 



















                            THE CD LIBRARY  V1.10

                           Written by Ben Van Hool
                                   
                             Copyright (C)  1993
                                   Belgium 
                                   
































Ŀ
            INTRODUCTION            ۲ 


   HOW THE CD LIBRARY WAS BORN

   Since my CD collection is becoming pretty big, it's easy to have a list 
   around, with all the CD's I possess. But what I hate is that you lend some
   of your favourite CD's to a friend, and never get them back. Often I forgot 
   whom I gave them to, and after a while I even forgot that I ever bought that
   CD ! To solve all these problems, I decided to write myself a program good
   enough to keep track of these things. It took me a while to do all the
   writing, but I think the result is quite good. Even more, I think it's worth
   the money I spend already on lost CD's.
   I tried to incorporate other people's needs, so the program can be used by
   anyone who wants to. I hope I succeeded ...


   WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT

   Each CD Library file (.CDL) can keep up to 500 records (Do you have that many
   CD's ?). The records can be sorted, printed out, edited later, etc. just like 
   a real database. But what's more important (that was at least my need) is the
   'borrower' field and the in/out status. Each record (CD) has an in/out field
   which can be turned on or off. The status 'in' means that the CD is available,
   while 'out' means that ... yes, that's right.
   When a CD is out, you can fill out the 'borrower' field, so you know exactly
   which CD has been borrowed by whom. When the CD comes back in, you simply 
   turn the in/out field off and the borrower field is cleared automatically.
   






























Ŀ
          SHAREWARE CONCEPT         ۲ 


   IMPORTANT

   This product is released as shareware, which means that it is not in the 
   public domain, nor is it free. All rights are reserved and stay with the
   author. you are granted a 30-day trial period. If, after that period, you 
   decide to keep using the product, you should register it.


   DISCLAIMER

   The author can not be held responsible for any damage or loss of data 
   caused to you, your soft- or hardware by the use of this product.
   Nor is he bound to keep writing future versions of the CD Library.

   
   REGISTRATION

   The shareware version is a fully working version (I say fully !). Every
   function should work normally (except for all the bugs that are still in
   it ...). The only limitation I put in it, is that only the first 25 
   records of a file can be accessed. It simply means that you can not create
   CD libraries with more than 25 records in it.
   Consider it as a kind of insurance, to ensure myself a descent living.

   To register your copy of the CD Library, you should read the REGISTER.FRM
   file. After paying your registration fee, you will receive a code, which
   you can use to generate a key. This key will clear the first screen, saying
   you are not registered, put your name in the 'registered to' box and ...
   allow you to create libraries of up to 500 records.

   Just remember that a lot of time and work has been put in the making of 
   this program. I know very well that it's not the 'Best Shareware Program
   ever', but the registration fee is reasonable. It's up to you to decide
   whether you register or not, and that you keep the shareware concept
   working... 
   Unregistered users, just do me one favour : even when you think this
   product is useless, pass it to friends and place it on your favourite
   BBS'es. Other people may benefit from the use of this product.

Ŀ
                USAGE               ۲ 


   I will not explain you in depth every detail or function that is in the 
   program, since it is very easy to use, even if you do not know anything 
   about computers.
   Although, some important remarks ...

    1. The following files need to be in the SAME directory, and are all
       nessecary to make the program working :

         CDLIB.EXE        Main executable.
         CDLIB.MNU        File which contains all the menus.
         CDLIB.PHD        File needed to print to file or printer.
         CDLIB.UNR        A key for Unregistered users.
                          [ not needed any longer after registration ]
         CDLIB.KEY        Your registration key.
                          [ only needed after registration ]

     2. It's best to run the program from a hard drive. It will work very
        slow from floppy, since not all the menus stay in memory all the
        time, so a lot of swapping has to be done. While running from a
        hard drive, you will not notice any of this.

     3. For everything you do, every item you choose from the menu, an
        expenation is given in the bottem of the screen. Each item is
        explained as good as possible.


   THE MENUS
 
    Main menu
   Ŀ
    Load    Save    New     Add     View    Edit    Sort    Print 
   
    Search  About   Exit       
   
       
     Load   : Load a .CDL file into memory.  
              All files created with the CD Library have the extension .CDL
              When entering a file name in the program you should not ad this
              extension or try to add another one.
     Save   : Write a .CDL file to disk.
              Same remark as above : do not enter an extension.
     New    : Create a new .CDL file. Unregistered users will be able to
              create libraries up to 25 items. Once you register, you can 
              expand these libraries (by just adding new items) up to 500
              records.
     Add    : Add new records to a library.
              To stop adding records, just press escape. The record you are
              currently in will then be lost, so make sure you are standing
              on a blank record.
     View   : Simply scroll through the records by using the page up and
              page dosn key. Escape quits viewing.
     Edit   : This mode allows you to edit earlier inputted records.
              Backspace : Toggles the borrower field on or off. When you
                          turn the field on, a blank line will pop up, asking
                          you to enter the name of the borrower. Entering a
                          blank line here, will not turn on the 'in/out' mode.
                          When the in/out mode is on (this is when a CD has
                          been borrowed by someone), and you turn it off by
                          pressing the backspace key, then the borrower field
                          will be cleared and the status will be turned off.
              Tab       : Start editing the fields. You can run through the
                          fields by pressing tab a few times. When the in/out
                          status is on, you will be able to edit the
                          'borrower' field too. Making this field blank, turns
                          off the in/out status.
                          While editing a field, you can press escape to clear
                          the line at once. Pressing escape again, before you
                          typed anything else, pops up the line again.
     Sort   : Allows you to sort your records. It's up to you whether you
              want to sort them on the 'Band', 'Title', 'Style' or 'Year
              field.
              Choosing the 'Sort order' option in the menu, allows you to choose
              between ascending (up) or descending (down) order.
              The defauls set in the program are : 'Title' & 'Ascending'.
              If you want to use these defaults just choose 'Go' to start 
              sorting, otherwise set your defaults before choosing 'Go'.
     Print  : Unregistered users will only be able to print to the printer.
              Registered users can print to a .TXT file, and edit this file
              with their default editor. This file can then be used in other
              applications.
           !! Make sure the printer has been turned on before you start printing
              to it, or the program will halt with an error. Sorry for the
              inconvenience, but this problem has not yet been solved.
     Search : When you enter a search string, the program will search all
              record & fields for  match. The program will stop after each 
              matching item. You can then choose to continue searching, or to
              quit.
     About  : Display the about screen. When you plan to register, check this
              screen to see, if the address and account number are the same
              as mentionned in the REGISTER.FRM
     Exit   : Leave the program.

