A new record is added to the database by using the Input Screen. The Input Screen is displayed by clicking on the Add New button on the Main Menu screen. Alternatively if you only intend to enter a limited amount of information about each recording then use the Quick Add screen. See separate help topic for more information.
Enter information in the boxes provided. Only the Artist field is mandatory,
you MUST enter something in the Artist box.
NOTE: Hitting the tab key on your keyboard will move the cursor to the next field.
Any spaces before of after the text being entered, are removed prior to being added to the database.
The boxes with an arrow to the right will allow you to select an item from a list instead of typing it in. Clicking on the arrow will display the list. Clicking on an item in the list will put it in the box.
These lists will only display information that has already been entered into the database. If the information you require is not there, you will have to type it in manually.
Items will automatically be added and deleted from the lists whenever information in the database is changed
For example:
You want to enter your favourite ABBA album into the database. You look at the Artist list but ABBA is not there, so you manually type in ABBA and add the album to the database. The next time you look at the Artist list ABBA will now appear as one of the Artists.
If you now delete the ABBA album from the database AND IT IS THE LAST ABBA ALBUM IN THE DATABASE the entry for ABBA will automatically be deleted from the list. If you still had another ABBA album in the database ABBA would remain in the list.
The other lists that behave in this way are
Genre
Label
Country
Format.
You can identify double albums by entering a format like this for example:-
Double CD CD1 and Double CD CD2
You will notice that the Artist, Genre, Label, Country and Format boxes have a button to the right, a cross with a red background. You can select an item from one of the above lists and click on this ‘cross’ button to delete it. If there are still entries in the database a message will be displayed saying that you cannot delete this item until all the entries in the database have been deleted.
Clicking on the Yes button at this point will display all the entries in the database that the item in the list appears in.
TIP: This could be useful if you want to enter an album for a specific artist and you are not sure if you have already added this album to the database. Select the artist from the list, click on the cross button, reply yes, all entries for this artist will now be displayed so you can see if you have already added this album to the database.
To add track information click on track 1 in the track list. The Track Information form will now be displayed. You can now enter the title of the track and the duration of the track (both these fields are optional) for track 1. You can use the tab key to move between the Artist box and the Minutes box.
Clicking on the Add button with the arrow pointing to the right will save the track information to the track list on the Input form and automatically advance to the next track.
TIP: Hitting the enter key will do the same as clicking on the above button.
There are a couple of other things to point out about the Track Information screen: -
There is a box with a tick (Automatically Tab To Seconds After Entering A Single Digit Number), if the box has a tick in it the Program will automatically move the cursor to the Seconds box after a single digit has been entered in the Minutes box.
Most tracks have a play time of less than 10 minutes so ticking this box will make it easier and quicker to enter your information.
If you want to enter a track with a play time greater than 9 minutes then untick this box by clicking on it.
NOTE: Entering a character in the track duration box will automatically invalidate the entry and the duration will default to zero.
There are two option buttons on this form: -
Return To Track Information
Return To Minutes
These option buttons will select where the cursor returns when either of the Add buttons are selected or you hit enter. They make entering any information easier and quicker.
If you are just entering track titles then make sure the top option button is selected so the cursor always returns to the track title box. You can enter the track title, hit return, enter the next track title, hit return etc until all the information has been entered.
You may have already entered the track title information and now you have returned to add all the track durations. This time select the bottom option button, tab to the minutes field enter minutes seconds, hit return, enter the next track duration, hit return etc, the cursor now returns to the minutes box ready to enter the duration for the next track.
There is a section titled Total Duration. You can enter the total duration of the recording in one of the boxes provided(either in total seconds or minutes and seconds) or you can click on the ‘+’ button, this will add all the track durations together for this recording and enter the result in the boxes provided.
When you have finished entering the track information, click on the Close button on the Track Information screen.
There is a tick box at the top of the Input Screen, marked ‘In Collection’. This is automatically ticked which indicates the recording you are entering is actually in your collection.
There is another tick box called single. This indicates the recording you are entering is a single.
NOTE: At this time you have NOT added anything to the database.
If you are happy with the information you have entered in the various boxes, click on the Add button. Don’t worry if you have entered anything incorrectly or missed something, you can always edit this entry at a later date.
NOTE: Any information entered is automatically saved to the database file after hitting the Add button.
When the information has been added to the database you will get a message asking if you want to add more entries to the database. Click on the Yes or No button depending on whether you have more recordings to enter.