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- SmartTracker Videos 95 v3.0i Track, Organize and Catalog your Video Collection
- WINDOWS NOV96 COLLECT HOBBY MOVIE HOME VIDEO TV VCR CAMCORDER THEATER LABELS
- FILES: TKV9530I.ZIP
-
- Author: Michael D. Jones (Insight Software Solutions, Inc.)
- REGISTRATION: $25.00
- Category: Hobby
- E-Mail: issol@ix.netcom.com
-
- SmartTracker Videos 3.0
- --------------------------
- SmartTracker Videos contains a number of features designed to help you
- quickly organize and catalog your video collection or small library. Know
- your video collection value, where to locate your videos (including videos
- lent out to friends or patrons), print VHS cassette labels or review a
- multitude of statistical information about your library. The following
- notes will illustrate SmartTracker Videos' flexibility and variety of
- features designed to allow maximum customization and ease of use.
- Equipped with the Borland Database Engine, SmartTracker Videos is both
- fast and powerful.
-
- Video Viewer
- ----------------
- SmartTracker Videos features a scrollable Viewer, similar in appearance
- to a spreadsheet layout, which lists the database elements. Configure the
- viewer to your personal preference by clicking on NAVIGATE/VIEWER. Select
- only those database items that you want to see in the viewer. Specify the
- order in which they appear and designate the space to allocate to each
- element. Expand or shrink the number of items in the viewer by adjusting
- the font size.
-
- New features include the ability to edit data directly from the viewer,
- complete with pull down list boxes and check boxes in a 3-D format. Change
- colors in the viewer or add grid lines to suit personal tastes. All field
- names may be renamed to your liking and will be reflected in the Video
- Viewer as well as throughout the entire program. All data is now loaded
- into the viewer at once. Speed buttons are available to move you to the
- beginning or the end of the database.
-
- Video Input (Edit) Window
- -----------------------------
- Enter a multitude of information about your videos in a simple,
- straight-forward fashion. Check out the RECORDS/ADD menu item or
- the speed button. The input (edit) window is comprised of four tabs. In
- the first tab you may record the following information : Title, 6 Stars,
- Producer, Director, Writer, Year Released and Released By.
-
- The second tab asks for: Category, Rating, Personal Rating, Key Words,
- Description, Format, Laser Format, Content, Picture, Sound and Record
- Speed.
-
- The third tab has a check box to mark if the video has been checked out
- to someone. If so, there are fields to record the check out date and
- the person whe checked out the video. In addition, you may enter data
- for a Media Number, Start Counter, End Counter, Play Time and if the
- video has been viewed.
-
- The fourth tab allows entry for the List Price, Purchase Price, Purchase
- Date, Where Purchased, Oscar Awards, Oscar Nominations, Miscellaneous and
- 2 user defined fields.
-
- If you have similar items to input, save time by using the copy function
- (click on EDIT/COPY from the main window) to copy your original entry and
- then edit the few fields that need changing. The Clear Button allows you
- to clear the input fields and sets all values to the initial default values.
- By clicking EDIT/DELETE from the main window you may delete an entry.
-
- Several fields have drop down list boxes that contain a list of all previous
- entries. This makes repetitive entries a snap by just choosing a value. You
- can now browse the database while in the input window.
-
- The standard windows clipboard copy and paste functions are now available
- for all fields.
-
- Searches
- --------
- SmartTracker Videos contains powerful search facilities. The Search
- Window allows you to enter specific search criteria to locate a set of
- items. You may select to search on one field or multiple fields.
- Alternatively, you may choose to search for different items in the same
- field, such as looking for all movies rate G and PG. You can
- search for numeric and date values, locating items less than, greater
- than, less than "x" but greater than "y", or equal to the number or
- date entered. For example, you can readily find videos purchased after
- June 22, 1994 or find all videos with a purchase price of between $10
- and $25. All matching search items will be placed into the Video
- Viewer. Check out NAVIGATE/ SEARCH from the main menu.
-
- The Search and Replace function allows you to replace all occurrences of
- a field value with another value. Simply enter the data to search for
- and type in the replacement text. Optionally have the program confirm
- the replacement before it occurs. Click on TOOLS/ SEARCH & REPLACE from
- the main menu.
-
- SmartTracker Videos can assist you in locating records by searching on
- one field. Find this from the main menu, NAVIGATE/LOCATE. Choose a field,
- specify if the search value is case sensitive and an exact or partial match.
- Next, type in the value you are looking for. The first record found
- matching the criteria supplied will be highlighted in the Main Window
- Viewer. Click on "LOCATE NEXT" to find the next record matching the
- criteria given.
-
- Sorting
- -------
- You can choose the order in which your data is displayed and used throughout
- the program. You can choose any field to sort on as the primary sort.
- SmartTracker Videos now allows you to perform second, third and fourth
- level sorts. If an identical field exists in the primary sort, then the
- items are sorted by the secondary sort, and so on, through the fourth sort.
- Check out the OPTIONS/SORT ORDER menu item.
-
- Data will be displayed in the Main Window Viewer based on the sort order
- defined. Reports and Exporting Data also rely on the sort order.
-
- Backing Up Data
- ---------------
- SmartTracker Videos offers a built in mechanism for backing up files
- used by the program. Select FILE/BACK UP DATA from the menu list. You
- may choose to back up three different types of data. These are the actual
- data files, maintainable lists and user defined reports. Simply select
- what you would like to back up, then choose the drive and directory where
- the data is to be saved. Click the "Start Backup" button to begin the
- operation.
-
- Another alternative for backing up data files is to use the Export and
- Import commands. You may export your entire data and then import it.
- You may wish to do this if your database is so large that it cannot be
- backed up onto a floppy disk. An ASCII Delimited Export File will
- normally take considerably less space than the actual database file.
-
- Multiple Databases
- ------------------
- SmartTracker Videos will support virtually an unlimited number of
- databases, basically confined by your hard disk space. When restarting
- the program, the last database used is automatically loaded. The
- previous five databases open will be displayed at the bottom of the
- FILE menu command. The name of the currently opened database is
- always shown in the caption bar of the Main Window.
-
- Customization
- -------------
- Practically all aspects of the program can be configured and customized
- to the user's own preferences. All font styles (on screen and reports)
- can be changed. This allows support for foreign languages, as some
- languages require special fonts and characters. Field names may also
- be renamed to ones own preference or to provide foreign language
- equivalents. The screen colors are all completely changeable to one's
- own tastes.
-
- You may choose from three options for screen navigation, the use of
- speed buttons, lettered buttons or none at all. Other options include
- determining screen size, date and numeric formats, and making changes
- to the viewer and reports as described previously. Select OPTIONS from
- the Main Window.
-
- Networking
- ----------
- SmartTracker Videos will support usage over a network. Multiple users
- may have the same database open simultaneously and all may make updates to
- the database. If a change is made by one person, that change will show up
- for the other users after they have "Refreshed" the database. Refreshing
- is accomplished by clicking the REFRESH speed button, by scrolling the
- Main Window Viewer or by adding, editing or deleting records.
-
- Export/Import Functions
- -----------------------
- You may choose to export your data to an ASCII Delimited File or to a
- Dbase Compatible File. Select RECORDS/EXPORT from the menu items. You
- can rearrange the order in which the fields are exported for each record.
- Just highlight the field you want to change the order on and use the "UP"
- and "DOWN" buttons to move it anywhere in the list. The "DEFAULT" button
- will set the field order back to the program default order. If a search
- is currently active, you may optionally export just the data that is
- available as a result of the search. You may still export the entire
- database even if a search is currently active.
-
- Similarly you may import data from an ASCII Delimited File or a Dbase
- Compatible File. Check out RECORDS/IMPORT from the main menu. You can
- align the fields that are to be imported with the database fields of the
- program. Line up the fields however you like using the "UP" and "DOWN"
- buttons in the Field Alignment area. If you wish to ignore one of the
- import fields (not have it imported) then set the corresponding "USE"
- area to "NO". Setting this to "YES" means the field will be used for
- importing.
-
- Reports
- -------
- SmartTracker Videos comes with six pre-defined reports for immediate
- use. These layouts may be copied, modified, used or deleted. VHS
- cassette labels can also be printed from SmartTracker Videos. Select
- Spine or Face labels and simply enter the media numbers of the videos
- you want printed. All entries with the same media number will be
- combined onto the label. Look at NAVIGATE/REPORTS to see all reporting
- options.
-
- Design your own report layouts. Practically every aspect of the report
- process is user configurable. Select reports with widths of 90, 120 or
- 150 characters. You may choose different fonts for the report titles,
- column headers, report body and footnotes. Select any font that has been
- loaded onto your computer. Up to three report headers may be assigned
- to appear at the top of each page, to use for name, address, phone number
- or for whatever seems appropriate.
-
- You can select only those fields you would like to print on the report.
- Choose the width of the fields and the order in which the fields appear.
-
- The reports may be grouped into sections based on the primary sort order
- or on the primary and secondary sort order . Column Headers, horizontal
- and vertical lines are optional for some report layouts (those in a
- spreadsheet style). Set the top, bottom, and side margins to your own
- specifications. Also optionally include the current date at the bottom
- of each page.
-
- The reports may be viewed on screen before printing. Send the report to
- the printer or an ASCII text file to save on disk. Print one page, a range
- of pages or the entire report.
-
- System Requirements
- -------------------
- SmartTracker Videos is available in both 16 bit (Windows 3.1) and
- 32 bit (Windows 95/NT) versions. Requires a minium of 4MB Ram, 5MB of
- disk space and a VGA Monitor