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■ BMP 1.1 - The Background MODule Player ■
■ Copyright 1993 (C) Liam Stitt ■
■ User's Manual ■
■ TABLE OF CONTENTS: Page I
1.0: Copyright Information, Disclaimer: Page 01
1.1: Copyright Information Page 01
1.2: Disclaimer Page 01
1.3: Weird Symbols Page 02
2.0: Files in This Package... Page 02
3.0: A Note to CD-ROM and Shareware Publishers Page 03
3.1: The CD-ROM Publisher Page 03
3.2: The Shareware Vendor Page 03
4.0: How do I use BMP? Page 04
4.1: So just what is BMP, anyway? Page 04
4.2: How do I use BMP? Page 04
4.3: When NOT to use BMP... Page 05
5.0: Great! I love it! How do I Register? Page 07
5.1: Registration Form Page 07
6.0: Notes From the Programmer Page 09
7.0: Special Thanks and Blatant Plugs Page 10
7.1: BBS Plugs Page 10
7.2: Program Plugs Page 10
7.3: Nepotistic Mentioning of People's Names Page 10
8.0: Where to find me... Page 11
8.1: Geographical Location Page 11
8.2: FidoNet Page 11
■ 1.0: COPYRIGHT INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMER Page 01
■ All products mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners.
1.1 - Copyright Information
BMP - The Background MODule Player - is Copyright (C) 1993 Liam Stitt
and is protected by international copyright law. It is unlawful to
alter this program in any matter. This program is hereby declared
as shareware - you are encouraged to share this program, but you are
required to register with the author if you intend to continue using
this program, and you must not make unauthorized copies of the
registered version of this program.
1.2 - Disclaimer
By the use of this product, you hereby agree to hold the author, me,
Liam Stitt, free from all damages and charges that may arise from the
use of BMP, whether or not they occur due to the proper or improper use
of the program.
I GUARANTEE NOTHING EXCEPT THE FOLLOWING:
1) It works on my system
2) It takes up disk space
3) The Sun will rise. <G>
BMP is distributed AS-IS. If it blows up your computer, causes
trouble with your significant other, or does something else weird,
well, it's your puppy. Use it at your own risk! It is quite easy
to crash your computer using BMP unless you follow directions on
its use!
Conversely, if BMP picks the winning lottery numbers,
congratulations. In that case, you could at least register, or
if you have, remember me :-)
1.3 - Weird symbols
For the uninitiated: symbols such as ':-)' are called emoticons, and they
are used in BBS messages to convey opinions or feelings. There are far too
many to list, so should I use one I will explain what it means. For the
moment, these definitions follow:
<G>: Grinning
:-): Happy face, often used to convey humor...see? Look sideways...
BTW: By The Way
■ 2.0: FILES IN THIS PACKAGE Page 02
Below is a direct cut from the SYSOP.DOC file which should have been a
part of the BMP files you recieved:
filename date time size description
BMP.DAT 8-26-93 01:10 35715 BMP data file.
BMP.DOC 8-26-93 01:10 22804 BMP main document.
BMP.EXE 8-26-93 01:10 16247 BMP executable.
FILE_ID.DIZ 8-26-93 01:10 273 Desc. file for PCBoard
HISTORY.REV 8-26-93 01:10 554 History file for BMP.
ORDER.FRM 8-26-93 01:10 3239 Order form for BMP.
SYSOP.DOC 8-26-93 01:10 2118 SysOp information file.
VENDOR.DOC 8-26-93 01:10 1925 Vendor information file.
SysOps, please read and follow the instructions in SYSOP.DOC.
■ 3.0: A NOTE TO CD-ROM AND SHAREWARE PUBLISHERS Page 03
This is a direct cut of the VENDOR.DOC file.
3.1 - The CD-ROM publisher
You are hereby granted permission to distribute BMP on a CD-ROM disk
provided the following conditions are met:
1) I must be notified a reasonable amount of time in advance of
the publication of the disk.
2) You MUST contact me to ensure that you have the latest version
of BMP.
3) The CD-ROM disk MUST state that it contains UNREGISTERED
shareware which requires seperate payment to the author.
4) You MAY NOT distribute a registered version of BMP.
5) BMP may NOT be used in any advertisements without the prior
written consent and approval of final copy by the author.
6) You CANNOT alter the distribution archive as provided in
SYSOP.DOC.
3.2 - The Shareware vendor
You are hereby granted permission to distribute BMP on a disk provided
the following conditions are met:
1) I must be notified a reasonable amount of time in advance of
the publication of my program.
2) You MUST contact me to ensure that you have the latest version
of BMP.
3) The disk MUST state that it contains UNREGISTERED shareware
which requires seperate payment to the author.
4) You MAY NOT distribute a registered version of BMP.
5) Disk fee may not exceed $7.00US.
6) You CANNOT alter the distribution archive as provided in
SYSOP.DOC.
FAILURE TO MEET *ALL* OF THESE CONDITIONS IS A VIOLATION OF MY COPYRIGHT!
■ 4.0: How do I use BMP? Page 04
4.1 - So just what is BMP, anyway?
BMP is a program that plays Amiga module music files, more commonly
known as MODs. BMP is very different from other MOD players in that
it has a singular purpose: to allow the execution of another program
while the module is being played. In that end, BMP has been written
to be as small as possible, to provide room for the secondary program.
4.2 - How do I use BMP?
BMP is a DOS command-line utility. The calling syntax is as follows: (The
refernce to BMP itself, which should appear before the [-?... parameter has
been omitted so that I had room to cover all the parameters on one line)
c:\utils>bmp [-?|/?] filename[.mod] outputdevice hz [programtoexec]
The parameters are defined as follows:
1) filename[.mod] is the name of the MOD to load. An error will occur
if BMP is unable to locate the file. You may have a
file called 'BLAH.MOD' which you could load in any of
the following ways:
BMP blah [other parameters]
BMP blah. [other parameters]
BMP blah.mod [other parameters]
BMP blah.??? [other parameters]
As you can see, if BMP is unable to locate the file the
first time, it will replace whatever file extension it
recieved on the command line and add in MOD. Only then
if it fails will the program terminate.
2) outputdevice is a REQUIRED parameter from 1 to 8. Possible values
and their meaning are located in the table below.
OutputDevice Number What it means
1 PC Speaker
2 SoundBlaster
3 SoundBlaster Pro
4 SoundPlayer/Covox connected to LPT1
5 SoundPlayer/Covox connected to LPT2
6 Stereo SoundPlayer connected to LPT1
7 Stereo SoundPlayer connected to LPT2
8 SoundPlayers on both LPT1 and LPT2
3) hz is a REQUIRED frequency in Hertz ranging from 4000 to
63000. I suggest you experiment to determine what
sounds best on your computer, although I find that
between 20000 and 28000 sounds good on the Honker
(PC Speaker) connected to my 386-40
4) [programtoexec] is the pathname to the program to shell to. By default
a command processor will be run, and one will also be
launched if [programtoexec] is invalid. Note that
Page 05
no direct command-line parameters can be passed to the
program being executed. I was about to write the code
to do that when I realized that the size of BMP's
parameters alone would seriously hinder what could be
passed to the other program. A simple workaround for
that is to pass the name of a batch file containing the
requisite commands in [programtoexec].
If you select Output Device 2 or 3 - SoundBlaster[Pro], be sure that the
BLASTER environment variable is set in this form, or BMP will not work:
[BTW, sorry about forcing you to conform, but without my own SB to mess
around, things get REAL hairy...]
BLASTER = port irq dma
or BLASTER=port irq dma
for example:
BLASTER =A220 I7 D1
Note the lack of a space between the '=' and 'A'. This is very important.
Make sure your variable is set like this - perhaps "BLASTER=A240 I8 D2"
Now for some examples:
BMP crmearth 1 27000 c:\utils\blank.bat
- Loads crmearth.mod, which should be in the current directory, and
plays out of the PC Speaker at 27000 hertz, executing blank.bat in
my utilities directory.
BMP \mods\lunawave.mod 3 45000 1 7 220
- Loads lunawave.mod [editor's note - both great songs] from the MODS
directory off of the current drive's root, sets up the SBPro at 45000
hertz for DMA channel 1, IRQ 7 and Port 220, and runs a command
processor since no program was specified on the command-line.
BMP -?
- Produces a help screen
I find that BMP is most useful when I have to do some boring mundane DOS
chore like copying files, or formatting a disk, or...
I also like to run BMP in back of a screen blanker...after all, why
exercise just the monitor?
As you may have discovered in playing around with BMP, as soon as you exit
the program executed on the command-line, the song-playing terminates.
As you may also discover, BMP loops around to the beginning of a song when
it finishes. It would be extermely precarious to deal with more than one
at the same time in BMP's situation.
4.3 - When NOT to use BMP...
Page 06
BMP is a very powerful program, but DOS is never quite stable on most systems,
mine being no exception. I recommend the following guidelines when using
BMP:
DON'T use BMP in Windows. If you load BMP in a Windows command shell, your
system will lock. If you run Windows 3.1 you will be able to abort this
by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete (see your Windows documentation for further
details) but on my system when I did this my system hung upon exiting
Windows.
DON'T use BMP when running another program which actively makes sounds, for
example another MOD player - and for that matter don't try and load BMP under
itself. Both examples will hang your machine. If anyone has clean TP6 code
for a program to determine if it is already running - like all TSRs should
do - and you send me it and it gets used, you'll get to see your name in these
docs. I'll even throw in a free registration, although that is sort of moot
since I rely on people's honesty with BMP.
DON'T try to run a program like those above on the BMP command-line. This
will also lock up your machine. Also be careful regarding a lot of programs
which allow you to 'disable' sound. In several cases, even having done so,
I had a system lock when exiting the other program.
Also, watch how you set up BMP. For some weird reason, whenever I do the
following on *MY* system:
c:\utils>bmp 007.mod 1 28888
([programtoexec] doesn't matter, same effect both ways)
I get a lock as the program gets executed (although BMP continues to play
until I reboot)...but when I use '28887' or '28889' as Hertz values, it runs
fine...so be careful when you pick your values. I would suggest making a
table of useful ones.
In conclusion, many programs just don't like BMP. I wish I could help that.
However, BMP has a very specific purpose in life, and it doesn't have an easy
time getting along with other programs, although it tries very hard.
■ 5.0: Great! I Love it! How do I Register? Page 07
5.1 - Registration Form
This is the Registration Form that should have been contained in the file
ORDER.FRM, which should be present in the distribution archive.
Registration Form for:
BMP 1.1 - The Background MODule Player
Copyright 1993 (C) Liam Stitt
All products mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners
Name: ______________________________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________________________
City: ______________________________________________________________________
Province or State: _________________________________________________________
Country: ___________________________________________________________________
Postal or Zip Code: ________________________________________________________
Date Sent: (MM/DD/YY): ________/__/____
If you wish to recieve your registration code by netmail instead of
snailmail please indicate your FidoNet address below
FidoNet Address: __________
Optional Info...But I Would Really Appreciate It If You Would Fill This In
Type of Computer: [ ] 8086/8088
[ ] 80186/80188
[ ] 80286
[ ] 80386SX [ ] 80386DX
[ ] 80486SX [ ] 80486DX
[ ] 80586 [ ] Unsure
What speed is your microprocessor?
[ ] 4.77mhz [ ] 8mhz [ ] 10mhz [ ] 12mhz [ ] 16mhz [ ] 20mhz [ ] 25mhz
[ ] 33mhz [ ] 50mhz [ ] 66mhz [ ] 100mhz [ ] Unsure
[These last two questions help me determine how to optimize my software.]
Do you use a multitasker? Which One? (Please check all that apply)
[ ] Windows 3.0 [ ] Windows 3.1 [ ] Other version of Windows [ ] DesqVIEW
[ ] DesqVIEW/X [ ] OS/2 2.x [ ] OS/2 1.3 or below [ ] DoubleDOS [ ] TopView
[ ] VM386 [ ] Other (please specify) _______________________________________
Do you run DOS? ______ Which version? _______
[this inserted due to page break. please delete before sending]Page 08
Do you program? If so, please check all that apply.
[ ] C [ ] C++ [ ] Pascal [ ] QuickBASIC [ ] Other BASIC [ ] Prolog
[ ] Lisp [ ] Actor [ ] Fortran [ ] Smalltalk [ ] Other ____________
BMP Registration:
Regular Registration:
Canada: $6 Canadian
Rest of Terra: $6 US
Next-Version-On-A-Disk Registration:
Canada: $20 Canadian
Rest of Terra: $20 US
Next-Version-On-A-Disk-You-Send-To-Me-With-Disk-Mailer Registration
Canada: $15 Canadian
Rest of Terra: $18 US (remember, international postage!)
Note that any disk registration will also include a personalized copy of BMP.
Corporate Site Licensing please respond by regular mail or netmail.
BMP Registration: $___
Donations from Rich or Insane Users: $___
Total: $___
Cheques only please! Make cheques payable to Liam Stitt, and mail to
Liam Stitt
139 Deerpath Road SE
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2J 6C5
Thank you for your support! And remember, registered users feel free
to contact me for instant support! FidoNet address information should
be contained in the file BMP.DOC.
■ 6.0: Notes From The Programmer Page 09
One warning...if you don't program or aren't interested in this sort of
thing - which, unlike the rest of this user's manual, is NOT divided up, I
suggest you skip this. However, it does contain information on my ideas
and plans for future versions of BMP, and some other stuff...
As it stands BMP 1.1 uses GoldPlay, an excellent public domain MOD
loader/player written by a Scandanavian group who call themselves the
CodeBlasters. I will be writing my own MOD code for BMP 2.0, and I will
be adding support for the Adlib, GUS, etc. This may show up for BMP 1.5, but
I don't suggest you count on it. BMP 2.0 will also optionally play like a
regular MOD player in the foreground.
BMP 1.1 was written in Turbo Pascal. 1.5 will be written in assembler if I
can help it. BMP has been overlaid to conserve as much RAM as possible for
the child program and requires at most 52K plus enough to cover the size of
the MOD.
Most of that 52K is an external overlay which handles all of the MOD work.
There is a second overlay which is part of the EXE file, which means that
you can't PKLite or LZEXE BMP. This other overlay will only interfere if it
can't load itself. It transparently searches out EMS, so if you happen to be
able to spare a little EMS you'll have around 10K more for the child program.
If you load a command processor and let BMP sit there you will get a LOT of
static. This is due to DOS polling the keyboard for keystrokes. To just
let it sit there, tap Pause and the static disappeares. Some background
static is always present, and although it is nearly inaudible when performing
a DOS operation like a disk format, it can be very noticeable in some cases -
for example, load BMP, type 'dir' and see what you get...in my experience
things seem to indicate that this static is worst on the PC Speaker by far
however. External programs can also cause static, for example BLANK,
discussed below, does cause some. It's just part of the price we pay for
getting the system to do two things at once.
A future version of BMP - 2.0, or 3.0, depending on time constraints, will
really go background - it will invoke protected mode and shove the MOD itself
into extended or expanded memory to clear up as much as possible below 640K.
I'd also like to do a Windows version. Every Windows MOD player I've seen
was choppy and didn't allow you to get much done with other programs. Why
run a multitasker if it acts like a single program?
For the interested who want to know what I developed BMP with - I always like
to know - I have a 386-40 with 4 megs of RAM, a Super VGA monitor, a 130 meg
HD happily compressed to 170, both usual floppy drives, DOS 6/Windows 3.1,
and a 14.4K modem.
■ 7.0: Special Thanks and Blatant Plugs Page 10
7.1 - BBS Plugs
If ever you visit Calgary, I suggest you call any of the fine following
boards...and even if you don't, why not? (BTW, no particular order, guys...)
board number net addresses why I plugged 'em
TechTalk 2804938/2809802 1:134/40 my bossnode; great board
Secret C 2567019 1:134/21 ultimate programming board
DataLink InfoSys 7200107 working on it we need more callers :-)
7.2 - Program Plugs
Well, yes, so, I'm a nepotist...
TileDraw 2.0d - World's Greatest Sprite Editor! Written by none other than
Calvin French, who just so happens to be my beta tester! And
so what if I was the TD2 beta tester?????????? FREQ C-TD20D.*
from 1:134/75 and get your mits on a really cool program!
Blank 1.05 - the screen blanker I use with BMP! Written by Jeff Galbraith,
the SysOp of Secret C himself! FREQ BLANK105.ZIP from his board
for the current version! Absolutely beautiful, and freeware to
boot!
7.3 - Nepotistic Mentioning of People's Names
First off, I'd like to say hello to Henning Johansen, Jeff Galbraith and
Kevin Pasenau, the sysops of the three boards above.
Next I'd like to say hello to Calvin...and Soleil Lapierre, who has even
more taglines that me [and is a proud registered user :)]...
[soapbox on]
Secondly, I'd like to say hello to all of the people in the local Theories
echo here locally for hours of stimulating debates - Calvin, Soleil, Jan Goss,
Gordon Matzigkeit and a few other people whose names don't readily come to mind
but are hopefully inferred :-).
[soapbox off]
Let's see...did I miss anyone?...nope...that's about it for nepotism..at least
in THIS manual <G>...
■ 8.0: Where to find me... Page 11
8.1 - Geographical Location
I can be found at the following geographical location:
Liam Stitt
139 Deerpath Road SE
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2J 6C5
8.2 - FidoNet
If you want to netmail me, address it to 1:134/40.9, my point, or to
1:134/21. A reply should arrive within a few days of my receipt of your
message. If not, resend it. We use LPM netmail here, so it may not make
it through ;-).
Thanks for reading this long manual!
Liam Stitt, BMP author, Fido 1:134/40.9
August 26th, 1993