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Text File | 1993-05-22 | 24.8 KB | 793 lines

The Video Movie Log Database Program By Richard Thomas Copyright (c) 1993 Richard Thomas All Rights Reserved Welcome to the Video Movie Log Database Program! This is a program to help you keep track of all those video tapes that tend to collect around the house. If you are like me, you have managed to collect quite a few. After all with the cost of new release video tapes at about $10.00 - $20.00 it almost seems like a false economy to rent them rather than to simply buy them! Some of these tapes are only available for a short time and so you might want to add these to your collection while they are still available! But, once you get all of these tapes, how are you going to keep track of them? I started this project with just that question in mind. My first attempt was in the days before I got my first PC and I used a trusty typewriter! Eventually I used several database managers, but they never gave me quite what I wanted so, eventually I started writing this program. Version 1 (for lack of a better description) has worked in our household steadily since I first wrote it about September of 1992. But, we wanted a little more flexibility in the way we looked at our movies, so I started on this version. I then added the ability to define printers so that everyone can have their printout look the best it can using their own printer. So, Give it a try, If you like it I will send you the registered version for only $10.00. I will also provide you with any updates which come along as a result of suggestions from you or any other registered user for a minimal cost. This will get rid of that irritating opening screen and 15 second delay at the end. This will also support the concept of "ShareWare" and keep the cost of software down. Remember to send your $10.00 to: Richard Thomas 804 E. Gentile St. Layton, UT 84041 Be sure to tell me what disk size you want, and I will send it to you via return mail. System Requirements: I always like to know whether or not I can run a program. Before I go on here is what you need to run this program: An IBM Compatible PC. MS or PC DOS Version 3.1 or above. 384k of system memory (RAM) A disk drive with approximately 1MB of free space (The more free space you have the larger your database can be, Hard Drives work much faster.) A color monitor (Supports CGA,EGA,VGA and MCGA) A printer to print your reports. Supported, but not required: (Nice to have but if you don't it will still work) Microsoft Compatible Mouse with driver. LIM EMS V4.0 or above. Program Limits: Because of the nature of the database engine that was used to develop this program there is a limit to the maximum size of your database file. This limit is reached if your file ever reaches 128Mb. Because of the amount of space that each movie record takes this limit would be reached once you had stored approximately 400,000,000 Movies. You must also understand that you must have that amount of free disk space. Since I always like to know all about my status as a user up front I always think it is important to get all the legal stuff out of the way as quickly as possible so here it is. License: You are granted a limited license to use this program on a single computer for a period of 30 days for evaluation purposes. If you continue to use this program for more than the 30 day period you are expected to send in the registration fee. No one except the author may accept any payment of any kind for this program. A disk copying fee is not considered payment. This program may not be sold for any amount of money except by the author. Copyright: This program is Copyright(c) 1993 by Richard Thomas and is protected by United States Copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Warranty: Richard Thomas disclaims all warranties either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will Richard Thomas or his agents or suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever (including without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use or inability to use this product, Even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Registration: A registration fee of US$10.00 is required for the use of The Movie Log beyond the 30 day trial period. Registration entitles the holder to the registered version of this program and notification of upgrades from the author. This does not imply that there are any guarantees that there will ever be any future upgrades. I do solicit comments and will take into consideration the suggestions of any and all registered users. If you are not a registered user, do not expect any technical support, nor do I guarantee that I will listen to any suggestions. Registration fees in the form of check or money order in US Dollars payable to Richard Thomas may be sent along with your name, address and phone number to: Richard Thomas 804 E. Gentile St. Layton, UT 84041 The registered version will be returned via return mail. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada (APO's and FPO's excepted), please enclose and additional $10.00 US for postage. This means that those of you who live (and work) overseas but have an APO or FPO address will only have to pay the normal $10.00 registration fee. Distribution: Feel free to upload this program to you favorite Bulletin Board System, or give it to a friend, or in any way give this program the widest possible distribution. Just be sure that you do not charge for the program itself. You may charge a disk copying fee provided that you make it clear that this fee does NOT purchase the program. You may NOT modify, reverse engineer or de-compile any files that you distribute. Numbering System: My Version numbering system is just a little different. I still use the standard of Major.Minor(BugFix) convention, that is this is Major Release 2 Minor Release 0 Bug Fix 0. That Makes this Version 2.00. The letter on the end indicates whether or not this is a registered copy. "U" indicates Unregistered "R" indicates a registered copy. Features: This program incorporates many features which I believe makes it an especially easy and quick way to store all your video movies. Mouse driven interface with pull down menus: Will automatically detect the presence of any Microsoft compatible Mouse driver. If present, the program will allow you to use it to make menu selections an to choose from various other selections. Large capacity to store movies: This system will hold approximately 400,000,000 movies (depending on your disk space). Quick retrieval of any movie on file: Retrieval times are almost instantaneous on an my personal system. Since my personal system is not "state of the art" (80386SX-16 4megs RAM 106Meg HD). Yours could be even faster. This is with a database of more than 500 movies. Ability to determine your own movie categories: Since not all movies fit into nice neat categories, you are given the ability to define any category you choose "on the fly". You are allowed to choose up to 3000 different categories. In order to establish a new category, simply enter a movie with that new category, it is automatically established and stored. Ability to print various lists of your movies in various ways: Presently you can print your movies by category, then alphabetically within category or alphabetically regardless of category. You can print a summary which only includes title, category, time and year made. You can also print a complete listing in either method which includes all the information that you entered, including the Star and personal comments. On-Line help available from a menu selection: Cant remember how to do something? Just go to the on line help screen that refers to your question. Starting the program: First you need to unzip the program (If you are reading this, that has already been done). Next you need to create a directory using the DOS MD command (If you don't know how to do this consult your DOS manual). Then simply copy all the files into this directory. You can call your directory anything you like, but, I suggest calling it MOVIELOG. To actually start the program simply type MOVIELOG at the DOS prompt. This will start the program. When the program first starts, it will create an empty movie file and ask you for your background color preference. It will also ask you for your library name, This allows it to personalize your movie lists. You can enter anything you want, but I suggest you use your last name as the name here will be placed on report headers as: "THE JONES MOVIE THEATER PLAYLIST". Please select your preference with either the mouse or the Tab-Arrow Key-Enter key combinations, this will then bring up the opening screen. From here all functions are accessible from the pull-down menus. This initial opening sequence will only occur the first time you start the program. After that, all files will already exist, so you will only have to go through this once. Running this program from WINDOWS: This program will run as a DOS application in Windows. I have provided a program information file called "MOVIELOG.PIF" and an icon file "MOVIE.ICO" for this use. I have tested these files under Windows V3.1 and they work quite well. Keys: If you do not have a mouse or choose not to use it, the most familiar key to use in this program will be the TAB key. The TAB key will move your selection cursor from button to button. It will also move you from field to field in the Add and Edit Movie windows. The Shift-TAB key will move you back. If you have a mouse and choose to use it the mouse cursor will always be available for you to make selections with. Menus: All menus are available either by using a mouse and clicking with the left mouse button, or by pressing the ALT-First letter key. In order to access the Movies functions, press ALT-M, Utilities are ALT-U, Reports are ALT-R and Help is ALT-H. Using a keyboard you can the use the up and down arrow keys to highlight your selection, then press enter or press the letter that is highlighted. to select with a mouse, place the mouse cursor on your selection, then click with the left mouse button. We will talk about specifics later. Movies Menu: The Items on the Movies menu are: Name Handy Key Shortcut Key Add Movie A F1 Edit Movie E F2 Delete Movie D F3 Look At Movies L F4 Exit X Ctrl-X You can either use the mouse to access any of these functions or use the handy key or shortcut key. Functions: One of the first things you will probably want to do is add some of your own movies to your list. First gather them all together then select Add movies from the list. You will then get a screen to fill in with all the information pertaining to each tape. Be sure that each title is different from every other title. Simply fill in the information in each field, using the TAB key to move through the fields, You can back up using the Shift-TAB key combination. Using the back space key in each field will back up the cursor to let you correct any mistakes in any individual field. The following fields are automatically capitalized for consistency and to insure that all searches are as efficient as possible: Movie Category Movie Title MPAA Rating So it does not matter how you enter the information into these fields, it will be automatically capitalized for you. The time field is designed to store the running time of the movie in minutes. This is simply because most of my movies list it this way. This should be entered as a number. So if the movie is 120 minutes long simply enter 120. The personal rating Field is designed to store your personal rating on a scale of 0 to 9 stars. It should be entered as a number. You can give any meaning you want to this scale. It is unimportant what order you enter your movies in, the program will take care of all sorting and ordering for you automatically, silently and quickly. You will also notice that there is not "SAVE" command, this is because the program does this automatically for you. The default category is "COMEDY" simply because we seem to have more comedies that any other single category. So if you are entering a COMEDY movie, you do not have to enter a movie category. Once you have entered all the information that concerns this particular title, simply press return or click on OK to save this entry. Edit Movie: If you enter a movie, then discover that you have made a mistake after it is already saved, you can always edit any movie. This is the second item on the Movies menu and is available by using your mouse, the ALT-M, E or F2 keys. Once here, simply enter the title of the movie (again the case of letters is unimportant), the same screen that you used to enter it in the first place will appear, this time filled in with all the information that you previously entered. Simply use the TAB, Shift-TAB key, and backspace key to move to the correct place, then type over any incorrect information to correct it. Once all information has been corrected simply press ENTER or click on OK this will automatically save any changes that you have made. Delete Movie: If for any reason you should ever get rid of a movie, here is where you would delete it from the database. PLEASE be very careful using this option. This option will absolutely erase the entry from the database, then the only way to recover it is re- enter it from Add Movie. You will be given several options to back out. This is NOT intended to be an irritant, it is only intended to insure that what you get rid of is what you really intended to get rid of. Please give some thought to whether or not you really want to Delete any given movie. DON'T DO THIS UNLESS YOU REALLY, REALLY THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!! (If you ever want to dump the entire DATABASE you can erase the file "MOVIELOG.DB" from the DOS prompt. The next time you start the program a new database will be created.) Utility Menu: The Items on the Utility menu are: Name Handy Key Backup B Color C Name N Printer P Functions: The purpose of these program utilities is to make it easier to make the program act as you want it to. Backup: This option will copy your database and your configuration files to a floppy disk in either the A: or B: drive. This backup DOES NOT compress the files, nor will it split a large database across multiple volumes. It is not there to replace your normal backup procedures, it is only there to provide an extra measure of security. Please be sure that your floppy disk has sufficient room to hold all of the files that are going onto it. My personal library will fit onto a 360K floppy and still have room left over. Color: If you ever want to change the background color of your screen and data entry fields, choose this option. A window will appear giving you your choice of available colors. You can either choose the desired color with a mouse or press the TAB key 3 times, then use the arrow keys to make you selection, press ENTER and your selection will become the new default. Name: If you ever want to change the name that will appear on the top of your reports, this is the place to do it. If for any reason you want to change the name from "JONES" to "SMITH" choose this option. The name will be automatically capitalized for consistency. Then this will become the new default name to appear on your movie lists. Printer: This program comes supplied with several printer drivers. The first 8 characters of the name indicate the Make and Model of the printer. This option allows you to choose your printer from this list by using the "DEFINE" sub-option. If your printer is not on the list, you can create a new printer driver by simply choosing the "CREATE" sub-option. If you do decide to create your own printer driver, it will be time to get out your printer manual and determine the correct codes. Give your printer a name that you can remember. Then type in the codes, using the TAB or SHIFT-TAB keys, then press ENTER when done. After your printer driver is created you still need to DEFINE your printer, It will now appear on the list of available printers. Simply select it by using your mouse or pressing the TAB key 3 times then using the Arrow Keys and pressing ENTER. Your selected printer will now become the default from now on. Reports Menu: The Items on the Reports menu are: Name Handy Key Summary S Complete C Type T Alphabetical A Functions: This is where you can see the results of all your labors. The most difficult part of any program like this is entering all the information (That part is your labor). This will give you output reports. Summary: This report is sorted first by category, then by movie title. It also allows you to direct the output to either the printer or to a file. the end result should look something like this: Page: 3 05-19-1993 THE THOMAS MOVIE THEATER PLAYLIST Movie Type Movie Title Rating Year Length COMEDY BACK TO THE FUTURE PG 1985 116 COMEDY BEETHOVEN PG 1991 87 COMEDY BEING THERE PG 1979 130 COMEDY BLAZING SADDLES R 1974 93 This will help you to keep all your movies organized by category if that is they way you want to do it. ( this is my personal preference). Complete: This report is very similar to the summary, except that all the information that you entered will placed on the report. It should look similar to the following: Page: 1 05-19-1993 THE THOMAS MOVIE THEATER PLAYLIST ACT/ADV DR. NO PG 111 Minutes Filmed in: 1962 Starring: Sean Connery and Ursula Andress. This movie rates 8 Star(s) First James bond film is least pretentious, with meatier story, better all around production of Ian Fleming caper. Bond investigates strange occurrences in Jamaica, encounters master fiend Dr. No. Type: This option allows you to print either a summary or complete type report based on the category of your choosing. If you want a list of all your Comedies, choose this option, you will then only get those movies in that category. Alphabetical: This option allows you to print a list in either the summary or complete format, but sorted alphabetically by movie title. This is regardless of category. Help Menu: The Items on the Help menu are: Name Handy Key Add Movie A Edit Movies E Delete Movies D Look At Movies L Change Colors C Backup Database B Printer Options P Functions: These are the help functions. If you ever have a question this set of options will offer on-line help. Refer to these as often as you feel like it. That should get you started using this program, if you have any comments, suggestions, etc. I am always open to these comments from registered users, please let me know what you would like to see in future versions. REGISTRATION FORM Name:__________________________________________ Address:_______________________________________ City:________________________ State:__________ Zip:_______________________ Where did you get your copy of this program? __ BBS ___ Friend ___ Users Group ___ Other (specify) _______________________________________________ Preferred Disk Size: ___ 5.25" ___ 3.5" Please send this form with your Check or Money Order for US$10.00 to: Richard Thomas 804 E. Gentile St. Layton, UT 84041 Your registered version will be sent to you via return mail. Program: Video Movielog V2.0U