CD School House 10

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ CD School House 10 / CD School House - Education and Games (10.0) - Wayzata Technology (1995).iso / mac / WIN / WINUTIL / EXPLOS31 / EXPLOSIV.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-12-26 | 45KB | 1,195 lines

EXPLOSIV USER MANUAL Explosiv Screen Saver is copyright (c) Reidar Gresseth & Chris Hook 1989-1994 DISCLAIMER: Explosiv is offered on an as-is-basis without any guarantee as to the correct functioning or fitness for specific purpose. The authors believe this program to work as described but the program is used at your own risk. The authors will not be responsible for any hardware or software damage, loss of data, or incidental or consequential damage that may result from its use, whether or not such use is in accordance with the instructions. Explosiv is distributed as shareware and is not free. This means that you may freely distribute Explosiv to others provided you do not charge for the software, that you distribute the package unaltered and that you clearly state that Explosiv is shareware. You may use this software for a limited period not to exceed 30 days after which timer you must register the program. Also, you must purchase a separate licence for each terminal or workstation on which you wish to use this software. If, after the trial period, you decide that you wish to continue using Explosiv it is strongly recommended that you register the program. Besides being illegal to use this software after the trial period, there are many advantages to registration. You will receive: - the latest version of the program - eight additional displays - a 16 page printed manual - Image Maker support for 256 color GIF images - Create Explosiv for Windows displays from BMP images - create screen savers from text messages - notification of future updates - special upgrade offers - technical support Please see the file "order.frm" for details. See "products" for information about other products offered by H&G Software. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 1) BASICS AND INSTALLATION 1. About Explosiv 2. Getting Started 3. Explosiv Summary PART 2) EXPLOSIV FOR DOS 4. Using Explosiv For DOS 5. Configuration Options 6. Display Librarian 7. Image Maker PART 3) EXPLOSIV FOR WINDOWS 8. Using Explosiv For Windows 9. Setup Dialog Box 10. Password Protection 11. Windows Explosiv Logo PART 4) APPENDIX 12. Running Explosiv On A network 13. Command Line Arguments 14. Trouble Shooting 15. About H&G Software PART 1 BASICS AND INSTALLATION Chapter 1) ABOUT EXPLOSIV Explosiv is a DOS and Windows screen saver that offers a safe reliable means of preventing monitor burn-in with a library of several exciting and imaginative displays. Unique fractal modules can run hours without any repetition in the displayed pattern. In addition, Explosiv can dynamically create new displays from color images or using typed in messages. Among its many features, Explosiv includes: - A DOS and Windows screen saver with 16 displays - The ability to take GIF files and turn them into Explosiv displays ( EGA and VGA only ). The shareware version only supports 16 colors. - Turn any DOS program into a Windows screen saver. - Add, change or delete displays from Explosiv. - A source code template for writing your own displays. Chapter 2) GETTING STARTED Before Installing Explosiv Check that your computer satisfies the minimum software and hardware recommendations listed below: Explosiv for DOS - DOS 3.1 or later - VGA, EGA, MCGA, CGA, HERC or MDA monitor - Mouse ( optional ) - Hard Disk ( optional ) Explosiv for Windows - 386 processor - Windows 3.0 or later - A Windows compatible mouse - color VGA video card ( optional ) If your computer does not satisfy all of the above then this does not necessarily mean that Explosiv will not work on your system, many aspects may still work. Specifically, if you have NOT installed Windows on your computer then you will not be able to access Explosiv for Windows even though the DOS version will work fine. Also, make sure that you are familiar with the basic workings of your computer operating system. In particular, PART 3 assumes that you are acquainted with Microsoft Windows. Installing Explosiv To install the software follow these steps: 1. Turn on your computer and insert the Explosiv diskette. If you are installing Explosiv from more than one disk then insert disk one and replace diskettes when prompted. For simplicity, assume that the software is being installed from drive A. From this drive run the Explosiv Install program: A:\> install 2. Install asks whether it is being run from a DOS session in Windows. Explosiv cannot be installed properly from Windows. You must terminate Install, exit Windows and restart the installation. If you are not running Windows select YES to continue ( i.e., click on YES ). 3. If you are running version 2.0 of Explosiv then it is important that you delete any copies of Explosiv.com that may in your path. Install searches for this file and prompts to see whether it should erase this file or not. If you select NO then you should make sure that you delete the file manually. 4. If you are running version 3.0 or greater of Explosiv then you may not wish to upgrade to the latest version of Explosiv for DOS. If you do upgrade then this will overwrite the Explosiv for DOS display library, you will lose any new displays you have made or any changes you have made to the library. 5. For optimal performance, Explosiv should be copied onto a hard drive. The default directory that Explosiv will be installed to is C:\EXPLOSIV. At the prompt select INSTALL if the default is okay. If you wish to install Explosiv in another directory enter the new name then click INSTALL. 6. To properly access Explosiv for DOS from any directory on your computer you should copy the file explosiv.bat to your path. Install offers to copy this file to your path for you. Install will display a list of path directories, select the one you wish to copy explosiv.bat to or select CANCEL to bypass this feature. 7. Explosiv for DOS may be run automatically whenever you boot your computer by appending the line: C:\EXPLOSIV\EXPLOSIV - at the end of your autoexec.bat. Install will optionally do this for you if you wish. If you select YES then Install will scan the contents of your autoexec.bat to see if Explosiv is already being run from start-up. If not, a call to Explosiv is appended to the end of the file. 8. Explosiv for Windows may be run automatically whenever you start Windows by including the line LOAD=C:\EXPLOSIV\WX.EXE in your win.ini file. Install will optionally do this for you if you wish, select YES at Install s prompt. 9. Install will start Windows so that it may create the Program Manager icons. Once done, installation will be complete. To run Explosiv for DOS type: C:\> EXPLOSIV and to run Explosiv for Windows run: C:\EXPLOSIV> win WX.EXE Manually Installing Explosiv You may prefer to install Explosiv manually instead of using the Install program. In this case, you must create the directory C:\EXPLOSIV, copy the Explosiv files to this directory, copy knife.vbx to your Windows system directory ( Explosiv Deluxe only ), modify autoexec.bat and win.ini to start Explosiv automatically, and finally, run win wxinst to create the Explosiv icons in the Program Manager. Possible Problems If for any reason Explosiv fails to run when you boot your computer you should check the autoexec.bat file to make sure that the EXPLOSIV line was correctly appended and that you are not running a menu system or .bat file without the CALL prefix before you run Explosiv. If you are, you must manually edit the start-up file to ensure that Explosiv is being run ( for example, move the Explosiv line higher up in the file ). Other possible errors may occur if your distribution files are incomplete ( check readme for details ), if the Program Manager could not be updated, or if knife.vbx could not be copied into your Windows system directory ( Explosiv Deluxe only ). Chapter 3) EXPLOSIV SUMMARY This chapter gives a brief summary of the operation of the Explosiv Screen Saver. It is advised that you familiarize yourself with the contents of this chapter before using Explosiv so that you can make the best use of the screen saver. The information given here is described in more detail in the remaining sections of this manual. Installing Explosiv for DOS You may either run Explosiv as a memory resident screen saver or simply demo the displays through the full screen interface. To have Explosiv become resident run the command: C:\> EXPLOSIV - When the program is resident you may activate it immediately by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Shift, disable it using Ctrl-Alt-E and re-enable it using Ctrl-Alt-B. Once in memory the program may be manipulated in many ways. Most importantly are the commands: C:\> EXPLOSIV REMOVE - Remove Explosiv from memory C:\> EXPLOSIV OFF - Deactivate Explosiv C:\> EXPLOSIV ON - Activate Explosiv Running Explosiv for DOS To run the full screen interface simply enter "EXPLOSIV" at the command line with no arguments. The program will list the available displays and their individual settings. To demo a display move the cursor to the display name and press ENTER or click on the name with the mouse. Once you have set Explosiv to the desired configuration exit the program. The program gives two options for doing this, either exit normally or stay resident ( that is, become a screen saver ). Installing Explosiv For Windows To run Explosiv for Windows click on the Explosiv icon in the Program Manager. The icon should appear at the bottom of the screen. If you move the mouse to the top left corner of the screen Explosiv will activate immediately. Configuring Explosiv For Windows To configure the program, double click on the icon name ( while it is running ) and select Setup Explosiv . Choose the settings that you prefer and click OKAY. If you select the Multipak display then Explosiv will allow you to select those displays that you wish the screen saver to cycle through. About Explosiv Deluxe If you have purchased Explosiv Deluxe then Explosiv also includes a complete Windows image processing program. View a variety of image formats, do image conversions, set your Windows background or make an image into a Windows screen saver with this program. PART 2 EXPLOSIV FOR DOS Chapter 4) USING EXPLOSIV FOR DOS The DOS version of Explosiv is a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program that loads into memory when you like ( for example, automatically at boot up time ) and stays out of your way until you want it to become active. Occupying from 1 to 47 KB of memory, the DOS version of Explosiv ( which can be loaded above the 640KB limit ) renders several beautifully animated displays. In fact, if you prefer, you can invoke the full screen user interface and just point and click on the displays you want to see. Just sit back and watch the show! Running Explosiv To invoke the DOS version of Explosiv simply go to the DOS command line prompt and type: C:\> EXPLOSIV and the full screen interface will appear. Alternatively, Explosiv accepts a full range of command line options ( which are discussed in detail in the appendix ). For example, to install Explosiv as a memory resident screen saver, simply enter: C:\> EXPLOSIV - The above command would also be the recommended way of running Explosiv directly from your autoexec.bat file on bootup. Once resident the screen saver will start a display if you are in text mode and blank the screen if you are in a graphics mode. Running Displays Using The Hotkey To activate Explosiv immediately without waiting press and release the Ctrl-Alt-Shift keys combination at the same time. The display can then be deactivated by pressing any key or by clicking on the mouse button. Note that some programs grab the keyboard in such a way that Explosiv does not detect key presses, in many cases pressing the mouse button will still work to deactivate Explosiv and return you to your work. Disabling and Enabling Explosiv If you want to temporarily turn the screen saver off you can press Ctrl-Alt-E ( and then Ctrl-Alt-B to turn the screen saver on again ). You can also run EXPLOSIV OFF on the command line to turn the screen saver off and EXPLOSIV ON to turn the screen saver on. You can set this up in a batch file if you want to automatically disable Explosiv while you are running a particular program. The hot keys listed above can also be changed ( see the next chapter for details ). Removing Explosiv From Memory If you want to free Explosiv from memory you can type EXPLOSIV REMOVE. This will remove Explosiv from memory if there are no other programs loaded above it. If it is not possible to remove Explosiv from memory an error message will be printed and no action will be taken. Running Explosiv s Interface If you start Explosiv with no command line options a full screen interface will appear. From this environment you can demo displays, change screen saver settings or even create new displays. For the interface to work properly it is important that the three files EXPLOSIV.COM, EXPLOSIV.EXE and EXPLOSIV.OVL are stored in the same directory. To use Explosiv, either copy these three files to your path or put a separate copy of EXPLOSIV.COM in your path and set the environment variable EXPLOSIV to the directory name of the three files. For example, you can copy the three screen saver files to the directory C:\EXPLOSIV then put EXPLOSIV.COM in your path and run the command SET EXPLOSIV=C:\EXPLOSIV. When the interface starts you will see several windows. Note that the active window will appear with a highlighted title. To make another window active you can either press the TAB key, the Shift-TAB key or simply click the mouse cursor on the window you wish to activate. Most active windows will also have a cursor within the window. This cursor can be moved with the up or down cursor keys or by clicking the unselected item with the mouse. If the selected item has a value associated with it ( for example, the number in the minutes field ) then this can be changed by using the right and left cursor keys or by clicking on the selected item. On-Line Help You can see on-line help for any window by pressing the F1 key, a box will appear describing the window s function and disappear again when you press any key. Key Bindings If you press F10 ( or ESC ) a popup window will appear with a list of options. You can activate any option by pressing the first letter in the description or by clicking on the entry with the mouse. The popup window is divided into two parts, the top part lists the screens that can be viewed - from Image Maker to Display Librarian - while the bottom part lists alternate methods of exiting the interface. Quitting The Interface If you want to quit the interface without Explosiv becoming resident then press ESC E. If you want Explosiv to become a screen saver press ESC Q. To remove a resident copy of Explosiv from memory press ESC R. Finally, to abort all changes made, press Ctrl-C at any time in the Explosiv interface. Viewing Displays When the Explosiv interface initially starts the DISPLAYS window will be active; by moving the cursor to the desired display name you can select a new module. To demo the display from within the interface simply press ENTER or click on the selected entry. Each entry will have its own values of color, delay or objects. Color And Minutes The color of the display will have one of three values, Mono will force the display into monochrome mode, Color will force color patterns and Tinge gives an alternate color pattern. Although setting the latter does not affect very many displays it does give different patterns for Aranea, Fireworks and Serinde. Once Explosiv is resident, the minutes field indicates the number of minutes of inactivity the screen saver should wait before it starts the selected display. This can be set to as little as one minute or to as much as one half hour. Delay Factor And Objects The delay is a number from 1 to 255 which controls how fast the display changes. Set this to the default to use the value calculated from your CPU speed ( this value is shown by running EXPLOSIV ? at the command line ). The object number of the display indicates one of several things; for example, it can be the density of the fractal pattern, the number or type of objects that appear or may have no meaning at all. The meaning varies according to which display you are using. Chapter 5) CONFIGURATION OPTIONS Change to the configuration screen by pressing the Alt-C keys. The fields that you will see control specific aspects, such as monitor type and the hot keys of Explosiv when it becomes resident. Changing these options may not change the operation of the screen saver until the next time you install Explosiv. Customizing Memory Usage The Display Memory Size controls how much memory is allocated to run Explosiv displays. Explosiv has the ability to load new displays directly into the resident program itself. You do not need to first remove Explosiv and install it again with the new settings! Simply set the display size to a value large enough to load the desired display and run Explosiv. You can then change to a new display simply by running the command C:\> EXPLOSIV NEW <DISPLAY> or by using the Explosiv interface. Note that if you are not going to use this feature then set the display memory size to MIN. This will force Explosiv to allocate just enough memory to store the display. The Memory Usage determines how much memory Explosiv should allocate for saving the screen state. See the following table: VALUE MEMORY 50 LINE MODE USER DEFINED FONTS Small 4K no no Medium A 8K yes no Medium 8K yes yes, if 25 line mode Medium B 8K no yes Large 12K yes yes Forcing The Monitor Type By default Explosiv will automatically select the appropriate monitor type to use. You can use the Monitor field to force Explosiv to run displays for another video card. For example, set the field to VGA to force a VGA screen saver ( but note that you should only do this if you are sure Explosiv picks the wrong monitor type ). Avoiding Conflicts The Multiplex field indicates the number Explosiv should use to communicate with resident copies of the screen saver. Do not change this value unless Explosiv conflicts with another memory resident program. Similarly, the Start and Stop keys indicate the hot keys that Explosiv should use. By default Explosiv sets these to Ctrl-Alt-B and Ctrl-Alt-E, respectively. These fields, which should not be changed unless a conflict occurs, allow the users to alter the letters used for the Explosiv hot keys. Disabling Video Checking If you have a memory resident clock ( or other video activities ) then Explosiv will not start if Video Checking is on. By turning this off Explosiv should start properly regardless of clocks or other screen changes. Chapter 6) DISPLAY LIBRARIAN The Displays Librarian allows the user to control which displays are available to Explosiv. This information is stored in EXPLOSIV.OVL and since this file will be changed whenever you use the Librarian it is important to backup the distributed EXPLOSIV.OVL before using any of the features described in this section. How Are Displays Accessed The Explosiv displays are stored in a compressed format in the file EXPLOSIV.OVL. Each original display is put into this library once for each monitor type it supports. For example, the display Aranea will have a separate entry for VGA and one for EGA, etc. If you wish to save space and allow more room for your own displays ( Explosiv can store a maximum of 250 displays in the library ) then it is suggested that you remove all displays for other monitors. For example, if you have a VGA monitor then you may remove all entries for EGA, CGA, HERC and MDA cards. Adding New Displays To add a new display simply click on the Add button. A dialog box will appear asking you for a description of the display and a filename. The description is the name of the display that will appear in the DISPLAYS window, this must be a unique name for your monitor and be less than 12 characters long. The filename is the path name of the program that you wish to archive. This function will only work for programs that satisfy the necessary format, for example, Image Maker programs work fine. Changing A Display If you wish to change the name of the selected display then click on the Change button. A dialog box will appear with the description and filename of the display you wish to change. Remember that the description must be unique for that monitor and if the filename is not given then DISPLAY.COM is used by default. Dumping A Display Since the Explosiv library stores displays in compressed format in the file EXPLOSIV.OVL it is possible to uncompress these displays and write them to disk. The Dump button will write the display into the current directory using the name given when the program was first added. The dumped program will be completely independent of Explosiv and can be used by WIM.EXE or with screen capturing software to save patterns to image files. Disabling A Display Clicking the On/Off button will disable a display. The display will remain intact in the Explosiv library but can no longer be run by the screen saver. Use this feature to disable displays you do not like but do not want to remove permanently. To erase a display permanently use the Remove button. These modules will be permanently erased from the library. Removing unwanted displays has the advantage of making the file EXPLOSIV.OVL smaller and making more entries available for new modules ( up to a maximum of 250 ). Chapter 7) IMAGE MAKER Image Maker will allow the user to view GIF images and create programs from them. These programs can be stand alone or can be incorporated directly into the Explosiv library. When you first start the Image Maker screen a message box will appear telling you that Image Maker is reading the current directory for files. The program will only allow you to see the GIF files and .COM files that are in the directory. To read another directory select the item in the DIRS window, a new message box will appear telling you that Image Maker is searching the new directory. Similarly, to read a new drive select the drive from the DISK window. Selecting The Image Size Image Maker allows you to select the video mode that the selected image will be drawn in. The possible options are listed in the MODES window, where the desired mode will appear with a mark beside it. If the mark is an X, which is the default, Image Maker will allow you to crop as much of the image as possible. If the mark is a check, which can be set by pressing the right or left key within the MODES window, then the cropped images will be smaller. The Explosiv library will only archive files that are smaller than 34K, while Image Maker can produce much larger programs. Only by setting the check mark can you be sure that the image you are capturing will be small enough to be made into a screen saver. The Add button is equivalent in function to the Add feature described for the Display Librarian. Viewing An Image To view the file that you have selected simply press ENTER from within the FILES window. If the file is a .COM file then the program will be run, while if the file is a GIF image then the image will be drawn. Once the image is drawn a box will appear ( this box may be difficult to see ). You can move the box around the screen by with the cursor keys. If you hold the Control key down then the cursor keys will change the size of the box. Press ESC at any time to abort. If the Ctrl-Arrows keys do not work on your machine you may use the Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys instead. Scrolling Around An Image If the image is larger than the screen then press the TAB key to go into scroll mode. The box will disappear and the cursor keys can be used to reposition the image. Hold the Control key down at the same time to move the image around in smaller increments. Press TAB again to exit scrolling. The box, which will appear again, can be positioned as described above. Saving The Image Once you are done press the ENTER key to save your image or the ESC key to abort. If you press ENTER then the entire image within the box will be saved to a file with the same name as the image but with a .COM extension. The Image Maker interface will reappear with the new entry added and the cursor positioned on it, you may then press ENTER to view the program that you have created. Saving the image to disk may take a little longer if the background color is not black. In this case, Image Maker will beep twice to tell you to be patient while the color palette is being adjusted. Fixing Jerky Motion A program that was created for an EGA video mode may appear with jerky motion on some VGA monitors. In this case, you will have to set the object level to 1 to view the image properly. You cannot do this from the Image Maker screen but if you exit Explosiv then you can run the new program with the e1 command line option. To slow down a 256 color image's movement use the e5 command line option. PART 3 EXPLOSIV FOR WINDOWS Chapter 8) USING EXPLOSIV FOR WINDOWS Running Explosiv To start the Windows version of Explosiv, you must first do one of the following: 1. Set Explosiv for Windows to be run automatically when Windows starts. 2. Run Explosiv manually each time Windows is executed. To invoke Explosiv for Windows double click on the Explosiv icon within the Explosiv group in the Windows Program Manager. To access Explosiv's configuration menus double click on the Explosiv icon name that appears at the bottom of the Windows Desktop and select Explosiv Setup. Explosiv Menu Commands Once started, you can set, modify, and view all parameters through the Explosiv icon dialog boxes. There are four important menu choices to be made after clicking on the Explosiv Icon: Explosiv Setup This leads to a group of three dialog boxes; the Main box ( displayed after clicking on the icon menu choice ), the Display Options box ( displayed after clicking on the Options... button in the Main dialog box ), and the Password box ( displayed after clicking on the Password... button ). Start Explosiv Starts Explosiv immediately. Registration Info Information on registering copies of Explosiv. About Explosiv This displays a simple window that refers to the release date of the program. Chapter 9) SETUP DIALOG BOX Changing Screen Saver Attributes The Setup dialog box controls are very similar in functionality to those in the DOS version of Explosiv. To begin with, the Select Display box contains a scrollable list of display choices. Clicking the mouse on a choice makes that choice the active display. The Select Time box contains a scrollable list of times, ranging from 1 to 30 minutes. Clicking on a value causes that time to be the time until activation for the screen saver. The Screen Saver On box indicates whether or not Explosiv will come on as a screen saver at the activation time. Clicking on this box toggles the screen saver On and Off. The Demo button lets you preview any of the selected displays. This button should be clicked on SLOWLY to avoid immediate deactivation. NOTE that double clicking the mouse on the Multipak display opens the Multi Display dialog box where you can add or delete displays. You can make the display choices run in the order you have selected or randomly. Finally, you can select the interval that you want the displays to change ( the value selected is the number of minutes before the display will change, ranging from 1 to 60 minutes ). Selecting 0 means that the display will only change when Explosiv is activated. Display Options Dialog Box Display Options ( activated via the Options... button ) contains two Mouse Corner groups. Clicking on any one corner will make the corresponding point on the screen either : - The corner in which the screen saver is INSTANTLY activated. - The corner in which the screen saver will NEVER come on, even at the activation time. The Display Preferences section of the window contains two scrollable boxes that set: Delay rate If you find a particular display too fast or slow change the delay rate to a value between 0 to 3. Object number This is not defined for all displays, but the displays that do use this control will alter the type or number of displayed objects as the number value selected changes ( with values ranging from 1 to 9 ). For many of the displays selecting a value greater than 6 will give you a randomly varying display. This is especially prominent in the Gyro display. Settings To Prevent Conflicts Toggling the Detect Mouse Movement box On or Off ( by clicking on it with the Mouse ) either enables or disables the screen saver's monitoring of mouse movement. This is especially useful for certain situations, such as laptop computing. Also, some graphics co-processor boards work better when the Mouse Movement Detection is turned off. The Auto - Off Print Manager box disables Explosiv if the Windows Print Manager is running. This is especially effective if spooling is turned on in the Print Manager. Chapter 10) PASSWORD PROTECTION The Password dialog box is opened by clicking on the Password... button. To enter a new password, type in your new password in the Enter Password box, then repeat it in the Confirm Password box. Click on the Accept button to permanently set your new password. If you have made a mistake in either your original or confirmation entries, a failure sign will show up when you press the Accept button. Just start all over again or erase the WX.INI file to remove all configuration information. If your password was successfully entered a success message will be displayed. NOTE that passwords can be up to 8 characters in length, and can be any combination of ASCII characters, including numbers and symbols. Also, upper and lower case of the same letter are seen as two different values to the password algorithm. Change A Password To change a password, first enter your old password in the Old Password box, and then proceed as outlined above for setting a new password. If any error is made ( i.e., the Accept button indicates a Failure ), just start the entire process over again or erase the WX.INI to clear all the configuration information. Using Password Protection After you have successfully entered ( or changed ) a password, the Password On button will be enabled. If this button is selected, then a Password box will pop up and ask you for your password every time you try to stop an active display. Enter your password and then click on the Accept button or click on the Cancel button to immediately start the screen saver display again. If you do nothing, the Password Prompt box will disappear after 8 seconds and the screen saver display will resume activity. Chapter 11) WINDOWS EXPLOSIV LOGO Explosiv Logo for Windows is a separate screen saver package that works in conjunction with Explosiv. You can toggle between Explosiv and Explosiv Logo simply by clicking on the Explosiv or Explosiv Logo" button that appears in the dialog box. This will stop the current screen saver and start the other program. Turning DOS Programs Into Screen Savers Using Explosiv Logo you can turn any DOS program into a screen saver, simply create a .bat file in the same directory as Explosiv Logo that runs the program and select the .bat file from Explosiv Logo s list box. PART 4 APPENDIX Chapter 12) RUNNING EXPLOSIV ON A NETWORK Explosiv is compatible with most PC networks, the screen saver does interrupt any other program that is running so it is important that you do not install Explosiv on the network server ( run Explosiv on the network clients instead ). Explosiv does experience conflicts with certain networks, most notably, with Novell Lite. If you find that Explosiv does have a conflict with your network then you may not be able to run an Explosiv display without losing the network connection. The blank display will still work since this does not interrupt the computer s operation, it simply turns off the monitor and lets any background process continue. Chapter 13) COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS This chapter discusses the entire list of options supported by version 3 of the Explosiv screen saver. The interface was designed so that you will never have to know or use the majority of these options. However, they are all listed here for reference. The options that are most useful to know are: Explosiv - run the interface Explosiv - - read the configuration file Explosiv on - activate ( normal, herc=text ) Explosiv +on - activate (animate only, herc=graphics 0) Explosiv -on - activate (blank only, herc=graphics 1) Explosiv off - deactivate Explosiv remove - remove the tsr all the other options can be and should be controlled by the interface. A complete list of options is listed below: blank This is the only display that does not halt the underlying program when it is resident. The delay factor and object variables have no meaning. No mouse support is given to this display if it is resident and if blank is resident then no other display can be loaded unless you first remove Explosiv. random Select a random display from the Explosiv library. If a display is not found in EXPLOSIV.OVL then a blanking display is used If no display name is specified on the command line then random is used. <display> Select the module associated with the display name. For example, if Aranea is available in the Explosiv library then it can be run simply by typing the command EXPLOSIV ARANEA . new Force Explosiv to load the specified configuration into the memory resident Explosiv. Use this parameters to change characteristics such as minutes, objects and display without first removing Explosiv from memory. on This option will turn the screen saver on. If the monitor is Hercules then this also tells the screen saver to restore the screen to text mode. If the monitor is not Hercules then this tells the screen saver to use the animation when possible and to blank the screen when it feels that the screen cannot be saved properly ( for example, in graphics modes ). +on This option will turn the screen saver on. If the monitor is Hercules then this also tells the screen saver to restore the screen to graphics mode ( page 0 ). If the monitor is not Hercules then this tells the screen saver to use the animation when possible and not to activate when it feels that the screen cannot be saved properly ( for example, in graphics modes ). -on This option will turn the screen saver on. If the monitor is Hercules then this also tells the screen saver to restore the screen to graphics mode ( page 1 ). If the monitor is not Hercules then this tells the screen saver to blank the screen under all possible circumstances. off This option will turn the screen saver off. +video This option tells the screen saver that it should check for BIOS screen updates. Any character that is written to the screen will reset the screen saver s timer. -video This option tells the screen saver that it should not check for BIOS screen updates. Any character that is written to the screen will not reset the screen saver's timer. This option should be used if you are using some sort of RAM resident clock. mono This option specifies that the display should be in monochrome. color This option specifies that the display should be in color. tinge This option specifies that the display should be in color. This is used to give alternate color patterns to displays like Fireworks, Aranea and Serinde. d<n> This option specifies the delay factor that should be used. Here <n> is a number from 1 to 255. By default, Explosiv will check your CPU and generally deduce the proper delay factor. This option should only be used if you find the default unreasonable. Run the command Explosiv ? to find the default delay for your CPU. m<n> This option must be used if Explosiv is to become a screen saver. Here <n> ranges from 1 to 30 and refers to how many minutes of inactivity Explosiv should wait before activating. e<n> This option specifies the object level. This value ranges from 1 to 9 ( the default is 4 ). Not all displays use this option and those that do do not always use it in the same way. ? This option will display the help screen. This gives you information such as hot keys, Explosiv's working directory, monitor type, delay factor, multiplex number and some simple command line options. - This option specifies to read the configuration file. The screen saver will also parse the command line but using this option will guarantee that the program will become memory resident. remove This option tells Explosiv to remove the resident copy of the screen saver from memory. If this is not possible because other TSRs are loaded above Explosiv then a message will be printed and the screen saver will remain active and resident. vga This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume you are using a vga monitor. ega This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume you are using an ega monitor. mcga This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume you are using a mcga monitor. This option is functionally equivalent to cga. cga This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume you are using a cga monitor. This option is functionally equivalent to mcga. herc This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume that you are using a Hercules monitor. mda This option specifies that you wish to override the Explosiv auto-detection and assume that you are using an mda monitor. default This option sets the screen saver to the default delay factor. Use this to reset a resident copy of the screen saver to the default setting ( to do this you must also use the New option ). mem1 This option tells Explosiv to allocate 4K of memory to save the text buffer. This is the only valid option unless you have an EGA or VGA monitor. Explosiv will not be able to restore 43 or 50 line mode if you use this option. mem2 This option is valid for EGA or VGA monitors only. Explosiv will allocate 8K of memory to save the text buffer. This will save 43 or 50 line mode but will not restore user defined fonts. This is the default for EGA. mem3 This option is valid for VGA monitors only. Explosiv will allocate 8K of memory to save the text buffer or font table. If you are using 50 line mode then the full text buffer will be restored but user defined fonts will not. If you are running in 25 line mode then user defined fonts will be restored. This is the default value for VGA. mem4 This option is valid for VGA monitors only. Explosiv will allocate 8K of memory to save the text buffer or font table. User defined fonts will be restored but 50 line mode will not. mem5 This option is valid for a VGA monitor only. Explosiv will allocate 12K of memory to save the text buffer and font table. User defined fonts will be restored as well as 50 line mode. Chapter 14) TROUBLE SHOOTING Some special things to be aware of include: DOS Graphics Mode When a DOS program is running in graphics mode, Explosiv for DOS will NOT display the currently selected module, but rather will simply blank the screen. This ensures the best possible restoration of any screen state ( this blanking may occur even in text mode if Explosiv cannot reliably determine the systems state ). Windows 3.0 Real Mode Explosiv for Windows does NOT work in Real Mode ( with or without expanded memory ) in Windows 3.0. It can only be used in Standard or Enhanced Modes. If you try to start Explosiv for Windows in Real Mode, Explosiv will simply terminate itself with a explanatory message. Explosiv for DOS will NOT ACTIVATE when Windows 3.0 is running unless Windows is running in Real Mode. To disable this ( as it could produce undesirable side effects ), enter the line "EXPLOSIV OFF" before you start up Windows in Real Mode ( i.e., win /r ), and then enter "EXPLOSIV ON" after exiting the Windows Real Mode session. This could easily be made into a batch file. File Transfers And Printing Under Windows If you are doing large file transfers over a serial communication line in Windows, it is advised that you use one of the following displays in Explosiv: CLOCK, STARS, BLAZON, BLANK These displays will not impede your file transfers to any noticeable degree. The other displays may slow or even completely stop the transfers. The same holds true for printing jobs, with the exception that if you do all your printing through the Print Manager spooler then you can then select the Options window and enable the Auto - Off for Print Manger button. If the Print Manager starts ( even if it starts on a time delayed command ), Explosiv turns off until all the printing is finished. Hercules Display If you are using a Hercules monochrome display and are you unsure as to whether or not your program is in graphics mode, set Explosiv off before starting the program to give maximum compatibility with the underlying program ( alternatively, you can try the +on and -on option ). Hot Keys Explosiv for DOS has certain Hot Key assignments that are very important. They are: Ctrl-Alt-Shift This key combination starts Explosiv immediately Ctrl-Alt-E This key combination temporarily disables Explosiv Ctrl-Alt-B This key combination enables Explosiv after it had been disabled. These hotkeys may be changed in the configuration screen of the Explosiv interface. Problems With High Memory If you have problems installing Explosiv in high memory then you may need to reconfigure EMM386.EXE so that you use the NOEMS switch rather than RAM. DOS requires that at least 48K of memory is available in high memory before it will load Explosiv ( Explosiv cannot control this ), only once it is loaded is Explosiv able to reduce its memory usage. The RAM switch may have problems loading large programs into high memory. Key Presses Are Unable To Stop A Display If a display cannot be disabled by pressing a key try clicking on a mouse button. There are a few programs that grab the keyboard in such a way that Explosiv cannot sense key presses, the result is that the keyboard appears locked when the display is active. The mouse, however, cannot be locked in this manner. Chapter 15) ABOUT H&G SOFTWARE For information about this product, technical advice or help using this software please do not hesitate to contact H&G Software directly. We will do our best to resolve any problems or answer any questions that you might have. We can be reached by mail at: H&G Software P.O. Box 3013 Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6B 3X5 or if you have access to electronic mail we can be contacted through CompuServe at: Reidar Gresseth 73042,3653 ( Internet: 73042.3653@compuserve.com ) Ordering Software To order additional copies of Explosiv or Explosiv Deluxe see the ORDER.FRM for details. To obtain information about other software offered by H&G Software see the file PRODUCTS.