETA. The size of the files is limited only by the size of the
universe (except the write-protected portion).
* * Important Note * *
This program was never intended to be used in maintaining a permanent
video tape library. That is best accomplished with one of the
numerous programs specifically designed for that purpose, or by
designing your own using a database manager.
PHILOSOPHY:
Time-Shifting.
Back in the Old Days -- before the Video Tape Recorder was
invented -- the only way to make sure you didn't miss a television
program was to be sitting in front of a television set at the time it
was being broadcast by a local TV station. But a VCR allows you the
freedom to record a program or event for later playback while you
watch another program or perform other activities. The operative word
here is "later." If you've ever recorded a Super Bowl you would
otherwise have missed -- and manage to play it back before learning
REVOLVER Documentation Page 2.
the outcome -- you have experienced the great illusion time-shifting
can create.
This technique also allows you to still catch the latest episode
of your favorite series while you're out at dinner with friends, or
capture all segments of a mini-series for playback in one comfortable
evening (fast-forwarding through commercials, of course).
Keeping track of which tapes contain recorded material and which
have been watched is no problem as long as you only have two or three.
But when you get five or six; ten or twenty -- or have two machines --
they quickly becomes unmanageable. If you try labeling each tape each
time something is recorded on it, the only way to find anything is by
looking through all your tapes. The same manual sort must be made to
determine which tapes are available for re-recording.
If you don't have a computer, you can solve this problem by
numbering your tapes and keeping track of what is on them in a book or
with index cards. If you have a computer, you can use Revolver.
Simplicity of Design
In the name of simplicity, I deliberately omitted many "features"
that could track tape speed, elapsed time and calculate the time
remaining on each tape. Such additions would allow users to "pack"
their tapes with as much material as possible. But remember, video
tape is a liner media. To locate something at the end of a full tape,
you have to roll through all the preceding material. (If you can't
bear wasting an entire tape on one program or event, Revolver allows
you room for multiple entries.)
I also omitted a routine that printed the entire catalog on the
screen because I thought it would seldom, if ever, be used. It is my
feeling that the addition of complicated, unnecessary or cumbersome
features diminishes a program's usefulness.
Simplicity also dominated the design of Revolver's user interface.
I've tried to make each request for data as unambiguous as possible,
explaining whenever necessary. In most cases, pressing the RETURN key
leaves data unchanged or restores the field to the "safest" condition.
OPERATION:
Developing a Revolving Catalog
Number each each of your tapes consecutively. The numbers
included with most tape labels are excellent for this purpose. Place
them on the back or "spine", of each tape box. That way you can
retrieve your tapes easily from a shelf. You may wish to label each
tape with a corresponding number, or get a little wild and leave them
unlabeled. (I have no real authority for this, but sticking those
numbers on the tape cassette itself may damage your VCR.) Use the
REVOLVER Documentation Page 3.
standard tape labels, instead.
Availability
After setting up the physical tape catalog, enter the current
contents of the tapes in the Revolver File. Blank tapes should be
marked Available (You'll notice you can't put any other information on
an "Available" tape. IMPORTANT NOTE: Selecting "Available" will also
ERASE any information previously recorded for that Tape Number.)
Selecting "In Use" (by pressing 'U' or RETURN) will move the
cursor to the next field and leave any data in the descriptive portion
of the record unchanged.
Pass Recorder
I provided an opportunity to record the number of Passes so you
can keep track of how many times you record over each tape. Here
again, I have no authoritative source, but suggest you keep the
maximum number of Passes below 20. SUGGESTION: When the number of
Passes exceeds 10, start using that tape for material you may wish to
place in your permanent library. Then remove that tape from
circulation and replace it with a fresh one.
Description
Three lines of 65 characters each are provided for describing the
material on each tape. Pressing RETURN at the beginning of each line
will leave the line unchanged and move the cursor to the next line.
But touching any other key will ERASE the contents of that line.
Print a Catalog
Once you've entered all the necessary information, make a printout
of the catalog. Available Tapes will appear at the top of the
printout, so you can tell at a glance which tapes are ready for
recording.
This printout should be used in conjunction with Revolver. It is
not intended that you update the data files online each time you watch
a tape or record something on an available one. Instead, you should
mark up the paper catalog until it is no longer usable. Then, fire up
Revolver, update its files with your changes and print a new catalog.
UNDESIRABLE FEATURES:
The current release of Revolver represents hours of debugging, but
I'm sure it contains a dormant bug or two. Like any software,
Revolver also contains a few undesirable features which will be
REVOLVER Documentation Page 4.
remedied in later releases or don't merit the amount of energy it
would take to cure them. Here are the ones I am aware exist:
* Generally, the editor is a little touchy around the edges. It's
not a Word Processor, so don't push it, okay. It is particularly
testy about the first character of each line. Experience will show
that touching any key (except RETURN) at that point will erase the
rest of the line. But whatever you touch also BECOMES the first
character of that line. So make up your mind before you start typing.
* You may dynamically increase the size of the tape file by
selecting '<A>dd' from the editing menu. But you can not decrease the
size of the file. So think before you push the 'A' key. (Should you
accidentally start to Add a tape, use CONTROL-BREAK to abort the
program. Then restart the software.)
* Although a great deal of care was taken to prevent the user from
accidentally entering bad data, you can force incorrect information
into the fields if you work at it hard enough.
* I also haven't trapped out such stupidity as trying to print or
examine the Available Tapes of a nonexistent file.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
Revolver is written TURBO Pascal4.0 for IBM PC and true compatibles.
It may conflict with some memory resident software such as SideKick.
If you have an extremely large Tape File, you may find your printer
quits before the entire file is printed out. In such case, use a
Spooler or add the following statement to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
MODE LPT1:,,P
Where LPT1 is your printer port.
THE FUTURE:
Look for these possible additions in future releases:
* A Search Routine might be a nice addition -- but would it really
be used?
* The next generation will probably not support the Beta format as
it is going the way of the CP/M operating system.
Please refer all questions or bug reports to David Brown, via:
MCI Mail: 221-0001
Compuserve: 73307,1432