Win Interactive Multimedia (W.I.M.) Copyright (c) 1994, MMS Technologies All rights reserved This program is Shareware o OVERVIEW Sample your multimedia files with style on this visually stunning player. See full motion movie files with no special hardware, or turn your PC into a complete multimedia machine by adding a sound card. Bundled with sample movie video, Midi, Wave, and graphic files. Includes audio CD control for systems that are equipped with a CD-ROM player and a play control for script language with interactive capabilities. o FEATURES -- Visually stunning, intuitive, stereo-like interface with beautiful 3-D look and realistic button action. -- Full featured file playback controls with pause, rewind, and fast forward options. -- Continuous play, automatic rewind, and automatic play options under a HIDDEN PANEL. -- PLAYLIST generator for convenient sampling of multiple video, sound, and graphic files. Use it to queue up you favorite MIDI, movie, or Wave files, or use it as an icon or graphic file browser. -- Support for playing Wave and Midi sound files on systems with Sound Blaster compatible sound card. -- Support for audio CD for systems with CD-ROM disc reader. -- Support for playing full motion video .AVI files with no additional hardware. -- Display and browse .BMP, .WMF, .RLE, and .DIB based graphical images. -- Display and browse icon .ICO files. -- Support for proprietary Win Interactive Multimedia file format (WIM), a script language that allows composition of multimedia presentations with sound, graphics, text, and video with interactive capabilities. -- Comprehensive help available with F1. -- Bundled with Sample video, Midi, Wave, and graphic files (may not be included with stripped down BBS versions of W.I.M.). o LEGAL INFORMATION This program is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the author and MMS Technologies. No warranty is expressed or implied with regard to program function, or suitability to any purpose. The author and MMS Technologies will not be responsible for any damages caused by use, misuse, or inability to use this program. The only exception is, if the program was ordered directly from MMS Technologies and the program disk is found to be physically defective. Under such circumstances, MMS Technologies will replace the defective disk if it is returned within 30 days of purchase. By using the program, you agree to abide by the above agreement. This agreement is governed by the laws of Oregon. All brand or product names mentioned throughout the program are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. o QUICKSTART W.I.M. is operated much like a home stereo. After installation and starting W.I.M. in Windows, choose the device. Your home stereo probably lets you choose from TUNER, CD, TAPE, etc. With W.I.M. the choices are WIM, WAVE, CD, MIDI, and VIDEO (which includes AVI, BMP, DIB, RLE, WMF, and ICO files). Those actually available ultimately depend on your hardware capabilities. Choose MIDI for a test if you have a sound card (otherwise select VIDEO). Press the PLAY button to play the default MIDI file or pick a MIDI file to play by pressing the LOAD button. Think of this as loading a tape into your home stereo. That's all the instructions some of you will need to get started. For more complete information and hidden advanced features, continue reading on. In either case, have Fun with W.I.M.! o LIMITED EVALUATION SHAREWARE LICENSE Win Interactive Multimedia is Shareware. Shareware is a concept of distributing software, that allows you, the user, an opportunity to evaluate our program risk free before deciding if the program is really right for you. If you find the program useful and wish to continue using it after a 30 day evaluation period, you are obliged to register the software or purchase an extended evaluation license from MMS Technologies. Registering the program or purchasing the extended evaluation license is the right thing to do if you decide you like the program and wish to use it past the evaluation period. The full registered version of W.I.M. Standard is available for only $15. It includes the many additional benefits listed further below. You may copy and distribute the Shareware version of this program freely as long as you do so with all of the original files listed below and abide by the limitations listed in the VENDOR.TXT file. You are encouraged to pass the program along to your friends so that, they too, can evaluate the program. If you bought a disk from a shareware distributor for a duplication fee, please understand that this duplication fee is paid to the disk distributor to cover their cost of duplicating and distributing the disk, and the author of this program receives no compensation from this fee. In addition to giving you a legal license to use the program, registering W.I.M. Standard entitles you to the following benefits: 1) Receive the latest version of W.I.M. Standard. 2) No more Shareware registration reminder screens. 3) Expanded W.I.M. features, including expanded playlist capabilities. 4) Full product support via mail and Compuserve Email. 5) Upgrade and follow-up notifications when exciting new multimedia products are introduced by MMS Technologies. 6) Discounts with upgrades to future releases of product. 7) Bonus multimedia sampler set with additional multimedia sound graphic, and full motion video files. 8) Manual for using W.I.M. Standard. 9) A 30 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the registered W.I.M. (subject to a non refundable 20% handling and postage fee). 10) Receive a $15 credit towards the purchase of W.I.M. Pro. o ORDERING INFORMATION W.I.M. Standard can be ordered for only $15 (shipping outside U.S. is extra, see ORDER.TXT for more information). Send payment to the following address: MMS Technologies P.O. Box 1263 Talent, OR 97540 A ready to print order form with pricing information is provided with the ORDER.TXT file. Double-click on the icon named "Order Information" in the W.I.M. group to browse or print this file. Fill out the form and mail it with your payment. Payment should be in check or money order in U.S. funds only. Orders will be processed within 5 working days of receipt. o EXTENDED EVALUATION LICENSE If you would like more time to evaluate W.I.M. past the normal 30 day evaluation period, an extended evaluation license is available for only $5 (see the ORDER.TXT file for ordering information). This license entitles you to legally use the Shareware version of W.I.M. indefinitely. This grants you a free conscience to use the Shareware version of W.I.M. past the normal 30 day evaluation period and you will receive a certificate documenting this privilege. However, you will NOT receive any of the additional benefits entitled to users of the full registered version of W.I.M. If you later wish to upgrade to W.I.M. Standard or W.I.M. Pro, you may apply a $5 credit towards this purchase. o OTHER PRODUCT INFORMATION WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA PRO (W.I.M. PRO) -- (Scheduled for release on February 15, 1995) For power users, who want the most from W.I.M., there is Win Interactive Multimedia Pro; W.I.M. Pro offers all the benefits of W.I.M. Standard plus the following: 1) The user friendly WIM Script Editor allows you to become the director of your own multimedia scripts. Create interactive presentations with video, sound, text, and graphic capabilities. Includes conditional branching and looping commands. 2) The Wave Editor for editing or creating your own .WAV files. 3) Get the deluxe bonus multimedia sampler set with multimedia demonstrations and a library of sound, graphic, and video files for use on your own WIM scripts. 4) A complete manual for using W.I.M. Pro, WIM Script Edit, and Wave Edit. 5) Hints on getting the most from W.I.M. Pro straight from the programmers. 6) A freely distributable WIM Runtime Player for distribution of your WIM masterpieces to others, royalty free. 7) The bonus program, Quick Pic Viewer, a fast and easy way to view your graphic files from Windows. Supports the same graphical formats supported by W.I.M. WIM SCRIPT EDITOR -- (Scheduled for release on February 15, 1995) The WIM Script Editor allows you to create and modify your own WIM script files. Script Editor is available separately for use with the registered version of W.I.M. Standard or can be purchased together with W.I.M Pro. Follows is a short list of features: 1) Ability to link your music, sound effect, picture, and full motion video files together into a complete multimedia presentation. 2) Create simple slide show with MIDI music in the background or demonstration or tutorial with interactive capabilities. 3) Loop and conditional branch commands. 4) User input capability. 5) User friendly easy to use interface. 6) Comes with the easy to use WIM Runtime Player, for for distribution of your WIM masterpieces to others, royalty free. WAVE EDITOR -- (Scheduled for release on February 15, 1995) The Wave Editor allows you to edit or create your own .WAV sound files. The WAVE Editor is available separately for use with the registered version of W.I.M. Standard or can be purchased together with W.I.M Pro. 1) Record your own WAVE files. 2) See a graphical representation of your WAVE files. 3) Add special effects to your sounds. MULTIMEDIA SAMPLER -- A collection of multimedia demonstrations for showing off your computer. MULTIMEDIA SAMPLER DELUXE -- A library of demonstrations, video, sound, and graphic files for use with W.I.M. o CONTENTS Your Windows Interactive Multimedia shareware package should contain the files listed in the FILES.TXT document. If you are missing any of the files, you may obtain the latest complete shareware program from the author by sending $4 plus shipping and handling (USA $0, CANADA $4, OVERSEAS $8) to the address listed below. o SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The program requires the following minimum system to run effectively: - 386 or better IBM compatible PC - VGA or SVGA video - 2 MB memory (4 MB recommended) - Hard Drive - DOS 3.3 or higher - Windows 3.1 - Soundblaster or compatible sound card is recommended for sound features of program but is not required. - CD-ROM drive is supported but not required. o INSTALLATION The program comes with a Windows SETUP.EXE program for easy and convenient installation of the program. To run the SETUP, start Windows up and from the Program Manager's FILE/RUN option type: A:\SETUP.EXE Note: Substitute the proper drive and path designation to the above command if necessary. Follow the SETUP prompts to complete the installation process. The SETUP.EXE program will automatically create a program group and icon for W.I.M. and its documentation files. SPECIAL INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR BBS USERS -- If you received your version of W.I.M. from a BBS, you may have a stripped down version of the program that may not include the Visual Basic v3.0 runtime file, VBRUN300.DLL (this file is over 350K in size and is often excluded from BBS files to save download time for users that already have this common DLL file). When this stripped version's Setup is run, it will report that it cannot find VBRUN300.DLL. If you encounter this problem, you will need to obtain a copy of the VBRUN300.DLL file before you can continue. This file is available for download from most BBS services. Copy it into your Windows SYSTEM directory and run the W.I.M setup as outlined in the installation procedure above. VIDEO DRIVERS -- W.I.M. requires special video drivers for it to display full motion video. The setup will install these files into the Windows SYSTEM directory. If the setup finds newer versions of the file in the SYSTEM directory, it will not copy over the more current files. The setup will automatically modify your Windows SYSTEM.INI file to make Windows aware of the special video drivers needed to run the full motion video. It will add the following lines: [mci] AVIVideo=mciavi.drv [drivers] VIDC.MSVC=msvidc.drv VIDC.RT21=indeo.drv VIDC.CVID=iccvid.drv o USING WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA W.I.M. offers an intuitive "stereo-like" interface for playing sound, graphic, and video files and controlling your audio CD-player. STARTING WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA -- To start W.I.M. after installing the program, double-click on the W.I.M. icon. The program should start up and you should be on your way to explore the world of multimedia. To view documentation files, double click on the appropriate icon. TO PLAY A WIM, WAVE, MIDI, OR VIDEO FILE -- Follow the following series of steps to play WIM, WAVE, MIDI, or video files: 1) Press the appropriate DEVICE SELECT button (e.g., to select MIDI as the current device press the MIDI DEVICE SELECT button). 2) Press the LOAD button to open up the File Chooser Box. The File Chooser Box will only display filenames that have valid names for the current device selected (e.g., files with a .MID extension for MIDI files). Select a file by clicking on the desired file with your mouse and then clicking on the OK button. W.I.M will then load the file. 3) After the file is loaded, it can be manipulated with the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons. Press the PLAY button to start the play of the file. Watch the POSITION PLAY INDICATOR to see the play progress. At the end of the file's play cycle, the POSITION PLAY INDICATOR will show that the file is at the end of the play cycle. To play this file again, reposition the file to the start by pressing the START TRACK CONTROL and then pressing PLAY again. Note on sound files: For the WAVE and MIDI device to work correctly with W.I.M., A sound card with a Windows WAVE and MIDI drivers must be installed. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for more information on this. Note on movie files: For the VIDEO device to play full motion video correctly, the proper video drivers must be installed in the Windows SYSTEM directory. The W.I.M SETUP program will automatically install these drivers. Note on graphics files: When graphics files are loaded, only the PLAY and STOP control buttons are available since these files have no time dimension. Graphic files will be sized to fit the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN if it is on. To see the graphic image in its native size, use the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR by turning off the VIDEO MONITOR POWER button. TO PLAY AN AUDIO CD -- Follow the following steps to play an audio CD: 1) Insert an audio CD into your CD reader. 2) Press the CD DEVICE SELECT button. 3) Press the Play button to start the play of the CD. 4) Use the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons to control the play of the CD. Note: For this W.I.M device to work correctly a CD-ROM reader must be available and the MS-DOS CD extension (MSCDEX.EXE) and a Windows CD Audio driver (MCICDA.DRV) must be properly installed. These drivers are usually provided with the CD-ROM drive and Windows. Consult the Windows and the CD player documentation for more information on this. o FILE FORMATS SUPPORTED BY W.I.M. AVI -- .AVI (audio-video interleave) files are movie video files commonly used by Windows multimedia. These files have both a graphic and a video component. If you see a motion video-type image played on your computer, it is likely to be an .AVI file. The current standard video frame for most .AVI files is 160x120 pixels, the size of the W.I.M. VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN. Playing .AVI files require special drivers from Video for Windows (VFW) by Microsoft. The W.I.M. SETUP will install the basic drivers to view common .AVI files. The complete VFW set is available from many BBS's and from many CD-ROM sets that include .AVI files. If you require a complete version of VFW, and cannot locate it elsewhere, it is available from MMS Technologies for a minimal handling and shipping charge. If you encounter a .AVI file that cannot be played by W.I.M., you may be missing a special VFW driver necessary to play that particular type of file. Most packages that include .AVI files includes the VFW drivers necessary for those .AVI files. It is recommended that you install the drivers included with that package (usually done by running a SETUP program) to make W.I.M. properly support these files. The demonstration .AVI file included with W.I.M. is not of the quality that we would have liked to include with this program set. But due to file size limitations, we had to compromise on the movie quality. As a result, the .AVI file runs at a slower frame rate and the images are more blocky than we would have liked. The unadulterated file is well over 900,000 bytes in size. BMP -- .BMP files are bitmapped graphics files. DIB -- .DIB files are bitmapped graphics files. ICO -- .ICO files are Windows icon files. The default size of icon files is 32x32 pixels. To view icon files in their native size, use W.I.M.'s EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR. MID -- .MID is the extension for MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) files. MIDI files contain instructions for playing back music on a synthesizer. A sound card with a Windows MIDI driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for more information on this. RLE -- .RLE files are bitmapped graphics files. WAV -- .WAV files are digitized sound files commonly used in Windows for sound effects. A sound card with a Windows WAVE driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for more information on this. WIM -- Files with a .WIM extension are W.I.M. script files. The WIM file format is a script language that can be used to link sound and video images together into a comprehensive presentation. It is an easy to use script language with branch, loop, and user input capabilities. It offers power and ease of use to create presentations ranging from simple slide-show type demonstrations with background music and sound effects to complex business or educational presentations that can call for user interaction. A full featured WIM script editor is available with the Win Interactive Multimedia Pro or as an add on to the registered version of W.I.M. Standard. See the ORDER.TXT file for details. WMF -- .WMF is the extension associated with vector based graphics files. o WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA CONTROLS For help in locating buttons, press the HELP button and open the BLUEPRINT HELP. Follows is a listing of the controls available with W.I.M.: POWER button -- Select the POWER button to close down the Win Interactive Multimedia Player. LOAD button -- Press the LOAD button to load a new file into the currently active device. A device must be active before the LOAD button will function. The LOAD button will open a file selection that displays only filenames that are valid for the currently active device. The WIM device supports filenames with the .WIM extension; the WAVE device supports filenames with the .WAV extension; the MIDI device supports filenames with the .MID extension; and the VIDEO device supports filenames with the .AVI, BMP, WMF, .RLE, .ICO and .DIB extension. The Load button does not support the audio CD device. PLAYLIST from LOAD -- The LOAD button's file selection window offers a button with an arrow pointing to the right. This button opens the PLAYLIST. To use the PLAYLIST: click on the arrow button to open the PLAYLIST window, select the files you want by clicking on them, and then clicking on the ADD button. Use the remove button to remove unwanted files from the PLAYLIST. Continue adding and removing files. When finished, select the OK button. W.I.M. will play each file in order from the PLAYLIST when the PLAY CONTROL button is selected. For automatic play of files selected with the PLAYLIST, select the AUTOMATIC PLAY button. At the end of one file, the next file on the PLAYLIST will be loaded and played automatically. The CONTINUOUS PLAY button functions much like the AUTOMATIC PLAY button when a PLAYLIST is used. It will automatically load and play files from the PLAYLIST. EJECT button -- Select the EJECT button to unload the currently active device. This button clears the Win Interactive Multimedia Player of the current device. Pressing the EJECT button with the CD device active will physically eject the CD from the CD reader if the reader supports the MCI eject command. OPTIONS button -- To access additional features of the Win Interactive Multimedia Player, press the OPTIONS button. This button brings up a window that allows for control of various display and startup options. The "Program Bitmaps" option allows user selectable display color modes for the W.I.M Player only. This switch does not affect the number of colors used to display the actual video and graphic images. The 256 color mode is the most attractive display mode for the Player if Windows is running in a 256 color mode. However, this mode is more susceptible to video palette changes than the 16 color mode when new video images are loaded. If the "Save all settings on exit" check-box is checked, all W.I.M. option settings will be saved when the program closes and reloaded when the program is started again. If this check-box is checked, W.I.M. will also save information on the last file played from each device and automatically load these files when a device is selected. Select the "Show Device Pictures" check-box to enable the graphic images that show in the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN. The "Startup Device" options allow you to select the device that W.I.M. will default to upon startup. The "TV power button" check-box determines if the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN is on when W.I.M. is started up. Checking the box sets it to on. For hidden options, open the HIDDEN PANEL under the Playback Control buttons by clicking on the panel. See HIDDEN PANEL for more information. HELP button -- The HELP button activates the BLUEPRINT HELP for the Win Interactive Multimedia Player. VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN -- The VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN is the default view monitor for any graphical images played by the Interactive Multimedia Player. This view monitor may be turned off by toggling the VIDEO MONITOR POWER button. The Video MONITOR POWER button is the square button found directly under the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN. If the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN IS is turned off, any graphical display is redirected to the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR. The EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR offers the advantage of having a an expandable display screen for displaying images larger than the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN (160 x 120 pixels). It will display images in their native size. POSITION PLAY INDICATOR -- During playback, the POSITION PLAY INDICATOR indicates how long the file or CD loaded in the current device has to play relative to what has been played already. The two ends of the indicator represent the start and the end of the file or CD. VIDEO MONITOR POWER button -- The VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN may be turned off by toggling the VIDEO MONITOR POWER BUTTON. Graphical display is redirected to the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR if the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN is turned off. This button will not function if the video screen is currently busy. VOLUME -- Volume of the currently active device may be adjusted by using the VOLUME CONTROL buttons. The (+) button increases the volume level and the (-) button decreases the volume level. The green LED's indicate the current volume level. The sound can be shut off by toggling the (-) button until no green LED is on. Depending on the configuration of your computer system, the VOLUME CONTROL may or may not work for various devices. Some sound cards do not support volume control for WAVE and MIDI files. However, the sound can be turned off with the W.I.M. VOLUME CONTROL by turning the volume all the way down. On all systems, the CD device's sound can be shut off, but can not be adjusted. STATUS WINDOW -- The STATUS WINDOW is used to display active functions of the Win Multimedia Player. Video indicators for the active device, control button activity, device run time states, and sound activity LEDs can be found in this window. Notice that the sound activity LEDs do not synchronize to sound magnitude. They show sound activity. This option may be toggled off through the LED TOGGLE button in the HIDDEN PANEL. WIM DEVICE SELECT button -- The WIM DEVICE SELECT button selects the WIM device as the currently active device. This allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play WIM files. See .WIM files for more information. WAVE DEVICE SELECT button -- The WAVE DEVICE SELECT button selects the WAVE device as the currently active device. This allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to load and play .WAV files. .WAV files are digital sound clippings commonly used in Windows for sound effects. A sound card with a Windows WAVE driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for more information on this. CD DEVICE SELECT button -- The CD DEVICE SELECT button selects the CD device as the currently active device. This allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to control an AUDIO CD player on the computer system if it supports MCI commands. The MS-DOS CD extension (MSCDEX.EXE) and a Windows CD Audio driver (MCICDA.DRV) must be properly installed for this device to work correctly. These drivers are usually provided with the CD-ROM drive and Windows. Consult the Windows and the CD player documentation for more information on this. MIDI DEVICE SELECT button -- The MIDI DEVICE SELECT button selects the MIDI device as the currently active device. This allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play .MID music files. A sound card with a Windows MIDI driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for more information on this. VIDEO DEVICE SELECT button -- The VIDEO DEVICE SELECT button selects the VIDEO device as the currently active device. This allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play various video files. It includes the display of .AVI, .ICO, DIB, .RLE, .WMF and .BMP files. For best picture quality when displaying 256 color pictures, it is recommended that a 256 color Windows driver be installed. Consult the Windows and the video card documentation for more information on this. RECORD CONTROL button -- The RECORD CONTROL button sets RECORD on for the currently active device. The RECORD CONTROL button is non functional with this release of the Win Interactive Multimedia Player. PLAY CONTROL button -- The PLAY CONTROL button sets PLAY on for the currently active device. This effectively displays video if a video device is active or plays sounds if a sound device is selected. The PLAY CONTROL has automatic rewind and automatic replay options available. These options are available through the HIDDEN PANEL (see HIDDEN PANEL for more information). PAUSE CONTROL button -- The PAUSE CONTROL button sets PAUSE on for the currently active device. This suspends a PLAY or RECORD activity for the currently device. A PAUSED PLAY or RECORD activity can be resumed by pressing the PAUSE CONTROL button a second time. STOP CONTROL button -- The STOP CONTROL button sets STOP on for the currently active device. This stops PLAY, RECORD, PAUSE, REWIND, and FORWARD activity of the currently active device. The STOP CONTROL button does not automatically reset the file in any way. This means that if PLAY is selected after a STOP CONTROL button is selected, the file will start playing from where it left off. REWIND CONTROL button -- The REWIND CONTROL button sets REWIND on for the currently active device. This moves the device back towards the file start. The step rate depends on the current device active. Follows is a step rate table for each device used by the REWIND CONTROL button: WIM -- Next mark. WAVE -- .1 second. CD -- 10 seconds. MIDI -- 1 second. VIDEO -- Next frame. FORWARD CONTROL button -- The FORWARD CONTROL button sets FORWARD on for the currently active device. This moves the device forward towards the file end. The step rate depends on the current device active. Follows is a step rate table for each device used by the FORWARD CONTROL button: WIM -- Next mark. WAVE -- .1 second. CD -- 10 seconds. MIDI -- 1 second. VIDEO -- Next frame. START TRACK CONTROL button -- The START TRACK CONTROL button sets the currently active device back to the file start. END TRACK CONTROL button -- The END TRACK CONTROL button sets the currently active device forward to the file end. HIDDEN PANEL -- The HIDDEN PANEL holds controls for CONTINUOUS PLAY, AUTOMATIC REWIND, AUTOMATIC PLAY, LED TOGGLE, TIME DISPLAY CONTROL, and ERROR QUERY. Press the hidden panel door under the PLAYBACK CONTROL Buttons to open it and reveal the hidden buttons. CONTINUOUS PLAY button -- The CONTINUOUS PLAY button will automatically replay the file being played at the end of the play cycle. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. AUTOMATIC REWIND button -- The AUTOMATIC REWIND will automatically rewind the file being played to the start of the file at the end of the play cycle. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. AUTOMATIC PLAY button -- The AUTOMATIC PLAY button will automatically begin play of any file selected with the LOAD button. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. LED TOGGLE button -- The LED TOGGLE will toggle the sound display LEDs on and off. Turning off the LEDs on slow machines will help the speed on slow computers. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. TIME DISPLAY CONTROL button -- The TIME DISPLAY CONTROL allows the time display to be toggled between time elapsed to time remaining. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. ERROR QUERY button -- The ERROR QUERY button brings up more error information when an error condition exists. The error information can then be looked up under the Error Table for a more verbose explanation of the error condition. For some error states, toggling the ERROR QUERY button twice will provide additional information. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL. o MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES VIDEO CONSIDERATIONS -- Follows are some video issues to consider when using W.I.M.: PALETTE CONTROLS -- Palette changes caused by loading images that do not use a color palette compatible with W.I.M. will cause W.I.M. to use nonstandard colors. This effect is more susceptible when W.I.M. is using 256 colors to display itself. If palette changes are bothersome to you, set W.I.M. to use 16 colors for its program bitmaps. WINDOWS 16 OR 256 COLOR VIDEO -- For best results, it is recommended that you run Windows in a 256 color video mode when playing video that display 256 colors inside W.I.M. Otherwise, you will miss out on 240 of the image's colors. Video options for Windows can be set by running the Windows Setup program from DOS or through Windows. You may have to install a video driver provided by your video card manufacturer if Windows does not directly support your video card. Consult you computer and Windows documentation for more information. If you must run in 16 color video mode, you can view .AVI files in a full screen 256 color mode by running the setup to configure the [MCI] Microsoft Video for Windows driver under the Control Panel, Drivers' windows. CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE FOR WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA When cleaning W.I.M., use a soft cloth slightly dampened with water. To avoid electrical shock, do not immerse in water. o TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS If you have any problems using W.I.M., please try the following troubleshooting tricks to try to resolve the problem: 1) Consult the "Common User Questions" of the help to see if your problem is discussed and explained. 2) If W.I.M. reports an ERROR in the STATUS WINDOW, open the HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons and press the ERR button to query W.I.M. for more error information. The STATUS WINDOW will display further error information (a message and a number). Consult the ERROR TABLE with this information for a more verbose explanation of the error state. 3) If a device is not working, make sure the device you are having problems with is properly installed on the system. Check software drivers, cables, etc. If you have another program that can test the feature that W.I.M. is having difficulties with (use the Windows basic Media players for testing), try to use that program to confirm that that feature is functional. If both W.I.M. and the other program fail, the problem is likely to do with something on your system and NOT W.I.M. itself. Check your system or device documentation for proper hardware and software installation. 4) If you are seeing unexplained lockups or irregular program behavior, remove the old W.I.M files and rerun the W.I.M Setup. If the problem is due to a corrupt file on the hard disk, this will often correct the problem. 5) If you continue to see unexplained lockups or irregular program behavior, clean up the system environment as much as possible by closing extraneous programs in Windows. If this does not work, remove extraneous programs at the DOS level by booting as clean as possible. Remove any extraneous TSR programs that may be automatically loaded in your systems CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file (consult your favorite local tech to find out how to do this if necessary). 6) If all this does not solve the problem, please print out a copy of the PROBLEM.TXT file and fill it out as completely as possible. Carefully describe your problem, steps you have taken to try to resolve it, the results of each step, include any error messages, and include any information you feel is pertinent. The better you document the problem, the better we can resolve the difficulty. Print out copies of your CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and the Windows SYSTEM.INI files. To print the desired files, type the following series of commands from DOS: COPY C:\WIM\PROBLEM.TXT PRN COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS PRN COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT PRN COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI PRN Note: The above assumes that files are installed into default directories, substitute drive and path information where necessary. Send the information to the MMS Technologies. We will do our best to track down and resolve the difficulty. o COMMON USER QUESTIONS Question: When using W.I.M., I get a message that flashes "ERROR", what does this mean and how can I get more information about the problem? Answer: W.I.M. will allow you to play any file that your system is currently set up to play with its current hardware and software driver configuration. If you see the "ERROR" message, it indicates that one of two things: 1) You have selected a file that your system configuration does not support. 2) The file you have selected is no longer available, in the case of the W.I.M. file autoload when a device is selected, or the file is bad. W.I.M. includes a ERROR QUERY button that can be found under the HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons. Open the panel by pressing it and look for the button labeled ERR. Press this button for error information. Cross-index this error information with the Error Table (found in this document and under the F1 help) for more descriptive information on the error condition. Question: What is the best way to browse through files? Answer: Use the "LAZY MAN'S BROWSE" -- Our favorite way to browse files is to turn on the AUTOMATIC PLAY button under the HIDDEN PANEL, use the PLAYLIST feature to tag the files we wish to view, and then watch or listen to our files load up automatically one by one. Question: After playing a file once, the play button does not seem to work. I press it and it just pops back up. Why? Answer: The file needs to be reset to the beginning before it can be replayed. Press the START TRACK CONTROL button to reset the file. Alternatively, open the HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons and turn the AUTOMATIC REWIND button on. Question: The colors of my Win Interactive Multimedia Player change when I play video files sometimes. Why does this happen? Answer: The video file being played is using a nonstandard color palette. The color palette is adjusted to the video's palette during its display. This causes any images not sharing the video file's palette to temporarily use colors foreign to it, resulting in this effect. To minimize this effect, the Win Interactive Multimedia can be set to use a 16 color image through its OPTIONS window. Most video files do not change these 16 colors, so this flash effect will be less prevalent. Question: I hear no sound when I play the MIDI option. Why? Answer: The MIDI option requires a sound card be properly configured with a Windows MIDI device driver to work correctly. For a sound card to be recognized by Windows, you must install the sound card drivers through the Windows Control Panel, Drivers' window. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for proper setup information. Question: I hear no sound when I play the WAVE option. Why? Answer: The WAVE option requires a sound card be properly configured with a Windows device driver to work correctly. For a sound card to be recognized by Windows, you must install the sound card drivers through the Windows Control Panel, Drivers' window. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for proper setup information. Question: The CD player controls do not work. Why? Answer: The CD device requires an audio CD player be properly configured with a Windows audio CD device driver to work correctly. For an audio CD reader to be recognized by Windows, you must run the MSCDEX.EXE program from DOS and install the audio CD driver through the Windows Control Panel, Drivers window. Consult the Windows and CD documentation for proper setup information. Question: I get a flashing ERROR message in the STATUS WINDOW when a device is selected by W.I.M. Doing an ERROR QUERY shows the error state "File Not Found". What does this mean? Answer: W.I.M. will try to preload the last file loaded and memorized by a particular device. The "Save all settings on exit" from OPTIONS will cause W.I.M. to memorize the last file loaded by each device. If the file it attempts to load is no longer available (if the file was deleted or removed from the system), W.I.M. will not find this file and indicate this problem with this error message. W.I.M is still functional and you can load a different file by selecting the LOAD button. Question: The counter indicator for a WIM file does not appear to be counting seconds. What is it counting out? Answer: A WIM script file is composed of a number of instructions that tell W.I.M. what to do, when a WIM file is played the counter indicates the instruction number that W.I.M. is currently on. Question: My graphic images appear shrunken in size when I view them. How can I fix this? Answer: Turn off the VIDEO MONITOR POWER button to turn on the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR. This will display graphic images in their native size. Question: Why are there some .AVI files that W.I.M. will not play? Answer: W.I.M. includes drivers to play most .AVI files. However, there are some .AVI files that require drivers not included with the basic W.I.M. package. See the section that discusses .AVI files for more information on this. o ERROR TABLE Follows is a list of errors you may encounter when using W.I.M.: Device Not found -- This error occurs if a driver necessary to access the device is unavailable. See the help section on the appropriate device for more information about each device. Device Not Ready or System Driver Error -- The device selected is currently busy or is unavailable. Device Timed Out -- This error will occur if you attempt to load a device that is not available for the current system (e.g., MIDI and WAVE files require sound cards). See the help section on the appropriate device for more information about each device. ElseIf Error -- ELSEIF outside IF block. File can't be shared -- W.I.M. could not open a file due to a conflict with another program. Close down files that may be using common files to W.I.M. File Not Found -- This indicates the file selected is not available. This error may occur when W.I.M automatically loads up a file when a device is selected, if the last accessed file associated with the device is no longer available. Invalid File Format -- The file cannot be loaded on the current system. The file may be bad or the file may be in a format not supported by the computer (e.g., some sound cards can not support stereo WAVE files and some .AVI files will not play because a required driver is not installed). Out Of Memory -- The program does not have enough memory to run. This can often be corrected by unloading other Windows programs. Undetermined Error -- An undocumented error has occurred. Try to bypass the error if possible. If the problem is reoccurring and fatal to the program operation, note the error number and contact technical support for assistance. Follows is a list of errors you may encounter when using .WIM files with W.I.M.: Branch not found -- Specified label to branch to cannot be found. Bad variable name -- Variable name is a reserve word or an invalid character is used in variable name. Error opening . ..-- File cannot be found or opened. Error reading . ..-- Error in reading file. File error: -- General error reading file. For without Next -- FOR statement with missing NEXT statement. If without Endif -- There is an IF statement without an matching ENDIF statement. Nesting depth exceeded -- Too many nested FOR and/or IF blocks. Next without For -- NEXT statement without corresponding FOR statement. Not Implemented -- This command is not supported. Script error # -- Undetermined error. Note error number and contact technical support if needed. Syntax Error -- Command is incomplete or cannot be interpreted. Too many strings -- Maximum string space has been used up. Too many strings have been declared. Free up strings that are no longer in use. Too many variables -- Maximum variable space has been used up. Too many variables have been declared. Free up variables that are no longer in use. Value out of range -- Variables only support integer values between -32768 and 32767. o Product Support Please try to resolve your problems by going through the Troubleshooting Tips that are outlined. Support for unregistered users will be available in regards to product setup and basic program operation only. Registered users are entitled to full product support via mail or via Compuserve email. Follow the instructions for documenting a problem in the Troubleshooting section if you encounter a problem that requires support. o NOTES FOR BBS USERS If you are a BBS user and you like W.I.M., you can help us pass along the shareware version of the program by uploading this program to any popular local BBS that you frequent that does not already have W.I.M. Please refer to the VENDOR.DOC file for more information on uploading the file. o WHERE TO GET MORE MULTIMEDIA IMAGES AND SOUNDS W.I.M. supports a wide array of file formats. It offers a convenient "viewer" for files that you collect from various sources. A good bargain source of multimedia files can be had by purchasing the "5Ft 10 Pak" CD-ROM set by Sirus Publishing Inc., Scottsdale, AZ (602) 951-3288. This package includes "The Best of MediaClips" and the "PC Animation Festival", two CD-ROMs packed with animation and sounds. Another good source of multimedia is The Software Toolworks, Inc., 60 Leveroni Court, Novato, CA 94949, (415) 883-3000. They publish a number of quality multimedia CD-ROM disc sets. o ADDITIONAL COMMENTS We hope you enjoy this program. If you have any comments or suggestions on improving the program, please send them to the address below. Your input is important to us and will be considered to help improve the program in future releases. Thank you for using W.I.M. for your multimedia needs. MMS Technologies P.O. Box 1263 Talent, OR 97540 USA CompuServe #75552,215 ********************* END OF DOCUMENT *********************