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The following
text and images
are courtesy of
www.3dvelocity.com
for the latest
technology
reviews
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Find the files,
drivers, tracks,
films, singers
etc on your disc
collection at
the click of a
button. Protect
your investment. |
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1: Start by
selecting the
device ID. If
you have more
than one DC300
connected this
is where you'd
select which one
you're currently
working with.
2: With this
done you then
assign a slot
number by typing
it in or by
clicking "Empty
Slots" and
choosing from
the list of
available
unoccupied slot
numbers.
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3: Next you
select a disk
category. Each
of the
categories can
be edited with a
double click or
you can create a
new category by
simply typing it
in the box. Next
insert the name
in "Title" box
and if required
the "Barcode"
box and click
"OK" and you're
done. 4: Double
click the entry
to align the
carousel and
lower the
collection arm
and place the CD
on it ready to
be ingested.
Barcode is best
used for
software serial
numbers
Repeat the
procedure until
all your disks
are logged and
you're done. You
don't have to
put all you
software discs
together, music
discs together
as when you
search the
database will
list them
irrespective of
where they are
in the database.
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Another nice
touch is the
ability to get
the directory
data directly
from each disk
(field 1
"Content") by
placing it in
your chosen
drive and
clicking "Get".
One more right
click and you
can get the all
the
sub-directories,
files and
folders too, and
if this isn't
enough all the
detected files
and folders are
fully
searchable!
The field below
this (field 2
"Remark") is a
free form data
entry box where
you can add just
about any
remarks you
want, like who
you've lent the
disk to or where
the No CD patch
is located and
so on and again
all the data in
this field is
searchable.
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The search
function is
actually pretty
impressive. You
can do a full
search by title,
Barcode, Content
or remark and by
machine ID.
So what I'm
saying is if you
know you've got
a file on one of
your CDs hidden
two levels deep
and called "me
drunk" you can
type it in, find
it and eject it
in literally
seconds. How
handy is that?
And it doesn't
stop there. If
you have a music
CD and you want
to record the
track details
you can click
"Get CDDB"
which, provided
you're connected
to the 'Net,
connects to
www.freedb.org,
grabs the track
info and then
adds it to the
remarks field
(below). And of
course as I keep
saying it's all
searchable.
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The only
oversight here
is that once the
track info
appears in the
"Get CDDB"
window (below)
there are no
clues about what
you should do
with it. It's
only by clicking
"X" and closing
the window that
you're asked if
you want to
overwrite the
information
whereby
selecting "Yes"
adds the data to
the "Remarks"
field. |
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And if you want
to personalise
things even
further you can
associate scans
of your disk
sleeve, the disk
itself or even
your own artwork
with each disk
in the database
and thumb
through them at
your leisure.
And if you've
got a lot of
disks you need
to remove from
the DC300 in one
session you can
use the "Multi
Selection Eject"
function where
you set the
disks you want
out and it
cycles through
and ejects them
waiting about 6
seconds at each
for you to
remove it. A
nice idea but
one that
probably doesn't
save a whole lot
of time over
doing them
individually.
One thing that
might make this
function more
useful is if the
titles chosen
remained
selected even
after this
window is closed
so you could run
it again to put
the disks back
when you've
done. You'd need
a "Clear" button
to deselect all
your selected
titles ready for
a new session
but I doubt
that's much of a
programming
challenge. |
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Another minor
gripe is that
although you
tune the look
and feel of the
database
software to your
liking by
selecting things
like language,
font, font
colour and so on
the settings are
global. It'd be
kind of nice to
assign a
specific font or
font colour to
individual
categories or
disk types to
make them easier
to locate by
eye. |
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And although the
physical
security of the
DC300 may be a
little
lackluster it's
good to see
DACAL have
included a
password
function with
the database to
keep prying eyes
away from your
collection. |
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Fire it up with
the password set
and your greeted
with a colourful
refusal. |
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To buy the DC
300 click here
>>>> |
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The contents of
this page are
copyright to
http://www.3dvelocity.com/dacal/dacal.htm
get the full
dc300 review
click the link
above. |
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How to move
the Dacal dc300
database when
changing
computers,
backing up info
etc. |
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Please follow
the steps to
move database
from your old
computer to a
new computer.
1)
(New
computer),
Install CD
Library software
to new computer.
2)
(Old
computer), go to
C:\Program
Files\CD Library
3)
(Old
computer), there
are 8 folders
and 2 files you
need to move
from old
computer to new
computer.
8 folders: dbf,
dbfbak, CdInfo,
CdInfbak,
Remark, Remakbak,
Preview,
DBFEmpty
2 files:
dbid.txt and
Cdtype.txt
4) Copy these
8 folders and 2
files to new
computer
C:\Program
Files\CD Library
5) Connect
CD Library
machine(s) to
new computer.
6) Open
software and use
them.
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