The Datafile PD-CD 1B/DATAFILE_PDCD1B.iso/_pocketbk/pocketbook/003/slid10_zip/SLIDE.DOC

Text File | 1994-02-26 | 9.1 KB | 198 lines

Thankyou for trying SLIDE 1.0 for the Psion Series 3a
------------------------------------------------------

Synopsis
--------
SLIDE is a database-based slide-show/demo/tutorial system for the 3a,
graphics, WVE sound files and special effects.

Registration etc (please read)
------------------------------
SLIDE is (C) UK 1994 Steve Litchfield and is released as shareware.
The program is NOT free, and anyone making serious use of it should
register with the author (address at end) by sending the appropiate
amount in Sterling, US dollars or french francs.

This program is NOT heavily nagged, and the only indication of having
an unregistered version is the welcome screen displayed at the start
of each running slide show. Upon payment of the registration fee, a
patch will be supplied to disable the welcome screen.

I see SLIDE as having many business uses and v1.0 as only being the
start of what is possible. Registered users will receive updates,
upgrades etc and, perhaps most importantly, will have their
suggestions listened to and implemented in future versions. There will
certainly *be* future work on this program, as v1.0 really is just a
first cut at an idea I've had for quite a while, and I'm already
thinking of enhancements for v2.0.

Cost
----
For home users (having fun, distributing rolling presentations of your
services or just being willing to help support future development of
SLIDE) the registration fee is 10.00 UK pounds of equivalent in $ or ff.

For business users (for slide-shows, tutorials, demos etc) the
registration fee is 20.00 UK pounds (or equivalent in US $ or ff) for
use of the product plus 5.00 UK pounds per user after the first user
(i.e. each person who has a machine on which a show/demo is
installed). As I said above, in a business environment it is likely
that you will be contacting me anyway to discuss further program
improvements etc, so I'll wait for your call!

Customers sending dollars or francs please note I prefer cash!!


Installation of the SLIDE program
---------------------------------
Simply copy SLIDE.OPA into an \APP\ directory of your choice on any
drive and use Psion-I to install. Copy the STEMPLAT.DBF file into a
\DAT\ directory on the same drive.

Installation of the SLIDE example demo
--------------------------------------
Copy the .WVE files into any \WVE\ directory, the .PIC files into any
\PIC\ directory and the SDEMO.DBF file into any \DAT\ directory. You
may wish to use the internal disk or a RAM drive for this example, as
it is only to get you started and will probably be deleted by you
after viewing. Refresh your system screen by pressing the SYSTEM icon,
and the slideshow SDEMO will appear under the SLIDE icon, ready for
running.

How to use SLIDE
----------------
First of all, run the example slide-show to get a feel for the
end result. You will notice that the three main components of the
show are a database file with all the relevant slide information, some
PIC files (non-grey scale preferred, as the black plane will get
mapped to the grey plane, as in the examples) and some WVE sound
files.

OK, so you've seen what SLIDE v1.0 can do, so let's try creating a new
show of your own. The database files are in the usual DATA format and
can be edited as normal in the built-in DATA application. On the
system screen, use Psion-C to copy the template file STEMPLAT.DBF over
to your internal or RAM drive as, say, MYSHOW.DBF, ready for editing.
Under the DATA icon, or from within the DATA application, open up
MYSHOW.DBF . You will see a selection of text fields, Slide ref,
title, etc. The actual field names are not critical to SLIDE, but the
content and order *is*, so I do suggest that you start off each time
with a copy of the supplied template file, as above.

So, you're in DATA, with a blank-looking entry screen. Let's imagine
we're going to do a rolling slide tutorial to guide someone through
using your custom software, GRABDATA (apologies if someone's actually
got a product of that name!). Enter the fields as shown below:
Field name    You type in
----------------------------------------------------------------
SLIDE REF:    A
TITLE:        GRABDATA tutorial
TEXT:         Welcome, dear user! You will find GRABDATA an invaluable
              tool in helping you gather and sort through your
              processed data items. Graphs and reports will be simple
              after today!
TEXT HINT:
PIC FILE:     GRBTITL1.PIC
WVE FILE:     SAMPLE1.WVE
PAUSE:        4
EFFECT:       Fade
----------------------------------------------------------------
Note1:   The slide reference is important because prior to each slide
show, SLIDE does a sort on your show, using the reference as its guide
to the correct order for display. This is necessary as the DATA
application messes the order up well and truly if you make any updates
or edits, as you will have noticed on your standard address book
databases in the past. Thus, your show gets sorted prior to display.
Notice that I use an alphabetic reference, rather than numbers. If
numbers are used, then the order gets confused once you go over 9, so
for less than 27 slides stick to single letters, more than that use
AA, AB, AC.... AZ, BA, BB etc etc. That way, a simple alphabetic sort
will see the show stays in the right order.

Note2:   There is a limit of 255 characters for the text field. If you
need more than this, then you should split the content across two
slides.

Note3:   If you don't want a feature acted upon, e.g. you don't want a
flashed 'hint' to show on this particular slide, then just leave the
field blank. This applies to all the fields, which can all cope with
being left blank and have suitable defaults etc.

Note4:   The PIC file name should be left without all the drive and
directory information. SLIDE will look for your chosen named file in
\PIC\ directories on each drive in turn (M, then A, then B). Similarly
for the WVE file, which should exist somewhere in a \WVE\ directory.
SAMPLE1.WVE might in this case be, for example, a sample of you saying
"Welcome to GRABDATA".

Note5:  PIC files wider than 80 pixels will be centred on the screen
and displayed for 'background' effect in the grey plane, as shown in
the example slide shows. PIC files less than 80 pixels wide will
remain in the black plane and will appear on the left of the slide
text.

Note6:   The pause is the wait time in seconds at the end of each
slide before the screen is cleared and the next slide shown. The user
can press any key (apart from ESCAPE) to go directly to the next slide
without waiting for the time delay to expire. If no pause is
specified, the default is 5 seconds.

Note7:   The screen clearing effect is limited (at v1.0) to Top wipe,
Left wipe, Vanish and Fade mosaic. If no effect is chosen, the screen
is just cleared in the normal way. More special effects will be built
in to the next version of SLIDE.

Having typed your first slide, press TAB in the usual way to save it
and progress to the entry screen for your next slide. When you've
finished, save the file with Psion-X and you're ready to try running
the show.

Refresh your system screen (if necessary) and move to the SLIDE icon.
Move the cursor down to MYSHOW and press ENTER. Your slide-show will
now run. If there are any problems, then simply go back into MYSHOW
under the DATA icon and make the appropiate changes. Again, don't
worry about the way DATA reorders your slides. When SLIDE runs, it
will use your nice logical slide references (e.g. A,B,C etc) to
reorder the slides back how they should be. If you have more than 30
slides, SLIDE will realise it make take a short while to sort them at
run-time, so it will give you the option of sorting then and there,
continuing without sorting or quitting the program altogether.


Slide-show distribution
-----------------------
If you want to upload your slide-shows to bulletin boards etc for
others to try, please keep them separate from the SLID10.ZIP file that
you obtained this program in. If you wish, send me a copy as well
(with your registration fee !!)


Summary
-------
That's about it. I do hope you find SLIDE useful and that you will
want to support development of this 3a product by registering. I can
be contacted as follows:

Steve Litchfield
8 Grove Farm
Mytchett
Surrey
GU16 6AQ
ENGLAND

email: [e-mail]
Tel:  [phone]

NB: Reverse engineering of SLIDE.OPA is strictly forbidden and
illegal. If you really want a say in what the code of SLIDE does, then
please contact me and discuss your requirements. If the suggestion is
helpful to the product I may well register you free of charge anyway!
If you suspect the copy of SLIDE that you received has been hacked or
altered in some way, please contact the author at once, stating where
you received the program.

NB2: Please note also that I run *the* public domain/shareware library
for Series 3 and 3a users, called 3-Lib and established since January
1993, please send me a stamped addressed envelope for a free
catalogue. 3-Lib distributes on SSD and/or floppy disk.