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Text File | 1995-06-07 | 18.0 KB | 385 lines

BOBtracker v1.0 (Advanced MODfile Player) by Neil Stewart (C)1994 Black Scorpion Shareware Notice ---------------- BOBtracker is shareware. If you use it, then you really should be sending me some money for a full version and a clear conscience. See the shareware details at the end of this document. Introduction ------------ BOBtracker is an advanced desktop module player for the Falcon. It provides unparalleled sound quality and takes very little processor time. Features (some may not be present in the non-registered version & a few are still under development): - 50Khz, 16-Bit stereo sound - DSP multiplexer takes very little CPU time - Handles most 4/6/8 channel modules - Advanced DSP sound enhancement (VIBRANCE,ANTI-ALIAS,AMBIENCE) - Real BASS and TREBLE control/boosting - SURROUND SOUND support ! - Spectrum Analyser and Ocilloscope displays - Full volume/balance control - Powerful PLAYLIST system with timed shuffle and random song picking. - GEM interface with Falcon AES enhancements, keyboard macros and context sensitive help. - Works as a stand alone program or intelligent accessory - MultiTOS compatible - Enhanced MultiTOS features (Drag & Drop, Iconify, App Terminate) - Extended command line & runtime command support from external programs. Obviously, this version has certain features removed/curtailed, so you will need to register to get the full ensemble. But don't be disheartened, because this version has more then enough features to keep you going for the moment. Installation ------------ Installation is very easy. Simply copy BOBTRACK.PRG and BOBTRACK.RSC into the same directory and run BOBTRACK.PRG. You can, if you wish, put them into the root directory of your boot drive and rename BOBTRACK.PRG to BOBTRACK.ACC, and BOBtracker will automatically run as an accessory. (There are certain problems with Accessory module players, which I will address later). BOBtracker will run quite happily under MultiTOS, but do not use it as an Accessory in the normal fashion (there is no point anyway). Also, there is an extra file called BOBICON.RSC, which contains a simple icon that you may wish to use with your desktop. Use a resource editor to add it to your DESKICON.RSC file. It should also work with NEODESK/EASE. Disclaimer ---------- Although BOBtracker seems to be perfectly safe, I will not be held responsible for anything 'nutty' that might happen when you use it. Please make me aware of any bugs, but don't harp on about any damage you might think it could have caused. It was probably your fault anyway. Instructions ------------ Load it and play. That's the only way to learn. But I have compiled some instructions for challenged individuals, so here we go. BOBtracker consists of a set of windows, each of which lets you control certain aspects of the player. I will now give a brief overview of each of the windows used and mention a few concepts that may be of help. Falcon AES/MultiTOS features & other important bits --------------------------------------------------- BOBtracker has a few enhancements that take advantage of AES/GEM features added since the Falcon was introduced and in the more recent versions of MultiTOS. For example, you should note that none of the BOBtracker windows need to be topped in order to interact with the buttons & sliders. This is a new AES feature and I think it makes programs a lot easier to use, because you do not have to top a window to use its contents (one click less & faster execution). If you click/start dragging an object in any BOBtracker window, it will interact as if it were on top, except that sliders and buttons may only be partially visible. You can even drag a slider out of your field of view. Also, under MultiTOS, such wonders as iconified windows, drag & drop and auto shutdown are supported. The latest version of MultiTOS lets you iconify a window, and all such windows are aligned along the bottom of the screen (great for keeping things tidy). Although BOBtracker has its own built-in iconify system, if this version of MultiTOS is present, then its iconify system will be used. Drag and drop lets you drag files to BObtracker to tell it to load modules or create playlists. MultiTOS also has an auto shutdown system which tells programs to exit when it wants to do something like a res change. This is so the user does not have to do this himself. BOBtracker supports this, although not all programs do yet. If you get a 'shut down applications yourself'-type message, then it was not BOBtracker's fault. Another important point is that of the difference between BOBtracker running as a normal program and as an accessory. Memory management is difficult when using accessories, especially when loading or exiting programs while a module is running. None of the modplayer accessories that I have seen address this problem, and most tend to crash when you jump in and out of programs a lot. My solution is to remove the module from memory when you run/exit a program, but BOBtracker keeps a record of various things such as the song position & tempo and when you next call BOBtracker from the Desk menu, the module will automatically be reloaded and will continue from where it left off. This does not cause any problems and you can go in and out of programs many times without any hassle. Try doing this with lesser modplayers and watch your machine die. BOBtracker uses a preferences file (called BOBTRACK.INI), which will be created whenever you save preferences. It does not depend on this file, and you do not need to give it to people when you give them a copy of the program. If you ever encounter strange problems with BOBtracker, then try deleting/moving the INI file so that it is not used when you boot the program and see if this helps - corrupt INI/INF files are a little known cause of hassle with many popular programs, and this technique can be of use with other programs as well, including the desktop (try corrupting your NEWDESK.INF). Main Window ----------- The main window is the only window you really need for basic use. It lets you load and play modules and perform other basic functions like fast-forward, rewind, stop and pause. The main controls resemble that of a CD player. If you have used other desktop module players, then these will be familiar to you. To load a module, you may click on the EJECT button. You may also use the PLAY button, but this only works if there is no module in memory. A file selector will appear and you should choose a .MOD file to load. If you clicked the PLAY button to load the module, then it will start playing when it loads. (If it doesn't, then you should check that you have some form of output connected). If you used the EJECT button to load the module, then you need to press the PLAY button to start it playing. As you can see, it is fairly similar to a normal CD player. The FAST-FORWARD and REWIND controls allow you to move forward/back one song pattern with each click. The STOP button stops the module and returns it to the start, so when you press PLAY again, the song will start from the beginning. If you press the PAUSE button, then the module will stop playing, but pressing PLAY again will restart the module from the point it was paused at. When you load a module, you will notice that the module name, and the number of channels it uses, will be displayed in the information boxes. The 4 buttons down the right hand side call up the other BOBtracker windows. More on these windows later. The SONGS button gives you an abbreviated version of the SONGLIST window inside a popup dialog. If you have just started using BOBtracker, then this will contain empty entries. When you have a PLAYLIST in memory, the 10 available songs will be displayed in this popup, and selecting one of them will load and play that module. You may want to back and investigate this button when I have explained how to create songlists. The last button on the main panel is an up-right facing arrow, at the top right of the window. Pressing this reduces all the current BOBtracker windows to a small iconified window. This is for when it is used under MultiTOS or as an Accessory, to put the windows out of the way. Pressing the OPEN button on the iconified window will open all the windows you previously had opened, in their previous positions. If you are using AES 4.10 (used in the latest version of TOS/MultiTOS), then this iconify button will not appear. This is because AES 4.10 has its own iconify system, which provides a small 'delta' button at the top right of the window (on the titlebar). If you have this new AES version, then you will be aware of how to use it. It has the same effect as the built-in iconify, but is AES 4.10 compliant. (The AES tells applications where to put the iconified window, so they all align along the bottom of the screen). The window controls work as expected (ie. moving and closing the window), but the close button closes all BOBtracker windows. If you are running BOBtracker as a normal program, then closing it will stop the module playing and exit the program. If you are using it as an accessory, then closing it will simply close all the windows, but BOBtracker will still be in memory (with the current module playing) and you can recall it by choosing its entry in the desk accessory list. The main window has an extra purpose under MultiTOS. You can drag files to it from the desktop to make it play the dragged module, or create a playlist from a group of dragged modules. This feature is NOT present in this unregistered version. Control Window -------------- The control window lets you adjust the sound output to suit your own particular tastes. It can be opened by pressing the CONTROL button on the Main window. The VOLUME controls should be obvious. You can control the left and right volumes independently, and a seperate main volume. All of these take effect together, so setting all 3 sliders to halfway will give you 50% of 50% of full volume (ie. 25%). Put simply, if you want to control just the main volume, then put the left and right volumes to full and use the main volume slider. To control the left and right volumes seperately, put the main volume up full and use the left & right sliders. If this doesn't make any sense, then play with the sliders and see for yourself. The BALANCE control lets you control the relative left and right volumes, much as you would expect. The last three controls (VIBRANCE, BASS and TREBLE) adjust the appearance of the sound. BASS and TREBLE should be obvious - most modules tend to lack a bit of bass, so this will normally be better higher than the treble. The VIBRANCE slider controls the level of cubic extrapolation present in the sound. When increased, the dynamic range of the sound is increased and this can provide a great improvement in the quality of the sound. Not on a TV speaker or the internal speaker though, because they will always sound crap. Use a Hi-Fi, folks. And that pretty much sums up the control panel. Information Window ------------------ This doesn't do much (or anything) at the moment, except advertise BOBtracker (and me). The registration version gives a fuller detailing of the current module (ie. module type, sample list, module size, etc.) PlayList Window --------------- The PLAYLIST system lets you create lists of your favorite modules which you can then play without hunting through the file selector all the time. It also jumps to the next module when the current one is finished or when a specified amount of time has elapsed (shuffle system). Playlists can be saved and loaded for later use, so you can create different playlists for different moods. So, let's go though the buttons and widgets. The two buttons at the top-left, SHUFFLE and RANDOM control the shuffle system. When SHUFFLE is selected, each module in the list will play for a specified period of time and then jump onto the next one. When RANDOM is selected, then next one will be chosen at random. The shuffle time can be controlled, the control being on the preferences window (details later). The buttons at the top-right, PLAY and NEXT SONG are the simplest way of setting the whole thing off. Pressing PLAY will start playing the first song on the list and pressing NEXT SONG will skip onto the next song immediately. The playlist itself consists of two columns of buttons. The left column buttons bring up the file selector that lets you choose which module appears at that position on the list. So, pressing SONG 5 lets you specify what song 5 will be. The name will appear on the corresponding right column button. Pressing a button on the right column will start playing that song immediately, and all playlist control will continue from that song position. If you press NEXT SONG when the next song is blank, or click on a blank song name (right column), then BOBtracker will skip down the list (looping to the top if necessary) until it finds a valid song or reaches the original position, at which point it will abort the search. Under MultiTOS, dragging a file from the desktop to a module name will replace that entry with the dragged file. If multiple files are dragged, then the subsequent entries will be filled with the other dragged files. This feature is NOT present in this unregistered version. It is quite a handy feature, as using the file selector for 10 song entries can be a bit annoying. The buttons at the bottom let you SAVE and LOAD playlists and CLEAR the current playlist. Saving and loading are NOT allowed in the unregistered version, so you can only play with PlayLists in this version. If you want to use them properly, then you will have to send me some dosh. Another feature missing from this version is extended command line support, which allows you to boot the program with a playlist by passing it a playlist or a set of MODfiles on the command line (under DEXtrous, EASE & NEODESK4). Under MultiTOS, you can do this when the program is already running and it will take the parameters as a runtime command, instead of running a second version of the program. Preferences Window ------------------ This window lets you customise BOBtracker to a certain extent and save these preferences, so that it works the same when you load it next time. For a start, the window positions are all saved, so that they all appear in the same place next time you load it. Obviously, if you run it in a lower resolution, the windows will be moved on-screen if they were outside. The name of the current playlist file is also saved, and it will be automatically loaded next time (not in the unregistered version though). The other information saved is that which appears on the preference dialog. These thing include default directories, shuffle time and general control flags. The SHUFFLE TIME control lets you specify (in minutes and seconds) how long to wait before automatically moving on to the next module in the playlist. This only has an effect if you are using the playlist and have the SHUFFLE button selected on the playlist window. The AT END OF SONG controls tell the player what to do when a module finishes of its own accord. The song can either be REPEATed or the player can jump onto the NEXT SONG in the playlist. The GENERAL OPTIONS let you choose whether or not there should be a flashing PLAY icon in the playlist/mimimised windows. When flash is on, the mouse cursor tends to blink, so you may wish to stop this happening. You can also choose whether or not to show a dialog when loading a module. This can be annoying when you are doing something else like using a word processor, and the loading dialog appears while you are typing and the player has decided to load another song. The SAVE PREFERENCES button should be obvious. The preferences are saved in a file called BOBTRACK.INI in the same directory as the player and will be used when you load BOBtracker again. The last two buttons let you set the default paths for playlists and modules, and these tell the player where to start looking for them when first loaded. The playlist path is not of much use in the unregistered version, as you cannot save/load playlists, but it's there anyway. Other Comments -------------- The player used to ask permission to continue when faced with an unknown module type or 15 instrument modules, as these have no consistent identifier. I was told this was annoying, especially when using playlists on automatic, so it has gone. This means that you will get no warning about dodgy modules, and the player will probably crash if it hits a really nasty one. I am working on a totally solid modfile reader that will not crash when it fails miserably to play a module. Coming soon. Shareware Details ----------------- If you like BOBtracker and want the most up-to-date full version, then the shareware fee is £6 (Six British Pounds). Just send me this and your details (an envelope would be nice, and postage if you live outside the U.K.) and a copy will be winging its way to you very soon. Send it to: Neil Stewart 51 Cardowan Drive Stepps Glasgow G33 6HQ Scotland Any comments or bug reports will be gracefully received. Hellos ------ Hello to: Doug & Andy - The world is not ready for us... Dave E - Get me a big hard disk please. Ian Paterson - Thanks for testing the beta & helping out. Jackie & John - Ta, for the original name, BOB. Colin - Do some work !