Database Management

From the Tools -> Database screens, you can either import (restore) or export (backup) your movie and/or your options databases. It is always a good idea to keep a backup of your movie database just in case.

The import and export feature was originally written to allow those people who have the Personal Server edition and also use the Online edition to keep their databases in sync. For example, you could use the Personal Server to import all your movies from your hard drive to the movie database. You could then export the movie database from the Personal Server edition and import the movie database on the Online edition of the movie manager.

Export (Tools -> Database -> Export)

When you click on any of the three buttons, your database(s) will be exported to a text file and a link to download each text file will be displayed. When you click on either of the links, the Download File screen will pop up. Select Save and save your database to your local hard drive.

The text file was renamed to .doc to allow it to be downloaded (.txt files will open in a browser window). You may wish to rename it back to .txt but it is not necessary.

If the file opens in your browser window instead of displaying the download screen, a possible cause is that .doc is not defined as a file type on your computer. Open Windows Explorer and select Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types. Scroll down the list of Registered file types and see if 'doc' is there. If not, click on 'New' to add it. Click Change (Opens With) and select or Browse to Notepad.

Import (Tools -> Database -> Import)

First, browse to the exported movie and/or options database text file. The database could have been exported from either Cinema Premiere Online or Cinema Premiere Personal Server. The file can have either a .txt or as a .doc extension.

A lot happens when you press the 'Import Database' button. It is an extremely easy way to restore your database files or to upload your Personal Server database files.

One thing to keep in mind is that your current database WILL be DELETED.

The first thing that happens is that your files are uploaded to the server. Assuming everything goes well, your current database is truncated or deleted.

Next, all the information in your previously exported database file is imported into your online database and a message will be displayed that your database has been updated.

Now there are two possible scenarios. If you had exported the database from Cinema Premiere Online, then we assume all your cover images are still in the central directory on the server. The only exception is if we had performed a routine cleanup on the website and at that time the cover image was not being used by anyone then it would have been deleted. In that case, you can Edit the movie and 'Get IMDb Info' and 'Update Database' with the new cover image.

The second scenario is if you had exported the database from Cinema Premiere Personal Server. In that case, it checks each movie in your database that has an IMDb Id or an ASIN number to make sure the image cover exists in the central directory on the server. If there are cover images that do not exist then an 'Update Cover Images' button is displayed.

When you press this button, the required cover images are imported from either IMDb.com or Amazon.com. To determine where to get the image from, it checks to see if there is an IMDb id. If there is, it then checks the the name of the cover image. If the cover image name contains a '.M' then we get the image from Amazon as long there is an ASIN number. If the cover image name does not contain a '.M' then we get the image from IMDb.com. If there was not IMDb Id, then we get the image from Amazon as long there is an ASIN number.

On completion, 'Import Cover Images Complete' will be displayed.

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