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Songanizer v2.01
Written by John Schumacher
Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, Candlelight Software
All Rights Reserved
Songanizer is a computerized database that allows you to organize
your music collection easily. Songanizer utilizes full mouse
support, drop down menus, fast database access, easy data entry
modes, report generators, and custom user configuration to give
the user a powerful music database without the confusion and
complexity of other less flexible programs.
Songanizer takes the concept of computerizing your record
collection further than any other database available. Many, if
not all, of the other databases allow you to enter your
collection an album at a time, where each album entered in the
database is a single entity containing all of the information you
entered, including the songs.
Songanizer is not like those databases at all! The songs and
albums that you enter into Songanizer are maintained in separate
files. This gives you the flexibility to enter information about
songs and albums, without restricting yourself to the limits of a
single database file. Songanizer cross-references your songs and
albums when it needs to automatically - you do not need to view
pages of information that does not interest you. Why do you need
to see album information when you just want to get detail on a
particular song?
With Songanizer, you can:
Enter an album once, even if you have the
same album on two or more media types.
Add, view, or edit album and song
information quickly and easily.
Enter only the data you wish to enter.
You can enter songs into the database
without having to enter any album
information at all, or enter only album
information, and ignore song entry
altogether.
Generate song and album reports to be
viewed on the screen, saved to disk, or
printed.
Using Songanizer is easy:
Full mouse support! All options can be
accessed via mouse, as well as keyboard.
Hot keys are available for quick access to
important entry screens.
Smart data entry modes, including history
buttons containing previously entered
information, and fast data entry mode
screens. You never have to enter
information over and over again!
Full context-sensitive help always
available!
User configuration can be saved so that
your preferences are preserved for future
sessions.
Installing Songanizer
If you are upgrading from a previous version of Songanizer,
please refer to "Upgrading From A Previous Version", located
below this section.
First Time Installation
1. Create a directory for Songanizer. For the remainder of this
document, we will refer to the directory SNGANIZR as the
location of the Songanizer files.
2. Change to the SNGANIZR directory and copy all the extracted
files into this directory.
CD\ Get to the root of the drive
MD SNGANIZR Create the Songanizer directory
CD SNGANIZR Change to the Songanizer directory
COPY [path] Copy Songanizer's files from [path]
You are now ready to run Songanizer. Type SNGANIZR to start the
program. You will then notice the opening screen, indicating all
went well.
Songanizer checks for the existence of data files before it will
run completely. If Songanizer cannot find data files, you will
be prompted to create them. If you choose "Yes", Songanizer will
create an empty Song and Album database. If you receive this
message and you already have databases created, make sure that
the data files are located in the same directory as the program
files, and that you are running the program from the SNGANIZR
directory.
Upgrading From A Previous Version
1. Before you upgrade to version 2.01, back up your Songanizer
directory!! This includes the program files, data files,
etc..
2. Copy all the extracted files into SNGANIZR.
3. If you are a registered owner of Songanizer 1.x, you can at
this time run the program called CONVERT. This program will
convert your 1.x database files to version 2.01. Answer "Y" to
start the conversion. CONVERT will read both your song and
album databases and will create new databases compatible with
this version. CONVERT will also generate SNGANIZR.LOG, which
will contain information messages describing any information
that could not be converted. Make sure you have adequate disk
space available (at least the total space of your current
SONG.* and ALBUM.* database files), and do not stop the
conversion process once you start!
Unregistered users will have to delete all
the SONG.* and ALBUM.* databases manually
before they can run version 2.01.
4. Once the data has been converted, view the error log!! If
there were no problems, SNGANIZR.LOG will be a zero byte file.
5. Run Songanizer by typing SNGANIZR, and choose the "File
Information" option under the "Program" menu item to verify
your data files.
Songanizer and Windows
Songanizer is a DOS program, but can run under Windows. A sample
Program Information File (.PIF) and icon file (.ICO) are included
to to get you started running under Windows quickly. These files
can be used to create a new program item (see your Windows manual
for this information).
Using Songanizer Menu Options
The following pages describe the available options within
Songanizer. Although this manual explains the functions in
greater detail, on-line help is always available by pressing the
<F1> key. On-line help is context-sensitive and will explain the
possible options available at any given time.
Program
Click on the "Program" menu bar item, or press <Ctrl-P> to view
the options available under the Program selection. This section
is used to obtain information about Songanizer, your databases,
and also to exit the program.
About Songanizer
This option will display information about
Songanizer: version number, author, and
copyright notice. Press the "OK" button, or
press <ESC> on the keyboard to remove this
information.
File Information
Choose this option to display the number of
data items in both the Song and the Album
databases. Press the "OK" button, or press
<ESC> on the keyboard to remove this
information.
DOS Shell
This option will allow you to exit Songanizer
temporarily and go to DOS. This is very
useful if you need to escape for a moment,
and wish to return to the program without
having to stop the program completely. Type
"EXIT" to return to Songanizer. You will
return to your session exactly as you were
when you exited.
Exit Program
This option will end Songanizer. To quickly
end, you can also press the <F10> key on the
keyboard. Please do not just turn off the
computer to end!! You run the risk of
damaging your database files if you do not
exit Songanizer correctly.
Exiting Songanizer will not automatically save any information
that is still remaining in any of the entry screens.
Edit
The Edit option is used to select the entry screens to add,
delete, edit, and search for songs and albums. To access this
area, click on the "Edit" menu bar item or press <Ctrl-E>. This
will bring up the following menu items.
Song Entry
Select "Song Entry" from the list, or press
the <F2> key for fast access. If the Song
Entry screen is already on the screen, it
will be moved forward, otherwise it will pop
up. Either way, this screen will become the
topmost screen.
The Song Entry screen is a movable, sizable
input area containing 3 input lines. Each
input line can accept up to 50 characters per
line, and will accept any alphanumeric
character. Next to each input line is a
history button that will display the most
recent additions when pressed. This is
useful for when you have to enter the same
input more than once. To cycle through each
input line, press the <Tab> key. This entry
screen will not close until you either press
the "Close" button, or press the <Esc> key.
To enter a song, enter information for the
Song Name, Artist Name, and Album Name. When
finished, press the "Save" button. If all
goes well (and it should), the song
information will be saved to the song
database, and then the information you
entered will be cleared so that you can enter
another song.
There are certain instances where your
information will not be saved. The two more
frequent reasons include a possible file
corruption (in which you can choose Rebuild
to correct this problem), or that you have
entered information that is already in the
song database. Songanizer first checks to
see if the Song/Album combination already
exists in the song database (Only 1 instance
of a song appears on an album) before placing
the new song in the database. Also,
Songanizer will not allow you to enter a song
if you leave one of the three input lines
blank.
Album Entry
Choosing "Album Entry" will allow you to
enter information about an album. It is also
possible to enter a series of songs based on
that album by utilizing the "FastAdd" option
(described later). To view this screen
choose "Album Entry" under the "Edit" menu
bar item, or press <F4> for quick access.
This screen will become the topmost screen,
even if already displayed on the desktop.
To enter an album into the album database,
the Album Name and the Artist Name input
lines must have data entered. All other
input areas can be left blank. If you choose
to enter a date, the input must be either
numeric or a "/". Any other character will
display an error message when it is time to
save the information.
Both the Album Name and Artist Name input
lines can accept up to 50 alphanumeric
characters. The Record Label input line can
accept up to 25 alphanumeric characters. The
Category input line can accept up to 15
alphanumeric characters.
To enter or remove a media type, you can
click on the name of the media, or highlight
the name and press the space bar. This will
toggle an "X" in the box to its left. Using
the Media option, you do not have to enter an
album more than once. Just select all the
media types that the album you own is on.
The Comments field is a group of 3 input
lines of 40 characters each. To move between
the lines, press the <Tab> key, or use the
mouse to select the line to enter.
Remember, you do not have to enter any data
other than the Album Name and Artist Name,
and you can always edit this information to
add or change the information at a later
time.
All input lines have a corresponding history
button located to the right. Pressing these
buttons will display the most recent entries.
This is useful if you need to enter similar
information on a line.
Press the "Save" button to save your
information to the album database. The
information will not be saved if either the
Album Name or Artist Name is blank, or if an
Album/Artist combination already exists in
the album database.
To remove this entry screen, press the
"Close" button.
Find Song
The "Find Song" screen is where you tell
Songanizer to search the song database for
information. To access this screen, select
"Find Song" under the "Edit" menu bar item,
or press <F3> on the keyboard for quick
access.
The "Find Song" screen looks somewhat like
the "Song Entry" screen, but it operates a
little differently.
Songanizer can search the song database by
either the Song Name, Artist Name, or Album
Name. You do not have to enter the entire
title name, but the more you enter in an
input line, the more precise the search. For
example, entering "A" for a Song Name will
start the searching with songs that begin
with "A". Entering "Another" will start with
songs starting with "Another".
Note that if you enter information on more
than one input line, Songanizer will use the
first non-blank line it finds for the search.
Also, all searches are case insensitive, so
you can search the database without knowing
where capitalizations are located.
Do not enter "The" for any searches. Since
Songanizer automatically moves the word "The"
to the end of the title for indexing,
entering "The" will find a title beginning
with the three letters T, H, and E. So, for
example, entering "The Doors" for an artist
name will not match any record in the
database, "Doors" would.
Located to the right of each input line is a
history button which will display the most
recent entries in both this and the Song
Entry screens, if pressed. This will
eliminate the need to type the same
information over and over again.
If Songanizer finds a matching song, the
"Record Found" screen will be displayed.
This screen is discussed below.
Record Found
If a search is successful, the matching song
will be displayed in a window similar to the
"Song Entry" screen, but contains many more
option buttons, which are described below.
The "Remove" button will delete the displayed
song from the song database. Once deleted,
the next song in the search is displayed.
The "Edit" button allows you to update the
displayed song. To make changes to the song,
just move the cursor with the mouse or <Tab>
key, and change the text. Press "Edit" to
save the new information.
The "Detail" button will display the "Album
Information" screen, which will allow you to
view, edit, or delete the album information.
The "Album Information" screen is discussed
later in this manual.
The "Prev" and "Next" buttons allow you to
move backward and forward in the search.
This will display a new song in the "Found
Song" screen.
"Cancel" will close the window, and end the
search function.
Find Album
The "Find Album" entry screen is similar to
the "Find Song" screen. This is where you
enter criteria for Songanizer to search the
album database. To view this screen, select
"Find Album" under the "Edit" menu bar item,
or press the <F5> key.
Songanizer can search the album database by
either the Album Name or Artist Name. You do
not have to enter the entire title name, but
the more you enter in an input line, the more
precise the search. For example, entering
"A" for an Album Name will start the
searching with albums that begin with "A".
Entering "Another" will start with albums
starting with "Another".
Note that if you enter information on more
than one input line, Songanizer will use the
first non-blank line it finds for the search.
Also, all searches are case insensitive, so
you can search the database without knowing
where capitalizations are located.
Do not enter "The" for any searches. Since
Songanizer automatically moves any titles
with "The" to the end of the title for
indexing, entering "The" will find a title
beginning with the three letters T, H, and E.
So, for example, entering "The Doors" for an
artist name will not match any record in the
database, "Doors" would.
Located to the right of each input line is a
history button which will display the most
recent entries, if pressed. This will
eliminate the need to type the same
information over and over again.
If Songanizer finds a matching song, the
"Album Information" screen will be displayed.
This screen is discussed below.
Album Information
The "Album Information" screen is used for
two separate functions. The first is in
searching the album database via the "Find
Album" screen, and the second is when you
press the "Detail" button in the "Found Song"
screen. The "Album Information" screen has
the same functionality in both instances, but
what is originally displayed in the data
fields depends on the following.
If you are searching for an album using the
"Find Album" screen, the album that
Songanizer finds will be displayed in the
"Album Information" screen.
If you are requesting album information via
the "Detail" button in the "Found Song"
screen, the matching album information will
be displayed if it exists. It is possible
that a corresponding album does not exist.
In this case, just the Album Name and Artist
Name fields of the "Album Information" screen
will be filled. This information is taken
from the current song displayed in the "Found
Song" screen. It is at this time that you
can add the song if it does not exist, or
edit any current information.
You will notice that the "Album Information"
screen looks similar to the "Album Entry"
screen, but with more options. The options
are listed below.
The "Edit" button will save the current album
information if you made any changes to the
displayed record, or if this is the first
time you are adding it. Songanizer will not
add this album if a duplicate exists in the
album database file.
The "Tracks" button will display an
alphabetical list of songs in the song
database that have been entered with the same
album name as the one you are viewing.
To add more songs to this album easily, you
can press the "FastAdd" button. This will
display a screen where you can enter a series
of songs that are related to this album. The
"FastAdd" option is discussed in detail later
in this manual.
To remove this album from the database,
select the "Delete" button. You will be
asked to confirm the deletion request. Once
an album is deleted, it is no longer
available in the album database, but any
songs that you have entered with this album
name will remain in the song database.
Use the "Prev" and "Next" buttons to move
backwards and forwards through the album
database.
Select "Close" to end this entry screen. You
will return to the "Song Found" screen if you
pressed the "Detail" button to view this
screen.
FastAdd
FastAdd is only available through the "Album
Entry" or "Album Detail" screens; there is no
menu selection for this screen. Use
"FastAdd" to enter a series of songs that
pertain to the currently displayed album.
Press "FastAdd" for either of the above
mentioned screens, and a one line input
screen will be displayed. You will notice
that both the Album Name and Artist Name are
displayed in the entry screen. This
information is taken from the currently
viewed album. For every song you enter here,
the Album Name and Artist Name will
automatically be entered into the song
database as well.
To use FastAdd, enter the name of the song
and press <Return>. The song database will
be updated to include this new song, and the
FastAdd screen will then await another song
entry. To stop song entry, press the "Close"
button, or press the <Esc> key.
Reports
The Report section of Songanizer will allow you to display,
print, or save a variety of reports based on the information in
the song and album databases. The available reports are:
Song List Report
This report will list each song, in
alphabetical order, as well as the name of
the album the song is located on, and
performing artist.
Album List Report
This report will list each album, in
alphabetical order, and the artist who
released the album.
Album Detail Report
This report will list each album, in
alphabetical order, along with complete
information that was entered in the "Album
Entry" screen. Also, any songs belonging to
that album that were entered in the "Song
Entry" screens (and "FastAdd"), will be
displayed, in alphabetical order.
To generate a report, select the "Report" menu bar option, and
then the corresponding report name with the mouse, or report
number with the keyboard.
After selecting the report that you wish to generate, you will
have to select where you wish to send this report to. The
"Output Device" control box is used to select this option.
Select an output option and press the "OK" button, or press
"Cancel" to abort the report function.
To view the report on the screen, select "Screen". Once the
report has generated, it will be displayed on the screen. Each
screen holds roughly 200 lines of information, and the viewing
area can be moved, resized, and scrolled to view different areas
of the report. If a report is longer than 200 lines, you can
load other sections of the report by pressing the "+" key to move
forward one section, or "-" to move back one section. Songanizer
will generate a beep if there are no more sections to view in a
particular direction. To cancel the report, click on the close
icon in the upper left corner, or press the <Esc> key.
Select "Printer" to print your report. If you experience trouble
printing, make sure you have configured your printer via the
"Printer Setup" option in Songanizer. Songanizer will print a
report to the defined printer of your choice. If you are using a
laser printer, Songanizer might print certain detailed reports in
landscape mode to take advantage of the extra page width.
To save a report for later external use, select the "File"
option. You will be shown an information window where you can
save a report under a name you choose. It is not necessary to
enter an extension, since Songanizer uses ".RPT" for all report
extensions.
Options
Songanizer allows you to configure the way you use the program.
These options can be set for each session individually, or you
can save them for future sessions. The following paragraphs
describe the options available.
Rebuild Databases
This option is used when you feel that the
song and/or album databases have become
corrupt while running Songanizer, or to
increase the speed of database searches after
you have deleted many items in a database.
Every time Songanizer is started, it will
checks the integrity of the song and album
database files. If Songanizer feels that one
or both databases have become corrupted, it
will rebuild the databases automatically.
You can choose this option to rebuild a
database at any time, if you feel that your
databases have become corrupt during the
execution of Songanizer.
Another reason to rebuild the databases is
after you have removed a large number of
songs and albums from their respective
database files. When you delete a song or
album, the area in the file is marked as
open. This area can be used again by
Songanizer when you add another song or
album. In the meantime, the gap remains, and
any searches you perform on the files take
the gaps into account. To free up the gaps,
you can rebuild the databases. This will
result in new database files containing
nothing but active songs and albums in a
compact file, decreasing the time to search
for information. This is only needed after a
numerous amount of deletions.
It is a good idea to rebuild the databases
every once in a while, depending on their
use, since this will speed up searches and
will verify your data's integrity.
During the time the rebuild is in process,
you will not be allows to enter any commands.
This entire process can take several minutes,
depending on your computing power and the
size of your databases. When the rebuild is
complete, you will be notified of the success
or failure.
Note: Rebuilding the databases requires extra
disk space to hold the temporary files. Make
sure you have an adequate amount before
continuing, otherwise Songanizer will not be
able to perform this function successfully.
Change Screen Size
This option toggles between the normal 25
line screen mode and the 50 line mode. The
use of 50 line mode can be useful for those
who like many windows open at once, since
there is more screen space available.
If you decide to change from 50 line mode
back to 25 line mode, make sure that any
entry screens you have open are above the
25th line otherwise the screen will appear to
be lost forever! It is really there, but
there is no way to access any screen under
the 25th line of normal mode, you would have
to revert to 50 line mode to get them.
Printer Setup
Select "Printer Setup" from the "Options"
menu to configure your printer. The "Printer
Information" window will display with some
default values if you have never configured
your printer, or with your previously saved
configuration if you have entered information
and saved it previously.
The "Device" area is where you tell
Songanizer what computer port you printer is
connected to. Only one device can be
selected, and as a default, Songanizer
chooses LPT1 for first time configuration,
since it is the most popular printer
location.
If you are using a laser printer, select the
"Laser" option. If selected, you will notice
an "X" next to the selection. Since laser
printers and dot matrix printers use
different codes to generate output, it is
important that you set the type of printer
correctly.
If your printer is compatible with either an
Epson (for dot matrix printers) or an Hewlett
Packard (HP, for laser printers), you can
press the "OK" button at this point to set
the configuration. If your printer is not
compatible, you must choose the "Setup"
function.
The "Setup" function is provided for those
who do not have compatible printers.
Selecting this option will reveal a "Printer
Codes" window. The window will display a
number of code names, and their corresponding
codes. As a default, the codes shown are
standard laser or dot matrix codes.
To change a code, select the line you wish to
enter, and type in the new code. Consult
your printer manual for the correct codes.
When finished, press the "OK" button to save,
or the "Cancel" button to abort.
Note: If you previously entered a printer
code, and you wish to set it back to the
original code, select the input line, and
delete the code. A blank line tells
Songanizer to use the default codes. Viewing
this "Printer Codes" window again (close it
with "OK" then press "Setup" again) will
display the default code.
Both the printer configuration and the
printer codes will not be set until you press
the "OK" button in the "Printer Information"
screen.
Modify Colors
Songanizer allows you to change the colors of
the background, menu items, and entry
screens. Choosing this option will display
the "Colors" entry screen.
Under the "Group" area, you will notice a
list of group items that can be changed. To
the right under the "Item" area is a list of
items in the group that can be changed.
Select a group item and a corresponding item.
The current color will be shown by a dot in
both the "Foreground" and "Background" color
selections. Use the mouse to click on the
color that you wish to change this item to.
An example of how the selection will look is
shown under the "Background" box.
Pressing "Cancel" will abort the color
change.
If you press "OK", the colors will instantly
take effect. You may have to experiment to
get a combination that is usable for you.
Save Options
Every option you select under the "Options"
menu bar item (except "Rebuild Databases")
will take effect the instant you press the
"OK" button in the corresponding entry
screen, but it is not permanent. To make
these changes available the next time you run
Songanizer, you must select "Save Options".
This will save all the current settings to
disk. Songanizer reads this configuration
file when the program is first run, and will
configure itself accordingly.
Contacting the Author
If, for any reason, you need to contact the author of Songanizer,
he can be reached at the following locations:
Remote Host BBS
(201) 729-7046
Leave mail for "Sysop" or
check out the /Snganizr support conference
CompuServe
Send mail to 70346,1010
RelayNet Network
Route messages to ->940
I can be found in the C, Pascal, and OOP conferences
GEnie
Send mail to JSCHUMACHER
US Mail
Candlelight Software
P.O. Box 33
Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927
We love to get feedback on Songanizer! If you have any comments,
suggestions, or need any help, feel free to get in touch. Even
if you just want to shoot the breeze!
Version History
Version 1.0 05/01/92 Songanizer released as Shareware.
Version 1.01 05/07/92 Slight modification to documentation.
Songanizer program not affected.
Version 1.1 06/08/92 Corrected bug that affects some users of
QEMM.
Added partial name searches.
Minor tweaks to input routines.
Version 2.0 03/01/93 Complete rewrite! Faster database
access, better user interface routines,
user configurations, etc.
Version 2.01 07/20/93 Changed BBS phone numbers on all documentation.
Small fixes and enhancements.
