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S A N D D 'S M O V I E G U I D E
Release 5
Movie Collectors Software
Copyright 1989-1994 - Mark R. Wyatt
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.0
What is Movie Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1
SETTING UP AND USING MOVIE GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . 2.0
Distribution Diskettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1
Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2
Installing Movie Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3
Using the Mouse Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1
Program Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4
Screen Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1
Speaker Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2
DOS Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.3
Auto Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.4
Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.5
Printer Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.6
VGA Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.7
Display Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.8
FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0
Select Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1
Specifying Directory Path Names . . . . . . . . . . .
Verify Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2
Modify Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3
Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4
Quit Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5
USING MOVIE GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0
Adding Information to Your Data Base . . . . . . . . . 4.1
Changing and Updating Information in Your Data Base. . 4.2
Finding Information in Your Data Base . . . . . . . . 4.3
Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.
Tapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.
Actor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.
Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B.
Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C.
REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.0
Report Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1
Report Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.A
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.B
Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.C
Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.D
Select Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.E
Select Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.F
Heading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.G
Print Page Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.H
Left Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.I
Print Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.J
Lines / Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.K
Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.L
Begin Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.M
Quit Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.N
MULTIMEDIA FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0
Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1
Paste multimedia file. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2
Multimedia Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3
PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.0
Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Movie Guide is Sandd Software's on-line program for Personal Computers
(PCs) that allows you to catalog motion pictures, directors, actors,
and actresses. You can use Movie Guide to create one or more relational
data bases that contain information about movies, or series of movies,
that you want to keep track of. Movies that you have seen, movies that
you want to see, movies that you never want to see. Movie Guide lets
you apply your own extended comments about the movies it contains, so
you can be as detailed as you like. Sandd Software has built great deal
of flexibility into the program that allows you to customize both the way
the program looks on your personal computer screen, and the way it behaves.
Movie Guide uses relational data bases that allow you to add, update, and
retrieve information. Movie Guide will manipulate information from these
data bases that you will name (note that these are not DOS data bases).
The information that you keep in these data bases is entirely up to you,
and you can change the information as often as you like, and build reports
for viewing on the screen or printing on your printer.
Sandd's Movie Guide diskettes contain the programs that set up, run, and
maintain Movie Guide. You will use files stored on these diskettes to
install Movie Guide on your personal computer (note that these files are
in a compacted format). We recommend, as does anyone else who sells you
software, that you make backup copies of the original disks in case some
disaster with your PC causes a loss of files.
1.1 What Is Movie Guide
Sandd Software developed Movie Guide to enable you to keep track of the
movies, actors, actresses, and directors you are interested in. Movie
Guide's relational data bases are interconnected, so after you enter
information into the "Movie" data base, it's available to the other
sections, too (actors, actresses, and directors). You don't have to build,
say, a data base containing information about movie directors; the program
will extract the information about directors from its relational data bases
and display it (or print it) for you.
Sandd Software's Movie Guide is more than just a catalog of information
that relates to the Motion Picture Industry. While Sandd Software
loaded the program with a great deal of data, you shouldn't let our
selections influence you. You can change the relational data bases
that Movie Guide uses, or create new relational data bases that are
entirely your own. Consider Sandd Software's relational data bases
a convenient starting point. Some of the movies that the data bases
contain don't even interest us very much, but we have added them for
the sake of completeness.
2.0 SETTING UP AND USING MOVIE GUIDE
2.1 Distribution Diskettes
Movie Guide from Sandd Software is distributed on 3-1/2 or 5-1/4 disks.
As with any software you purchase, you should make backup copies of your
original diskettes before you begin to work with Movie Guide. See your
DOS manual for instructions on how to make backup copies of diskettes.
2.2 Files
The Installation diskette(s) contain the following files:
* MOVIE.LZH - the Movie Guide program
* MOVIEDAT.LZH - the Movie Guide program
* INSTALL.EXE - install program you need to run
* LHA102.COM - part of the install program
2.3 Installing Movie Guide
On the disk labeled Movie Guide Program, there is an install program.
Put this disk into your floppy drive and type A:INSTALL. B:INSTALL if
you have the floppy in your B:\ drive. Follow the instructions to
install movie guide onto your Personal Computer.
2.3.1 Using the Mouse Interface
If you have a mouse connected to your Personal Computer, you can tell
Movie Guide to use it by starting the program with a parameter. Type
"MOVIE MOUSE" to start the program with the mouse enabled. If you have
trouble with the mouse run Movie Guide without the mouse, just type "MOVIE".
Simply move the cursor around with the mouse to highlight the selection
you want, then press the left-hand mouse button to select it. If you
press the right-hand mouse button, you back up, one level at a time,
until you exit Movie Guide and return to the DOS prompt.
Whenever this document tells you to use the left and right arrow keys
to move your cursor, you can use the mouse instead. Just use the mouse
to move the cursor around on the screen, then click the left-hand mouse
button to make your selection. The right-hand mouse button always exits
out from the current Movie Guide panel. Keep clicking the right-hand
mouse button repeatedly to back out of Movie Guide and return to your
DOS prompt.
2.4 Program Settings
Once Movie Guide has been installed onto your PC, take a few moments
and review the settings Movie Guide uses. Run Movie Guide and select
SETTINGSfrom the FILES menu to view or change the settings. The
following are the options you can change.
2.4.1 Screen Display
Use the left and right arrow keys to change the screen display to
AUTODETECT, COLOR, or MONOCHROME. Normally you can leave this
set to autodetect, this will sense the type of monitor you have
and adjust the colors accordingly. If you are using a VGA Monochrome
or a Portable PC, you may want to experiment with the monochrome
settings to find the preferred color set.
2.4.2 Speaker Sound
Use the left and right arrow keys to turn the speaker on or off.
This will control whether Movie Guide will produce clicks or other
sounds when you navigate throughout the program.
2.4.3 DOS Version
Use the left and right arrow keys to let Movie Guide know if the DOS
version you are running is prior to version 3.0 or after.
2.4.4 Auto Save
Use the left and right arrow keys to turn Auto Save on and off.
If you turn on Auto Save, Movie Guide will automatically save the
changes you make to your movie library without prompting you.
If Auto Save if off then the program will ask before writing any
changes to the database to disk.
2.3.5 Printer
Use the right and left arrow keys to make Laser Printer or Dot Matrix
printer Active. Be sure to select 60 Lines per Page for Laser type
printers and 66 for Dot Matrix printers.
2.4.6 Printer Port
Use the right and left arrow keys to select from LPT1, LPT2, or PRN.
If you have problems printing, try changing this item to PRN. This
will allow DOS to handle all printing requests. This may be necessary
if you are printing to a serial port or LAN or have re-directed then
printer output.
2.4.7 VGA Support
Use the right and left arrow keys to enable or disable VGA support.
If this is active and you have a VGA monitor, Movie Guide will fade
screens in and out. If your running in a Dos partition such as under
windows set this feature to off.
2.4.8 Display Mode
Use the right and left arrow keys to select the way movies are displayed
on the movie library screen. Mode 1 will display the Title & Series and
Mode 2 will display the Title & Year & Tape number. This option is for
your preference to the way you like to see your movies.
Now that you have installed Movie Guide onto your PC and have told
it about your system, you are ready to use the program (hurray!).
3.0 FILES
Use the options from the Files pull-down to change files, update and verify
your data files, edit the series data in the program, update and verify your
data files, change the program settings and exit the Movie Guide program.
3.1 Select Files
Specifying Directory Path Names
To access the Select Files panel, use the arrow keys to highlight the
selections on the Main Panel. Go the Files on the menu bar and press Enter.
The Select Files panel appears. The Movie Path Directory is highlighted.
To change the current directory path, type the new information over the
existing information.
To add a new movie directory path, press the down arrow key to highlight
a blank line under the existing path and press the Spacebar. Enter the
path name for the new directory. Make sure that you start with the drive
name (e.g., a:\pictures in our example). Movie Guide will add the final
"\" if you do not type it. In our example, we will type a:\pictures.
Note that the directory has a 20 characters maximum length.
Press <Tab> to highlight the blank line below "Multimedia Data Path
Directory". Press the space bar. Enter the path name of your multimedia
files. Press <Esc> when you have finished.
3.2 Verify Files
If you suspect that your directories have become corrupted (for example,
due to a power failure while you were running Movie Guide), or the program
asks to rebuild files then run Verify Movies. To rebuild your database
select Verify Movies. To rebuild the multimedia database select Verify
Multimedia. Press <F5> to toggle sort title on or off. If the sort
title is on then it will be rebuilt from the main title. Usually this
should be set to off unless you are restoring old files. During the
sort the program will display the movie titles. If any errors are found
then an error message will inform you of the problem. Any error should
be corrected automaticly by the program. If you experience any errors
then rebuild again to see if they were fixed. After you see the message
"Recovery Process Completed," press <Enter> to return to the Main Menu.
3.3 Modify Series
Use the "Modify Series" selection to add a series name to your movie
series list. For example, if you make your own videotapes about places
of interest, you might want to create a series called "Vacations". That
way, if you want to catalog the videotapes you have of your vacations,
Movie Guide will have a series selection called "Vacations".
To add a series name, access the "Modify Series" panel and use the
arrow keys to move the highlight to a blank area on the panel.
Type the name that you want to use, then press the <Esc> key.
Movie Guide will update its data base so that it contains the new series.
3.4 Settings
"Settings" allows you to alter the configuration information that
Movie Guide uses. Use the arrow keys to highlight "Settings" under
"Exit" and press <Enter>. Movie Guide displays a pop-up panel in
the center of your screen called "Configuration". See section 3.0
for configuration information.
3.5 Quit Program
Use the EXIT selection to leave the program. Note that before you turn
off your PC, you should use the EXIT function to be certain that the
program saves any changes that you made to your data bases. Don't just
turn off your PC, you should always exit the current program you are
running before shutting your system down.
4.0 USING MOVIE GUIDE
The following are some general rules to keep in mind when you are using
Movie Guide. You can usually type in all uppercase letters, although
things will be clearer and your life will be much easier if you use upper
and lower case letters (psychologists report that it's harder to read text
that appears in all uppercase letters; try it sometime). Move to the next
field on a panel by pressing the down arrow key or the tab key, and move
to the previous field by pressing the up arrow key or the shift-tab keys.
If you want to erase characters in a field, you can just type over the
letters that already occupy the space. Be aware, however, that any
characters already in a field will stay in the field unless you overtype
them, with other characters or with spaces. Note that the spacebar will
delete characters after the cursor, and the backspace key will delete
characters before the cursor. Be sure, if you are over typing characters
that already appear in a field, that you type enough new characters to
wipe out those that already appear. Use the space bar if you have to.
You'll get some interesting results if the new information you are typing
does not completely cover the old data.
Change directory (cd) to the directory where you have the Movie Guide
program and type "movie" to start the program. In the future, be sure
to change directory to the appropriate directory before attempting to
start the program (or make sure that your PATH variable contains the
directory where you put the Movie Guide program - this enables you to
run Movie Guide from anywhere in your system), or else DOS will respond
"bad command or file name." The program displays the Movie Guide Main
Panel on your terminal screen.
* FILES
* LIBRARY
* REPORTS
* MULTIMEDIA
* MANUAL
Each of these selections is described in a separate section in this
document. Use the left and right arrow keys to change selections, and
the up and down arrow keys to highlight the choices in the pop-up panels
that appear below each selection.
4.1 Adding New Information to Your Data Base
Sandd Software's Movie Guide allows you to make your data base as large
as your PC will allow. You can include a great deal of information about
each movie and about the people who made it.
When you receive Movie Guide from Sandd Software, its data base already
contains a lot of information about movies, directors, actors, and
actresses. However, since our choices of movies and the people who make
and star in them will probably not suit your needs, you can add any new
information that you want, as well as delete information that you don't
want. To add new information To add or edit movie information, use the
following procedure.
You add new information to Movie Guide from the "Movies" selection on the
Main Panel under "Library". Movie Guide's relational data base structure
automatically keys the information you enter to the appropriate places in
its data base structure. Use the following procedure to add information
to Movie Guide. When you are working with Sandd Software's Movie Guide,
you can erase characters that you have typed by using the backspace key
or use the left arrow key and overtype.
Also, be aware that you can type uppercase, lowercase, or a combination
of the two when you are asking Movie Guide to find information. However,
when you are adding information to the data bases, you should use
uppercase and lowercase letters in the normal manner. Use the up arrow
key to move the cursor to the previous field, and the down arrow key to
move to the next field.
You can leave any field blank by pressing the <Enter> key.
For example, if you want to add the actor Bud Abbott, you must tell
Movie Guide the name of a movie in which Bud Abbott appeared. We'll
give you an example of the procedure.
Under "Library" on the Main Menu, highlight "Movies" and press the
Enter key. There is a brief delay and some chugging noises while the
software loads. In a few seconds, the "Movie Guide File Maintenance"
panel appears. Now press the Insert key and Movie Guide will add a
new movie and let you begin to edit it.
Movie Guide highlights the "Movie Title" field. Type the name of the
movie that the actor appears in, then press Enter. Movie Guide accepts
your entry and highlights the "Director" field.
If you know the name of the director, type that name into the director
field and press Enter.
Movie Guide highlights the "Year" field. Type the year in which the
movie was released and press Enter, or just press Enter to leave the
field blank.
Movie Guide highlights the "Series" field. This field is prepopulated
with a number of selections; you can see all the options by repeatedly
pressing the space bar. Another way to select the series is to press
<Enter> and use the up/down arrow keys to choose a series.
NOTE:
You cannot type information into the fields that are pre-populated.
Select MODIFY SERIES to modify or add a the series field.
When Movie Guide displays the selection that you want, press Enter.
Movie Guide accepts your selection and highlights the "Actors" field.
Type the names of the actors and actresses who appear in the movie,
up to 20 characters. After you type each name, press the Enter key.
When you have added all the names you want to, press the down arrow.
Movie Guide highlights the pre-populated "Movie Ratings" field.
Press the space bar repeatedly until you see the rating you want to
use for this movie, then press Enter. Use this field to input the
Motion Picture Arts Academy (MPAA) rating for the movie. Note that
older movies do not have a rating, so for these movies use the N/R
selection in Movie Guide. The selections that Movie Guide offers
are listed below.
N/R (not rated)
G
PG
PG-13
R
X
TV (Made-for-TV movie)
NC-17.
When the screen displays the movie rating you want, press the <Enter>
key. Movie Guide accepts your choice, then highlights the next field,
which allows you to enter your personal rating of the movie:
N/R (not rated)
Bomb
1/2
*
* 1/2
**
** 1/2
***
*** 1/2
****
Press the space bar repeatedly to view all of the above selections, then
press the Enter key to select one. Since this field will reflect your
personal ratings for movies, you can decide on your own rating system
and use it while you are running Movie Guide. Sandd Software claims no
particular insights into the ratings for movies. Rather, any entries that
appear in this field when you purchase our software merely indicate some
of our personal likes and dislikes.
Press Enter after you have decided on a personal movie rating.
Movie Guide highlights the "Run length" field. This field is intended
to hold the number of minutes in length a movie plays. Type the number
of minutes and press the Enter key.
Note that some very bad movies seem to take a very long time to run from
beginning to end. While it's tempting to enter 999 (minutes) in this field,
remember that 999 minutes is almost 17 hours. There are very few movies
that run for 17 hours, although some do seem to last that long.
After you press the Enter key, Movie Guide highlights the next field,
for color or black-and-white. Use the spacebar to toggle between these
two selections, then press the <Enter> key to move to the next field.
The next field is for thew way that sound was recorded. The field is
prepopulated with the following selections:
Mono
Strereo
Dolby
Use the spacebar to toggle among these entries that are in the field,
then press <Enter> to make your selection.
Movie Guide accepts your choice and highlights the "Tape Format" field.
This field is pre-populated with entries that you can see by repeatedly
pressing the space bar. Press the space bar until the screen displays the
selection you want, then press the Enter key. The selections for you to
choose from are the following:
VHS
BETA
Disc
8MM
16MM
32MM
Other
S-VHS
When you have made a selection from the possibilities listed above by
pressing Enter, Movie Guide highlights the "GEN" field. This field shows
the generation of the movie. Use this field to indicate the physical
quality of your movies. For example, pre-recorded, professionally-made
movies will probably be of higher quality than those you have recorded
yourself from television.
You can even use the GEN field to indicate other things than Sandd
Software originally intended. For example, if you don't loan movies
to others, you might use the "Loaner" selection to indicate that a
particular movie was recorded from commercial television, and contains
commercials. The selections are the following:
Original
Copy
Loaner
Loaned
Press the space bar repeatedly until you see the selection you want
then press the <Enter> key.
Press the <Enter> key. Movie Guide highlights the "Num" field.
Use this field if you want to apply your personal catalog numbers
to your movies. You can type up to six characters into this field.
After you type a number, press the Enter key.
Movie Guide highlights the "Count" field. Use this field to enter the
number shown on the tape counter of your VCR after you play the movie.
If you want this field to be useful, be sure to reset the tape counter
before you play the movie if it's the first thing on a particular videotape
or disk. This field becomes most useful if you have more than one movie on
a tape or disk: if you have three movies on a tape, for instance, then
the second movie might begin at tape counter number 800 and the third
at 1754. The number that you input into this field can help you locate
movies on a tape or a disk more easily. Press the Enter key.
Movie Guide highlights the "Country" field. Type the country of origin
for your film, up to 20 characters. Press the Enter key.
Movie Guide highlights the "Viewing" field. This field is prepopulated
with the following selections.
* I want to see this movie
* I have seen this movie
* (blank)
Use the space bar to move from one selection to another; when the cursor
highlights your choice, press the <Enter> key.
Movie Guide highlights the bottom block on the screen, the "Description"
field in which you can enter your own description (and opinion!).
Type a brief description of the movie. You can type anything you want to,
but be sure to press the Enter key at the end of each line, since Movie
Guide does not automatically wrap the text for you.
If what you want to type takes more than 7 lines, do not despair!
Sandd Software provides a facility that allows you to type up to 800 lines
in the Description field.
Press the <Tab> while editing to edit the "Extended Description". Movie
Guide then shows you the "Extended Description" panel. Type to your
heart's content, but remember that the text does not wrap automatically;
press the <Enter> key to begin each new line. The number of lines that
you have typed appears in the lower right-hand corner of the panel.
To add a new line press <F5> and to delete a line from the description
press <F6>. To inport a text file press <F8> and type the new file
name and path. If the file is successfully imported then it will be
available as your description. This is a handy way to spell check the
description. When you have finished entering the text, press <Esc>.
Movie Guide saves what you have typed (there is a short pause while the
program saves your changes), and returns to the Movie Data Base panel.
Note that the Description section on the Movie Data Base panel shows only
the first seven lines of the description if the description contains more
than seven lines. Everything is still there--press <Tab> to see the entire
description.
To finish, press the <Esc> key. If you are adding a new movie to the data
base (not editing one that already existed in the data base), Movie Guide
shows you a pop-up panel that asks if you want to save the changes that
you just made. Type "y" to save the changes, or "n" to abort without
saving any changes.
4.2 Changing and Updating Information in Your Data Base
After you have typed information into Movie Guide's relational data base,
you can, of course, go back and change any or all of the information, or
delete information that you have already entered. Use the following
procedure to make changes to the relational data bases. If you want to
change information in the fields that are not pre-populated, be careful
to overtype ALL the information that already appears in the field. If you
don't, you may end up with a mixture of old and new information.
If you already have a movie in the data base called "Ivanhoe", and you
want to change the name to "Zorro", you can move to the movie title field
and type "Zorro". However, if you don't space out the rest of the letters,
you'll end up with "Zorrooe" in the field; not really what you wanted.
To change the data base, access Sandd Software's Movie Guide by using the
procedure discussed above.
Use the left and right cursor keys to highlight "Movies" under "Library."
Press <Enter> to find a movie.
Movie Guide displays the list of movies currently in its data base,
beginning with the letter "A" (or as close to the letter "A" as it can
get).
Press the Spacebar and type Ivanhoe, Movie Guide will begin searching
for this movie.
Use the left and right arrow keys to jump, one letter at a time, either
forward or backward in the alphabet. Along the bottom of the panel, from
left to right, are the letters of the alphabet, with the letter that begins
the highlighted movie highlighted.
Press the first letter of the first word in the movie title to jump to
that letter. For example, press "c" to jump to those movies in the data
base whose first letter begins with "c".
Use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to jump one screenfull of information.
Use the up and down arrow keys to move the cursor one movie title.
When the cursor is highlighting the movie you want, press the <Enter>
key. Movie Guide will search its data base, then display the information
it has for the movie you selected.
If you want to change the title of the movie, press the <Tab> key to edit
and just begin typing. Note that each character you type replaces the
character at the cursor position. Be careful as you type, making sure
that the final result is what you want. After you have changed the title,
or if you don't want to change the title, press Enter to move the
highlight to "Director." Change the director's name and press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Year." Note that only the numeric keys work with
the "Year" field. Press the Enter key to highlight "Series".
Use the space bar to toggle through the selections preset under "Series."
You can add new or modify the existions selections from the Modify Series
part of the program. The following selections are the default values:
Adventure
Classic
Comedy
Drama
Educational
Family
Foreign Film
Home Movie
Horror/Thriller
Martial Arts
Musical
Mystery
Science Fiction
Sports
Western
When you have the series title on the screen that you want to use,
press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights the "Actor" field. To add a new actor, press the
<Enter> key until you see a highlighted blank space next to the title
"Actors." Type the name of the actor or actress you want to add.
If you want to add another actor or actress, press the down arrow key to
get a new blank area in the "Actors" field. Continue until you have added
all the names you want. Then press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights the "Movie Ratings" field.
N/R
G
PG
PG-13
R
X
TV
NC-17
blank.
Press <Enter> when the screen displays the rating you want to use.
Movie Guide next highlights a field in which you can add your personal
ideas about a movie's quality. This field is pre-populated with a number
of stars; use the space bar to toggle among the selections until you see
one you want, then press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Run Length." Enter the length of the movie in
number of minutes. Press <Enter>.
The next field is for color or black-and-white. Use the <Spacebar> to
toggle between the two, then press <Enter> to make a selection and move
to the next field.
The next field is for sound. Use the spacebar to toggle among the choices
in this field, then press <Enter> to make a selection and move to the next
field.
Movie Guide highlights "Tape Format." This field is prepopulated with
the following selections:
VHS
Beta
8mm
Press <Enter> to highlight "Gen" (Generation). This field is prepopulated
with the following:
Original
Copy
Loaner
Loaned
Highlight the selection that you want and press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Num". Use this field if you want to add your own
catalog numbers to your movies. Enter your personal catalog number and
press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Count". Add the tape counter numbers as
displayed on your video machine and press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Country". Type the name of the country of
origin of the movie and press <Enter>.
Movie Guide highlights "Description". Add any description you want.
Be sure to press the Enter key at the end of each line. Also, if data
already existed in this field, be careful when you are typing. The new
letters you type will overlay the existing characters; If your new entry
does not completely change the old, use the spacebar to erase the old
characters, or you will end up with extraneous characters in the field.
After you have made the changes, press <Esc>. Movie Guide opens a panel
on your screen that says "This movie has been modified. Save changes?"
Press "Y" to alter your relational data base, or press "N" to abort the
changes and not save to disk.
4.3 Finding Information in Your Data Base
While you are looking at the Main Panel, use the left or right cursor
keys Movie Guide automatically highlights "Movies". Press the <Enter>
key. Movie Guide displays the "Movie Guide File Maintenance" screen,
which contains an alphabetical list of the movie titles currently in
your data base. Note the following features of this screen.
In the center of the screen is the cursor bar, which highlights the first
movie in the list. At the top of the screen, Movie Guide shows you
information about the movie:
Movie Title (default)
Category
Year
Director
Tape
Rating
Actors
Below the list is a bar containing letters of the alphabet; the highlighted
letter is the first letter that will appear in the movie title.
At the bottom of the screen appears information about navigating in the
data base.
Use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to jump, one screen at a time, backward
or forward in the data base. Note that you cannot wrap backward from
"A" to "Z" or forward from "Z" to "A".
The <Esc> key, as usual, backs you up one level, in this case back to
the Movie Guide Main Menu screen.
The up arrow key moves the cursor backward on the screen, or backward
to the previous screen. The down arrow moves the cursor forward on
the screen, or forward to the next screen.
The left and right arrow keys jump the cursor from one letter of
the alphabet to the previous or next letter.
When you press the <Enter> key, Movie Guide displays the detailed
information that it has about the movie that is highlighted (the
information contained in the Movie Data Base). Use the list to locate
a particular movie name in your data base, highlight the name with the
cursor bar, and press the <Enter> key.
Under the "Library" selection at the top of the screen are the
following selections.
Movies - Movies library sorted by title
Tapes - Movies library sorted by tape number
Actors - Alphabetical listing of all actors and directors
Series - Lists movies by a particular series
Search - Search the movie database for any particular information
A. Movies
Use the "Movies" selection to find movies by title. This is where you
can add, change, or delete movies in the file.
B. Tapes
Use the "Tapes" selection to find movies sorted by tape number.
This is also where you can add, change, or delete movies. Use the
arrow keys to select different movies. Press <Spacebar> to search
for a tape number.
C. Actors
Use the "Actors" selection to find the actors, actresses, and directors
that the data base contains. To access this portion of Movie Guide's
data base, use the arrow keys to highlight "Library", then press <Enter>.
On the menu that Movie Guide displays, highlight "Actor Data Base" and
press <Enter>.
At the left side of the panel are the names, listed in alphabetical
order. Near the center of the screen is the number of times that a
name appears in the relational data bases (as long as the number is
greater than one--this field is blank if the name appears only once).
in the third column is the name "Actor" or "Director".
Use the up and down arrow keys to move the cursor bar forward
(toward the beginning of the alphabet) or backward (toward the
end of the alphabet). Note that these keys will not wrap backward
from "A" to "Z" or forward from "Z" to "A".
Use the right arrow key to jump to the next letter of the alphabet,
and the left arrow key to jump to the previous letter.
Note the selections at the bottom of the screen. They are the same
as those described above, and are there for your convenience.
You can also use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to jump, one screen
at a time, in either direction.
Press the <Spacebar> to search for an actor or director.
When you have highlighted the actor, actress, or director you want,
press the <Enter> key to see a screen containing more details about
the movies that person is connected with. This screen shows the
person's name in the upper right, and the names of the movies in
the center of the screen.
D. Series
When you highlight "Series Lookup" and press <Enter>, Movie Guide shows
a list of all series names under which the movies have been entered.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the series you are interested in, then
press <Enter> to see the movies in the data base that were entered with
that series name.
If you press <Enter> while a movie name is highlighted, Movie Guide
shows you the Movie Data Base panel for that movie. If you have added
more actors and actresses than the screen can show, Movie Guide will
march the names from right to left, showing you all the names that
appear in the field.
E. Search Movies
Use the "Search Movies" selection to query your data base. When you
highlight "Search Movies" and press <Enter>, Movie Guide shows you the
"Search Movie File" screen. Each of the categories shown enables you to
further limit the search.
Fill in as few or as many fields as you like and press the <F5> key to begin
the search. Note that the larger your data base, the longer the search will
take. Note also that the more fields you fill in, the faster the search.
Press <Esc> to abort the search.
After Movie Guide completes its search, it displays the "Movie Guide
Search" screen, which contains the results of the search just made.
In the center of the screen is an alphabetical list of the movie names.
The top portion of the screen shows some details about the movie
currently highlighted by the cursor. The bottom of the screen shows
the keys to use to move around the "Movie Guide Search" panel.
Press <Enter> to see details about the movie selected, or press <Esc>
to back out of the selection. A pop-up panel appears on the screen,
containing the word "Searching". Movie Guide also displays the number
of hits made in the data base.
5.0 REPORTS
Movie Guide is capable of producing a number of reports, that you
can look at on your screen or print on your printer. Use the Reports
selection to create and print reports about the information you have
in your catalogs. We suggest that when you specify all the report
parameters that you want, you view the report on the screen before
you print it. This can save paper, and can give you the opportunity
to ensure that the report is what you want.
When you highlight "Reports," Movie Guide shows you the following:
* Report Generator
5.1 Report Generator
Use the "Report Generator" selection to specify the parameters that
you want to use for your report. When you highlight the "Report
Generator" and press <Enter>, Movie Guide displays a panel that
allows you to specify various parameters to use to narrow the search.
5.1.A Report Number
Press <Enter>. Movie Guide will save up to 8 unique report types.
Select the number you want to print or change.
f2.5.1.B Description
The report description is used for your reference to give the
different reports unique names.
5.1. C Report Type
Highlight "Report Type" and press the return key. Movie Guide will
display a panel on the right side of the screen that contains the
following selections. Use the up and down arrow keys to select one
of the types, then press <Enter>.
TITLE
If you select "Title", the report that Movie Guide provides will
be sorted by the movie title.
TAPE NUMBER
If you select "Tape Number", Movie Guide will create a report sorted
by ascending numbers which you have assigned to your tapes.
SERIES
If you select "Series", Movie Guide will create a report sorted by
series. This report is similar to catalogs used by video rental
stores. Also, you may elect to print a Table of Contents and Index
with the series report.
LAST SEARCH
Movie Guide remembers the parameters that you specified for the last
search you made, and uses them to make its current search.
f.2.5.1.D Format
Use "Report Format" to tell Movie Guide how you want to see the
report. You have the following options.
Full Description
If you select "Full Description", Movie Guide will print all the
information that it has in its data base for the movies it finds.
SORT TITLE - YEAR - TAPE
TITLE - YEAR - TAPE
SORT TITLE - TAPE - COUNTER
These three formats will print a single line per movie.
5.1.E Select Movies
You can use this setting to tell Movie Guide which movies to print.
All movies, only movies with tape numbers, or movies without tape
numbers.
By using this feature, you can print only movies in your library,
these will have a tape number, to do this select movies with tape
numbers only.
5.1.F Select Series
You can use this feature to tell Movie Guide which series to print.
You can select any or all series.
5.1.G Heading
Whatever you enter in this area will be printed at the top of each
page printed.
5.1.H Print Page Number
You can elect to print page numbers on each page or omit them.
5.1.I Left Margin
You may set the number of characters as a left margin. Set this so
the reports are aligned on the page to your liking.
5.1.J Print Guide
This option only takes effect when you select a single line report.
You can turn on a guide which your eye can follow when reading
across the reports.
5.1.K Lines / Page
You can select the number of lines per page you want your reports
to be printed. If you have selected Laser Printer in the Settings
part of the program then, when you print, your laser printer will
be initialized with this value.
5.1.L Output
You can select three ways to view or print the report.
PRINTER
This is the normal report format which directs the report directly
to your printer.
LASER 4 UP
If you have a laser printer, you can drastically reduce the number
of pages required to print the reports. Select this to print 2
pages on a single side of paper. You will need to reload the paper
when asked, so the back side of the page can be printed. The report
now folds neatly giving you a handy report similar to a book.
SCREEN
It is a good idea to view the way the report will look before you
actually print it. Use this feature to view and scroll through the
report before you actually print it. Once you are happy with the way
the report looks and you want to print it, select either PRINTER or
LASER 4 UP to get a printed report.
DISK
To create a text file of the report select print to Disk. The program
will create a file called REPORT.TXT in the directory where Movie was
run from.
5.1.M Begin Report
After you have filled in the fields discussed below, highlight
"Create Report" and press <Enter>. Movie Guide will create the
report that you have asked for.
5.1.N Quit Reports
When you have finished generating, viewing, or printing the reports
you want, use the arrow keys to highlight "Quit Reports" and press
the <Enter> key. Movie Guide returns to the Main Menu.
6.0 MULTIMEDIA FILES
Multimedia files are pictures or digitized images, sound files, or
text files stored electronically. If you have images associated with
your collections, you can use Movie Guide to display these images
on your screen.
Use the cursor keys or mouse to highlight "Multimedia Files" and press
<Enter>. Movie Guide displays a list of the file names that have the
extension .PCX/GIF/FLI/ROL. You can select any of these files for
display on your screen.
6.1 Database
Use this area to add and modify the multimedia files. This is where you
assign multimedia events to Movies in your database. To add a new record
press <Insert>. From the Edit screen input the file you wish to tag to a
Movie record. Use the function keys listed at the bottom of the screen to
help you paste the necessary information.
6.2 Paste multimedia file
If you have picture files that match a record in the database then you
will have the option to view the data or a picture. To setup a picture
press <F6> from the multimedia edit screen and a listing of movies will
be displayed. Select the movie that is related to the picture and press
"P". Paste will attach the picture to the movie in the database. Now
if a Movie title, Actor or Director is found in the database the associated
picture can be displayed.
6.3 Multimedia Search
This will search your drive(s) for any multimedia files that may work
from inside the program. This information is stored in the multimedia
file. Movie Guide displays a panel that allows you to specify the drive
where you have the files. Type the drives you wish to search and press
<Enter>. Movie Guide searches and catalogs all the multimedia type files
found on the drive(s).
7.0 Performance
There are a few ways to customize and enhance the performance of the
program. Since this is a database program disk cache is the best way to
speed up the feel of the program. If you have VGA then set VGA Support
to quick or slow fades, fading can be easier on the eyes. If you like to
use a mouse then start the program as "MOVIE MOUSE" to enable the mouse.
Turn Autosave on to add or edit data without being prompted to save your
data. When editing notes about the movie use the full screen view of notes.
This view allows adding and deleting of lines and is easier to use.
To run Movie Guide in a Dos partition set a minimum of 512K, to view any
pictures full screen mode would be required.
7.1 Backups
To perform a full backup of your data files copy all files with an extension
of .DAT to your backup disk. From these files Movie Guide can recover your
database with a simple rebuild from the Verify Files menu. We recommend
that you compress the "*.DAT" files first and then store them to
your backup disk to save disk space. If you use a full backup program then
that program will most likely compress and store the data files on it's own.
To copy the data files to your A drive use the Dos copy command example >
COPY *.DAT A:\
SANDD Software warrants the physical diskette(s) and physical
documentation provided with registered versions to be free of defects
in materials and workmanship for a period of ninety days from the date
of order. If Sandd Software receives notification within the warranty
period of defects in materials or workmanship, and such notification is
determined by SANDD Software to be correct, Sandd Software will replace
the defective diskette(s) or documentation.
The entire and exclusive liability and remedy for breach of this Limited
Warranty shall be limited to replacement of defective diskette(s) or
documentation and shall not include or extend to any claim for or right
to recover any other damages, includingbut not limited to, loss of profit,
data, or use of the software, or special, incidental, or consequential
damages or other similar claims, even if SANDD Software has been
specifically advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event
will SANDD SOFTWARE'S liability for any damages to you or any other
person ever exceed the lower of suggested list price or actual price paid
for the license to use the software, regardless of any form of the claim.
Sandd Software specifically disclaims all other warranties, expressed
or implied, including but not limited to, and implied warranty of
merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.