Best Objectech Shareware Selections/UNTITLED.iso/boss/util/cdro/001/playhelp.doc

Text File | 1989-07-18 | 14KB | 332 lines

        Forthplay and Romplay Documentation and Comments
                         Date:  09Jul89

If you have this file, you should also have copies of
ROMPLAY.BAS, ROMPLAY2.BAS, ROMPLAY3.BAS, and 4THPLAY.COM,
CD-Audio players for the Hitachi CDR1503S or CDR3500 CD-ROM
Drives and PC bus interface cards.

Use Romplay & Romplay3 for keyboards with function keys across
the top (enhanced layout).  Romplay2 is better for the original
keyboard.  Romplay is intended for those times you want to do
something other than compute.  Forthplay is better for starting
play or checking a drive.

Required:

Hitachi CDR1503S, CDR3500, or 100% compatible CD-ROM
     drive.
Hitachi PC bus interface card: CDIFI2, CDIFI3A, CDIFI4, CDIFI4A,
     CDIF25A, CDIF25A2, or CDIF35A

300H base address for Forthplay, Romplay base is changeable (see
     line 10010).

For Romplay, GWBASIC (Non-IBM, about 80K file size), or the
BASICA version for IBM, (if you really have an IBM), or with
Tandy & Compaq, the BASICA version with Tandy or Compaq MS-DOS.

On a monochrome system, you will need to edit the program colors
and may need to change some color indicators and graphics
chracters.  First try changing the colors defined around 10000.
Blue/green paper must black, tip colors set to white/lwhite.  It
may be less trouble to use Forthplay and auto.

Romplay Functions:

     E     Eject Disc
     A     Accept Disc - Close Tray when present and open
     S     Sample first 17 seconds of each track
     P     Play - Start to End, Next Que, or Section Repeat
   <   >   Reverse/Forward 1 Track    -  ,  .
 <<<   >>> Reverse/Forward 1 minute   -  {  }
  <<   >>  Reverse/Forward 10 seconds -  [  ]
     N     Number Play - Enter Start & End track numbers
  ------   Spacebar toggles Pause On/Off - clears modes
     C     Cue to start of current track or release cue/pause
     Q     Quit - Immediately go to DOS with clear screen
    1-9    First digit of number play entry sequence
     R     Repeat Play from Starting to Ending Track
     T     Toggle Que On/Off for use at next Play or end
              of current play
     B     Begin - Mark currently played location for Section
              Play
     F     Finish - Section Play end - enable mode for play
              (Must be greater than Begin location) (Press Play
              to start Section Play - Space Bar to exit)
     M     Manage Que - set mode for Que functions
     /     Shuffle Play (Makes new random shuffled Que and plays)
     D     Drive (0-3) - Select CD-ROM drive for program

Manage Que Functions:

   < >   StepQue - Rotate stack of Que entries
    F    Fill Que with all tracks in reverse order
    C    Clear Que to 0 entries
    S    Shuffle all Que entries
    I    Insert number into current bottom of Que  (prompt)
   1-9   First digit of insert  - before prompt
    D    Delete number from Que (prompt)
    T    Toggle Que Mode - Manage or normal modes

Notes: Spacebar or Return/Enter accepts digits when valid
     Enter 0 to cancel number delete or insert
     When digits expected - only digits accepted
     Spacebar or other keys will exit Manage mode
    < > StepQue operates from keyboard when Que is on


Slide Cue Time Scale Operation and Use:

The time scale shows the current minute position and relative
   time remaining.

It can be used to cue directly to any minute of the disc using
   the cursor keys.

Cursor left/right - Slide reverse/forward 1 minute
Cursor up         - Move laser to selected minute and read
                       time/track code
Cursor down       - Play to end of disc from selected location

The normal program mode is automatic repeat play of the entire
disc from start to finish.  This mode is active when other modes
are clear.  When another mode is selected, prior modes are
cleared.  Pause, or skip functions clear other modes, and restore
play to end operation.

When the program is run, it checks to see if a I/F card is
installed at the address. If card/drive isn't there, it will list
line 10010 for editing.  PRTA=&H300 is the base address for Port
A on the card.  If something else uses the address, it should not
answer drive commands in the next step.  Then the program trys a
drive command to see if a drive answers.  If no answer, changes
the drive number and trys again.  When no drive answers, decides
the user forgot to turn it on, and waits to rerun.

The program updates the screen times, watches for end of play, a
keypress,  or change in drive status, until something happens.

If a CD is playing when the program is started, or when the drive
number is changed, it obtains the current play location, and
returns to it after finding the maximum times.

Since basic is too slow to read the Disc Table of Contents (TOC)
which lists the track times, it finds the maximum Minutes &
Seconds through use of a clever "hack", by attempting play at 99
minutes, then trying lower numbers until it sees the drive in
play mode, then counts up until it goes to pause again.  At that
point, it backs up two seconds and reads the track number on the
disc.  Doing it this way allows you to have a player in basic
with Source code.  The Forth program just reads the TOC and gets
the times, but Forthplay doesn't have all of the Romplay
features.

Times are used for display and skip wrap-around, while the
maximum track number is needed for other operations.

If your host is very fast, you may need to use slow mode or add
some delay loops to let the max time routine operate properly.

On ROM tracks the times change to yellow or light red.

The drive remembers only the last start/end time given to it by
the program.  It will continue to play when the program is
exited.

The drive is intended for data transfer and it performs audio
functions only through host control and monitoring of its
operation.


Forthplay Commands:

Play       ( n n Play ) ( n Play ) ( play )
        n is starting track n is ending track, ie:   2 5 Play
        n is starting and ending track,  ie:  3 play
        Play plays tracks 1-99, or to disc end
Tune       Shows current Track and Index, if playing
Time       Time in Track and Time within entire disc
Mode       Reports Drive Status, except busy and lock
TOC        Generally shows Table of Contents for installed disc
        List of tracks, start times, and end time of disc
Channels   Reports status of mute bits to be used at next play
Stereo     Enable both channels at next play
Left       Enable left channel at next play
Right      Enable right channel at next play
Mute       Mute channels at next play
Eject      Ejects disc when not locked
Accept     Closetray
CloseTray  Accepts disc - CDR1503S only
Lock       Disables front panel Open/Eject button
Unlock     Enables Open/Eject button on drive
Drive      ( n Drive )  Sets Drive (0-3) for commands, ie: 3
Drive
Drives     Reports active CD-ROM drives
Romdrive   Reports current CD-ROM drive used for commands
Xplay      ( n n n n n n xplay ) ( n n n xplay ) ( xplay)
 Xplay     Extended play by min, sec, frame, to min, sec, frame
        0 0 0 99 59 74 is default
        0-6 arguments when stack is empty - if works strange
           retry
        Pause occurs when times are invalid
Rplay      Replay last xplay, Stime & Etime Setting
Stime      Set start location for repeat, must be playing disc
Etime      Set end location for repeat
Menu       Shows Command menu
Bye        Exits immediately to DOS on active drive
Credits    Resets Drive and I/O card to inital setting - shows
           opening
Auto       Starts automatic play like Romplay - partial


implementation


Forthplay consists of words added to the F83 Forth language.

With Forthplay & F83 forth, the contents of the current line to
the left of the cursor is read when Enter is pressed.  Correct
typing errors with the Backspace key and retype the remainder of
the line.  The editor you will be using is the one provided as
part of this version of the language.

Type one of the commands on