New bpm databases can be created with the 'New -> Database' command of the File menu. The content of a bpm database is shown in windows, the "views" of the database. Within a view, bpm data records are displayed as a list. The underlined column title in the header of the list determines the data field, which is used to sort the records of the list. Each bpm database has got a main view in which all known bpm entries, that are not filtered out, are displayed. With the 'Find All' button of the Find-dialog, new views, that only contain entries which satisfy certain search criteria, can be opened. On the contrary to the main view, these windows do not represent a bpm database, they only show a special selection of data records of the parent bpm database. That views can be distiguished, each view except the main view, has an unique view number. It is displayed in the window title.
BPM Data Records
Bpm data records contain a music track's bpm rate, artist, title, version and label. Additionally to this data, you can define the medium and the owner of the song. At last, it is possible to set a permanent mark for the record. But notice, this is only a suggestion how to use the different fields of a data record. You can change the field identifiers as you like (respectively the column titles) by choosing 'Default Column Titles...' of the System menu (e.g. instead of the label name you can store timing information). To preserve compatibility between MacBPM files, it's suggested always to use the bpm, artist and title fields for the intended information.
A new data record can be added to a bpm database with the 'New Entry' menu item of the Database menu. In the 'New Entry'-dialog you can enter the required information of a song. You can use the 'Count BPM'-button, or alternatively the F14-key, to open the bpm counter described in the chapter "MacBPM Counter". After the bpms have been determined, they can be automatically inserted into the bpm field of the 'New Entry'-dialog by pressing the OK button of the counter. If bpms should not be truncated to integers, the 'Truncate BPM values' checkbox of the preferences must not be checked.
To enter quickly data in the fifth data field, with the default title 'label', there is a popup menu with possible, often used, input strings. Items can be added, changed or deleted within this menu, by pushing the corresponding button in the preferences dialog. Alternatively, you can add new items by selecting "Add this" in the popup menu and delete items by selecting the item to delete and pressing 'shift' while releasing the mouse button.
An entry of a bpm database can be edited if the entry is selected in a view of the database and the 'Edit Entry...' item of the Database menu is chosen. It is also possible to double-click a bpm data record.
Mediums And Owners
The mediums and owners of a song can only be defined, if the appropriate mediums and owners are known to the system. They can be declared by using the 'Owner Set...' and 'Medium Set...' command of the System menu. After choosing one of these menu items, you can edit the present owner or medium list.
You can also define a set of default owners and mediums in the preferences. These default lists are used to initialize the medium and owner list at MacBPM's startup.
Remember that it's possible to rename the owner and medium fields of a bpm database so that they can be used to store other information.
Filters
MacBPM provides an import and an export filter for a bpm database. Only entries that are not filtered out are displayed in the views of the database. The filters are turned on if the 'Use Filters' menu item is checked.
A filter definition consists of a bpm range and substrings for artist, title, version and label. Optionally it is possible to declare a medium, an owner and a mark.
An entry matches to a filter if the bpm rate of the entry lies between the lower and the upper bound of the filter's bpm range, if the substrings of the filter can be found in the corresponding strings (artist, title, version and label) of the entry and if the optional values of the filter are equal to the entry's values.
Searching For Data Records
By choosing the 'Find...' menu item of the Database menu, MacBPM Manager will present the 'Find'-dialog with several options. A search pattern, which defines the criteria that are used to find certain entries, can now be declared the same way as a filter is declared.
If the 'Find' button is clicked, the first entry of the last view, that matches the search pattern, is highlighted. The last view is the window, that was active before the 'Find'-dialog became the front window. The next entry that matches the search pattern can now be found, by selecting the 'Find Again' command of the Database menu.
If the 'Find All' button of the Find-dialog was pressed, a new view is opened and all entries that satisfy the search criteria are displayed in this new view.
But the easiest way to find a certain entry within the frontmost bpm-list, is to type in the first few characters of the data field that is used to sort the bpm-list. MacBPM Manager will then show the first entry that matches the input.
Configuring BPM Databases
The database name and an additional comment about the database can be entered in the Information-dialog (choose the 'Information...' item of the Database menu and MacBPM Manager will bringt up the Information-dialog). If the checkbox 'Database names = filenames' of the preferences is checked, the database name is always set to the corresponding file name.
If you select the 'Save in desktop file' checkbox, MacBPM will store the comment within the desktop file. After opening the file information dialog within the Finder (select 'Information' in the Finder's File menu) your comment will then always be displayed.
MacBPM Manager allows the definition of an entry preset. This is a default pattern for new bpm data records. The fields of the 'New Entry'-dialog are always initialized to the values of the entry preset.
To change the aligment of columns in database views, or to hide some columns, the 'Column'-dialog has to be used. The settings that are made here, only concern the parent window. They are also used if this window is printed.
To change the width of a column, click the corresponding border line in the header of the table (the line in which the column titles are displayed) and drag this line to the desired position.
Input/Output Of BPM Databases
Normally bpm databases are saved in an own format. It is also possible to save a database as a text file, so that databases can be exchanged with other database programs.
In text files, the fields of data records are seperated by TABs and records are seperated by carriage returns (ascii-code: 13). MacBPM assumes that only those fields of a data record are exchanged, that are selected within the 'Text Im-/Export' dialog (that applies to text import and export). Nethertheless, the order of the data fields within a text-data record needs to be equal to the order of the columns within the program. If there is another order in a text file, it may be possible to re-arrange the column order with MacBPM's tool 'Exchange columns' (but remember, this is only possible with columns that are compatible to each other).
If a text file is imported in MacBPM Manager, make sure, that either all mediums and owners are known, or that the checkboxes 'Accept new mediums' and 'Accept new owners' of the preferences are checked. Otherwise MacBPM Manager will ignore new mediums and owners.
Remember, the maximum number of owners and mediums is currently restricted to 127 different entries.
If some bpms of a text file are floating point numbers, and MacBPM Manager should not convert them to integers, it is also necessary, that the 'Truncate BPM values' checkbox is not checked.
Printing Views Of A BPM Database
To print the contents of the frontmost database view, choose 'Print...' from the 'File' menu. MacBPM Manager will present the standard Print-dialog for your printer.
The File menu also has got a 'Page Setup...' and a 'Print Options...' command, that let you customize the print characteristics, like font, font size, page numbering and other options.
Playlists
Creating Playlists
New playlists can be created with the 'New -> Playlist' command of the File menu. Playlists are sequences of bpm entries. The entries are numbered automatically by MacBPM, beginning with entry number one. It is possible to add comment lines to the list so that further information can also be stored within a playlist. There are two kinds of comments: free comments and comments bound to a bpm data record (called local comments). If a record has got local comments, there is a small arrow right beside the entry number. Clicking on this arrow makes theses comments unvisible or visible. Alternatively you can select 'Fold' or 'Fold All'/'Unfold All' of the Playlist menu to hide/show all local comments.
Compiling Playlists
The 'New -> Entry' command of the Playlist menu inserts a new entry into the playlist. If a line is selected, this new entry is inserted before the selected line, otherwise it is appended to the end of the document. After inserting the new entry, MacBPM Manager will present the standard 'New Entry'-dialog.
Free comments are inserted similarly. To put a local comment to an existing entry, the entry has to be selected and the 'Add Comment' command has to be chosen. The new global comment is then inserted as the last global comment of the selected entry. If there is already a local comment (that is visible) you can also use the 'New -> Comment' command after selecting this comment, to insert another local comment before the existing one.
The final arrangement of comments and entries can be done via drag & drop.
Miscellaneous Hints
If something is pasted into a playlist, it is inserted before the first selected line. If there is no selection, it is appended to the former playlist.
The following format is used to exchange text data with MacBPM playlists (EBNF Syntax):
Comments and entries are terminated with carriage returns and the data fields of a data record are seperated by TABs. To declare which data fields are given within a text, open the 'Text Im-/Export'-dialog and choose the desired columns.
All other playlist features correspond to the descriptions in the bpm database chapter.
Tools
For both, databases and playlists, there is a set of tool functions available. These tools allow modifications of the entries of the frontmost document. The operation is either applied to all entries of the document or only to the selected ones. At the moment, the following utilities are available:
• Change Case: The content of the selected column is changed, so that
all characters are upper-case, lower-case or that all
words are capitalized (this means, that the first cha-
racter of all words is set to an upper-case character)
• Change Entries: The owner, medium and/or mark of all entries is set
to a special value.
• Exchange Columns: The content of two (compatible) columns is ex-
changed. This function is usefull, if two do-
cuments with different use of columns should be
unified.
• Remove Marks: All marks are removed.
• Use Documents Titles: Sets the column identifiers to the ones,
that have been saved with the document. This
is only necessary if you open a document of
someone who has got other column titles than
you.
Miscellaneous
If the 'Offscreen Drawing' checkbox of the preferences dialog is checked, MacBPM will use offscreen graphics for each database view that is opened after the checkbox has been selected. Offscreen drawing needs more memory but hasn't got the problems that direct output has with floating windows and screen borders.
Here's a short description of menu commands, that have not been mentioned before.
The 'Count BPMs...' command of the System menu (you can press the F14-key instead) opens the standard BPM counter, described in the MacBPM Counter section. The timing method that is used, can be determined by radio-buttons within the preferences dialog.
'Edit Entry...' of the Database menu opens an Edit-dialog for each highlighted bpm entry. Currently 'Edit Entry...' only opens a maximum of eight dialogs at the same call of 'Edit Entry...', but generally you are free to have as many Edit-dialogs open, as you like. The 'Edit...' command of the Playlist menu works the same way.
There are several usefull keyboard shortcuts:
<F14> activates the BPM Counter
<Return> opens an Edit-dialog for the selected bpm data records
<Ins/Help> opens a 'New Entry'-dialog for a new data record
<Shift>+<Ins> opens a 'New Entry'-dialog and brings the bpm counter
to the front (you can start to count bpms at once)
<Option>+<Ins> opens a 'New Comment'-dialog
<Del> deletes all selected data records, after the user
confirmed the action
<Backspace> deletes all selected data records, after the user
confirmed the action
<Shift>+<Del> deletes the selected records without asking the user for
confirmation
<Crs-Up/Down> scrolls one line up or down
<PageUp/Down> scrolls one page up or down
<Enter> alternatively to the OK button of the BPM Counter,
you can use the <Enter> key
MacBPM Manager supports drag & drop. After selecting bpm entries or comments (in playlists) and moving them to another window (or to another place within the same playlist), MacBPM Manager will insert the selected contents in the other window if the mouse button has been released. If the shift key is pressed while releasing the mouse button, the data will not be copied but moved to the other window.
To duplicate entries and comments within a playlist, simply select the desired lines, drag them to the right position and press the option key while releasing the mouse button. The selected lines will not be moved but copied.
Pressing the command key while dragging comments, forces MacBPM to store these comments as local comments to the entry where the mouse button has been released.
MacBPM Manager supports stationery documents, that can be used as patterns for other databases or playlists. To save a document as a stationery document, simply select the appropriate menu item of the Format menu in the 'Save As'-dialog.
