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************************************************************ * * * * * V I D E O L I B R A R I A N * * Version * * 4.15 * * * * User's Guide * * * * by * * * * Lemuel D. Turner * * TurboSystemsCo * * P.O. Box 965368 * * Marietta, Ga. 30066-0007 * * 770-516-8575 * * 770-591-4988 (FAX) * ************************************************************ (C) Copyright 1986-1995 Lemuel D. Turner (C) Copyright 1986-1995 TurboSystemsCo _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER NOTE: The file format of version 4.0+ is not compatible with earlier versions of Video Librarian. A conversion program is provided to all registered users to upgrade the old files to the new format. LICENSE AGREEMENT VIDEO LIBRARIAN PROGRAM (C) Copyright 1986-95 TurboSystemsCo and Lemuel D. Turner for this software, documentation, and user interface. Marietta, Ga. United United States of America. All rights reserved. TurboSystemsCo grants you without charge the right to reproduce, distribute and use copies of this "shareware" version of our VIDEO LIBRARIAN software product (including the on disk documentation), on the express condition that you do not receive any payment, commercial benefit, other consideration for such reproduction or distribution, or change this license agreement or copyright notice. *(Shareware distributors, user's groups and BBSs may charge a distribution/copy fee as long as the shareware distri- bution/marketing concept is explained)* Use of the program without registration is limited to 45 days. After 45 days of use the program *must* be registered or removed from your computer system. Support from users enables us to develop additional features and, future versions of the VIDEO LIBRARIAN product. Your payment of $34.95 + $4 S/H would be greatly appreciated; send your payment to: TurboSystemsCo P.O. Box 965368 Marietta, Ga. 30066 By sending in your payment, along with your name, mailing address version number, and where you heard about the VIDEO LIBRARIAN product and obtained your copy, your copy of VIDEO LIBRARIAN will be registered with us. This will enable you to receive (1) technical support, (2) announcements of future releases, the latest version, (3) a printed manual and discounts on additional programs from TurboSystemsCo, (4) the Vid Lib Catalog Database of 9300 movies. (5) The ability to enter your own report headings. THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS OF PARTICULAR PURPOSE, PERFORMANCE, OR OTHERWISE; ALL WARRANTIES ARE DISCLAIMED. BY USING THE VIDEO LIBRARIAN PRODUCT, YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER TurboSystemsCo NOR ANY OF OUR EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, OWNERS, OR OTHER RELATED PARTIES WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THIS SOFTWARE, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER. EVEN IF WE ARE APPRISED OF POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OCCURRING. This software may not be reversed-engineered or disassembled, and includes certain trade secrets and confidential information of TurboSystemsCo. VIDEO LIBRARIAN is a trademark of TurboSystemsCo. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Introduction ............................................. 1 Features ................................................. 1 System Requirements ...................................... 2 Distribution Files ....................................... 2 Disk Back-Up ............................................. 2 Getting Started Installing Video Librarian ............................... 3 DOS Installation/Start-Up ............................ 3 Windows 3.1 Installation/Start-Up..................... 3 Windows 95 Installation/Start-Up...................... 3 File Selection ....................................... 3 Printer Set-up ....................................... 4 Setup Window .............................................. 5 Data Entry Data Entry Screen ......................................... 6 Command Menu .......................................... 6 File Menu ............................................. 7 Edit Keys ............................................. 7 Keyboard and Mouse Usage .............................. 8 Data Operations ........................................... 9 Adding Records ........................................ 9 Data Entry Fields .................................. 10 Editing Records ....................................... 11 Deleting Records ...................................... 11 Searching The Find Function ......................................... 11 List Movie Window...................................... 13 The Browse Function ....................................... 13 The Search Function ....................................... 13 Query Screen Fields ................................... 14 Reports Reports ................................................... 15 Report Type Menu ...................................... 15 List To Menu .......................................... 15 List All .............................................. 16 Sort By Menu .......................................... 16 Spacing Menu .......................................... 16 Report Formatter .......................................... 16 Formatter Fields ...................................... 16 Wrap Example .......................................... 17 Print Labels .............................................. 17 Re-Index (Corrupt Files) ...................................... 18 Copyright Enforcement ......................................... 19 CUSTOMER SUPPORT TurboSystemsCo has a strong commitment to customer support. We provide technical support only to registered users. However if you should experience problems getting the program to run on your systems prior to registering, we will attempt to resolve those problems. Lemuel D. Turner the owner and president of TurboSystemsCo and the author of Video Librarian is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals. While we don't think you'll ever need it, by Mr. Turner's membership in the Association of Shareware Professionals, registered users have an additional avenue to resolve customer support disputes if they can not be resolved to the registered user's satisfaction. See statement below: Lemuel D. Turner is 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 share- ware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting that mem- ber 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 member's products. Please write the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon Mi. 49442-9427 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. INTRODUCTION VIDEO LIBRARIAN is a fast easy to learn and use database manager that will help organize and keep track of your video library. With this program you can quickly search your video library files and print reports to the screen, printer or a disk text file. The program will also print labels to place on your VCR tapes for easy identification. FEATURES - Holds 21 Information Fields About Each Title -- Title, Star(first & last name), Co-star(first & last name), Cast, Rating, Director(first & last name), Company, Year, Comments, Tape#, Starting and Stop Counter, Recording Speed, Time, Critics, Color and Movie#. -- A memo field that can hold up to 62 lines of information about each title. - Database Management Functions. -- File Next, Prev, Find, Top, Last, Edit, Add, Del, Search, Report, Quit - Reports -- Six fixed format reports, plus a self design report and labels. --- Reports may be printed to screen, printer or disk text file. --- Tape labels can be printed on regular 3 1/2 by 15/16 labels or on special labels designed to fit the top and spine of VHS cassettes. --- One report can be printed on continuous form 3 X 5 cards. --- Laser printers supported for video cassette sheet labels and sheet 3 X 5 cards. - Context Sensitive Help -- Press F1 to bring up a relevant help screen at any point in the program. - Mouse Support - Screen Saver -- A built-in screen saver activates when the keyboard is not used at a user customizable interval. - Browse and Find Windows -- Moveable, scrollable, resizeable - Find any Title, Star, Co-Star, Director, Tape Number, or Movie# in approximately 1 second or less. - Search database on any combination of fields. - Can hold over 10 million titles, approximately 750 on a 360k floppy if memo field is not used. Will hold approximately 350 with each record having a three line memo field. =============================== 1 ============================== SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To use VIDEO LIBRARIAN you will require: IBM PC/XT/AT PS/2 or Compatible. At least 512k of memory. Two floppy drives or 1 hard disk and a floppy If installed on a floppy - floppy must 720K or greater. A color or monochrome display. Printer (capable of print in compressed mode to use all the features of the program). MS-DOS/PC-DOS 2.1 or higher. Supports both keyboard and mouse input. Your CONFIG.SYS file must have the statement, FILES=16. If the number is greater than 16 that's okay. Refer to your DOS manual if you are not familiar with the CONFIG.SYS file. The installation program will check this feature and set the files if desired. THE DISTRIBUTION FILES The following files at a minimum should appear on your disk after the program is installed. VLB.EXE README.TXT SAMPLE.T3 REPORT.DSW ORDER.EXE VLB.DBW SAMPLE.TSC SAMPLE.T4 REPORT.DSH OPWIN.DSW VLB.DBH SAMPLE.T1 SAMPLE.T5 QUERY.DSW FORM1.DSW VLB.TXT SAMPLE.T2 SAMPLE.T6 QUERY.DSH FORM1.DSH *VENDOR.TXT PRINTER.PTR EPSON.CFG MYVIDS.TSC MYVIDS.T3 DBPMENU.MEN IBMPRO.CFG VLBFIX.EXE MYVIDS.T1 MYVIDS.T4 SAMPLE.T7 HPII.CFG FILE_ID.DIZ MYVIDS.T2 MYVIDS.T5 VENDINFO.DIZ VLB.PIF SETUP.DAT ORDER.TXT MYVIDS.T6 VLBFIX.PIF VLDATA.PIF ORDER.DSW MYVIDS.T7 * May be deleted at the option of the vendor. BACKUP YOUR PROGRAM DISK Please make a backup copy of the program disk. If required, please refer to your DOS manual for back-up procedures. =============================== 2 ================================ INSTALL VIDEO LIBRARIAN Video Librarian is a dos program but is compatible with Win 3.1 and Win 95. The program comes with two installation routines. One to install the program strickly as a dos application. The other routine will install the program to be run from a program group from Win 3.1 or Windows 95. DOS INSTALLATION AND START-UP 1. Insert the Video Librarian disk in the A or B drive as applicable. 2. Type A:\INSTALL or B:\INSTALL as applicable. 3. Follow the on screen instructions. NOTE: If you downloaded the program from a BBS, after unzipping the program, change to the directory where you unzipped the program and type INSTALL and follow the on screen instructions. To start the program after installation change to the directory where you installed the program (normally C:\VIDEO40) and type VLB and press the enter key. To get to the correct directory type the following: CD\ CD\VIDEO40 VLB Press the ENTER key after each line above. WINDOWS 3.1 INSTALLATION and START-UP 1. Start Windows and the Program Manager 2. Choose File|RUN 3.Type A:\SETUP.EXE or B:\SETUP.EXE as applicable. Answer yes to install icons in the Program Manager when asked. NOTE: If you downloaded the program from a BBS, after unzipping the program choose FILE|RUN and type the drive and path where the file is located followed by SETUP.EXE. For example: C:\TEMP\SETUP.EXE and follow the instructions. Or double click SETUP.EXE from the file manager. To start the program, click the TurboSystemsCo DOS Apps group, then double click the Video Librarian icon. Press ALT+ Enter key to switch between full screen and a dos window. WINDOWS 95 INSTALLATION and START-UP 1. From Windows 95 Click the Start button, point to Settings, then click the Control Panel. 2. On the Control Panel, double click Add/Remove programs. 3. Follow the on screen instructions. Answer yes to install icons to the program manager when asked. To start the program, click the start button, then Programs, then TurboSystemsCo DOS Apps then double click the Video Librarian icon. Press ALT+ Enter key to switch between full screen and a dos window. FILE SELECTION Next the Video Librarian title screen is displayed. Press the spacebar to bypass the screen. Then the File Selection Screen is displayed. Use the cursor to select a data file. All Video Librarian data files have the extension .TSC. ================================= 3 ================================ FILE SELECTION - cont To select a data file on a different drive, press the control key and the drive letter. For example to select a data file on drive B, press the control key and the letter B together. To create a data file press the F2 function key, enter a name for the file up to eight characters long. Do not enter an extension, the extension .TSC will be added. PRINTER SET-UP The first time you use Video Librarian or if you change printers, you must install your printer for use with Video Librarian. To install your printer, select fI)le from the Main Menu. Then select S)elect Printer from the next menu. The menu will display five selections. (1) Epson and Compatibles, (2) IBM Proprinter and Compatibles, (3) HP Laser Series II and Compatibles, (4) Cannon BJC- 600, (5) Generic and (6) TSC Printer. To select a printer, select the highligted letter or use the arrow key to move the cursor over the printer and press RETURN/ENTER. Most non-laser and some laser printers are compatible with the Epson or IBM ProPrinter. If your printer is not an Epson or IBM Proprinter check your manual, it is probably compatible with one or both. Select the appropiate printer. If you have a laser printer, select the HP Laser printer. If your printer will not work with any of the first three selections then you should select the Generic Printer. When you use the Generic printer printer control codes are not sent to your printer. You will not be able to print the Comprehensive and Index Cards unless you manually place your printer in compressed mode prior to starting the report. Also the headings will not be printed in bold. The final selection (6) TSC, is used to load a custom driver for your printer created by TurboSystemsCo. If none of the first three will work with your printer then contact TurboSystemsCo. We may be able to construct a driver for you. Please provide the manufactuer and model number. If you select one of the printers and the reports don't print correctly, always reset or turn your printer off then back on prior to trying another selection. NOTE: If you select the HP II driver, you must set the lines per page on the SetUp Window to 60. See next page for Setup window info. If you select the Cannon BJC-600 driver, set the lines per page on the SetUp Window to 61. ================================= 4 ================================= SETUP WINDOW The Setup Window allows you to select certain default values that effect how certain aspects of the program operates. To get to the Setup Window, choose fIle from the Main Menu and Setup from the next menu. The following items are displayed on the Setup Window. Automatic Field Capitalization Valid responses are Y(yes) or N(no). Select yes and the first letter of each word is automatically capitalized. Select no and the letter will have the case as typed. Start/Stop Field The field selects the counter format used by your VCR, ie numbers (001500) or time (01:52:31). Enter N for numbers or T for time. Printer Port Allows you to select the port to which your printer is attached. Leave a defauft LPT1 unless you know your printer is attached to another port. Lines/Page In most cases this should remain at 66. Three exceptions: (1) LASER PRINTERS SHOULD SET THIS TO 60. (2) European A4 size should set this to 72. (3) Cannon BJC-600 set to 61. Manual Feed Labels/Index Cards If your laser/inkjet requires manual feed enter Y. Movie Categories Edit the categories to display in the popup list in the category field. Activate popup picklist by the ENTER key: Y = ENTER N = PageUP By default the fields with popup picklist(Rating, Category, Critics and Speed) are activated by pressing the PageUp key. If you prefer to activate the popup list by pressing the ENTER key enter "Y" at the prompt above. ================================= 5 ================================= DATA ENTRY After the File Selection Screen is displayed, the Main Data Entry Screen is displayed. The screen contains 21 data entry fields, 1 memo field and the Command Menu. The Command Menu provides Video Librarian with a selection of easy to use database management functions. Each menu item can be selected by pressing the highlighted letter, or by using the arrow keys to place the cursor over an item and pressing ENTER, or by using the mouse. The function of each menu item is provided below: ITEM FUNCTION ------- -------------------------------------------------------- File see next section for explanation. Next Displays the next movie in index order. Prev Displays the previous movie in index order. Find Use this feature to rapidly locate any Title, Star, Co- Star, Director, Tape#, Category or Movie# Top Displays the first movie in index order. Last Displays the last movie in index order. Edit Edit the movie currently displayed on the screen. Add Add a new movie to the library file. Del To delete the movie displayed on the screen. Search Displays the Search Selection Screen. Search the lib- rary file using multiple selection criteria. Matches are displayed on the Data Entry Screen. Reports Displays the report selection screen. Quit Exits Video Librarian. F1 Displays context sensitive help about menu items or data entry fields. The F1 key is not displayed. Util Displays menu with the following selections (1) Copy - makes a copy of the currently displayed record. Useful when adding sequels. (2) Select Printer - see page 4. (3) Count Movies - displays the number of movies in database. (4) Adj Screen Saver - adjust the time before the screen saver displays when the keyboard is idle. ESC The same as Quit, also Alt+'X' has same function F3 Flush data in memory to disk. ================================= 6 ================================= FILE MENU The file menu displays a sub-menu of items from the Main Menu ITEM FUNCTION ------- -------------------------------------------------------- Open/New Allows you to open a file previously created, or to create a new file. This item displays the File Selection Screen which lets you open or create a file. Set Index The program uses 7 index fields; title, star, costar, directory, category, tape# and movie#. The index select- ion determines the order the movies are displayed when the Next, Prev, Last and Top menu items are selected. Select Printer - see page 4 for details. Setup - see page 5 for details. Movie Count Counts the number of movies in the library. Set Screen Saver - see ALT+V page 8. EDIT KEYS The edit key listed below are in effect when entering data into the Main Data Screen and other screens where data can be entered. KEY FUNCTION --------- -------------------------------------------------------- F1 Displays help screen. F2 Displays file name field on Data File Selection Screen. F5 The field is deleted from the cursor position to the end of the field and the cursor is placed back at the left margin of the field. F10 The key is used to end editing. If on the main data entry screen, the data is written to a data file. On other screens, control will be returned to the menu. ESC Key is used to exit from data entry while using the Add or Edit functions. The changes made to the data entry screen are canceled. ENTER Pressing ENTER/RETURN while in a data entry field ends edit of the field and moves the cursor to the next field. BACKSPACE Causes the cursor to move to the left and erases the char- acter to the left. INS Toggles between insert and overwrite of characters. DEL Deletes the character under the cursor. ================================= 7 ================================= UP ARROW Moves the cursor to the previous field if not in the first field. DN ARROW Moves the cursor to the next field on the screen. L ARROW Moves cursor to left within a field. Does not delete characters. R ARROW Moves cursor to right within a field. Does not delete characters. PageUp In fields with popup list (rating, critics, speed and category) when pressed when the field is blank, moves to the next field - leaving the field blank. ALT+V Displays a screen to alter the delay before the screen saver/blanker appears. Valid entries are 0 and 5-600 seconds. Enter 0 to disable the screen saver. ALT+M Allows direct edit of the memo field ALT+1 Selects Title as the primary index. ALT+2 Selects Star as the primary index. ALT+3 Selects CoStar as the primary index. ALT+4 Selects Director as the primary index. ALT+5 Selects Category as the primary index. ALT+6 Selects Tape# as the primary index. ALT+7 Selects Movie# as the primary index. KEYBOARD AND MOUSE USAGE Video Librarian can use both the keyboard and a mouse or a combi- nation of both. There are three direct equivalences between the mouse and the keyboard. * The left mouse button is exactly equal to the ENTER key. * The right mouse button is exactly equal to the Esc(ape) key. * The left and right button pressed together, (or the middle button in a three button mouse) is exactly equal to the F1 Key. HOT KEYS All the fields on the data entry screen can be jumped directly to for editing by pressing the ALT key plus the highlighted letter in the field title. Use ALT+U for NO, ALT+Z for Stop and ALT+H for Speed. These three fields do not have a highlighted letter displayed. ================================= 8 ================================= DATA OPERATIONS This section describes how to add, edit and delete records. * ADDING RECORDS Adding a record is the process of typing information into blank data entry fields or selecting items from a pop-up pick list. To add a record to your movie file select Add from the Command Menu by pressing A, or by using the mouse or arrow keys to highlight Add and pressing left mouse button or pressing the ENTER/RETURN key. Data entry begins with the Title field (top left) and proceeds left to right, top to bottom. At the bottom of the screen is the Comments area. This input area is two separate data entry areas. The first line with the N beside it is a one line 68 character input field called the note field. The three lines below the note field is a 62 line scrollable memo field. You can enter up to 62 lines of information in the memo field. This is a memo field is like a mini-wordprocessor, all edit keys work and words are automatically wrapped at the end of a line. NOTE: The memo field only uses space in the database if you enter data in it. The program uses 248 bytes of disk space for every 3 lines of data entered in the memo field. Three fields, Rating, Category and Speed have pop-up pick list that you can select items from instead of typing in information. When you enter one of the fields you can type in any information desired, or press the PageUp Key while the field is blank to display the pop-up pick list. To select an item from the list, move the cursor over the item with the arrow keys or mouse and press ENTER/RETURN or the left mouse button. Saving the movie information to disk is accomplished by pressing the F10 function key. If you press ESC or the right mouse button while in any field, the information is erased and is not stored on disk. You can use the up/down arrow keys and or the mouse to revisit any field and edit the information prior to pressing F10 or ESC. If in the memo field, you must press CTRL+PAGE-UP to exit the memo field and move back up to the note field. ================================= 9 ================================= * DATA ENTRY FIELDS Each record in the movie file contains the following fields. Field Contents ------------ -------------------------------------------------- Title Holds the movie title, up to 40 characters. This is the primary index field. The first 25 characters are indexed. Rating Holds the MPAA rating of the film, ie G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, NR, X, XXX etc. Press ENTER/RETURN while field is blank for a pop-up pick list. Star(first) Enter the star's first name - up to 12 characters. Star(last) Holds the star's last name. Index field which allows rapids searches or to browse the database indexed by star. CoStar(first) Enter the co-stars's first name -up to 12 characters. Costar(last) Same as star last name except costar is used. Cast Holds the names of the remaining cast members. This is a scrollable field that will hold up to 60 characters. Dir(first) Enter the movie director's first name. Dir(last) Same as star last, except director is used. Publisher Holds the name of the company that made or distrib- uted the movie. Category Holds the type of movie, such as comedy, action, drama etc. Press ENTER/RETURN while field is blank to select from a list of 17 categories. YEAR Holds the year the movie was copyrighted or released. TAPE# Stores a number to identify a VCR cassette tape. Numbering examples: (1) all numbers - 000001 to 999999. (2) letters and numbers - C00001 to C99999. **WARNING** all six spaces must be used for the tape index to work correctly. Enter 0's to fill in the blanks as shown above. START Holds the VCR counter number where the movie begins. STOP Holds the VCR counter number where the movie stops. SPEED Holds the speed at which the movie was recorded, ie SP, LP, SLP. ================================= 10 ================================ DATA ENTRY FIELDS - Cont Field Contents ------------ -------------------------------------------------- TIME Holds the length of the movie in minutes. NOTE Used to store additional information about movie. MEMO 62 line scrollable memo area. Can be used to enter a synopsis or other information. CRITICS Four character field to hold a subjective rating of the movie. The popup list for this field has ratings from 1 - 4 stars (* - ****). COLOR Used to show if the movie is color, colorized or black and white. MOVIE# Each movie is assigned a number in this field. Duplicate numbers are not allowed. * EDITING RECORDS To edit a record select Edit from the menu by pressing E or by using the arrow keys or the mouse. This function allows you to make changes to the record displayed on the screen. After you completed making changes to a field or fields, press F10 and the changes are saved to your movie file. If you decide while editing the record that you don't want to save the changes, press the ESC key and the changes will be erased and the old information restored. You can jump directly to the memo field by pressing ALT+M. This only works if done prior to selecting Edit from the Main Menu. * DELETING RECORDS To delete the record displayed select the Del function from the com- mand menu. A prompt is displayed to confirm deletion of the record. Answer Yes to delete the record. SEARCHING There are two methods provided in the program to search your data- base, the FIND key and the SEARCH key. The FIND key also lets you look at your database in tabular format and is also explained in this section. The FIND function is quicker and easier to use but the Search function allows more complex searches. * THE FIND FUNCTION The FIND key rapidly locates a movie by Title, Star(last name), Co-Star(last name), Director(last name), Category, Tape#, Movie#. ================================= 11 =============================== * THE FIND FUNCTION - Cont When you select FIND from the command menu a pop-up menu with the following choices is displayed: Title, Star, Co-Star, Director, Category, Tape# and Movie#. Select one of the choices from the menu or press ESC to return to the Command Menu. If you select Title, the following prompt is displayed: Enter Title To Find or ENTER/RETURN For All _________________ A similar prompt is displayed for the other choices if selected. The prompt above allows you to specify a string to search for, or just press ENTER/RETURN. If you press ENTER/RETURN key without entering a search string, then the data file is displayed indexed by the selected choice in the List Movie Window. The cursor will be placed at the beginning of the file. If a search string is entered, the data file is displayed in the List Movie Window and the cursor is placed on the first record that matches the search string. If the search string is not found then a prompt displays saying An Exact Match Not Found and the cursor is placed on the record that comes closest to matching the string entered. When using the FIND function the data base is displayed in a pop- up List Movie Window. You can use the arrow keys, mouse, Tab and Page-Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the data base. The Tab key moves the cursor right 10 characters, Shift+Tab moves the cursor left 10 characters. The Page Up and Page Down keys move the cursor up and down 10 lines respectively. A unique way to move through the data base or find a particular record is to type a letter or word from the keyboard while the List Movie Window is displayed. For example if the you typed the letter C then the cursor will move to the first entry or closest entry that starts with C. To move the cursor to another location in the C list type another letter, for example U which would disp- lay CU in the left lower corner of the window. The cursor would move to the CU location in the data base. If Star was selected for the index and you typed CRUISE, the cursor would move to Cruise in the data base. To erase the letters displayed in the lower left corner of the window press the Delete or Backspace key to erase the characters. You can enter other characters to move about the data base. For example enter the letter A to move to the top of the data base, then press Delete to erase the character and enter Z to move to the end of the data base. There are several options available to change the List Movie Window. The options are displayed at the bottom of the window. The options are (1) Brief, (2) Zoom (3) Resize and (4) move. The options are explained on the next page. ================================= 12 ================================ THE FIND FUNCTION - cont List Movie Window Options: (1) Brief - Limits display to only key fields. Can speed that rec- ords are accessed when paging around data in the find window. Press ALT 'B' to activate and deactivate. (2) Zoom - List Movie Window expands to full screen. Press ALT 'Z' to activate and deactivate. (3) Resize - Allows you to change the size of the window using the arrow keys or mouse. You can only change the position of the bottom and right side of the window. To activate press ALT 'R'. (4) Move - Allows you to move the window using the arrow keys or mouse. Press ALT 'M' to activate. Note: If only one record in the Database matches the search string entered then the record is displayed on the main data entry screen and not in the find window. Also pressing ENTER/RETURN when the cursor is over one of the records in the List Movie Window will display the movie on the main data entry screen. THE SEARCH FUNCTION The FIND function can only perform searches on one of the key fields. The search function can perform searches on up to 10 fields, while setting up specific search criteria using logical operators. When the Search menu selection is chosen, the movie Query Screen is displayed along with the menu choices Edit, Recall Quit. Edit allows you to fill-in the movie Query Screen, Recall will display previously saved selections and allows you to load them from disk and fill in the movie Query Screen. Quit will return you to the main data entry screen. ================================= 13 ================================ QUERY SCREEN FIELDS There are four fields on the screen used to set up the search cri- tiera: Field, Comparator, Value and LogOp. Field Press ENTER/RETURN to pop up a pick list of 22 fields that can be tested. NOTE: There are 4 fields for Star, Star_F, Star_L, STAR and *STAR. For example you would use Star_L if looking for a last name only match, ie "Fonda". Use STAR to match a first and last name, ie "Jane Fonda". *STAR is used to search the Star last name field, Co-Star last name field and the Cast field for a match. For example if you used *STAR = Fonda, the program will look for "Fonda" in the Star, Co-Star and Cast Field. CO-STAR and DIRECTOR lets you enter a first and last name to search for just as STAR does. Operator Press ENTER/RETURN to pop up a pick list or type in one of the seven operators. This field defines the type of test you want to make. Value Enter the value to be compared/tested. LogOp Select AND/OR from the pop up list to enter additional selection criteria. Enter "END" and/or press F10 to stop entering data. The combination of a Field, an Operator and a Value forms the basic selection criteria. When two basic criteria is joined together by a LogOp, this forms a selection pair. The program evaluates each selection pair separately and combines them progressively from top to bottom to determine if each record meets the selection criteria. You can enter up to five selection pairs on the screen. After pressing F10 the following menu is displayed: Continue Edit Save Quit. Quit returns you to the main data entry screen without performing a search. Save stores the selection criteria on screen to a file, you will be prompted for a file name. Edit lets you edit/change the criteria entered. Continue starts the search based on the criteria entered. A screen identical to the data entry screen is displayed with the prompt "****** Searching ******" at the bottom of the screen. When a match is found the following menu is displayed: "Next, Edit, Quit". The mouse does not work with this menu. Next starts the search process again to find the next match. Edit functions the same as on the data entry screen. Quit stops the search process and returns to the data entry screen. ================================= 14 ================================ REPORTS The report screen appears when Reports is selected from the command menu. On the screen is five menus which determine the type of report, where to list the report, whether to list all or some of the movies, the index to use, and line spacing. Upon arrival at the screen, the following menu is displayed: Edit, Continue, Quit. Edit allows updating of the screen, Continue will cause the report to be listed, Quit returns you to the data entry screen. REPORT TYPE MENU Small Report A pre-formatted report that can be listed to the screen printer or text file. Report list Title, Star, Category, Rating, Tape#, Start and Speed. Large Report A pre-formatted report that can be listed to printer or text file. Includes all fields in small report, plus Co-Star, Cast, Director and Speed. Labels - Reg Prints on 3 1/2 by 15/16 continuous form labels. VHS - Spine Prints on 5 13/16 by 3/4 specialty labels. Fits the spine of VHS cassettes. Contact author for source. VHS - Top Prints on 3 1/16 by 1 13/16 specialty labels. Fits Top of VHS cassettes. Contact author for source. Index Cards Prints all fields except memo on 3 X 5 continuous form index cards. Stars Pre-formatted report that can be listed to screen, printer or disk. Report contains Title, Star and Co-Star. Custom You select the fields to place in report. Select- ions are made using the Report Format Screen des- cribed later. Catalog-Memo Lists all fields plus the memo field information. One record per page. Catalog Lists all fields except memo, stop and note, 10 records per page. LIST TO MENU Screen When selected the report is listed to your monitor. Printer When selected the report is listed to your printer. Disk When selected, you are prompted for a filename for the text file. Do not add an extension. The pro- gram adds the extension .TXT. The file created can be edited by any wordprocessor capable of reading ASCII text. ================================= 15 ================================ LIST ALL Yes List all movies in the data file. No When selected, you will set-up selection criteria using the Query Screen to list the desired movies. SORT BY MENU Select the sort order in which you want your report listed. Choices are Title, Star, Co-Star, Director, Category or Tape#. Selecting Title would cause the report to be listed in alphabetical order by title. SPACING Select Single or Double to print the Small, Large, Stars and Custom reports with single or double line spacing. Spacing has no effect on other reports. REPORT FORMATTER When Custom report is selected from the Report Type Menu, the Report Formatter screen is displayed after completing the current screen. From this screen you select the fields to be included in your report and how you want the fields formatted. REPORT FORMATTER FIELDS Print Field Enter the name of the field you want printed. Press ENTER/RETURN while the field is blank for a pop up list of fields to select from. Selecting STAR, CO- STAR or DIRECTOR from the list will print last name, first name of each. Choose L-MARGIN to set the size of the left margin. Field Width This is a display only field and you can not edit it. it displays the number of characters the selected field occupies. Print Width This field allows you to specify the width in charac- ters that you want the field to occupy on a line. The number is added to the Line Width displayed at the bottom of the screen. Wrap(Y/N) Select YES(Y) when the Field Width is greater than the Print Width and you want all the field information printed. The extra characters will be wrapped to the next line. The field information can occupy up to three lines if wrap is used. ================================= 16 ================================ REPORT FORMATTER FIELDS - Cont Wrap(Y/N) If you select NO(N) and the Field Width is greater than the Print Width, the extra characters are deleted. Selecting either YES or NO when the Field Width is less than or equal to Print Width has no effect on the printout. Line Width Display only field. The field displays the width the line will occupy as each Print Field and Print Width is selected. NOTE: If the Line Width exceeds 79 for screen reports, the report will not be formatted properly when listed. If listed to the printer, the report will switch from normal to compressed print if the line width exceeds 79. You can print line widths upto 130 characters to your printer with proper formatting. If you want to print long lines, I suggest you list the report to a disk, and import the report into your wordprocessor, format and print it out. Wrap Example This is a demonstration of the use and non use of Wrap on the Title field. The Field Width for Title is 40, the selected Print Width is 20. The first line of the example below is with YES for Wrap and the second is with NO for Wrap. Title Star Co-Star Year ------------------------------------------------------ 1. Close Encounters of Dreyfuss Garr 1980 The Third Kind 2. Close Encounters of Dreyfuss Garr 1980 PRINTING TAPE LABELS Printing Tape Labels is a simple process with Video Librarian. If you want to print labels for all tapes, select the appropriate label from Report Type Menu and Yes from the List All Menu. If you want to print a portion of your tapes, select NO from the List All Menu. You will then enter the Query Screen. Enter the the first tape number you want printed in the first Search Value field following the "GE". Enter the last tape number you want printed in the second Search Value field. All tape number entries must contain six numbers, letters or a combination of numbers and letters. ================================= 17 ================================ RE-INDEX LIBRARY FILES Video Librarian datafile indexes are contained in 7 index files, *.T1 - *.T7 The "*" symbol represents the name of your datafile. Occasionly indexes become corrupted, that is the index looses its relationship with the datafile from which it was generated. One of the possible causes of corrupt index files are loss of power or a sever power spike while operating the program, or exiting the program without selecting *Quit* from the Main Menu. One of the symptons of corrupted index files, is finding your data out of order when using the find or browse screen. Another symptom is the receiving various error messages, such as "Duplicate Key", or "Unexpected End of File", etc. You *do not* need to Re-Index your files periodically as some programs require. Your index files are automatically maintained and optimized by the program. The *only* time you should Re-Index your files are when you have an indication that the indexs are corrupted. However, Re-Indexing when not needed will not hurt or help your files. To start the Re-Index program, type VLBFIX at the DOS prompt (ie) the same place that you type VLB to start Video Librarian. You then select your file just like when you start Video Librarian. You next will be asked "Purged Deleted Records", the default is "NO". If you answer Yes, the program will purge deleted records from your inventory file. When you delete a record using Video Librarian, the record is not physically removed from the disk. The deleted record is marked so it is not displayed. When you add a record, the program will use the space allocated to the deleted records if available. If you elect to purge deleted records when you re-index, the deleted records are physically removed from the inventory file, thus making the file size smaller. If you experience signs of corrupted index files, Re-index first by answering NO to the "Purge Deleted Records" question. If the problem continues, run again and answer "Yes" to the "Purge Deleted Records" question. ================================= 18 ================================ COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT ===================== We have granted you permission to fully evaluate this program for a a period not to exceed 45 days. After 45 days you must register the program or remove it from your computer system. Since you may have forgot about the 45 day deadline or it may have sneaked up on you, on day 46 or later you will receive a notice granting you an extension of the evaluation period. This extension will allow you to use the program fully 10 more times or for 21 more days whichever occurs first. When you see this notice you should contact us immediately to get the registered version before the extension period expires. Once the extension period expires, you will not be able to Add, Edit, Copy or Delete data. You will not be able to access any of the file menu items. The Search function is inoperative. You can still print all reports, but you won't be able to use the query feature in reports to limit output. The only way to restore full operation of the program is to get a registered disk from us through the mail. We cannot pass you any codes via phone or e-mail to restore full operation of the program.