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Getting started |
  
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Getting started |
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CATVids is a powerful database program designed to help you catalog and manage your video collection. CATVids works perfectly with all types of media, including Blu-ray discs, DVDs, VHS tapes and Laserdiscs. It will keep track of not only your pre-recorded media, but also movies, television programs and home videos which you record. Using CATVids you can quickly catalog your movies by downloading information from the Internet. A comprehensive set a data fields enables you to keep track of a wide range of information.
The first time you start CATVids, you see the "Welcome" screen. To open the sample database (Sample.mdb) click Open Sample Database. This database contains a few videos to help you familiarize yourself with the program. Before you can start cataloging your collection, you must create your own database.
The main CATVids window is divided into three parts:
| 1. | The menu/toolbar at the top of the window. |
| 2. | The view bar to the left. |
| 3. | The rest of the window is occupied by the active view. There are a total of 6 different views: Explorer View, Video View, Contents View, Lookup View, Loan View, and Want List View. |
When you open a database, the program opens the Video View by default. To activate another view, click the view you want to activate in the view bar, select from the View button on the toolbar, or use the View menu.
For example, to activate the Explorer View, open the View menu and choose Explorer View (you can also press the Ctrl+1 shortcut). The Explorer is a fully featured browser integrated into the main window that allows you to search/browse your collection.
You will probably use the Video View the most. This is the view you use when you want to add new videos. To active the Video View, choose Video View from the View menu (or simply press the Ctrl+2 shortcut).
All views, except the Explorer view, utilize the same layout.
The main part of the view is occupied by the browse list, with the explorer pane below the list.
To the left of the browse list you see the grouping list, and above this, the drop-down list with available grouping definitions. The grouping feature is used to determine which videos that are displayed in the browse list, and makes it possible to work with a subset of the database (for example, videos in a specific format).
Above the browse list, you see three drop-down lists:
| • | The drop-down list to the left includes available list layouts. A list layout contains information about which fields to display in the video list. You can create as many list layouts as you want. |
| • | The drop-down list in the middle includes available sort orders. A sort order defines the order in which videos are displayed. The data in the database remains the same; only the way data is being displayed changes. Note: You can also change the sort order by clicking the header of the column you want to sort on. |
| • | The drop-down list to the right includes available filters. A filter is used to determine which videos that are displayed in the browse list, and makes it possible to work with a subset of the database (for example, videos you have purchased this year). |
To add a new video and manually enter the data, choose Add from the Video menu (or press the Ctrl+N shortcut).
To download data from the Internet, choose Add - Download from Internet from the Video menu (or press the Ctrl+Y shortcut).
To edit a video, simply double-click the video you want to edit in the browse list. You see the 'Video Edit' window.
To edit the contents of the video, click the Contents tab and double-click the segment you want to edit. To add a new segment, click the Add Segment 
button below the contents list.
To close the data entry window, click the OK button (or choose Close Window from the File menu). All changes are automatically saved.
If you need support, don't hesitate to contact us. If you want to order CATVids, please see our web site.
We hope you enjoy using CATVids!