The Datafile PD-CD 4/DATAFILE_PDCD4.iso/utilities/utilst/vbase2/Manual

Text File | 1996-09-09 | 22.3 KB | 626 lines

    CONTENTS



     1. Introduction.......................................................1
     2. Getting Started....................................................2
     3. Adding A New Tape..................................................3
     4. Adding A New Recording.............................................4
     5. Saving Files.......................................................4
     6. Editing An Existing Recording......................................4
     7. Making A Selection.................................................5
     8. Exporting Data To Other Applications...............................5
     9. Deleting Recordings................................................5
    10. Deleting Tapes.....................................................6
    11. Customisation......................................................6
    12. Registration.......................................................6
    13. Availability Of Source Code........................................7
    14. Conversion of VideoBase Version 1 Files............................7
    15. Acknowledgements...................................................7


















































    VideoBase 2
    ________________________________________________________________________


    1. Introduction
    ———————————————
    Videobase is an application to keep track of recordings and free spaces
    on a collection of video tapes. It is designed to make maintaining the
    database as easy as possible and to avoid the possibility of
    inappropriate inputs.

    It uses a filetype of &344 by default at the moment which is NOT Acorn
    approved. Now that the design of the file format is stable I will be
    applying for an official filetype number.

    VideoBase is not 'Public Domain' or 'FreeWare', it is 'ShareWare'. This
    is explained in in next few paragraphs.

    Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before
    buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you
    are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some
    request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum
    trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right
    to continue using the software to an updated program with printed
    manual.

    Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the
    copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as
    stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like
    commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In
    both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference
    is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the
    right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or
    to a specific group. For example, some authors require written
    permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware.

    Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should
    find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's
    commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs
    easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is
    low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back
    guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.

    Users of VideoBase must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "VideoBase
    is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or
    implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of
    merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no
    liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from
    the use of VideoBase."

    VideoBase is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the
    user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but
    please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The
    essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer
    users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide
    incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you
    find this program useful and find that you are using VideoBase and
    continue to use VideoBase after a reasonable trial period, you must




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    make a registration payment of £8.00 (or the equivalent in local
    currency) to the author. The £8.00 registration fee will license one
    copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this
    software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used
    by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer
    location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being
    used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book
    cannot be read by two different persons at the same time.

    VideoBase may be distributed to anyone, via any medium but the
    registration file 'User' inside the application (click SHIFT-SELECT
    over VideoBase in a directory display to open it) must be removed
    before distribution.

    You are encouraged to pass a copy of VideoBase along to your friends
    for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they
    find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of
    the latest version of the VideoBase application. Please see the later
    section on registration for details on how to register.

    2. Getting Started
    ——————————————————
    In this manual the mouse buttons will be referred to in the standard
    Acorn manner, i.e SELECT is the leftmost button, MENU the middle one
    and ADJUST the rightmost one. 'Type CTRL-A' means hold down the key
    marked 'Ctrl' and press the 'A' key at the same time.

    VideoBase does not need to be installed on a hard disk to work but it
    can be copied onto one if required. The media can be write protected -
    or in a read only archive - but will then be unable to save its
    configuration files. The application is loaded in the usual way (by
    double clicking on its icon in a directory display) and will appear on
    the right hand side of the icon bar.

    If the program is run from floppy disc you should note that the floppy
    containing !VideoBase will need to remain in the drive while the
    application is running. This is because some of the data is not read in
    when the program starts up but rather when it is needed. This is to
    reduce the time needed to start the program. If enough people think
    this is a problem than it could be changed.

    The program requires a total of 272K of RAM to run, claiming extra RAM
    as needed for storage of the data.

    It has not been tested on Risc OS 2 although it should run (it will
    probably be desirable to edit the template file to tidy up the windows
    though). It has been tested on an A4 portable running Risc OS 3.1 and
    on a Risc PC running Risc OS 3.5.

    If you have an unregistered copy of VideoBase a banner window will open
    advising you of this fact. Once your copy has been registered you will
    be sent a small file to disable the banner.

    It is a good idea at this point to run Acorn's Help application (or




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    preferably  BubbleHelp available from David Pilling) as VideoBase
    supports interactive help and this will enable you to master the
    application more quickly.

    Click MENU on the iconbar icon and choose 'Options...'. Ensure that if
    your video recorder has a 'Real time' tape counter (i.e. it displays in
    hours and minutes) that the 'Real time' option is on. If your recorder
    uses an arbitrary number as a tape counter then turn it off. Save the
    options at this point if possible (if you have run VideoBase from a CD
    or a read only archive then it won't be).

    Clicking SELECT on the icon bar icon will open the main window. Most of
    the icons will be greyed out at this stage as the database is empty. If
    a demo file has been supplied with your copy it can be loaded by double
    clicking SELECT on it or dragging it to the main window or the icon bar
    icon.

    The main window always shows the entire contents of a tape. To display
    different tapes in the database click SELECT or ADJUST on the up/down
    arrows next to the 'Tape id' field on the button bar. You can also jump
    directly to a particular tape by clicking SELECT or MENU on the 'Tape
    id' field itself which will call up a menu of the tape ids in the
    database - providing more than one tape has been added of course.

    The colours used in the main window display can be altered. See the
    later section on customisation.

    3. Adding A New Tape
    ————————————————————
    With the main window open either click SELECT on the icon second from
    the left on the button bar, type CTRL-A or choose 'Add tape' from the
    main window menu obtained by pressing MENU over the main window or the
    button bar.

    The dialogue box for adding a new tape will open which allows the
    inputting of the length of the tape and the tape id number. Each tape
    in the database must have a unique id number which can be chosen by
    clicking on the up and down icons next to the field containing the tape
    id. Tape ids that are already in use will be skipped over when adding a
    new tape.

    The length of the new tape can be selected from the menu icon next to
    the tape length field. A value can be selected from the menu, or the
    last item on the menu is writable and will accept any value.

    The length of the initial free space record created on the tape depends
    on the tape length selected and on the short/long play setting (the
    SP/LP icons). I suggest that a tape is designated as either short play
    or long play and that you don't mix the two types of recording on the
    same tape.

    It is possible to alter the menus that show the preset values for tape
    lengths and tape makes. See the section on customisation for details.





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    4. Adding A New Recording
    —————————————————————————
    If the free space that you wish to use for the recording is visible in
    the main window, just click SHIFT-SELECT on it to open the editing
    dialogue box. Should a suitable free space not be visible, click SELECT
    on the fourth button from the left on the button bar, press CTRL-N or
    select 'New record...' from the menu obtained by pressing MENU over the
    main window or button bar.

    The 'Find space' dialogue box will open displaying all the available
    free spaces in the database. The SP/LP setting can be altered, as can
    the desired length of the space. Clicking SELECT on a gap in the
    scrolling window and then clicking on the 'Add recording' icon will
    open the 'Editing free space record' dialogue box where the details of
    the recording can be entered.

    The speed of the recording or the free space (i.e. short or long play)
    can be altered by clicking directly on the SP/LP field. If you are
    converting a long play recording to a short play one then the length
    will be halved and subsequent recordings on the same tape will have
    their start times adjusted if VideoBase is in 'Real time' mode.
    Converting a short play record to long play has the opposite effect.

    If you do this be sure to actually record something with this SP/LP
    setting on the tape as otherwise you'll be out of step with the start
    times held by VideoBase.

    The menus for titles, subjects and channels can be altered, see the
    later section on customisation.

    5. Saving Files
    ———————————————
    Click SELECT on the leftmost icon on the button bar, press F3 or choose
    'Save data' from the menu obtained by pressing MENU over the main
    window or button bar to open the save file dialogue box. This works in
    the usual Risc OS manner, either type a name into the filename icon or
    drag the file icon to a directory display to save the file.

    Closing the main window or shutting down the computer while unsaved
    data is being edited will open a confirmation dialogue box to prevent
    the accidental loss of data.

    6. Editing An Existing Recording
    ————————————————————————————————
    Clicking SHIFT-SELECT or double clicking SELECT over a recording in the
    main window will open an editing dialogue box which enables the title,
    subject, length of recording etc to be altered. Using a double click to
    edit a record will also select it, cancelling any previous selection.
    This a consequence of the way that Risc OS reports mouse clicks - if
    this is a problem use SHIFT-SELECT instead.

    If the length of an existing recording is decreased a free space record
    will be created between the end of the recording and the start of the
    next one on the same tape. If the length is increased and no free space




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    exists at the end of it confirmation will be requested before
    shortening the following recording by changing its start counter.

    When VideoBase has been set up to use 'Real time' tape counters
    altering the length of a recording will also alter the end time.

    If the length of the last recording on a tape is increased beyond the
    current end of the tape then the tape length will be increased. This is
    deliberate as tapes are usually five or six minutes (in short play)
    longer than they should be. It is also possible to decrease the length
    of a tape by editing the last free space record on it, but note that
    this does not change the stored length of the tape displayed on the
    button bar.

    7. Making A Selection
    —————————————————————
    Clicking SELECT over a recording in the main window will select it (!)
    and using ADJUST will add an entry to the selection. In addition the
    fifth icon from the left on the icon bar or pressing CTRL-S will open a
    dialogue box that allows selections to be made by searching titles,
    subjects and other attributes.

    Drag selection is not supported in this version of VideoBase, all
    selections require a mouse click.

    Once a selection has been made the recordings can be exported to other
    applications, deleted or have various operations performed on them such
    as setting the selection as 'seen', unlocking/locking the selection etc.

    8. Exporting Data To Other Applications
    ———————————————————————————————————————
    Clicking SELECT on the sixth icon from the left on the button bar,
    pressing CTRL-R or choosing 'Reports...' from the main window menu will
    open a dialogue box. If a selection has been made you have the choice
    of exporting just the selection or a range of tapes from the database.
    Drag either the text file icon or the CSV icon to another application
    or to a directory display to export the data. A CSV (comma separated
    value) file can be imported into applications like PipeDream or other
    databases.

    Clicking SELECT on the 'Send to editor' icon will export the data
    direct to the default text editor. This is a quick way of performing a
    search operation on the database.

    9. Deleting Recordings
    ——————————————————————
    A selection of recordings can be deleted by pressing CTRL-X or by
    choosing 'Selection -> Delete' from the main window menu. If the
    selection contains locked records you will be asked if you want to
    delete them anyway. CTRL-SELECT will delete records that are not
    selected, again if the recording is locked confirmation will be asked
    for.

    Free spaces cannot be deleted but as they are created they will be




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    merged into one contiguous block providing they have the same SP/LP
    setting. Clicking CTRL-SELECT over a free space record will move it to
    after the next recording if possible. This is so that if two recordings
    are made in one session and the first turns out to be shorter than
    expected the start time of the second recording can easily be altered.

    This is, however, only likely to be of use when the video recorder is
    controlled by signals sent by the broadcaster as it normally is here in
    Germany (the VPS system). When this is not the case you will have
    programmed the recorder to record for a certain duration so the start
    and end times will be correct anyway.

    10. Deleting Tapes
    ——————————————————
    The third icon from the left on the button bar opens a dialogue box to
    enable a whole tape to be deleted from the database. Initially the
    'tape id' field shows the currently displayed tape id, but other tapes
    can be selected from the menu obtained by clicking SELECT or MENU on
    the icon next to it. If another tape is chosen the main window displays
    the contents of this tape instead.

    Should the tape contain recordings that are locked against accidental
    deletion you will be informed and given an opportunity to abandon the
    operation.

    11. Customisation
    —————————————————
    The menus for 'Tape makes', 'Tape lengths', 'Tape formats', 'Titles',
    'Subjects' and 'Channels' can be edited to include suitable defaults.

    Open the 'Options' dialogue box from the menu on iconbar icon or the
    icon on the button bar. Buttons are provided in this dialogue box to
    allow the editing of each of the menu definition files. The menu files
    are as follows:

    Titles       - Titles of recordings that you make repeatedly
    Subjects     - Categories for recordings, i.e. Sport, Music etc
    Channels     - Channel that the recording was made from
    Tape formats - Format of the tape, i.e. VHS, SVHS etc
    Tape lengths - Length of tapes, i.e. E180, E240 etc
    Tape makes   - Make of tape, i.e. Sony etc

    Any of these menu files can be edited as required, but they must be
    present.

    The colours used for the main window display can be set by choosing
    'Options...' from the icon bar menu. This dialogue box also allows you
    to set the main window position and whether the tape counter is 'Real
    time' i.e. it displays in hours and minutes or whether it is just an
    arbitary number.

    12. Registration
    ————————————————
    Registration costs £8.00p or the equivalent in local currency. Cheques




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    drawn on an English bank are preferred, however. Registering your copy
    supports further development and updates will be provided on request to
    registered users. A blank disc is not required when requesting updates
    - it's only around 140K and I've got hundreds of 800K discs lying
    around.

    To register your copy send the fee to:

    Paul Hobbs
    Rheinpfalzstrasse 2
    85049 Ingolstadt
    Germany

    EMail   : [e-mail]
    Fax     : [phone]
    Tel     : [phone]
    Web site: http://www.angel.co.uk/phobbs/vbase2.htm (updates
              available here)

    13. Availability Of Source Code
    ———————————————————————————————
    VideoBase is not distributed with its source code for two reasons.
    Firstly it is over 450K and secondly it would defeat the ShareWare
    banner mechanism which is the only protection used by the application.

    The source code may well be of interest to others using my EvntShell
    system and parts of it will be made available on request.

    14. Conversion of VideoBase Version 1 Files
    ———————————————————————————————————————————
    Should there be anybody out there still using my first stab at this
    program the old style files can be converted by dropping one of the
    three files (WVCALDATA, WVFORMAT or WVDATA) onto the main window. All
    three files must be in the same directory and will not be altered by
    the conversion process.

    As the conversion can take some time the first record on each converted
    tape will be displayed in the main window to reassure you that the
    application really is converting your file.

    Once the file has been converted the entire contents of the lowest
    numbered tape id will be displayed and the file can be saved again as a
    single version 2 file.

    15. Acknowledgements
    ————————————————————
    It might seem strange to acknowledge myself at this point, but here
    goes.

    This program has been written using the routines supplied with the
    EvntShell library which is copyright Paul Hobbs. More details about
    EvntShell are available from the author, or from the EvntShell web site
    at http://www.angel.co.uk/phobbs.





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    EvntShell is a starting point for developing your own applications that
    run under the RISC-OS wimp system. The EvntShell library contains code
    to handle most of the 'Events' (i.e. opening a menu, closing a window
    etc) that can occur, and all your application has to do is inform the
    library what it should do when certain events occur. For example a menu
    can be attached to a window or to an icon - the library will open the
    menu for you (in the correct position!) when the <MENU> button on the
    mouse is used.

    The memory management routines used by the EvntShell library are
    copyright Risc User and are used with permission. Thanks to Guttorm Vik
    for StrongEd and StrongHlp, Dick Alstein for TemplEd and BLink and
    David Holden of APDL whose campaign against inadequate manuals supplied
    with ShareWare/PD software has resulted in this effort. It may not be
    perfect, but it's better than you would have got without David pricking
    my conscience...









































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