ShareWare OnLine 2/ShareWare OnLine Volume 2 (CMS Software)(1993).iso/graphics/explosv3.zip/EXPLOSIV.DOC

Text File | 1993-05-27 | 29KB | 507 lines

            EXPLOSIV 3.0

Explosiv 3.0 is the one screen saver that addresses all your DOS(R) and
Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) computing needs. You will find Explosiv 3.0
both entertaining and practical as beautiful displays save your computer
screen from harmful burn-in. Compatible on machines running DOS 3.x
and up, Windows 3.x and up, and PC networks, Explosiv 3.0 is designed to
take care of your monitor without getting in the way of the work you need
to do.
1.    INSTALLATION

The installation options are:
       1. To install Explosiv for DOS and Windows
       2. Install Explosiv for DOS only
       3. Install Explosiv for Windows only
       4. Exit to DOS ( chose this option to NOT install Explosiv 3.0)

Assuming that you selected one of the install choices 1 - 3, install then asks
a second level of questions:
       1. Which directory on your disk would you like to install Explosiv into
       2. The directory that is on your named path (as defined in your
            AUTOEXEC.BAT file) that the file EXPLOSIV.BAT will be
            installed into.  This is optional.
       3. The directory where Windows 3.x resides.

NOTE: At all times help is available in the box displayed at the bottom of
the screen. Also, the ESC key may be pressed at any time to terminate the
install process.

Install will now copy Explosiv 3.0 for DOS and place it in the directory you
have named. If you  selected the Windows version of Explosiv 3.0 to be
installed, Windows will be invoked, a new Windows Group will be created
and Explosiv 3.0 for Windows will be placed in it. When this is done,
windows will exit and you will be returned to the DOS command line
prompt. Installation of Explosiv 3.0 will now be complete.

If any part of the installation fails, a notice will be displayed as to what
went wrong. You must then remedy the problem and re-install (from the
distribution diskette) the sections of Explosiv 3.0 you wish.
*    Manual Installation
The steps needed to manually install Explosiv 3.0 are:
       a) Create a directory on your hard drive  where you wish to install the
           program  files.  Assume that this directory is C:\EXPLOSIV.
       b) Copy all the files from the Explosiv disk(s) into that directory.
       c) If you want Explosiv to run automatically  when you boot your
           machine insert the line "EXPLOSIV -" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
           file.
       d) If you want Explosiv to run automatically when you run windows
          then append "C:\EXPLOSIV\WX.EXE" to your load line in
          WIN.INI.
       e) Start Windows and create the Explosiv Program Group using the
          Windows Program Manager.
2.    USING EXPLOSIV 3.0

*    The DOS Version
The DOS version of Explosiv 3.0 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 (which
can be loaded above the 640KB limit), the DOS version of Explosiv 3.0
renders several beautifully animated displays. In fact, if you like,
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!

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 be invoked.  Alternatively, Explosiv 3.0
also 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 execute a display if you are in text mode and blank the
screen if you are in a graphics mode.

To activate explosiv immediately without waiting press the Ctrl-Alt-Shift
key 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.

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 run "explosiv off" 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 be changed.

If you want to remove 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 a error message will be printed.

The Explosiv 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, if you
copy the three screen saver files in 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.  Finally, 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 disappears 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 in two parts, where the top part lists the
screens that can be viewed - from Image Maker to Display Librarian -
while the bottom part list alternate methods of exiting 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 U.
Finally, to abort all changes made, press Ctrl-C.

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.

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 displays 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 as much as
one half hour.

The delay is a number from 1 to 255 which controls how fast the display
changes.  Set this to default to use the value calculated from your
CPU speed ( this value is shown by running EXPLOSIV ?  at the command
line).  The object 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.

Configuration Screen
Select the configuration screen by press the Alt-C keys.  The fields that
you will see control specific aspects, such as monitor type and 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.

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 "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 fit 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


By default explosiv will automatically select the appropriate monitor type
to use.  You can use the monitor field to force explosiv to run another
video card.  For example, set it to VGA to force a VGA screen saver ( but
note that you should only do this is you are sure explosiv picks the wrong
type ).

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 change the letters in the hot key combination.

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.

Display Librarian
The 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.

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, EGA, and so on.  If you wish to save space and
allow more room for your own displays ( explosiv allows 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.

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 file name.  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 file name 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.

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 file name
of the display you wish to change.  Remember that the description must be
unique for that monitor and if the file name is not given then
DISPLAY.COM is used by default.

Since the explosiv library stores displays in compressed format in the
file EXPLOSIV.OVL it is possible to uncompress these displays and store
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.

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 to be available for new
modules ( up to a maximum of 250 ).

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 this 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.

Image maker allows the user 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, the 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
programs that are smaller than 34K, while image maker can produce much
larger files. 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 savers.
The Add button is equivalent in function to the Add feature described for
the display librarian.

To view the file that you have selected simply press enter from within
the FILES window.  If the file is a program 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 using the cursor keys. If
you hold the Control key done 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.

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
recenter 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 will appear again which you can position as described above.

Once you are done press the Enter key to save your image or the Esc key to
abort. If you pressed 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.

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 a 256 color
image down, use the "e5" command line option.

Note Taker
Similar to image maker, explosiv allows the user to create programs
from messages that he or she writes.  To do this select the note taker screen
and a screen with three small boxes will appear.  Initially, the top box will
be active ( which can be seen since the cursor appears there ) and is where
you will write your message.  Although the window is initially very small
the box automatically expands to fit the text.  The window can be reset to
this size at any time by pressing the New button.

Simply type in whatever you want to say, use the cursor keys to position
the cursor, use enter to move to a new line and backspace/delete to delete
characters.  When you are done click on the save button and a dialog box
will appear asking you for a description and file name.  A line will also
appear asking you whether you wish to include the new program directly
into the explosiv library.  Select this by pressing the right or left cursor key
when the entry is highlighted.  Only by selecting this will the
description field be necessary.  Clicking on the small Save button in the
dialog box will cause the message to be saved to a new program.  Once
done (and if you had requested it), explosiv will save the display to the
explosiv library.
*    The Windows Version
To start the Windows version of Explosiv 3.0, you must first do one of the
following:
       1. Choose Explosiv 3.0 for Windows to be activated during install.
       2. Install Explosiv 3.0 for Windows manually (see the install section
           above).

To invoke Explosiv 3.0 for Windows, double click on the icon on the
Windows Desktop. If Explosiv is not currently on the Windows Desktop,
then first double click on the Explosiv Icon  within the Explosiv group in
the Windows Program Manager.

Once started, you can set, modify, and view all parameters through the
Explosiv Icon menu-driven Dialog Boxes. There are four important menu
choices to be made after clicking on the Explosiv Icon:
       1. The Explosiv Setup Choice:   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).
       2. The Start Explosiv Choice: Starts Explosiv immediately.
       3. The Registration Info Choice: Info on registering copies of Explosiv.
       2. The About Explosiv Choice: This displays a simple box that gives
           reference to Date and Authors of Explosiv 3.0.

The Setup Dialog Box controls are similar in functionality to those from
the DOS version of Explosiv 3.0. 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 to activation for
Explosiv. 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 get a
preview of any of the selected displays. This button should be clicked On
SLOWLY.

NOTE: Double Clicking the mouse on the MultiPak display opens the
Multi Display Dialog Box in which you can add or delete displays to be
shown. You can make the display choices go in the order you have selected,
or be random. Finally, you can select at what interval you want the displays
to change where the value selected is the number of minutes before the
display will change on you (ranging from 1 to 60 minutes). Selecting 0
means that the display will only change whenever Explosiv is turned off
and then on again.

The Display Options Dialog Box (activated via the Options... button)
contains two Mouse Corner groups. Clicking on any one corner will make
the corresponding corner on the screen either :
       1. The corner in which the screen saver is INSTANTLY activated from
           (the group to the left indicates this action).
       2. The corner in which, if the mouse is so placed, the screen saver will
           NEVER come on, even at the activation time.

Next are two scrollable boxes that allow:
       1. The rate of Delay to be set. If you find a particular display too fast to
          your liking, increase the Delay Rate from between 0 to 3.
       2. The Number of Objects. This is not active in all displays, but the
           displays that do use this control will increase the number of
           displayed objects as the number value selected increases
           (ranging from 1 to 9).
          NOTE: For many of the displays, selecting a value
          GREATER THAN 6 will give you a randomly varying display.
          This is especially effective in the GYRO display.

Next, there is the Detect Mouse Movement Box. Toggling this On or Off
(by clicking on it with the Mouse) either Enables or Disables the screen
saver to turn off via a movement of the mouse. This is especially useful for
unstable situations, such as laptop computing. Also, some Graphics
Co-Processor boards work better when the Mouse Movement Detection is
turned off.

Finally is the Auto - Off Print Manager Box which disables Explosiv if the
Windows Print Manager is running. This is especially effective if Spooling
is turned on in the Print Manager.

The Password Dialog Box, the last of the Dialog Boxes, is opened up by
clicking on the Password... Button. To enter a BRAND NEW password,
type in your new password in the Enter Password: Box, then repeat it in the
Confirm Password: Box. Finally, Click on the Accept button to
permanently set your new password. If you made a mistake in either your
original or confirmation entries, a failure sign will show up on the Accept
button. Just start all over again. If your password was successfully entered,
the Accept button will display a Success message.

NOTE: 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 program.

To change a password, first enter your old password in the Old Password:
Box, and then proceed as outlined above for entering a FIRST TIME new
password. If any error is made (i.e., the Accept button indicates a Failure),
just start the entire process over again.

After you have successfully entered (or changed) a password, the Password
On: Button is enabled. If this button is selected, then a Password Box will
pop up and ask you for your password every time an activated screen saver
display is halted (e.g., by a mouse movement, button click, or keyboard key
press). At that time, you 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 nothing happen, the Password Prompting box disappears
after 8 seconds, and the screen saver display resumes activity.

*    Windows Explosiv Logo
All the above procedures are duplicated in the Windows Version of
Explosiv Logo with the exception that the Options Box contains only the
mouse activation corners. The displays to select are the ones that  you will
have made in the DOS based Image Maker. These will show up in the
display selection box.

Note: DOS and Windows are trademarks (TM) of Microsoft Incorporated.
GIF and "Graphics Interchange Format" are trademarks (TM) of
Compuserve Incorporated, an H&R Block Company.
SPECIAL THINGS TO WATCH FOR

Some special things to be aware of include:
      a. DOS Graphics Mode. When a DOS program is running in graphics
          mode,  Explosiv 3.0 for DOS WILL NOT display the currently
          selected module, but rather will simply blank the screen. This insures
          the best possible restoration of any given graphics state (this may
          occur even in text mode if Explosiv cannot reliably determine the
          systems' graphic state).
       b. Windows 3.0 Real Mode.  Explosiv 3.0 for Windows DOES NOT
          WORK in Real Mode (with or without expanded memory) in
          Windows 3.0. It is to be used in Standard or Enhanced Modes only.
           If you try to start Explosiv 3.0 for Windows in Real Mode, Explosiv
           will simply terminate itself with a explanatory message.
          Explosiv 3.0 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 if need be.
       c. 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 3.0
          for Windows:
                    CLOCK,   STARS,   BLAZON,    BLANK
          These displays will not impede your file transfers
          to any noticeable degree. The other displays will slow
          the transfers down to varying degrees.
          The same holds true for printing jobs, with the exception that
           if you do all your printing through the Print Manager spooler
           you can then select the Options Window and enable the
           Auto - Off for Print Manger button. Now, if Print Manager starts
           (even if it starts on a time delayed command), Explosiv turns off
           until all the printing is finished.
       d. Hercules Display. If you are using a Hercules monochrome display
          and are  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 as well).
       e. Hot Keys. Explosiv 3.0 for DOS has certain Hot Key assignments
           that are  very important. They are:
          1. Ctrl-Alt-Shift.  This key combination starts
             Explosiv 3.0 immediately.
          2. Ctrl-Alt-E. This key combination temporarily disables
             Explosiv 3.0 for DOS.
          3. Ctrl-Alt_B. This key combination Enables Explosiv 3.0 for
             DOS after it had been previously disabled.
MAILING ADDRESS AND ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS
To order additional copies of Explosiv 3.0 please have you credit card ready
 (MC/Visa/Amex/Disc.) and call:  1-800-2424-PSL or  1-713-524-6394
     For all inquiries, including registration (which is done via the
accompanying EXPORDER.FRM file), please contact us at:

            H&G Software
            P.O. Box 3013
            Vancouver, B.C.
            V6B 3X5  Canada
NOTE: Please write to us for info on other software products offered.