DVDProfilerCast v1.2.2.1 ________ Contents System requirements Installation Uninstalling User's Guide Security History License Conditions ___________________ System requirements This program is mainly tested on Windows 2000 SP1 with Internet Explorer 5.5 SP1, but has been reported working on Windows 95, 98, ME, and NT as well. If you have any problems, try upgrading your Internet Explorer. I am not sure what version is required, but newer is always better (if some people suggest that it is better to stay with the old and tested versions, please kick them on behalf of all the people who have to suffer from bugs in code included with the only purpose of supporting legacy systems). This version is tested with DVD Profiler v1.1.0 and it might not work with newer versions. A redesign of the IMDB pages could also prevent the program from working. ____________ Installation You do not need to run any installation procedure to use DVDProfilerCast, simply run the executable. Please refer to the Windows documentation to find information about adding it to the start menu. To see the version of DVDProfilerCast, right click the file and select "Properties" and then select the version tab, or press the about box in DVDProfilerCast. ____________ Uninstalling Besides removing the files, you can delete the registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Bevelstone Production I/S \DVDProfilerCast If "DVDProfilerCast" is the only key in "Bevelstone Production I/S", you can delete "Bevelstone Production I/S" as well. You should only try to remove the key if you know how the registry works, as a wrong action can severely damage your operating system. It is recommended simply to leave the registry keys untouched - they are too small to have any impact on your computer. ____________ User's Guide This program is a simple wizard that will let you select the correct cast list on IMDB and have the information entered directly into DVD Profiler. It contains three pages that will be described in the order they appear in: 1) Locate Cast List: This page let you browse to the right cast list for a movie. At the top you will have an address field (not that you will really need it) and a "Back" button. You will also find a button taking you back to the IMDB search page. Below the browser, you will find a button "Configure Name Match" – please read below for details about this option. Using the search functionality of IMDB, find the right movie, and then select the "Full cast and crew" link in the left navigation bar. When this page is loaded, the "Next" button in the wizard should become active, and you should press it. If you have the 'Go from "main details" to "full cast and crew" automatically' option checked, the browser will automatically go the "Full cast and crew" page of a movie as soon as you have pointed it to the main details for the movie. Notice that you cannot display the main details of a movie with this option turned on. TIP: To move to a page you have in an Internet Explorer window, drag the little icon in the left side of Internet Explorers address to the browser control in DVDProfilerCast. 2) Edit Cast List: This page let you edit the cast list before entering it into DVD Profiler. On the top, you can set options for how the names from IMDB should be used. Some actors are credited with different names in different credits list. The option "Use IMDB actor name" will use the standard name used in IMDB, no matter how the actors was credited in the selected movie. Select "Use actor name as it appears in the credits" to use the name the actors was credited under in the selected movie. In case there are several actors with identical names, IMDB will add an index to the names to distinguish between them. If you have selected to use IMDB actor names, you can choose to include this index in your database, by selecting the "Include IMDB actor index..." option. Some actors are listed with a title, mostly in case they have a military grade. You can choose if this title should be included as part of the first name when the data is inserted in DVD Profiler. Please see the section about "Name Matching" below for details. The cast list can be edited by selecting an entry and then click the field to change. Do not click too fast, as this will be regarded as a double click. Notice that the two name modes (IMDB or Credits) store the names independently, so changes to a name in one mode will not be visible if you switch to the other. The Role is shared between the two modes. You can enter text into the "Title" and "Index" columns at any time, but they will be ignored if the appropriate checkbox is not selected. Use the search/replace functionality on the right side to make changes that should be done to all role texts (for example to remove the text "(voice)" from animated movies, as this is obvious information. Make sure all "Role" texts are 34 characters or shorter. Longer texts will be marked with red. You will not be allowed to continue to the last page as long as a role exceeds the 34 characters limit. You cannot delete actors - if needed, do this from DVD Profiler after the data has been inserted. Below the cast list, you can find the length of the currently displayed role text, a couple of buttons to jump between the role texts that are too long. You will also find an IMDB reference text. This text is the unmodified actor line from IMDB, allowing you to verify that the parsing of name and role was done correctly. At the bottom, you can select if you want to enter the data in automatic or manual mode. It is recommended to use the automatic, but if you have information in the existing cast list you want to preserve, or you want to make sure the used actor name match the existing name used in DVD profiler, you can use the manual method. 3) Import data into DVD Profiler: As DVD Profiler does not support automation (a way of interacting with an application from a program without using the GUI), the data is entered by sending messages to DVD Profiler that emulates the messages that would be send by Windows as you press the different buttons in DVD Profiler. You will need to follow the instructions provided in "Action required" in order to bring DVD Profiler to a state from which DVDProfilerCast can control it. If you selected automatic mode on the second page, you will not have to do anything, as soon as you see DVDProfilerCast has started to interact with DVD Profiler. In manual mode you will have to select the right actor - or add the actor incase he or she is not present in the database - for each entry. In case you made an error, delete the actor from DVD Profiler by selecting the entry and pressing the "Remove" button, then select "Repeat Previous" in DVDProfilerCast until the right actor is selected. If you go too far back or do not want to add this actor, press "Skip this actor". In case something goes wrong, you can try to close the "Assign Actors" dialog in DVD Profiler, then use "Restart this actor" to restart the import. When the "Required actions" box is empty, all cast members have been added, and you should close the "Assign Actors" dialog in DVD Profiler and save your changes. Press "Next" to start with a new movie or press "Cancel" to close DVDProfilerCast. Name Matching: DVDProfilerCast will try to split a name up in first, middle and last name from a single text string displayed by IMDB. Normally using the last word for last name, the first word for first name, and any remaining text as middle name can do this. However consider this fictive actor name: "Lt. John van Doe Jr.". There the first name should be "Lt. John" (or just "John" according to your preferences) and the last name should be "van Doe Jr.". To handle this, you can define a list of words that should be regarded as titles, a list of words that should be regarded as part of the last name instead of a middle name, and a list of words that should be regarded as an extension to the last name. You can edit the list of these words by pressing the "Configure Name Match..." button on the first wizard page. Each list lets you add and delete words, as well as restore the list to the list build into DVDProfilerCast. However, you can also choose to let DVDProfilerCast update this list for you, as long as you have "Update Notification" enabled. ________ Security The build in HTML browser in the about box will open a connection to the host "bevelstone.xs4all.nl". In theory this would make it possible to extend DVDProfilerCast with the functionality to run programs or code based on instructions put on this page - for example code that will send a file from your computer to a server on the net. Sending a cookie file with credit card information would be an obvious use. DVDProfilerCast does of course not contain such functionality. The only data send is: - The current version of DVDProfilerCast. - A string identifying which pages has been displayed. - The time the last page was displayed. - The local time. The only commands that can be received are: - Display the browser in the about box. - Open the about box automatically. - Store information about which pages has been displayed. - Change the URL displayed to another server. This limited functionality keeps your system safe, even if the server is hacked. The worst thing that can happen is that you are forwarded to a web site with questionable contents. If you do not trust DVDProfilerCast to live up to the above statements, you should: 1) Turn of the Update Notifications in the about box. To avoid the about box to contact the server the first time you open it (for the real paranoid cases out there), you can set this option by adding the registry DWORD value: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \Software \Bevelstone Production I/S \DVDProfilerCast \LiveMessage \EnableLiveMessage This value should be set to 0 (zero). 2) Get a personal Firewall. A personal firewall can monitor network traffic to check that no connection is made anyway (after all, you just said you did not trust DVDProfilerCast). You should already be running one, as any application can open a connection sending confidential data without you notice anything. _______ History 2001-05-05: Version 1.2.2.1 Bug fix: The "Edit Actor" window will no longer be opened and closed 50 times for each actor when running DVDProfilerCast in manual mode. 2001-04-07: Version 1.2.2 Bug fix: Version 1.2.0 and 1.2.1 would loop 100 times, then give up if the actor has a "title" and was already in the database. Bug fix: DVDProfilerCast was limiting role texts to 34 characters, while DVD Profiler can actually handle 35. 2001-03-28: Version 1.2.1 Bug fix: When using automatic mode version 1.2.0 could loop infinitely if an actor already was present in the database, but the case of the characters did not match the one used in IMDB. Version 1.2.1 will change the existing actor name to match the name used in IMDB. Minor update: As the majority of users prefer to keep the IMDB index, DVDProfilerCast will now default to this setting. However if you have manually changed the setting at any time, the last used setting will be the default. Minor update: Improved the parsing of IMDB pages with limited information about the movie. This is however not a perfect solution and some problems could still occur. 2001-03-22: Version 1.2.0 Major update: This version supports DVD Profiler 1.1 (it is unknown if it still works with DVD Profiler 1.0.2). Minor update: The Next button on the last wizard page is disabled until the last actor is entered. To start over, use "Back" to get to the first page, then browser to the movie again (for example use back, then follow the link again). This way you can't loose your changes to the cast list simply by pressing Next twice by accident. Minor update: In manual mode, DVDProfilerCast will highlight the best matching actor instead of just defaulting to the first match. Note: This version is slower than the previous versions due to a change in the DVD Profiler user interface. Note: As of this version DVD profiler 1.02 is no longer supported. It might work, but nothing will be done to correct any problems. 2001-02-06: Version 1.1.4.1 Bug fix: Movies where the cast list is followed by a section with the title 'Other crew' is now handled correctly. 2001-02-04: Version 1.1.4 Minor update: The buttons jumping to the next long cast role text automatically enters edit mode. Minor update: "San" and "Del" added to the last name prefix list. Bug fix: Long role texts were displayed in yellow when editing another column in the entry. They are now displayed in red for consistency and increased readability. New Feature: The search/replace functionality of the role texts has been expanded with search without replace, as well as Search/Replace in the selected role only. Minor update: Progress indicator added. New Feature: Added a speed setting adjusting how often DVDProfilerCast tries to manipulate DVD Profiler's user interface. Minor Update: The Back button of the browser is now disabled when it is impossible to go further back. 2001-01-21: Version 1.1.3 Bug fix: Some users reported DVDProfilerCast could freeze on long cast lists. Some code has been changed to make it more stable, but as the problem has never been reproduced in a test environment it is not certain it is resolved. Bug fix: The cast list now handles empty strings correct when editing. New Feature: The length of the selected role text is now displayed, indicating how many characters should be removed if the text is too long. New Feature: Added two buttons to allow jumping directly between the entries with too long role texts. Minor update: Selected long role texts are now yellow instead of red to increase readability on the standard blue background. New Feature: About box identifying the current version of DVDProfilerCast. It also contains a small browser Window where new versions of DVDProfilerCast will be announced. Please read the section called "Security" for details. Minor Update: Cast lists in alphabetical order are now supported. New Feature: The unparsed text from IMDB is now displayed to make it easy to verify that the name was parsed correctly. New Feature: The browser can now automatically go to the "full cast and crew" page when the "main details" page is displayed. An option has been added to the browser page to control this feature. New Feature: The settings are saved and restored next time DVDProfilerCast is started. 2000-12-20: Version 1.1.2 Bug fix: The cast did not enable the "Next" button if the search replace functionality was used to shorten the last entry. Minor update: Added some entries to the default name parsing lists - if you have manually changed your lists (pressed OK in the dialog is enough), please use the Restore button to enable the new entries. 2000-12-18: Version 1.1.1 New feature: Now handles "middle" names that are actually part of the last name (like "von"). The list can be configured. New feature: It is now impossible to add the actors until the roles are all 34 characters or shorter. I know this will annoy some, but it should lead to a higher quality of the contributed data. 2000-12-16: Version 1.1.0 New feature: This release is the first to contain a readme file. New feature: Support for Windows 98 SE (and probably also Windows 95, 98, ME and NT even though these are untested, and some of them might require updates of Internet Explorer and system components). New feature: A simple address bar and back button added to the browser interface. There is also a button taking you back to the search page of IMDB. Bug fix: Fixed wrong text displayed when the waiting for the user to correct a role text exceeding the max length. Bug fix: Now handles return and delete as expected in the browser window. Minor adjustment: Automatic mode is now the default. Minor adjustment: Removed Help button, as it was not doing anything anyway. 2000-12-13: Version 1.0.0.3 New feature: Can now handle titles in the actor's names (like Mr., Ms., Mrs., Lt. etc). These titles can be entered into DVD Profiler as part of the first name, or they can be left out. The list of words identified as titles can be configured. The list of words identified as extensions to the last name (Sr., Jr., etc) can also be configured. New feature: The cast list can now be edited before the data is entered into DVD Profiler, allowing running in automatic mode for all movies. New feature: It is now possible to enter more movies without restarting the program. Bug fix: In case an actor did not have any text for the played role, but did have a text like "(uncredited)", this text would end up in the "Index" fields instead of the "Role" field. Bug fix: Enter, delete and other characters now works as expected in the browser window (you can press enter to start the search). 2000-12-11: Version 1.0.0.2 New feature: Automatically add all members of the cast without user interaction needed (original version required that you selected each actor from the list of matching names). New feature: In case the text of the Role exceeds 34 characters, the program will no longer enter it automatically, but allow you to change the text before it goes into the database. Bug Fix: Parse Jr., Sr., III etc as part of the last name. 2000-12-10: Version 1.0.0.1 Original release. __________________ License Conditions As long as I'm not blamed for anything, feel free to copy, sell, reverse engineer, modify, and/or this program.