Introduction |
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Introduction: (return
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The PC Jukebox Configurator is a stand-alone
application that will allow you to set up all of your preferences before
launching The PC Jukebox. Once you have
built your Music Library and set any other options that you would like, it will
not be necessary to run the Configurator again, unless you would like to alter
any of your choices. Many, but not all,
of the options that are available in The PC Jukebox Configurator are also
available to you within The PC Jukebox itself.
The options that are also available within The PC Jukebox have been
marked with an asterisk (*).
Please refer to the rest of this document for a detailed explanation of
all available choices and options.
Music Libraries Screen: (return
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Music
Path:
In this box, enter the path of the
parent folder where your music is located.
When the Music Library is built, it will search for all MP3 files
located in this folder and any of it's subfolders. For example, if you enter C:\ in the text box,
The PC Jukebox will search your entire C drive for MP3 files and add them to
your library. If, however, you entered
C:\Music in the text box, The PC Jukebox would start in that folder and only
add MP3 files that were located in that folder and any of it's subfolders. By starting at a subfolder you can greatly
reduce the time it takes to build your Music Library.
Automatically Check This
Folder For Changes On Each Startup?:
Checking this box will instruct The PC
Jukebox to monitor your Music Library folder (and it’s subfolders) for any
changes. If the program detects that any
songs have been added, deleted, moved or updated inside of that folder, it will
ask you if you’d like to update your Music Library when you start either the
main program or the Configurator. Of
course, you can still do a manual update to your Music Library at any
time. And, as always, you can turn this
feature on and off at will.
Music Library:
Select
the particular Music Library you wish to load into The PC Jukebox. By default, only one Music Library exists,
named ‘MusicLibrary1’. If you have
created additional Music Libraries, they will appear in this list as well.
You MUST have, at a minimum, Version 2.7 of the Microsoft Data
Access Components installed on your PC or the application will not be able to
communicate with the Music Library file. You can download these
components by visiting www.thepcjukebox.com
and visiting the Downloads page.
Build Music Library and
Update Music Library Buttons:
IMPORTANT—Any MP3
file that does not have an Artist, Title and Album tag will be added to the
Music Library with an entry of ‘Unknown
Artist’, ‘Unknown Title’, or ‘Unknown Album’, respectively.
When this button reads
'Build Music Library' it means that your Music Library currently contains no
songs. Clicking this button will create
your Music Library. The PC Jukebox will
search for all MP3 files in the Music Path (entered above) and extract the ID3
Tag information for each song. A new
record will then be created in the Music Library file (specified in the Music
Library Path above) for each of the songs found. The PC Jukebox will NOT be able to function
unless the Music Library is built.
When this button reads
'Update Music Library', it means that your Music Library has already been
created. If you have added new songs in
the Music Path or have updated the tag information for songs that were
previously added or skipped, clicking this button now will bring your Music
Library up to date with all of the changes and additions. Separate lists are created for all files that
were added, updated, or skipped (due to incomplete tag information) and can be
viewed when the update process has completed.
Clear Music Library Button:
Clicking this button will
allow you to remove all records from the selected Music Library. However, if you proceed with this function
and it is the only available Music Library, you will no longer be able to use
The PC Jukebox until you have rebuilt your Music Library (see item directly
above).
Delete Music Library Button:
Clicking this button will
delete the Music Library that is currently displayed in the Music Library
dropdown list. All of the records in
that library will be permanently destroyed and the library will be removed form
the list. This action cannot be undone
so please use this button with caution.
Create Log File Checkbox and
View Log File Button:
Each time you create or
update your Music Library, you have the option to create a log file of the process. The log will contain information about each
song that was added, updated or skipped.
The log file can be created in XML or straight text format.
If this option is selected,
the log file will be created in the same folder as the application executable
(normally C:\Program Files\The PC Jukebox).
The file will be named according to the following format:
'MusicLibraryLog-mmddyyyy-hhmmss' (where mmddyyyy represents the Month, Day and
Year, i.e. 10062003 for October 6, 2003 and hhmmss represents the current Hour,
Minute and Second in 24 hr format, i.e. 142730 for 2:27:30 pm). The file format extension will be either .txt
or .xml, depending on your selection.
The one advantage to the XML file is that it groups the categories
together. In other words, all added
files are grouped together regardless of when the program actually added them
to the Music Library. In the raw text
mode, files are added and displayed in the log according to when the program
processed them. So, in that case, the
log file could contain an added song, then a skipped song, then another added
song, then an updated song, and so on whereas the XML file will keep them all
grouped together.
To view a newly created log
file, just click the 'View Log File' button immediately after it is
created. You can then print it out just
by right clicking anywhere in the document and selecting 'Print' from the
menu. To view previously created logs,
navigate to the application's root folder in a Windows Explorer (normally
C:\Program Files\The PC Jukebox) and locate the log file you wish to view.
Automatically Download Cover
Art During Build/Update Checkbox:
Selecting this checkbox will
instruct The PC Jukebox Configurator to look for matching cover art on the
internet for each MP3 file that does not already have an image embedded inside
of it. If you do not have a current
active connection to the internet, this option will be ignored. The PC Jukebox will do its best to locate the
appropriate album cover. This process is
based on the ID3 tag information of each file.
The more accurate and complete the tags are, the better the results of
this process will be. Please be advised,
however, that this process is not 100% accurate, and occasionally an incorrect
album cover will be associated with the song.
This can be corrected at a later time, from within The PC Jukebox
itself.
Attempt To Update Blank ID3
Tags From Filenames and/or Folders:
If
several, or any, of your MP3 files have incomplete tags, The PC Jukebox can
attempt to fill those in by examining the file name and/or the folder where the
file is located. For example, if your
folder structure looks something like C:\MP3s\Beatles\Abbey Road\01 – Come
Together.mp3, you can tell The PC Jukebox to fill in your tags by looking for
the Artist Name\Album Name\Track Number – Song Title. To do this, you would fill in the text box
with the following: %A\%B\%K - %T
Alternatively, if you songs look like this: Beatles – Come Together – Abbey Road –
01.mp3, you would fill in the text box with: %A - %T - %B - %K Please feel free to send any questions
regarding this process to questions@thepcjukebox.com.
Automatically Launch The PC
Jukebox After Build Update:
Selecting this checkbox will
instruct The PC Jukebox Configurator to immediately close itself and start The
PC Jukebox as soon as it finishes an initial build or a subsequent update of
the Music Library. This simply saves the
user the manual step of clicking the Save And Start The PC Jukebox button.
Album Covers Screen: (return
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If you chose NOT to automatically download your cover art
from the internet, you might need to fill out one item on this screen.
This screen will allow you to specify where The PC
Jukebox can find your Album Cover art. The
notations on this screen describe the method in which The PC Jukebox will
locate and display your cover art.
Please let us know if something does not make sense or you have any
questions about this process.
Options Screen: (return to top)
Touchscreen Mode?:
For users of touchscreens,
this option will eliminate the ‘mouse over’ color changes of the buttons. When this mode is turned off, the text on
each of the buttons will change color when the mouse moves over them, and then
will change back when the mouse is moved off.
However, when interacting with a touchscreen, the mouse pointer is not
moved off of the buttons after they are pushed.
This leaves the color of the text changed even though the user is not
touching the screen. This option simply
eliminates the text color change when the buttons are clicked. Additionally, the mouse cursor becomes
invisible when Touchscreen Mode is turned on, further giving the appearance of
a dedicated kiosk application.
Erase History On Startup?:
The PC Jukebox keeps a
history of all songs that are played, in order.
Selecting this option will direct The PC Jukebox to erase all previous
history and start new each time the program is launched. If you would like to keep your history from
session to session, make sure this option is unchecked.
Default To Album Cover View
On Startup?:
You can instruct The PC
Jukebox to automatically show the Album Covers screen instead of the Artist
List screen at startup by selecting this option.
Automatically Put The PC
Jukebox Into Random Mode On Startup?:
This checkbox instructs The
PC Jukebox to immediately select a song at random once it is completely
loaded. This simulates the user clicking
the Random Mode button manually.
Show Album Cover Frames?: *
This checkbox will allow you
to show or hide the frames that encompass each of the album covers
displayed. On older and/or slower
machines, these frame images may take a few seconds to initially load, slowing
down the overall performance of the program.
You can choose not to load these frame images at all, making the program
appear to load faster. Keep in mind
however that once each of the frame images has loaded for the first time, it
will not need to load again and the rendering of the image will be immediate. The program is much more attractive with
these frames turned on, but if initial performance is a priority, they can be
hidden with this option.
Show Song Tool Tips?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
allow you to display balloon type tool tips when your mouse hovers over a song
title button. The tool tip will include
the following information: Song Title, Artist, Album, Track Number, Duration,
Number Of Times Played, and Last Date and Time Played. Unchecking this box will suppress the display
of these tool tips.
Use ALL CAPS?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
display all dynamic text (mostly artist names and song titles) in all capital
letters (i.e Beach Boys would be displayed BEACH BOYS) regardless of how that
text actually appears in the ID3 tag.
Allow Songs To Appear In The
Queue Multiple Times?:*
When this option is enabled,
The PC Jukebox will not allow any song to be added to the queue if it already
is listed there, in any position. Once
the song has finished playing and is completely removed from the queue, it can
then be selected and added again. If
this option is turned off, a song can be added to the queue any number of
times.
Single Click Play?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
enable the user to play a song immediately without having to highlight it first
and then clicking the ‘Add Song To Queue’ button. Each song will be added to the queue as soon
as it is clicked on.
Automatically Display Now
Playing Screen?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
enable automatic display of the Now Playing screen. This screen will appear in
the user defined amount of time after a song begins, as long as there has been
no user interaction with The PC Jukebox.
This is similar to screen saver.
To disable the Now Playing screen, make sure this box is unchecked. However, you can still access the Now Playing
screen at any time by clicking on the 'Now Playing' button on the Artist List
or Album Cover screens.
Mouse Click Sound?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
tell The PC Jukebox to play a ‘clicking’ sound each time any button or album
cover is clicked (or touched). Uncheck
this box to suppress this sound.
Mouse Over Sound?: *
Selecting this checkbox will
tell The PC Jukebox to play a ‘clicking’ sound each time the mouse pointer
hovers over any button. Uncheck this box
to suppress this sound.
By Default, List Songs: *
Selecting one of these
buttons will determine the default order that songs are listed in when an album
cover is selected. Some users may prefer
to see the songs listed in the order that they originally appeared on the album
while others may prefer to see the songs listed in alphabetical order. Please be advised that in order to list the
songs by track number, the ID3 tags of each of the songs must include this
information. Any song that does not
include track number in it’s tag will be displayed with a track number of
0. The listing order can always be
changed on the fly by pressing the ‘List By’ button next to the songs listing.
Automatically Check Online
For New Version At Each Startup?: *
If you are running The PC Jukebox on a PC
with an active internet connection, you can tell the program to automatically
check for new releases each time it starts up.
If a new release is available, you will have the choice to download it
immediately or wait until a more convenient time. This feature will ensure that you always have
the most up to date version. Also, you
can manually check for a new release at any time by clicking the “Check For New
Version NOW” button.
Playlists Screen: (return to top)
Generate A Playlist For
Every Artist Button:
Clicking this button will
allow The PC Jukebox to search your Music Library and create a playlist for
each and every artist. Each individual
playlist will contain all of the songs for the artist, added in alphabetical
order. Once the playlists are created,
you can load them into The PC Jukebox, move the songs around, delete songs you
don't want, add songs from other artists, and save the playlist back
again. Both m3u and b4s formats are
supported so they can be utilized in other supporting applications. The PC Jukebox will create these files in the
Playlists folder located under the root folder for the application (normally
C:\Program Files\The PC Jukebox\Playlists).
Password Screen: (return to top)
Current Password:
Version 7.5 and above of The PC Jukebox
allows you to Password Protect certain areas of the program. These items include the Options screen, the
Queue Screen, the History screen, the Equalizer, the Restart Song button, the
Next Song Button, the Play/Pause button, the Mute button, the Minimize button
and the Power Off button. Simply type
the desired password into this box and select the areas of the program you wish
to protect. Don’t forget to click one of
the Save buttons at the bottom when you’re done!
Purchase Screen: (return to top)
Should you decide to
purchase The PC Jukebox, you will be provided with an Unlock Code which will
enable you to unlock the full version of the program. Until this code is entered, The PC Jukebox
will be limited to 10 trial uses. Furthermore,
within those 10 trial uses, The PC Jukebox will be limited to playing 10 songs
per use. Once this code is entered, The
PC Jukebox will be unlocked for unlimited use.
You can click on the ‘Visit
www.ThePCJukebox.com’ button to launch a browser and automatically be delivered
to the application web site. Click on
the ‘Purchase’ button to begin the registration process.