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+------------------------------------------+ | VIDEOCAT Registration Form Version 7.3 | +------------------------------------------+ Registration fee: $20.00 (one fee covers DOS, Windows and OS/2 editions). You may try out these programs free of charge for a reasonably brief evaluation period. If you decide that you want to continue to use them on a regular basis, please fill out this form and return it with your check for $20.00 payable to W. A. Jackson to: William. A. Jackson 6529 Matilija Avenue Van Nuys, California 91401-1535 Registration entitles you to use the programs, get technical support and receive future upgrades, all in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the User Manual. The registration fee is refundable if you are dissatisfied with the program for any reason within 90 days after registration. Name: ________________________________________ Company:* ________________________________________ Street Address: ________________________________________ City/State/ZIP ________________________________________ Telephone:* ________________________________________ Disk format you can conveniently use (check all that apply): ____ 5.25" DD (360kb) ____ 5.25" HD (1.2mb) ____ 3.5" DD (720kb) ____ 3.5" HD (1.44mb) Do you run under (check all that apply): DOS?____ Windows?____ OS/2?____ Do you want to receive the source code?* _____Yes _____No (If you are not experienced in C Language programming, the source code will be of no interest or value to you.) Where did you obtain your copy of VIDEOCAT?____________________ _______________________________________________________________ Comments/Suggestions:* ________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ * Optional entries. VIDEOCAT DOS Edition VIDEOCAT Windows Edition VIDEOCAT OS/2 Edition Videocassette Catalog Program Version 7.3 USER MANUAL _______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Copyright (C) 1986-1993 William A. Jackson 6529 Matilija Avenue Van Nuys, California 91401 VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page i _________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents GENERAL INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What this Program Does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 A Special Note About Version 7.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Minimal Instructions for the User in a Hurry . . . . . . 2 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Known System Incompatibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Compatibility with Prior Versions . . . . . . . . . . . 4 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Disk Vendors, Bulletin Boards, etc. . . . . . . . . . . 5 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Warranties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ASP Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 If You Have Trouble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Source Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Future Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Primary Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Convert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Change Dir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Add . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Add . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Title Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Location Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Year Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 New Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Color Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sound Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 MPAA Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Labels Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page ii _________________________________________________________________ Help Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Using Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 About Videocat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Author Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mouse vs. Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 DATA DESCRIPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 MPAA Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Minutes Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Cassette Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Index Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 * * * * "You have all your videotapes alphabetized on index cards." -- Billy Crystal to Meg Ryan in "WHEN HARRY MET SALLY..." (1989). VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 1 _________________________________________________________________ GENERAL INFORMATION What this Program Does ---------------------- VIDEOCAT is a specialized database program designed for cataloging a collection of movies or similar materials stored on videocassettes. The program is available in three editions for the DOS, Windows and OS/2 operating environments. All three editions are data-file compatible. Each data record contains the following information: - title - year of release - subject type - form type - quality rating - MPAA audience rating code - actors (maximum 3 names) - director - cassette number - index number on cassette - color/black & white - sound type - running time - video/film format - free-form user comments (3 lines) The program enables the user to build and modify a data file of records containing this information for items in your video collection. This program was designed for collections of theatrical motion pictures; however custom configuration options permit adaptation to other specialized types of collections. Using the program's View functions you can display the data file in a variety of formats and sequences. You can also use the Search option to display only those records having particular characteristics (e.g. westerns with John Wayne). Using the program's File functions you can print a hard copy listing. Using the program's Label functions you can print labels on a variety of commercially available label stocks. This program has been designed with large collections in mind. Theoretically the program could handle data files with up to 65,535 records. For all practical purposes the number of records is limited only by available disk space, with each record taking up 384 bytes. Note that this program is for cataloging YOUR collection. The small demo file included with the distribution package is for VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 2 _________________________________________________________________ demonstration purposes only. A surprising number of users assume that this is a database of all videos available for rental and write complaining that I haven't included enough videos. If a reference data base is what you want, I recommend Microsoft's Cinemania. A Special Note About Version 7.3 -------------------------------- In prior versions the different editions of Videocat presented quite different user interfaces and had separate user manuals. The main objective of Version 7.3 has been to present highly similar interfaces to DOS, Windows and OS/2 users. When you have learned to use one, changing to one of the others should be a relatively painless experience. Where there are differences, they will be noted in this manual, but the instructions are pretty much the same for all three editions. The user interface is rather similar to the Windows edition of Videocat Version 7.2 and is based on the IBM Common User Access standard. This standard is widely used in Windows programming, so if you are an experienced Windows user you should find that you already have most of the skills required for running Videocat. The development of Version 7.3 involved very extensive programming changes. Although the program has undergone "Beta" testing by experienced users (whose help is gratefully acknowledged), it is probable that some undiscovered bugs are still lurking. If you find one, let me know. Minimal Instructions for the User in a Hurry -------------------------------------------- O.K., you're impatient and you want to take a quick test drive to see what this baby can do before you spend a lot of time reading the rest of the manual. This section provides minimal instructions for that purpose. You can run the program from a floppy disk if you want, but performance will be better if you run from a hard drive. I will assume you are going to use your C: drive; substitute another letter if applicable. Create a subdirectory (MD VIDEOCAT) and make that the current directory (CD VIDEOCAT). Copy the executable program you want to use (vcd.exe for DOS, vcw.exe for Windows, or vcp.exe for OS/2) into that directory; and also copy the demonstration data file, VCATDEMO.DAT. To run the DOS edition, enter VCD at the prompt. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 3 _________________________________________________________________ To run the Windows edition starting from the DOS prompt, enter WIN VCW. If you already have windows running, get into the File Menu and use the Run command, entering C:\VIDEOCAT\VCW. To run the OS/2 version, you must have OS/2 running. Activate the OS/2 full-screen prompt, get into the VIDEOCAT subdirectory, and enter VCP. When the program window appears, select the File menu from the menu bar (click on File with your mouse or enter Alt-F from the keyboard). Select the Open command. Select the VCATDEMO.DAT file. You are now off and running and the rest should be intuitive. System Requirements ------------------- All editions require an IBM-compatible PC. A mouse and printer are strongly recommended, but you can get along without them. I have only used a VGA display in developing the program, but I would expect it to operate correctly on other displays. The DOS edition has only been tested under DOS Versions 5.0 and 6.0; I do not know if it will run under prior version of DOS. The Windows edition requires Microsoft Windows, Version 3.1 or later. The code is specific to Version 3.1 and I do not believe the program will run under earlier versions of Windows. The OS/2 edition requires IBM OS/2 Version 2.0 or later. The code is specific to Version 2.0 and I do not believe the program will run under earlier versions of OS/2. Known System Incompatibilities ------------------------------ No system incompatibilities with standard DOS, Windows or OS/2 setups were reported during Beta testing of Version 7.3. One Beta tester reported incompatibility with an add-on Windows print manager but not with the standard Windows print manager. Also, if you have installed software which enables you to undelete erase files, you may find that it is carefully saving copies of temporary files created by Videocat and you will have to manually erase those copies. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 4 _________________________________________________________________ Compatibility with Prior Versions --------------------------------- Data files are completely compatible with Videocat Versions 7.0, 7.1 and 7.2. It should be noted that the standard edition of Videocat in prior versions supported only a single data file which had to be named either VCATDATA.DAT or VCATDEMO.DAT. All editions of Version 7.3 support multiple data files which can have different names. Version 7.3 some, but not all, of the custom configuration files created under prior versions. If you created any of the following custom configuration files under prior versions, you can copy and use them directly with Version 7.3: VCATCOLR.CFG custom color type descriptions VCATFMAT.CFG custom format descriptions VCATFORM.CFG custom form descriptions VCATMPAA.CFG custom MPAA rating descriptions VCATRATG.CFG custom quality rating descriptions VCATSOUN.CFG custom sound type descriptions VCATSUBJ.CFG custom subject descriptions The present version of VCATWIN can convert data files from Versions 5.x and 6.x to the current format. License ------- This is "user supported software", or "shareware". It is NOT in the public domain but is protected under the copyright laws of the United States. You are granted a limited license to use, copy and distribute Videocat subject to the following conditions: 1. You may make personal, non-commercial use of Videocat during a reasonably brief trial period; if you become a registered user (see Registration below), your license for personal use becomes perpetual; 2. You may distribute copies to others who may also make royalty-free use during a relatively brief trial period and may obtain a perpetual license by becoming registered users; 3. You may upload copies of the applications package (executable file and manual, but NOT source code) to electronic bulletin boards and information services; VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 5 _________________________________________________________________ 4. You may make a modified version of the program for your own use only; 5. You may not modify the program or its documentation or source code in versions you distribute to others; 6. You may not charge any fee for copying and distribution of Videocat other than reasonable costs of copying, information service on-line charges, shareware disk distribution charges, and similar nominal costs not exceeding $10 for this program, provided that you clearly disclose that the program is shareware and that payment of your distribution charge does not excuse the obligation to pay a registration fee to the author. Disk Vendors, Bulletin Boards, etc. ___________________________________ Disk vendors, electronic bulletin boards, user groups, computer clubs, swap meets, etc. are all welcome to distribute Videocat, subject to the restrictions in item 6 under "License" above. My current practice is to mail major releases of Videocat to vendors approved by the Association of Shareware Professionals. I use the group mailing service of the ASP to send out one big mailing to all such vendors at the time of release. I do not have the time to respond to individual requests from newly- approved ASP disk vendors; they will just have to wait for the next big mailing. Non-ASP disk vendors are welcome to distribute the program, but I do not have the time to respond to mail from individual vendors requesting that I fill out their forms and give them a disk. I also ignore mail from other organizations with sure-fire, get-rich-quick schemes to promote this program and help me achieve fame and fortune. I find that users who have obtained Videocat from disk vendors, bulletin boards or swap meets often have received very outdated versions. Sometimes they have not received all the files. Sometimes they have received damaged disks or corrupted files. The best way to be sure you have a complete and undamaged copy of the most recent release is, of course, to become a registered user. Registration ____________ Videocat is shareware. It is NOT free software. The author depends upon your integrity in becoming a registered user if you choose to continue using the program after a brief trial period. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 6 _________________________________________________________________ The shareware concept is based upon the expectation that users who test a program and decide they want to continue using it will register with the author and send in a registration fee. Electronic bulletin boards and disk vendors charge only for their distribution services and do not pay any royalties to shareware authors. Honest vendors explain this system clearly; shady operators obscure it. If you did not understand that registration and payment of a fee to the author was expected, complain to the vendor you dealt with and any magazine in which it advertises. Do not sent me a letter saying that you "bought" Videocat from some disk distributor and now expect full support without compensating the author. I also have no control over the quality of diskettes used by disk vendors. If you got a defective diskette from a disk vendor, complain to them, not to me. Since this is essentially an honor system, your voluntary compliance is fundamental to the continued viability of the shareware concept which enables the economical distribution of professional quality programs for special applications which do not represent a large enough market to justify marketing through conventional retail channels. Videocat would never have reached its current stage of development without the support and encouragement of registered users. Although it is obvious that I am not going to retire on royalties from Videocat, there are costs associated with its distribution and maintenance and I do expect the project to support itself financially. Aside from the appeal to your integrity, there are several practical advantages which I would suggest make it worthwhile for you to become a registered user: - The version you have may not be the most current version; if it is not current, you will receive the most current version by mail on disk when your registration is received.* - Registered users usually get reasonably prompt responses to questions and requests for help. (Frankly, I do not have a lot of patience or motivation in dealing with questions from non-registered users.) - Registered users always get the next significant** upgrade free of charge by mail on disk shortly after it is ready for general distribution. - After the first significant** upgrade, additional upgrades will be made available to registered users at a nominal handling charge (currently estimated at $5). VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 7 _________________________________________________________________ - Registered users sometimes get an advance peek at new features through interim editions sent to them for "Beta" testing. - Registered users often see their suggestions reflected in changes to the program. - Registered users are provided with complete source code on request without additional charge. * I'll confess that sometimes I run a little late in processing registrations. I will not, however, cash your check until I have acknowledged your registration and made sure you have the most recent release. ** Interim releases are sometimes posted on bulletin boards and substituted in mailings to new users without being generally distributed to all users and vendors. These "slipstream" modifications usually contain very minor corrections of problems which do not affect all users, so I mail them only to users who report encountering the specific problem corrected. Mailing of an interim release does not count as a significant upgrade. Videocat is not "crippleware" or "ransomware". The same version is distributed to all and you do not have to pay extra to get a "full-featured" version that really works. Registration is accomplished by simply mailing the registration form which is included in the documentation file with a check for $20 to William A. Jackson 6529 Matilija Avenue Van Nuys, California 91401 $20 is a bargain. I have seen authors of clearly inferior programs request two, three or four times as much. If you send a letter with a long list of questions you would like answered or design changes you would like to have made before deciding whether to part with your $20, don't expect a reply. If you send a check for a lesser amount, I will accept it as a "conscience" payment, but don't expect to get the privileges of a fully registered user. If you send a check for a greater amount, I will accept it gracefully. Please use the registration form. Users who send me a letter instead typically omit such important information as what version they now have and what disk size they prefer. There is no extra charge for foreign registration, although I may send your updates by surface mail which can take a couple of months to reach overseas locations. Videocat contains no VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 8 _________________________________________________________________ cryptographic or other security functions and is not, to the best of my knowledge, subject to any U.S. export restrictions. I have found that three payment methods work out pretty well for overseas users: (1) an international postal money order denominated in U.S. dollars; (2) a bank check drawn on a branch or correspondent bank in the United States; and (3) just enclosing a U.S. twenty-dollar bill in the letter (I suppose it's risky, but in some countries the bank service charge for foreign payment draft almost doubles the cost of registration). A method which does NOT work out very well is a check denominated in U.S. dollars but drawn directly on a foreign bank with no ability to clear through the U.S. banking system. I am not able to accept credit card orders because this is not a large enough business to justify the effort and cost of setting up for credit cards. This is a one-time royalty, although additional upgrades beyond the first after registration may be subject to a nominal handling charge. I make no guarantees as to how long or how often future upgrades will be released and I reserve the right to discontinue development and support of Videocat at any time. I am continually surprised at how long old versions continue in circulation and it has occurred to me that someday I may move and registrations may continue to come to my present address after the expiration of the time during which the post office will forward mail. If you should find that your registration is returned as undeliverable, you can try to contact me through electronic mail on Compuserve or you could try to get a current address from the Association of Shareware Professionals. Warranties __________ Did you seriously expect warranties with user-supported software? Just to make sure that everything is perfectly clear, this software comes without any warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability or suitability for intended purpose. It is distributed to you "as is" and "with faults". Under no circumstances shall the author be liable for any consequential damages. I do have a liberal refund policy (although no one has yet asked for a refund). If for any reason you are dissatisfied with Videocat within 90 days after registration, I will cheerfully refund your royalty payment on request. Your remedy for any damage or defect is limited to a refund of your registration fee. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 9 _________________________________________________________________ ASP Ombudsman ------------- This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Installation ------------ If you are using the Windows version of Videocat (VCW.EXE) you must have already installed Microsoft Windows, Version 3.1 or later. If you are using the OS/2 version of Videocat (VCP.EXE) you must have already installed IBM OS/2 Version 2.0 or later. Put the Videocat distribution diskette in a floppy drive. For the purpose of this discussion I will assume drive A:, but it could be any floppy drive. You can run the program from floppy disk, but I don't recommend it. It will run much slower from floppy and floppies wear out with frequent use, possibly resulting in data loss. I recommend that you install on a hard drive. For the purpose of this discussion I will assume drive C:, but it could be any other hard drive. Make the hard drive the active drive (C:). Make a subdirectory; I suggest calling it VIDEOCAT (MD VIDEOCAT). Make that subdirectory the active path (CD VIDEOCAT). The next step is to install the Videocat files, but the procedure will vary according to how you received the distribution file(s). If you got the disk directly from me and it's a high density disk, copy the files directly (COPY A:*.*). If you got the disk from either me or a disk vendor on a low density diskette, you will probably find that the disk contains a self-extracting compressed file called VIDEOCAT.EXE. Execute it to extract the files (A:VIDEOCAT). If you downloaded the program from a bulletin board, you will probably get it in ZIP form. For the purpose of this illustration I will assume that you downloaded a file called VCW73.ZIP, that you download files into directory C:\DOWNLOAD and VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 10 _________________________________________________________________ that you keep PKUNZIP in directory C:\PKWARE. Extract the files by unZipping them (C:\PKWARE\PKUNZIP C:\DOWNLOAD\VCW73.ZIP). You will need to have free disk space on your hard drive equal to about three times the size of the largest data file you work with. This space is needed to create temporary files which are erased when the program terminates normally. Initially you will probably want to check out the program using the sample demonstration file, VCATDEMO.DAT, which is not real large. As you build your own data file, its size will grow at the rate of 384 bytes per record. If you have a thousand records in your data file, you will need over a meg of free disk space. The current version of Videocat does not check for the availability of free disk space, so if you run out you will get a message indicating a write(), fwrite() or DosWrite() error. To execute the program from the command line, enter VCD (for the DOS edition), WIN VCW (for the Windows edition) or VCP (for the OS/2 version). If you already have Windows running, you can run C:\VIDEOCAT\VCW from the Run command in the File menu. You may wish to install the program in Windows so that you can run it from Windows using the Program Manager. Follow the instructions in Chapter 3 of your Microsoft Windows User's Guide. The intended icon for VCATWIN is a drawing of a videocassette. If Windows picks a different icon, you can change the selection using the Change Icon option in the Properties dialog box of the Program Manager. Once you are tired of playing with the demo data file, it's time to create your own data file using the New command in the File menu. You then use the Add command from the main menu bar to add your own records. If You Have Trouble ------------------- My experience with users has convinced me that most questions can be answered and problems solved by simply reading and following this Manual carefully. This manual assumes that the reader has some familiarity with the Common User Access conventions. I am therefore not including such general information as how to user menu bars, scroll bars, dialog boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, entry fields, etc. If this stuff is new to you, I recommend that you read Chapter 1 ("Windows Basics") of the Microsoft Windows User's Guide (Version 3.1). VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 11 _________________________________________________________________ Some user problems do indeed uncover bugs in the program. I encourage you to report suspected bugs with a fairly complete description of the problem, the circumstances under which it occurs, and relevant information about the computer system you are running it on. If an error message is displayed, write down both the caption and the message text. If you discover a bug due to my programming error, I will fix it as soon as possible. Let me clarify that a "bug" is an error which prevents the program from working as described. If you would prefer that the program do something different from the description in this manual, that is a design change suggestion, not a bug report. I welcome such suggestions, but I do not feel obligated to act on all suggestions. If your suggestion seems to be of widespread interest, I will consider adding either as a program feature or a user customization option. I do not, however, have the time to write custom versions of the program for users with special needs. You can send questions, complaints, comments and suggestions by regular mail to the address given above. It may be helpful to give me your phone number, because sometimes I have difficulty understanding the problem description and a phone call is the simplest way to clear up the confusion. I apologize for not providing my phone number, but I have no support staff and I want to deal with your problem when I have the time to give it proper attention, which may not be the case at the moment you call. I also have learned from other shareware authors that users in distant places sometimes forget about time zone differences and call at the most peculiar times. If you are a Compuserve subscriber, you can send E-mail to me at account number 71571,1234. If you are an Internet user, you can link with my Compuserve account by using address 71571.1234@compuserve.com and I will be able to reply via a link with Internet. Users who provide PARTICULARLY VALUABLE bug reports or suggestions for improvement MAY be placed on my subscriber list even if they made no voluntary royalty contribution payment. That is the only reward for contributing ideas. Source Code ___________ Registered users can request the complete C language source code for all three editions of the program. There is no extra charge for the source code, but if you are not a programmer you will not find it either interesting or useful, so please do not put me to the extra cost of sending you the source code if you are unable to make any use of it. The DOS edition was developed under Borland C++ with the TurboVision application framework; it would not be practical to compile it in a different environment. The Windows edition was developed under Microsoft Visual C++; it VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 12 _________________________________________________________________ uses only standard Windows library functions and could be easily recompiled using a different Windows 3.1 development product. The OS/2 edition was developed under IBM CSet/2; it uses only standard OS/2 and Presentation Manager library functions and could be easily recompiled using a different OS/2 2.x development product. Future Changes ______________ There are a number of minor adjustments which will probably be inserted as "slipstream" changes. If you find some aspect of the program mildly annoying you might write to me even if you haven't seen a new release announcement; I might be able to give you a more recent copy which corrects the problem. As for major changes in future versions, I have a backlog of excellent user suggestions to work on. These fall into two categories: (1) allow for more data; and (2) make the program easier to use. Although not entirely inconsistent, these two objectives are difficult to balance. It's sort of like the "tastes great" vs. "less filling" beer commercial. Keep those suggestions coming and I will see what I can do. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 13 _________________________________________________________________ PROGRAM DESCRIPTION Primary Window -------------- The primary window presents to users the objects and actions of the application. In the DOS edition the primary window fills the entire screen. In the Windows and OS/2 editions the primary window is moveable and sizeable and can be minimized to an icon. The primary window has a menu bar which displays the available menus of commands (activated either by mouse click or by keyboard using Alt+ the highlighted letter). There is also a workspace (or client area) which is initially empty but will display a list of records after a file has been opened. Records are listed in abbreviated form, but will be fully displayed when clicked with the mouse. Scroll bars at the right and bottom edges of the window permit you to view portions of the data file which will not fit into the window. Scroll bars are activated with the mouse. You can also use the Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys on the keyboard to move rapidly through the file. Records are displayed in abbreviated form, one record per line. To see a complete record, click on it with the left mouse button and a dialog will appear with complete data. The dialog will also give you the options to edit, delete or print the record. In the DOS edition, if you have no mouse, hitting the Enter key has the same effect as clicking the top displayed record. If you need to scroll beyond the normal end of file so that you can get the last record all the way to the top of the window, hit the F8 key. Videocat uses a batch file update procedure. That means that changes you make will not be reflected in the main window display until you Save changes to the file. Menus ----- Menus are selected from the menu bar by clicking on the menu name with the mouse or by pressing the ALT key and the letter key for the underlined letter in the menu name. When a menu is selected a "pull-down" list of menu commands will appear. A menu command is chosen by clicking the mouse on the desired item or by typing the underlined letter. A menu can be canceled by pressing ESC or by clicking the mouse anywhere outside the menu. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 14 _________________________________________________________________ In many cases the execution of a menu command will activate a dialog box with additional controls. File Menu --------- The File menu enables the user to work with data files through actions that manipulate the file as a whole. The New command allows the user to create a new file which will become the active file. It is also recommended that all data files have the ".DAT" suffix. The Open command reads an existing file and displays it for manipulation. The initial template for data files is "*.DAT". You can change it to list choices with other suffixes, but it is recommended that you use a ".DAT" suffix in naming all data files. A list box displays files in the current directory matching the template. In the Windows and OS/2 editions the Open dialog box also provides controls which can be used to change the active drive and directory; in the DOS edition any change in active drive or directory must be made from Change Dir in the File menu before selecting Open. Choosing the ".." option moves to the parent of the current subdirectory. Clicking on a file once displays it in the filename window, which can be selected by clicking "OK". Double clicking on a listed file selects it immediately. The program performs a rather simplistic test to try to detect whether or not the selected file is a valid Videocat data file; if it is able to detect that the file is not a valid data file, it will refuse to open it. If you try to outsmart it by opening such files as "COMMAND.COM", you may be sorry. Although the Open dialog permits you to navigate throughout the various disks and directories in your system, it is recommended that you keep your data files in the same subdirectory as VCATWIN.EXE. The Save command updates the current file with pending change transactions and writes it to disk. The file remains the active file, but will now reflect changes which have been processed. This is the same as the "Update" command which was used in prior versions of Videocat. The Save As command merges pending changes with the current file content and writes the result to a different file, leaving the current file unchanged. The Convert command invokes a dialog which can be used to convert data files created under prior versions of Videocat to the current format. This is necessary for data files created under versions 4, 5 and 6. It is not usually necessary for data files created under versions 7.0, 7.1 or 7.2; however putting VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 15 _________________________________________________________________ files created under these versions through the conversion process can clean up certain minor errors which could occur under these versions. The Change Dir command (DOS edition only) invokes a dialog which can be used to change the active drive and/or directory which will be used by Open, Save and Save As. The Print command prepares the currently displayed file (which may be either a regular data file, a sorted data file, or a search data file) for printing and prints it on the printer. You will be given a choice of long format (1 record per page, all data labeled), medium format (all data, but condensed to permit several records to be printed on each page), or short format (limited data, one line per record). The DOS and OS/2 editions use the default printer directly. The Windows edition uses the Windows print manager, and will give you the opportunity to select or configure any printer you have installed in Windows. The Review Changes command permits the user to review pending transactions awaiting update. A pending transaction can be deleted from the list by clicking it with the mouse. Remember that the Change command generates two transactions: a delete for the original record and an add to replace it with the changed version. To undo a change it is necessary to correctly identify the related add and delete pair and delete both. The Exit command ends the VCATWIN application and removes its window from the screen. Add --- The Add command is used to create a new record for addition to the file. This command invokes a dialog box which displays a blank record and permits the user to enter data in the various fields. The new record will not immediately appear in the main window listing but will be held in a list of pending changes until a Save or Save As command is executed. View Menu --------- The View menu contains commands that enable the user to select different ways of looking at the content of the active data file without affecting the file itself. Title Order is the order in which records are stored in the data file and the normal sequence in which records are displayed VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 16 _________________________________________________________________ on the screen. Optionally the file can be displayed in Location Order (cassette and index sequence) or Year Order (year of production sequence). When you first select either location or year order, the program will sort the data file into temporary files in the specified sequences. If your data file is very large, this can take a while; a dialog box will display progress to reassure you that the program is working. These files will be deleted when either the active data file is changed or the program terminates normally; but while they exist these temporary sorted files do take up disk space which will not be available for other disk-intensive activities, such as saving an updated file. The Search command causes only those records having certain record values to be displayed. A dialog box is invoked which permits the user to select the key values for the search. The display is always in title order. Note that search keys are conjunctive, i.e. a record must meet all of the search criteria in order to be displayed. If you select subject "Western" and actor name "John Wayne", only records which have both Western in the subject field and the name John Wayne in one of the actor fields will be displayed. If the screen is empty after you performed a search, this means the program was unable to find any record matching your search criteria. To get the data file displayed again, click on View again and select Title Order (or Location Order or Year Order). The New Records command causes only those records created (or modified) on or after a specified date to be displayed. This is particularly useful for printing a catalog supplement to show recent additions if you don't want to reprint your entire catalog. Note that prior to Version 7.2 the program did not include date stamp information in data records, so you may find that some of your older records are ignored by this command. When you select the Print command from the File menu, the file which is printed is the file as currently displayed; thus you can print out sorted listings or search results. Options Menu ------------ The Options menu contains commands that permit the user to customize the way in which the program works. The available options permit the user to change the descriptive text for various category codes in the data record. Users with specialized collections (home video, training tapes, all adult titles, etc.) can replace the default set of descriptions which was designed for a broad range of theatrical motion pictures. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 17 _________________________________________________________________ Customization options are currently available for Subjects, Forms, Ratings, Formats, Color Types, Sound Types and MPAA Codes. If you choose to custom configure the descriptive text for classification category codes, I urge you to think out a comprehensive plan carefully before implementing it. Frequent and haphazard changes can introduce a lot of confusion. Labels Menu ----------- The Labels Menu provides a specialized function to print labels for videocassettes. This function requires that the data file be sorted in cassette number order. If the currently displayed file is not so sorted, the program will ask for permission to do so. The Labels Dialog gives you several choices of label stocks. Label stocks are described as either "continuous feed" or "laser sheet". Continuous feed labels come in a long strip intended for pin or tractor feed through a standard printer; you should position your label stock in your printer so that the first position struck by the print head will be just within the upper left corner of a label. Laser sheet labels are single sheets of peel-off labels designed for laser printers. You may be able to use laser sheets in a standard printer, but you will have to determine by experimentation how to position the laser sheet relative to the print head so that printing will fall within the labels. The dialog box for Labels will also display the lowest and highest locations read in sorting the data file. If you do not wish to produce labels for the entire collection, you can change the starting and ending location numbers to confine the range. You can choose between single-title (most information) and multi-title (less information, multiple titles on a label) formats. Note that data lines are truncated to fit the designated label size. The data format is the same for all label sizes and the printed lines are simply truncated to fit narrow labels. In the DOS and OS/2 editions Videocat uses the default printer and assumes pretty standard characteristics (10 characters per inch, fixed font, 6 lines per inch, ASCII codes for controlling carriage return, line feed and form feed). In the Windows edition Videocat uses the Windows Print Manager and will give you the opportunity to select and configure the printer to be used. In addition, for some (but not all) label formats the Widows edition will give you the opportunity to change the VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 18 _________________________________________________________________ printer font. When you change the font the program will adjust horizontal spacing according to the size of the selected font but will not adjust vertical spacing. Font point sizes should not be much larger or smaller than about 10. Video label stocks are becoming easier to find, but I will add some tips on sources of supply. Continuous form, pinfeed labels for VHS and Beta can be ordered from (I get no commissions): Virginia Specialty Products P.O. Box 985 Vienna, Va 22180 [(703) 280-1742] [best source for small package sizes] [slow in filling orders] United Ad Label Co. 650 Columbia Street P.O. Box 2216 Brea, Ca 92622 [(800) 423-4643] [best source for bulk packages] [quick to ship] Note that Videocat does not presently support pin-feed face labels (although it does support laser sheet face labels). The pin-feed spine labels are spaced at 1" intervals, so there is an even number in the standard 11" page. The continuous-feed VHS and Beta face labels are spaced at intervals which do not fit evenly into the standard 11" page, and I have not been able yet to figure out how to get the Windows print manager to handle them properly. United Ad Label Co. also distributes laser sheet labels; their part number for VHS spine labels is PV541. Avery now distributes video spine and face labels under part number 5199. The dimensions of the Avery and United Ad Label products are identical, but United Ad Label packages the spine and face labels separately while Avery distributes a combo pack with sheets of both types in the same package. United Ad Label sells direct to the public while Avery distributes through retailers. I have found the Avery labels in stock at my local Egghead Software store and listed in a number of mail order catalogs. If you want to get the Avery labels by mail, my personal recommendation would be: Paper Direct 205 Chubb Avenue Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071-0618 [(800) 272-7377] VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 19 _________________________________________________________________ If you own a laser printer, do yourself a favor and get the Paper Direct catalog, even if you decide to get your video labels elsewhere. Paper Direct has a delicious selection of hard-to- find papers. If you own a pin-feed printer, get the United Ad Label catalog; they have more kinds of labels than you ever dreamed existed! There used to be an Avery product for VHS labels which I rejected because it had both horizontal and vertical labels on the same sheet (the LaserJet forces a form eject every time you change orientations). The UAL product and the new Avery product both have all horizontal (portrait orientation) labels. Note also that HP recommends that you open the back "Face -Up" door of the HPLJ II to minimize paper jams and internal wear when printing labels. If you want to try this on any brand or model of laser printer other than the HP LaserJet Series II, please read your manual carefully to be certain that you are following all procedures prescribed for label printing. Help Menu --------- The Help menu allows users to access various help information. In the Windows edition the Help Index command uses the Windows help system to access a fairly comprehensive file of help topics provided with the program (VCW.HLP). If you are not familiar with the Windows help system, you can use the command Using Help (sometimes known as "Help on Help") to learn about it. In the DOS and OS/2 editions the help menu does not presently include topical help (the Help Index and Using Help commands) but the remaining commands are supported in the Help menus of all editions. The About Videocat command displays a dialog box with the program name, version number and copyright notice. This is the same dialog box which is displayed when the program is started. The Author Info command displays a dialog box with the author's name, address and Compuserve account number. The Registration Info command displays a dialog box with brief information on how to register. Mouse vs. Keyboard VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 20 _________________________________________________________________ ------------------ Although the mouse offers many advantages, some users find that they can work faster with a keyboard. Many (although not all) features can be accessed through the keyboard. UNDERLINED LETTERS. Many menu choices and button descriptions include an underlined letter. This indicates that the item can be selected by entering that letter from the keyboard. Note that in the case of the main window menu bar, the Alt key must be pressed at the same time as the letter. In other menus and dialogs it is not necessary to use the Alt key. ACCELERATORS. Certain commands can be executed through keyboard accelerators which by-pass the menu system. These are shown in the menu items. TAB KEY. In dialog boxes controls are often placed in groups (sometimes surrounded by a box). Pressing the tab key moves to the next group. Note that in the main workspace pressing the tab key has the same effect as clicking the top record with the right mouse button. ARROW KEYS. Within a group of controls, focus can be moved from one control (checkbox, button, menu item, etc.) to another using the up and down arrow keys. In the primary window workspace the up and down arrows cause the display to move up or down one record. SPACE BAR. Tapping the space bar generally has the effect of selecting the control (button, checkbox, etc.) which is currently highlighted. Note that in the main workspace pressing the space bar has the same effect as clicking the top record with the left mouse button. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 21 _________________________________________________________________ DATA DESCRIPTIONS The ultimate purpose of this program is to organize information and make it accessible. In designing the program I had to make choices about what kinds of data to record and how to organize and represent it. I get a lot of letters from users who would have made some of those choices differently. Some are "bootlegging" changes by using data fields for purposes other than those intended, sometimes with adverse effects on program operation. I have included custom configuration options which give users the ability to change many of those choices. Some users complain that there are too many data categories. You don't have to use them all. I strongly recommend that you enter a title and year in every record; otherwise all fields are purely optional. Other users complain that there are not enough data categories. The comment field is intended to respond to this issue; you can put any information you think is important in the comment field. I strongly recommend that you put all your special interest information in Comments; output gets confusing when you bootleg special interest information into fields intended for other purposes. Each of the data items has a size limit and the edit fields are programmed to refuse to accept characters in excess of that limit. Since text is always added in insert (rather than typeover) mode, you may have to delete existing characters or blanks before you can enter new characters. Title _____ Enter the title of the movie or other item. The maximum size is 40 characters; the program will not permit you to enter more. It is suggested that the words "A", "An" or "The" at the beginning of a title be appended to the rear after a comma. For example, instead of entering "THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI", enter "BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE". This keeps the alphabetical sequence a little more meaningful. For an episode in a series, it is suggested that the series title be entered first, then the episode title. For example: "STAR TREK: GAMESTERS OF TRISKELION" and "STAR TREK: SPOCK'S BRAIN". Note that since the program sorts the titles in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) sequence, titles beginning with punctuation marks or numeric characters will come before titles beginning with alphabetical characters. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 22 _________________________________________________________________ Thus the movie "1941" will be placed near the beginning of the catalog before titles beginning with letters and not in the N's as is common in the organization of published movie guides. The title is a semi-mandatory entry and should not be left blank. More than one record can have the same title, but they will look the same in the normal screen display, which shows title only. Minor variations in the title field can make it easy to distinguish between multiple versions of the same film. For example: "TOPPER" and "TOPPER [COLORIZED]"; "A STAR IS BORN [EDITED FOR TV]" and "A STAR IS BORN [UNCUT]"; "CITIZEN KANE [COPY 1]" and "CITIZEN KANE [COPY 2]"; etc.. Likewise you can indicate when a title continues over more than one cassette, e.g. "GONE WITH THE WIND [PART 1]" and "GONE WITH THE WIND [PART 2]". The title field can also be used to keep track of blank tape segments. For example, if you decide that "PORKY'S" isn't worth keeping, just use the Change function to change the title field to read "BLANK - 94 MINUTES". You can then use the Search function to find all listings which have the word "BLANK" as part of the title field, then use Change again when something new is recorded in the same space. Year ____ Year is intended to be the year of release of a production, normally expressed as 4 numeric digits, e.g. "1939". The program treats the year as a 4-byte character string, so non-numeric characters will not be rejected. If you don't know the year for sure, either look it up in a published movie guide or make a reasonable guess. Names ----- The program allows for recording the names of up to three actors and one director. When you indicate that you want to enter a name a dialog box will appear with two edit fields: one for the last name and one for the first name of the person. The maximum combined length of the first and last names is 30 characters; any excess length will be truncated from the first name. In supplying the LAST name, enter the person's last name, including prefixes and suffixes which are properly part of the last name. For example: "VON STROHEIM" and "FAIRBANKS, JR.". In that last example the program will replace the comma and space with a single space, turning it into "FAIRBANKS JR.". This is necessary because the comma character is the delimiter which separates first and last names in the way the name is stored by VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 23 _________________________________________________________________ the program. Comma-deletion was added in Version 7.03 of the standard edition of VIDEOCAT; if you have a data file created under a prior version you may find that any names which included commas are somewhat garbled. You can edit these records to clean them up. Try to be consistent in the way you enter names. Different spellings will be treated as different names. Now enter the first name. For example, "ERIC" and "DOUGLAS". If middle names or initials are important, they should be appended to the FIRST name. For example: "LESLIE ANNE" and "GEORGE C.". Subject ------- A list of 42 enumerated subject categories will be displayed on the screen whenever you indicate that you wish to enter or change a subject. Pick the one which seems most appropriate and click the button. If a category feels right to you it's correct enough. Form ---- A list of 24 enumerated form descriptions will be displayed in a dialog box whenever you indicate that you wish to enter or change a form description. As in the case of subject code, the enumerated choices are the only choices; pick the one that feels right to you. In designing this program I looked at a number of published movie guides and television program listings and noted that movies are usually categorized in a genre described with one or two words, such as "western" or "musical comedy". The subject and form system which I devised is intended to implement this approach. One of the faults I find with other video catalog programs is they typically provide only a small number of very broad genre classification categories. I don't think that is adequate for the serious collector with a large collection. MPAA Code --------- A dialog box will present a list of the audience suitability ratings of the Motion Picture Association of America. VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 24 _________________________________________________________________ Rating ------ A dialog box will present a list of 8 enumerated rating descriptions. The rating system is one commonly used in movie guides and TV schedule listings. Whether you rate a movie based on your personal opinion or that of professional critics is up to you. Color ----- A dialog box will present a list of types of color characteristics (color, black & white, colorized, etc.). Sound ----- A dialog box will present a list of types of sound characteristics (mono, stereo, silent, etc.). Format ------ A dialog box will present a list of film and video formats (VHS, Beta, 35 mm, etc). Minutes Length -------------- A dialog box will present an edit field for your entry. This entry may be up to 3 characters long and may be any combination of numbers and letters, although it is recommended that the characters be numeric and represent the running time in number of minutes. Cassette Number --------------- A dialog box will present an edit field for your entry. This entry may be up to 4 characters long and may be any combination of numbers and letters. It is recommended that you use numeric characters only. It can be omitted, although in the cataloging of a large collection this is the most useful single piece of information. If you use a simple sequential numbering VIDEOCAT Version 7.3 Page 25 _________________________________________________________________ system, this will support a library of up to 9,999 cassettes, which is adequate for most users. If you include non-numeric characters, you may cause unintended effects on range selection aspect of the label printing utility. Index Number ------------ This entry may also be any combination of letters and numbers up to 4 characters in length. It is recommended that you use numeric characters only. If you have multiple items on the same cassette you may either place the tape counter number or the sequence number. By sequence number, I mean coding the first movie "1", the second "2", and so on. Fanatics may prefer to use tape counter numbers. This entry is optional, but I strongly recommend that you use it. When the Label function prints a label for a cassette it will print multiple items in Index Number sequence. Using non-numeric characters in this field may produce unintended effects on the sorting sequence for label printing. Comments -------- The program will display a small text editor window in which you can write free-form comments in 3 lines of 60 characters each. The cursor can be moved using the arrow keys, Home, and End. Text can be deleted using the Delete or Backspace keys. In order to maintain compatibility with the prior editions of VIDEOCAT, the text in the edit field is in fixed width spacing, so in the Windows and OS/2 editions it will look a little different than it will when the record is displayed in other windows which use variable width spacing. This field can be used to store any other data (e.g. Oscars and other awards) or a short plot summary, or any other information you might want to file with the record. Since you can search your data file for information contained in the comment lines, this is an easy way to add new kinds of search keys, such as names of script writers, musical score composers, production studios, etc.