I just posted this in Lowpro's DVD Jacket Thread:
[Link: remotecentral.com]But I don't want to hijack his thread for help and support with this. Here is a copy of what I just posted there:
I like the update, very interesting ideas
you have in place. I am currently working on my
PCF and borrowing some of your ideas. I also use
DVD Profiler to keep track of my DVDs, as well
as two other ways. I have a DVD List in Excel,
that I keep more up to date for a quick and easy
e-mail to other people, and I just created an
Access Database to help "sort" my movies for my
PCF.
I think you might benefit from my access database,
provided you have Access installed. What I do
is export my DVD Profiler Database to CSV, only
dumping the following fields (only owned titles):
Title, Collection Number, Running Time, MPAA Rating,
Genre 1-3
Once I have this information in CSV format, I
then import it in to my Access Database (after
I remove all previous records). I have a few buttons
that help me sort and setup my DVD screens, which
all generate reports based upon your 9 DVD's per
page. So you click button "All Titles" and it
sorts the entire collection by Alphabetically
grouped by Alphabetical Letter, and again grouped
in to 9 DVDs per section, and continually borrowing
from you, placing a "A1" by the first group, "A2"
by the second page of A's, and so on. Basically
this builds your entire PCF structure. It's all
done in a report and based upon the information
from DVD Profiler.
Once I put the "pretty" on this, I plan on submitting
it here for other people to use to help sort and
create their PCF Page layout, but if you or a
few others would be interested, I would love another
person to test it and see if it matches their
collection, just to make sure.
I need someone with an existing collection to
try it to make sure it matches their current pages,
and you of course need Access (at least version
XP).
EDIT: It might be a while before I can send it,
I did find one flaw that I am working out. It
deals with the Multiple Disks in DVD Profiler.
I do it the same way that you do, create another
disk for the Supplemental/bonus/extra disks. This
will also use those on those pages. Right now
I am manually pulling them out, but I want to
change it so the database automatically pulls
the disk, and doesn't include it, but somehow
notes it next to each disk that needs a subpage.
I have a good idea on how to do this, but it will
take me a while to implement it.
Now to explain a little more. I have been looking for an easier way to get my DVD pages setup in my PCF. The maunal way just plain sucks, takes to long, and takes too much thinking. I miss the days of the easy Nudelist and how easy it was to create the list, but I want that with Lowpro's great layout and design for DVD Jacket Covers. I don't feel like trying to figure out how to do this programatically, as I just don't physicallly have the time to sit down and develop a program to do it, or the time to decode the XML page, but I did have the time to develope a quick and dirty Access Database to help sort out my DVD collection for an easier "layout" to help get the PCF structured.
Now I ran in to one problem, as noted above, the dreaded second disk/additional disk I have included in the DVD Profiler database, just like Lowpro has done. This is great in DVD Profiler, as it allows you to have each corresponding spot in your DVD labled with easy disk making the collection complete without gaps (for example Smallville Season 1 has 6 disks, and DVD Profiler, only makes it 1 slot and "collection" number, both Lowpro and I would have it listed in 6 slots, with 5 of them being manually entered). Now if you export your DVD Profiler collection to a CSV, as I mention above, it will pull all those extra disks that you maunally entered, or that you would want on a subpage in to the main pages, taking up space. We don't want that now do we?
So I have a solution in mind and am working on getting this database setup to use the solution and see how it works. It requires some manual changing of the discs to make them fall "under" the main disc, but it should allow for an "easier" layout setup for the PCF. Once I do a little more work on this, I will post some more information and a link to get the file.
Now I plan on keeping two different lists, one in DVD profiler, and a second in my Access database. Just adding the discs to each as I buy them, and using my Access Databse as layout guide. So you WON'T be exporting/importing from DVD Profiler every time.
