World of A1200/World_Of_A1200.iso/programs/disk/cdrom/cdstore/cdstore3.doc

Text File | 1995-02-27 | 17KB | 517 lines

                   CDStore 3.0

              <------------------->
               Copyright 1990-1991
                  by John Lullie




Please send suggestions, comments or bug reports to:

GEnie: UserID - J.LULLIE

OR Write to the address listed below...



CDStore is ShareWare!

The Un-Registered version is freely distributable and may
be uploaded anywhere you choose provided that the files
included in this archive are left intact and un-modified.
The REGISTERED version however is NOT freely distributable
nor is it subject to sale by anyone other than the author.
Doing so is considered a breach of the authors copyright!

If you decide to use CDStore - PLEASE send a ShareWare
fee of $20. In return, I'll send you the fully functional
version of CDStore (the latest version of course), and
a Laser Printed Users Guide.


The OnLine Registration Form:
-----------------------------
To make registering a bit easier, select the menu option
called "Registration Form" in the Project menu of CDStore.
By filling the form out, printing and mailing it to me,
it will help me process your registration that much faster.
(I've had a couple of users write what looked like two
different ZIP codes and tracking them down took a while).


Please send to:

    John Lullie
    10701 SW 10th Court
    Davie, FL   33324

Thanks!



New Plug-In's Feature!:
----------------------
  By the way... There is a new "Plug-In's" option in
CDStore 3.0 that allows adding mini plug-in programs to
be added to CDStore. This allows for almost unlimited
features for the program. The ideas have to come from
you. If you have and suggestions, please feel free to
add them in the "Comments" field in the Registration Form.

  I've included a demo of the first Plug-In program
called "CDMover". This Plug-In allows you to move CD's
from one category to another and is a breeze to use.
There will be more Plug-In's on the way and posted on
GEnie and CompuServe as they become available.

(For those of you using BookStore, The Plug-In's feature
will be added by the time you read this. VideoStore and
SubStore will be next.)


IF YOU ARE UPGRADING FROM CDStore 2.0x:
--------------------------------------
Because of the added features of version 3.0, changes
to the way the data file is handled was necessary.
Now that 3.0 has categories, your old record file will
have to be comverted (or categorized) via the CD-Converter
program supplied with CDStore 3.0.
Please read the "CD-Convert.notes" file and use CD-Converter's
On-Line Help for details on how to use the program. The
program is fast and very easy to use.



 INSTALLING CDStore ON YOUR HD:
 -----------------------------

Simply copy the CDStore DRAWER to any directory you wish.
Please make sure all of the contents within CDStore's drawer
stay with it. Open the CDStore drawer and double-click
the "Setup" icon. This will copy a couple of needed files
to your system. One of which is needed to launch CDStore
and the other is a font that CDStore uses for its Preview
screen.


 GETTING STARTED:
 ---------------
When you are ready to start, double-click the CDStore icon
to start the program. You are presented with the Main
CDStore screen. This screen has all the tools needed to add,
edit, trash, print, categorize, count and search CD's.
More on all this later...


THE LIST WINDOWS AND MODE BUTTONS:
=================================

CATEGORIES:
----------
Displays the all the current User-Defined Categories. Click
once on the one you want and any CD's entered for that
category will be displayed in the CD's List window.


CD LIST WINDOW:
--------------
On the left half of the screen below the Categories window,
you'll see the CD's List window.
This window holds the entire list of CD's for the current
category selected.


TITLES AND ARTISTS (MODE) BUTTONS:
--------------------------------
"Titles" & "Artists") tells CDStore to display the Titles
or Artists of the stored CD's.
Click once on a CD Title and you will see the Title, Artist(s)
and Comment for the selected CD.

You may have noticed that each time you click on either
button (Titles or Artists) the Status Box (located on the
right of the screen) tells you what is happening. This
Status Box displays different information depending the mode
of operation.


ADDING/DELETING A CATEGORY:
--------------------------
To add a new category, select the "Add Category" menu option
from the Edit menu. A dialog box will prompt you for the name.
Press RETURN after typing in the new name or click the Cancel
button to abort the process.

To delete a category, select the "Delete Category" menu option
from the Edit menu. A requester will prompt you to confirm your
actions and give you a chance to change your mind.


ADDING A NEW CD:
---------------
QUICK NOTE ABOUT RECORD FILING:
The entries you type in are written directly to disk AFTER
pressing return in the second or third field. This would be
either the Artists field or the Comment field (if it's enabled).
Therefore, there is no menu option or button for saving the
file, it is done automatically.

To add a new CD, click once on the "Add CD" button located
at the top of  the screen. The Status Box will display "Add
a New CD...", the fields Title, Artists and Comment will be
cleared and the cursor will be placed into the Title field
ready for your input.

Enter a new title for your CD and press return. The cursor
will be placed into the Artists field ready again for your
input. Enter the artist of your new CD and press return.
If the Comment field is enabled, enter a comment and press
return. Your new entry will be entered into the List window
and saved to disk.

NOTE: When "Adding" or "Editing" records you must
press [RETURN] in the "Artist"  or "Comment" field for the new
or edited records to be accepted.


EDITING A RECORD ENTRY:
----------------------
To Edit a record, click on the "Edit CD" button and select
the entry you want to edit in the List Window. Make your
changes followed by a return in the Artists and/or Comment
field. Whether or not your made changes to these two fields
makes no difference. CDStore waits for a RETURN key in the
Artists field or the Comment field (if it's enabled).

NOTE: Your changes will be entered AFTER you have pressed the
return key in the Artists or Comment field. If you do not wish
to edit anything in the Artist or Comment field, simply press
return to save your changes.


TRASHING A CD:
-------------
To Trash or delete a CD from the record, you need to select
a CD in the List Window, then click on the "Trash CD" button.
A requester will prompt you to confirm your actions and give
you a chance to change your mind.


UnDo A TRASHED ENTRY:
--------------------
The "UnDo Trash" menu option is for re-calling trashed entries.
If you happen to delete an entry by accident - select "UnDo Trash"
from the Edit menu.


SEARCHING:
---------
Clicking on the "Search" button will put the cursor into the
Title field and await your input. Type in either the Title name
or Artist(s) name that you want to find and press return.
The search will begin and stop at the first instance that matches
what you've entered. If the text you entered WAS found - you'll
be prompted by a requester to continue the search for the next
match or cancel the search all together.

You don't have to enter the entire name for the search to be
effective, nor is it case-sensitive. For example, If we were
looking for "Star Wars" - we could simply type "star" (without
the quotes of course) and CDStore would stop at every record
that contained the letters "star". (i.e. - "Star Trek",
"Star Wars", "Starbuck", "Shining Star" and so forth).
The more characters you type in - the narrower the search.

The search applies to either field and does not matter which
field you type in your search text. Searching applies to Artists
as well as Titles.



SORTING RECORDS:
---------------
Sorting in CDStore 3.0 in now automatic and set in the
Preferences Dialog box. (See Preferences below)



PREFERENCES:
-----------
To open Preferences, select the "Preferences" menu item under the
Project menu. A dialog box will open and present several default
options that you can configure for CDStore. Each item is described
below:

  Always Start With:
  -----------------
   Selects a category that you would like CDStore to always open
   with (as if you clicked on it).

  Always Sort By:
  --------------
   Automatic sorting options. Default is sort by Title.

  Comment Field (on/off):
  ----------------------
   If ON, the Comment field will always be active when CDStore
   starts.
   If OFF, the Comment field will always be disabled when CDStore
   starts. The Comment Button on the Main screen will temporarily
   override this option.

  Speech Device:
  -------------
   If ON, the Amiga's internal voice is used in some of the warning
   requesters.

  Verify Quit:
  -----------
   If ON, you will be prompted before quiting CDStore.

  Warning Beep:
   If ON, CDStore will sound a mild alert beep when if needs your
   attention.


THE QUEUE WINDOW:
----------------
  If you are familiar with one of my other programs called "SubStore",
  the Queue window works in a similar fashion. Basically, the Queue
  is used for queing individual entries. These entries may then be sent
  to your printer or exported (as text) to a file. To open the Queue
  window, select "Open Queue Window" from the Edit menu. While this
  window is displayed, clicking on an entry in the CD List box on the
  Main screen will add that CD to the Queue window.

  If the Artists button in the Queue is ON, the Artist(s) will be
  added also. If the Comments button in the Queue is ONm the comment
  (if there is one) will be added as well.

  The Trashcan will remove a selected line in the Queue window.
  For example, to remove the line "Elvis' Golden Records" from the
  Queue, select it and click on the Trashcan. Only one line at a time
  may be removed.

  The CLR button will clear everything in the Queue window.

  The Arrow/Disk button allows you to export the contents of the Queue
  to an ASCII (text) file.

  The Printer button of course sends the contents of Queue to your Printer.

  The View button opens a larger window for viewing the contents
  of your queue.

  The Exit Queue button closes the Queue window.


PRINTING RECORDS:
----------------
Clicking on the "Print" button will open the Print/Page-Setup
window. You will see two Format Icons, a Line Space toggle button,
Header Specs with Date and Title options, Tab bar with a Fill
character option. You will also see a Preview window below that
displays your current records in the format selected.
To the left and right (upper half) of the screen are two more
buttons - "Print" and "Exit". Each of these functions are
explained below:

-Format Icons:

These icons control the print format of your records.

  * The first icon will print each record on a single line.
  * The second icon will print each record on two lines.

The Print formats are as follows:

  1-Line          Title, Artist(s)

  2-Lines         Title,
                  Artist(s)

Simply click once on one of the icons and the Preview window will
display the change accordingly.

-Line Spacing (On/Off):
  "On"    -       will insert a blank line between each record for
                  a more legible printout.

  "Off"   -       will remove blank lines if they are there and the
                  printout will have NO blank lines between records.


-Header Specs:
 This option allows you to add a date and title to the printed page.
 To add the current date to your header, turn the date button on.
 If you want to include your own title, click the title button and the
 title field will become active. The [X] simply button clears the title
 field for you.
 All of the header information will be printed at the top of your page.



-Print Button: (In the Page-Setup window):
 (Make sure your printer is on and ready.) This button will
 print the records to your printer using the format options
 you've selected.


-Exit Button:
 This button will exit the Print/Page-Setup and return you
 to CDStore's main window.



CDStore MENUS:
-------------

 Project Menu:

   About       - Shows the program version and other stuff.

   Preferences - Opens the Preferences dialog box.

   Save Backup - Saves a backup of all your records.

   Load Backup - Loads the last backed-up copy of your CD library.
                 NOTE: This will OVERWRITE your current CD library.

   Plug-Ins    - Stand-Along modules for expanding the functions of
                 CDStore via Plug-In mini programs. Included is the
                 CDMover module. More Plug-In's on the way...
                 (See the Doc file for "CDMover" for more info.)

   Standby     - Turns CDStore into an icon and places it on the
                 WorkBench.

   Quit        - Exits CDStore.


 Edit Menu:

   Undo Trash  - Undeletes the last deleted record. Whenever
                 an entry is deleted, it is copied to a buffer
                 and held there until another entry is deleted.

  Add Category - Opens a requester for adding the new category name.

  Delete Category - Opens a warning requester before deleting the selected
                    Category.

  Total ALL CD's  - Displays the total number of ALL CD's in ALL categories.

  Clear Fields    - Clears the Title and Artist fields. This
                    will not delete any records but simply clear
                    anything currently in the fields.

  Open Queue Window - Opens the Queue window for working with individual
                      Entries. (See "The Queue Window")



TRACKS SCREEN:
-------------
 CD Categories List Box:
   Like the main window, this List Box displays all categories.
   Click once on a category to display the CD's in that category.

 CD Titles List Box:
   This List Box displays the actual CD titles (like on the main
   window). Click on a CD title to begin entering the Tracks for that CD.

 CD Tracks List Box:
   This is were the Tracks (song titles) are displayed as they are entered.


ADDING TRACKS:
-------------
 To add the Track titles to a CD, select one in the CD titles List Box.
 Enter the number of the track in the "TRACK#" field and press RETURN.
 The cursor will be placed in the "SONG" field. Enter the title of the
 song and press RETURN. Basically, that's all there is to it.

 Auto Count Button:
 -----------------
  Normally, you would enter the track titles in numerical order
  (i.e 1,2,3 etc.) If the "Auto Count" button is on and you've entered
  the first track title, then the TRACK# field will increment by one
  and put the cursor directly into the song field. The track number
  will have already been entered for you.
  However, if you don't enter them in sequential order or don't want
  to enter ALL the CD's titles, then you're better off leaving the
  Auto Count button off.


 Auto Save Button:
 ----------------
  Saves the CD Tracks to disk after each new entry. If this button
  is off, save your tracks manually by clicking the "Save" button
  under the Tracks List Box.


 Search Button: (Under the CD titles List Box)
 -------------
  Calls up a small requester for you to enter search text.
  Type in part of the title you're looking for and press RETURN.
  This is a single shot search. Therefor, the more detailed your
  search text is - the better chance you have of finding what
  you're looking for.

 Edit Button:
 -----------
  Puts the CD Tracks List Box in "Edit Mode". What this does is
  allow you to click on a track entry and make changes to it.
  Pressing RETURN in the Song field will record and save your
  changes.

   NOTE: Clicking on an entry in the Tracks List Box will
         also toggle the "Edit Mode" to ON.


 Delete Button:
 -------------
  To delete a track entry from the Tracks List Box, click the
  Delete button.


 UnDo Button:
 -----------
  This button will Un-Delete your last deleted track entry.


 Save Button:
 -----------
  Save the track list entries for the current CD to disk.
  If the "Auto Save" button is ON, you won't ever have to
  click on the save button.




KEYBOARD COMMANDS:
-----------------
 Preferences    LAmiga-P
 Save Backup    LAmiga-B
 Plug-Ins       LAmiga-I
 Quit           LAmiga-Q (Also on Print/Setup and Tracks screens)
 UnDo Trash     LAmiga-Z
 Clear Fields   LAmiga-C
 Open Queue     LAmiga-O

 Most requesters can be closed (Canceled) with the ESC key.





Enjoy the program!



        John Lullie