MORE WinGames/WINGAMES.iso/weyes/weyes21.txt

Text File | 1992-10-09 | 14KB | 292 lines

WEYES21.DOC

wEyes -- What is it?

    "wEyes" is a Windows program that, although originally
designed purely for amusement, might actually be of use to some
computer users.  Inspired by the famous "xEyes" program run on
many UNIX-based xWindows systems, this program draws two eyes
in a window; the eyes then track the movement of the mouse.

    I gave the original version of this program (archived
in "weyes.zip") to a friend of mine who owns a notebook-size
computer with an LCD screen.  It seems that whenever he ran
Microsoft Windows, he had problems keeping track of the
location of his mouse pointer -- LCDs are notoriously slow,
and if he happened to move the mouse suddenly, he would have
to scan the entire LCD screen just to locate the pointer.
wEyes helped.

    Since he seemed to benefit, I decided to upload the
program to Compuserve and some other BBSs, to see if anyone
else enjoyed it.  To my surprise, that first version was much
more popular than I ever thought it would be.  Unfortunately,
though, I had never put the original version through any kind
of quality-control test.  In short, the program was less than
flawless.

    Enter wEyes v. 1.1.  That version possessed substantial
enhancements over the original version, including custom
colorization, elimination of minor bugs, and an all-around
better interface.

    But a few months after I released version 1.1,
Microsoft came out with Windows 3.1.  This bittersweet event
had two major ramifications for me.  First, Win 3.1 revealed a
hidden bug in wEyes v. 1.1.  It seemed that, whenever the
Mission Control dialog box was invoked, some of the text within
the 3-D area retained a white background, rather than the light
gray background that I intended.  Second, Win 3.1 provided a
new capability for its windows:  the so-called "topmost"
feature.  This feature allows a window to be visible at all
times -- even when "covered" by another window.

    So I rewrote wEyes yet again.  This latest version,
version 2.0, fixes the aforementioned bug and takes advantage
of Win 3.1's "topmost" feature.  In addition, users now have
the ability to change the main window's background color.
wEyes 2.1 is a further refinement that takes care of a minor
bug (see "wEyes 2.1 Enhancements, below).

    Basically, writing the program was a light exercise
in trigonometry.  The program checks the position of the mouse
pointer on a regular basis, and using slopes, arctangents, sines,
and cosines, determines where the "pupils" of the eyes --
which are independent of each other -- should be.


wEyes 2.1 Enhancements

    - Bugs:  Okay, my fascination with Win 3.1 made me lose
sight of you 3.0 users.  If you pressed the "OK" button in the
wEyes Mission Control dialog box, the program crashed in 3.0.
Sorry -- but I had to find this bug on my own!  This is why I
encourage folks to write me and let me know about such problems!

wEyes 2.0 Enhancements

    - "Topmost" capabilities:  When the "wEyes Mission
Control" dialog box is invoked, one of the controls in the
dialog is a check box labeled "wEyes always on top."  If you
are running Win 3.1 and you wish to make wEyes visible at all
times, click the mouse on this check box.  If you are running
Win 3.0, the check box will be disabled and will appear grayed.

    - Background color:  Now, in addition to adjusting the
color of wEyes's pupils and outer rims, you can adjust the
background color as well.  (Neophytes:  see "wEyes 1.1
Enhancements - Colors" below for more information.)

    - Bugs:  Hard to believe, but wEyes 1.1 had a hidden
bug that was not visible in Win 3.0.  Some of the text in the
"Mission Control" dialog box appeared on a white background,
rather than on a light gray one.  Hence, these little text
items stuck out like the proverbial irritated digits.  The
problem has been rectified in wEyes v. 2.0.

    - Odds & ends:  I don't know if anyone will notice, but
I made some slight changes to the algorithm used in updating
the positions of wEyes's pupils.  It should make pupil movement
a little faster -- though perhaps the difference is
imperceptible.


wEyes 1.1 Enhancements

    - Interface:  As of v. 1.1, wEyes sports two dialog
boxes.  The first is the traditional "About" dialog box,
which displays version and other basic information.  The
second is the "wEyes Mission Control" dialog box, explained
in more detail below.  This dialog box gives the user control
over colors and "pupil update rates." In addition to being
functional, these dialog boxes have a rather slick three-
dimensional look.  No, I'm not bragging -- the 3-D effect is
due in large part to a dynamic-link library that I've
incorporated into the program.  The file is "three_d.dll,"
and it was written by a guy named Ray Donahue.  (If you are a
programmer and like the look and feel of wEyes's dialog boxes,
you have my recommendation to license Donahue's libraries.
They are flexible and incredibly easy to implement.  Ray can
be reached at the following address:  Ray Donahue, 365 Mather
Street Unit 125, Hamden, CT 06514; or on Compuserve: 70324,1204.
I downloaded the DLL from the WINADV forum, on Compuserve.)
The only hitch here is that wEyes will only support VGA and
EGA monitors -- as for other monitors, I cannot guarantee
compatibility.

    - Colors:  wEyes now allows the user to define which
colors he or she wants for the "rims" and "pupils" of the
window's eyes.  To define customized colors, activate the
"Mission Control" dialog box.  This is accomplished by
clicking wEyes's control box (the little box in the top
left-hand corner of the window).  The control menu will appear.
At the very bottom, you will notice two items: "About wEyes..."
and "wEyes Mission Control...."  Click once on "Mission
Control."  The Mission Control dialog box will appear.
    Next, find the two group boxes named "Outer rim color"
and "Pupil color," respectively.  Each box contains three
horizontal scrollbars.  Each scrollbar controls the intensity
of either the red, green, or blue color elements of your
screen.  Move the scrollbars, and the color appearing in the
window beside the controls will change to reflect your
handiwork.  When satisfied, press the "OK" button.  If you
just can't get it right, that's alright -- just press the
Cancel button and your wEyes will not have changed.
    Some of you probably own a notebook or laptop with a
monochrome LCD screen.  This does NOT mean that you can't take
advantage of the coloring capabilities included in this
version.  As you probably know, different people prefer
different intensity settings when using LCD screens:  some
prefer that the screen look darker, while others can only work
with a lighter-shaded screen.  To the extent that your tastes
differ from the next guy's, the red-and-black default colors
may be difficult to see on your LCD screen.  If so, the Mission
Control color features can help.

    - Timer interval:  wEyes checks the position of the
mouse pointer at a predetermined time interval, and then
readjusts the position of the pupils accordingly.  In the
original version of wEyes, this "pupil update rate" was 100
milliseconds by default.  That parameter could be changed,
however, by including a command-line parameter.  The Mission
Control dialog box has eliminated the need for such a
mechanism.  The interval can now be adjusted in much the same
way as the colors of the eyes.  When the scrollbar in the
"Timer interval" group box is adjusted, the number appearing
in the edit box to the right of the scrollbar will be
similarly adjusted.  If you want to enter a particular number
in the edit box, however, you need not use the scrollbar --
just click your mouse on the edit box (or "tab over"), and
type in the desired number.
    If you are running a number of large applications
concurrently, you may want to slow the timer down a bit, so as
not to burden the other programs.  On the other hand, unless
you have a very fast machine, intervals of less than 50
milliseconds will probably not produce any additional speed
benefits; there will always be some lower limit for a given
machine.

    - Initialization file:  The first time that you close
wEyes (or end a Windows session without closing wEyes first),
the program will create an initialization file in your WINDOWS
directory.  The file is called, appropriately enough,
"weyes.ini."  The next time that you run wEyes, the program
will "remember" the colors that you last specified, and will
automatically use them in your current session.  In addition,
unlike the original version, wEyes will store the window's
size and position.  So rather than having to move and stretch
the window every time you start wEyes, the window will
automatically pop up exactly where you want it.

    - Minimization:  As with the original version of
wEyes, wEyes v. 1.1 still works when minimized.  So if you
need room on your display, wEyes won't take up any more room
than, say, the Windows Clock program.

    - Bugs:  Fallible?  Me?  I encountered one minor,
although annoying, bug in the original version of wEyes.  It
seems that, if I stretched the window far enough across the
screen, I would get an unrecoverable application error.  That
problem has since been put to bed.
    Also, the original version had no mechanism for
aborting the program in the unlikely event that a timer could
not be created.  Should Windows already have the maximum
number of timers running, wEyes v. 1.1 will not run, but will
display a message informing the user of the problem. This
version appears to work pretty well.  Nonetheless, because I'm
not charging money for this program, it's difficult to justify
putting hours and hours into crash-testing the thing.  Thus,
I'm relying on user input.  If you find any bugs in this
version of wEyes, please drop me a line at the address below.
Or you can send me e-mail at Compuserve.  My address there is
70724,3347 (InterNet: "[e-mail]").


DISCLAIMER

    No copyright is claimed in "weyes.exe," "weyes.ini,"
"weyes2.doc," "weyes2.wri," or "weyes2.txt" (collectively, the
"Software") by its author, Rob Carty ("Author").  No rights
related to the Software are granted by Author.  The user
agrees to use the Software at his or her own risk, and agrees
not to hold Author liable for any damages, direct, indirect,
consequential, incidental or otherwise, in tort, in contract,
or upon any other theory of law or equity, regardless of
whether such damages are caused by Author's own negligence or
gross negligence.

       The file named "three_d.dll" is copyrighted
intellectual property, distributed under license.  The user,
however, need not pay royalties for copying or using that file
in conjunction with the Software, pursuant to the license
granted Author.


Loading instructions:

    To load wEyes onto your Windows system, first copy
"weyes.exe," "weyes.txt," and "three_d.dll" to the directory
of your choice.  Next, enter Windows's Program Manager and
select a program group.  Then select "File," "New," "Program
Item" from the menu bar (in that order).  In the "Command
Line" edit box, type: "<Drive>:\<Pathname>\WEYES.EXE", where
<Drive> and <Pathname> are the drive and directory into which
you have installed the above program files.  Choose "OK."
When you want to invoke the program, simply double-click the
wEyes icon.

    To auto-load the program upon starting a Windows
session, do the following:

    Win 3.1

    Install wEyes in the "Startup" program group.  To run
the program as an icon, check the "Run Minimized" check box.

    Win 3.0

    Open your "win.ini" file (located in your WINDOWS
directory) by using the Windows Notepad program.  Find the
line labeled "[windows]"; then look for the "load=" statement.
Beside that statement, type "<Drive>:\<Pathname>\WEYES.EXE",
again where <Drive> and <Pathname> are the drive and directory
into which you have installed the program files.  The next time
that you invoke windows, wEyes will appear as a minimized
window at the bottom of your screen.  To run wEyes as a
regular (non-minimized) window, perform these same steps,
except rather than looking for the "load=" statement, look
for the "run=" statement.


This program is written mostly for fun.  If you do enjoy it
and would like to find out about other products and services
provided by OutLook/PC Business System Design, drop us a line
at:

OutLook/PC Business System Design
ATTN: M. Bradley, MSSI
P.O. Box 684255
Austin, TX  78768-4255

Compuserve:  70724,3347

We usually specialize in more serious undertakings,
specifically management information systems.  Even more
specifically, we are seeking out small- to mid-sized law firms
in South and Central Texas that require information systems
and solutions (I have a J. D. -- University of Texas School of
Law, Class of 1991).  If you fit the above description (or if
you know anyone who does), please let us know.  We specialize
in building open, flexible information systems, and we can do
it quickly and cheaply.  And when we're done, our clients do
not become our slaves.

Thanks.

-- Rob Carty, President
   9 October 1992



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