Welcome To EasyCD2

EasyCD2 is the easiest to use audio CD player for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.  EasyCD2 is full featured, small, and efficient.  EasyCD2 uses a small CD Control Panel that provides all the functionality of a portable CD player in addition to displaying a small icon in the system tray to ensure the smallest possible screen footprint.

EasyCD2 makes itself even easier by being integrated with the huge CD information database named CDDB. CDDB contains the artist names, titles, track titles, and other information for over 50,000 CD's and is always growing.  EasyCD2 uses CDDB to look for information about each CD you play on your computer.  EasyCD2 can query a local copy of CDDB you download to your computer and allows you to directly query the many Internet CDDBD servers(*) around the world!  In addition, EasyCD2 supports the "fuzzy" search response from the Internet CDDBD servers which greatly increases the success rate for finding information about your CD's.

You can also use EasyCD2 to submit new entries to CDDB.  By supporting the SMTP Internet E-Mail protocol, EasyCD2 allows you to easily send CD information that you have entered yourself for addition to CDDB.  All you have to do is provide a return address, an SMTP server name, and EasyCD2 does the rest.  As more and more entries are submitted, the fewer you will have to enter yourself!

EasyCD2 can also import any information previously stored by the standard Windows CD Player so you will not have to type it in again.

EasyCD2 provides all the audio CD play functionality that you will need.  All basic play functions are supported including: Play, Pause, Stop, Next Track, Previous Track, Fast Forward, Fast Rewind, Random Play, Repeat All Tracks, Repeat Current Track, Introduction Mode, and Programmed Play Mode.  EasyCD2 supports multiple CD-ROM drives and CD-ROM changers and can also play random tracks selected from any of the CD-ROM drives that contain audio CD's.

The EasyCD2 CD Control Panel is a small, compact pop up dialog.  The CD control panel allows basic control over the CD player and shows the current status of the CD being played or the title of the current track. The CD Control Panel also has an integrated volume control that can control any of the volume mixers on your sound card.

The EasyCD2 CD Database Manager is an add-on program that compliments the core functions of EasyCD2 by adding the ability to view, edit, and export the entries in the EasyCD2 database.  You do not have to have EasyCD2 running to use the CD Database Manager. The export function writes user selected entries from the EasyCD2 database out to two standard "comma-delimited" text files. This allows you to import the CD information into just about any commercial database.


What's New In Version 3.00
What’s New In Version 3.00

New Features in EasyCD2

1.	NT 4.0 support.  EasyCD2 now works on Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0.

2.	Full integrated Windows help.  All online documentation is now in Windows help format including popup help for the properties and options dialogs.

3.	Multiple CD-ROM support.  EasyCD2 will now keep track of all CD-ROM drives in the system.

4.	CD-ROM changer support.  CD-ROM changers are supported under both Windows95 and Windows NT 4.0 based on proper CD-ROM driver implementation.

5.	Random mode can cross multiple drives.  EasyCD2 can play a track on one drive and then randomly pick the next track from all audio CD's in the drives.

6.	Volume control on CD Control Panel can now control any any volume mixer, i.e. main volume, CD volume, etc.

7.	CD Control Panel now can display the CD title information or the time and drive status.

8.	The EasyCD2 CD database is now stored in it's own files instead of in registry. This could probably be put in the 'Bugs Fixed' list, but I see it as a feature.  ;)

9.	Auto server list download.  EasyCD2 will automatically download the most current Internet CDDB server list.  It will never have an out dated server list again.

10.	Auto category list download.  EasyCD2 will automatically download the most current CDDB category list.  This list is not anticipated to change, but if it does you’ll have it.

11.	CD entries can now include arbitrarily long 'extended' information for each CD and for each track.  This can be used for information on conductors, composers, or lyrics.

12.	CDDB revision number tracking (this is maintained internally for the Internet CDDB Servers to keep track of updates to titles).

13.	CD Control panel now displays current CD-ROM drive.

14.	Optional interactive popup status dialog.

15.	New exit options for leaving EasyCD2 running even if there are no CD's in the drive(s).

16.	Query and submit operations can now be started from the main menus.

17.	Can start CD Database Manager directly from the main menus.

New Features In The CD Database Manager

1.	CD Database Manager now uses a more sophisticated 'list view'.  You can sort the list by ID, artist or title by selecting the column header, just like in the Explorer.

2.	CD Database Manager shows entry source (Manual or CDDB) and submitted flag.  The submitted flag shows that you have previously submitted the entry to CDDB.

3.	CD Database Manager now has a built in backup and restore options.  Now it is easy to backup the CD database so you can restore it later if you need to reload windows.

Bug Fixes

1.	Fixed problem displaying '&' in popup menus.  Previously, track titles that had an '&' in them would display them as '_' in the popup menus.

2.	Installation script now has double quotes in the paths for correct operation with long file names.

3.	Previous track button now re-starts current track with a single click and goes to previous track with a double click just like a real CD player.  Oooohh.

4.	Fixed the processing for a CDDB fuzzy response that sometimes caused the inability to download the selected entry (this would sometimes cause an infinite loop of fuzzy responses).

5.	Editing of an track title in the properties dialog now behaves better with cut and pastes.

6.	Only one copy of EasyCD2 or the CD Database Manager can run at a time.

7.	Improved local CDDB query accuracy.  The increased size of the local database was causing occasional incorrect lookups in the local database.  The increased accuracy does come at the expense of a decreased success rate (naturally, could it be any other way?).


Registering EasyCD2

The registration fee for EasyCD2 is $10.00 US.  When I receive your registration, I will send you your Username and Password code by e-mail.

Registration entitles you to all future versions of EasyCD2.  I will attempt to notify you by e-mail when new versions are available.

You can register online via the First Virtual Internet Payment System at my web site:

http://www.ghlsoftware.com/registering.html

First Virtual provides secure credit card payments over the Internet by using a VirtualPIN to identify the buyer as opposed to passing around credit card information. Please check out First Virtual at:

http://www.fv.com/

If you would like to set up a First Virtual buyer's account, please go to the following site:

http://www.fv.com/newacct/

To register EasyCD2 via conventional mail, please fill out this form, print it, include your payment, and send it to the address shown.

Greg Leichner, GHL Software

P.O. Box 64421

Sunnyvale, CA 94086-9991

USA

I will accept checks, money orders and cash.  If you send cash make sure it is not visible from outside the envelope.

If you send a check, make it payable to: Greg Leichner

If you send your registration in non-U.S. funds, please make sure to use the current exchange rate.


Contacting GHL Software

You can contact me using one of the following methods:

E-Mail

greg@ghlsoftware.com

WWW

http://www.ghlsoftware.com/

Snail-Mail

Greg Leichner, GHL Software

P.O. Box 64421

Sunnyvale, CA 94086-9991

USA

Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments, suggestions, or complaints. I enjoy hearing from users and I will do my best to personally answer all e-mail.

Please send any compliments and comments related specifically to the Internet CDDBD servers to, Steve Scherf, at: steve@moonsoft.com. Steve is the author of the Internet CDDBD server software and is more than willing to hear any comments you might have.

If you have noticed a spelling error or some other possible error in the CDDB CD information database, please contact the CDDB administrator at: xmcd@amb.org. You should include the title and artist of the CD in question along with a detailed description of the problem.

For more information about XMCD or CDDB please go to:

http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/xmcd/

For more information on the Internet CDDBD servers, go to:

http://www.moonsoft.com/


Notes for Previous Users

If you have not used any previous versions of EasyCD2, you may skip this section.

When you run EasyCD2 version 3.00 the first time, it will automatically convert the CD information that was stored in the Registry to the new database format (outside the Registry.)  You will be given the option to delete the entries from the Registry.  This is recommended, but not mandatory.  Just be aware, that even if you leave the old entries in the Registry, they will not be used by the current or future versions of EasyCD2.

If you have been a user since version 2.00, then some of your CD entries may not be converted to the new database.  This is because of new requirements for the contents of each CD entries.  Older versions of EasyCD2 (prior to version 2.20) did not store enough information about the CD to be converted to the new format. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.


Uninstalling EasyCD2

To uninstall EasyCD2, open the 'Control Panel' and select the 'Add/Remove Programs' icon.  Select 'EasyCD2 Version 3.00' from the displayed list and press the 'Add/Remove...' button.  Confirm the remove and EasyCD2 will be removed from your system.  You may need to manually delete the EasyCD2 directory if you have received or entered CD information.

NOTE:	Due to a limitation of Install Shield, the un-install of EasyCD2 will not restore CDPlayer as the application to auto-run for an audio CD.  You will need to copy the provided file 'cdplayer.reg' from the EasyCD2 directory before you un-install EasyCD2.  Then un-install EasyCD2 and then double click on the file 'cdplayer.reg'.  This will restore the CDPlayer as the application to auto-run for audio CD's.


More about CDDB

CDDB was created by Ti Kan in conjunction with the Unix based CD player application, XMCD.  The Internet servers (CDDBD) were written and are maintained by Steve Scherf.  Executables and source code for both XMCD and CDDBD are available for free download over the Internet.

For more information on XMCD or CDDB please see:

http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/xmcd/.

For more information on the Internet CDDBD servers, go to:

http://www.moonsoft.com/

To download a copy of the Windows compatible version of CDDB, you download it via FTP from one of sites below:

ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications/xmcd/xmcd-cddb.zip
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/tk/tkan/xmcd-cddb/xmcd-cddb.zip

Space for the Windows compatible database file has been generously provided by Ti Kan.


Introduction
EasyCD2 Introduction

This section contains the instructions for using EasyCD2, how to configure EasyCD2 to use the local version of CDDB and the CDDB Internet Servers.  It also includes procedures on submitting new entries to the CDDB database.

EasyCD2 can get CD information from a number of sources. When you enter a CD in the CD drive, EasyCD2 is automatically started and looks for the information about the current CD.  The order of search is as follows:  First, it checks the EasyCD2 for the CD information.  This is where EasyCD2 stores information when it has been entered (or found in other sources).  Second, it looks in the Windows 'cdplayer' application’s 'ini' file.  This file should be found in the Windows directory and is named 'cdplayer.ini'.  Third, EasyCD2 tries to check for the CD in a local copy of the CDDB database if configured to do so.  Lastly, if the current CD is not found in any of the previous sources on your computer, it will query the CDDB server over the Internet.  You must already be connected to the Internet for EasyCD2 to query the servers.

Once EasyCD2 has information about the current CD, it stores it in the EasyCD2 database.  This means after you have either entered the information about a CD or the CD information was found on a CDDB server, it will be saved on your computer for future display and you do not have to be connected to the Internet to be able to display the entered or found CD information.


General
System Tray Icon

The tray icon shows the current state of the CD player.  It also has a 'tip' if the cursor is held over the icon

that displays more detailed information.

The possible interactions with the tray icon are:

Left Mouse Button

Right Mouse Button


Left Mouse Button
System Tray Icon Left Mouse Button

When the CD is playing:

single-click	Pause

double-click	Go to next track

triple-click	Go to previous track

When the CD is paused:

single-click	Resumes play

When the CD is stopped:

single-click	Starts play on first track


Right Mouse Button
System Tray Icon Right Mouse Button

Displays the EasyCD2 main popup menu.  The menu options are described in a section below.


General
CD Control Panel

The controls dialog provides a CD player like control panel for all basic control functions.  In addition, a right mouse button popup menu is available to get to all other options, including track/disc selection and access to the EasyCD2 properties and options dialogs.

The components of the CD control panel are:

Status Display Area

Drive Display Area

Play Button

Pause Button

Stop Button

Next Track Button

Previous Track Button

Eject Button

Volume Up Button

Volume Down Button

Volume Display Area


Status Display Area
CD Control Panel Status Display Area

The status display area at the top of the controls dialog show the current state of the CD player, the current track playing and the time of play for that track.

If the right mouse button is used in the status display area, The EasyCD2 main menu is displayed.  The menu options are described in a section below.


Drive Display Area
CD Control Panel Drive Display Area

The status display area sits between the Eject button and the volume controls.  The drive letter of the currently selected drive is shown.  If no drives are selected (no audio CD’s in any drives) then the display will show ‘—‘.


Play Button
CD Control Panel Play Button

When the CD is stopped:

Always plays the CD from the start of the first track.

When the CD is paused:

Resumes play from the paused position.


Pause Button
CD Control Panel Pause Button

Pauses the CD at the current position or resumes play from a previously paused position.


Stop Button
CD Control Panel Stop Button

Stops the CD.  Resets the 'played' status for all tracks and discs.


Next Track Button
CD Control Panel Next Track Button

Single click:

Starts play at the next sequential track.  If in 'Random Order' mode, play is started at a randomly

selected track from the tracks that have not yet been played.

Press and hold:

Normal play will stop (no sound) and the CD is fast forwarded until the button is released.


Previous Track Button
CD Control Panel Previous Track Button

Single click:

Starts play at the beginning of the current track.

Double click:

Starts play at the previous sequential track.

Press and hold:

Normal play will stop (no sound) and the CD is fast rewound until the button is released.


Eject Button
CD Control Panel Eject Button

Ejects the CD from the currently selected drive.


Volume Up Button
CD Control Panel Volume Up Button

If a volume mixer was found on your system, this button increases the volume for the selected mixer.

Otherwise, this button is not available.


Volume Down Button
CD Control Panel Volume Down Button

If a volume mixer was found on your system, this button decreases the volume for the selected mixer.

Otherwise, this button is not available.


Volume Display
CD Control Panel Volume Display Area

The volume display area shows the current volume in the form of a small bar graph.  If you click the left mouse button on the volume display, it is a "Mute" button.


Main Popup Menu(s) General Information
Main Popup Menu(s)

The main popup menus can be accessed from both the EasyCD2 system tray icon and the EasyCD2 CD control panel status display area.  The menus provide access to all functions and options in EasyCD2.

In general, both menus provide the same functions, except that the menu available from the EasyCD2 CD control panel does not list the play functions.  These functions are part of the CD control panel itself and would be redundant if included in this menu.

The menu items in the main popup menus are:

Play (system tray menu only)

Pause (system tray menu only)

Stop (system tray menu only)

Eject (system tray menu only)

Next Track (system tray menu only)

Previous Track (system tray menu only)

Select Track

Select Drive

Random Order

Introduction Play

Repeat All

Repeat Current

Select Volume Control (CD control panel menu only)

Hide Controls (CD control panel menu only)

Show/Hide Controls (system tray menu only)

Properties

Options

Query CDDB

Submit To CDDB

Start CD Database Manager

About EasyCD2

Exit EasyCD2


Play

(system tray menu only)

When the CD is stopped:

Always plays the CD from the start of the first track.

When the CD is paused:

Resumes play from the paused position.


Pause

(system tray menu only)

Pauses the CD at the current position or resumes play from a previously paused position.


Stop

(system tray menu only)

Stops the CD.  Resets the 'played' status for all tracks and discs.


Eject

(system tray menu only)

Ejects the CD from the currently selected drive.


Next Track

(system tray menu only)

Starts play at the next sequential track.  If in 'Random Order' mode, play is started at a randomly

selected track from the tracks that have not yet been played.


Previous Track

(system tray menu only)

Starts play at the previous sequential track.


Select Track

Allows the user to select which track to play from a menu.  Tracks that have already been played have a check mark next to them and the track currently playing is grayed out (unavailable).  If the number of tracks on the disc is 20 or greater, the additional entry, ‘Complete Track List…’ is shown as the last item the track list.  Selecting this option will display a new dialog with a scrolling region with all the tracks on the CD.


Select Drive

For systems with more than one CD-ROM drive or a CD-ROM changer, this menu will display a list of all the available drives.  Drives without audio CD’s will be unavailable for selection.  Drives that contain audio CD’s will display the length of the CD and the CD title (if specified).  Selecting a new drive will stop play on the current drive and start play on the first track (or first programmed track) of the new drive.


Random Order

Toggles EasyCD2 between playing the tracks in a sequential order and a random order.  If the ‘Random Across All CD Drives’ is selected, each new track will be randomly selected from all discs present in all the drives.


Introduction Play

EasyCD2 can play a user selected amount of time of each track, starting at a selected time offset.

Please see the 'Options' section for more information on 'Introduction Play' mode.


Repeat All

Repeat All mode will repeat the play of all tracks when the end of play is reached.  If not in repeat all mode, EasyCD2 will either stop play when all tracks have been played.


Repeat Current

Toggles between repeating the current track continuously or normal play mode.


Select Volume Control (CD control panel only)
Select Volume Control

(CD control panel menu only)

Allows the user to select the volume mixer control that the ‘Volume Up’ and ‘Volume Down’ buttons control.  All mixers available on the sound card may be selected.  The default is the main volume control.


Hide Controls

(CD control panel menu only)

Hides the CD control panel display.  The CD control panel can be made visible again from the system tray menu.


Show/Hide Controls

(system tray menu only)

Toggles the display of the CD player control panel that allows you to control almost all functions

of EasyCD2 in very small window.


Properties

Displays the EasyCD2 properties dialog.


Options

Displays the EasyCD2 options dialog


Query CDDB

EasyCD2 will automatically query the CDDB sources (local database or Internet servers) when you play a new audio CD if you have configured it to do so.  You may also manually query CDDB by selecting this menu item.

To query CDDB, select the CD you would like to look for from the list of CD’s you have inserted in your CD-ROM drives.  If you have downloaded and installed the local copy of CDDB, EasyCD2 will start it’s query there.  If the CD is not found on the local copy, EasyCD2 will attempt to connect to the CDDB Internet server you have selected.  Once connected EasyCD2 will query the server for the information on the selected CD.

The CDDB Internet servers will sometimes return a "fuzzy" search result for some CD's.  This is because your particular CD's pressing is not found on the remote CDDB server, but one or more other pressings of the same title might have been found.  In this case EasyCD2 will display the Fuzzy Search Results dialog.

If the CD you are currently searching for is displayed in the list of possible matches, select it and press the 'Get Information For Selected Title' button.  EasyCD2 will retrieve the rest of the CD information.

If the CD you are currently playing is not in the list of possible matches, it is not present on the remote CDDB server and you should select the 'Current CD Not In List' button.

Once EasyCD2 has found the information for a particular CD, it will be stored in EasyCD2’s database and EasyCD2 will not need to query CDDB for that title again.

Also, EasyCD2 will automatically update the server list during query operations once a week (or the next time you query CDDB if this is longer than a week).  This ensures that you have the most up-to-date server list possible.  No more waiting to connect to a server that is no longer supported by CDDB.


Submit To CDDB

EasyCD2 can submit entries to add to the CDDB database.  If the CD in question is not found on one of the servers, you can enter the information on the 'CD Information' sheet and then submit it for inclusion in the CDDB database.  This will help the database grow and hopefully, over time, more and more of the CD's you play will be found automatically.

You will need to configure EasyCD2 with your specific information to be able to submit entries to CDDB.

To submit a new entry to CDDB, select the CD you would like to send from the list of CD’s you have inserted in your CD-ROM drives.  EasyCD2 will then attempt to connect to the SMTP server you specified.  If successful, it will send an e-mail to the CDDB administration site for addition to CDDB.

If your entry is accepted (i.e. is not a duplicate or has missing information) it will be added to the CD titles in CDDB in about 24 hours.


Start CD Database Manager

Starts the EasyCD2 CD Database Manager program in a separate window.


About EasyCD2

Displays registration and information about GHL Software and EasyCD2.  Also allows you to enter your registration information on unregistered copies.


Exit EasyCD2

Exits EasyCD2 (Really, that's unbelievable.  I love this helpful help file).


EasyCD2 Properties Dialog

The EasyCD2 properties dialog shows the information about all CD’s in all CD-ROM drives in the system  Here is where CD titles, artists, and track information may be entered and or modified.  Programming of track play order is also part of the properties.

The properties entered or retrieved from CDDB are stored in the EasyCD2 database for future retrieval.

The three tabs in the properties dialog are:

CD Information

Extended CD Information

Track Programming

Each tab has a ‘Select Drive’ drop down list that allows you to select the current CD-ROM drive to edit properties for.  If you select a CD-ROM drive does not contain an audio CD, then all the edit controls for will be disabled.


CD Information

General:

You can enter the CD artist name and the title of the CD in this section.

Tracks:

To enter the title of a track, select the desired track from the list and type the title in the text box below the list.  To complete the entry, press the ‘Enter’ key.  The next track will automatically be selected.

Clear All:

Select the 'Clear All' button to clear all the main CD information.  This does NOT effect the Extended CD Information or the Track Programmed information.


Extended CD Information

General:

Enter any additional information about the specific title here. This can be the catalog number, information about the composer, etc.  This field does not have a predefined size limit.

Tracks:

Any information about each track may be entered in this section.  This could be the lyrics, where the track was recorded, etc.  This field does not have a predefined size limit.

Use the ‘Previous Track’ and ‘Next Track’ buttons to cycle through all tracks on the CD.

Clear All:

Select the 'Clear All' button to clear all the Extended CD information.  This does NOT effect the main CD Information or the Track Programmed information.


Track Programming

To specify a custom play order, select a track in the 'Disk Order' list and then press the 'Add' button.  The track is then added to the 'Programmed Order' list.  Repeat this process for each track to be included in the custom play order.  You may also double click the mouse on a track in the 'Disk Order' list to add it to the 'Programmed Order' list.  The same track may be included in the custom play order as many times as you would like.  To remove a track from the custom play order, select the track in the 'Programmed Order' list and press the 'Remove' button.

To add all the tracks on the CD to the ‘Programmed Order’ list, press the ‘Add All’ button (doing this will replace all previously programmed tracks).  To clear the entire custom play order list, press the 'Remove All’ button.

You may change the order of play in the 'Programmed Order' list by selecting the track to move and then using the 'Up' and 'Down' arrows to the right of the list.


EasyCD2 Options Dialog

All the options for EasyCD2 are available in the Options dialog.  This includes display, play mode, time display, and CDDB configuration options.

The six tabs in the options dialog are:

CD Control Panel

Play Modes

Time Display

Eject and Exit

CDDB Query

CDDB Submit


CD Control Panel

General:

Show at Startup - Will display the CD Control Panel each time EasyCD2 is started.

Always On Top - The CD Control Panel always be on top of all other windows.

Hide When No Audio CD’s - The CD Control Panel will hide itself if all CD’s have been removed.

Display Mode:

The status area of the CD Control Panel can display the current time and status information or the current track or disc title.  Select the ‘Status/Time’ option to display the CD player mode and the associated time for the current CD.  Select the ‘Track/Disc Title’ option to display the track or disc title information (status information will be reflected in the availability of the CD Control Panel buttons).


Play Modes

To have the random mode select a random track from all the drives that contain audio CD’s, select the ‘Random Across All CD Drives’ option.

To have EasyCD2 repeat all tracks on a CD (normal mode or programmed track order), select the ‘Repeat All Tracks’ option.

Introduction Play:

EasyCD2 allows you to configure which section of a track will be played during 'Introduction Play' mode.  Instead of always playing the first 10 to 15 seconds of the track, you can select a starting point from 0 to 60 seconds and a length of play from 0 to 60 seconds.  In addition you can use the 'at middle of track' option to have EasyCD2 automatically find the middle of the track and play the specified amount of time such that it will play the exact middle of the track.


Time Display

You can choose between four different options for the time display on the CD Control Panel and the tray icon tip.

These options are:

Track time elapsed - Elapsed time for current track is displayed.

Track time remaining - Counts down the time remaining until the end of the current track.

Disc time elapsed - Elapsed time for the entire CD (all tracks) is displayed.

Disc time remaining - Counts down the time remaining until the end of the CD.


Eject and Exit

A few different options related to ejecting the CD and exiting EasyCD2 are available here.  The end of play is determined by the current play mode.  If the CD is in normal play mode (no random order and no programmed order) then the end of play is after the last sequential track on the CD is played.  If in random order mode, then the end of play is determined when all tracks on the current CD have been played.  End of play is also reached if all programmed tracks have been played.

To eject the current CD when EasyCD2 reaches the end of play, select the ‘Eject CD(s) at End of Play’ option.

To exit EasyCD2 when the last audio CD is ejected from all CD-ROM drives, select the ‘Exit EasyCD2 When Eject’ option.

To stop play when exiting (automatic or manual) select ‘Stop Play When Exiting EasyCD2’.


CDDB Query

EasyCD2 is fully integrated with the CD Information database, CDDB.  You can lookup CD information from a local copy of the database or you can query a CDDB server over the Internet.

The two major sections to the CDDB Query tab are:

Local Database

Internet Database Server

Select the ‘Display Status During Query Operations’ option to have EasyCD2 display a small dialog that will show the ongoing query status information.  This dialog will dismiss itself a few sections after the query has finished.


Local Database

To configure EasyCD2 to use a local copy of CDDB you must first start by downloading a copy of the Windows compatible database.  You can obtain it via FTP from one of the sites below:

ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications/xmcd/xmcd-cddb.zip

ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/tk/tkan/xmcd-cddb/xmcd-cddb.zip

Space for the Windows compatible database file has been generously provided by Ti Kan.

The database is very large.  At the time of this writing local database was about 15M  bytes when zipped and expands to over 45M bytes.

Unzip the file to a new directory (you can name it anything you want, but I suggest "CDDB").  You must use the "preserve directory" option with whatever unzip tool you use.  Cddb is composed of category sub directories.  When unzipped you should see a list of directories like: “Blues”, “Classical”, “Country”, etc. in the CDDB directory you created.  If all you see is a bunch of files that look like: “1fto3e”, then you did not use the “preserve directory” option to unzip the database.  Delete all the files you unzipped and start the procedure over making sure you use the correct settings.

Select the 'Query Local Database' option to configure EasyCD2 to look in the local database each time you play a CD.  Enter the full path to the directory where you unzipped the database file in the 'Database Root Directory' text box. For example: "C:\CDDB".


Internet Database Server

EasyCD2 can use the Internet to query a CDDB server for the information about each audio CD you play.  You must already be connected to the Internet to query a CDDB server.

Select the 'Query Server' option to configure EasyCD2 to query a CDDB Internet server for each time you play a new CD that has not either already been found or that you have manually entered information on.

If you are behind a firewall, EasyCD2 supports the use of a proxy host to get to a CDDB server.  To use a proxy host, select the 'Use Proxy Host' option.  Enter the name of your proxy host and the port that will be used to connect to it. The default port is, 888, and is the same port that the CDDB servers use for communication.

If you are not behind a firewall, select the server name from the provided server list.  Please select the server that is closest to you for fastest response.  EasyCD2 will automatically update the server list once a week when it starts a query for a new CD.  The ensures that you will have the most up to date list of active CDDB servers possible.

NOTE: If you have configured EasyCD2 to query the local CDDB database, it will search there first and if the CD information is not found then EasyCD2 will attempt to query the selected CDDB Internet server.


CDDB Submit

To allow EasyCD2 to submit new entries to CDDB, enter your e-mail address in the 'Return Address' text box.  You must also specify the address of the SMTP server you use to send e-mail.  If you do not know the name of your SMTP server, ask your network administrator.

Please use the following guidelines for any entries you wish to submit to the CDDB database:

1.	Submit entries only after you verify they are not already in the database.

2.	Do not submit entries that are not completely filled-out (i.e., empty track titles, etc.).

3.	Capitalize the first letter of each word only.  Do not use upper case for whole words unless it's absolutely necessary.

4.	Verify that all spelling is correct.

5.	Submit the entry using the appropriate category.

Select the ‘Display Status During Submit Operations’ option to have EasyCD2 display a small dialog that will show the ongoing submit status information.  This dialog will dismiss itself a few sections after the query has finished.


CD Database Manager Introduction
EasyCD2 CD Database Manager

The CD Database Manager is an add-on program to EasyCD2 that allows you to view, edit, export, and delete the CD entries found in the EasyCD2 CD database.

The entries listed in the EasyCD2 database are all the CD’s YOU have played and that EasyCD2 has gathered information for.  As you play each of your CD’s, the any data either found in CDDB or entered manually is saved in the EasyCD2 database.


CD List Area

The main display for the CD Database Manager is the list of CD's that EasyCD2 has played and has information for.  The list displays the following information for each CD:

ID

The Windows ID for the CD.

NOTE: The ID used by Microsoft Windows to identify a CD is NOT the same as the ID used by CDDB.  EasyCD2 uses the Windows ID for it’s storage of the CD information.  EasyCD2 only generates the CDDB ID when querying the local and or Internet servers.

By clicking on the ‘ID’ column title, the list will be sorted by Windows ID.

Artist

The artist for the CD (if any).

By clicking on the ‘Artist’ column title, the list will be sorted by artist (default).

Title

The title for the CD (if any).

By clicking on the ‘Title’ column title, the list will be sorted by title.

Source

Where EasyCD2 obtained the information about the CD.  A value of ‘Manual’ denotes that the entry was manually entered by the user.  A value of ‘CDDB’ denotes that EasyCD2 obtained the information from a CDDB source (either local or Internet CDDB server).

Submitted

If a ‘Yes’ is displayed in this column, then this entry was previously submitted to CDDB.  This can be used to determine which new CD’s should be submitted (if you choose to do so).


File Menu

Select All

Selects all CD entries in the list.  This can be used if you want to export the entire contents of the EasyCD2 database.

Export Selected Title(s)

Displays the Export Selected Entries dialog.  Please see the Export Selected Entries Dialog section for more information.

Backup Database

Copies the EasyCD2 database files to new backup files.  This can be used to store and archived copy of the database for later restoration in the event of a hard drive failure or a re-installation of Windows.

The files that are created by the backup operation are stored in the same directory that you installed EasyCD2 and are named:

EasyCD2_toc.bck

EasyCD2_dat.bck

Restore Database

Restores the EasyCD2 database from the files created by a previous backup operation.  To restore the database, make sure you have copied the backup files to the same directory that you installed EasyCD2 (if necessary) and then select the ‘Restore Database’ menu item.

Exit

Exits the CD Database Manager (you've got to be kidding).


Edit Menu

Properties

Displays the CD Properties dialog for the selected title.  Please see the EasyCD2 Properties Dialog section for more information.

Remove Selected Title(s)

Select this to remove the selected titles from the EasyCD2 database.  A confirmation dialog will be displayed before the entries are deleted.


View Menu

Refresh Title List

Reloads the list of titles in the EasyCD2 database.  This is useful if you are running EasyCD2 and the CD Database Manager at the same time.


Help Menu

Contents

Displays the main help for both EasyCD2 and the CD Database manager.

About CD Manager

Displays information on EasyCD2 and GHL Software.


Export Selected Entries
Export Selected Entries Dialog

The CD Database Manager program exports the CD entries to TWO comma delimited text files.  The file 'cdinfo.txt' contains the CD ID, CD length, artist, title, and extended title information.  The file 'trackinfo.txt' contains the CD ID, Track Length, track title, and extended track information.  An example of the output is shown below.

NOTE: This version replaces all line feeds in the extended titles (CD and tracks) with the ‘|’ character.  This is because of a limitation with some commercial database import features.  Future versions will include this as an option.

From 'cdinfo.txt':

Disc ID, Length, Artist, Title, Extended Title

"135A7B0",57:31,"","Alanis Morissette",""

"8828FB",37:42,"","Boston",""

"1041206",53:28,"","Candlebox",""

"BE3F7A",41:03,"","Deep Forest",""

"C4E529",44:06,"","Information Society",""

"D2647A",47:59,"","Pet Shop Boys, actually.",""

"14136C0",54:08,"","Phantom of the Opera, The (disc 1)",""

"747B0C",46:28,"","Phantom of the Opera, The (disc 2)",""

From 'trackinfo.txt':

Disc ID, Number, Length, Title, Extended Title

"135A7B0", 1,4:44,"All I really Want",""

"135A7B0", 2,4:09,"You Oughta Know",""

"135A7B0", 3,3:08,"Perfect",""

"135A7B0", 4,3:41,"Hand In My Pocket",""

"135A7B0", 5,2:56,"Right Through You",""

"135A7B0", 6,4:59,"Forgiven",""

"135A7B0", 7,3:59,"You Learn",""

"135A7B0", 8,4:27,"Head Over Feet",""

"135A7B0", 9,4:40,"Mary Jane",""

"135A7B0", 10,3:49,"Ironic",""

"135A7B0", 11,3:47,"Not the Doctor",""

"135A7B0", 12,4:53,"Wake Up",""

"135A7B0", 13,8:10,"You Oughta Know (radio version?)",""

"8828FB", 1,4:44,"More Than a Feeling",""

"8828FB", 2,5:02,"Peace of Mind",""

"8828FB", 3,7:47,"Foreplay/Long Time",""

"8828FB", 4,3:00,"Rock & Roll Band",""

"8828FB", 5,4:21,"Smokin'",""

"8828FB", 6,4:11,"Hitch a Ride",""

"8828FB", 7,3:48,"Something About You",""

"8828FB", 8,4:43,"Let Me Take You Home Tonight",""


Re-Distribution of EasyCD2

You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of EasyCD2 as you wish and provide them to anyone as long as: the EasyCD2 distribution is not modified in any way, and you do not charge any money for any of the copies of EasyCD2 you make.  If you wish to include EasyCD2 in any sort of distribution that will be sold commercially or otherwise, you must get written permission from GHL Software and Gregory Howard Leichner to do so.  A small royalty may be charged depending on the nature of the distribution.

All rights not expressly granted are reserved to GHL Software and Gregory Howard Leichner.


Disclaimer

THE INFORMATION, CODE AND EXECUTABLES PROVIDED ARE PROVIDED  AS IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,    INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO  EVENT SHALL GREGORY HOWARD LEICHNER AND OR GHL SOFTWARE BE  LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT,  INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, OR  SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF GREGORY HOWARD LEICHNER AND OR GHL SOFTWARE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.


CDDB and XMCD Copyrights © 1996, 1997 Ti Kan.

The Internet CDDBD servers Copyrights © 1996, 1997 Steve Scherf.

XMCD, and CDDBD are all licensed under the GNU General Public License for free software.  The use of and integration with CDDB by EasyCD2 has been expressly granted to GHL Software by Ti Kan.

For more information about XMCD or CDDB please go to:

http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/xmcd/

For more information on the Internet CDDBD servers, go to:

http://www.moonsoft.com/


A proxy host is used to filter and sometimes re-direct network traffic through a firewall.  You will have to ask your network administrator to create a proxy to one of the CDDB servers using TCP/IP port 888.  The port that EasyCD2 uses to get to the proxy host is configurable.


At the time of this writing the primary active CDDB servers were:

cddb.moonsoft.com - Fremont, CA USA

cddb.sonic.net - Santa Rosa, CA USA

cddb.tln.net - Goshen, IN USA

sunsite.unc.edu - Chapel Hill, NC USA

cddb.dartmouth.edu - Hanover, NH USA

cddb.schoneal.com - Austin, TX USA

cddb.celestial.com - Spokane, WA USA

cddb.ton.tut.fi - Helsinki, Finland

cddb.westel.hu - Budapest, Hungary

cddb.sai.msu.su - Moscow, Russia

cddb.ieo.nctu.edu.tw - Taipei, Taiwan

cddb.shu.ac.uk - London, UK


SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transport Protocol and is the type of server that is used to send outgoing e-mail.  It usually has a name like: smtp.yourcompany.com or mail.yourcompany.com.


Specifies that the CD Control Panel will be displayed each time it is EasyCD2 is started.  Disable this option to keep the CD Control Panel hidden even when EasyCD2 is started.


Specifies that the CD Control Panel will always remain on top of all other windows.


Specifies that the CD Control Panel will hide itself if there are no audio CD’s in any of the available CD-ROM drives.


Specifies that the CD Control Panel status area will display the current CD mode and time information.

For example: Playing (3) 3:23


Specifies that the CD Control Panel status area will display the title of the current track or, if the CD is stopped, it will display the CD artist and title.


If in ‘Random Play’ mode, this specifies that the next track will be selected from all the available CD’s.  Otherwise, random tracks are selected from the current CD.


If selected, EasyCD2 will automatically re-start play at the beginning of the current CD after all tracks have been played.


The time that introduction play mode will begin (in seconds) on each track.

For example: A start time of 143 seconds will start play at 2:23.


The time (in seconds) that introduction play mode will play each track.


Introduction play mode will automatically start play at the middle of each track for the specified length of time.


The CD Control Panel status area and the EasyCD2 system tray tip will display the elapsed time for the current track.  This will count up from 0:00 to the length of each track.


The CD Control Panel Status area and the EasyCD2 system tray tip will display the time remaining for the current track.  This will count down from the length of each track to 0:00.


The CD Control Panel Status area and the EasyCD2 system tray tip will display the total elapsed time for the current CD.  This will count up from 0:00 to the length of the entire CD.


The CD Control Panel Status area and the EasyCD2 system tray tip will display the total time remaining for the current CD.  This will count down from the length of the entire CD to 0:00.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will eject the current CD when all possible tracks have been played.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will exit when the last audio CD is ejected (no other audio CD’s are in any of the CD-ROM drives).


Specifies that EasyCD2 will stop playing the current CD before exiting.  Otherwise, if the current CD is playing and EasyCD2 is exited, the current CD will continue to play even though EasyCD2 is no longer running.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will display a small dialog that shows the interactive status of the CDDB query operation.  This dialog will automatically dismiss itself a few seconds after the query operation completes.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will automatically attempt to query a local copy of CDDB when a new audio CD is inserted into a CD-ROM drive.


Specifies the root directory of the local CDDB directory tree.  This is the full path of the directory where you unzipped the local CDDB file.

For example:  “C:\CDDB” (without the quotes)


Specifies that EasyCD2 will automatically attempt to query an Internet CDDB server when a new audio CD is inserted into a CD-ROM drive.

NOTE: EasyCD2 will check all local sources starting with the EasyCD2 database, the ‘cdplayer.ini’ file, and then the local copy of CDDB (if available) before attempting to query an Internet CDDB server.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will connect to a specified proxy host instead of connecting to a Internet CDDB server directly.  This is provided to allow users to get to a Internet CDDB server even if they are behind a firewall.  Contact your system administrator if you need help or more information on proxies and firewalls.


List of all active Internet CDDB servers.  Select the closest server to you for the fastest queries.  This list is automatically updated by EasyCD2 during query operations about once a week (or the next time you start a query if more than a week has passed).  This ensures that the Internet CDDB server list stays as up-to-date as possible.


The proxy host name is usually the name of the firewall running a proxy server.  You will need to have your system administrator setup an outgoing proxy to one of the Internet CDDB servers using port 888.


The port number that EasyCD2 will use to connect to the specified proxy host.  By default, all Internet CDDB Internet servers use port 888 for communication.  The proxy port number however, may be any port selected by your system administrator.


Your e-mail address.  This is necessary for the CDDB entry processor to send you a message if there was a problem with the new entry you submitted.  If you do not fill this in correctly, you will not be notified if the entry was not accepted for some reason.


Your SMTP server name.  This is the server used for outbound (sent) Internet mail.  It usually is named something like: smtp.yourcompany.com or mail.yourcompany.com.


The list of all CD-ROM drives in your system.  Select a drive that you want to enter CD properties for.  If you select a drive that does not contain an audio CD, the edit controls will be disabled.


The artist of the CD in the selected drive.  Only one line of information is allowed.  Use the Extended CD Information tab if you would like to enter additional text.


The title of the CD in the selected drive.  Only one line of information is allowed.  Use the Extended CD Information tab if you would like to enter additional text.


The track title list for the CD in the selected drive.  To edit a track title select (highlight) the desired track and edit it in the text box below.


The title for the selected track.  Press <Enter> to complete the track entry.

Pressing <Enter> will automatically select the next track for editing.  Only one line of information per track is allowed.  Use the Extended CD Information tab if you would like to enter additional text.


Clears all the CD information on the current tab (CD Information or Extended CD Information).


General title information for the CD in the selected drive.  This information can contain multiple lines.


General track information for the CD in the selected drive. Information for each track can contain multiple lines.  To select another track, use the ‘Previous Track’ and ‘Next Track’ buttons.


Track play list as on selected CD.  To add a track to the programmed list, double click the desired track or select the track and press the ‘Add’ button.


Programmed track play order.  To remove a track from the programmed list, double click the desired track or select the track and press the ‘Remove’ button.


The port that EasyCD2 will use to connect to the specified SMTP server.  This is usually port 25.  Ask your system administrator if you are not sure what the port number is for your SMTP server.


Specifies that EasyCD2 will display a small dialog that shows the interactive status of the CDDB submit operation.  This dialog will automatically dismiss itself a few seconds after the submit operation completes.


Length of the current CD.

Format: MM:SS


If checked, this entry was obtained from CDDB.  This could be the local CDDB (if available) or an Internet CDDB server.


If checked, this entry has been submitted to CDDB.