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NPlay
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1993-05-11
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version 2.01
by Petter E. Stokke
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AMIGA MUSICIANS FREEWARE MAGAZINE
!! COPYRIGHT NOTICE !!
PROGRAM: NPLAY v2.01
AUTHOR : Petter E. Stokke
DATE : 15 Dec 1992
This program is copyrighted AM/FM. The program, its
documentation and all belonging files may only be
copied under the conditions of AM/FM, i.e. with an
original AM/FM disk label on the disk. No person or
company is allowed to sell this product, not even for
a small fee for disk and/or postage. Further, this
program may not be used on magazine cover disks or any
other compilation disks without permission from AM/FM.
This product is Freeware.
It may be copied as long as
NO
money changes hand.
P.D. Distributors: To distribute AM/FM products, you
must pay a royalty to AM/FM, in form of buying an
original AM/FM disk label and putting one of these on
every AM/FM product/disk you sell. Get in touch at
the address below:
AM/FM - c/o Bjørn A. Lynne - Schleppegrellsgt. 10 - 0556 Oslo - Norway
***
NPLAY 2.01 - WHAT'S NEW?
For simplicity's sake, and for those of you who've already been using v2.0
for some time, I'll start the manual with summing up the two additional
features I've included in version 2.01 of NPlay.
* Full ReqTools v38 support - keyboard shortcuts for ALL gadgets.
This means you actually don't have to use the mouse at all, if you so
desire. I use Quiet mode a lot, and I found that having to move your hand
over to the mouse when leaving Quiet mode to take a look at the instruments
was too much work, so the new features in ReqTools v38 pleased me a lot.
Labour saving forever!
By the way, once I got the underscores set up I discovered that the
first letters (and thus the hotkeys) of the five gadgets in the About
requester spell out the word 'MUSIC'! Completely unintentional! (Say WOW,
everyone...)
* Preferences adjustable from within NPlay.
This is the most powerful feature added to NPlay 2.01. I've added lots of
features to the NPlay.Config file, and a hunky non-ReqTools (for once)
requester to set the preferences from within NPlay itself. Note that this
makes the Config file from NPlay 2.0 obsolete, and you MUST delete this
before installing NPlay 2.01, else I'll not be held responsible for what
happens!
The things you can configure in NPlay 2.01 are as follows:
- Startup directory. The directory you loaded the last module from when
saving the Config file will be stored as the default directory. The file
requester will automatically open up in this directory upon starting NPlay.
- Pattern. NPlay will use this pattern in the filerequester upon opening.
NPlay will save the pattern you used for the last file requester operation
in the Config file when you choose Save from the Preferences window.
And from the Preferences window, you can set:
- Quiet Mode settings. These gadgets correspond to the A switches on the
command line.
- Make NPlayLibs resident. These gadgets correspond to either the L
switch, the S switch, or neither.
- Detatch NPlay from CLI. This corresponds to the D switch.
- Start NPlay in Quiet mode. This corresponds to the Q switch.
Selecting the SAVE gadget will write the current settings to the
NPlay.Config file. If you press the USE gadget, the Preferences window
will close without saving the Config file.
Note that, with the exception of the two topmost gadgets, none of the
gadgets actually change anything in the currently running program, they
will only take effect the next time you start NPlay.
NOTE: Command line switches override NPlay.Config settings!
INTRODUCTION
Well, who needs another module player anyway?
I'm happy to inform you that NPlay is not just another module player.
NPlay was written with future expansion and versatility of use in mind.
NPlay allows you to play any music format you like, and if the original
pack doesn't support it, you can stick together a playroutine and have it
play the thing anyway.
So NPlay is another of those 100 kilobyte jobs, then?
No. That's the whole point with NPlay. It is the user who decides
which music formats he needs. NPlay allows you to include just as many
playroutines as you like - if you only need to play ProTracker modules,
fine, just keep the ProTracker library. If you want to play them all,
that's your choice - just give NPlay the whole works. It doesn't mind. It
won't even protest when you pack it down to 8 kilobytes.
But the new ProTracker uses PowerPacker.library to pack the modules.
These can't be played by NPlay, can they?
Oh yes, they can. NPlay uses PowerPacker.library too, and not only
that, it also accepts modules packed with StoneCracker. Support for
CrunchMania will also be added in the near future (as soon as I can get any
docs about it).
But what if I want to play the music from inside my own programs
instead of through a program?
Now here's the novelty. NPlay lets you do it. You are free to load
the NPlay libraries, which contain the playroutines, into your own programs
and interface with them as you like. This can be done directly, through
the supplied routines, or through the forthcoming NPlay.Library.
USAGE
To start NPlay from the CLI, use the following syntax:
NPLAY [Q] [D] [L|S] [a|A] [filename]
Q Start NPlay in Quiet mode
D Detatch NPlay from the CLI
L Make all NPlayLibs in the NPlay: directory resident
S Allows you to select the NPlayLibs, if any, to be made resident
a Lets you use both mousebuttons in the Quiet mode to end NPlay
A As above, but all other Quiet mode functions are disabled
Note that NPlay does not accept quotes around the filename. Once NPlay
finds something on the command line that it does not recognize as a switch,
it assumes it has found the beginning of the filename. Everything after
this will be accepted as the filename.
If the command line ends before it has found a filename, it will open a
file requester and ask you to pick a file to play.
WORKBENCH
NPlay can be started from Workbench without any trouble. However, no
command line options can be specified, and it will not accept anything you
put in the icon. This means you cannot initially start NPlay in the Quiet
mode from Workbench, or make any NPlayLibs resident. I hope to have this
fixed in a future version.
THE QUIET MODE
The early NProps frequently bugged when I opened them on such things as the
AsmOne screen, the DirectoryOpus screen, etc. To overcome this problem, I
added a feature to turn off all screen output from NProp, allowing it to
run invisibly and unobtrusively. This feature is of course retained (and,
mind you, seriously improved) in NPlay.
There are two ways of entering the Quiet mode - either press the HIDE
gadget on the main requester, or add the Q switch to the CLI command line.
When the Quiet mode is active, NPlay will not output anything to the
screen, instead relying on keypresses for its operation. These keypresses
correspond to the gadgets on the main requester, and are as follows:
Control-Left Shift-Left Alt-S - Restart the current module
Control-Left Shift-Left Alt-L - Load a new module and play it
Control-Left Shift-Left Alt-X - Use the special NPlayLib functions, if any
Control-Left Shift-Left Alt-H - Leave Quiet mode
Control-Left Shift-Left Alt-Q - End NPlay and free all resources
CRUNCHER SUPPORT
NPlay v2.0 supports the following cruncher formats:
* PowerPacker (through powerpacker.library)
* StoneCracker 4.01
If you're missing a cruncher, just send me the decrunch routine and I'll
have it implemented as soon as possible. Please note that only DATA
crunchers are accepted. You cannot crunch modules with FILE crunchers
(like Imploder).
COMING FEATURES
First priority is to upgrade my computer to KS2.0 (yes, it's true, NPlay
was written on a KS1.3 system!) and then have NPlay follow me into the
future. KS3.0, I'm afraid, will have to wait some time.
As stated earlier, I'm working with CrunchMania support at the moment.
Other data crunchers will be added if I come across any. If you have the
decrunch source for a data cruncher NPlay does not support, please send it
to me A.S.A.P. for inclusion in the next version of NPlay.
A future version of NPlay, probably v3.0 or something, will have a much
improved user interface. Although I hate to say so, for it does mean a lot
more work, the ReqTools-generated user interface is not adequate for the
features I intend to add to NPlay, so in order to implement the really
stunning features, I have to make a better, Intuition-based, user
interface.
Someone suggested to me that it would be real nice if the file
requester could stay open at all times - or even better, if you could have
multiple file requesters open at the same time. Naturally, being the
kind-hearted guy I am, I agreed, thus condemning me to even more work.
However, I myself was the one who said I wanted to make NPlay the best
there is, so I guess I had it coming. Anyway, multiple filerequesters are
on their way.
What's worse, that same someone (names withheld to protect the guilty)
also suggested that NPlay should be able to read LZH/LHA archives and play
modules from within them. Now this is real bad. I like the concept, but
it's going to be a bitch to implement. All I can say is, perhaps.
And as always, I'll try to write some more NPlayLibs.
- but! Remember, you can write NPlayLibs yourself too! I'd appreciate
very much if you wrote an NPlayLib I haven't yet done and sent it to me for
inclusion in the NPlay pack. I need all the work-savers I can get. Of
course, you'll get credits for it.
CONTACT THE AUTHOR
To contact me, dial +47-(0)6-833980, and leave a note to NECROLOGIC /AWE.
That's the best way. The alternative is to sit down, write a letter, and
mail it to the address written on your latest version of NPlay
(About/Info/Bug Reports from the main menu).
And remember: I DON'T SWAP! If that's what you're after, look somewhere
else.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I'd like to thank all those who helped make NPlay what it has
become today (and what it will be in the future). Apart from myself, that
is everyone who uttered a word about how they think NPlay should have been,
how they think it shouldn't, and generally contributed to something even
vaguely connected with NPlay. Sorry I don't supply a list, but the thing
is I never made one, so mentioning those I remember would probably insult
those I forgot about.
In particular, I would like to thank Bjørn A. Lynne, who added the
extra incentive of money to lure me into at last finishing the long-awaited
version 2.0, and Nico François, the man behind ReqTools.library and
PowerPacker.library, without which NPlay would have been nothing (or even
worse, completely CLI-based).
And, here at the end, a big thankyou to Ulf Widar Antonsen Dahl, who
wants me to code music disks.