Digital Workshop

I am interested in trying to recreate a custom programed application in Opus. Before I start though I thought I would ask the experts if it was even possible.

The current App runs on Windows PC's from a DVD. I have litteraly hundreds of WMV's, PDF's and docs that I distribute on this DVD as a sales and marketing tool. I have 4 Filters by which I allow the user to narrow down the focus of videos they want to see. (product, market, discipline, type)

a person can filter for just games as the market and modeling as the discipline and leave the other choices as any. this would bring up a list of videos and such that match those filters. the user can then select any of the given choices for viewing.

Right now the filter data for each video is stored in an xml file although I'd ideally like to store it in customizable properties directly on the videos.

So does any of this seem likely?

Shawn

Yes, you can do something similar with Opus Pro XE 5.0.
I have done something like that...In a project for a company it was requested to handle hundreds of docs, videos and databases so I create a electronic portal and the refine the Opus search engine to look as per different categories. Requires a lot of scripting but it is possible.
Now, this application that I create resides in a PC since all the docs, videos, databases, etc that are indexed are too many to store on a single DVD. My guess is that as long as all your docs are in the same DVD you should run it from it without any problem.

Regards
German

On a much smaller (CD-ROM) scale, I've done this -- so I suspect that this can be done on a DVD (with significantly more options, video files, etc.). Three basic methods come to mind; in ascending order of programming sophistication, they are:

1. You can -- laboriously -- create a large number of individual pages based on the general options/interests as selected by the user.
(Down-side: very labor-intensive and not quickly updatable. Up-side: absolute control & it minimizes the likelihood of hidden programming glitches.)

2. You can store the user-selected options as values in several variables, and create a handful of invidual sub-menu screens based on patterns of different user-selected variables. Each of the sub-menu screens would include 1-2 lists (drop-down or whatever other design you prefer) offering selections based on the variables which led to that sub-menu screen.
(Down-side: you must decide to limit the options or else you will create a convoluted, complex program & might as well go back to option 1, above. Up-side: easiest to update & debug.)

3. You can store all of the user-selected options as values in numerous variables, and display a kind of "playback sub-menu" created (on the fly) from these variables.
(Down-side: most complex approach to programming. Up-side: most flexible in terms of updating.)

Thanks guys. I'm definitly aiming for the third approach considering this DVD will need to be updated every few months with new content and I'm looking at something like 200 and some different permutations of the filters. Now I'll just have to sit down and figure out how to read databases into arrays and such.

Shawn