Copyright: Copyright 1992-1997 by Wolfgang John


MyCDplayer
   MyCDplayer  A CD Player and Library Program

Remember - Help is always just an F1 click away

Disclaimer

 	Register MyCDplayer

Overview

Evaluating without Installing

Getting Started

Main Display

 	Operation

 	Library

Master Library (Internet)

Master Library (local)

Alarm

Calendar / Apptmnt Books

Problems

 	Remove MyCDplayer

 	Revisions

(c) 1992-1997 AM-WOLJO Shareware, All rights reserved


File - Main
File

      Backup Library

      Change Colors

      Register MyCDplayer

      Set Options

      Import CD Data

      Submit to Library

      Special Exit


Drv
Drive

This menu item is present only if your system has more than one CD drive.

Select the desired drive - it will be remembered.


File Calendar
File

      Open Appointment Books

Opens the selected appointment book

      Delete single Day Entries

Delete all entries for the selected date

      Delete Range of Dates

     Delete all Entries

Clears entire book

     Output Book Entries


Search Calendar
Search

      Search the selected appointment book.

      Short cuts:

         Find:  Ctrl-F

         Again:  F3


Calendar Options
Options

      Start Week on Sunday

Calendar starts with Sunday in the left most position.

     Start Week on Monday

Calendar starts with Monday in the left most position.

      Set as Default Book

The current book becomes the default book.  It will be loaded whenever Calendar is selected.


Status

Tells you how many entries are in the selected appointment book.


Volume

Enables you to control the volume of your speakers, either locked together (left-right) or separately.

To accommodate most systems, more than one control on the mixer control will be adjusted.  If that is not satisfactory, use the mixer controls directly.  You may also select the volume (mixer) control of your choice from the Set Options menu.  On Win95 systems you also have the option to select the Win95 volume as your default.


Change Categories

An option available from the Set Options menu.

The last 4 library categories (Other1 to Other4) may be renamed by you.


Overview

MyCDplayer offers the following features:

•	Imports from a giant Internet library

•	Imports Win95 CD Player library

•	Plays multiple CDs

•	Has Win95 autostart feature

•	Callable from alarm clock

•	Plays your Audio CDs while you are performing other tasks.

•	Create a categorized library of all your CDs.

•	Exclude certain tracks from playing.

•	Program, Shuffle and Sample mode.

•	Save programmed mode.

•	Search library.

•	Print Library data.

•	Repeat CD, track mode.

•	Displays elapsed and remaining times of tracks and entire CD.

•	Displays number of enabled tracks and their total playing time.

•	Volume control

•	StayOnTop feature

•	Offers up to 3 appointment books/diaries.

The author eagerly accepts and solicits your suggestions for making this product more useful to YOU.


Evaluating
Evaluating without Installing

To evaluate MyCDplayer without actually installing it, simply unzip it to an empty directory and double click on mycd.exe.

To get rid of it, delete all files in that temporary directory.

To install, double click on install.exe and let it install to a directory other then the temp directory.  Once things are working, delete all files in that temporary directory.


Main Display

Click on area you need help with:  (maximize window)


Getting Started

After you have MyCDplayer on your screen and a CD in your drive, click on the Load button to load the CD.  Once the CD is loaded, you will see the tracks and their duration displayed in the View window.  (Click on the View button if the View window is not open.)  The indicator above the Load button will turn green.

You will also see two values displayed in the Total Selections indicator.  The first is the number of tracks on the CD, the second is the total time of all selections.  If you have excluded some of the tracks from being played, or are in programmed mode, those two values will be adjusted accordingly - so you will always know the total playing time.

An indicator next to the Repeat button shows the current repeat mode.

The Mode indicator shows the current play mode - either Normal, Program, or Shuffle.

The Play, Prev, Next and Eject buttons are now enabled and you may click on Play to play the CD from the top.  Once in Play mode, the Pause and Stop buttons are enabled and the indicator below the Play button turns green.


Revisions

- 2.2.3 - 1 May 97

The "auto check internet library" feature now works for everyone.

- 2.2.2 - 26 Apr 97

There was a problem if the cddb directory was moved to another location.

- 2.2.1 - 20 Apr 97

Made some additional enhancements in the area of manual CD entry. Also the auto internet library check has been added back.

- 2.2.0 - 16 Apr 97

1.  Switched to Windows style Help system.

(Users who created their own "MyHelp" files must transfer them to the WorldClock directory and change their extensions to ".ezh".)

2.  Modified Master Library import to handle multiple Title and EXT lines.

3.  You may now create a Note file for each CD in your library.

4.  Data from multiple EXT lines from the Internet library is now saved in a file if it does not fit into MyCDplayer's library.  From here it may be transfered to the Note file.

5.  All CD data entry is now performed within the library - except CD Title, which is done from the View display.

6.  Library data may now be changed for the currently loaded CD.

7.  You may now store and access the Master Library on your computer.

8.  On multiple drive systems the last drive selected is now remembered.

9.  The path for your backups is now remembered.

10. When searching back and forth in a track, the coarse movement now displays the new times instantly.

11.  The internet data base now accepts regular CR/LF combinations - our submit program has been modified.

- 2.1.9 - 8 Jan 97

There was a problem in the "before 1.4.0" test.

- 2.1.8 - 4 Jan 97

Fixed bug in Master Library import mode.  "Track Misc" did not get transferred.

- 2.1.7 - 2 Jan 97

You may now set your own volume (mixer) control under Options.

- 2.1.6 - 29 Nov 96

Users with certain Region settings (Italian - Standard) were unable to use the program.

- 2.1.5 - 24 Nov 96

Version 2.1.3 and 2.1.4 introduced a problem that prevented the registration code from being logged unless other changes were made also.

- 2.1.4 - 21 Nov 96

Fixed bug that prevented track title entry from the View display.

- 2.1.3 - 16 Nov 96

1.  Added automatic backup of library file

2.  CD comes up in program mode if programmed data is in library

- 2.1.1 - 9 Nov 96

Added warning for people below version 1.4

- 2.1.0 - 8 Nov 96

1.  Submit to Internet library

2.  Detect if CD is manually removed

3.  Eliminated one note from next track

- 2.0.2 - 18 Sep 96

Added some delay to prevent program from reporting "No CD" when it is actually there.

- 2.0.1 - 10 Sep 96

Added missing vbx file to zip file.

- 2.0.0 - 9 Sep 96

1.  Import from Master Library

2.  Added Remarks field for each CD

3.  Added Remarks field for each track

4.  Increased CD Title to 60 chrs

5.  Increased CD Artist to 50 chrs

6.  Added a Display toggle switch to View mode

7.  Library is now compressed

- 1.4.7 - 9 Aug 96

1.  Modified program to work properly with the new multimedia CDs and the latest drives.

2.  Made the Win95 volume control an option.

- 1.4.6 - 27 Jun 96

Fixed a couple of more places if program is autostarted under Win95.

- 1.4.5 - 23 Jun 96

1.  Fixed bug in Help mode if program was started from Win95 autostart.

2.  Running under Win95 will now use Win95's volume control.

- 1.4.4 - 15 May 96

1.  Version 1.4.3 did not update track title properly while in shuffle mode

2.  Uses Win95 volume control on Win95 systems.

- 1.4.3 - 12 May 96

Fixed potential library bug while going to next CD

- 1.4.2 - 30 Apr 96

1.  Added Win95 autostart feature

2.  MyCDplayer may now be started from an alarm clock

3.  Four library categories may be assigned and named by you

- 1.4.1 - 20 Apr 96

1.  Added Index Sort to Library View modes

2.  Skip display update if minimized

- 1.4.0 - 17 Apr 96

1.  Added category feature

2.  The library font may now be changed

3.  Modified CD ID calculation to lessen the chance of duplicates

4.  Improved the speed of library edits

- 1.3.3.3 - 7 Apr 96

1.  Fixed bug in Win95 import mode

- 1.3.3 - 13 Feb 96

1.  Enter track titles while in play mode.

2.  Changed Search mode to a slide control.

3.  Fixed bug in Library mode.  It caused the library to be closed after 2 consecutive changes in the left hand data.

- 1.3.2 - 1 Feb 96

1. Modified code to correct positioning problems with some sloppy drives.

- 1.3.1  22 Jan 96

1.  Fixed bug introduced with version 1.3.0.  (Affected people with multiple disk CD drives if they used the Load button instead of the Drv from the menu.)

2.  Import of Win95 library is now automatic.

- 1.3.0   4 Jan 96

1. Added multiple CD capability.

2. Import library from Win95 CD Player (Theirs has a size limit).

- Removed all info below 1.3.0 to reduce file size -


Disclaimer

MyCDplayer COPYRIGHT (c) 1995-1997 WOLFGANG JOHN  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS REGARDING THE USE OF, THE RESULTS OF, OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM, ITS APPROPRIATENESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR CURRENTNESS.  THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM IS ASSUMED BY THE USER.  IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR OR HIS EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL, RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT IN THE PROGRAM, EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.  THIS DISCLAIMER SHALL SUPERSEDE ANY VERBAL OR WRITTEN STATEMENT TO THE CONTRARY.  IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE TERMS YOU MUST CEASE AND DESIST USING THIS PROGRAM.


AM-WOLJO
AM-WOLJO Shareware

Wolfgang John

10920 Portal Rd.

Atascadero, CA 93422

USA

wjohn@fix.net

http://www.fix.net/~wjohn

805-461-3090


WebSite
Our WebSite

You will find information about our shareware programs on our web site on the Internet.  The programs may be down loaded there and registered via credit card.  In addition you will find other useful information, such as links to other sites.

Point your browser to:  http://www.fix.net/~wjohn


Remove MyCDplayer

  1.  Remove all files from MyCD directory

  2.  Remove the MyCD directory

  3.  MyCDplayer did NOT modify any of the files on your system

  4.  Remove the MyCDplayer icon from the Program Group

  5.  Remove the Program Group

MyCDplayer installed the following files in your Windows\System directory.  You may delete them if you are sure they are not used by other programs (leave them alone if you are not sure, or at least save them somewhere):

     CMDIALOG.vbx

     CSCalndr.vbx

     CurTime.vbx

     MCI.vbx

     ThreeD.vbx

     MSAFINX.dll

     QPRO200.dll


Calendar

  General

  File    Search   Options   Status


BackUp
Backup Library

The File menu includes a feature to backup your CD library file.  Once you select Backup Library, your are prompted with: "a:\CdList.pak", or with the path you used last.


Change Colors

This feature is accessed from the main File menu.

Enables you to change the colors of MyCDplayer.  You can preview the changes on the little sample form.

The color of buttons and some of the panels cannot be changed.

You may click on one of the four buttons or directly on the form or text of the sample display.  You may also click on Default and C1, C2 and C3.  The latter 3 are sample colors to give you a start.

Custom colors may not be created at this time.


Register MyCDplayer

Until you register your copy of the MyCDplayer program, the program will be in the "unregistered" mode.  All  features are fully functional, except you will be limited to a 30-day free trial period.

Once you have registered your program you will receive a registration number and the name the program is registered under.

It is ILLEGAL to give your registration number to another person.

Registration Form

Credit Card Registration

CompuServe Registration

Enter your Registration Code


Set Options

Win95 Volume

Your Volume

StayOnTop -  (Windows 3.1x only)

Play Multiple CDs

Auto Libr Backup

Auto Prog Mode

Auto Internet Library

Sort by Title or Artist

Display on Minimized Icon

Change Categories


StayOnTop

If selected, causes the minimized MyCDplayer and Volume icons to stay on top of any display.


Submit to Library

To resubmit the same CD, click here.

The success of the master Library is due to people being willing to submit CDs that they had to key in manually.

We ask that you only submit CDs that have Title, Artist and all Track Title information keyed in.

Your extra effort to submit your CDs to the library is very much appreciated.

Currently, submissions to the library have to be done via E-mail, one CD at the time.

We have therefore implemented a scheme that lets you make all submissions off-line to a file.  To submit more than one CD, just keep adding to the same file by selecting the "Append" choice.

You should then attach this file (submit.txt) to an E-mail message to us (wjohn@fix.net).

To enter CDs to the submit file, insert the CD to be submitted and press Load CD.

Next select Submit to Library from the File menu of MyCDplayer.

Repeat above for all CDs you wish to submit.

Attach file "submit.txt" (which is in your mycd directory) to an E-mail message to us at:

wjohn@fix.net, you may also submit it via a diskette to:

Wolfgang John 10920 Portal Rd. Atascadero, CA 93422 USA

Thank you for any submissions.


Master Library
Master Library (Internet)

Also see:  Master Library (local)

MyCDplayer (version 2.0.0 and above) has the ability to import title, artist and track information from a Master Library on the Internet.  This database  was created for use with the Unix xmcd CD player package by Ti Kan (ti@amb.org). If you would like more information on this data base, point your browser to:  "http://sunsite.unc.edu/~cddb/xmcd/"

The CDDB server software was written by Steve Scherf  (steve@moonsoft.com )  http://www.moonsoft.com/

The major requirement for importing from this Master Library is a Winsock connection to the Internet.  You MUST be connected to the Internet before attempting to import any data.  The import feature works from both Win3.x and Win95 systems.

There are over 55,000 CDs in the library (as of Apr 12, 97) - new ones are being added daily.

Import from Internet library:

You must have an active connection to the internet before attempting to import.

Load the CD to be imported into MyCDplayer and select Import CD Data from the File menu.  Select internet library.  You will be presented with a number of internet sites around the world.  You may have to experiment to find the one most suited from your location at any given time.

Once data has been imported from the library, you may wish to perform some  maintenance, such as reversing the Artist's name and categorizing CDs with MyCDplayers categories.  The Master Library categorizes all CDs, but only some of them match the many more MyCDplayer categories - if they match, they  will be entered into the MyCDplayer categories.  The Master Library has a large "Misc" category - we import them as category "None".


Auto Library Backup

Automatically backs up the library upon exit.  To restore, delete cdlist.dat and cdlist.pak, rename cdlist.bak to cdlist.pak.

You should still have a backup somewhere other than in the MyCDplayer directory, because two bad changes will loose all data.


Library Sort

Select whether the library display should be sorted by Title or Artist.


Play multiple CDs

When checked, will play CDs in succession.  If Repeat Disk on the main display panel is also selected, all CDs will be repeated.  (Visible only if multiple CD drive.)


Auto Program Mode

If selected, MyCDplayer will come up in Program mode if the CD has programmed data in the library.


Your Volume

An option selectable from the Set Options menu.

To use the volume (mixer) of your choice, point to the location of that file.  It usually has "mix" in the file name.


Special Exit

Some other CD player programs allow you to exit and leave the player in play mode.  If you then suddenly want to shut the player down, or at least pause it, you are not able to do so, unless your drive has manual controls.  Therefore it was decided not to allow this with MyCDplayer in the regular exit mode.  MyCDplayer requires so few resources, so just reduce it to an icon and continue with your other work.

However, if you insist on exiting and leaving the player running, you may select "Special Exit" from the main file menu.  If you are not in Play or Pause mode, the program will just end without any message.


Panel_Display
Panel Display

Displays either the CD title or the Artist, depending on the Sort by Title or Artist setting under Options.


Panel_Track
Panel Track

Displays the track title of the selected track.


Panel Track Number
Track Number

Displays the track number of the selected track.


Track Elapsed

Displays the elapsed playing time of the selected track.


Track Remaining

Displays the remaining playing time of the selected track.


Disk Remaining

Displays the remaining playing time of the current CD.


Disk Elapsed

Displays the elapsed playing time of the current CD.


Prev Track

This button is used to select the previous track.

If the program is in play mode, the first click on this button moves to the beginning of the track.  If the button is clicked again immediately, the previous track is selected.


Next Track
Next Track  button

This button is used to select the next track.


Play
Play button

Places the player into play mode.

The green lamp below the button will be illuminated.


Pause
Pause button

The Pause button is a toggle control.  It is used to pause and un-pause the player.

The button is only active in play mode.  When it is pressed initially, the green play lamp will extinguish and the red pause lamp will illuminate.  Pressing it again will place the unit into play, turn on the green play lamp and turn off the red pause lamp.


Stop
Stop button

This button is active when the drive is in either play or pause mode.

Pressing it will cause either the play lamp or the pause lamp to extinguish.


Eject
Eject button

Pressing this button will cause the CD to be ejected if the drive has that capability.

All other controls and lamps will revert to their initial startup conditions.


Search bar

The search bar becomes visible and invisible by pressing the Search button.

Its purpose is to move back and forth in the selected track.

Clicking on the arrows moves in 1 second intervals.

Clicking inside the bar on either side of the thumb knob moves in 10 second intervals.

Grabbing and sliding the thumb knob moves in large increments.

This control works best when the drive is in stopped or paused mode.


Play Lamp

This lamp is illuminated (green) when the drive is in play mode.


Pause Lamp

This lamp is illuminated (red) when the drive is in pause mode.


CD Loaded Lamp

This lamp is illuminated (green) whenever a CD is loaded in the player.


Search Button

Pressing this button alternately enables and disables the Search Bar.


Total Selections

This window displays the total number of playable tracks and their total time.

The number of playable tracks is altered in Program mode and whenever tracks are marked as not playable (excluded).

This display is handy when recording selections to tape.  Just select Program mode, Clear all selections and double click the selections you wish to program in the order you wish to program them in.


Load Button

Pressing this button causes the program to load a CD for use with MyCDplayer.  If your drive has a motorized tray, it will be closed at the same time.

When the CD is properly loaded the green Load lamp will illuminate.

If your system has more than one CD drive (or platter), pressing the Load Button will cause the default drive to be loaded.  To select another drive (platter), press the Drv button on the main menu.


Re-Submit
Re-Submit  to Master Library

To resubmit the same CD to the Master Library, proceed as usual, but then change the Revision line near the top by incrementing the value by 1.  So if it has Revision:  0, change it to read Revision:  1.   If this is not done, the new submission will be ignored.


Repeat Button

Use this button to alternately select Repeat Disk - Repeat Track - Off

If you have more than one disk drive, then Repeat Disk will repeat all of them if Play multiple CDs is enabled under Set Options.


Mode Display

Displays the operating mode of MyCDplayer.

The modes are:

Normal

Program

Shuffle

Sample


View Button

Pressing this button alternately opens and closes the right hand View window.

This button is only active if a CD is loaded.


View Display

This window displays all the tracks of the current CD.

Here you select the tracks to be played in Program mode.

Here you select and de-select tracks to be skipped (excluded).

Clicking on any track will select that track, which may be preferable to pressing the Next and Previous buttons.


Program Button

Pressing this button places the program into Program mode.  Here you can program from one to the total number of tracks in any order.  The programmed mode may be saved for future use.

Any time tracks have been programmed and saved, MyCDplayer can be made to come up in Program mode if the option Auto Prog Mode is selected under Set Options.

To program any number of tracks, press the Program button and then the Clear button.  Now double click on any track in any order.

Also see:


Shuffle Button

Pressing the Shuffle button places the program into shuffle mode.  The tracks are arranged in random order and the system goes into play mode.

Any excluded tracks are not included in the shuffle.


Exclude Tracks

You may mark tracks so they will be skipped automatically every time you insert that CD.  Click on the track to be excluded, then press the Alt and Delete keys at the same time.

Tracks marked in this fashion will not be selected for play in Normal, Sample and Shuffle modes.  They are programmable in Program mode.

If you wish to skip tracks without excluding them as above, select Program mode and double click on the undesired track.  The track is now unprogrammed.

Reset excluded Tracks

Click on the track to be reset, then press the Alt and Insert keys at the same time.


Sample Button

In Sample mode the program will "sample" each enabled track for 20 seconds.

To stop sampling, press the same button again, which is now labeled "Normal".  The player will continue playing normally.


Save Button

Press this button to save any changes you made to the library.


Display Button

This button toggles the View display between the CD Title entry and Track Misc fields.


Enter CD Title
Enter CD Title (max 60 chars)

Note:  Each CD title must be unique.  If you wish to use the same title, use "#1", "#2", or something similar to distinguish one from the other.

Note1:  Ampersand (&) usage:  If you use an ampersand in a CD or Artist Title, it will show up as an underline on the main display.  To rectify this, enter two ampersands (&&).

To enter information for a particular CD, enter the CD title from the View window and press the Save Button.  Now select Libr from the main menu and enter all the information from within the library.

Also see:  Enter CD Misc from within the library.

The title entry line may be replaced with the Track Misc line by clicking on the Display button.


Enter CD Artist
Enter CD Artist  (max 50 chars)

Enter the CD Artist.  If there are different artists for different tracks, enter them in Track Misc.


Category Button

You may categorize each CD in up to 2 categories.  The Category button is a toggle control which toggles between category 1 and 2.

Remember, you can have up to 4 of your own categories by changing Other1 - Other4 from within the

Set Options menu.


Category List

Displays a list of predetermined categories to select from.

You may create up to 4 of your own categories by renaming Other1 - Other4 from within the Set Options menu.


Calendar General

Displays one of 3 convenient appointment calendars/diaries.  Under Options you can set the default calendar.  It is the one that will be loaded automatically.  Others may be selected from the  File menu.

Enter (edit, delete, select, copy etc.) text as with any other Windows editor, such as NotePad.  Once you enter text into the day's NotePad, that day will be highlighted in red on the calendar as soon as you leave that date.

Click on any day to bring up the NotePad for that day.

Click on the scroll bar arrows to change the month.

Click in the area between the arrows to change the year.

You may also drag the center knob to change many years at once.

DO NOT manipulate the appointment book files directly, they must remain unaltered.

Note:

In the interest of speed and program size, the size of each appointment book is currently set to approx. 32,000 characters.  You will be told when you are getting close.  A later version (after Windows 95) will overcome this limitation.  (You will most likely never reach that limit!)

It is a good idea to periodically clean out your appointment books with Delete Range of Dates from the Calendar File menu.


Output Book Entries

Output book entries to the Windows Write program, from where they may be printed or otherwise manipulated.  It is also a method of finding out what forgotten items are still taking up space in your book.  The data in the Write program is in a temp file which will be deleted.  Don't forget to exit the Write Program when you are finished with it.

Select Entire Book and Output to output the entire book.

Select Range of Dates to output a range of dates only.  Then click on the calendar for either the start or end date as instructed on the panel.  Select Output to output the data.


Delete Range of Dates

Select Range of Dates to be deleted.  Click on the calendar for either the start or end date as instructed on the panel.  Select Delete to delete the data.


Problems

Cannot load CD

No sound

Problems recording with microphone


No CD
No Audio CD

Before MyCDplayer (or any other CD player) can play audio CD's through your CD ROM drive, it must first be "connected" to the Windows software via a driver.  Bring up the Media Player and click on "Device".  If you do not see "CD Audio", then you must install the MCI CDaudio driver.

The information below assumes you have properly installed your CD ROM drive and sound board.

Win3.x:

See the topic "Installing and Configuring Drivers" in the Windows 3.1x User's Guide.  It will direct you to the Windows Control Panel where you double click on "Drivers" which then displays the installed drivers for you.  Look for "[MCI] CD Audio".  If it is not yet installed, click on "Add" and find "[MCI] CD Audio".  Select it and click OK.  You must restart Windows for the new driver to take effect.  Your driver is now installed and MyCDplayer should be able to load and play your CD.

Win95:

From the Control Panel select "Add Hardware".  Do not let Windows search for new hardware.

Under "Hardware Types:" select "Sound, video and game controllers"

Under "Manufacturers" select "MicroSoft MCI".

Under "Models:" select "CD Audio Device (Media Control)".

Follow the rest of the instructions.


No sound

When a user is unable to hear an audio CD being played, it is commonly due to one or more of the following problems:

•	The CD-ROM drive is not installed properly.

•	An MCI CD audio driver is not installed.

•	The CD-ROM drive and the sound card are not connected.

•	CD Audio volume set too low or muted.

The CD-ROM drive is not properly installed.

Place a data CD in the CD-ROM drive and make sure you can view the files with the File Manager.  If you can, then  the CD-ROM drive is properly installed. If not, verify your disk drivers (ESDI, SCSI, Proprietary, MSCDEX) and make the appropriate configuration changes so that you can view the files on a data CD.

An MCI CD audio driver is not installed.

The CD-ROM is not connected to the sound card.

If the CD-ROM is playing and there is no sound coming from the sound card speakers, try plugging the speakers or headphones into the audio jack on  the face of the CD-ROM drive. If you get sound, check the internal or  external audio connection between the CD-ROM drive and the sound card.  There should be a small 3-wire cable (not the flat ribbon cable) going from your CD drive to the sound card.

CD Audio volume set too low or muted.

Bring up the mixer control and make sure the CDaudio volume is set properly and not muted.

For Win95 systems see Microphone problems for more volume help.


Microphone problems

Bring up your mixer control and select the microphone recording volume.  Set the volume to the desired level, making sure the volume is not muted.

Windows95

Do you have the speaker icon in your task bar tray?

If you do not have the speaker icon, you must either enable it or install it.  From the Control select Multimedia and check "show volume control".  To install it, from the Control Panel select Add/Remove Programs - Windows Setup - scroll down to Multimedia - select Details - scroll down to Volume Control - check it and click OK.

If you do have the speaker icon, double click on it, select Options - Properties and enable all the volume controls you are interested in.  Then make sure the volume on the controls is up and not muted.

For the microphone volume select "Recording" under "Adjust volume for"  from the Properties window above.  Select Microphone from the drop down list and press OK.  You should now see all your selected recording controls.  Under the microphone volume press Advanced and select the automatic gain control.  Set the recording volume to the desired level.


Library File

     Backup CD

     Output to File

     Change Library Font

     Delete CD


LibrarySearch
Search

Enables you to search all CDs for a given search string


Library View

Determines which CDs are listed on the display.

All

Every CD in your library is listed alphabetically, either by title or by Artist, depending on the Option selected.

Category

Same as All, except only the selected category is displayed.

Index Sort

All CDs are displayed sorted by their Index number.


LibraryCD
CD Number

The CD number is assigned by the library.  It serves as a counter.


LibraryIndex
Index

Besides the track and title information, you may also enter a "CD Index" value.  It is meant to serve as an ID for your CD (more likely its case) so you can easily find it in your storage space.  Simply enter a desired number and label your CD with that number.  Now you can go from your library directly to that CD without having to read the title on the case.


LibraryTitle
Title or Artist

This field contains either the Title of the CD, or the Artist, depending on the Option selected.

If you have created a Notes file for the selected CD, the title will be preceded by an asterisk.


LibraryViewing
Viewing

Shows the selected viewing category.  To select a category, click on View on the main library menu.


LibraryCategory


Library

General

Changing Entries

Library Display

Notes


Library Display

Click on area you need help with:  (maximize window)


Changing Entries
Changing Entries in the Library

You may change the CD Title, CD Artist, CD Track Titles and CD Index in the appropriate fields at the bottom of the display after clicking on the desired item in the titles and/or track lists.

Also see:  Track Data Entry

CD data may also be imported.

Import CD Data


Library General

Whenever you insert a CD into your drive and press the Load button on MyCDplayer, the program "loads" that CD and creates an image of it in memory.  Included with this image is an identification code of that CD.  If you then simply exit, that image is lost.  To preserve it in your library, you must Save the data.  Once in the library, the CD information will be located automatically every time the same CD is inserted and loaded.

The CD provides only track number and length of play information, therefore all other information must be entered by you, or you can obtain it from a Master Library on the Internet.  It is a lot of work to enter all the information for each CD, so be sure you regularly back up the file "CDlist.pak".  This may be accomplished from the  File menu by selecting Backup Library, or any other method you have established for backing up your system.

A CD may be entered into the library without any information, except for the CD title.  Changes may be made at a later time from within the library.


LibrOutputToFile
Output to File

Output library data to a file from where it can be printed or otherwise manipulated.  Any output is based on the View Category.

Titles and Artists

Outputs each CD's Title and Artist only.

Single CD

Outputs CD Title and Artist and all tracks with Titles of currently selected CD.

Entire Category

Outputs CD Title and Artist and all tracks with Titles for all CD's in the library.


LibrBackup
Backup CD

The File menu includes a feature to backup your CD library file.  Once you select Backup Library, you are prompted with: "a:\CdList.pak".  You may change the path and it will be remembered.


LibrDelete
Delete CD

To delete an entire CD from the library, select that CD in the library window and select Delete CD from the File menu.  You will not be able to restore that CD.


LibrChgFont
Change Font

This feature enables you to change the font used in the library display.  The font will be remembered.


Win95 Volume

Check this box if you want MyCDplayer to bring up the Win95 mixer control.


Minimized Icon
Display on Minimized Icon

Determines if the CD track title or track time remaining is displayed on the minimized icon.


LibraryTrkDispl
Track Display

Displays track number, track length and track title for the selected CD, as well as the total length of all tracks.


LibraryTrackEntry
Track Information Entry  (max 45 chars each)

Track Title

Click on the first track and then enter the track title at the bottom.  When you have entered the title, press Enter on the keyboard and the program will automatically go to the Track Misc field and then to the next track.

Track Misc

The Track Misc field is intended for anything else you wish to record about the track, such as Artist if it is different from the CD artist.

If you make any changes to the loaded CD data, the player will stop when you exit from the library in all modes except the Normal mode.


Operation

Load CD / Select a Drive

 	Select a Track

 	Enter CD Information

 	Exclude Tracks

 	Reset excluded Tracks


Alarm

MyCDplayer may be called from an alarm program like our WorldClock program which has been included with the MyCDplayer installation.  See that program for help and instructions.


Library Notes

You may create a Notes file for each of your CDs.  Each CD that has a Notes file will have an asterisk ahead of the CD Title (or Artist) in the library display window.

The file will be identified by the data base CD ID with a ".nte" extension.  It can be manipulated from within the Notes window - including deletion of the file, but you can also use any text editor as long as the file is again saved as a ".nte" file.

Currently there will be one file for each CD.  We may provide the capability to combine them all in a large file in a future revision.

If, during Internet Master Library import, the track extended data does not fit into the MyCDplayer library, a temporary file will be created which you may then copy into the Notes file.  Extended data is identified by the following keywords:

EXTD=

This is an extended CD title line.

The equal sign is immediately followed by the data, up to 80 characters.  There may be multiple EXTD= lines.

EXTTn=

This is an extended CD track title line.

Where n is the track number.  Numbers run 0 to maxtrack-1.

The equal sign is immediately followed by the data, up to 80 characters.  There may be multiple EXTTn= lines.

We are planning to enable you to upload extended lines in a future version.  To make this possible, please enter any data in the above format, paying attention to the fact that track 1 line becomes EXTT0=.  (Not our choice ;-)).  We are assuming you will have other types of data, therefore we will require that each extended block be terminated with either /EXTD or /EXTT on a new line.  So you could have something like this:

EXTD=data............

EXTD=data............

/EXTD

EXTT0=data............

EXTT0=data............

EXTT5=data............

EXTT5=data............

EXTT10=data............

EXTT24=data............

/EXTT


Category Display

Alternately displays Category 1 and Category 2 for the selected CD.


Track Order

Shows the order the tracks will be played in.  This column has meaning only in Program and Shuffle modes.


TrackLen
Track Length

Track length in minutes and seconds.


Main Help

Selecting Help from the main Main MyCDplayer menu brings up a few selected Help subjects.  Just remember - Help is always just an F1 click away.

While the Help file is on your display, clicking on Contents always takes you to the top of the Help system.


Enter CD Misc
Enter CD Misc  (max 60 chars)

Enter any other information about the CD.


Registration Form

Select Registration Form from the Main Help menu, fill out (type into the form) and print it.  Mail the form together with your check or money order to the address indicated.


Credit Card
Credit Card Registration

You may go to our web site (http://www.fix.net/~wjohn) and register via secure credit card, or download a registration program to register off-line.

You may also call in your credit card information.  See our web site under credit card registration for the  phone number.  Currently it is our office number,  it should change to an 800 number in the future.


CompuServe
CompuServe Registration

You may also register through CompuServe (GO SWREG).  The ID for MyCDplayer is: 4318.


Enter Reg Code
Enter Registration Code

After you receive your registration certificate, select File - Register Program from the main MyCDplayer menu to actually register your copy of the program.   You MUST key in both the name and the number EXACTLY as they appear on your registration certificate, including dashes.  As soon as you do, your copy of the program will assume the "registered" mode.


Master Lib local
Master Library  (local)

MyCDplayer also offers the ability to store the Internet Master Library on your local computer for easy local import into the MyCDplayer library.  Also see: Master Library (internet)

Here is what you must consider:

The library is huge (over 57,000 entries as of 22 Apr 97 - growing by 100-200 a day).

The file to download is currently 11 Megs and unzips to 36 Megs.

The downloadable file is up to two months or so behind the actual data base on the Internet.  (The latest file we downloaded Apr 12, 97 was dated Feb 3, 97.)

It took us 1 hr and 50 min to download the file at 26.4K.

The file is available at:

ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications/xmcd/xmcd-cddb.zip

and

ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/tk/tkan/xmcd-cddb/xmcd-cddb.zip

We also have a link to it on our web site which will always be the most up to date URLs.

Installation on your computer:

1.  Create a directory "cddb" any where on your computer.

2.  Unzip the library file to that directory.

Your unzipper must be set to preserve the subdirectories.  This may not be your default.  If not, all files will end up in your cddb directory.  The cddb directory will actually be empty if done correctly.

The final result will be the following directory structure (Anything else will NOT work!):

cddb

     blues

     classica

     country

     data

     folk

     jazz

     misc

     newage

     reggae

     rock

     soundtra

Import from local library:

Load the CD to be imported into MyCDplayer and select Import CD Data from the File menu.  Select local cddb data base.

If you have already established a category for your new CD, that category will automatically be used for the search - provided it is a valid cddb category.  Otherwise, you may select a category to be searched, or search all categories.  The "all categories" search will take 15 or more seconds depending on the speed of your processor.

Once data has been imported from the library, you may wish to perform some  maintenance, such as reversing the Artist's name and categorizing CDs with MyCDplayer's categories.  The Master Library categorizes all CDs, but only some of them match the many more MyCDplayer categories - if they match, they  will be entered into the MyCDplayer categories.  The Master Library has a large "Misc" category - we import them as category "None".


Import CD Data

Whenever you select to import, the program will be placed into stopped Normal mode.

You may import CD data into the MyCDplayer library from 3 sources:

  1.  Master Library (internet)

  2.  Master Library (local)

  3.  Win95 CDplayer Library


Win95 CDplayer Library

My CDplayer will import the size limited CD library from the Win95 and similar CD players.  The library is expected to reside in the Windows directory as:  CDplayer.ini

Load the CD to be imported into MyCDplayer and select "Import CD Data" from the File menu.  Select "Win95 Library".


Auto Internet Library

When checked, causes program to check the Internet library if the CD is not in the local MyCDplayer library.