Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : VCRCOVER.ZIP
Filename : VCRCOVER.DOC

 
Output of file : VCRCOVER.DOC contained in archive : VCRCOVER.ZIP


V C R C O V E R (Version 1.0)


VCRCOVER will print a "three fold" insert jacket cover for VHS type

tapes. The cover slips between the VHS storage box and the tape inside

it. The cover contains the following information lines:

Fold 1: Tape Information. Owner's name, tape number, date and

time. All data fields for this fold are 35 characters

long.

Fold 2: Title Lines. Five title lines are provided, each is 70

characters long.

Fold 3: Comment Lines. Fifteen comment lines are provided, each

is 70 characters long.



I wrote VCRCOVER to help me handle certain problems I was having

with my ever growing and changing tape collection. Any DBMS or list

processor was capable of organizing and printing lists (or labels) for

the tapes and titles. However, I wanted a way of "labeling" my tapes

without the use of "gummy" labels, and without having to run around

trying to find my VCR listing to determine what titles were on which

tapes. Since I have had cable TV installed I find that I am recording

many movies and other attractions during any month. This means tape

titles usually change too often for me to use adhesive labels and/or a

marking pen. In general, I will avoid labeling anything with adhesive

stickers, all the way to writing programs (so I'm alittle weird, we all

have our quirks!). Also due to the cable TV taping ability, I find

myself lending out many tapes. VCRCOVER and the tape numbering scheme

I use helps in ensuring that the tapes end up back in their correct

boxes, and more importantly, back to the correct owner.....ME!!

While lending tapes out, many of my friends, most of whom own or have

access to PC's, started asking for a copy of the VCRCOVER program.








V C R C O V E R (Version 1.0)


They also asked if I minded if they gave copies of it to other people.

Of course I don't! If others find something I wrote to be useful, so

much the better. However, I tend not to put programs on the public

domain BBS's unless I know a few other people have already found it

useful. In this case that appears to have happened. So, here it is.




VCRCOVER has the following features:

* All data entry lines are "buffered", and warn you with a "beep"
if you try to type outside of their parameters.

* All data entry lines are underscored to allow viewing the length
of each line.

* All data entry lines are alphanumeric. Any characters, including
extended ASCII characters can be entered. However, if you choose
to use "special graphics characters", you will need to load some
form of a graphics print driver prior to running VCRCOVER.

* The above feature will probably make this obvious, however, data
entered is "case sensitive".

* Date and Time will be defaulted to the current system date and
time. However, they can be changed by over-typing them. Since
these two fields are 35 characters long, it is also possible to
use these two fields for other descriptive purposes other than
date and time.

* Upon redisplaying of the Tape Information lines (when printing
multiple tape covers), the Tape Owner's Name, Date and Time are
displayed from the previous entry. To change them, type over
them, to leave them as is, press the key.

* The program is recursive. Entering data and printing covers
continues until you decide to terminate the program.

* Backout Ability. Prior to printing the current cover, you have
the option of chosing not to print the cover. Whether you print
the current cover or not, you are always given the option to
continue the program or exit.

* Printing is done at 6 lines per inch at a standard 10 pitch.
This allows the program to be used by both dot matrix and daisy
wheel printers. If you are going to load a special font or print
wheel to suit your printing preference, remember that changing
the pitch and/or lines per inch will cause a change in the
dimensions of the tape cover. However, someone has told me that
by changing the print settings they are able to create covers
that fit their BETA tapes.







V C R C O V E R (Version 1.0)


* Each tape cover prints on a separate 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper.
At the end of printing each cover, a forms feed is issued to
advance the paper to the top of the next page. This is very
helpful when printing (and cutting) multiple covers. (I usually
print multiple copies at work where I can stack them together and
trim them all at once using the office paper cutter.)




VCRCOVER is most useful to those who use some form of tape

numbering scheme. I use the following method. On each tape and its

corresponding storage box I place a sticker (yes....I actually use an

adhesive sticker!) which contains the "tape number", which for me

consists of the owner's intials (corresponding to the Owner's Name

field on the tape cover), followed by an incremental three digit number

(i.e. JJD-005 would represent the fifth tape belonging to John J. Doe's

VCR tape library). Simple, but it works, especially when the people

you loan tapes to stack them together with their tapes and other

people's borrowed tapes.




That's about it. Fire this puppy up and see if you can find any

uses for it. I decided to place a program version number on this copy

(Version 1.0) at the last moment. I have had the people who are using

this version ask if other options and/or features which they have

suggested are able to be incorporated. Some suggestions are very

good (full screen editing vs. line mode, adding a file manager to it,

the ability to read a text file containing the data vs. single record

data entry, ect., ect.). As stated earlier, I specifically wrote this

program for myself and was willing to trade off certain bells and

whistles for a shorter development time. However, time permitting,

updated versions of this program might start to appear.









  3 Responses to “Category : Databases and related files
Archive   : VCRCOVER.ZIP
Filename : VCRCOVER.DOC

  1. Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!

  2. This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.

  3. But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/