CCC is Copyright © 1997 Glenn
Rioux and Tim McGaughey.
Table of Contents:
·
Introduction
·
Getting Started
·
Navigation
·
Tips
·
Known Bugs
·
Credits
------ A
movie review system database utility for Windows 95 and NT -------
Introduction:
CCC provides all the verification powers and
functionality included in our previous release of REVMAN plus additional
features and conveniences. The system maintains databases of movie reviews in a
hierarchical manner. These entries can
be easily viewed and can be easily modified in the database using the
program. For convenience, the program
will verify all the data in the various files that comprise the system when
databases are opened. If there are
problems, the system will notify the user to check the report file that was
generated. The system is organized so
that the database can be modified and viewed using a menu system and a
Graphical User Interface. Extensive error checking and user verification help
to ensure that the functions being performed are indeed what is intended.
A
typical user experience would begin with the user creating a review for a new
movie using their favorite text editor.
If there has not yet been a database that the user has been working
from, they are expected to make the appropriate entries into the database
source files. If the user has been
working from a database already, they can simply start the CCC program
and begin from there. When the program
is executed, a startup screen is displayed with information about the program
and the creators. After the startup
screen is displayed, the program proceeds by showing some brief information for
assistance with the program’s usage.
When the program continues, the menu becomes available and the display
window is cleared. Using the menus, or
taking advantage of the DOS command line, one opens an existing database or
creates a new database. The action will
check all the data, make some changes to the menu options available, and will
show a listing of all the categories that are currently in the database. The user would then select the proper
category for their new movie review.
For example, if the new movie was part of the Science Fiction category,
then the user would click on the Science Fiction category opening a listing of
the different reviews which comprise that category. Using the menu options, it is then simple for the user to add a
new entry into the Science Fiction category and provide the attributes for the
file. When the file is added to the
database, it is updated on the display, and is immediately accessible like any
of the other entries.
Getting
Started:
Executing
CCC.EXE will begin the program. When
the program begins, a start screen is displayed which gives some information
about the program and the programmers.
This screen is dismissed by pressing a key. A brief help screen will be shown next, which gives some basic
information on using the program. This
manual is a more detailed source of information for the program’s
operations. For detailed help, pressing
the F1 key is an available option at many points in the program’s operation.
Once
the help screen is dismissed, the layout of the screen will be setup for
operation.
To
begin maintaining review collections, choose the File menu and choose New. This will prompt for the category file to
open, which will build the database. In
the event you do not have a category file, use your favorite text editor to
create one. When the file is loaded,
the screen will reflect the loading of the file by updating the main display to
show the movie categories that were built.
If any errors were detected in the files when they were read, you may
open up the report file using the file viewing utility of your choice. The report file will have the same base name
as the file that was opened, but the extension will be “.rpt.”
If
you already have a database, you can choose to begin operation on that database
by running the program with the database name as a command line parameter (in
the form of “CCC.EXE category.ccc”) or by using the File menu’s Open
command. This will prompt for the
database file to open, and will do verification on it. If errors were found, they may be viewed in
the report file, which has the same base name as the database that was opened,
but has the extension “.rpt.”
Once
the database is loaded, the Edit and CCC menus are designed to make changes to
the database. The view menu is for
switching what is displayed in the main window, and enables access to menu
functions that do not appear initially.
For more help on the menus and what their functions are, please examine
the Navigation section below.
Navigation:
·
Menus:
There are quite a few different menus and options in CCC. These options change based on the current
state of the program. They are used to
execute the features of CCC. To
access each of the different menus, the user must hit the key that begins the
name of the particular menu. We will
discuss each of the various menus in turn, starting with the Program CCC
menu and its associated options, and working our way through the remaining
menus.
·
Program:
The first menu lets one obtain a little information about the program
through help and about options.
1.
Help:
The help screen gives a general summary of what CCC
does.
2.
About:
The about Screen simply tells the name, version, and a little about the
origins of the program.
·
File:
From the file menu, one can access new databases, old databases, or can
choose to close the database or quit the program instead. Under the File menu, all the operations
dealing with file manipulation are clumped.
1.
New…:
This operation will create a
new CCC database file from the physical files necessary to gather the correct
information. The files are all verified
when opened, and errors are placed inside of an error report file using the
name of the master category file with a “.rpt” extension. After the files have been checked, they are
listed in the display area.
2.
Open…:
Using
the open operation will open an existing CCC database and will list the
information. Errors are placed in a
report file at the end of verification.
This report file has the same base name as the database, only with the
extension “.rpt."
3.
Save:
The
Save operation will save a CCC database to a file. This file is the same as the base name of the file that was
originally opened by default. This can
be changed with some methods. In some
cases, the default output file may be the same as the original file name opened
if the opened file was already a CCC database file.
4.
Save As…:
This
operation gets a new output file name and then executes identically to the Save
operation so that it will save to that new output name.
5.
Close:
Closing a file will delete
the list from memory and make changes to the mode of the program. If the program cannot determine if the
database has been saved recently, it will ask the user if they want to save the
file. If so, the database will be saved
using the default save name.
6.
Quit:
Quit will perform all the operations of the Close command, but will
also terminate the program after confirmation that it is the intended
operation.
·
Edit:
The Edit menu is the menu that controls the modification processes for
the database. The Edit menu lets such
operations as changing filenames and ratings take place.
1.
Category...:
The category option lets you
modify the name of the currently selected category. Input is taken from the command line and the list is updated
following the operation. This option is
only available when viewing the category listing.
2.
Title...:
The title option works in a
similar manner to the category option, but lets you change the title for the
highlighted review instead. This option
is only available when viewing the review listing.
3.
Rating...:
The rating option also takes
input from the command line to replace the current rating for the selected
review. This option is also available
only when listing the reviews.
4.
Filename...:
This option will let one
change the filename that the database is supposed to be using for a particular
review. This command works only while
listing reviews, and works on the currently selected review.
·
CCC:
This menu contains options to manage entire entries of categories and
reviews. From here, categories and
reviews can be added and deleted easily.
1.
Add category...:
This option will ask for a
new category to add and will start it off with no review entries. The input is provided from the command
line. This command only works while
viewing the category listing.
2.
Delete category...:
This command will confirm
your desire to delete the category and will remove the category and all the
associated reviews for that category from the database.
3.
Include review...:
This option includes a new
review lets you insert a title for the movie review, the rating, and the filename
for the physical review file. When
inserted, it is automatically included in the currently displayed category
review listing. This option only works
while listing the reviews.
4.
Delete review...:
This will delete the
currently highlighted review from the database. This command works like the delete category command, and can only
operate from the review listing.
·
View:
The view menu enables switching what the main display shows. There are options for showing categories,
movies, and reviews.
1.
Categories:
The categories option will
switch the main display to show all the categories in the database. This option will work from any of the
views. Alternatively, pressing escape
while viewing the review listing will accomplish the same task.
2.
Movies:
The movies option will list
all the reviews for a category. This
option will work from the category view when a movie is highlighted, and from
the review file view. Alternatively,
this can be accessed by using the return key on a highlighted category in the
category listing, or by hitting escape from a review file listing.
3.
Review:
Listing a review file begins by displaying the first five lines of the
review that was highlighted in the movie view.
The review can then be viewed in 20 line increments if one decides to
continue.
·
Search:
The search menu provides a way to seek out particular entries in the
database of movie reviews.
1.
Name...:
The search by name is
supposed to take a name to seek. This
command is not functional in this version, but is intended for inclusion in a
future release.
2.
Title...:
Searching by title would
yield results for a movie review title.
This feature is not implemented in this version and instead is delayed
for a future release.
3.
Filename...:
A search by filename would
yield results based on the physical filename on the system for the files
included in the database. This feature
is intended for a future release.
·
Keyboard:
Many commands on the menus have associated keystroke
commands. As you become more
comfortable with the availability of the particular menu options, you will
become accustomed to some of the shortcuts that have been provided for
convenience. The entire navigation
sequence is based around a few keystrokes, basically operating the menus although
navigation within the listing of categories, reviews, or the review contents is
also provided.
·
Mouse:
There is no mouse support in CCC. Perhaps in a future version mouse support
will be necessary or desired, but the current functionality and implementation
does not lend itself to mouse operations easily. To include support would require the inclusion of scroll bars and
other graphic elements that do not function adequately in the curses
environment. Perhaps a future version
of the program will take advantage of the Graphical User Interface of the
Microsoft® Windows Operating System making those elements accessible and
convenient for both users and developers.
Tips:
Please
read all of CCC's information and help screens for information on what is
expected by the program. The program is complicated and comprehensive. Reading this manual is a good place to start
when difficulty is encountered.
Known
Bugs:
No
bugs are available at this time. If
user demand is strong enough, some will be included.
Credits:
Tim
McGaughey
-
System design and code
Glenn
Rioux
-
System design and code
End of CCC User’s Manual.