Amiga Elysian Archive/AmigaElysianArchive.iso/sound/mus_play/pmm283.lha/PMM.Doc

Text File | 1993-06-01 | 20KB | 494 lines

                       IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THIS
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  P-M-M is Workbench 2 compatible, but not Workbench 1.3. P-M-M was tested on
an A500 using a 1meg Agnus - Original Denise/gary/paula - ROM 2.04 - with
1 meg Chip-Ram, 2 meg Fast-Ram, and a 20meg A590. P-M-M was also tested using
Supra's latest 28 Mhz 68000 accelerater in both 28 & 7.14 Mhz modes. IF you
are using one of the more advanvced Amigas (1200 - 4000) please let me know
of any faults that you find using P-M-M.

                      (P)lay (M)ed (M)odules V2.7.8
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contents List
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 1. CopyRight Notices....

 2. Why P-M-M....

 3. About P-M-M....

 4. To Run P-M-M....

 5. P-M-M's Config File....

 6. P-M-M's Menus....

 7. Errors Using P-M-M....

 8. Files Required by P-M-M....

 9. Converting Modules for use with P-M-M....

10. Naming Convention....(Important)....

11. Warning About `MMD1' Modules....

12. Miscellaneous....

13. Authors Note's....

                   ---------------------------------

1.   Copyright Notices
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  HiSoft Basic              -   Hisoft ©1988,90

  Extend.Library            -   Hisoft & SunSmile Software © 1987

  MedPlayer.Library &
  OctaPlayer.Library        -   Teijo Kinnunen © 1989

  Play Med Module &
  P-M-M                     -   Anthony Keeley  © 1992,93

     And most important

  All things `Amiga'        -   © Commodore-Amiga Inc


 All copyright dates are taken from the accompanying Doc files or manuals.

 You are NOT allowed to use P-M-M or any related files, commercially, or for
any kind of personnal gain, without the prior permission from the respective
copyright holder(s).

 You are welcome to pass on a copy of P-M-M to whom ever you wish, so long as
all code and documentation remain together and unaltered. P-M-M can be used
without time limit or need of payment.

 P-M-M is Giftware, and if you feel that it is worth something, then by all
means send that something to the author.

 If you do wish to send a Gift to the Author, please send it to :-

 : A Keeley
 : 173 Curzon Road
 : Ashton-Under-Lyne
 : Lancashire
 : OL6 9NB
 : Great Britain

 The following files MUST stay together when being passed onto some one else.

  History.Doc
  History.Doc.info
  Extend.library
  PMM
  PMM.info
  PMM.Doc
  PMM.Doc.info

Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~
 The Author does not accept any responsibility for any loss of data, or damage
caused by the use of P-M-M, which includes both past and future versions.

                   ---------------------------------

2.   Why?  P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~

 In the beginning, I started writing P-M-M for two simple reasons, `MedPlayer'
and `Octaplayer' by Teijo Kinnunen didn't include a full file requester, and
trying to remember a long path name, as well as the module name, was hard
enough: but trying to get the right spelling on some of the module names was a
task in it'self. Secondly, you had to load `Medplayer' for four track med
modules, and `Octaplayer' for eight track modules. Wouldn't it have been easier
to include both into one player file? This is where P-M-M steps in.

                   ---------------------------------

3.   About P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~
 P-M-M should play all Med or OctaMed modules, but not the Songs or modules
created using Soundtracker (or its clones). If you do have any trouble playing
any Med or OctaMed modules, please see the section on `Conversion'.

 P-M-M can, by using the Asl file requester, enable you to select modules for
playing, or including into the Selected Modules Menu.

 The Selected Modules menu can hold upto 10 predefined modules, which can then
be played by a simple menu selection. You can then either -

  Select to play any of them as you wish
  One after the other, automatically, on a default timer, defined by YOU!
  Or cycle through them using the `*' key.

 These Selected modules can also be saved to PMM.Config (or PMM.Config2) in the
S: directory, for future usage by P-M-M.

 Any module playing (or Cycling) can be stopped and/or started at any time.

 Using the naming convention which is explained later in this Doc file, P-M-M
will change back and forth between players depending on the type of module -
either 4 or 8 track.

 P-M-M also provides, for those that prefer to use them, Hot keys for ALL menu
options, except for the `Extra's' menu.

 P-M-M automatically sets the rom font `Topaz 8' as its own Font (80 column).

 P-M-M then checks the S: directory for a file called `PMM.Config'. If this
is found, P-M-M will then load the defaults in the config. If the config file
wasn't found, then P-M-M will sit there quietly waiting for you to tell it to
do something, via its menus or Hot-keys.

 Once running, you can tell P-M-M to look for a second config file called
`PMM.config2'. Once the config file has been toggled, any saves/loads you do
to the config file, will go to PMM.config2.

                   ---------------------------------

4.   To Run P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Workbench

  Just click on the good old Icon and away you go!

From CLI/Shell

  PMM

P-M-M, as yet, can't detach itself from the CLI or SHELL so you'll have to use
this next method if you still want to keep using the CLI or SHELL.

  RUN PMM  (The CLI window won't close if you use this method, but it)
           (does allow you to continue using it for other stuff.)

or, if you're really into doing everything spot-on, then use

  RUN >nil: <nil: PMM  (will allow the CLI window to be closed, also)
                       (recommended usage for startup-sequence's)

                   ---------------------------------

5.   P-M-M's Config File
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 P-M-M will automatically create the config files used by it'self. Using either
of the SAVE menu option (or both) will cause the creation to happen.

 Run P-M-M and load in your favourite or preferred module. Then select the
menu option `Default Save', to create PMM.Config in the current S: directory.
If you have selected some modules for the 3rd menu, these will have to be
saved using the `Save Menu Modules' option within the last menu. You may be
wondering why I save the menu modules from another menu. This is so that you
can change the default module without having to save any changes you've made
to the menu selection, and visa versa.

 PMM.Config is automatically load (if found) and the default module(s) are then
used. If this file isn't found, then P-M-M will sit there and wait.

 PMM.Config2 is a secondry source of default modules. PMM will NOT load this
file if the first file isn't found.

                   ---------------------------------

6.   P-M-M's Menus
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 P-M-M has four menus, and each menu option has it's own Hot-Key combination,
(except `Extra's' menu) for those of you who prefer to control P-M-M via that
method.
 Each of the options will be marked with `A-' which refers to the right amiga
key followed by the actual key required!

1st Menu - Main Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 1> Load Med Module..  Loads both four and eight track modules.
    Right-Amiga L

 2> Default Load.....  Will load the default module (if specified).
    Right-Amiga D

 3> Default Save.....  Will save the currently playing module's Path and
    Right-Amiga S      filename to a file in the S: dir called PMM.Config

 4> Stop Music.......  Stops the music, without unloading the module.
    Right-Amiga H

 5> Restart Music....  Will continue to play the module you just stoppped
    Right-Amiga R      from the position that you stopped it at.

 6> Leave Music......  Leaves music playing in the background, and quits
    Right-Amiga B      from P-M-M.

 7> About P-M-M......  Gives Version, Revision and completion date of your
    Right-Amiga A      copy of P-M-M.

 8> Quit P-M-M.......  Quits P-M-M and stops the music. Using ESC C will quit
    Right-Amiga Q      from P-M-M instantly without leaving any module playing
                       in the background.

Notes.

 Leaving the music playing in the background, could get a bit boring after a
long stint at the computer. But I must warn you, that trying to stop the music
later is impossible.

 Under the 8 track player, the Amiga screen updating slows down slightly, just
enough to make the mouse pointer look juddery, and opening windows or doing
something else graphical will seem to be in a bit slower. An accelerated or an
`AGA' based amiga will have no problem!

2nd Menu - Extra's Options.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 1> Unload Mod 1st...  Will force P-M-M to stop and unload the current module
                       before loading the next module. Handy for 512k chip
                       ram only systems.

 2> Dormant P-M-M....  This will stop any modules, unload them, and de-allocate
                       any memory used by the player. This is so you should be
                       able to use MED or OctaMED, or some other player. To get
                       out of this, just simple load any module you want.

 3> 2nd PMM.Config...  Forces P-M-M to look for `PMM.Config2' whenever reading
                       or writing to the config file.

 4> Display Paths....  Will cause P-M-M to toggle the inclusion of the
                       directory path in the main program window, when
                       displaying the currently playing module.


Notes.

 All 4 Menu options are toggle options, and will be preceded with a tick when
they are active, and by a blank when not active.

 With Display Paths on, P-M-M will open its window in height (and width if it
is required) to cope with the extra display.

3rd Menu - Selected Modules
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Using `Add New Module' from the fourth menu, you can select upto 10 modules,
which can be placed into this menu. Playing any of the selected modules is as
easy as selecting a menu option. Also, each module is given its own Hot Key,
and using the `*' key, will select the next module in the list. To remove a
module from the menu, all you have to do is to select `Remove Module' and then
at the requester, enter either the number or name of the module you want to
remove. Using `Save Menu Modules' from the fourth menu will save any modules
that you have Pre-selected!

4th Menu - Selection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 1> Add New Module.....  Add a mew module to the 3rd menu, using the requester
    Right-Amiga +        to select the module.

 2> Remove Module......  Remove a module from the 3rd menu, This is done by
    Right-Amiga -        entering the modules corresponding number.

 3> Cycle Modules......  Using a user definable amount of time, this will load
    Right-Amiga *        each module in the 3rd menu, one at a time and play it
                         for the preset amount of time. You can also use this
                         option to redefine the playing time.

 4> Stop Cycle.........  Stops the Cycling routine.
    Right-Amiga /

 5> Set Cycle Timer....  This puts up a requester asking what amount of time,
    Right-Amiga T        in seconds, that you require the module to play before
                         P-M-M loads the next module in the list.
                         2 presets are available, enter the number 1 and you'll
                         get a default of 300 seconds (5 mins), or enter 0 (or
                         just pressing ENTER) to cancel option.

 6> Save Menu Modules..  Save the modules in the `Selected Modules' menu to
    Right-Amiga #        PMM.Config for future use.

Notes

 The mimium amount of seconds available for cycling a module is 60, using any
amount less (other than 1 or 0) will be converted to 60 seconds.

 Whilst Cycling is taking place, you can still choose any module from the
`Selected Modules menu', or even use `*' to force P-M-M to cycle to the next
module in the list, or load another module from disk.

 Using any of P-M-M's options will cause the timer to restart from Zero.

 `*' `-' `+' can all be found using the shift key and the key board, or on the
numeric key pad, found on the right side of all amiga's (except the A600).

                   ---------------------------------

7.   Errors Using P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 P-M-M uses the Intuition function `AUTOREQUEST' to create a series of simple
requesters to inform you of any errors which occur.

 AUTOREQUEST requesters are the ones which ask things, such as

       Please insert Volumn `Whatever:' into any drive

 and give you the options of `Continue' or `Cancel'. YES! thats them, those
things that pop up and tell you that you've got a software error, task held,
please finish all disk activity, and its the software your wanting to save
from, thats just crashed and you can't save nothing.

 The errors which P-M-M displays in its window are as follows:-

 Unable to Load Module:      Either you don't have enough chip memory left to
                            load the module into, or the module was not a Med
                            or OctaMed module. P-M-M does NOT play MED SONGS!

 No Module Selected:         You didn't select a module from the requester or
                            you clicked on `Cancel'.

 Wait : Module being Checked: A twitch in the main window when you add a new
                              module to the selected modules menu. Not a true
                              error at all, just informing you as to whats
                              going on.

 To list all the error text which P-M-M uses the with the AUTOREQUEST function,
would take up masses of room, so i've decided to let you find out for yourself.
They will become self explanatory when you come across them and realise what
thay are saying.

 I've yet to find any errors which the system picks up, and are related to
P-M-M, but i'm sure if you tweek P-M-M enough and keep running through the
menus fast enough, eventually you'll hit the QUIT! option! I haven't come
across anything fatal yet. IE a visit from the guru or a system freeze, when
using P-M-M. Trying to use another player such as Intuitracker (Soundtracker
module player) whilst P-M-M is playing could cause some very funny things to
happen. MED/OctaMED are quiet safe whilst P-M-M is running, because they will
sense that the sound channels are in use and fail to run.

                   ---------------------------------

7.   Files Required By P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 You will need the following libraries to be in your LIBS: directory of the
disk you booted from, (unless you have ASSIGNed LIBS: to another disk) for
P-M-M to work. P-M-M will automatically check for these libraries and tell
you which ones are missing. P-M-M will close down if the Extend.library or
the Asl.Library are missing.

Extend.Library        - Menu Hot Keys

MedPlayer.Library     \__ P-M-M will continue to run if
OctaPlayer.Library    /   only one of these is available.

Asl.Library           - File Requester

There are no other files required, except the MED modules to play.

                   ---------------------------------

8.   Converting Modules for use with P-M-M
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 If you have S'Tracker or N'tracker Modules/Songs or even old Med Songs which
you would like to play using P-M-M, then converting them to Module form is
quite easy to do. (famous last words!)

1.   Load Med or preferably OctaMed.

2.   Load in the required Module or Song.
     (I recommend playing the module first, incase of any damage!)

3.   Make Sure that the path and module name are what you want for the saving
     process.

4    OctaMed Style V3.

   Click on the `MOD0 (old)' option, but not on either `MOD1 (+INSTR)' or
`MOD1 (NO INSTR) options. Click on Save. And hay presto! Finished.

 If you find that OctaMed or even Med won't or can't load in your St/Nt module
or song, don't give up. Find the a copy of St/Nt and load the module or song,
PLAY it to make sure the module isn't damaged. Once you're happy, re-save it
as a module and retry the above method. I personally use SoundTracker V2.5, if
I can't get OctaMed to load the Song/Module.

 If you dont have access to a copy of OctaMed or MED, but the module worked
with MedPlayer, this is because the module you are trying to use is in the old
MED song format, whether or not this is still a module, I dont know, but i do
know that the first 3 bytes of the song read `MED' and for P-M-M to play it,
they must read `MMD'.

Note:

 If you are having any trouble loading or Saving a module, please refer to the
appropriate manual for further intructions.

                   ---------------------------------

9.   Naming Convention
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 With 4 or 8 tracks modules now in use, and me not know which byte(s) within
the module refer to the number of tracks, I've had to introduce a naming method
which enables P-M-M to recognise the difference between the two module types.

 P-M-M uses a prefix on 8 track modules to separate them apart. It looks for
the number `8' as the prefix, so a module that is named -

  8.MyModule

 is used as an 8 track module, and not as a 4 track module. This also has a
second effect of separating the modules when you do a DIR of the directory that
holds them. P-M-M will check for the prefix when loading all modules, and
automatically choose the correct player mode for the module being loaded. If
an 8 track module does not have the `8' prefix, then P-M-M will play it as a
4 track module, which will probably mean the module playing at twice the speed.

                   ---------------------------------

10   Warning About `MMD1' Modules
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 OctaMed Pro introduced a new module type `MMD1', but this type of module is
not correctly surpported by V3 of OctaPlayer.Library or MedPlayer.Library.
 Although I have tried a few of these modules, I haven't found one which
caused P-M-M any problems. But having said that, I cant guarentee that P-M-M
will always behave it'self whilst using this type. If you do have V4 of these
player libraries, no problem, P-M-M will work perfectly well with these
libraries.

                   ---------------------------------

11.  Miscellaneous
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   P-M-M's `Selected Modules' menu has a single key stroke command which will
cause the next module in the menu list, to be loaded and then played, the key
is `*'.

   If you need to close down P-M-M quickly, pressing Ctrl-C (break) whilst
P-M-M is active, will cause it to close down immediately, without leaving the
module playing or putting up the quit requester.

                   ---------------------------------

     Authors Note #1
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 I originally wrote P-M-M for myself, as I can never remember those long and
awkward paths and file names, but when I passed on my first working version to
a friend and he said how good it was, I felt that I had to improve it further.
 It has now got to the stage, that every time I switch on my Amiga, I load up
P-M-M and start playing modules.
 I hope that you enjoy P-M-M as much as I do, and if I'm requested by you
the users of P-M-M, I'll upgrade P-M-M to do a lot more (hopefully).
 Please see the `History.Doc' for the past enhancements and bug removals, I
have made to P-M-M.

     Authors Note #2
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  I'd like to thank John Marchant for all the help he's given me, and for beta
testing (bug finding) P-M-M.
  IF any of you out there has a Soundtracker library (with Docs), I'd love to
have a copy so I could include ST modules into P-M-M's abilities.
  If you would like something extra added to P-M-M, let me know and i'll see
what i can do.

                                       P-M-M  © 92,93 - Anthony Keeley