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Text File | 1996-09-19 | 19.0 KB | 639 lines

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ / EasyCD, Version 2.20 \ \ (C) Copyright 1996, Greg Leichner, All rights reserved. / -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- September 19, 1996 User's Guide Contents --------------------- 1 - Introduction 2 - The EasyCD2 Tray Icon 2.1 - Left Mouse Button 2.2 - Right Mouse Button 3 - The EasyCD2 Controls Dialog 3.1 - Status Display Area 3.2 - Play Button 3.3 - Pause Button 3.4 - Stop Button 3.5 - Next Track Button 3.6 - Previous Track Button 3.7 - Eject Button 4 - The EasyCD2 Main Popup Menu 4.1 - Play 4.2 - Pause 4.3 - Stop 4.4 - Eject 4.5 - Next Track 4.6 - Previous Track 4.7 - Select Track 4.8 - Random Order 4.9 - Introduction Play 4.10 - Repeat All 4.11 - Repeat Current 4.12 - Show Controls 4.13 - Properties 4.14 - About EasyCD2 4.15 - Exit EasyCD2 5 - The EasyCD2 Properties Dialog 5.1 - CD Information 5.1.1 - General 5.1.2 - Tracks 5.1.3 - Clear All Button 5.2 - Programming 5.3 - cddb Query 5.3.1 - Local Database 5.3.2 - Internet Database Server 5.3.2.1 - Firewall Proxy Host Configuration 5.3.2.2 - cddb Server List 5.3.2.3 - "Fuzzy" Search Results 5.4 - cddb Submit 5.4.1 - cddb Submission Guidelines 5.5 - Options 5.5.1 - CD Control Panel 5.5.2 - Play 5.5.3 - Introduction Play 5.5.4 - Time Display 5.5.5 - Eject And Exit 6 - How to Contact GHL Software 7 - Disclaimer 1 - Introduction ------------ This file contains the instructions for using EasyCD2, how to configure EasyCD2 to use the cddb local database and Internet Servers, and 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 registry for the CD information. This is where EasyCD2 stores information when it exits. Second, it looks in the Windows 'cdplayer' applicationÆs '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 registry. 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. 2 - The EasyCD2 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. 2.1 - 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 2.2 - Right Mouse Button Displays the EasyCD main popup menu. The menu options are described in a section below. 3 - The EasyCD2 Controls Dialog --------------------------- 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 selection and access to the EasyCD2 properties dialog. 3.1 - 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, a menu is displayed that allows track selection and the ability to display the properties dialog. 3.2 - Play Button Always plays the CD from the start of the first track. 3.3- Pause Button Pauses the CD at the current position or continues play from a previously paused position. 3.4 - Stop Button Stops the CD. Resets the 'played' status for all tracks. 3.5 - Next Track Button 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. If the Next track button is held down, the CD is then fast forwarded until the button is released. 3.6 - Previous Track Button Starts play at the previous sequential track. If the previous track button is held down, the CD is then fast rewound until the button is released. 3.7 - Eject Button Ejects the CD from the CD player. This also exits EasyCD2. 3.8 - Volume Up Button If a volume mixer was found on your system, this button increases the volume. 3.9 - Volume Down Button If a volume mixer was found on your system, this button decreases the volume. 3.10 - Volume Display The volume display 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. 4 - The EasyCD2 Main Popup Menu --------------------------- 4.1 - Play Always plays the CD from the start of the first track. 4.2 - Pause Pauses the CD at the current position or continues play from a previously paused position. 4.3 - Stop Stops the CD. Resets the 'played' status for all tracks. 4.4 - Eject Ejects the CD from the CD player. This also exits EasyCD2. 4.5 - Next Track 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. 4.6 - Previous Track Starts play at the previous sequential track. 4.7 - 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 dimmed out (not selectable). 4.8 - Random Order Toggles EasyCD2 between playing the tracks in a sequential order and a random order. 4.9 - 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. 4.10 - 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 or exit. 4.11 - Repeat Current Toggles between repeating the current track continuously or normal play mode. 4.12 - Show Controls Toggles the display of the CD player control panel that allows you to control almost all functions of EasyCD2 in very small window. The control panel is described in a previous section. 4.13 - Properties Displays the EasyCD2 properties dialog. All EasyCD2 options are selectable from this dialog. This dialog is described in detail in a section below. 4.14 - About EasyCD Displays registration and GHL Software information for EasyCD. 4.15 - Exit EasyCD2 Exits EasyCD2 (really, that's unbelievable). 5 - The EasyCD2 Properties Dialog ----------------------------- The properties dialog is the central window for all EasyCD2 options and CD information. It is composed of five tabbed sheets: 'CD Information' - Used to enter information about the CD currently playing. This includes, artist, title and track names. 'Programming' - Used to generate a custom track play order. 'cddb Query' - Contains all configuration options for querying the cddb database. 'cddb Submit' - Allows you to submit a new entry to the cddb database by e-mail using an SMTP server. 'Options' - All general EasyCD2 configuration options including play modes, eject modes, etc. Detailed instructions for each sheet are listed below. 5.1 - CD Information -------------- This information is stored by EasyCD2 for each CD. When you play a CD, EasyCD2 searches for the information for that particular CD and will display it if it is found. 5.1.1 - General You can enter the CD artist name and the title of the CD in this section. 5.1.2 - 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. The list contents will update as you type the title. To go to the next track, just press the 'Enter' key when done typing the information for the current track. The next track will automatically be selected. 5.1.3 - Clear All Button Select the 'Clear All' button and confirm the clear operation in the popup message to clear all CD information. 5.2 - 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. A 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 clear the entire custom play order list, press the 'Clear' button and then confirm the clear operation in the popup message. A track may be removed from the custom play order by double clicking it in the 'Programmed Order' list. 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. 5.3 - 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 CD Information database, cddb, and the application, xmcd are copyrighted by Ti Kan and are 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. Both cddb and xmcd are freely downloadable from the Internet. For more information please see: http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/xmcd/ 5.3.1 - Local Database To download a copy of the Windows compatible database, you can FTP it from: 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 uses about 10Mbytes when unzipped, the zip file is about 3Mbytes. Unzip the file to a new directory (you can name it anything you want, but I suggest "cddb"). Please use the "preserve directory" option with whatever unzip tool you use. cddb is composed of category sub-directories. 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 un-zipped the database file in the 'Database Root Directory', for example: "c:\cddb". Test the local database configuration by pressing the 'Query cddb Now' button. 5.3.2 - Internet Database Server EasyCD2 can use the Internet to query a cddb server for the information about each 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 CD. 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 list. Please select the server that is closest to you for fastest response. Test the cddb Internet server configuration by pressing the 'Query cddb Now' button. NOTE: If you have configured EasyCD2 to query the local cddb database, it will search there first and if not found then EasyCD2 will query the specified Internet cddb server. 5.3.2.1 - Firewall Proxy Host Configuration 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. 5.3.2.2 - cddb Server List cddb.celestial.com - Mercer Island, WA, USA cddb.sonic.net - Santa Rosa, CA, USA smurfy.tcimet.net - East Lansing, MI, USA cddb.schoneal.com - Austin, TX, USA cddb.dartmouth.edu - Hanover, NH, USA sunsite.unc.edu - Chapel Hill, NC, USA cddb.shu.ac.uk - United Kingdom cddb.ton.tut.fi - Finland cddb.westel.hu - Hungary cddb.sai.msu.su - Moscow, Russia cddb.ieo.nctu.edu.tw - Taiwan cddb.dentistry.adelaide.edu.au - Australia 5.3.2.2 - "Fuzzy" Search Results The remote cddb server will return a "fuzzy" search result for some CD's. This can result when your particular CD's pressing is not found on the remote cddb server, but one or more other pressings of the same title are. In this case EasyCD2 will display the Fuzzy Search Results dialog. If the CD you are currently playing 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. 5.4 - cddb Submit ----------- 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. To submit an entry, 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 the server, ask your network administrator. 5.4.1 - cddb Submission Guidelines Please use the following guidelines for any entries you wish to submit to the cddb database: Submit entries only after you verify they are not already in the database. Do not submit entries that are not completely filled-out (i.e., empty track titles, etc.). Capitalize the first letter of each word only. Do not use upper case for whole words unless it's absolutely necessary. Verify that all spelling is correct. Submit the entry using the appropriate category. 5.5 - Options ------- 5.5.1 - CD Control Panel To automatically display the CD control panel, select the 'Show at Startup' option. To have the control panel always be on top of all other windows, select the 'Always Visible' option. 5.5.2 - Play To play tracks in random order (sometimes called 'shuffle mode') select the 'Random Track Order' option. To repeat play of all tracks once they have already been played, select the 'Repeat All Tracks' option. 5.5.3 - 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. 5.5.4 - Time Display You can choose between four different options for the time display on the CD Control Panel and the tray icon tip. These are: Track time elapsed, Track time remaining, Disc time elapsed, and Disc time remaining. 5.5.5 - Eject And Exit If you would like EasyCD2 to automatically eject the current CD when it is done playing all tracks, select the 'Eject at End of Play' option. This has no effect if the 'Repeat All' option is also selected. To eject the CD when you exit EasyCD2 from the main popup menu, select the 'Eject When Exiting EasyCD' option. To have EasyCD2 stop the CD player when it exits, select the 'Stop CD Player When Exiting EasyCD' option. This is the default behavior. 6 - How to Contact GHL Software --------------------------- E-Mail leichner@ix.netcom.com WWW http://www.transdyn.com/~gleichner/ghlsoft.html Snail-Mail Greg Leichner, GHL Software 1205A Vicente Dr. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA 7 - 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.