                
                        MUSIC CATALOGUE by Jeremy Benson
                        ================================  


Introduction
============

  I will make no claims for "Music Catalogue." It was written for my own use
and is presented here with very little modification, so I make no apologies
for its idiosyncracies!! There are two things to say about it: firstly, it
does not, I am afraid, use the desktop - I hope this will not cause too many
problems. I have yet to attempt programs written thus. In fact the mouse
remains redundant; since all entry is from the keyboard I felt it was as
easy to use that for the menu and other selections, although it should not
be too hard for any reasonably competent (and dogmatic!) BASIC programmer to
alter this. Secondly, it is entirely in BASIC which means it will not quite
match the speeds with which those used to commercial programs are familiar -
having said which, my file now has over 500 records and the sorting time is
only a few seconds.  

Instructions
============

  Click with the mouse on the "!MusicCat" Icon. The program is automatically
loaded and, if there is one, the file. (The file of data is held in the
!MusicCat directory, and under normal circumstances you should not need to
access it; if you want to do so, for example to delete the whole file, press
SHIFT on the keyboard as you click on the icon.) There is a demonstration
file with the program, which consists of the music on the Classic CD disc
issue 24.
  The screen which appears is divided into four. In the top left is a box
with information about the current composer. In the top right is the menu.
Most of the rest of the screen shows information about the work, and the
bottom line shows the Keyword if there is one (see below.)
  The numbers after "COMPOSER" and "WORK" tell you how many of each are in
the file, and how many are available to look at (you can restrict this using
the Keyword option; see below.) For example, if you have the demonstration
file the numbers after both COMPOSER and WORK will be "12/12", since there
are 12 works each by different composers, and all are (at first) accessible.
If you type the Keyword "English" both COMPOSER and WORK will show "1/12",
since there is only one composer (and hence one work) with "English" as part
of the record. 

The Menu 
========

  Select the menu option using the up and down arrows to highlight the
required function and press Return.
  
  Enter new record
  ----------------
  This is the first option on the menu and is used when you wish to add a
new work to the file. First type in the composer's name. If the letters you
have typed are unique to a composer already in the file, the computer will
display this as a suggestion. If this is correct, press Return, otherwise
keep typing.
  If the computer recognises the name you have entered, it will show the
nationality and dates. No two composers can have the same name! If this
composer has not appeared before, type in the Nationality and Dates, or
leave them blank by pressing Return if you wish. (For composers who are
still alive, press Return instead of entering a date for the death.)
  Having established the composer you must enter information about the work.
For the first four lines, the Name of the work and the Artists involved,
type the information as you wish. For "Medium" type any or all of C,T,R and
V for CD, Tape, Record and CDV respectively, and press return. "Cat no." is
a three figure number of the disc (or tape or whatever) that the work is on.
If the computer recognises a Cat no. it will automatically enter the
"Bought" field as that of the earlier entry.
  Records by each composer are ordered by taking into account the "Order by"
field, so this can be an Opus number (note "Op1" will come after "Op100" so
use "Op  1" and "Op 10"), the year, the type (eg Sym for Symphony, Con for
Concerto etc.) or any other reference. Note all "Order by" fields within
each composer must be different (ie two recordings of the same work must be
differentiated, for example by putting "/2" after the second one bought)
otherwise you will get strange effects (one record will appear as blank); if
this happens, change the "Order by" field of the record that does show up.
You will not be allowed to leave this field blank.
  The "Bought" field is the date the recording was bought. Date and month
must be two figure numbers (ie "01" not "1" etc.) If the catalogue number
has been recognised, the date is entered automatically.
  The "Company" and "Reference" fields are two more where you can enter
information as you wish. "Time" is the length of the work in minutes and
seconds. To enter the key, type in letters A to G; 1,2 or 3 for flat,
natural and sharp; SPACE to swap between Major and Minor; or "U" if the key
is unknown (or indeed inapplicable!) For "Digital?", use SPACE to choose
whether it is a digital recording or not.
  Finally there is space to enter information about up to 8 movements and
their lengths. Pressing return without entering anything will return you to
the menu.
  Note that any of the fields except the composer's name, the catalogue
number, the "Order by" field and information on whether the recording is
digital can be left blank by simply pressing return (or "U" in the case of
the Key), so you do not have to enter such detailed information about each
recording if you don't want to.

  Edit shown record
  -----------------
  This allows you to edit the record displayed on the screen. Use the up and
down arrows to highlight which field to edit, the right arrow to select that
field and Return to end the editing. You have to type in the new field; you
cannot alter the old one. Note that you cannot edit the name of the composer
since it is this which connects the file of Composers to that of Works (if
you typed in the composer's name wrong you will have to delete the record
and start again.) Note also that when you edit the nationality and dates of
the composer you are altering the Composer file, so all works by that
composer will reflect any changes.

  Look through 
  ------------
  If there are a large number of records, it may take a few seconds to
calculate the order when you first do this or after entering a new composer
or changing the Keyword. Use the up and down arrows to go through the
composers, and left and right arrows to look at the works by the composer
shown. The composers are in alphabetical order starting either with the
first in the alphabet or the last one you were looking at if there was one.
When you use the right arrow to look at the works by a composer you may have
to wait briefly while the order is calculated. You are told, in the top
right of the box, how many records by this composer are accessible, and
which you are currently looking at.

  Enter keyword
  -------------
  This is a simple search feature. Enter at the bottom of the screen the
word(s) or number(s) you wish to be found. You will now only be able to
access records where this Keyword appears (eg "London" would get you
anything by the London Symphony Orchestra and any London symphonies; "1934"
would get you anything by Elgar, Holst and Delius.) It is not possible to
restrict the search to a specific field. If the keyword is not found then
you can access all records. To end the restrictions, just press Return when
asked for a keyword; Deleting and Entering a new record do this
automatically.

  Delete record
  -------------
  After confirming you do want to do this, the record shown (there must be
one) is deleted and, if it was the only one by that composer, so is the
composer.

  Save
  ----
  After confirming you do want to save, the file is saved. Note that to
reload the file you have to restart the program. You cannot save the file to
another disc but it is recommended you back up the whole !MusicCat directory
fairly frequently, particularly if you have a large file.


Information 
===========

  There is no copyright on this program, and you are free to use and copy it
as you wish. Please ensure that this instruction file remains with any
copies of the program. However, if you want to use the program seriously,
please make a reasonable donation to charity.
 
 I am not sure what the maximum capacity of the program is, since I am a
long way from reaching it, but there is a nominal maximum of 500 composers
and 2000 works, initialised by the variables nc% and nw% in line 370 of the
program. If you need more than this, alter the program as necessary since
there is no checking for this happening (on the grounds it shouldn't.)

 Please note that I cannot accept any responsiblility for loss or damage
incurred as a result of use or misuse of this program.
  
 If you have any problems with the program don't hesitate to get in contact
with me:
                     Jeremy Benson,
                     6, Waterloo Road,
                     Bedford  MK40 3PQ

sending the disc and a Stamped Addressed Envelope.

  Use "!Edit" on the Applications 1 disc to read and, if you want, print out
these instructions. 