Copyright: ACDP Help Copyright ® 1993, Chris Brown


Help Index
Audio Compact Disc Player Index

Commands

File Menu

Device Menu

Database Menu

Options Menu

Procedures

Adding a new CD

Browse

Editing

Programming Tracks

Searching

Misc Stuff

Definition of the Buttons

Files


The Index contains a list of all Help topics available for the ACDP program.  For information on how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu.


File Menu

Read Disc

Print Disc Summary

Exit


Device Menu

Play

Stop

Pause

Skip Forward

Skip Back

Eject


Database Menu

Browse

Search


Options Menu

Display Elapsed Time

Display Remaining Time

Multi-Application Database Engine

Single-Application Database Engine

Program Tracks

Printer Font


Button Definition Menu
Button Definitions

The following list of buttons are used in ACDP.  Click on the button to get a more detailed description of its function.

The Play Button

The Stop Button

The Pause Button

The Skip Forward Button

The Skip Back Button

The Eject Button

The Delete Button

The Edit Button

The Save Program Button

The Print Button

The Okay Button

The Cancel Button


Adding a new CD (Procedure)

Yes, this needs to be done before this program can do any good!

See also:

  Read Disc


Database Browse (Procedure)
Browsing the Database (Procedure)


Editing (Procedure)

The fields "Tracks", "Length", "DiskID", and "dbDate" are filled in by the program.  All other fields can be edited.

Explination of the fields:

Artist: This is the artist of the disc.

Title:  This is the title of the disc.

Style: This is the style of the music on the disc.  For best results, use consistent but short definitions.

Tracks:  The number of tracks on the disc.  This information is read from the disc.

Length:  The total playing time of the disc.  This information is read from the disc, and may or may not be different from what is recorded on the disc's box.

DiscID:  This is a number that ACDP creates from information contrained on the disc.  It is used to store the disc in the database and is displayed for information purposes only.

dbDate:  This is the date that the disc was entered into the database.

Track Information List Box:  These are the actual tracks contained on the disc.  It is broken down as:

"Track Number - Track Time - Track Title"

Note that the time listed in Track Time probably won't agree with what is listed on the CD's box.

Song:  This is where you edit the track titles.  Selecting a track in the Track Information List Box, fills this field with the track title.  Changes made here are then transfered back into the List Box by pressing the Update button.

The Update button is used for transfering the information in the song edit box, into the song list box.  You can also press Alt-U.  After the information is transfered, the next track in the list box is selected, and that tracks' information is transfered back into the song edit box.

The OK button is enabled when a change has been made.  Pressing this button saves the changes into the database.

Pressing the Cancel button returns you to the previous screen without any changes being stored to the database.

The Delete button deletes the disc being edited, not the highlighted song.  It will ask for confirmation before deleting the disc.  Note:  You cannot delete the disc if it is currently in the drive.

The Print button prints the information on the disc being edited.


Track Programming (Procedure)

The Track Programming option is avaiable only if there is a disc in the drive, and it is not currently playing.  Track Programming is accomplished by  simply moving the listed songs from the top box to the bottom box.  This is accomplished by either double-clicking on the song, or pressing the Add button.  To remove songs from the program, double-click on the song in the bottom list box, or press the Delete button.

When selecting a song to add to the program, that song will be inserted after the selection bar in the bottom box.  This makes it possible to modify existing programs without having to redo the entire thing.

As tracks get transfered into the program box, the tracks in the top box will change color.  This is a visual indication that the track has been previously placed into the program box.  Of course, you can select it again if you so desire.

The All button transfers all songs from the top box, to the bottom box.

The Clear button clears all songs from the bottom box.

The Shuffle button randomly picks songs out of the top box, and places them into the bottom box.  Pressing this button will clear any program that was created after asking for confirmation.

The Save button records the program into the database.  If you have a program saved, ACDP will ask if you want it loaded after the Program Tracks option is selected from the menu.

Selecting the OK button with tracks in the bottom box results in ACDP being put into programmed play.  Likewise, with no tracks in the bottom box, selecting OK puts ACDP back into normal play.  This mode is indicated on the upper left corner of the main screen.


Searching the Database (Procedure)


Database Entry (Command)
Reading a Disc into the database (Command)

This command instructs the program to re-read the CD.  After this is accomplished, it takes you to the Database Entry Screen.  If the disc had been previously loaded, it is actually an edit rather than an entry.


Printing a Disc Summary
Printing a Disc Summary (Command)

This command prints out the entire listing of the disc database.  Note that track titles are not included in this listing.  You are given the option to order the listing by grouping together all of the Music Styles.  Selecting "Yes" produces a listing sorted by Style first, then Artist followed by Title.  Otherwise, the listing is sorted by Artist, then Title.

If you choose to print the listing by Style, it is important that you have entered the Styles consistently, or the output may not be as expected.  For example, the styles "Country" and "Country Rock" would produce different groupings.  Spelling is also important with styles.  "Country" and "County" would also group the CD's separately.

You are also presented with the chance to setup or change printers.  Currently, the options for Copies and Print Range are either disabled or ignored.

This command produces the same output as the Print Button on the Database Browse Screen.


Exiting ACDP
Exiting ACDP (Command)

Selecting Exit from the menu, or Close from the System Menu, or double clicking on the System Menu all accomplish the same thing:  It closes ACDP.  It also closes the databases, free's the instance of the Paradox Engine (so another program can use it if you have it in single user mode) and closes this help file, if it's open.

If you have the program playing tracks in programmed mode, and the disc is still playing, ACDP will give you a notice about exiting while in programmed mode, and you will be given the opportunity to abort exiting.  This occurs because CD-ROMS cannot really be programmed to play multiple tracks out of order; they need a program to control that.  ACDP provides that control, and if stopped while it's controling the programming, the drive will stop after it is finished playing the current song.


The Play Button

 Starts playing the disc at the currently selected track.  It will start at that track, and continue on to the end of the disc.  In the programmed mode, it will only start playing from the first track of the program regardless of the selected track.

If playing has been paused, pressing play would restart the currently selected track in normal play.  In programmed mode, pressing play would restart the entire program.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Stop Button

 Stops playing the disc.  This applies to both Programmed and Normal play modes.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Pause Button

 Pauses playing on the currently selected song.  While playing is paused, pressing pause again resumes play from the paused position.  Although most drives do not support a true pause, ACDP's pause will work correctly on all drives.

See Also:

  Button Definitions

  The Play Button


The Skip Forward Button

 Skips to the next track and starts playing it from the beginning.  In programmed mode, pressing this button skips to the next programmed track.  In both modes, if the last track is already playing, pressing this button simply starts playing the last track over again.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Skip Back Button

 Skips to the previous track and starts playing it from the beginning.  In programmed mode, pressing this button skips to the previous programmed track.  In both modes, if the first track is already playing, pressing this button simply starts playing the first track over again.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Eject Button

 Ejects the disc from the drive.  Eject is not supported on all drives and pressing this button on those type of drives, simply stops playing the CD and shows an error message.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Delete Button
The Trash (Delete) Button

 Depressed =

This button is available on the browse and edit screens.  On the browse screen, it deletes the currently selected disc.  On the edit screen, it deletes the disc being edited.  In both cases, the disc cannot be deleted if it is loaded in the drive.  The button will be disabled.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Edit Button

 Depressed =

When browsing or looking at the search results, this allows you to edit the currently selected disc.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Save Program Button

This button saves the program that you have set up.  It becomes the default program that is loaded each time the Program Tracks item is selected from the menu.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Print Button

 Depressed =

While in Database Browse, this button will print a complete listing of all disc's loaded in the database.  While Editing, this button prints out the current disc.

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Okay Button

 Generally, this button accepts any changes made and closes the current screen returning you to the previous screen.  It's also used as a matter of acknowledgment, and in a "Yes-No" question, it would me "Yes."

See Also:

  Button Definitions


The Cancel Button

 Generally, this button closes the current screen and returns you to the previous screen discarding any changes made.  Used to indicate disagreement, in a "Yes-No" question, this button would me "No."

See Also:

  Button Definitions


Database Browse (Command)
Browsing the Database (Command)

Selecting this menu option brings up a list box filled with all of the Disc's.  It is sorted by Artist, followed by the Disc Title.

Options on this screen are Print, Delete, and Edit.  See the Browse Procedure for more information.


Database Search (Command)
Searching the Database (Command)

This is the command to start the database search.  Two methods of searching on three different fields are available.  The search results display the number of records found, with the option to Edit one of them.  See the Search Procedure for more information.


Elapsed Time (Command)
Display Elapsed Time (Command)

This command instructs the program to display the Track and Disc time that has elapsed.

If operating in programmed mode, it will display the Track and Program time that has elapsed.


Remaining Time (Command)
Display Remaining Time (Command)

This command instructs the program to display the Track and Disc time that is remaining.

If operating in programmed mode, it will display the Track and Program time remaining.


Multi-Application Database Engine (Command)

Select this option if you have more than one program using the Borland Paradox Database Engine.  If this item is selected, SHARE.EXE must be loaded prior to loading Windows.  Changing selections takes effect the next time the program is started.  This item can be edited manually in the ACDP.INI file located in your Windows directory.  Under the [Database] catagory, item Multiuser, 0 = Single-Application, 1 = Multi-Application.


Single-Application Database Engine (Command)

Select this option if you don't have any other programs using the Borland Paradox Database Engine and you do not have a requirement to have SHARE.EXE loaded.  Changing selections takes effect the next time the program is started.  This item can be edited manually in the ACDP.INI file located in your Windows directory.  Under the [Database] catagory, item Multiuser, 0 = Single-Application, 1 = Multi-Application.


Track Programming (Command)

This menu item takes you to the Track Programming screen.  This option is grayed out when there is no disc loaded in the drive, or the disc that is loaded is currently being played.  The only time this option is available, is when a disc is loaded in the drive, and it is stopped.


Printer Fonts (Command)
Printer Font (Command)

You have a choice of the type of font that ACDP uses to produce it's listings.  Selecting this option brings up the screen used to select the font you want.  The font types are limited to True Type Fonts.  Also, the Font Style, and the Font Size options are ignored and are on the screen for you to better view the font of your choice.

Based on printer resolution and paper size, ACDP automatically sizes the font to fill the printed page, and sets a different style for headings and so on.

If this option has never been used, the default font is Arial.


ACDP Files

Audio Compact Disc Player uses the following files:

ACDP.EXE (of course):  This is the main program.

ACDP.HLP:  The Help File (this file) for ACDP.

PXENGWIN.DLL:  This is the Borland Paradox Engine for Windows.  All of the calls made to the database actually go through this library.

BWCC.DLL:  The Borland Windows Custom Control Library.  This is the library that makes it easier to produce fancier screens and buttons.

The following files are created by ACDP if they cannot be located:

ACDP.INI:  Stores the options that have been selected.  This file will be located in the Windows Directory.

DB1.DB:  Main Database.  This hold the disc information.

DB1.PX:  The index into the main database.

DB2.DB:  The Track Information database.  This is where all the songs are stored.

DB2.PX:  Index into the Track Information database.

DB3.DB:  Track Programming database.

DB3.PX:  Index into the Track Programming database.

Note that all of the databases (DB?.DB) are linked together.  Although they can be edited with other programs, you should not.  If you end up doing it anyway, do not delete any records or modify the DiscID field.  Unpredictable results will happen if this is done.