Film & Video Guide brings the complete text of Halliwell’s Film & Video Guide to your palmtop, in a full hypertext environment that allows searching, browsing and printing.

Over 20,000 movies are covered in detail. In addition to the facts about each film, original publicity tags and press reviews are included where appropriate, plus a star rating.

A note-taking facility allows you to annotate the Film & Video Guide with your own comments on each film.

The main Film & Video Guide views allow full hypertext browsing - in other words, you can tap on just about anything and will either be given more information or taken to the most appropriate screen.

For example, tapping on an actor name will take you to his or her entry in the List of Names; likewise tapping on a film title will bring up that entry in the List of Movies.

Film & Video Guide has very advanced searching capabilities and a few minutes spent browsing round the tabbed search dialogue will pay dividends.

Most of the usual interface features are supported, including multiple file support, 4 zoom levels and a switchable toolbar. Happy browsing!

The first time Film & Video Guide is opened you’ll be presented with details of the first movie in the database. To proceed directly to the movie you’re interested in start typing the movie’s title. You should omit the words "The", "A" (or "Le" etc. in other languages) where they occur at the start of the title.

Note that, by default, Film & Video Guide presents each movie with full details. To make the Movie view easier to browse, tap on the title bar. This has the effect of ‘toggling’ the movie details off so that only a one-line summary is shown. Tapping again on the title bar will toggle the detail back on. The same effect is achieved by ESCaping or by using the command "Toggle Detail".

While scrolling through an entry for a movie you’ll note that one of the sections is a list of the main cast, in approximate order of importance. Each name is underlined and is a link to further information. Tapping on a name (or using the arrow keys to navigate) will highlight it and tapping again (or pressing ENTER) will switch Film & Video Guide into its Names view.

The list of names is sorted alphabetically and contains movie credits for over 36,000 actors, actresses, directors and writers. After switching from the Movie view, the person you had highlighted will have his or her entry shown in full, with surrounding names simply listed in order. Each movie credited to them will be listed, by default in alphabetical order.

Film & Video Guide totals the number of movies in the database which this person has either starred in, directed or written, along with any awards.

You’ll notice that the movies listed underneath an entry in the Names view are all underlined. As before, these are links back to the corresponding entries in the Movie view. Highlighting and tapping a link will switch the program back to Movie view and move to the entry details for that movie.

In this way it is easy to browse from movie to actor and back to movie ad infinitum. Casual browsing of Film & Video Guide in this way can lead you to some interesting movies and facts!

A feature you’ll find useful as you browse around is Film & Video Guide’s built-in ‘history’ function. Each time you link through to another Movie or Name, your action is recorded in a special history file. At any time you can use the command "History Back" (or Control-Left arrow) to retrace your steps back or "History Forward" (or Control-Right arrow) to redo your steps forward again.

At any point in Film & Video Guide, you can switch from Movie view to Names view and back again with the "Switch view" toolbar button or command. The Tab key also has the same effect.

Although it’s easy enough to go straight to a particular movie using the Quick-find feature of Film & Video Guide, there will be many occasions when you’re not sure of the title you want. Perhaps you know part of the title, or just the director’s name? Or perhaps you simply want to know which French movies are available on Laserdisc?

Film & Video Guide offers two modes of searching:

• "Find" keeps you in the full Movie view, letting you skip from one match to the next using the "Find next" command.
• "Select" extracts the same number of matches but restricts the Movie view to only those entries, and the selection will need to be cleared at some point to get back to the full list of movies.

To locate an entry for a particular movie or type of movie, you can use the "Find" function. Either tap on the toolbar button of the same name or use the "Find" command or short-cut key shown.

In order to get the most out of Film & Video Guide, it is very important to spend a moment understanding how to use the special search dialogue.

Notice that the dialogue has several ‘tabs’ at the top. Each of these brings up a different page of search options. The tabs simply provide a way of fitting 20 or so search criteria into a single dialogue!

It is also very important to realise that all the search criteria are combined when searching. For example, you might be looking for movies by "Tom Cruise" (a modern day actor) but if you’ve left the "Black and white" option ticked from a previous search you won’t get any matches. Whatever type of search you are hoping to do, it is a good idea to tap on each of the tabs in the search dialogue and double-check that no criteria are specified which you’d rather were left blank.

Note that moving between criteria is best done with the pen.

Star rating – specify a range of star ratings. For example, "0-1" would match all movies with no star rating or at most one star. Or "4-4" would match only movies rated at 4 stars.

Year – specify a range of years. For example, "1988-1989" would only match movies made in this two year period.

Award – specify an award or nomination. Highlight the criteria and tap (or press Tab) to see the possible choices.

Director – specify a particular director. For example, choosing "Spielberg, Steven" will just match movies directed by him. Highlight the criteria and tap (or press Tab) to get a full listing of all directors listed in Film & Video Guide. Note that you can speed up navigation of this large list of names by typing the first few letters of the surname of the director you’re interested in.

Actor - specify a particular actor or actress. For example, choosing "Gibson, Mel" will just match movies he starred in. Highlight the criteria and tap (or press Tab) to get a full listing of all names. Note that you can speed up navigation by typing the first few letters of the surname you’re interested in.

Writer - specify a particular writer.

Country of origin – specify the country a movie was made in. Highlight the criteria and tap (or press Tab) to get a full listing of all possible choices.

This section is formatted as a series of ‘check-boxes’, each of which can be ticked as required. For example, if you are only looking for movies on Laserdisc, tap on the appropriate box. A tick mark confirms which criteria have been set.

This section allows text searching of "Title", "Alternative title", "Synopsis", "Assessment", "Credits" and "Critics". Whatever you enter in any of these fields will be combined into the current search.

For example, typing "rain" into the "Title" box will find movies with "rain" anywhere in the title. Note that the search is not case sensitive.

Each criteria operates in the same way. So to find a movie with "rain" in the title that has been critiqued by Judith Crist, leave the text in the "Title" box and

Note attached – specify this by ‘checking’ the box and only movies with a note attached will be matched.

Note contains – enter some text into this box to only match movies with a note containing this text. The search is not case-sensitive.

Movie already seen & Movie not yet seen – checking either of these (mutually exclusive) boxes will only match movies you have or haven’t marked as seen.

Duration – specify the movie’s length in minutes. For example, "120-150" would only match movies lasting between 120 and 150 minutes.

A lot of detail has been covered in the sections above, but we make no apologies for showing you how to get the very most out of Film & Video Guide’s searching facilities.

Let’s consider a real example. You wish to search for a film but you can’t remember its title. You can only remember that it had Jamie Lee Curtis in it and that it came out around 1992.

1. Go into "Find"
2. Tap in the "Year" box. Enter "1990-1994" (just to be on the safe side).
3. Move to the "Actor" box and tap (or press Tab), then enter "Curtis".
4. Navigate down the list to "Curtis, Jamie Lee" and tap on her name.
5. Tap on "OK" (or press Enter) to start searching

"Blue Steel" is the first movie found, but if this isn’t the one you wanted use the "Find next" command to jump to the next matching movie, "Forever Young". And so on, until you get to the movie required.

Before carrying out a new search, you may want to clear the criteria you set for the previous one. Although you could go into each tab and manually reset each one, there’s also a "Clear all" button on the right-hand side of the dialogue which does the same thing much more efficiently.

"Select" works to group together all matching movies from a search into a new, smaller movie list that you can then explore further. This is often much more useful than a simple "Find". For example, you could reduce the 20,000 entry Movie view to just those in which "Tom Cruise" has starred. Or perhaps you could ask Film & Video Guide to just list movies made in "Tunisia" (there are 5).

To use this function, either tap on the "Select movies" toolbar button or use the "Select" command.

We explained how to use Film & Video Guide’s search dialogue in the previous section ("Finding a movie"). The only difference in "Select" mode is that the movie entries matching your search criteria are actually filtered from the main list and presented on their own.

The filtering process can take a few seconds to complete and Film & Video Guide will keep you informed with a progress bar. Once selected, the new group of movies can be browsed in the normal way.

If the group of selections is too large, you can easily refine the selection process to reduce the number of matches. Simply tap on "Select movies" again and make sure that the option "Use current selection" is ticked. The original criteria you set will still be there, but you’ll now have the chance to add others.

For example, you might decide to browse through Australian movies. Putting "Australia" in the "Country of origin" box yields a group of 191 entries.

The application will search all 191 movies already found, looking for a match with the new, more restrictive criteria and comes up with one entry, "Walkabout".

Which, of course, is the movie you remembered.

Each of the 20,000 entries in Film & Video Guide is displayed in a similar format, though some movies have more information available than others. This is particularly true where a movie has done very well (or very badly!)

Note that in addition to items which are underlined (i.e. hyperlinks to other entries), you can also highlight and tap any word or symbol in Film & Video Guide to get an on-screen reminder of its significance.

For each movie title, the Halliwell’s Film & Video Guide suggests a star rating (shown beside the title) to help you sort out which to track down and which to avoid:

Four stars indicate that a film is outstanding in many ways, a milestone in cinema history, remarkable for acting, directing, writing, photography or some other aspect of technique.

Three stars indicate a very high standard of professional excellence or great historical interest. Or, if you like, three strong reasons for admiring it!

Two stars indicate a good level of competence and a generally entertaining film.

One star indicates that a film is not very satisfactory as a whole. Perhaps it could be a failed giant or a second feature with a few interesting ideas among the dross.

No stars indicate a totally routine production or worse. Such films may be watchable but are at least equally missable.

If you’ve marked a movie as seen, Film & Video Guide will print a big tick () next to the title.

These are quotes or hook phrases used on the original publicity posters. For example "Waterworld" had the publicity tag "Beyond The Horizon Lies A Secret To A New Beginning". The tag is shown in a grey font following the main title.

If applicable, this indicates that the movie is suitable for family viewing.

The country (or countries) where this film was made, e.g. "US".

The year the movie was released, e.g. 1993

For example, "195m"

The companies and individuals that brought the movie to fruition. For example, "Universal/Lucasfilm (Gary Kurtz)".

Again, highlighting and tapping on each of these symbols in Film & Video Guide will display its meaning.

If you make notes about a movie (see page 25), you will, by default, see the "Note" icon and your note text inserted in the movie’s entry. You can turn off the display of your notes in "View preferences".

A brief description of the plot.

Some brief critical opinion, from the Halliwell’s editorial team

Writer, Composer etc., as appropriate.

For example, "Steven Spielberg". The director’s name will be underlined and can be tapped on to get more information on all the films he’s been involved with.

The major actors and actresses, in approximate order of importance.

Individual Academy awards () and Nominations () are shown after each name if appropriate.

Brief quotes from professional movie critics, included sometimes because they wittily confirm the assessments and sometimes because they provide alternative opinions.

If available, a list of famous songs from the movie.

Any other information available on the movie.

Academy Awards (Oscars) () and Nominations () for the movie: best film, best costume design, best music etc.

Note: the symbols used above may also appear if appropriate in other views of the Film & Video Guide. For example, in an actor or director’s movie credit list.

As you watch movies, at home or in a cinema, you may find it useful to make a note of which ones you’ve seen.

Tap anywhere within the entry for the movie in question and use the "Mark as seen" command. A tick mark will appear next to the movie title.

One of the most useful features of Film & Video Guide is being able to add your own comments to individual movie, director or actor entries. Your comments are by default included in all the main views.

At any point in the future you can bring up a Film & Video Guide entry on screen and tap on "Edit note". Either modify the existing text or use the supplied "Clear" button to delete the note’s contents completely.

If you do a lot of note editing and deleting, you may wish to occasionally use the "Compress notes file" command, which reclaims disk space taken up by deleted notes.

Film & Video Guide supports printing of single movie or actor/director name entries, using the standard printing system.

If you have trouble printing please consult your device manuals for help.

There is much you can do to make your copy of Film & Video Guide personal to you. For example:

1. Set up the zoom level (using the command icons) to suit your eyesight.
2. Add notes and ‘marked as seen’ ticks to movies you’ve personally viewed.
3. Use the normal file dialogs to create new Film & Video Guide files. Thus your partner could have their own set of marked movies, preferences etc. – although notes are tied in closely with the individual Film & Video Guide entries and will be accessible when viewed from any file.
4. Set up the toolbar on the left or right hand side of the screen with the command "Show left-handed toolbar". Or turn it off altogether using the command "Show toolbar". Both commands are ‘toggles’, which can be either on or off. The ‘on’ state is shown on the menu as a tick mark.
5. Investigate the delights of the "View preferences" dialogue.

Use the "View preferences" command. The preferences dialogue has tabs that work in the same way as those in the search dialogue. Tapping on each tab reveals a different page of options.

By ticking or clearing the boxes on this page, you can tell Film & Video Guide which information to display and which to hide when in the Movie view. By default, all but the last of the items are ticked.

Auto collect – this feature automatically collects movie information for each actor or director that you tap on. If you turn "Auto collect" off, tapping on a name will still take you to the Names view, but with no collected movie information for any one name. By default this feature is turned on.

Sort collection by year – by default, actor or director movie lists are shown alphabetically. Turning "Sort collection by year" on will list the movies in order that they were made. Note that the sorting process will mean the list will take longer to appear.

Show awards/nominations – if ticked, this feature will show Academy Awards and Nominations next to each listed film. By default, "Show awards" is turned on.

The font size used for screen display is adjustable using the standard ‘zoom’ commands. The font size used for printing is adjustable in the print dialogue.

Show special information as – "Icon" – Film & Video Guide will use graphical icons to announce things like "Availability", "Cast" etc. Setting this feature to "Text" will use specially formatted text instead. By default, this feature is set to "Icon".

Display attached notes – if turned off, this feature will stop displaying your notes in the main views. By default, it is turned on.