Importance

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Abstract

A computer system is provided that allows the content of a user's collection of fixed and removable media to be managed without regard to a specific type of media. The computer system performs equally well with files on floppy discs, removable hard-disks such as Iomega Zip, CDDA discs, CD-ROM discs, DVD-ROM discs and recordable or re-writeable variants of CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. The computer system of the present invention includes a computer program that allows a user to: insert his/her own collection of discs into a changer device and automatically inventory the changer to create a database or 'cache' of the titles, directories and file names on all discs in the changer, describe and categorize both audio and CD-ROM discs, sort the discs based on different criteria, load a specific disc into the changer's drive to access files or play audio or video tracks, display discs and the multimedia files on the changer either textually or graphically, create playlists and collections of specific files or tracks as a reference for locating them later or incorporating them into presentations, use a built-in player to play a sequence of multimedia clips or tracks, while automatically loading CDs containing these clips and tracks as needed, view certain multimedia discs such as CD-Extra discs as both a set of audio tracks and a directory tree of files, maintain information associated with CDs in a database after the CDs are removed from the disc changer device, and allow the user to browse through his/her CD collection even after the discs have been removed from the disc changer device.

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First Claim