Magic Database™ Help
Edit Trick
This screen lets you change information previously added in the Add Trick screen. You must first use the Find Trick screen to get here. Buttons on this screen let you view and edit successive tricks in the Answer Table on the Find Trick screen.
When editing a trick, be aware that trick names can be duplicated as long as they are in different books, or of different types. For instance, you may have:
- a physical trick in the database called "E Pluribus Unum," as well as a physical prop
- a trick called "Larreverse" in the book Dai Vernon's Ultimate Card Secrets, as well as a Sleight Description of the same name
- a sleight description titled "Elmsley Count" in several different books.
It is important to be aware of this, as if you change the "Trick Type," you may inadvertently end up duplicating a trick name.
Fields on the Edit Trick Screen.
Trick, or Sleight, or Prop/Utility Name
Depending on the radio buttons you selected, you will be adding one of these three items. Enter the
name of this item in this field. (Max. 45 characters)
Note: Be aware of duplicate names, as discussed above
Notes
This field is essentially unlimited in length. You may enter any information you choose. I use it to enter the plot of the trick, special performing considerations, etc. I also use it to enter information as to specific page location information in the case of sleights that are described as part of a trick. Special Note: If you right click on this field, you will get an "Enlarge" pop-up menu that will enlarge the field to fill most of the form. This will make it easy to enter and review any lengthy notes you would care to enter.
Keywords, Sleights, and Props
These reflect the items you previously entered. You may delete an item by double-clicking on it, or right clicking on it, and selecting "Delete" from the pop-up menu. You may add additional items by clicking on the "Add" button immediately below it.
Book/Video Title
A drop down list of all the books/Videos in the database. You may select from this list by scrolling with the mouse, or by typing in the first few letters of the title. This field will not be displayed if you are entering a trick, or a prop/utility item.
Page, or Time
If adding a trick or sleight from a book or video, the program will recognize if the source selected is a book (where you would want to enter a page number) or a video or audio where you would want to enter the time of the item on the tape or DVD. This field is fourteen characters wide, and you may use it in any way you find convenient. For instance, you may enter the page and issue date of a magazine in this field, so you only have the magazine entered once in the database (e.g. a trick found on page 123 of the Dec. 2002 issue of the Linking Ring would be entered as 123, 12/02) If you are adding a physical trick, or prop/utility, you will not see this field. (Max 14 characters)
Price
If adding a physical trick, or trick/utility, you may enter a price in this field. This may be the purchase price, or your estimate of current value, etc. As with books, you can see statistics concerning the sum and average price of the tricks in the database, and sort by it in the "Find Trick" screen. If you are adding a trick from a book, you will not see this field.
Author(s)
This is an informational field only. It will contain the author(s) for the book/video selected above, to help you insure that you're associating the proper book with the trick.
Media
This is an informational field only. It will contain the media of the book/video selected above, to help you insure that you're associating the proper book with the trick.
Creator
Often, the author of a book will credit another magician for a trick. Or, a physical trick is credited to a specific person. You may enter the name of the creator here. This field will drop down a list of all the people in the database. Select one as described earlier. Do NOT use this field if the person is already listed as an author of magician associated with the book. Sorry, only one creator can be associated with a trick. If there are more than one, we suggest you use the Notes field to add any additional names associated with the trick. Only the name(s) associated with the Creator, Magician, or Authors can be searched. If the person who is the creator of the trick is not already in the database, you may click on the "New Creator" button to bring up the "Add Person" screen. The person you save on that screen will be automatically entered in the Creator field when you close the "Add Person" screen.
Buttons on the Edit Trick Screen
Delete Trick
Gives you the ability to delete the trick from the database. You will be prompted with a warning message giving you the ability to cancel the deletion.
Add . . . Keyword/Prop/Sleight
Will bring you to the Add . . .to Trick screen that will allow you to select the appropriate item(s) to associate with the trick. When you close this screen, the selected items will appear in the list box above the button.
Remove Creator
If you have erroneously added a creator to a trick, he can be removed by clicking this button. The person will not be removed from the database.
New Creator
This will bring you to the Add Author/Magician screen to allow you to add a new person to the database. That person will be add as the creator of this trick.
Previous Answer
Moves to the previous trick in the Answer Table
Next Answer
Moves to the next trick in the Answer Table
Close
You may exit this screen by clicking the "Close" button. Note: If data has been entered in the "Trick" field, you will get a warning that there is data that has not been saved. See: Close Options.
Save
Saves the information on the screen to the database.
Clear changes
Restores the information to the data that has last been saved.
Note: Any Keywords, Props, or Sleights associated with the trick that were added with the "Add" buttons, are saved at the time they are added. "Clear Changes" will not remove these associations.