Main new features in CATraxx v6:

• The user interface has been completely redesigned for version 6 to offer unmatched ease-of-use, efficiency and flexibility. Screenshot. You find more information here.

• The explorer module now supports full hyperlinking. Screenshot. More information here.

• You can change the field layout in all data entry windows. Screenshot (Form Designer)  and Screenshot (Data entry window). More information here.

• New data fields: Album.Reissue Date, Album.Remastered, Album.Keywords and Track.Keywords. In addition, there are 10 new custom album fields (two text fields, two lookup fields, two date fields and four checkbox fields) and 8 new custom track fields (two text fields, two lookup fields and four checkbox fields).

• Increased maximum number of images from 3 to 9 per album, artist or person.

• Increased length of Subtitle field from 75 to 255 characters.

• Added support for artist roles: Featuring, Vs. and With +  three custom roles. Screenshot (Artist field) and Screenshot (Explorer track list).

• Added multivalue artist fields in the 'Download from CDDB' window. 

• Renamed all Commens fields to Notes.

• The lineup feature now supports the use of month, in addition to year, when specifying the period a person was member of a group.

• Regenerate Ref No function can now use the active sort order when generating new reference numbers (instead of using the order the albums were originally added to the database).

• MP3/Update ID3 Tag function now updates the album title and track no fields if album title is specified.

• Added a new Find function (replaces the old Find by Artist/Title function), available in all views. Instead of searching the complete database like the standard search function, the find function only search the records actually displayed in the browse list, and it will only search for one record at a time, either upwards or downwards in the list  (works like the find function in most word processors). Screenshot.

• Albums are now deleted immediately when you choose Album->Delete (no need to compact the database anymore). You can delete the current album, or the subset.

• Playlist Manager completely redesigned. Screenshot.

• In all lists where you select a field, you can deactivate the grouping (useful if you don't remember which group a field is located in). Screenshot.

• Added a completely new backup system. When using the backup function, the database is now backed up to a standard zip file. Note that the new backup system is not compatible with the old system. To restore a backup made with a previous version, use the Backup Restore Utility available for download from the add-ons page.

• Added a new auto backup function (Tools->Preferences->Backup). When this feature is activated, the program will automatically backup the database when you close the database, or exit the program.

• Renamed the 'Field Defintions' window to 'Database Setup', and updated the layout. You can now sort the tables/fields by any column. You change the table/field properties in the inspector list to the right of the table/field list. Screenshot. 

• You can modify the database setup and save the setup as a database template. Screenshot. This template can then be used when creating a new database. This is useful if you want to share the database setup with others. Screenshot.

• CD Player completed: Updated interface, added a volume control and added the ability to minimize it to the Windows System Tray (to activate this feature, choose Minimize to System Tray from the Options menu). Screenshot.

• Various other minor enhancements.

User Interface Enhancements

When you run version 6 for the first time, you see the main window with the Explorer view activated: Screenshot. Windows XP themes are now fully supported. If you use an older Windows version, the main window will look like this: Screenshot.

The first thing you will notice is that the old MDI (Multiple Document Interface) style interface is gone. You can now browse all types of information from the main window. This means you have full access to multiple layouts, sort orders, filters, groupings, the preview pane and the 'Print List' command also when browsing lookup tables and the loan history. All data entry operations are now performed in a separate data entry window.

You change the active view by using the viewbar to the left: Screenshot. (The viewbar replaces the views drop-down list in version 5.) If you want to free up some screen space, you can hide the viewbar and instead select view from the toolbar (Screenshot) or the View menu (Screenshot). And you can of course customize the viewbar. Simply choose Views Setup from the View menu to bring up the Browse Views window: Screenshot. 

You will probably use the Album view the most: Screenshot. It is now possible to display the preview pane to the right of the list, instead of below. Notice how most of the information is hyperlinked. This means you can click, for example, the release year to look at albums released the same year, or the genre to look at albums in the same genre. 

The Track view replaces the Track View window in version 5: Screenshot. Use the Lookup view to browse lookup tables. When you active the Lookup view, the program displays the lookup table that was active the last time you used this view. You can activate another lookup table via the Lookup menu, or select a custom view. For example, the Artist table is activated when you click 'Lookup: Artist' from the viewbar: Screenshot.

New Explorer Module

Let's go back to the Explorer view. This is a fully featured browser integrated into the main window that allows you to search/browse your database (you can still use the separate Explorer window if you prefer that). In addition, it gives you useful information like the size of the database, date of last backup, and if there are any overdue albums (you can then click the link to get a list of these albums). You also get access to the same sites that are on the Sites menu, and all album web links (Screenshot) and artist web links (Screenshot) in the database (useful if you want to save the web links to a file so that you can have access to them from your web browser).

You can easily browse your collection by various fields. In this example, we have chosen to browse albums by artist, and have clicked the 'R' link. This provides us with a list of all artists under R: Screenshot. If we now click 'Rush', we get a list of all Rush albums: Screenshot. Based on this list, we can now browse a specific album: Screenshot. Notice the Edit button on the toolbar. Simply click this button to edit the record you are browsing. And just as in the preview pane, many fields are hyperlinked. Clicking the release year gives you a list of all albums released this year: Screenshot. If you want to work with these albums in the Album view, right-click and choose Show in List from the popup menu. Screenshot. In addition, there is a new find function available (useful is you are looking for a specific string in a long list). Screenshot.

You can now also search your database from the explorer. Here is the result of searching for all tracks containing the word 'summer': Screenshot. You can click the heading of a column to change the sort order. And remember, everything in the explorer module can be customized via XSL templates.

Data Entry Enhancements

The most exciting new feature is perhaps the ability to redesign the field layout in all data entry windows. Perhaps you want to make the Artist field wider, or move the Reference No field to the General tab? Change fonts or colors? Add an image to spice up the look? No problem! You modify the layout of a data entry window in the Form Designer: Screenshot. And this is the result in the data entry window: Screenshot. In addition to the actual data fields, you can also add labels (to display the field name), a page control (with several pages of data), group boxes (to group fields), lines, and images.

Take a closer look at the popup menu in the screen shot of the data entry window; Cut, Copy, and Paste commands are now available from this popup menu. In addition, there is a new shortcut (Ctrl+I) to edit the currently selected lookup item. The number of images is increased from 3 to 9. The image notes field is now displayed below the image, and is available also for external images (you can hide the notes field if you want, and instead access it via the popup menu: Screenshot). In this example all images are linked to the same image control. However, it is also possible to use separate image controls for each image, like this: Screenshot.

*) VAT/Sales Tax: Please note that Reg.Net (our reseller) will add sales tax (Colorado state residents) and VAT (EU residents), if applicable. 

*) The upgrade is free if you have purchased CATraxx this year. To check whether you are entitled to a free upgrade, download checklic.exe, run it, select your license file, then click the Check License button.