SmartTracker Videos Index

SmartTracker Videos is designed to let you catalog, organize and track your video collection.

General Topics

  Colors

  Entering Videos

  Exporting

  Importing

  Maintenance

  Report Options

  Report Viewing

  Searches

  Video Viewer

  User Definable Reports

  Troubleshooting

  Viewer Configuration

Main Window

  Video Viewer

  Add

  Edit

  Copy

  Delete

  Search

  End Search

  Report

  Help

  Close

Video Input Window

  Title

  Starring

  Producer

  Director

  Released By

  Year Released

  Content

  Category

      Add/Modify Lists

  Rating

  Personal Rating

  Format

  Media Number

  Counter Start

  Counter End

  Record Speed

  Sound

  Picture

  Miscellaneous

  Summary

  Oscar Nominations

  Oscar Awards

  Key Words

  List Price

  Laser Format

  Update

  Cancel

  Clear

  Help

Search Window

Report Window

  Sort By

  Style

  View/Print

  Help

Menu Commands

  File (Menu)

    Add (Menu)

    Edit (Menu)

    Copy (Menu)

    Delete (Menu)

    Maintenance (Menu)

    Exit(Menu)

  Report (Menu)

  Options (Menu)

    Colors (Menu)

    Import (Menu)

    Export (Menu)

  Help (Menu)

    Contents (Menu)

    About (Menu)


Add

Selecting the Add Button takes you to the Video Input Window.  All fields will be set to their initial default values (mostly blank).  Information can now be entered about a video.


Edit

Selecting the Edit Button takes you to the Video Input Window.  All fields will be set to the values entered previously for the particular video selected.  Information can now be modified if desired.


Video Input Window

This allows you to enter all the information about a particular video.  Information includes the Title, Content, Stars, Producer, Director, Released By, Year, Category, Rating, Personal Rating, Format, Media Number, Counter Start, Counter End, Record Speed, Sound, Picture, Summary, Laser Format, List Price, Oscar Awards, Oscar Nominations, Key Words and Miscellaneous items.  These characteristics can be cleared for an easy start-over of entering the video information as well as canceling the whole input.


Delete

Selecting the Delete Button allows you to remove the selected video from the data base.  You will be prompted to make sure that you want to delete the video before actual deletion takes place.


Close

Selecting the Close Button terminates the program.


Search

Selecting the Search Button activates the Search Window.  You may enter a variety of search information to locate the desired videos.  All videos which fit the search criteria will be moved into the video viewer.  A message appears in the upper left corner of the video viewer which states "SEARCH ON" to indicate that the video viewer contains search information.  In addition, the End Search button will activate which allows you to turn off the search.  While a search is on, you may continue to work as normal--copy, edit, delete, etc.  You may also use the export command which will limit the export to the search criteria only.


Help

Selecting the Help Button activates the help system.  The help system displays the main topic of the area from where help was selected.


Report

Selecting the Report Button activates the Report Window.  You may view and print a variety of reports.


Search Window

The Search Window allows you to enter search criteria to locate a given video.  The following information can be searched upon: Title, Stars, Producer, Director, Released By, Year Released, Category, Rating, Media Number, Key Words, Summary, Oscar Awards, Oscar Nominations, Content and/or Personal Rating.  You may select to search on one item or multiple items.  For example, if you want to search for all 1990 videos, then enter 1990 in the Year field.  If you wanted to search for all 1990 videos that were released by Disney, the enter 1990 in the Year field and enter Disney in the Released By field.  Where text is entered, you need only enter that portion of the text that you want a search to take place on.  For example, under title, you could enter "flower" to find all videos that had the word "flower" in the title.  This would find all titles with "flower" and "flowers".  If you just wanted to find "flowers", then you would enter "flowers".

Once the search criteria has been entered, you select the OK Button and the search immediately takes place.  If for some reason you decide that you do not want to perform a search after all, then you may select the Cancel Button.  The Clear Button is available as a tool to quickly clear all the search fields so different search criteria can be entered.  Once search criteria has been entered, it is remembered so that the next time you want to perform a search, the last search criteria used will be present.


Report Window

The Report Window allows you to  view or print  a variety of reports.  The report type is determined by selecting a Sort Order and a Report Style.  User Definable Reports are also available as an option under the report style.

The Report Window also contains a box indicating the "Videos To Print".  This will Show either "Entire Database" or "Search Criteria".  If a previous search has been made and the "SEARCH ON" indicator is showing on the main window, then "Search Criteria" will be present.  This means that the report will consist of only those items found in the search.  "Entire Database" means that the report will consist of ALL videos that have been entered into the program.


Add (Menu)

Selecting Add from the Menu performs the same operation as the Add Button.


Edit (Menu)

Selecting Edit from the Menu performs the same operation as the Edit Button.


Delete (Menu)

Selecting Delete from the Menu performs the same operation as the Delete Button.


Exit (Menu)

Selecting Exit from the Menu terminates the program.


Report (Menu)

Selecting Report from the Menu performs the same operation as the Report Button.


File (Menu)

Selecting File from the Menu brings up a submenu consisting of Add, Edit, Delete, Maintenance and Exit.


Help (Menu)

Selecting Help from the Menu brings up a submenu consisting of Contents and About.


Contents (Menu)

Selecting Contents from the Menu invokes the help system and brings you to the Index within it.


About (Menu)

Selecting About from the Menu displays the version number of the program and the copyright notice.


Maintenance List Window

The Maintenance List Window allows you to maintain a list of Categories, Movie Ratings and Personal Ratings for your videos.  The software comes with predefined categories and ratings.  You may however, at your discretion, add new categories and ratings or remove them.  If you are only collecting  certain types of movies, then you may wish to list just those categories as all others will have no meaning.  You may also set up your own personal rating system and enter any descriptive words you like (ie Bogus, Excellent, etc).  The movie rating system comes with predefined ratings that are found in the United States.  These may, however, be changed to reflect the rating system found in other countries.

You may add a category by filling in the category edit box and then selecting the Add Button.  To delete a category, you highlight the desired category inside the list box and then select the Delete Button.  If you wish to modify a category, you will need to first delete it, then add it back in with the correct spelling.  You may add, remove and modify personal ratings and movie ratings in the same manner.


Video Cancel

Selecting the Cancel Button aborts any changes you have made regarding the video.  You are returned to the main window.


Video Update

Selecting the Update Button saves all the information about the video and returns you to the main window.


Video Clear

Selecting the Clear Button removes all information about the video that may have been entered and sets all values to the initial default values.


Title

This is the title of the movie or video.


Starring

This is for entering the major stars of a movie.  Up to four stars may be entered.


Producer

This is the producer of the movie.


Director

This is the director of the movie.


Released By

This is the name of the company which released the movie.


Year Released

This is the year that the movie was released.


Content

This specifies the type of material on the video.  You may enter a movie, a television show or home video.


Category

The category describes the type of video.  There are many different possibilities for video categories.  These may include such things as Western, Drama, Science Fiction, etc.  A predefined list of categories is provided with the software.  However, you are given flexibility over what you would like to appear in this list.  You may add, remove and modify the categories by selecting the Add/Modify Button.


Personal Rating

The personal rating describes how you personally feel about the video.  There are many different possibilities for personal ratings.   A predefined list of ratings is provided with the software.  However, you are given flexibility over what you would like to appear in this list.  You may add, remove and modify the ratings by selecting the Add/Modify Button.


Rating

For movies, this is the official rating given to the movie. (ie PG - parental guidance, etc)  Since there are different possibilities for ratings in different countries, flexibility is given over what you would like to appear in this list.  You may add, remove and modify the ratings by selecting the Add/Modify Button.


Format

This is the media on which the video is found.  You may specify VHS format, BETA format, Laser Disc format or specify any other type of format desired in the "other" field..


Media Number

This is a number or lettering scheme that you have set up to catalog your videos.  Enter the number associated with this video here.


Counter Start

For those videos on tape, this is the tape counter number for the starting position of the movie.


Counter End

For those videos on tape, this is the tape counter number for the ending position of the movie.


Record Speed

For those videos on tape, this is the speed at which the tape was recorded.  These include SP (Standard Play), LP (Long Play) and SLP (Super Long Play).


Sound

This is the sound capabilities of the video.  Most older videos are in mono while most newer videos are in stereo or hifi stereo.


Picture

This is the for indicating whether the movie is in color or black and white.


Add Lists

Selecting the Add Button brings up the Maintenance List Window and allows you to modify the category, rating and personal rating lists.


Miscellaneous

These are miscellaneous items that may be available on the movie.  These include noise reduction (for better stereo sound), surround sound, close captioned, THX, and a place to enter any other special options you want to include.


Play Time

This is the amount of time in minutes that the video takes to play.


Summary

This is any additional descriptive summary you may want to make in regards to the movie.


Sort By

You may have your reports sorted in one of five ways.  These are as follows:

Title

This will generate a report where the videos are sorted alphabetically by title.

Author

This will generate a report where the videos are grouped by the Year Released.  A subheading consisting of the year the video was released will appear above all videos of the given year.

Category

This will generate a report where the videos are grouped by category.  A subheading consisting of the category of the video will appear above all videos found in that category.

Rating

This will generate a report where the videos are grouped by its rating.  A subheading consisting of the rating of the video will appear above all videos with that rating.

Personal Rating

This will generate a report where the videos are grouped by your personal rating.  A subheading consisting of the rating of the video will appear above all videos with that rating.

Media Number

This will generate a report where the videos are sorted alphabetically by media number.


Style

The style of the report determines the amount of information you want printed about each video.  The program comes with 6 report styles already set up.  These are completely configurable.  Simply press the Modify button to edit, copy or delete the report layouts.  An entry called <NEW REPORT> exists for creating report layouts from ground zero.


Support

Support

Insight Software Solutions offers a 3 month period during which any reported major problems with the software will be updated for free.  A refund of money will be made for unresolvable problems.

Support is offered through the following channels:

Mail:

       Insight Software Solutions

       P.O. Box 354

       Bountiful, UT  84011-0354

Phone:  801 295-1890

Fax:  801 299-1781

CIS:  [71672,3464]  (Compuserve)

BBS: 801 963-8721 (Join Conference 4)

Note: CIS & BBS are usually monitored daily.


Color Selection Window

The Color Selection Window allows you to setup the colors you wish to appear on the selected window.  The selected Window is selected when using the color menu option.  As color options are made, the selections appear on the window.  This way you can visualize the impact.  You may cancel the color selection process simply by pressing the Cancel button.  To use the colors you have selected, press the OK button.  The following color options are available:

Background

This is the color that will fill the background of the window.

Major Titles

Many windows have large lettered titles on them.  This sets the color for them.

Minor Titles

Many windows have average sized titles on them  This sets the color for them.

Edit Background

This is the color that will fill the background of any edit boxes that may be on the window.

Edit Text

This is the color of the text that will be inside the edit boxes.

Radio and Check Boxes

This is the color that any radio or check boxes will appear in.

3D Colors

Many windows contain 3D looking boxes surrounding different items on the screen.  This option lets you choose one of two color schemes to give the 3D affect.

Predefined Color Sets

Several predefined color sets are included with the software.  You may simply choose one of these if you find them to your liking.  Or you may choose one and then modify one or two items to better suite your tastes.


Colors (Menu)

This allows you to configure the colors for many elements of the window.  You may do this to all windows or to a particular set of windows.  This option brings up a submenu consisting of the windows which can have their colors changed.  Selecting one of these options takes you to the Color Selection Window.  The submenu options are as follows:

All Windows

This will set the colors for all color configurable windows.

Main Window

This sets the color only for the opening main window which contains the viewer.

Edit Window

This sets the color for the edit window.  The edit window is where you enter information in about a particular video.

Search Window

This sets the color for the search options window.

Report Window

This sets the color for the report options window.

Maintenance Windows

This sets the window for all the maintenance type windows.  This includes the Import Window, Export Window and the List Maintenance Window.


Copy

Selecting the Copy Button takes you to the Video Input Window.  All fields will be set to the values entered previously for the particular video selected.  Information can now be modified if desired.  When the Update button is pressed, the information will be saved as a new video.  The previous video that had been selected will remain intact.  You will find the copy command very useful for videos that are very similar.


Copy (Menu)

Selecting Copy from the Menu performs the same operation as the Copy Button.


Edit Report Line Window

This window allows you to design an individual line that will appear in the user definable report.  You may specify up to 20 items to appear on the line.  These items can consist of database elements, blanks or labels.

Line Item

This consists of a list box which allows you to choose the item to be presented on the line.  It contains an option for a label (<LABEL>), an option for blanks (<FILLER>) and options consisting of the database elements.  If the report line is for Totals, then the database elements will only contain those items which can have totals applied to them.  Selecting an item will place it at the current location in the line.  At the bottom of the screen, there will be an illustration of where the items will be in the line.

Size

This specifies the number of spaces to allocate to the item.  If the item is to big to fit in the space allocated, it will be truncated.  If you try to allocate more space than is currently available on the line, the amount of space will be truncated to the maximum available size.

Label

This is only available if the Line Item selected is a label (<LABEL>).  This is the actual text that you want to appear on the report as the label.

Buttons

Buttons available are Ok and Cancel.  The Ok button simply accepts the information and returns you to the previous window.  The Cancel button allows you to abandon any changes that you have made.

NOTE: Labels are always right justified while database elements are always left justified.  You may therefore wish to place blanks (fillers) between labels and database elements.


End Search Button

Pressing the End Search button will deactivate a search.  The stamp viewer will reload using the entire database.  The "SEARCH ON" message is removed to indicate that a search is not in progress.


Export

You may export stamp information to an Ascii Delimited File.  The Ascii Delimited File format is supported by most other programs with import capabilities.  This format creates an ascii file with each element of the database surrounded in double quotes and separated by commas.  Great flexibility is given with the export feature--you may specify which items to export and the order in which to export them.  You can also limit the number of stamps to export by using the Search mode.

Select Items

The Export Window displays a list of check boxes consisting of each of the stamp elements.  Simply check the box and that element will be exported.

Select Order

Following each check box is an edit box which specifies the order in which to export.  For example, if you want the first item of each record to be the "Comment" field, then enter a "1" in the edit box following the "Comment" checkbox.   Before any exporting takes place, a check is made to verify that the order is okay.

Select Videos

You may export the entire database of videos or you may limit the number of videos to export.  Limiting the videos is done through use of the search facility.  If a search is currently in progress when the export facility is invoked, then only those videos which were found in the search will be exported.  A database status box appears in the lower left corner of the export window indicating whether the entire database will be exported or if only the search criteria will be exported.

Button Action

The "Export" button is used to activate the export once all the export criteria has been selected.  Once pressed, you will be prompted for a file name to export to.  After exporting is complete, the options you selected for export will be saved so that they will appear the next time the export feature is used.  The "Cancel" button simply aborts the export process.

NOTE: Please be aware that the date format for both importing and exporting takes the following form: dd Mmm yyyy (12 Jun 1995)


Import

You may import video information from an Ascii Delimited File.  The Ascii Delimited File format is supported by most other programs with export capabilities.  This format creates an ascii file with each element of the database surrounded in double quotes and separated by commas.  Much flexibility is given with the import feature--you may specify which items to import and the order in which to import them.

Select Items

The Import Window displays a list of check boxes consisting of each of the video elements.  Simply check the box and that element will be imported.

Select Order

Following each check box is an edit box which specifies the order in which to import.  For example, if the first item of each record to be imported is the "Comment" field, then enter a "1" in the edit box following the "Comment" checkbox.   Before any importing takes place, a check is made to verify that the order is okay.

Button Action

The "Import" button is used to activate the import once all the import criteria has been selected.  Once pressed, you will be prompted for a file name to import from.  After importing is complete, the options you selected for import will be saved so that they will appear the next time the import feature is used.  The "Cancel" button simply aborts the import process.

NOTE: Please be aware that the date format for both importing and exporting takes the following form: dd Mmm yyyy (12 Jun 1995)

CAUTION: You must make sure that order and number of fields selected matches that of the file you are importing from.  Undesirable results may occur if they do not.  When in doubt, test the import with one item first to make sure it will import in the way desired.


Maintenance (Menu)

Selecting Maintenance from the Menu brings up a submenu which contains four items.  The first is for maintaining your list of Countries and Topics which calls the Maintenance List Window.  The other three submenu items are all for maintaining the actual database and are mainly used for troubleshooting and resolving problems that may be present  in the database.  These three options are named Rebuild Index, Pack Database and Reset Key.


Pack Database

This program uses DBase compatible files.  When a deletion of a video occurs, it is only marked as deleted.  To physically remove the deleted videos from the database, a process called "packing" must occur.  Selecting this option will "pack" the database and thus free up space.  It is recommended that you pack your database every once in a while.


Rebuild Index

It is possible for your index files to become corrupted.  This may happen by not exiting the program properly (shutting the computer of while the program is running) or by other means.  As a result, some videos may not show up in the viewer or in reports because they cannot be found in the appropriate index.  Selecting this option will rebuild your index files correctly so that the problem will go away.


Report Viewing Window

This window is for viewing the reports prior to printing them.  It consists of a large scrollable window that contains a page of the report.  You may use the scroll bars to view the different parts of the current page.  A menu bar exists at the top of this window to allow for several actions.  They are as follows:

Print

This brings up a submenu with four options.  One is for printing the current page you are viewing and one is for printing the entire document.  The other two are for saving the current page or the entire document out to an ascii text file.

Next Page

This creates and displays the next page of the report.  If you are on the last page, then nothing happens.

Previous Page

This creates and displays the previous page of the report.  If you are on the first page, then nothing happens.

Exit

This exits the report viewing window and returns to the report options window.

Setup

This allows for selecting and setting up of your printer for the printed report.

Help

This simply invokes the help system.


Reset Key

The program maintains a counter to use as a unique KEY in the database for each new video.  If this counter gets out of sequence with the number of videos, an error message claiming a "Unique Key" must be used will occur when a new video is added.  Selecting this option will automatically reset this counter to the correct value thus resolving the problem.


Troubleshooting

Help!!! Things just don't seem to be working right!  I'm getting strange error messages!  What can I do???

This section covers a couple of the most common errors that you might run into while using this (or any other Database type) program.  Two options are built right into the program which can take corrective action for their respective problems.  These two options are Rebuild Index and Reset Key.  These are accessed via the menu system by first selecting File and then Maintenance.


User Definable Report Window

This window allows you to create your own report layouts.  The description of the report appears as an item in the user definable list box on the report window where it can be selected and used.  The options for the user definable reports are as follows:

Report Name

This is a descriptive name of the report and does not actually appear on the report.  This name  appears as one of the choices in the list box of user definable reports.

Report Width

You may specify a report width of 90 characters which produces a larger, more legible report.  Alternatively, you may specify a report width of 120  which will allow you to pack much more information on each page.

Font

You may choose from any True Type font that has been loaded on your computer.  This font will be used as the report font.  You may optionally select to bold or italicize the font without having to go and rechoose the font.

Report/Modify Report Content

Each video can occupy up to 12 lines of information.  You enter the number of lines you wish to each video to use.  Each line has a button associated with it.  Pressing one of the buttons takes you to the Edit Report Line Window where you can specify the  layout of the particular line.  Each line may have labels, blanks and database elements placed on them.   As the line format is created, the basic format of the line is displayed below.  Totals allows the total amount of all videos, costs and/or values to be displayed in the report.  Pressing the Mod Totals Line button takes you to the Edit Report Line Window where you can set up how the totals line is to look.  Please Note: It is possible to create statistic/summary only reports by setting the number of lines to be used to zero and entering a definition for the Totals Line.

Report Titles

You may specify up to three report headers which will appear on the top of each page of the report.  Use these for your name, address, phone, import information about your collection or for anything appropriate.

Miscellaneous

There are two items available under the miscellaneous section consisting of Column Headers and Page Numbers.  Column Headers are only available for reports which use only one line for each video.  Selecting this option will automatically place a column header at the top of each page and at the start of each new group for each of the video elements specified in the report.  Selecting Page Numbers causes the report to show page numbers at the bottom of each page.

Buttons

Buttons available are Update, Delete, Cancel and Help.  The Update button simply saves all the report layout information and makes it available as a report option.  The Delete button removes the report layout from the computer.  The delete button is only active if the report title has not been changed.  The Cancel button allows you to abandon any changes that you have made while the Help button simply invokes the help system.


View/Print

Selecting the View/Print button generates the desired report and sends it to the Report Viewing window where it can be viewed or printed.


Viewer Configuration

You may configure the Video Viewer to your liking by selecting the order of items and the width of each item.  You may also select only those items you wish to see in the viewer.

Video Element

The Viewer Configuration Window displays a list of check boxes consisting of each of the video elements.  Simply check the box of the element that you wish to appear in the viewer.

Column Order

Following each check box is an edit box which specifies the order in which to display the video elements.  Placing a '1' in the box will indicate that the element is to be displayed first.  A '2' indicates that it will be second.  When setting the order, you must start at "1" and use consecutive numbers.  An error will be displayed if numbers are duplicated or used out of sequence.

Column Width

Following the Column Order is another edit box which specifies the width (in characters) to allow for the video element.  For example, if you specify 20 characters for the video description, then those descriptions which are longer will be truncated and the truncated part will not show up in the viewer.  Please note that proportional spaced fonts are used in the viewer.  When specifying a width of 20, more or less than 20 characters may fit in the space allotted depending on the characters themselves.

Page Size

This allows you to specify the number of videos to load into the Video Viewer at one time.  The current range is from 10 to 1000.  You may ask: What page size should I use and what impact does it have?  The biggest concern here is a factor of time.  Using large page sizes requires more time to load an entire page into the Video Viewer.  However, once in the viewer, you can scroll through the videos more quickly.   The trade off is the ability to scroll through more videos quickly versus waiting for the videos to load into the viewer.  Our recommendation is to keep the Page Size relatively small at around 50 or 100 videos.

Button Action

The "Ok" button is used to accept the selections which have been made.  Once pressed, the Video Viewer will be updated and the Viewer Configuration Window will close.   Your configuration choices will be saved.  The "Cancel" button simply aborts the configuration process.  The "Help" button opens the help file.


Options (Menu)

Selecting Options from the Menu brings up a submenu consisting of Colors, Import and Export.


Video Viewer

The Video Viewer lists the videos that you have entered.  It lists the elements of each video in a row.  A horizontal scroll bar is present to allow you to move back and forth to view the video information.  The viewer maintains a configurable page size of which is set at 50 as a default.  This means that there is a maximum of only 50 videos at one time in the viewer.  You may scroll through these using the vertical scroll bar.  Simply press the PgUp or PgDn button to load in the previous or next page of videos.  For large databases of videos, the page size of 50 prevents extremely long waits that would occur in attempting to load the entire database.  The video viewer is also the recipient of searches.


Oscar Nominations

This lets you enter Oscar Nominations that the movie may have received.  You may press the associated "Select Oscars" button which will bring up a list of Oscar Awards which you may choose instead of keying them in by hand.  If a move has a lot of nominations, then all of them may not fit as the length of this field is limited.  It may be better to abbreviate the nominations in this case.


Oscar Awards

This lets you enter Oscar Awards that the movie may have received.  You may press the associated "Select Oscars" button which will bring up a list of Oscar Awards which you may choose instead of keying them in by hand.  If a move has a lot of awards, then all of them may not fit as the length of this field is limited.  It may be better to abbreviate the awards in this case.


Key Words

This allows you to enter any key words regarding the movie that might be helpful in locating this movie with a search.


List Price

This field is available to be able to determine the value of your video collection.  Knowing the value of each title can be very helpful for insurance purposes in case of loss.


Laser Format

This allows you to select from a variety of Laser Disc formats including Letter-Boxed, Matted, Panned, Scanned and Wide Screen.