Universal Printing and Radio Programmers
Universal Printing and MusicVISTA
It is hard for a busy programmer to keep up with all the computer jargon. But one thing you’ve probably heard about is the term: PDF.
It is worth understanding the value of this, as it is one of the innovations that help make the Internet such a successful communications medium.
Exchanging information is one of the most important and common things we do everyday. And on the Internet, the standard for printed information is called ‘PDF’ or Portable Document Format. It is owned by Adobe, but the reader is free to the world. And just to make sure we have lots of names to remember, they call the software Acrobat.
When I wrote a book about conducting music research, it was published as a PDF document, ensuring that anybody on the planet could read it, no matter what software they owned or what type of computer they used. (Let me know if you’d like a copy).
When I go to many business Web sites, I find that they have taken their product spec sheets and advertising materials like booklets and converted them to PDF files. Again, that allows anybody to read them.
Depending on your browser, it is possible that you might not have the free PDF reader installed. It is possible, but unlikely these days. Still, many Web sites include a link back to the Adobe Website where you can download the Acrobat PDF reader.
I think this is important enough in my own work that I own software to actually build PDF documents, as well as read them. Yes, that does cost. But below the full-featured Acrobat Professional, there are several less expensive alternatives that will work for any printing project you’re likely to encounter.
What does this have to do with MusicVISTA?
MusicVISTA is designed to help you analyze, understand and implement a library music test. Maybe you want to share some of that information with someone. Maybe you want a second opinion about something. If you do, then the new PDF feature will be helpful. When you create a report, you can print it, of course. But if you prefer, you can convert it to a genuine PDF document (click, then name your PDF file). That can be emailed to anybody, who will then be able to read it, even without MusicVISTA installed on their computer. Or they can print it and head for the coffee shop.
Finally, I should mention that PDF is not your only option. You can save any report as an RTF (rich text file) file, which means that formatting is intact, and it can be read by programs like Microsoft Word. You can also save the report as an EMF (enhanced metafile) file. Which is a funny way of saying it is a picture of a page.
The results don’t have to be ‘printed’ at all. You can export them as an Excel XLS file, a tab-delimited text file or a comma-delimited text file. These are standard data formats that can be read by all major spreadsheet and database programs.
Finally, there is a 20+ page AMT Executive Summary that I prepare for every music research project. This used to be a Word document. But today, it is converted to PDF format. It is viewable in any Internet browser, including the one that is embedded within the MusicVISTA software.
It is hard for a busy programmer to keep up with all the computer jargon. But one thing you’ve probably heard about is the term: PDF.
It is worth understanding the value of this, as it is one of the innovations that help make the Internet such a successful communications medium.
Exchanging information is one of the most important and common things we do everyday. And on the Internet, the standard for printed information is called ‘PDF’ or Portable Document Format. It is owned by Adobe, but the reader is free to the world. And just to make sure we have lots of names to remember, they call the software Acrobat.
When I wrote a book about conducting music research, it was published as a PDF document, ensuring that anybody on the planet could read it, no matter what software they owned or what type of computer they used. (Let me know if you’d like a copy).
When I go to many business Web sites, I find that they have taken their product spec sheets and advertising materials like booklets and converted them to PDF files. Again, that allows anybody to read them.
Depending on your browser, it is possible that you might not have the free PDF reader installed. It is possible, but unlikely these days. Still, many Web sites include a link back to the Adobe Website where you can download the Acrobat PDF reader.
I think this is important enough in my own work that I own software to actually build PDF documents, as well as read them. Yes, that does cost. But below the full-featured Acrobat Professional, there are several less expensive alternatives that will work for any printing project you’re likely to encounter.
What does this have to do with MusicVISTA?
MusicVISTA is designed to help you analyze, understand and implement a library music test. Maybe you want to share some of that information with someone. Maybe you want a second opinion about something. If you do, then the new PDF feature will be helpful. When you create a report, you can print it, of course. But if you prefer, you can convert it to a genuine PDF document (click, then name your PDF file). That can be emailed to anybody, who will then be able to read it, even without MusicVISTA installed on their computer. Or they can print it and head for the coffee shop.
Finally, I should mention that PDF is not your only option. You can save any report as an RTF (rich text file) file, which means that formatting is intact, and it can be read by programs like Microsoft Word. You can also save the report as an EMF (enhanced metafile) file. Which is a funny way of saying it is a picture of a page.
The results don’t have to be ‘printed’ at all. You can export them as an Excel XLS file, a tab-delimited text file or a comma-delimited text file. These are standard data formats that can be read by all major spreadsheet and database programs.
Finally, there is a 20+ page AMT Executive Summary that I prepare for every music research project. This used to be a Word document. But today, it is converted to PDF format. It is viewable in any Internet browser, including the one that is embedded within the MusicVISTA software.
posted by Steve Casey Research at 9:45 AM
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