#
# This is the help file for the albums command, a DBMS for Compact Discs
#
***INTRO

This program provides a means to keep track of your music collection,
as well as to create audio tapes of your favorite songs.

It was designed for use with Compact Discs, but it could be used
just as well with vinyl record albums and/or cassettes.

To run the program, you must first set up your database.  The database
files are normal text files which you maintain with your favorite text
editor.  If you use a word processor, make sure you store your file as
a TEXT FILE.

Your database consists of one master file, which contains the names
(and formats) of the data files.  At present, the only format that is
really supported is "cd", but you can specify "cas" or "alb" for cassette
and vinyl album.  A sample master file might be:

---MORE

pop.dat|cd
classics.dat|cd
kids.dat|cd

In the above example, there are three data files, "pop.dat", "classics.dat",
and "kids.dat"  If you have a very small collection, you might want to have
only a few files.  On the other hand, you might want to create a lot of
small files instead of a few big ones.  The choice is yours.

The data files contains two types of records: album records and cut records.
The cut records are optional, but should be entered if you plan to use this
program to make tapes.  Cut records begin with a tab character;
album records do not.  Each record consists of fields separated by vertical
bars (|).

Album records contain the artist name, album title, date, label, and
catelog number.  Cut records begin with a tab, and then have the cut title,
the time (MM:SS), and optionaly the artist, if different than the album
artist (e.g., Various.)  If there is more than one artist or title, they
should be separated by a tilde (~).

---MORE

A sample album entry would be:

Beatles|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band||Capitol|46442
	Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band|2:02
	With a Little Help from My Friends|2:44
	Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds|3:29
	Getting Better|2:48
	Fixing a Hole|2:36
	She's Leaving Home|3:35
	Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite|2:37
	Within You Without You|5:06
	When I'm Sixty-Four|2:37
	Lovely Rita|2:42
	Good Morning Good Morning|2:42
	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)|1:19
	Day in the Life, A|5:33

---MORE

Or:

Various|Thelma and Louise Soundtrack|1991|MCA|10239
	Part of You, Part of Me|5:59|Frey, Glenn
	Badlands|5:34|Sexton, Charlie
	House of Hope|4:50|Childs, Toni
	I Can't Untie You From Me|4:59|Hugh, Grayson
	Better Not Look Down|4:13|King, B. B.
	Little Honey|4:43|Willis, Kelly
	Kick the Stones|3:51|Whitley, Chris
	Wild Nights|3:18|Reeves, Martha
	Tennessee Plates|3:30|Sexton, Charlie
	Ballad of Lucy Jordan|4:06|Faithful, Marianne
	Thunderbird|4:03|Zimmer, Hanz~Haycock, Pete

---MORE

Assume that you have created "albums.mst", your master file, and all the
necessary data files.  Now,  you must build index files so that the ALBUMS
program can find the entries.  This must be done each time you change or
create a new data file.  The easiest way to do this is to run the bat job

C> MAKEKEYS

Now you are finally ready to run this program again:

C> ALBUMS ALBUMS.MST

***MAIN

This is the main menu for the ALBUMS program.

You may use the BROWSE option to look through your albums.

To make a tape, first select the K option to select albums to be taped.
Then select the T option to design your tape.

***KEEP

You are in the "KEEP" menu of the ALBUMS program.

In this menu, you select albums you want to "keep" out of your collection
to be taped.  You may select by artist and/or album title.

To select by artist, enter the artist name, and then press ENTER when
asked for a title.  To select by title, press ENTER when asked for artist.
(Selecting by title only is necessary if you have too many albums with the
same artist (e.g., Various.)

After entering your selection, you will see a list of the albums found
matching what you entered.  Matches are done using "hashed" keys.  You really
don't have to understand what that means, except that it helps you if you
are a bad speller.  (Is it Leon Russel, Russle, Rusell, or Russell?)

***TAPE

You are in the "TAPE" menu of the ALBUMS program.

In this menu, you decide what cuts are to be put where on the tape.

Make sure the tape length is correct for the tape you are making.

Select the A option to add cuts to the tape.  When full, use the N option
to go to the second side of the tape.  You may move cuts around on the tape.

Once you are satisfied with your tape, use the "W" option to write out the
tape configuration.  There are several types of outputs:

C	Cut List.  Use this to program your CD changer.
L	Label.  Use this to create a "J Cover" for the cassette
A	Album List.  This option will list all the cuts for the albums kept.

You will be asked for a base name, which will be used for the filenames of
the output files.  For example, if you used a base name of "TEST", you would
create the files TEST.CUT, TEST.CAS, and TEST.ALB by choosing each of the
above options.

Use the CASSETTE program to create a cover for the cassette from TEST.CAS
 
