Maintaining the Ed FM database

Introduction
What the fields do
Adding a new recording
Editing an existing recording
Deleting an existing recording
Global functions

Introduction

To play anything in Ed FM, it must be entered into the database. To do this, the Manager application is used. To run the manager, select the shortcut to "manager.exe" you made during the installation process.

What the fields do

Before we look at how we can actually create database entries, let's first look at what each of the database fields actually do.

Database Information

Type:	Select the most appropriate type for this recording.
File:	The wave file associated with this database entry. Note that the text field is actually read-only, to enter a filename, use the "Browse..." button
Title:	The title of this recording.
Artiste/Comment:	For database entries of the type "Music", this field should contain the artiste of the track. For all other types, this field is an optional comment.
Sub-type:	Each type has a pre-defined set of sub-types. For the "Music" type, these can be defined by the user, by editing the file "MUSCATS.DAT" in the "DATA" directory. It is not reccomended changing this file after database entries have been created.
Tempo:	A whole number represnting the speed of this recording.

Sample Properties

Duration:	A read-only field displaying the length of this recording.
Last played:	A read-only field displaying the date this recording was last played.

Cue points

Talk upto:	This cue-point should indicate the end of the part of a recording that can be spoken over. For songs and open-front jingles this should be just before the vocals start. To set the cue-point, press the "Set" button when the track is playing at the appropriate point. The cue point cannot be entered any other way (you'll notice the text field is read-only).
Start next:	This cue-point shoud indicate the part of the track where, when performing a segue, the next track should be started. The cue-point is set in the same way as described above.
\|<	Jump to the start of the track.
<<	Skip back.
Play/Pause	Play or pause playback.
Stop	Stop playback.
>>	Skip forwards.
>\|	Skip to 5 seconds before the end of the recording.

Note that you can jump directly to any point in the track by right-clicking on the progress gauge.

Adding a new recording

Select "New" from the "File" menu. If there is any un-saved data, you will be asked if you want to discard it.
Fill in all the fields described above.
Select "Save As" from the "File" menu. If any fields contain errors, you will be warned here. If everything is OK, you will be asked if you want to rename the sample to a filename containing the generated ID number. If you do not intend to use this sample in anything other than Ed FM, then it is best to select "Yes". Otherwise, select "No". Ed FM will still be able to use the sample properly.
If the operation succeeded, a box will appear confirming that a database entry has been created, and the ID number of the new recording. Press "OK".

Editing an existing recording

Select "Open" from the "File" menu. If there is any un-saved data, you will be asked if you want to discard it.
Select the type of the recording you want to edit from the combo-box at the top.
Select the recording you want to edit. If you know the ID number of the recording, you can press the "Goto..." button. You can also search by artiste and title.
Press OK.
Make your required changes.
Select either "Save" or "Save As" from the "File" menu. "Save As" will create a new database entry with the existing data, "Save" will update the same database entry with the new data.

Note that once an entry has been saved, the "Type" field cannot be changed.

Deleting an existing recording

Selet "Delete" from the "File" menu.
Select the database entry you want to delete and press "OK".
You will be prompted to veryify that you really want to delete this record. Press "Yes" to confirm this.
You will be asked if you would like the wave file associated with this database entry deleting too. If you press "Yes", the ".wav" file will be removed from your hard disk.

Note that if you delete the entry that is currently loaded into the Manager, you will be able to change the "Type" field, and re-save the entry.

Global functions

By selecting "Global Changes..." from the "Edit" menu in the Manager, you can perform the following database-wide changes:

Apply global changes to: These check-boxes select which recording types will be affected when making global changes.

Drive letter references: The authors of Ed FM are fully aware how irritating it can be when Bill's finest (Windows) starts re-ordering your drive letters when you install new disks. This feauture was built in specifically to combat this embarassing piece of shoddy coding. Simply enter the old and the new drive letters, select which recording types to update, and press "Go!".

Purge records marked for deletion: When recordings are deleted from the database as described in the previous section, they are not actually removed from the database files. Using this feature will free un-used disk space and should make database accessing quicker.
Rename all samples Ideally, all Ed FM samples are named "RECnnnnn.WAV", where nnnnn is the ID number of the sample. If you wish to bulk-rename all the samples in the database, use this feature. Please note that Ed FM will still function perfectly if you choose your own filenames.

Apply global changes to:	These check-boxes select which recording types will be affected when making global changes.
Drive letter references:	The authors of Ed FM are fully aware how irritating it can be when Bill's finest (Windows) starts re-ordering your drive letters when you install new disks. This feauture was built in specifically to combat this embarassing piece of shoddy coding. Simply enter the old and the new drive letters, select which recording types to update, and press "Go!".
Purge records marked for deletion:	When recordings are deleted from the database as described in the previous section, they are not actually removed from the database files. Using this feature will free un-used disk space and should make database accessing quicker.
Rename all samples	Ideally, all Ed FM samples are named "RECnnnnn.WAV", where nnnnn is the ID number of the sample. If you wish to bulk-rename all the samples in the database, use this feature. Please note that Ed FM will still function perfectly if you choose your own filenames.