Contents for Media Browser Help

Media Browser lets you find and play several types of media files from pre-defined groups of files called collections. Media files can include several types of data, including the following:

Digital sound

MIDI

Pictures

Digital video

Media Browser also lets you use files from collections in your presentations, spreadsheets, and other documents by copying them to your hard drive or to another mass-storage device.

To learn how to use Help, press F1.

How to...

Start Media Browser

Choose a Collection

Install a New Collection

Remove a Collection

Select, Play, or View a File

Copy a File

Change the Destination Directory


Starting Media Browser

You can start Media Browser from the Accessories group on your Windows desktop, or from the menus in Program Manager and File Manager.

To start Media Browser from the Accessories Group

Double-click the Media Browser icon in the Accessories group.

To start Media Browser from a command menu

1	From the File menu in Program Manager or in File Manager, choose the Run command.

2	In the Command Line box, type the following:

MBROWSER.EXE


Choosing a Collection

The Collections box in Media Browser's main window lists all collections that you have installed.

To choose a collection

Double-click its icon in the Collections box.


Installing a New Collection

When you install a new collection, Media Browser adds the icon and name for the collection to the list in the Collections box. The Add Collection button in Media Browser's main window lets you install a new collection.

To install a new collection:

1	If the new collection is on a CD, insert the CD in your CD-ROM drive.

2	In Media Browser's main window, choose the Add Collection button. The Add Collection dialog box appears.

3	In the Add Collection dialog box, choose the directory that contains the file that defines the collection you want to add.

You can use the Drives box to select any drive on your system, and you can use the Directories box to select any directory on the current drive.

4	Choose OK.

Media Browser finds the .MBR file in the selected directory, and uses information from the .MBR file to install the new collection. To complete the installation, Media Browser displays the collection's icon in the Collections list.

5	To see a list of files in the collection, double-click the collection's icon in the Collections list.


Removing a Collection

Removing a collection does not delete the collection's files from the CD or directory, it only deletes the icon and collection name from the Collections list. If you want to use the collection again at a later time, just reinstall it.

To remove a collection

1	Click the icon for the collection you want to remove.

2	Choose the Remove Collection button in Media Browser's main window.

Media Browser displays a dialog box asking you to confirm that you want to remove the collection icon and name from the Collections list.

3	To remove the collection, choose OK.

To cancel the remove process, choose Cancel.


Selecting, Playing, or Viewing a File

Selecting a file is the same thing as highlighting its name in the Files list. Playing or viewing a file lets you see and/or hear its content, and is the same as activating it. When you select, play, or view a file, Media Browser displays information about the file in the File Information box. This information includes the name of the file, a brief description of the file content (if available), and a picture or icon associated with the file (if available).

Use either of the following methods to play or view a data file from a collection.

To select a file

Highlight the file's name in the Files list.

To play or view a file

Double-click the filename in the Files list.

Or

Select the filename in the Files list and then choose the Play\View button.

If no files are selected in the Files list, the Play button is not available.


Copying a File

You can copy files from some collections to a directory of your choice.

If the current collection allows you to copy files, the Copy button is included between the Remove Collection and the Help buttons on the right side of the Media Browser window. If the collection is read only, the Copy button is not included in the window.

To copy files from a collection to another directory

1	Choose the Copy button.

Choosing the Copy button changes the Media Browser window by adding a column of check boxes to the files listed in the collection and by adding the Destination box at the bottom of the Media Browser window. The Destination box includes the Copy To box, the Copy Files button, and the Set Destination button.

If you choose the Copy button a second time, the Media Browser window reverts to its original presentation (without copy-related check boxes and controls).

2	In the Files list, select the check box next to the name of each file you want to copy.

Media Browser displays information about the currently-selected file in the File Information box. This information includes the name of the media file, and, if available, a brief textual description of the file contents and an icon associated with the media file.

The Size Of Files To Copy field in the Destinationreflects the total size of all files selected.

3	The Copy To box identifies the current destination directory. Choose the Set Destination button if you want to specify a different directory as the location for copied files.

The Set Copy Destination dialog box appears, allowing you to select a drive on your computer system or a network drive, and a directory on the selected drive.

If you want to use this directory automatically for future copying, you can choose the Use As Default box in the dialog.

4	To copy the files, choose the Copy Files button next to the Destination box.

If no files are selected, the Copy Files button is unavailable.

5	If you want to cancel a copy operation that is underway, choose the Cancel button in the Copying Files dialog box.

When a copy operation is canceled, the destination directory will contain files that were copied in their entirety before the operation was canceled. Files that haven't been copied won't be copied to the destination directory. Partially-copied files will not be added to the destination directory.


Changing the Destination Directory

When you copy one or more files from a collection to a mass-storage device (such as your hard disk), you can specify a directory on the mass-storage device where the files will be copied. This directory is the destination directory.

To change the destination directory

1	In the Media Browser window, choose the Copy button.

Windows extends the Media Browser window, adding the Destination box at the bottom. This box tells you the current destination directory.

2	Choose the Set Destination button next to the Destination box.

The Set Copy Destination dialog box appears. The Copy To text box in this dialog box identifies the currently selected destination directory. The first time you run Media Browser, the default destination directory is the directory where Windows is installed.

3	In the Set Copy Destination dialog box, select the drive and directory you want to use as the destination directory.

4	If you want to make this the new default destination directory, select the Use As Default check box.

5	In the Set Copy Destination dialog box, choose OK.


collection

A pre-defined group of files on a CD or on your hard drive. (You can't create new collections with this version of Media Browser.) Each collection can include several types of files, such as video, sound, animation, MIDI, or graphics. In the Collections list, each collection is represented by an icon.

The definition for a collection is stored in a file with the filename extension MBR. The MBR file also can include the following information about each file in a collection:

Title for the content of a file

Media type icon associated with a file

Descriptive text about a file

Image associated with a file

Restricted distribution (which turns off the copy function for the collection)

The title and media type icon of each file in a collection are presented in the Files list. The description and image associated with a media file (as well as the file name and size) are presented in the File Information area when a file is selected.


filename

Media Browser refers to files in a collection by titles or by MS-DOS filenames. If a .MBR file (which identifies each file in a collection) includes a title for a specific file, Media Browser refers to the file by its title. Otherwise, Media Browser refers to a file by its MS-DOS filename.


Copy Files button

The Copy Files button starts copying each file selected in the collection to the copy destination.


Set Destination button

The Set Destination button lets you identify the device and directory where you want to place copied files.


Destination

The destination area is beneath the file information area and includes three items:

The drive and directory path where copied files will be placed.

The total number of bytes to copy (the sum of the sizes of the selected files).

The amount of free space on the destination drive.