Manual : - SCORPION JUKEBOX Version: - v1.7.5 1-Installation Procedure 1.1 Download 30 days trial version from the website. 1.2 Run the Setup executable and follow the instructions. 1.3 Install all required codecs. If you do not know which codecs are required, refer to paragraph 2. 2-Installation of required music codecs For most users, we recommend the 'WINDOWS ESSENTIALS MEDIA CODEC PACK, since it contains most common DirectShow Filter and also the 'DS_MP3_Source_Filter' since playing mp3's sometime result in complete silence. By default, the following music types searched by the Scorpion: 'mp3, ogg, aac, wav, wma, ape & flac'. 2.1 Download 'WINDOWS ESSENTIALS MEDIA CODEC PACK' and install it. 2.2 Download 'DS_MP3_Source_Filter' and install it. 2.3 etc etc. 3-Jukebox Operation The Scorpion Jukebox can currently be operated using the keyboard only. To be more precise, it can be operated entirely with one finger, avoiding simultaneously pressed keys. To be able to control the player in an easy way, it uses 'Modes'. Each Mode has a different set of keys to react upon. For example the 'Volume Mode' where the keys 1-9 correspond to a volume level of 10%-90%. Another Mode id the 'Rating Mode' where the same keys 1-9 now correspond to a rating level varying from 10%(very bad song) - 90% (very good song). The main mode is the 'Playing Mode' which is always entered when pressing the key. Some keys work in ANY mode, such as the 'N', 'P' and , which stand for (N)ext song, (P)revious song and toggling between Pause/Unpause respectivily. TIP: Is each mode, the possible keys are shown in de textbox ! The following Modes are available: 3.1 Main Mode 3.2 Browse Mode 3.3 Volume Mode 3.4 Rating Mode 3.5 Search Mode 3.1 The 'Main Mode' The Main mode (or playing mode) is shown directly after startup. Currently it shows the text 'Scorpion'. From any screen or mode, the 'Main Mode' is entered after typing the or key. ( The user can Quit the player by typing Q. The different modes can be directly entered from this mode by typing the keys: {B, V, R or S} for the (B)rowse, (V)olume, (R)ating or (S)earch mode. 3.2 The 'Browse Mode' The browse mode allows the user to select any albums of its music collection. Two arrow keys are used to move up and down in the collection, sorted on alphabet. (at a later stage also sorted as album rating) The other two arrow keys are used to go deeper into the current selection or alphabetic character. (left and right arrow keys) When an album appears that the user wants to select, one simply types its number, as shown next to the covers. As a result, the selected album cover is shown together with its songs. Note that no more than 10 songs are displayed at once. Typing any numbers adds a song to the playlist. Typing the A adds (A)ll songs from the album to the playlist. To see the next 10 songs, the 'Down' arrow key is pressed, while the 10 previous songs are shown with a press of the 'Up' arrow key. 3.3 The 'Volume Mode' In this mode, the user can control the volume by typing just one number: '1' > 10% '2' > 20% .. .. '9' > 90% '0' > 100% or by typing the following keys: '+' > increases the volume with 1% '-' > decreases the volume with 1% 'H' > (H)alves the volume level. 'D' > (D)oubles the volume level. 'SPACE' > Toggles pause ON and OFF, which then corresponds to volume level of 0% 3.4 The 'Rating Mode' In this mode, the user can rate the currently played song by typing just one number: '1' > 10% = BAD SONG '2' > 20% = BAD SONG '3' > 30% = BAD SONG '4' > 40% = BAD SONG '5' > 50% = AVERAGE SONG '6' > 60% = AVERAGE SONG '7' > 70% = GOOD SONG '8' > 80% = GOOD SONG '9' > 90% = GOOD SONG '0' > 100% = BRILLIANT SONG. After a song has been rated by the user, the rating indicator changed colour. Bad songs are shown in RED, average songs are shown in ORANGE, good songs are shown in GREEN and billiant songs are shown in GOLD. Note that in Browse Mode, the songs also show the rating colour, so that the user can quickly see which songs are rated well, and which are not. 3.5 The 'Search Mode' The search mode allows the user to seacrh for album artists. The text that is typed by the user appears on the textbox. Each time a key is pressed, that covers are updated if a match is found. The user must press the key to close the Search Mode (or stop typing keys for a short while.) Searching for songs or parts of songs, will be implemented at a later stage. 4-Adding music albums New music albums are simply stored in the music directory on the hard-drive. To reflect the new or modified music directory within the player, removal of the 'MusicDatabase.dat' is required. (Later an inline refresh option will be added.) 5-Changing Settings file The settings file ('settings.ini') contains several settings that are not changed regularly. The following sections are available: 5.1 music_location 5.2 regular_expressions 5.3 system_settings 5.4 display_settings 5.5 file_changed_settings 5.1 'Music_location' This is the 'the currectly selected 'music folder'. If the user wishes to change this folder, a new location can be entered here. Easier though is to completely remove this line and save save the 'settings.ini'file again. Restarting the application, will ask the user to browse for a music, which reduces the chances of possible typing errors. 5.2 'Regular Expressions' Using the regular expressions, the user can specify HOW the scorpion jukebox determines the the CD_ARTIST, the CD_TITLE, the SONG_TITLE and the SONG_NUMBER. Also the number of directories that are used by the above regular expressions can be specified. Note that writing a good regular expression can be very difficult. Below are some of the parameters that are used within an expression: \\ : a single slash . : any character .* : zero or more characters .+ : one or more characters ( ) : part to capture < > : part to group (use this instead of []) (?: ) : part to skip ^abc : matches every thing EXCEPT 'abc' Example: A song in your music collection may be: H:\songs\The Doors - The best of - Cd1\The doors-01, Break on though.ape The jukebox retrieves the songname, the 'first directory' and the 'second directory' which result in: Songname = 'The doors-01, Break on though.ape' directory1 = 'The Doors - The best of - Cd1' directory2 = 'songs' If Use_two_dirs=no than both the CD_ARTIST and the CD_TITLE are taken from the text 'The Doors - The best of - Cd1'. If Use_two_dirs=yes than the CD_ARTIST is taken from the text='songs' while the CD_TITLE is taken from the text='The Doors - The best of - Cd1'. CD_ARTIST=(<^,^->*).* means : CAPTURE a GROUP that matches ZERO OR MORE characters that have NO COMMA's, and NO MINUS SIGNS in it, and has ZERO OR MORE characters to come. The result would be : match = 'The Doors' CD_TITLE=<^->*<-\s>*(.*) means: CAPTURE any text, that has a GROUP of characters WITHOUT any MINUS SIGN and a GROUP of characters WITH any MINUS SIGN or SPACES in front of it. The result would be : match = 'The best of - Cd1' 6-Program activation When the 30 days trial period has ended, the user can no longer use the scorpion jukebox. If the user wants to continue using the jukebox, activation of the program is required. To activate the program, one must go to the website (www.future-eggs.com), and click on purchase. After accepting the terms and filling in the required payment fields, an e-mail will be sent to confirm the payment. After a succesful payment the user will receive a second e-mail with an activation key. This key together with the user's email adress will unlock and activate the program. Any future updates will be accepted with this activation key. (unless the key is illegally spread around the internet.) 7-Troubleshooting In case of troubles using the program, first consult the FAQ on the website. If the question is not list, a short email can be sent to 'scorpion-jukebox@future-eggs.com'. Questions and answers will be updated at regular intervals. TIP: During alpha phase, the Scorpion creates a 'log.txt' and an 'error.txt' with information about the application. Consult these files at your own likings. Furthermore, a databasefiles is generated (MusicDataBase.dat) that speeds up the loading process. Deleting this file will result in a fresh databasefile after the Scorpion is restarted. 8-Bug report It this moment (during alpha fase development) bugs can be reported, but no guarantee is given that the email is replied on the matter. If you do report, keep email short and clear and label the email 'BUG REPORT'. Many bugs and issues are known and solutions are scheduled to be fixed or implemented. At the website, the TODO list will grow with new features, and will shrink when they are solved. 9-System Requirements Hardware Pentium 2.4 GHz Videocard 64 MB running 32bit mode , DirectX 9 compatible HDD 20MB + 10MB per 100 cd's tested video cards : Geforce Go 6200 (256 MB) 32bit@1200x800 (widescreen) Matrox Millenium P650 (64 MB) 32bit@1024x768 ATI RADEON 9800 PRO (128 MB) 32bit@1280x1024 Software Windows XP (Windows Vista is yet to be tested) DirectX 9 installed DirectShow Music Codecs installed Example: mp3: DS_MP3_Source_Filter ape: RadLight_APE_DirectShow_Filter Music collection using a directory per album including covers in jpg format Example: D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Cover.jpg D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-01, Lucky star.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-02, Borderline.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-03, Burning up.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-04, I know it.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-05, Holiday.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-06, Think of me.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-07, Physical attraction.mp3 D:\songs\Madonna - First album\Madonna-08, Everybody.mp3 or H:\music\Madonna\First album\art.jpg H:\music\Madonna\First album\01, Lucky star.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\02, Borderline.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\03, Burning up.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\04, I know it.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\05, Holiday.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\06, Think of me.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\07, Physical attraction.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\08, Everybody.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\04, I know it.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\05, Holiday.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\06, Think of me.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\07, Physical attraction.ape H:\music\Madonna\First album\08, Everybody.ape