Caller's Companion is a database for dance callers designed to make
it easy to catalog large numbers of dances and to create, edit and
save "Sets" of dances for specific events.
CC was originally developed with contra dances in mind but, thanks to the late Linda Leslie and others, includes options that accommodate
squares and English Country Dance. (Additional feedback from callers is always welcome). On a Mac or Windows computer, CC is self-running
and does not require any other software to run, though it may also
be used with recent versions of Claris FileMaker Pro
(v.18+) and on iOS devices using the free app Claris FileMaker Go
What are the System Requirements for Caller's Companion:
Macintosh OS X 10.13 or higher
Windows 8 or higher
No other software required. CC is a Claris FileMaker Pro "Runtime"
application. You do not need FileMaker Pro to run it though you can use FileMaker Pro 18 or higher if you wish. A special
bundle of Caller's Companion + FileMaker Pro is available on the Purchase page.
What are the limitations on an unregistered copy?
Caller's Companion comes with some sample dance records and an example
Set from the late Linda Leslie who did extensive beta testing. You are welcome to
add more dances and create your own sets. The only limitation on an
unregistered copy is that you can't enter more than 50 dances. To remove this block,
register Caller's Companion for $70 USD.
Why to do I have to pay for this?
Caller's Companion has been in development since 2008, involving many
(400+)hours of work. I think you'll be really pleased with what you can do, including the abiltiy to search by
phrase (such as all dances with Petronella balance in B1), use the programming matrix
to view an evening's program and find repetive dance elements, and
the ability to import dances from Callers Box or exchange dances with other users.
The feedback from our users - over 130 as of October 2024 -
is that it is a great tool for managing your dances and programming
for events. We hope to make it even more useful in the future. Consider
the cost as sort of equivalent to one evening's calling. And for anyone actually making enough income calling dances to report it on your taxes, it's most certainly a deductible business expense.
Can I import my dances from
another database?
Maybe. If you are using Russell Owen's old FileMaker template or Colin
Humes database, please contact me about importing. I have a partially
automated import for data from Russel Owen's database and I may or
may not be able to do something similar for Colin Humes. If you are
importing from Word or some other text format, try out the "Enter
Dance from Text" under the Special menu. If you like the results
you can use that, however you might find it faster just to use the
Insert Call buttons which have the added advantages
of providing consistent phrasing and of populating the dance Elements
field.
Can I use other role terms besides "Gents/Ladies"?
You can use any phrasing you wish. The current examples use gents/ladies, but you are free to use whatever phrasing you prefer and switch on the fly as needed. If you have dances from multiple sources you can unify your existing dances using a special search and replace function to replace all instances of a phrase or word such as "Robins chain" with "Ladies Chain" or with your preferred Gender-free phrasing.
Caller's Companion support and alternate set of terms and the ability to switch on the fly, so if your dances are entered as "Gents/Ladies" you can enter the Alternate Role Terms such as Larks/Robins in the Admin section and switch on the fly.
How do I change the Insert Call buttons?
Go to the Admin area and the Insert Call Phrases tab. Or, just Control
(Win) or Command (Mac) click on any button to edit both the label and
inserted text.
When I format text as Bold or Italic in a dance or note, the
formatting disappears...
To address this problem, take a look at the first checkbox
in Admin -> Preferences tab: "Always strip formatting
when pasting Phrase text". When this checkbox is ticked,
it's strips any formatting after a Paste but also has the additional
affect of removing ANY formatting
that you attempt
to apply even after a paste.
Stripping formatting is really useful if you are copying
text from the web or elsewhere and want to remove font, color sizing,
etc., so that entries have a uniform appearance. However, it can be quite annoying if you
just want to make something Bold or Italic.
I'm having trouble viewing the CCDB Introduction
Movie...
The Intro Movie requires a recent version QuickTime
to view. Quicktime is free and you can download the latest installer/update
at quicktime.com
The Intro Movie may take a little time to load depending on your internet connection. You do not have to wait until the download
is complete. Once you see the starting screen you can begin watching.
The movie ends somewhat abruptly. Sorry...I know how to edit video
but I'm still getting used to the limitations of the screen capture
software.
If you are still having problems watching, let me know what operating
system and browser you are using and I'll see what I can do.