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               The application is "Freeware".

                Free for non-commercial use.

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Create your pictures & movies directory album with note for each one.
Can be copied on CD-ROM.

The database can contain:
   More than 9,000 records (1,500 pages), see "application components" for details;
   255 bytes length of the picture and movie file name
   Unlimited length of the notes and additional notes (RTF featured) 
   per picture (depend on the database limits: 2GB Microsoft Access 2000).
   All the files types (ole registered) are supported for multimedia.
   Picture files supported: BMP, GIF, JPG (JPEG), PNG, TIF (TIFF), EMF, WMF, RLE 
       and ICO (Icon) ;
   Pictures can be loaded into the database as BMP file format.
   Pictures can be Imported/Exported into/from the database.
   Microsoft GDI Plus library featured, Light & Enhanced version (XP only);
   Interpolation High Quality Bicubic to zoom pictures (XP Pro/Home version)


Application details:
   - Microsoft Visual Basic v6 SP5 (Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0a SP5)
   - Microsoft Windows Xp (Home, Professional)
   - Compiled and tested with OLE DB, ADO technology and 
     Microsoft Access 2002 database.
   - MDAC 2.70.9001.0
   - Computer of test:
      Intel(tm) Pentium III - Slot 1 - 450 Mhz - 100 Mhz FSB
      768 Mbyte of RAM
      GPU 64 Mbytes.


Compatible with all previous versions.

All files, *.xls, *.ppt, *.exe, *.pdf, *.rm, *.divx, *.mov, *.vob, *.mp3, *.m3u, *.au, *.snd, 
*.mid, *.midi, *.rmi, *.mpeg, *.mpg, *.m1v, *.mp2, *.mpa, *.mpe, *.mp2v, *.mpv2, 
*.wmz, *.wms, *.avi, *.wav, *.asf, *.asx, *.wax, *.wm, *.wma, *.wmd, *.wmv, 
*.wvx, *.wmp, *.wmx, *.aif, *.aifc, *.aiff, *.ivf, *.cda, *.bmp, *.jpg, *.gif, etc...
must be in a subdirectory, where the db file is placed, called "DATA";

Windows Media supported file type description:
  CD audio: .cda  
  Intel Indeo video technology: .ivf  
  Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF): .aif, .aifc, and .aiff  
  Windows Media audio and video files: .asf, .asx, .wax, .wm, .wma,
                                       .wmd, .wmv, .wvx, .wmp, and .wmx 
  Windows audio and video files: .avi and .wav 
  Windows Media Player skins: .wmz and .wms 
  Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG): .mpeg, .mpg, .m1v, .mp2,
                                       .mpa, .mpe, .mp2v*, and .mpv2 
  Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI): .mid, .midi, and .rmi 
  AU (UNIX): .au and .snd 
  MP3: .mp3 and .m3u 
  DVD video: .vob 
  To play .mp2v files, you must have a software or hardware DVD decoder 
  installed on your computer.


Supported file types:
  *.mov "QuickTime TM" player is required, www.apple.com.
    Video formats: AVI, DV, Motion JPEG, and MPEG. 
    Audio formats: AIFF/AIFC, Audio CD, MP3, Sound Designer II, 
                   System 7 Sound, uLaw (AU), and WAV 
    Still image formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG/JFIF, MacPaint, PICT, 
                         PNG, Photoshop (with layers), SGI, Targa, 
                         FlashPix, and TIFF 
    Animation formats: 3DMF, Animated GIF, FLC/FLI, Flash, and PICS 
    Other formats: KAR (Karaoke), MIDI, QuickDraw GX, QuickTime Image File, Text 
    For further details: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/specifications.html

  *.divx "DivX TM Bundle" is required, www.divx.com.

  *.rm "RealPlayer/RealOne TM" is required, www.real.com.
    A2B: .mes
    Active Stream Format:  .asf
    Audio File: .au
    Blue Matter Files: .bmo, .bmr, .bmt
    GIF File Format: .gif
    IBM EMMS Files: .emm
    Liquid Audio: .lqt
    MJuice Files: .mjf
    MP3 Playlist Files: .m3u, .pls, .xpl
    MPEG Files: .mp3, .mpeg, .mpa, .mp2, .mpv, .mx3
    MPEG Playlist File: .pls
    MPEG URL (MIME Audio File): .m3u
    Macromedia Flash: .swf
    Portable Network Graphics image files: .png
    QuickTime Files: .avi, .aiff 
    RAM Meta File: .ram, .rmm
    RealAudio, RealMedia: ra, .rm, .rmx, .rmj, .rms
    RealOne Music: .mnd
    RealPix: .rp
    RealText: .rt
    WAVE: .wav
    Windows Media Audio: .wma
    OTHER COMPATIBLE FORMATS
    RealJukebox Skins: .rjs
    RealJukebox Track Info Packages: .rmp

  *.exe, "Macromedia Flash Player TM", Macromedia, http://www.macromedia.com

  *.pdf, "Acrobat Reader TM", Adobe, http://www.adobe.com

  *.ppt, "Microsoft PowerPoint TM" is required, http://www.microsoft.com
  *.xls, "Microsoft Excel TM" is required, http://www.microsoft.com

Application components:
  You must install the version 2.7 of Microsoft MDAC_TYP.EXE:
        http://www.microsoft.com/data
  2.70.9001.0, the same version installed with Microsoft Windows XP, Home/Pro;
  DCOM98 are required for Windows 98SE;
  Microsoft GDI+ library is required if you install the XP version under Windows98SE:
        http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=32738
            the dll must be placed into the windows/system directory;
  Microsoft GDI+ library documentation:
        http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp
            Graphics and Multimedia - GDI+
  More than 9,000 records:
        If you have a database with a large number of files you must update the following 
        windows XP system parameter with "regedit":
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Jet\4.0\Engines\Jet4.0\MaxLocksPerFile 
        from 9500 (decimal value) to ANY NUMBER OF RECORDS (decimal value).

The directory structure is the following:

whatever   |whatever db file ".mdb"
 device\dir|"data" must exist
===========+======================
c:\db\...
      dir1\
            browser-dir1.mdb
	    \data
		 ...all files...
		 
      dir2\
            browser-dir2.mdb
	    \data
		 ...all files...
		 
      ...

To upload a movie and an image together, the file name must be 
the same. (ex.: mymovie.jpg mymovie.mov)
The file names are case sensitive.

Run images2.exe:

Main Menu:
  Thumbnail Quality: Select the quality of the reduced pictures

  Zoom Quality: Select the quality of the zoom pictures

	Nearest Neighbor = low
	High quality bicubic = high

	The settings above have effect on the time needed to display the pictures.

Loader:
  1) Select the path where you want to create the database and 
     click the "Create Database file new.mdb" button, then click the form menu 
     item "Open DB" to select the database file.
     You can protect your database with a password. The initial password is:
     dfltpwd
     You can encrypt your database by check the "Encrypt database"
     To change the database password you must open the database with the old
     password, then change the old with the new one and you can specify the
     encryption format.
     The above procedure will compact the database.
  2) Load a single file with dbl-click the picture file and click "Load picture".
     The "Note" can contain 2 unlimited fields and 255 byte reference string.
     To Paste text from the clipboard execute a click on the label "Paste Text",
     if you want to paste only the text, click on the "Paste RTF" if you want to 
     paste with the RTF extension.
     The file name cannot contain more than 255 characters.
     You can specify to include, or not, the RTF featured characters in 
     the note field.
     You can load the picture file into the database, so you can delete the file
     after you have loaded it, selecting the option "Load IN".
     If you want to put the picture file into the data directory you must
     select the option "Load OUT", the default.
     If the database is on CD-ROM or the file attributes are set on Read-Only,
     the "Loader" tab will not be activated.
     Load a file out of the DATA directory:
       Duplication denied:
         If the file to load is already loaded and you are loading it out of
         the DATA directory, the load procedure will stop with an error message.
     Load a file from the DATA directory:
       Duplication allowed:
         If the file to load is already loaded and you are loading it from the 
         the DATA directory, the load procedure will be executed.
  3) or Load multiple picture files with only click on "Load pictures" after 
     select the directory where are the files to load, without the RTF features.
     Load file/s out of the DATA directory:
       Duplication denied:
         If the file/s to load is already loaded and you are loading it out of
         the DATA directory, the load procedure will create a LOG file named
         "Images2-Enhanced load errors.log" in the database directory with all 
         the duplicate file/s that was not loaded.
     Load file/s from the DATA directory:
       Duplication allowed:
         If the file/s to load is already loaded and you are loading it from
         the DATA directory, the load procedure will be executed.
     "Load Pictures" can load the multimedia file content in the Note or Add.Note 
     fields if specified.
     Select IN from All the files frame on the right of the button, and specify 
     where to copy the content of the file.
     TXT and RTF files format are supported.
     In this case the multimedia file will not be associated to the picture file. 
     TXT and RTF files will be moved in the database directory after loaded for security, 
     it is not possible to load TXT and RTF file from the database directory for 
     the restriction above, use a temporary or another directory.
  4) Renumber the page in the database file if an error occurred while read 
     or a system failure during the loading procedure.
     If you can't open the database:
     Check in the "File" menu the item "Renumber pages", then open the database
     where you got the error message.
     Check again to cancel the previous check and reopen your database.
  5) Put all picture and movie files in the "DATA" subdirectory. 
  6) To browse your files select the database with "Open DB" and select
     the tab "Pictures & Movies".

Export & Import:
  1) Press the "Refresh" button to display the updated list of all records.
  2) select one row to Import/Export the picture file and press "Extract".
  3) All extracted picture will be put in the root database directory as BMP file type.
  4) If you want to insert the picture file into the database select the 
     corresponding record and press "Extract" (the file must be in the root
     database directory as BMP file type).

Pictures & Movies:
  1) Open the database with the "Open DB" menu item, or in a command shell with 
     images2-enhanced c:\mydb\mydb.mdb, or with a right click on the database 
     file, for example mydb.mdb, select open with and select the images2-enhanced.exe
     as program.
  2) To show the picture do a double click on it or a sample click on the label,
     upper left of the picture (light cyan).
  3) To show the movie, if the picture have one, do a sample click on the label,
     right of the picture label (light green).
  4) To display note or to update their content execute double-click in the note
     field. If the database is Read-Only the window note will be displayed, you can 
     display multiple note windows, if the database is Read-Write the edit note window
     will be displayed.

Search & Sort:
  1) First select and open the database with the "Open DB" button;
     The database file name will appear as the title at the top of the form;
  2) Press the "Refresh Grid" button to populate the grid or press the 
     "Return" or the keypad "Return" key;
  3) If you want to retrieve the list of the records ordered by the picture
     file name, check the box "Order by picture file name" and then 
     click "Refresh Grid" button, or press the "Return" key (the cursor must be
     placed in the field box);
  4) If you want to search a record or a set of records and you know part of the 
     picture file name, enter the string of characters in the "Search" field and 
     click "Refresh Grid" button.
     Specify if the search must be executed on the picture or reference field or
     on the two fields with "OR" or "AND" relation.
     Each string inserted in the reference field is a single data, you can specify
     the logical relation to apply by selecting the value of the option button
     above the field.
  5) You can also click the picture file name on the grid to show the 
     detail page.


All pictures added will insert to the end of the last page inserted.

In Loader if you update or delete pictures or pages, you can "Renumber" 
the pages with "Renumber Pages" button to avoid errors in IMAGES2 or 
visualize blank pages or picture spaces.

The "Renumber Pages" button, if clicked, will do an order of data by the 
"Picture filename" field.

Update the movie of a picture with "Update Pictures" button:
    If you want to update a movie from a NULL value, to a new value you can
  copy the movie file in the "data" directory and (select the database, select the
  "data" sub-directory) press the "Update pictures" button. The program
  will find the associated picture and will insert the new movie file.
    If you want to update a movie from a value, to a NULL value, remove the movie
  from the "data" sub-directory and press the "Update picture" button.
    NB.: The file movie list box must be updated on the content of the "data"
           sub-directory, you can press the "Refresh path/pictures/"All the files" list boxes",
           after insert/remove the movie into/from the "data" sub-directory.

Loader Grid:
  1) Select the DB (from "Open DB" menu).
  2) Choice what function to run with the option button on the top of the 
     grid.
     Exchange pictures:
        Select with a click the source picture row on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Exchange with..."
	Select with a click the destination picture row on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Exchanged."
     Insert picture:
        Select with a click the source picture row on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Insert in..."
	Select with a click the destination picture row on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Inserted."
     Delete Page:
        Select with a click the picture row where is the page to delete
	on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Page deleted."
     Delete Picture:
        Select with a click the picture row to delete on the grid.
	On the botton of the grid will be displayed the text "Picture deleted."
     Rename Picture:
	To rename the file is possible only if the options are not selected,
	to cancel the selection of the options reload the grid.
	Select with a click the picture row to rename on the grid.
	In the field below will be displayed the name and the extension of the
	selected file;
	It is possible to change the name and the extension of the selected file;
	(and if it is associated a multimedia file this will be automatically updated);
	Press the 'Rename' button to rename.

Insert Verification "Verify loaded pictures" tab:
  1) Select the DB (from "Open DB" menu)
  2) Select the path where you have all the data files ("DATA" sub-directory)
  3) Click the "Verify loaded pictures" button to start the procedure

     PS:
     Before the version 2.1.12 of March 17, 2002 database, the procedure will
     take more time because were aren't implemented the indexes on the field
     movfile and picfile, but you can insert the above indexes yourself with 
     Microsoft Access 2002 (Duplicate allowed, null allowed).

     Procedure description:
     - Files not loaded but present in the data directory:
       List of all files in the "DATA" directory not loaded into the database.

     - Files loaded but not present in the data directory:
       List of all files that are loaded into the database but they aren't present 
       into the "DATA" directory.

     - Files loaded more than once (picture & movie):
       List of all files, pictures & movies, that are loaded more than once.
       List of all files, picture without a movie, that are loaded more than once.


Keyboard shortcuts:
  Turn on the BLOC-NUM on numeric keypad:
    Pictures & movies:
      To move the slider, from the left to the right position, select it with a click,
      or TAB, press DOWN, LEFT ARROW or UP, RIGHT ARROW to go to the right or to 
      the left one tic at once.
      Press PAG-UP or PAGE-DOWN to go to the left or to the right 5 tics at once.
      Deselect the slider pressing the TAB, 
      from the "Key Pad":
      3, Go to the first page
      ., Go to the last page
      4, Go to the left page
      5, Go to the right page
      7, Select the picture backward
      8, Select the picture forward
      9, Show the movie from the browser window
      6, Show the window of the selected picture
          ESC, 6, to close the window of the picture
          0, Resize the picture to the selected percentage point
          ., Resize picture to its original dimension
          1, To Edit the Note
          2, To Show multiple Note windows
          3, Maximize the picture
          ESC, 2  To close the Note window

    Loader:
      TAB, To move cursor between Exchange, Insert, Delete page, Delete picture fields.



For any help feel free to send me an e-mail:

	ntaibi@icqmail.com
	nicola_taibi@hotmail.com
	whisky1767@yahoo.it


Internet home page:

	http://whisky1767.home.icq.com
	http://geocities.com/whisky1767



My home address:
	Mr.Nicola Taibi
	Piazza Europa, 13
	90146 Palermo
	ITALY


If you find the application useful send me a postcard,
I appreciate it a lot.

With kind regards, 
  Mr. Nicola Taibi
