The Second Cut

Utility Programs that work with ETC OBSESSION©

Offline Show Librarian - pkobooV3.exe
(Windows® 95/98/XP)(OBSN© 2.x.x/3.x.x/4.x.x/5.x.x)   (Freeware)

Version 3.0  Date: 07 DEC 2003   Change History    Download .ZIP! (382KB)    Read Me (11KB)

This program "manages" OBSESSION Off-LineŠ ("O-O-L") show files. It allows you to view the basic show identification data without rebooting to run O-O-L. You can then use the "Right-Click" context menu to send the file you selected to a floppy disk, to another networked computer, or attach it to an e-mail message. You can determine which board version a show file was recorded under without having to try loading it into various versions of OBSESSIONŠ. If you haven't managed to set up your Windows® XP machine to run O-O-L, this may be the only way you can learn a little about a badly labelled console diskette.

NEW! Minor changes have been made to support 2003 ETC file format changes. The software version number (which now has several decimal points) is correctly displayed for OBSN version 5.1.0 . The output dialog box is now resizable (in the usual Windows ways) on Win 98 and later. If you have Win XP or 2K, you'll get the "Places" bar in the dialog. Users of OBSN 4.x.x and earlier have no reason to download this new version. Because it takes longer to detect Version 5 shows, users with slower machines may notice some latency when they click a new filename in the output dialog.

If the show file is ObsessionŠ I, you'll be able to pull-down (click on the arrow) an abbreviated cue list, under the Show Comment field. If you click the "ListAll->File" button, all files in the folder/directory you've been examining will be scanned. Most of the data you'd see on the screen for each ObsessionŠ I or II show file is written to a file named "obsnshow.txt", in the same directory where you have stored this program. The information in this file is formatted so that it can be imported into a database program or a spreadsheet file, as well as read in a text editor.

This program CANNOT PRODUCE A CONSOLE DISKETTE. This program is offered as "Freeware", without support or warranty. This program is not supplied, approved, or supported by Electronic Theater Controls, Inc.

This program does not require running an installation program. It does not make any changes to your system files. Copy it to the folder where you want to use it, and double-click on it. Additional instructions can be found by running the program.

In the partial screen shot above, the user has just clicked on a show file. If the data shown below the filename identify the right show, the next step might be to right-click on the same file, and send it to a floppy disk so the assistant designer can work on it. If not, you can click on another file, or use [Up/Down Arrow] to go through all the files in the directory.

If the selected show is ObsessionŠ I you can click on the arrow beside the show comment. You'll see the drop-down box at the left. You can use the scroll bar or the [Arrow] and [Page] keys to move through the list of cues. The list shows only the cue number, up and down times, and cue comment.

Like other combo boxes, when you click elsewhere on the screen, the drop-down closes.

Because the lines in "obsnshow.txt" are so long, I've edited the sample file below to prevent you from getting a horizontal scroll bar in your internet browser. But below is an example of the library report you'll get from scanning a directory full of ObsessionŠ show files. Of course, in the real file (click here to see it), the Show Titles would all be 20 characters long, and the Show Comments would all be 40 characters long. If there are any ObsessionŠ II shows in the directory, the Channels and Dimmers fields will have zeros in them, since I can't read the compressed file. That's why I can't show you a cue list for those shows, in the program's main window.


"H0747456.K08","COFFEE CLUB..","From Board..","11/8/99 7:47 AM",200,1536,"3.1.2"  
"J1932590.E03","H A I R"      ,"City Cente..","5/3/01 7:33 PM" ,300,1536,"3.1.2"  
"I1447246.D11","Eifman RED.." ,"City Cente..","4/11/00 2:47 PM",200,1536,"3.1.2"  
"I1749514.D13","Eifman TCHA..","City Cente..","4/13/00 5:49 PM",200,1536,"2.4.2"  
"I1638564.I30","Eifman HAML..","City Cente..","9/30/00 4:38 PM",200,1536,"2.4.2"  
"J1230241.D07","2001 REPERT..","Merce Cunn..","4/7/01 12:30 PM",300,1536,"2.4.2"  

Obsession© I Patch Librarian - patchcsv.exe
(Windows® 95/98)(OBSN© 2.x.x/3.x.x)  (Freeware)

Version 1.1  Date: 02 APR 2000  Change History    Download It! (464KB)    Read Me (11KB)

This program reads an OBSESSIONŠ I console diskette and ouputs the patch data as a .csv file. It is intended for use by repertory companies that have many shows with similar, but not identical patches. By reading the .csv file into a spreadsheet program, and pasting successive versions into successive columns, you can view all of your patches at once, without running or printing from OBSESSION Off-Line©. This program is not supplied, approved, or supported by Electronic Theater Controls, Inc.

This program does not require running an installation program. It does not make any changes to your system files. Copy it to the folder where you want to use it, and double-click on it. Additional instructions can be found by running the program. A registered version with additional features will be forthcoming.

The partial shot above is not of this program. It is of the "pasted" data from several runs of the program, in a formatted spreadsheet for display and reference. The registered version of patchcsv will accumulate these data in one file for you, and highlight patches that are different from the first patch column.


Copyright © 2000, 2001 Timothy H. Buchman
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Published: March 1, 2000
Modified: December 15, 2005