The X-Philes (2nd Revision)/The X-Philes Number 1 (1995).iso/xphiles/hp95/pb19.exe/PLAYBACK.DOC

Text File | 1991-10-28 | 30KB | 588 lines

**** Welcome to Playback!  Version 1.9  10/28/91 ****

Think about it.  How many times do you use your computer to do the same
task over and over again?  Maybe it's logging on to a bulletin board,
backing up your hard disk, uploading files to the home office, printing a
letter, etc..  Wouldn't it be nice if you could just turn on a recorder,
record the complete task and then play it back with one keystroke
whenever you needed to do that task again?  Enter Playback.

Playback differs greatly from most macro programs in that Playback
replays your keystrokes at the same rate you typed them in.  For example
if you type in a program name and then wait for the program to load,
Playback will too.  You can launch these recorded keystrokes (keyfiles we
call them) with the touch of a hot key, or turn them into stand-alone
programs.  As an example of the later, let's say you record a sequence to
log on to Prodigy, get your stock quotes, save them to a file, exit
Prodigy, import the file into your spreadsheet, and then print out the
results.  You could save this task into a stand alone program call
"GETSTOCK" and then you would just enter "GETSTOCK" at the DOS prompt
when you wanted to replay this task.  You can even have Playback replay
this task at some later time, completely unattended.  If you want you can
group several keyfiles together in a batch file.  And if you want, you
can start and stop your recordings from within a batch file, without user
initiation.

You can also use the included Menu program to playback your keystrokes
using a point and select menu.  The menu program also lets you view the
contents of your keyfiles, delete them, change their playback speed, add
explanatory notes to them, rename them, and launch them at some later
time.

OK, that last paragraph gave you a brief overview of what Playback does,
but how would you use it?  I hesitate here because I'm sure I've just
scratched the surface on ways it can be used, and I don't want to
discourage you from finding your own applications.

Menu program:  Use Playback to record the keystrokes to start each of
your applications.  Then use the Menu program to Launch them.

Batch files:  I use Playback to record "batch" files.  Why?  I just start
recording the keystrokes using Playback and then save them to file.  Next
time I run the Menu program all the keystrokes sequences I saved are
turned into keyfiles, and I just use the Menu program to rename them to
whatever I want.  No editing, nothing.  Just record and save.  And I can
do so much more than normal batch files.

Desktop publishing:  I not only use the Menu program to launch my desktop
publisher, but if I'm working on a large project I know I'll be doing for
a while, I create a keyfile that loads the file I want and then goes to
the page I want.  In addition, when it comes time to print, I'm given a
whole slew of options that I must select every time I print a page.
Since my responses are always the same I just record the keystrokes and
then play them back using the Playback "hot key".

E-Mail:  Use Playback to create a keyfile of the keystrokes to load your
modem program, load an E-Mail macro, run it, and exit the program.  If
you want, you can instruct Playback to run this sequence automatically at
a certain time so your E-Mail is waiting when you get to the office.  One
of my registered users uses Playback to grab his stock quotes, manipulate
them, insert them into his spreadsheet, and print the results.  All with
one keypress.

Keystroke expander:  If I have occasion to replay the same set of
keystrokes over and over I just record them and then use the "hot key"
whenever I want to replay them.

Fun:  Try creating a keyfile of yourself writing a letter and then launch
it at some later time when you're not there but someone else may be
watching.  It's eerie seeing a computer going about the business of
writing and editing a letter with no one at the keyboard.

Demos:  I have customers who have used Playback to create self-running
demos.  Nothing like a real time demo, with no one at the keyboard!

Monitoring:  Since you can start recordings from a batch file, without
user initiation, you can use Playback to monitor how people are using
your computer.  If you can duplicate the initial conditions, you can
watch as what they did is played backed exactly as it happened.

Basically Playback eliminates repetitive tasks.  Isn't that what
computers were meant to do in the first place?

=== How Much? ===

Playback (tm) is copyrighted 1990-91 by RSE Incorporated.  It is user-
supported shareware.  This means you're given this copy in order to
evaluate it.  If after a 21 day evaluation period you decide to continue
using it, you must become a registered user by sending the registration
fee of $25 +$1 shipping (add $1 for 3.5 disk, $5 overseas) to:

    Playback Registration               Mastercard or Visa customers:
    1157 57th Drive SE                         [phone]
    Auburn, WA 98002                       Compuserve: 72371,1557

You are encouraged to freely distribute copies of the PB??.EXE file as
long as you don't charge anything for the copies.  DO NOT distribute the
individual, extracted, files; only PB??.EXE.

As a registered user you'll receive these additional benefits:

1.  No more annoying messages asking you to register.
2.  Latest version of Playback, PLUS a "decoder" to convert all future
    versions of Playback to registered versions.
3.  The latest shareware versions of our other products, including PC-
    FileNotes, PC-Directory, Conjecture, Remind Me!, Nabbit, BriteLine,
    PC-Images, Hide-It and Trash-It.
4.  Technical support
5.  A sincere "Thank you" for supporting our efforts to develop quality
    software and offer it at reasonable prices.

Those using Playback in a commercial or educational environment must
register.  Site licenses are available, as well as quantity discounts.

An Instruction Manual containing printed documentation for all twelve of
our shareware products (including Playback) is available for an extra $5.

=== Let's Get Started ===

*  Make sure you've created a new subdirectory for Playback.  It's
important that the Playback files be the only files in the subdirectory!

*  Go to the subdirectory where the Playback files are located and enter
"init" at the DOS prompt.  Among other things, the "init" program
modifies your "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file in your root directory to include this
subdirectory (where the Playback files are) in the "path" statement.
Your original "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file will be saved as "AUTOEXEC.OLD".  Init
also tells Playback where your Keyfiles should be saved and the Menu
program where to look for Keyfiles.

*  After running Init, reboot your computer so the changes in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file take affect.

*** IMPORTANT ***

You must run the INIT program or Playback won't work correctly.  It
should only be run once.  DON'T run it every time you use Playback.

One more time - To install Playback:

- Create a new subdirectory for Playback.  Move to the new subdir.

- Extract the Playback files inside the new subdirectory.  The
  Playback files should be the ONLY files in the subdirectory.

- Run the initialization program by entering "init" at the DOS
  prompt.

- Reboot your computer

Playback consists of two separate programs, the Playback program which
captures and plays back the keystroke sequences, and the Menu program
which we briefly discussed earlier.

=== The Playback Program ===

Playback (PB.COM) is a small TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program.
You load it once at the beginning of a session and it stays hidden until
you press one of its "hot keys".  Then it goes to work.  When you're done
with it, your original program continues as though nothing had happened.

PB.COM only takes up about 3K of memory, plus whatever you allocate for
the keystroke buffer (more on that later).

To load Playback into memory enter "pb" at the DOS prompt.  If you'd like
Playback automatically loaded whenever you turn on your computer then put
the phrase "PB" in your "AUTOEXEC.BAT" file on a separate line AFTER the
"PATH ..." statement.

When you load Playback into memory a few words appear telling you the
"hot keys" that Playback uses.  (All the rest of the info encourages you
to register.  When you do, this info will no longer appear.)  Playback
has 3 hot keys: one to start and stop recording keystrokes, one to
playback the keystrokes, and one to save the keystrokes into a file.
Although the default values are Ctrl-R (press the Ctrl and R keys at the
same time) to record, Ctrl-P to Playback, and Ctrl-S to save, you can
change these using the Menu program.

== Recording ==

When you press the Record "hot key" (Ctrl-R by default) you will hear an
ascending series of beeps.  This signals that Playback is now recording
your keystrokes.  When you've finished recording you press the Record
"hot key" again.  This time you'll hear a descending series of beeps
letting you know that the recording is complete.

If you try to record more keystrokes than the keystroke buffer can hold,
Playback will automatically terminate the recording when the buffer gets
full.  You can increase the size of the keystroke buffer by using the
Menu program.

== Saving ==

If you want to turn the recorded keystrokes into a keyfile then you
press the Save "hot key" (Ctrl-S by default).  When you press the Save
"hot key" the recording will be stopped (if you haven't stopped it
already) and the keystrokes will be saved in a file.  The next time the
Menu program is run it will turn the keystrokes in this file into
keyfile.

== Playback ==

When you press the Playback "hot key" (Ctrl-P by default) the keystrokes
in the keystroke buffer will be replayed just as you entered them, with
the same delay between keystrokes.

By the way, you can interrupt the playback of keystrokes just by pressing
the Escape key.  This holds true no matter how the playback is initiated.

Exercise:  If you haven't already loaded Playback into memory do so now
by entering "pb" at the DOS prompt.  Record a keystroke sequence (start
by pressing Ctrl-R).  Save it (by pressing Ctrl-S).  Play it back (by
pressing Ctrl-P).  Do this with several different keystroke sequences.  It
doesn't matter what you record, we're just getting familiar with the way
things work.

== On/Off ==

There may be times when Playback's hot keys are the same ones you need to
use within an application.  You can turn Playback Off or On by pressing
the Off/On hot key which is Ctrl-O by default.  It is a toggle: press it
once and Playback becomes inactive, press it again and Playback becomes
active again.

== Un-installing Playback ==

If you'd like to remove Playback from memory then enter "pb/u" at the DOS
prompt.  However, remember that you must un-install TSR's in the reverse
order from which they were loaded.  If you don't it's possible your
computer will "lock up" and require a re-boot.


=== The Menu Program ===

Note: If you have another program that uses "menu" to activate then you
can rename MENU.COM to PBMENU.COM to eliminate the conflict.  You'd then
enter "pbmenu" at the DOS prompt to activate the menu program.  DO NOT
RENAME MENU.COM TO ANYTHING ELSE BUT PBMENU.COM.

To run the Menu program enter "menu" at the DOS prompt.  The first thing
the Menu program does is look to see if you have saved any keystroke
sequences since the last time the program was used.  If you have, then
they will be converted into Keyfiles.  These Keyfiles will be given a
name.  The first will be "-B", the second "-C", and so on.

* Run the Menu program at this time by entering "menu" at the DOS prompt.
You can enter "menu" at any DOS prompt, at any time, and the Menu program
will appear.  You don't have to be in the Playback subdirectory to run
the Menu program.

The list to the left of the screen is a list of all the Keyfiles you've
created.  Select the one you want by using the up, down, home, end, PgUp
or PgDn cursor keys.

To the right of the screen are three areas.  The top area displays the
keystroke sequence of the hi-lited Keyfile.  Normal ASCII characters are
hi-lited.  Shift states (the state of the Insert, Scroll Lock, and Caps
Lock keys) are enclosed within [ ] and are displayed only when they
change.  All others keystrokes are displayed within < >.  For example,
<enter> means the enter key has been pressed, <bs> means the backspace
key, <Ins> means the Insert key, etc..

The middle area on the right contains two values: the Playback speed and
the Launch Time.

Playback speed:  You can playback your keystroke sequences in one of
three ways.  "Normal" (the default value) means that it's played back at
the exact speed it was recorded.  "Turbo" means that it's played back at
max speed.  The middle value "Boost" is a combination of the two.  When
you select "Boost" a delay between keystrokes of more than 1.5 seconds
(this value can be adjusted) is retained.   Delays less than 1.5 seconds
are ignored and the keystrokes are played back at 18 characters a second.
This option is very useful for situations where you want to eliminate
insignificant pauses (typing delays for example) but want to retain the
important delays.

Which speed should you use?  Well try "Turbo" first.  If that doesn't
work then "Boost" probably will.  If "Boost" doesn't work then select
"Normal".  To change a Keyfile's Playback speed: hi-lite the desired
Keyfile and press the left or right cursor keys until the desired speed
is hi-lited.

Launch (not lunch) time:  This is the time you want the program to be
launched at.  We'll talk about this later when we discuss launches.

The bottom of the right side of the screen is the "Note" area.  You can
leave notes of up to 160 characters on the contents and purpose of each
of your Keyfiles.  Those using "PC-Directory" or "FileNotes" will
recognize these notes as being the same as the filenotes you're used
to.

=== Menu Options ===

The top line of the screen displays a menu of your options.  You just
press the hi-lited key to exercise that particular function.

* Escape:     Pressing the Escape key exits the Menu program.

* Store:      Pressing S for "Store" exits the Menu program and puts the
    hi-lited Keyfile into Playback's keystroke buffer.  To playback the
    keystrokes just press the Playback "hot key" (Ctrl-P by default).

* Edit:       When I first released Playback I didn't put a keyfile
    editor in it.  I thought it would be easier just to record a new
    keyfile rather than trying to edit an existing one.  Since Playback
    keeps track of shift states, scan codes, and delays, in addition to
    the ASCII values, editing a keyfile is an extremely complex task.

    It wasn't long before I started getting requests from customers for
    an editor.  As a result, I created a simple overstrike editor for
    Playback that lets you change the ASCII values, and the delays of
    keystrokes in the file.  You can't add or delete keystrokes, and you
    can't edit the shift states (Ctrl, Alt, Shift).  In addition you
    can't change non-ASCII keystrokes like pressing the F1 key, insert
    key, delete key, etc..  It's just for changing the ASCII values and
    the delays.

    An example:  You create a keyfile that gathers up data from different
    sources and then transfers this data somewhere else.  Part of the
    transfer process involves inputting today's date.  It's a big keyfile
    and you don't want to re-record it every day just because you have to
    change the date.  In this case using the editor would make a lot of
    sense.

    To use the editor, highlight the desired file and then press E for
    edit.  The file will be listed on the screen.  Characters that you
    can edit will appear as they are, those you can't edit will appear as
    small dots.  You can use the cursor keys and the Tab, Home and End
    keys to position the cursor at the value you want to change.  Press
    the desired key.  The value will change from the old to the new and
    the cursor will move to the next value.  You may edit as many
    characters as you wish.

    Editing keystroke delays is much the same.  The delay that will
    occur between the previous keystroke and the keystroke the cursor is
    at each is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen.  Press
    F10 to increase the delay or F9 to decrease it.  (Although not
    displayed on the Edit screen, F7 and F8 also let you change the delay
    but in 1 second steps rather than in steps of 1/18th of a second.)

    At any time during the edit process you can press the Esc key to
    return to the Menu program without saving any changes you may have
    made.  If you want to incorporate the changes into the keyfile then
    press F1.  If you want to create a new keyfile with another name then
    press F2.

* Configure:  Pressing C for Configure brings up another screen of
    information.  All of the items you can change will be listed to the
    left of the screen along with their current values.  To change a
    particular item:

    -  Use the up and down arrow keys to select the item you want to
       change.
    -  Press the left or right arrow keys to change the value of the
       selected item.

    To change a "hot key" you need to select the shift state (Ctrl, Alt, or
    Ctrl and Alt) and then select a key.  For example to change the Playback
    "hot key" to Ctrl-D you would first select "Playback Shift State", press
    the right arrow key until "Ctrl" appeared, then press the down arrow to
    select "Playback Key", press the right arrow (to indicate you want to
    change it) and then press the desired key: D.  Clear as mud?  Try it and
    it'll all make sense.

    Some of the items need explaining:

    Color Monitor?  If you have a color monitor then select "Yes".  This just
    affects whether the Menu program displays in color.

    Flickering?  If when the cursor is on the "Flickering?" line your monitor
    begins to flicker then select "Yes" else select "No".

    Buffer Size:   Change this value to change how many keystrokes the
    keystroke buffer holds.  Remember that each keystroke adds 5 bytes to the
    amount of memory that Playback uses.  For example, if you select 200
    keystrokes, then Playback will take up about 4K of memory, 3K for the
    program and 1K (200*5) for the keystroke buffer.

    Boost Threshold:  Remember how Boost works?  Any delays above a certain
    threshold are acted on, any below the threshold are ignored.  This value
    sets that threshold.  I've found that a threshold of 1.5 seconds works
    well.  You may want to lower or raise it depending on how fast you type
    and the type of applications Playback is activating.  Experiment.

    Default Playback Speed:  Playback normally defaults to the normal
    playback speed, i.e. the keyfiles play back at the exact speed they were
    recorded.  You can change this value to boost, or turbo, if you want.
    This only affects newly created keyfiles.  Remember, this is just the
    default, you can still change the playback speed of each individual
    keyfile by using the Menu program.

    Press Escape when you've made all your changes.  The Menu program will
    re-appear.

    If Playback is in memory (and it should be when you use the Menu program)
    then you'll have to reboot the computer and reload Playback to notice
    changes made to the Hot Keys, Buffer Size, and Boost Threshold.

* Rename: you'll obviously want to rename your Keyfiles to something
    other than the default names the Menu program gives them.  Just hi-
    lite the desired file and press R for Rename.

* Launch: when you press L for "Launch" another menu will drop down
    giving you three options:  Launch Now, Launch Later, Launch Time.

    If you press N to "Launch <N>ow"  the Menu program ends and the hi-
    lited Keyfile runs immediately.

    Pressing L for "Launch <L>ater" selects the hi-lited file to be
    launched at a later time: the time specified on the right middle of
    the screen under "Launch Time".  Select <L>ater Launch only if the
    Launch Time value for the hi-lited file is the time you want the
    keyfile to be launched at.  If the time isn't correct the use the
    next option "Launch <T>ime" to effect the delayed launch.

    You can only select one file for Later Launch.  The file selected for
    a later launch is marked with a "*" to the left of its name.  If you
    want to un-select a file that you've already selected for a Later
    Launch simply select it again and the mark will disappear.

    When you exit the Menu program, an alarm is set so that at the launch
    time the keystrokes in the keyfile selected for later launch (the one
    with the "*") get loaded into Playback and get played back just as if
    you'd pressed the Playback hot key.  For example, if you leave your
    computer on at night you could have Playback launch a Keyfile to
    retrieve your E-Mail right before you get to work in the morning, so
    it's waiting for you when you arrive.

    The third option is to press T to select "Launch <T>ime".  This lets
    you adjust the Launch Time of the hi-lited file.  When you've
    finished adjusting the launch time then press Return and the keyfile
    will be marked for later launch with a "*".  Just exit the Menu
    program by pressing Escape and the file will be launched at the time
    you just set.

    == NOTE ==  Obviously, launching a file normally, or as a delayed
    launch, won't do anything if Playback isn't loaded into memory.

* Insert_Note:  Pressing the Insert key lets you leave a 160 character
    note on the contents or purpose of the hi-lited Keyfile.  Type in
    your note and press Enter.

    Pressing Escape lets you escape without changing the note.  Entering
    a note only one character in length deletes the note.

* Delete:  Press the Delete key to delete the hi-lited Keyfile.

=== Keyfile Operation ===

As we've discussed several times, you can have your keyfiles playback
just by entering their name at the DOS prompt.  However, there are a
couple of other options you can also execute from the DOS prompt by
adding command line options to the keyfiles name.

Storing a keyfile:  If you just want to load the keyfile into Playback
so you can activate it later using the Playback hot key, then use the
command line option "/s" where "s" stands for store.  As an example
entering "test /s" at the DOS prompt would load the "test" keyfile into
Playback, but not replay it until you press the Playback hot key.

Delayed Launches:  You can have a specific keyfile launched at some later
time by using the command line option "/hhmm" where "hhmm" is a 4 digit
number with the first two digits specifying the hour (in 24 hour military
time) and the last two digits representing the minutes.  The 4 digit
number MUST be exactly four digits long or things will get messed up.
DON'T seperate the hours and minutes by a colon, or anything else.  As
an example entering "test /0330" would load the keyfile "test" into
Playback and replay it at 3:30am.  Likewise "test /1750" would playback
the "test" keyfile at 5:50pm.

Running Keyfiles from within a batch file:

Normally, you can only run a keyfile from a batch file if it is the last
item in the batch file.  Why?  Because all a keyfile does is load its
keystrokes into Playback and initiate a replay.  The keyfile program then
quits and Playback goes about its business of stuffing in keystrokes
totally in the background.  So what happens if you run a keyfile from a
batch file anywhere but as the last item?  The keyfile will load its
keystokes into Playback, initiate the Playback, and then end.  The rest
of the batch file will continue to execute even tho the playback of the
keystrokes has just started.

However, due to popular demand, I've created a batch file command line
option that lets you use keyfiles anywhere in a batch file.  You can
even put several of them in a batch file if you want, or call one keyfile
from inside another.  To do this just append the keyfile name with the
"/B" command line option when you specify it in the batch file.  For
example, the "test" keyfile would become "test /b".  There is a
limitation though:  The keyfile must exit at the DOS prompt.  In other
words, whatever task you have the keyfile performing, it must return to
the DOS prompt when it's finished.  In addition, you don't need to use
the "/B" option if you're using the store or delayed launch command line
options because the Playback of keystrokes in this case isn't immediate.


Starting (and stopping) a recording from within a batch file:

Instead of using the hot keys to start and stop a recording, you can do
it from within a batch file by using "pb /r" to start the recording and
"pb /s" to stop the recording.  Playback disables its hot keys when a
recording is initiated this way so you must use "pb /r" to stop the
recording.  In addition, since you don't know how many keystrokes the
user may enter, you'll probably want to use the "Configure" portion of
the Menu program to greatly increase the keyboard buffer size.

This feature can be a real boon for those of you looking to see how users
react to a new piece of software.  You can create a batch file to start
the program that uses "pb /r" to initiate a recording, then loads the
software, and finishes with "pb /s".  You'll then have a keyfile of
everthing the user did as he/she tried the software.

=== Problems? ===

"When I run Menu I get an 'Aborting - No files' message."  The Menu
program can't find any Keyfiles, or information to make Keyfiles.  This
can happen for two reasons.  The obvious is that you haven't saved any
keystroke sequences.  Remember, to create a Keyfile you need to record
the keystroke sequence and then press the Save hot key.

The second reason is that you didn't install Playback correctly.  More
than likely you didn't run the initialization program.  Delete all the
Playback files, return your autoexec.bat file to the way it was and
reinstall again according to the instructions given earlier.  If Playback
is not installed correctly, things won't work right.

"Playback doesn't capture my mouse moves."  You're right, Playback only
captures keystrokes.  But most mouse programs have keyboard commands as
well.  Use them.

"Playback signaled the end of the recording session (descending series of
beeps) before I instructed it to."  You attempted to record more
keystrokes than the keystroke buffer can hold.  Use the Menu program to
increase the size of the keystroke buffer, reboot, reload Playback, and
try again.

"Some of my keystrokes weren't captured."  It's possible for programs to
intercept keystrokes and not pass the information on to the rest of us.
As a result there are situations where we can't get the information we
need. These situations are very rare.  The only place I've seen them is
in the activation of TSR programs and games.  What they do is intercept
the information coming from the keyboard, act on it, and then fool the
computer into thinking there never was a key pressed (much like what
happens when you press one of Playback's hot keys).

In addition, some programs take complete control over the computer, in
many cases ignoring previous TSR programs.  Microsoft Windows does this.
For information on using Playback within MS Windows consult the file
"WINDOWS.TXT" on your Playback disk.

"While trying to activate a function in one of my applications I end up
activating Playback instead."  The function you're trying to use in your
application uses the same key sequence as one of Playback's hot keys.  To
eliminate the conflict use the configuration function in the Menu program
to change Playback's hot keys to something that won't interfere with your
other applications, or use Playback's On/Off hot key to turn off
Playback.

"When I try to run MENU the program locks up or starts generating 'divide
overflow' error messages."  Chances are you've got a .COM file in the
Playback subdirectory that isn't one of the Playback files or a Keyfile.
Remember, there shouldn't be any .COM files in the Playback subdirectory
(other than the keyfiles) except AL.COM, PB.COM and MENU.COM.  Don't
rename any of these files.

=== Technical Assistance ===

Call 1-206-939-4105 for technical assistance, or leave a message on
Compuserve at 72371,1557.  Please have your registration number handy.

=== Distributing your Keyfiles ===

You can freely distribute the keyfiles you create using Playback to
others.  Of course they won't run unless the end user also has Playback.

However, we do have a program that converts your keyfiles to autonomous
keyfiles that don't require Playback to execute.  For a $995 license fee
we will supply you with the conversion program, a registered copy of
Playback, and a license that grants you unlimited distribution rights for
all of your converted keyfiles.  Contact Scott Chaney at [phone].

=== So long ====

That's it folks.  Hope you find Playback worthy of your support.
Why don't you give our other programs a spin as well?

Take care.