Movie Information Manager

version 1.2.0

Contents

0. Revision History

1. License

0. Revision History

• 1.2

» Added support for Windows XP visual styles

» Allowed HTML output to get wider as browser window gets wider

• 1.1

» Added to 'how to use' section of readme

» Creating new database now respects default database path

» Current database now cleared out before new one is loaded

» No longer tries to calculate bitrates if time is not entered

» No longer crashes if unable to write to database file

» IMDb now comes up and searches for movie title automatically if no URL is provided

» Changed picture on IMDb button

» Currently selected movie now always shows in table

» Some columns are now centered

» Tab order fixed in settings window

» Table no longer looks active at first

» Single view now shows first movie instead of last after load

» New database window no longer puts .mim for file name when left blank

» New database window now has a default CD size

» No longer crashes when a report is minimized

» No longer crashes if default database is missing

• 1.0

» Project started as rewrite of Movies Front End

» Using ActiveX / COM components

» Definition of .mim file format

1. License

Movie Information Manager (MIM) is released as freeware, which means that it may be distributed to anyone at no charge. MIM is also an open-source project, which means that the source code is available to anyone who might want to use it. The most current files are available from the analog underground page (http://geek.track7.vze.com/analogu.html), and anyone who would like to make MIM available for download is welcome to, provided that a link to the analog underground is included.

2. Requirements

MIM should run on any computer running Windows 95 and up, or Windows NT 4 and up. A default web browser is required in order to view the readme file from within the program, and an internet connection is required in order to make use of the IMDb. MIM does not serve to encode or decode movie files, nor does it burn CDs--it is simply an enhanced database.

3. Installation

In most cases, extracting the contents of the .zip file to a temporary directory and running setup.exe will install MIM correctly. On some systems, however, this process may not work, and a manual install may be necessary. For a manual installation, extract the contents of the .cab file to the program directory, then copy any .ocx, .dll, or .tlb files to the Windows SYSTEM32 directory and register them one by one. To register components, go to START > Run... and enter

regsvr32
          "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\auComCtl.ocx"

and repeat for all other components. A window will pop up saying that it was successful.

• Application path

Filename	Description
`mim.exe`	Program executable
`readme.html`	This file (documentation)

• Windows SYSTEM32 (usually C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 or C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32)

Filename	Description
`asycfilt.dll`	Purpose unknown
`auComCtl.ocx`	analog underground Common Controls
`auMIMpnl.ocx`	Panel Controls for MIM
`auMIMsvr.dll`	Data Classes for MIM
`COMCAT.DLL`	Microsoft Component Category Manager
`COMDLG32.OCX`	Common dialog controls (Save, Open, etc.)
`MSCOMCTL.OCX`	Microsoft Windows Common Controls
`MSFLXGRD.OCX`	Microsoft Flex Grid Control
`MSSTKPRP.DLL`	Purpose unknown
`msvbmv60.dll`	Microsoft Visual Basic Virtual Machine 6.0
`msvcrt.dll`	Microsoft Visual C runtime library
`oleaut32.dll`	Microsoft OLE for Windows
`olepro32.dll`	Microsoft OLE Property Support
`scrrun.dll`	Microsoft Script Runtime (file access)
`stdole2.tlb`	Microsoft OLE for Windows
`VB6STKIT.DLL`	Visual Basic 6 setup toolkit library

4. How to Use MIM

The first step in using MIM is getting it installed correctly. See the installation section for more information.

Please note that allowing the mouse cursor to hover over labels and buttons in the program will usually bring up a tooltip with more information.

• File Menu

» New Database

Shows the new database window and creates a new database

» Open Database

Opens an existing database

» Save Database

Saves the current database

» Save Database As

Saves the current database to a different filename

» Write HTML File

Saves the current database to an HTML file

» Exit

Exits the program

• View Menu

» Reports

Opens or refreshes the report chosen from the submenu

» Single (Edit)

Toggles single (edit) area on and off

» Status Bar

Togges the status bar on and off

» Settings

Brings up the settings window

• Help Menu

» Readme

Opens readme.html in the default browser

» About

Shows the about window

• Toolbar

» New Database

» Open Database

» Save Database

» Write HTML File

» Single (Edit) View

» Reports

• Single (Edit) Area

» Title

The title of the movie. Required.

» Discs

The number of CDs (or files) for the movie. Necessary for Compress and Burn Reports.

» Size

The total file size of the movie in bytes. Necessary for Compress and Burn Reports.

» Time

The total running time of the movie, in h:mm:ss. Necessary for calculation of bitrates in the Compress Report.

» Res (resolution)

The width and height of the movie, in pixels. Enter width in the first box, height in the second.

» Video

The video codec and bitrate used by the movie. Enter codec in the first box, bitrate (in kbps) in the second box. Necessary for calculation of audio bitrate in the Compress Report.

» Audio

The audio codec and bitrate used by the movie. Enter codec in the first box, bitrate (in kbps) in the second box. Necessary for calculation of video bitrate in the Compress Report.

» IMDb

The URL for this movie on IMDb. The URL must be in the form http://us.imdb.com/Title? followed by a 7-digit number. The button immediately to the right of this box will open the URL in the default browser. The HTML output will link the movie's title to the URL entered here if something is entered.

» Year

The year the movie was released.

» Index

The index to file the movie under. Used for sorting. If left blank, an index will be automatically generated from the title. A movie may only be added to a database that does not already contain the index that movie wishes to use.

» Search

Finds the first movie that has an index beginning with the text entered in the index box. Search is case-insensitive. Enter the beginning of an index to search for, then click the button.

» CD

Checked if the movie has been burned to CD. This will be unchecked for all new movies, indicating that they have not been burned to CD. Used by the Compress and Burn Reports, and displayed on Online Report.

» HD

Checked if the movie is on a hard drive, or online. This will be unchecked for all new movies, indicating that they are not online. Used by all three reports.

» First Movie |<

This button will jump to the first movie in the database. Pressing Ctrl-Home on the keyboard will do the same thing.

» Previous Movie <

This button will jump to the movie before the current movie in the database. Pressing Page Up (or the up-arrow if the table view is active) on the keyboard will do the same thing.

» Delete Movie ×

This button will delete the current movie from the database. There is no way to undo this, but it is possible to exit the program without saving the database.

» Next Movie >

This button will jump to the movie afterthe current movie in the database. Pressing Page Down (or the down-arrow if the table view is active) on the keyboard will do the same thing.

» Last Movie >|

This button will jump to the last movie in the database. Pressing Ctrl-End on the keyboard will do the same thing.

» New Movie >*

This button will add a new movie to the database.

• Table Area

This is the area on the right side of the window, or stretching across the middle if the single (edit) area is turned off. It displays all the information about all the movies in the database, and provides another way to select which movie will show in the single (edit) area.

• Status Bar

The status bar shows across the bottom of the windows when turned on. The left portion of the status bar displays messages, and the right portion displays the name of the currently open database. Hovering the mouse over the filename displays most of the path to the file.

• New Movie Database Window

» File Name

Enter the filename the database should be saved under.

» Title

Enter the title to use at the top of HTML output from this database.

» CD Size

Enter the maximum file size (in bytes) that should be burned to CD. Necessary for Compress and Burn Reports.

• Reports

All of the reports can be open at the same time, though it may cause some problems to do so. The purpose of the reports is to serve as worklists, where movies on the report are moved off the report by clicking the appropriate button. When the last movie is removed from the report, the report will close.

» Movies to Compress Report

The Movies to Compress Report is the most complicated of the three reports. Movies appear on this report if they are online and not burned to CD, and they either have more than 1 file (disc) or are larger than the CD size entered when the database was created (see New Database Window). When a movie is selected from the list, its current information fills in the New Values area. If some information is missing, it may appear as a zero. Enter the new information (or leave the old information if it has not changed) and press the Compress button. If the movie no longer meets the criteria to be on the report, it will be removed from the list.

To calculate a bitrate, enter a value for the other bitrate and click the « button to calculate video bitrate or the » button to calculate audio bitrate. Bitrates are calculated based on 700 MB and the length of the movie. The movie length must be entered before a bitrate can be calculated.

» Movies Ready to Burn Report

Movies appear on this report if they are online and not burned to CD, and are 1 file (disc) and smaller or equal to the CD size entered when the database was created (see New Database Window). Burn the selected movie to a CD using appropriate software, then click the Burn button to mark the movie as being burned to CD and remove it from the list.

» Online Movies Report

Movies appear on this report if they are online. If a movie is being taken offline, choose the movie from the list and click Remove to mark the movie as offline and remove it from the list.

• Settings Window

» Default Paths

The default paths for database (.mim) and HTML (.html) files may be modified here. New databases may be created only in the default path. Enter a full path manually or click the ellipses ... to browse.

» HTML Columns

The columns listed here will be included in HTML output from the program. The title is always included, and will be linked to IMDb if the proper information is entered.

» Miscellaneous

Auto-save movies can be checked to automatically say yes to prompts asking if changes made to the movie should be saved. The Default Report selected here determines which report is run when the report button on the toolbar (not the down arrow next to it) is clicked. A Default Database may be entered, which will automatically load on startup. If Default Database is blank, it will be necessary to either create a new database or open an existing database each time MIM starts.

» Erase

Clicking this button erases all of MIM's settings from the Windows registry, and then exits immediately. There is a warning that comes up first in case it gets accidentally clicked. This is useful if the program is to be uninstalled.

» OK

Clicking this button saves changes to the settings and closes the window.

» Cancel

Clicking this button closes the window without saving the settings.

5. MIM File Format

Each movie database created by MIM is stored in a single ASCII file, named what was entered in the File Name field when it was created. The format of this file is detailed below.

• .mim

The pieces of database information are stored on one line each. Each movie also has its own line, and pieces of information for a movie are separated by pipe characters. This file can be imported into most spreadsheet applications as a text file with | as the delimiting character.

» Database information

· Title for HTML

· Maximum size to burn to CD

» Movie information

· Index

· Title

· Number of discs / files

· Size (in bytes)

· Time (hmmss)

· Width

· Height

· Year

· CD

· HD

· IMDb

· Video codec

· Video bitrate (kbps)

· Audio codec

· Audio bitrate (kbps)

Only the index and title are required. Numeric values will appear as zero in the file if they are left blank in the program.