Some Helpful Hints

<Space> For all displays there should be a default action/button, invoked by using the <Space> key. To iterate over lists such as search results or featured articles, simply use the <Space> key instead of clicking on a page number, back button, and then next item of the list. <Backspace> This key is equivalent to clicking on the back button, and can be more convenient jumping back/forth from a given page and its related content. Mnemonics Some of the frequently used buttons or menu items have pre-defined "mnemonics", or keyboard accelerators. For most platforms these can be invoked by using the <ALT> key followed by typing a single letter. For example <ALT-n> is a keyboard accelerator for the Next button.

"File" Menu

<Magazine> Displays names of all available magazines. Selection of a given magazine will display a catalog of all years available for the given magazine, allowing further user selection. Print To File Shortcut to print directly to PNG/PDF files. Most Print dialogs have a small checkbox to switch to file instead of printer, this option skips need for that step, and hopefully most BMV printing will be to digital file, not paper printer. Print Preview Simple page preview prior to printing to either file or printer. Note the preview result will not always match exactly the displayed content since for printing data is formatted in format easiest to convert monitor pixels into an Image object for file/printer. Print Please view the "Help -> Print" topic for more details. If the given window is not "printable" this menu item will be grayed. Exit Self explanatory

View Menu

Forward Backward For navigating forward and backward between display "types", not between individual pages or catalog entries. Reason for keeping history by display "types" is ability to iterate over search results, featured articles, or new cans items by just repeated use of the <Space> key. For example, from the search display the default button is "Next Match", and from a given page display the "Back" button. Hitting <Space> will jump back and then go to the next search item without need for repeated clicking of links or buttons. Next Prev For navigating next and back, simulating click on the Next or Prev action buttons, e.g. next page of a given magazine. It can be faster to set accelerators for next and previous, and just use keyboard to move next/prev instead of mouse click. For example, Space for Next, and Ctrl-Space for Back makes fast keys to navigate. Rotate 90 Left / Right Rotates individual magazine pages 90 degrees left or right respectively. Useful for viewing Rusty Bunch rosters which are typically in Excel spreadsheet, landscape format. New Cans Displays a pre-processed list of page references for all magazine articles/pages discussing new beer can issues. This along with the "new cans" search filter may be helpful to track down dates a given beer can came to market (only for years of magazine issues of course). Featured Articles With pre-processed search key generation, certain articles from each magazine may be tagged as "featured articles". These are usually articles by guest writers or include significant detail and/or photos of tough beer cans or breweries. In Memoriam Sadly our hobby is growing old and many friends are passing on. This option will display "In Memoriam" equivalent articles in the various magazines. Canning Companies New with BMV 4.0. There are so many great canning company advertisements this is an attempt to capture as many digital images as possible, grouping them into BMV format/structure. If you have anything digital images not included, any file format, I will gladly add them to BMV. Advertisements New with BMV 4.0. Similar to the above, so many breweries have produced a somewhat infinite amount of great advertisements in magazines, newspaper, website etc. The BMV will never be able to catalog even close to all, I will gladly catalog any contributed advertisements. Sponsors New with BMV 4.0. There have been a number of beer can dealers over the life of the hobby, and many advertise and even better SPONSOR different chapter/hobby events. This is BMV attempt to catalog sponsor pages starting from the year 2000. Search / Results Displays both search interface as well as any previously found search results. View the "Help -> Search" topic for more details.

Bookmarks Menu

Bookmark This Page Allows creation of a "persistent" bookmark to quickly revisit given page(s) of interest. Sub-folders and nested bookmarks can be created similar to bookmarks in a web browser. This information is maintained in a data file stored on local disk. Organize Bookmarks Allows creation of sub-folders, deletion of folders/bookmarks, and rename of existing bookmarks. Future versions will hopefully allow drag/drop movement of bookmarks to a new display order or to a new folder.

Tools Menu

Choose Content Allows user to choose subset of the BMV magazines for display. This does not delete any data, simply allows user to not see content displayed in SOME menus, views and check for updates. Options BMV 4.0 introduces some user control configuration. I have attempted to make the given windows using these options dynamic, so change an option and "Apply" should see immediate effect. Preferences Don't like the default font sizes or BMV colors? This dialog effectively gives you full control over the appearance of the user interface. Accelerators Allow user defined keyboard accelerators for some common actions. Fully dynamic, just apply your setting and go... Register Your Copy Optional product registration. While all data/features are fully available without completing the registration, by doing so will allow you to be informed of new BMV versions and data content, as well as to let me know you have found the BMV useful. Check For Updates Used to update both the BMV program itself as well as download new magazine content. Simply follow the prompts for the update dialog. Install Magazine Update Will dynamically install a single BMV monthly patch file from disk. For example a BMV patch file included with newsletter mailing. This is rarely useful any longer now that all BMV content is web hosted at www.mbcinfo.com/BMV Check For Media Used to check for DVD or USB thumb drive media containing magazine content. Recommendation is to update from website since that content will be the most up-to-date, but it is also possible to distribute and install majority of the content from external media. Show Content Statistics Added in BMV 3.1, will present a dialog with summary statistics of all BMV content, showing the same information from the individual magazine pages but in a concise, sortable table. Show Author Statistics Added in BMV 3.1, will present a dialog with summary statistics of all magazine content authors. Presented in a sortable table, provides a quick view to sort/filter by author, and see total number of articles submitted, number of magazines, and codes as to how many to each magazine. Also a good quick way to drive the search engine based on author last name.