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Songanizer v2.0 Written by John Schumacher Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, Candlelight Software All Rights Reserved Songanizer is a computerized database that allows you to organize your music collection easily. Songanizer utilizes full mouse support, drop down menus, fast database access, easy data entry modes, report generators, and custom user configuration to give the user a powerful music database without the confusion and complexity of other less flexible programs. Songanizer takes the concept of computerizing your record collection further than any other database available. Many, if not all, of the other databases allow you to enter your collection an album at a time, where each album entered in the database is a single entity containing all of the information you entered, including the songs. Songanizer is not like those databases at all! The songs and albums that you enter into Songanizer are maintained in separate files. This gives you the flexibility to enter information about songs and albums, without restricting yourself to the limits of a single database file. Songanizer cross-references your songs and albums when it needs to automatically - you do not need to view pages of information that does not interest you. Why do you need to see album information when you just want to get detail on a particular song? With Songanizer, you can: Enter an album once, even if you have the same album on two or more media types. Add, view, or edit album and song information quickly and easily. Enter only the data you wish to enter. You can enter songs into the database without having to enter any album information at all, or enter only album information, and ignore song entry altogether. Generate song and album reports to be viewed on the screen, saved to disk, or printed. Using Songanizer is easy: Full mouse support! All options can be accessed via mouse, as well as keyboard. Hot keys are available for quick access to important entry screens. Smart data entry modes, including history buttons containing previously entered information, and fast data entry mode screens. You never have to enter information over and over again! Full context-sensitive help always available! User configuration can be saved so that your preferences are preserved for future sessions. Installing Songanizer If you are upgrading from a previous version of Songanizer, please refer to "Upgrading From A Previous Version", located below this section. First Time Installation 1. Create a directory for Songanizer. For the remainder of this document, we will refer to the directory SNGANIZR as the location of the Songanizer files. 2. Change to the SNGANIZR directory and copy all the extracted files into this directory. CD\ Get to the root of the drive MD SNGANIZR Create the Songanizer directory CD SNGANIZR Change to the Songanizer directory COPY [path] Copy Songanizer's files from [path] You are now ready to run Songanizer. Type SNGANIZR to start the program. You will then notice the opening screen, indicating all went well. Songanizer checks for the existence of data files before it will run completely. If Songanizer cannot find data files, you will be prompted to create them. If you choose "Yes", Songanizer will create an empty Song and Album database. If you receive this message and you already have databases created, make sure that the data files are located in the same directory as the program files, and that you are running the program from the SNGANIZR directory. Upgrading From A Previous Version 1. Before you upgrade to version 2.0, back up your Songanizer directory!! This includes the program files, data files, etc.. 2. Copy all the extracted files into SNGANIZR. 3. If you are a registered owner of Songanizer 1.x, you can at this time run the program called CONVERT. This program will convert your 1.x database files to version 2.0. Answer "Y" to start the conversion. CONVERT will read both your song and album databases and will create new databases compatible with this version. CONVERT will also generate SNGANIZR.LOG, which will contain information messages describing any information that could not be converted. Make sure you have adequate disk space available (at least the total space of your current SONG.* and ALBUM.* database files), and do not stop the conversion process once you start! Unregistered users will have to delete all the SONG.* and ALBUM.* databases manually before they can run version 2.0. 4. Once the data has been converted, view the error log!! If there were no problems, SNGANIZR.LOG will be a zero byte file. 5. Run Songanizer by typing SNGANIZR, and choose the "File Information" option under the "Program" menu item to verify your data files. Songanizer and Windows Songanizer is a DOS program, but can run under Windows. A sample Program Information File (.PIF) and icon file (.ICO) are included to to get you started running under Windows quickly. These files can be used to create a new program item (see your Windows manual for this information). Using Songanizer Menu Options The following pages describe the available options within Songanizer. Although this manual explains the functions in greater detail, on-line help is always available by pressing the <F1> key. On-line help is context-sensitive and will explain the possible options available at any given time. Program Click on the "Program" menu bar item, or press <Ctrl-P> to view the options available under the Program selection. This section is used to obtain information about Songanizer, your databases, and also to exit the program. About Songanizer This option will display information about Songanizer: version number, author, and copyright notice. Press the "OK" button, or press <ESC> on the keyboard to remove this information. File Information Choose this option to display the number of data items in both the Song and the Album databases. Press the "OK" button, or press <ESC> on the keyboard to remove this information. DOS Shell This option will allow you to exit Songanizer temporarily and go to DOS. This is very useful if you need to escape for a moment, and wish to return to the program without having to stop the program completely. Type "EXIT" to return to Songanizer. You will return to your session exactly as you were when you exited. Exit Program This option will end Songanizer. To quickly end, you can also press the <F10> key on the keyboard. Please do not just turn off the computer to end!! You run the risk of damaging your database files if you do not exit Songanizer correctly. Exiting Songanizer will not automatically save any information that is still remaining in any of the entry screens. Edit The Edit option is used to select the entry screens to add, delete, edit, and search for songs and albums. To access this area, click on the "Edit" menu bar item or press <Ctrl-E>. This will bring up the following menu items. Song Entry Select "Song Entry" from the list, or press the <F2> key for fast access. If the Song Entry screen is already on the screen, it will be moved forward, otherwise it will pop up. Either way, this screen will become the topmost screen. The Song Entry screen is a movable, sizable input area containing 3 input lines. Each input line can accept up to 50 characters per line, and will accept any alphanumeric character. Next to each input line is a history button that will display the most recent additions when pressed. This is useful for when you have to enter the same input more than once. To cycle through each input line, press the <Tab> key. This entry screen will not close until you either press the "Close" button, or press the <Esc> key. To enter a song, enter information for the Song Name, Artist Name, and Album Name. When finished, press the "Save" button. If all goes well (and it should), the song information will be saved to the song database, and then the information you entered will be cleared so that you can enter another song. There are certain instances where your information will not be saved. The two more frequent reasons include a possible file corruption (in which you can choose Rebuild to correct this problem), or that you have entered information that is already in the song database. Songanizer first checks to see if the Song/Album combination already exists in the song database (Only 1 instance of a song appears on an album) before placing the new song in the database. Also, Songanizer will not allow you to enter a song if you leave one of the three input lines blank. Album Entry Choosing "Album Entry" will allow you to enter information about an album. It is also possible to enter a series of songs based on that album by utilizing the "FastAdd" option (described later). To view this screen choose "Album Entry" under the "Edit" menu bar item, or press <F4> for quick access. This screen will become the topmost screen, even if already displayed on the desktop. To enter an album into the album database, the Album Name and the Artist Name input lines must have data entered. All other input areas can be left blank. If you choose to enter a date, the input must be either numeric or a "/". Any other character will display an error message when it is time to save the information. Both the Album Name and Artist Name input lines can accept up to 50 alphanumeric characters. The Record Label input line can accept up to 25 alphanumeric characters. The Category input line can accept up to 15 alphanumeric characters. To enter or remove a media type, you can click on the name of the media, or highlight the name and press the space bar. This will toggle an "X" in the box to its left. Using the Media option, you do not have to enter an album more than once. Just select all the media types that the album you own is on. The Comments field is a group of 3 input lines of 40 characters each. To move between the lines, press the <Tab> key, or use the mouse to select the line to enter. Remember, you do not have to enter any data other than the Album Name and Artist Name, and you can always edit this information to add or change the information at a later time. All input lines have a corresponding history button located to the right. Pressing these buttons will display the most recent entries. This is useful if you need to enter similar information on a line. Press the "Save" button to save your information to the album database. The information will not be saved if either the Album Name or Artist Name is blank, or if an Album/Artist combination already exists in the album database. To remove this entry screen, press the "Close" button. Find Song The "Find Song" screen is where you tell Songanizer to search the song database for information. To access this screen, select "Find Song" under the "Edit" menu bar item, or press <F3> on the keyboard for quick access. The "Find Song" screen looks somewhat like the "Song Entry" screen, but it operates a little differently. Songanizer can search the song database by either the Song Name, Artist Name, or Album Name. You do not have to enter the entire title name, but the more you enter in an input line, the more precise the search. For example, entering "A" for a Song Name will start the searching with songs that begin with "A". Entering "Another" will start with songs starting with "Another". Note that if you enter information on more than one input line, Songanizer will use the first non-blank line it finds for the search. Also, all searches are case insensitive, so you can search the database without knowing where capitalizations are located. Do not enter "The" for any searches. Since Songanizer automatically moves the word "The" to the end of the title for indexing, entering "The" will find a title beginning with the three letters T, H, and E. So, for example, entering "The Doors" for an artist name will not match any record in the database, "Doors" would. Located to the right of each input line is a history button which will display the most recent entries in both this and the Song Entry screens, if pressed. This will eliminate the need to type the same information over and over again. If Songanizer finds a matching song, the "Record Found" screen will be displayed. This screen is discussed below. Record Found If a search is successful, the matching song will be displayed in a window similar to the "Song Entry" screen, but contains many more option buttons, which are described below. The "Remove" button will delete the displayed song from the song database. Once deleted, the next song in the search is displayed. The "Edit" button allows you to update the displayed song. To make changes to the song, just move the cursor with the mouse or <Tab> key, and change the text. Press "Edit" to save the new information. The "Detail" button will display the "Album Information" screen, which will allow you to view, edit, or delete the album information. The "Album Information" screen is discussed later in this manual. The "Prev" and "Next" buttons allow you to move backward and forward in the search. This will display a new song in the "Found Song" screen. "Cancel" will close the window, and end the search function. Find Album The "Find Album" entry screen is similar to the "Find Song" screen. This is where you enter criteria for Songanizer to search the album database. To view this screen, select "Find Album" under the "Edit" menu bar item, or press the <F5> key. Songanizer can search the album database by either the Album Name or Artist Name. You do not have to enter the entire title name, but the more you enter in an input line, the more precise the search. For example, entering "A" for an Album Name will start the searching with albums that begin with "A". Entering "Another" will start with albums starting with "Another". Note that if you enter information on more than one input line, Songanizer will use the first non-blank line it finds for the search. Also, all searches are case insensitive, so you can search the database without knowing where capitalizations are located. Do not enter "The" for any searches. Since Songanizer automatically moves any titles with "The" to the end of the title for indexing, entering "The" will find a title beginning with the three letters T, H, and E. So, for example, entering "The Doors" for an artist name will not match any record in the database, "Doors" would. Located to the right of each input line is a history button which will display the most recent entries, if pressed. This will eliminate the need to type the same information over and over again. If Songanizer finds a matching song, the "Album Information" screen will be displayed. This screen is discussed below. Album Information The "Album Information" screen is used for two separate functions. The first is in searching the album database via the "Find Album" screen, and the second is when you press the "Detail" button in the "Found Song" screen. The "Album Information" screen has the same functionality in both instances, but what is originally displayed in the data fields depends on the following. If you are searching for an album using the "Find Album" screen, the album that Songanizer finds will be displayed in the "Album Information" screen. If you are requesting album information via the "Detail" button in the "Found Song" screen, the matching album information will be displayed if it exists. It is possible that a corresponding album does not exist. In this case, just the Album Name and Artist Name fields of the "Album Information" screen will be filled. This information is taken from the current song displayed in the "Found Song" screen. It is at this time that you can add the song if it does not exist, or edit any current information. You will notice that the "Album Information" screen looks similar to the "Album Entry" screen, but with more options. The options are listed below. The "Edit" button will save the current album information if you made any changes to the displayed record, or if this is the first time you are adding it. Songanizer will not add this album if a duplicate exists in the album database file. The "Tracks" button will display an alphabetical list of songs in the song database that have been entered with the same album name as the one you are viewing. To add more songs to this album easily, you can press the "FastAdd" button. This will display a screen where you can enter a series of songs that are related to this album. The "FastAdd" option is discussed in detail later in this manual. To remove this album from the database, select the "Delete" button. You will be asked to confirm the deletion request. Once an album is deleted, it is no longer available in the album database, but any songs that you have entered with this album name will remain in the song database. Use the "Prev" and "Next" buttons to move backwards and forwards through the album database. Select "Close" to end this entry screen. You will return to the "Song Found" screen if you pressed the "Detail" button to view this screen. FastAdd FastAdd is only available through the "Album Entry" or "Album Detail" screens; there is no menu selection for this screen. Use "FastAdd" to enter a series of songs that pertain to the currently displayed album. Press "FastAdd" for either of the above mentioned screens, and a one line input screen will be displayed. You will notice that both the Album Name and Artist Name are displayed in the entry screen. This information is taken from the currently viewed album. For every song you enter here, the Album Name and Artist Name will automatically be entered into the song database as well. To use FastAdd, enter the name of the song and press <Return>. The song database will be updated to include this new song, and the FastAdd screen will then await another song entry. To stop song entry, press the "Close" button, or press the <Esc> key. Reports The Report section of Songanizer will allow you to display, print, or save a variety of reports based on the information in the song and album databases. The available reports are: Song List Report This report will list each song, in alphabetical order, as well as the name of the album the song is located on, and performing artist. Album List Report This report will list each album, in alphabetical order, and the artist who released the album. Album Detail Report This report will list each album, in alphabetical order, along with complete information that was entered in the "Album Entry" screen. Also, any songs belonging to that album that were entered in the "Song Entry" screens (and "FastAdd"), will be displayed, in alphabetical order. To generate a report, select the "Report" menu bar option, and then the corresponding report name with the mouse, or report number with the keyboard. After selecting the report that you wish to generate, you will have to select where you wish to send this report to. The "Output Device" control box is used to select this option. Select an output option and press the "OK" button, or press "Cancel" to abort the report function. To view the report on the screen, select "Screen". Once the report has generated, it will be displayed on the screen. Each screen holds roughly 200 lines of information, and the viewing area can be moved, resized, and scrolled to view different areas of the report. If a report is longer than 200 lines, you can load other sections of the report by pressing the "+" key to move forward one section, or "-" to move back one section. Songanizer will generate a beep if there are no more sections to view in a particular direction. To cancel the report, click on the close icon in the upper left corner, or press the <Esc> key. Select "Printer" to print your report. If you experience trouble printing, make sure you have configured your printer via the "Printer Setup" option in Songanizer. Songanizer will print a report to the defined printer of your choice. If you are using a laser printer, Songanizer might print certain detailed reports in landscape mode to take advantage of the extra page width. To save a report for later external use, select the "File" option. You will be shown an information window where you can save a report under a name you choose. It is not necessary to enter an extension, since Songanizer uses ".RPT" for all report extensions. Options Songanizer allows you to configure the way you use the program. These options can be set for each session individually, or you can save them for future sessions. The following paragraphs describe the options available. Rebuild Databases This option is used when you feel that the song and/or album databases have become corrupt while running Songanizer, or to increase the speed of database searches after you have deleted many items in a database. Every time Songanizer is started, it will checks the integrity of the song and album database files. If Songanizer feels that one or both databases have become corrupted, it will rebuild the databases automatically. You can choose this option to rebuild a database at any time, if you feel that your databases have become corrupt during the execution of Songanizer. Another reason to rebuild the databases is after you have removed a large number of songs and albums from their respective database files. When you delete a song or album, the area in the file is marked as open. This area can be used again by Songanizer when you add another song or album. In the meantime, the gap remains, and any searches you perform on the files take the gaps into account. To free up the gaps, you can rebuild the databases. This will result in new database files containing nothing but active songs and albums in a compact file, decreasing the time to search for information. This is only needed after a numerous amount of deletions. It is a good idea to rebuild the databases every once in a while, depending on their use, since this will speed up searches and will verify your data's integrity. During the time the rebuild is in process, you will not be allows to enter any commands. This entire process can take several minutes, depending on your computing power and the size of your databases. When the rebuild is complete, you will be notified of the success or failure. Note: Rebuilding the databases requires extra disk space to hold the temporary files. Make sure you have an adequate amount before continuing, otherwise Songanizer will not be able to perform this function successfully. Change Screen Size This option toggles between the normal 25 line screen mode and the 50 line mode. The use of 50 line mode can be useful for those who like many windows open at once, since there is more screen space available. If you decide to change from 50 line mode back to 25 line mode, make sure that any entry screens you have open are above the 25th line otherwise the screen will appear to be lost forever! It is really there, but there is no way to access any screen under the 25th line of normal mode, you would have to revert to 50 line mode to get them. Printer Setup Select "Printer Setup" from the "Options" menu to configure your printer. The "Printer Information" window will display with some default values if you have never configured your printer, or with your previously saved configuration if you have entered information and saved it previously. The "Device" area is where you tell Songanizer what computer port you printer is connected to. Only one device can be selected, and as a default, Songanizer chooses LPT1 for first time configuration, since it is the most popular printer location. If you are using a laser printer, select the "Laser" option. If selected, you will notice an "X" next to the selection. Since laser printers and dot matrix printers use different codes to generate output, it is important that you set the type of printer correctly. If your printer is compatible with either an Epson (for dot matrix printers) or an Hewlett Packard (HP, for laser printers), you can press the "OK" button at this point to set the configuration. If your printer is not compatible, you must choose the "Setup" function. The "Setup" function is provided for those who do not have compatible printers. Selecting this option will reveal a "Printer Codes" window. The window will display a number of code names, and their corresponding codes. As a default, the codes shown are standard laser or dot matrix codes. To change a code, select the line you wish to enter, and type in the new code. Consult your printer manual for the correct codes. When finished, press the "OK" button to save, or the "Cancel" button to abort. Note: If you previously entered a printer code, and you wish to set it back to the original code, select the input line, and delete the code. A blank line tells Songanizer to use the default codes. Viewing this "Printer Codes" window again (close it with "OK" then press "Setup" again) will display the default code. Both the printer configuration and the printer codes will not be set until you press the "OK" button in the "Printer Information" screen. Modify Colors Songanizer allows you to change the colors of the background, menu items, and entry screens. Choosing this option will display the "Colors" entry screen. Under the "Group" area, you will notice a list of group items that can be changed. To the right under the "Item" area is a list of items in the group that can be changed. Select a group item and a corresponding item. The current color will be shown by a dot in both the "Foreground" and "Background" color selections. Use the mouse to click on the color that you wish to change this item to. An example of how the selection will look is shown under the "Background" box. Pressing "Cancel" will abort the color change. If you press "OK", the colors will instantly take effect. You may have to experiment to get a combination that is usable for you. Save Options Every option you select under the "Options" menu bar item (except "Rebuild Databases") will take effect the instant you press the "OK" button in the corresponding entry screen, but it is not permanent. To make these changes available the next time you run Songanizer, you must select "Save Options". This will save all the current settings to disk. Songanizer reads this configuration file when the program is first run, and will configure itself accordingly. Contacting the Author If, for any reason, you need to contact the author of Songanizer, he can be reached at the following locations: Remote Host BBS (201) 539-4544 300/1200/2400bd (201) 539-4546 14.4Kbd v.32bis Leave mail for "Sysop" or check out the /Snganizr support conference CompuServe Send mail to 70346,1010 RelayNet Network Route messages to ->940 I can be found in the C, Pascal, and OOP conferences GEnie Send mail to JSCHUMACHER US Mail Candlelight Software P.O. Box 33 Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927 We love to get feedback on Songanizer! If you have any comments, suggestions, or need any help, feel free to get in touch. Even if you just want to shoot the breeze! Version History Version 1.0 05/01/92 Songanizer released as Shareware. Version 1.01 05/07/92 Slight modification to documentation. Songanizer program not affected. Version 1.1 06/08/92 Corrected bug that affects some users of QEMM. Added partial name searches. Minor tweaks to input routines. Version 2.0 03/01/93 Complete rewrite! Faster database access, better user interface routines, user configurations, etc.