GFX Sensations 1

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ GFX Sensations 1 / Graphic Sensations - Volume 1.iso / tools / amiga / gfx_card / reyes2.lha / REyes / reyes.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-07-13 | 13.1 KB | 334 lines

REyes Manual ------------ NAME ---- SYS:WBStartup/REyes SYNOPSIS -------- REyes CX_POPKEY=<HotKey> CX_POPUP=<YES | NO> BLANKKEY=<HotKey> TIMEOUT=<1 - 3600> CLIENTTIMEOUT=<1 - 60> DISPLAY=<Display Type> EYES=<1 - 10> %CHANCE=<1 - 100> SPEED=<1 - 10> This software is FREEWARE. It may be freely distributed for non-commercial use. All rights are reserved by the author. DESCRIPTION ----------- REyes is a screen blanker with two levels of protection, the first of which is an animation of a collection of floating eyes. If the CPU is to busy, REyes will disable the screen altogether, preventing the animation from burning into the screen. REQUIREMENTS ------------ AmigaDOS 2.04 or better and a Retina graphics card. Version 2.2 or later of the Retina software. It should work under version 1.4 or later, but this has not been tested. PURPOSE ------- REyes is a screenblanker. The animation during blanking phase is loosely based upon the Retina card logo, but mostly on my (slightly) twisted imagination. A screen blanker's goal is to blank (disable) the screen output in order to prevent burning images into the monitor's phosphor, but just to disabling the screen is boring. Instead, REyes displays a configurable number of floating eyeballs to amuse you and to remind you that the computer is still running. STARTING -------- REyes is a Commodity, so it only runs under WB 2.04 and higher. Just drop it in your WBStartup drawer so that it will load automatically upon boot-up. Just copy REyes and REyes.info to SYS:WBStartup (or drag its icon to the WBStartup drawer). It also requires the Retina hardware and will not run if you don't have it. To start REyes without rebooting, just double-click on its icon. If the Tool Types haven't been changed, a window will be displayed. This is the "option panel" of REyes. To see it blank the screen, click on the "Blank" button. To remove the option panel, click on the "Hide" button. You can also start REyes from the CLI, just use the form: RUN >NIL: <NIL: REyes {arguments} The arguments for CLI-Start are exactly the same as the ToolTypes, (See below) ARGUMENTS --------- REyes supports the standard Tool Type entries for commodities. To set them, click on the REyes icon and select "Information" from the Icons menu. (Please refer to your AmigaDOS Manual for more information on commodities and Tool Types.) SUPPORTED TOOL TYPES: --------------------- DONOTWAIT When started from WBStartup, this lets WB know that it shouldn't wait for REyes to finish. This tool type should >always< be present. STARTPRI=<n> This sets REyes' priority to "n". "n" should be a number between -120 and 120. When started from WBStartup, this value determines REyes priority in the commodities list. It should be a negative number (i.e., low priority) so that all other commodities have a chance to modify the input stream before REyes sees it. CX_POPKEY=<HotKey> This sets the key sequence that will open REyes' option panel. Please see below for HotKey definitions. Defaults to "shift alt s". CX_POPUP=<YES | NO> If this is set to "NO" REyes will start silently. If it is set to anything else, REyes will open its option panel when it starts. BLANKKEY=<HotKey> This defines the key sequence that will instantly blank the screen. Please see below for HotKey definitions. The default blanking key is "lamiga s". TIMEOUT=<1 - 3600> This sets the amount of time over which no input events may occur in order for the screen to blank. CLIENTTIMEOUT=<1 - 6> This sets the maximum time REyes will try to draw the animation. If REyes can't update the animation at least this often, it will disable the screen. This keeps the eyes from burning into the monitor, but it also keeps REyes from wasting CPU time when another program needs it. EYES=<1 - 10> The number of Eyes to float around. SPEED=<1-10> The speed (10 is fastest) of the eyes' movement. %CHANCE=<1-100> The chance that a given eye ball will start animating at any given moment. I.E., %CHANCE=1 means the eyes will change only occasionally, %CHANCE=100 means they will do it constantly. NOTE: ToolTypes are case-sensitive, so make sure your capitalization matches that shown above. DEFAULT TOOL TYPES ------------------ When installed, REyes has the following Tool Types: DONOTWAIT # Tell WB to not wait for REyes to finish. CX_POPUP=YES # Display the window when starting STARTPRI=-120 # Sets a low CX priority for starting HOT KEYS -------- Refer to your AmigaDOS Manual ("The Extras Programs/The Commodities Drawer") to get a valid list of the available hot keys, the following may be obsolete with a new Commodities.library version: SYNOPSIS: [<qualifier> [<qualifier>...]] <key> Qualifier keywords (Press and hold one or more qualifier) alt either Alt key ralt right Alt key lalt left Alt key shift either Shift key rshift right Shift key lshift left Shift key capslock Caps Lock key rcommand right Amiga key lcommand left Amiga key control Control key numericpad Enables the use of a key on the numeric keypad rbutton Click (and hold) the right mouse button midbutton Click (and hold) the middle mouse button (only avail for mice with three buttons.) leftbutton Click (and hold) the left mouse button newprefs Preferences changed diskremoved Disk removed diskinserted Disk inserted Keys (to be pressed and released, only ONE Key can be chosen) a..z, 0..9, etc. Normal keys f1 .. f10 Function keys up down left right Cursor keys help Help key del Delete key return Return key enter Enter key (MUST be combined with 'numericpad'!) backspace Backspace key esc Escape key space Space key comma Comma key upstroke Upstroke key Examples: lalt ralt enter ramiga f10 alt x lalt numericpad enter NOTE: Choose your hotkeys carefully. Commodities can change the way standard keys operate, and if you assign "a" to blank the screen, then the screen will blank every time you push it - even when you're trying to type. If you try to use an illegal hot key combination, REyes will not start, but will display an error message, instead. Some examples of illegal hot keys are: lalt a b # Two keys specified leftbutton # No key specified control lcommand rcommand # Reboots the system (oops!) EDIT WINDOW ----------- Some REyes settings can be changed while REyes is executing. To change the settings, open the REyes option window by pressing the CX_POPKEY sequence you defined. Changes made in the option window will not be saved. When the option panel opens, you will see some gadgets and a scrollable list of display modes. TIMER: The value for the timeout of the blanker. After this time (in seconds) the blanker will display the eyes. TIMER may have a value between between 1 and 3600. CLIENT TIMEOUT: The time REyes gives the animation routines to update the screen. If the animation routines exceed this limit, the screen will be blacked out to prevent burn-ins. %CHANCE: The chance the eye balls will animate at any given moment. SPEED: The maximum pixels per frame the eyes will move. EYES: The number of floating eyes. HIDE: (click or press 'h') Closes the option window, without stopping REyes. BLANK: (click or press 'b') Immediately blanks the screen. QUIT: (click or press 'q') Quit. COMMODITIES EXCHANGE -------------------- With the Exchange tool, you can temporarly disable or permanently kill REyes and other commodities. Please refer to the AmigaDOS Manual (Section AmigaDOS Reference and Workbench Programs) for further information on Exchange. SMALL EYES ---------- REyes weighs in at about 64k. If you feel that's to fat for a screen blanker, or if you just get tired of the animations, SmallEyes is the same program but without the animation frames. SmallEyes is only about 18k, and is exactly the same as REyes - it just doesn't animate the eyes. COMMON PROBLEMS --------------- 1) You are running a C-Compiler or a raytracer. REyes blanks but doesn't show the eyes, or the eyes only appear erraticly. If the CPU usage is high, REyes will simply blank the screen. This keeps REyes from degrading the speed of other processes, and it prevents the eyes from burning the monitor by getting stuck in one place too long. Another time this can occur is when you're using all the Retina's video memory for other screens. If this happens, REyes will first try to open a low resolution screen instead of the normal high res one. If >that< fails, REyes will resort to simply blanking the screen. 2) REyes blanks the screen, but the eyes are all lo-res and chunky looking. (whine whine) See the previous note. If REyes can't open a high res screen, it tries to open a low-res one. If that fails, it just blacks out the screen. 3) When a disk is inserted, REyes "unblanks". This is normal. Disk-replacement is detected as an input event. As all input events disable the blanker, this one does as well. 4) REyes displays the window though the Tool Type CX_POPUP is set to 'NO'. This happens when REyes is started but another copy is already running. CREDITS ------- Much of the code style and technique of this blanker was inspired by the PD blanker ASwarmIII by Jake Rose. He did a good job showing me how it's done. HISTORY ------- 1.3: Rebuilt under SAS 6.51. Also, fixed a glitch in the building of the NewBroker structure, which caused an enforcer hit inside the commodities library. AUTHOR ------ Michael Heinz William Henry Apts, #OAK-123 Malvern, PA 19355 (610)-651-5361