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- " ShowMe Saver "
- Ver. 3.90
- (c) Copyright 1992-93 Harold Schwartz
-
-
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
-
- Harold Schwartz
- P.O. Box 104482
- Jefferson City, MO 65110
-
-
- Welcome to ShowMe Saver!!!
-
-
- ShowMe Saver is a screen saver, but with a difference... ShowMe Saver is
- a 'message' screen saver. ShowMe Saver protects your monitor from 'burn-in'
- and 'ghosting' damage caused by displaying the same screen image when your
- computer is left unattended for long periods of time. It displays a
- randomly changing graphic image while showing a message of your choice.
- ShowMe Saver accomplishes this by watching for periods of keyboard and/or
- mouse inactivity. If ShowMe Saver detects no keyboard and/or mouse activity
- for a period of time which you select, it 'pops up', at random, one of sixty
- graphic image modules, each of which incorporates your message. Then, while
- a graphic saver image is popped up, ShowMe Saver again watches for keyboard
- and/or mouse activity. If it detects a single keystroke or mouse button
- press, ShowMe Saver will pop down.
-
- ShowMe Saver is a DOS screen saver. It is NOT a Windows screen saver.
- ShowMe Saver will not pop up over a graphics application. Since Windows is
- a graphics application, ShowMe Saver disables itself and will not pop up
- while Windows is running. ShowMe Saver WILL pop up over nearly any DOS text
- application. When ShowMe Saver pops up over a text-based application, it
- 'saves' the application it popped up over, then 'restores' the application
- when it pops down. ShowMe Saver is designed to pop up over any of the
- standard text-based programs that use the standard text modes 80 x 25,
- 80 x 43, 80 x 50.
-
- The following sections will explain more of the details about how ShowMe
- Saver works and how to run ShowMe Saver on your system.
-
-
- --What is included in the ShowMe Saver package?...
-
- The ShowMe Saver package consists of seven files:
-
- SHOMESAV.EXE
- README.DOC
- REGSHOME.DOC
- SHOWCFIG.EXE
- README.1ST
- INSTALL.EXE
- SITEREG.DOC
-
- SHOMESAV.EXE is the executable file which you run to install
- ShowMe Saver, README.DOC is the documentation file you are
-
-
-
-
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-
- Page 2
-
-
- reading now, and SHOWCFIG.EXE is a configuration utility that
- allows the user to change the default password, the default
- message, as well as the hot key for the pop up configuration
- window and the hot key for forcing immediate pop up of the
- saver. ShowMe Saver is completely selfcontained. The only
- file required to install ShowMe Saver is SHOMESAV.EXE. The
- README.DOC file contains the necessary instructions for config-
- uring ShowMe Saver to fit your needs. README.1ST contains
- instructions on the options for installing ShowMe Saver and
- INSTALL.EXE is the installation utility provided to make it
- easier to get ShowMe Saver up and running on your computer.
- REGSHOME.DOC is the registration form and SITEREG.DOC is the
- site registration form.
-
-
- --Is "ShowMe Saver" ***FREE*** software?...
-
- The bad news is, "ShowMe Saver" is NOT ***FREE***.
- The good news is, "ShowMe Saver" is NOT ***EXPENSIVE***.
- The development of software is a very time-consuming process.
- I have spent many, many hours developing "ShowMe Saver". I
- am releasing "ShowMe Saver" in the ShareWare market for a
- very moderate price. As ShareWare software, you are
- entitled to try "ShowMe Saver" for two weeks to see if you
- like it. If you decide to keep "ShowMe Saver" you must
- pay for it. The price is $10.00 U.S (all payments in US funds
- only). NO SHIPPING, NO HANDLING, just $10.00. Included in
- the price is the latest version of "ShowMe Saver". The version
- that you receive will NOT have the ShareWare screens which you
- encounter when loading or using the pop-up window in the Share-
- Ware version. Once you have received the latest version, you
- will be entitled to any updates at a reduced rate, typically
- one-half the 'new' price. Included in this package is a regis-
- tration form called REGSHOME.DOC. Print this form and send it
- with your registration fee to the address indicated on the
- registration form or shown at the beginning of this documen-
- tation.
-
-
- --What kind of system must I have to run ShowMe Saver?...
-
- ShowMe Saver requires an IBM PC/XT/AT/Portable or IBM "compat-
- ible" computer running MS-DOS or PC-DOS with 440K available
- memory. ShowMe Saver requires an EGA, VGA, or better monitor
- and a color video card that supports graphics. Since ShowMe
- Saver uses page swapping routines in some of its saver modules,
- your system must be capable of multiple page swaps. This gener-
- ally limits you to EGA or better video modes. ShowMe Saver is a
- swapping TSR and therefore, will run best on systems with EMS
- (expanded) or XMS (extended) memory. However, EMS or XMS are not
- a requirement since ShowMe Saver is capable of swapping to a hard
- drive or floppy diskette (more about the swapping feature later).
- Version 3.01 and later also support mouse selection in the pop up
- configuration window.
-
-
-
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- Page 3
-
-
- --How do I install ShowMe Saver?...
-
- ShowMe Saver can be run from your hard drive or from a floppy
- diskette. The best choice is to run ShowMe Saver from a hard
- drive. If you do not have a hard drive, ShowMe Saver may be run
- from a floppy drive, however, performance will suffer consider-
- ably. In either case, you have a couple of options to install
- ShowMe Saver.
-
- The first and best option is to run the provided utility,
- INSTALL.EXE. INSTALL automates the installation process and
- guides you through the steps to successfully get ShowMe Saver up
- and running on your system. To run the installation program,
- simply make the drive that contains your source diskette the
- current drive. For instance, if you are installing from the 'A'
- drive, type A: and press <Enter>. At the 'A' prompt just type
- <Install>, press <Enter>, and follow the on-screen instructions.
- ShowMe Saver requires about 600K of hard disk space to install all
- of its files. If you do not have at least this much free hard
- disk space, ShowMe Saver will not install.
-
- NOTE: Remember to make a backup copy of the ShowMe Saver diskette
- and put the original away in a safe place.
-
- Another option is to manually copy SHOMESAV.EXE to a directory on
- the drive from which you plan to run the program. The following
- instructions assume that you have a hard drive and that you are
- running ShowMe Saver from a directory called SHOW. If this is not
- the case, you must alter the instructions accordingly. For
- example,
-
- COPY A:\SHOMESAV.EXE C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE
-
- will copy SHOMESAV.EXE to the SHOW subdirectory on your 'C'
- drive.
-
- There are two ways to run ShowMe Saver once installed. The first
- method (and the best method) is to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to
- install ShowMe Saver to memory each time you turn on your computer.
- (This can be done for you automatically if you install using the
- INSTALL.EXE utility.) To use this option you must add the line
-
- C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE [options]
-
- to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (I'll explain the [options] part later).
- ShowMe Saver can usually tell if it is being run on a system that
- is also running other TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) programs (for
- instance, SideKick) and will install itself accordingly. There
- may be cases where ShowMe Saver detects a problem when installing
- with other TSR's and will give an appropriate error message. In
- these cases, ShowMe Saver may refuse to install itself into memory.
- If this happens, you can try changing the location of the line
- in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is loading ShowMe Saver. In cases
- where ShowMe Saver refuses to pop up, this may also correct the
- problem.
-
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- Page 4
-
-
- The second method (not the best method) is to run ShowMe Saver from
- the DOS prompt. When using this option, you must manually load
- ShowMe Saver each time you start your computer. For example, type
-
- C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE [options]
-
- and press <Enter>.
-
-
- --How much memory does ShowMe Saver use?...
-
- ShowMe Saver is a TSR, but don't be misled by the size of
- SHOMESAV.EXE. ShowMe Saver will swap most of itself out of mem-
- ory until it is called to pop up by keyboard or mouse inactivity.
- Once resident, ShowMe Saver leaves only a small kernel of about 8K
- in memory; the rest of the resident portion is optionally swapped
- to EMS (expanded) memory, XMS (extended) memory or to disk. If
- ShowMe Saver finds EMS memory on your system, it will swap all but
- the resident kernel to this memory. If ShowMe Saver finds XMS
- memory on your system, it will use the XMS memory for the swap
- location. If your system has both EMS and XMS memory available,
- ShowMe Saver will first try to swap to the EMS memory. If there
- isn't enough EMS memory available, ShowMe Saver will then try to
- swap to the XMS memory. If there is no EMS or XMS memory available
- in sufficient quantity, ShowMe Saver will swap itself to disk. A
- file will be created on your 'C' drive to hold the non-resident por-
- tion of ShowMe Saver until it is time to pop up. This file is
- hidden and will be named SHOMESV1.$$$. It should not be deleted if
- ShowMe Saver is running on your system. The 'swap' files also have
- the system attribute set to avert accidental deletion while ShowMe
- Saver is running. When installing and when popping up, ShowMe Saver
- requires about 440K free conventional DOS memory. If you have at
- least this much free memory when you install ShowMe Saver you should
- encounter no problems when popping up.
-
- In addition, when ShowMe Saver pops up it will swap the session it
- is popping up over to either EMS memory, XMS memory, or to a file
- on your 'C' drive named SHOMESV2.$$$. In the section showing
- command line options, I will explain how to force ShowMe Saver to
- swap to disk, even though your system has EMS memory and/or XMS
- memory. Note, however, that best performance will be obtained by
- a swap to EMS memory or XMS memory and is the best option, if
- available.
-
- NOTE: If your machine has extended memory and you want ShowMe
- Saver to use it for the swap location, you must have the DOS
- extended memory manager, HIMEM.SYS, installed unless you are
- running a third party memory manager, such as QEMM. HIMEM.SYS is
- installed by adding a line to your CONFIG.SYS file. See your DOS
- manual for instructions on adding this line. ShowMe Saver pops up
- and down much more quickly if it has EMS (expanded) or XMS (exten-
- ded) memory available.
-
- The easiest way to remove these temporary swap files from your
- system is to unload ShowMe Saver with the /U command-line option.
-
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- Page 5
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-
- When ShowMe Saver is unloaded this way, it "cleans up" after it-
- self by deleting the temporary swap files.
-
-
- --What is the password utility included in ShowMe Saver?...
-
- There may be times that you do not want unauthorized personnel
- tampering with your computer while you are away from your desk
- or workstation. Your machine can be 'locked' by ShowMe Saver.
- If you enable the password option, a saver module cannot be
- popped down unless you enter the password. When a key is
- pressed or the mouse is pressed, a small prompt appears and
- asks for the password. If you enter the correct password, the
- saver will pop down normally. However, if you cannot give the
- correct password, the saver module will immediately pop up again
- so that the system cannot be accessed.
-
- The password option can be configured in two ways. The password
- can be enabled by the inclusion of command line switches. In
- addition, you may enable and/or disable, as well as change the
- password itself, via the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. These
- methods for configuring the password option are outlined in the
- appropriate sections below.
-
- NOTE -- ShowMe Saver starts initially with a default password of
- 102582. If you change the password in the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up
- window, the new password will only be in effect as long as ShowMe
- Saver remains in memory. When you reload ShowMe Saver the pass-
- word will revert to the default. Included in the ShowMe Saver
- package is a configuration utility called SHOWCFIG.EXE which
- allows you to change the default password. SHOWCFIG.EXE must be
- run from the sub-directory where SHOMESAV.EXE is located. A new
- default password of up to 8 characters may be entered in this
- manner. It is best to store the configuration utility in a safe
- place along with your backup copy of ShowMe Saver. If the SHOW-
- CFIG.EXE file is left in the location from which ShowMe Saver is
- started, there is a possibility that unauthorized personnel could
- tamper with the default password.
-
- If you enter a new password in the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window,
- the new password is IN ADDITION to the default password. In
- other words, when a keystroke or mouse activity tries to pop down
- the saver module that is running, you have a choice of which
- password to enter. If you have entered a new password in the
- Ctrl + Alt + M window, that new password AS WELL AS the default
- password will allow you to pop the saver down. The reason for
- allowing this option is so that unauthorized personnel cannot
- use the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window to lock you out of your own
- system.
-
- A note of caution is in order:
-
- If you use the password option, DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD,
- especially if you are starting ShowMe Saver from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
- file with the immediate popup feature enabled. Should you forget
-
-
-
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- Page 6
-
-
- your password, you must have a bootable floppy diskette available
- in order to regain control of your own system.
-
-
- --Will ShowMe Saver interfere with communication activity?
-
- No. Beginning with version 3.81 of ShowMe Saver, when you are
- active in a communication program, ShowMe Saver will "see" that
- activity and will not pop up. This means that if you are using
- a communication program to do a file transfer, ShowMe Saver will
- "know" this and will not pop up and corrupt the transfer. Also,
- if you are in a communication program, as long as you are active,
- i.e., using the keyboard or mouse, ShowMe Saver will not pop up.
- If you become inactive, i.e., you leave your machine while a file
- transfer is occuring, as soon as the transfer is complete, ShowMe
- Saver will be able to pop up if you do not become active again.
-
-
- --What are the command line options for running ShowMe Saver?...
-
- Typing SHOMESAV /? or SHOMESAV -? at the DOS prompt will display
- a help screen showing the various command line options available
- when starting ShowMe Saver. The options are as follows:
-
-
-
- /Bx slows the display of modules (1 = min.(default) 250 = max.)
- /D specifies to load saver in 'disabled' status
- /E indicates not to use EMS (expanded) memory
- /F indicates not to use XMS (extended) memory
- /Ix causes immediate popup in x secs. with default password
- /L indicates to enable default password
- /Mtext specifies text for screen saver message
- /N indicates not to use swapping
- /O causes saver modules to pop up in order
- /Ppathname specifies pathname to use for swapping
- /Rx causes saver to cycle 'x' times thru each module
- /Scodes specifies saver modules to enable (A - Z,[,\,],^,_,`,a - z,{,|)
- /Ttime specifies time to pop up saver (1 to 60 min.)
- /U removes ShowMe Saver from memory
- /X specifies to use XMS (extended) memory first if avail.
- /? displays this help screen
-
- The proper use of these command line options is:
-
- SHOMESAV /x
-
- where "x" represents one of the characters shown on the help
- screen. Note that /x or -x are both acceptable.
-
- NOTE: If multiple options are included on the command line, you
- must separate each option with a space.
-
-
-
-
-
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- Page 7
-
-
- A description of each follows:
-
-
- /Bx -- On some computers, especially newer, higher
- speed machines, some of the graphic modules may
- run to quickly. This option can be used to
- slow them down a bit. It can only be entered
- as a command-line option be entered as a
- command-line option when starting ShowMe Saver.
- The effect of the option is to slow things down
- somewhat in some of the modules. A value of 1
- (which is the default value) has little effect
- and a value of 250 has the maximum effect. If
- some of the modules seem to run too fast to
- suit your taste, you can experiment with various
- values to find one that works best on your
- system.
-
- /D -- Use this option if you want ShowMe Saver to start
- in the 'disabled' mode. If started with this
- command line switch, you must manually enable
- ShowMe Saver with the shift-shift hot key or in
- the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window.
-
- /E -- This option will tell ShowMe Saver not to use EMS
- memory when it installs. This forces ShowMe Saver
- to swap to XMS memory or to disk. If the /E
- as well as the /F options are included on the
- command line, ShowMe Saver will be forced to swap
- to disk. (See note above about configuring
- XMS memory)
-
- /F -- This option will tell ShowMe Saver not to use XMS
- memory when it installs. This forces ShowMe Saver
- to swap to EMS memory or to disk. By including
- this option as well as the /E option, you may
- force a swap to disk.
-
- /Ix -- This option will cause ShowMe Saver to pop up
- immediately (in 'x' seconds) after loading,
- using the default password. Use of this option
- will allow you to run ShowMe Saver from your
- AUTOEXEC.BAT file with an immediate popup. This
- enables you to protect your system from tampering
- by unauthorized personnel. In order to use this
- option, you should set 'x' to a relatively low
- number of seconds so that ShowMe Saver pops up
- immediately after the machine has completed its
- boot sequence. In order to use this option pro-
- perly you must time your boot sequence and insure
- that the number of seconds that you specify in the
- /I option is somewhat GREATER than the maximum time
- your machine takes to boot up. This is to keep
- ShowMe Saver from trying to pop up before the boot
- sequence is complete.
-
-
-
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-
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- Page 8
-
-
- WARNING -- If you use this option, be certain that
- you do not forget the default password. If you
- forget the default password, you will lock yourself
- out of your own system. You should use this option
- ONLY if you are CERTAIN that you have a bootable
- floppy diskette stored in a safe place. Do NOT use
- this option if you are running ShowMe Saver from
- a floppy diskette.
-
- /L -- Inclusion of this option causes ShowMe Saver to pop up
- with the default password enabled. The time to pop
- up will be 5 minutes unless you also include the /T
- option, in which case the time to pop up will be the
- time you specify with the /T option.
-
- /Mtext -- ShowMe Saver defaults to a saver message of 'SHOWME
- SAVER' unless a different message is given as a
- command line option, as in
-
- SHOMESAV /MJake
-
- in which case the message displayed would be
- 'Jake'. A maximum length of twelve characters
- is allowed and any longer message will be
- truncated. Messages entered from the command
- line may contain up to four spaces. (HINT: If
- you prefer that no message be displayed, enter
- /m with no message as a command line option.)
- The SHOWCFIG.EXE utility may be used to change
- the default message as explained below.
-
- /N -- ShowMe Saver will first try to use EMS memory for
- swapping. If EMS memory is not available on the
- system, ShowMe Saver will try to swap to XMS mem-
- ory (see note above). If XMS memory is not avail-
- able, ShowMe Saver will then swap to disk. In the
- event that you do not want ShowMe Saver to swap to
- EMS, XMS, or to disk, you may use this option to
- disable swapping entirely. However, a word of
- caution. If you use this option, ShowMe Saver will
- take a large bite out of low memory. Depending
- upon how your system is configured, this may not
- leave enough room in low memory to run many pro-
- grams.
-
- /O -- If you want the saver modules to pop up in a
- specific order, you should include this command
- line option. If you have specified certain
- saver modules to enable using the /Scodes option
- described below, the /O option causes ShowMe Saver
- to cycle through the modules in the order in which
- you listed them in the /S option. If you did not
- include the /S option on the command line, this
- option causes the saver modules to pop up in the
- order A through |. This option as well as the /S
-
-
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- Page 9
-
-
- option discussed below can be configured in the
- Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window.
-
- /Ppathname -- The default pathname used by ShowMe Saver is C:\.
- If you wish ShowMe Saver to swap to a different
- location,
- a different pathname must be specified as in
-
- /PD:\SHOW\
-
- which would cause ShowMe Saver to swap to the SHOW
- sub-directory on your 'D' drive. This option only
- has an effect, of course, if ShowMe Saver is not
- using EMS or XMS memory for swapping. Be certain
- that the path that you specify is valid. If the
- 'SHOW' sub-directory, as shown in the above example,
- does not exist, ShowMe Saver will not swap itself
- out of memory when it installs. The effect would be
- the same as if you had included the /N option on the
- command line.
-
- /Rx -- By default ShowMe Saver loads so that each module
- runs continuously after it is popped up. After that
- module pops down by seeing a keystroke or a mouse
- press, it does not pop up again until its 'turn'
- comes up again according to where it is in the list
- of modules you have enabled. If you want ShowMe
- Saver to continuously cycle through the list of
- modules you have enabled, then you can include this
- command line option. For example
-
- SHOMESAV /R5 /SAEIOU
-
- would cause ShowMe Saver to cycle through modules A,
- E, I, O, and U five times each, and then start over
- at module A again. (This assumes that you have
- ShowMe Saver configured to use the enabled modules
- 'in order'. If configured to run the modules in
- 'random' order, the modules would be selected
- randomly and run five times each.) ShowMe Saver
- can be configured to cycle through each module
- from 1 to 15 times. This option may also be con-
- figured from the pop up configuration window.
-
- /Scodes -- If you do not include the /S command line parameter
- when starting, ShowMe Saver by default loads with
- all 60 (A thru X, [, \, ], ^, _, `, a thru z, {, | )
- saver modules enabled. If you want certain saver
- modules to be enabled on start-up, you may include
- this option to enable as many as you wish. For
- example,
-
- SHOMESAV /SAC\FG[P
-
- would start ShowMe Saver with the A, C, \, F, G, [,
-
-
-
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- Page 10
-
-
- and P modules enabled. At any time after start-up,
- you can change the enabled-modules list in the
- Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. The module codes
- are listed below. (Note that the letters used with
- the /S switch may be both upper AND lower case,
- eg., 'A' signifies the module Orbs and 'a'
- signifies the module Twirl.)
-
-
- GRAPHIC SAVER MODULES
-
- A - Orbs B - ShowMan C - Fade Out D - Air Mail
- E - Wormy F - Fade In G - Sine Fun H - Black Hole
- I - Boxes J - 3D Bars K - Text Pop L - Whole Sine
- M - Lines N - Circles O - Twinkler P - Random Lines
- Q - Train R - Drained S - Cherry B T - Double Paper
- U - Boing V - Planets W - Saturn V X - Bounce Names
- Y - Mower Z - Vortex [ - Rolling \ - Passing Thru
- ] - Quake ^ - Stormy _ - Fireworks ` - Space Flight
- a - Twirl b - Spider c - Scotch d - Starstruck
- e - Flags f - Watch g - Marquee h - Pulsator
- i - Snow j - Blanker k - Searching l - Kaleidoscope
- m - Swirl n - Cascade o - Fractal p - Bouncing
- q - Orbit r - Tangle s - Cubical t - Cyclatron
- u - Doily v - Sparkle w - SummerTime x - PollyGone
- y - Clone z - Psycho { - Twister | - Ricochet
-
-
- /Tnumber -- The default pop-up time used by ShowMe Saver is 5
- minutes. If you would like a different pop up
- time, you may set it by including a command line
- option such as
-
- /T20
-
- This would cause ShowMe Saver to pop up after 20
- minutes of keyboard or mouse inactivity. The pop
- up time may be set from 1 to 60 minutes.
-
- /U -- This option is used to disable ShowMe Saver and
- remove it from memory, if it is safe to do so.
- If ShowMe Saver is running on your system, it may
- be run again with the /U option, as in
-
- SHOMESAV /U
-
- to remove ShowMe Saver from memory and return all
- memory used by ShowMe Saver to the system. If you
- have installed other TSR's after loading ShowMe
- Saver, you will probably not be able to unload
- ShowMe Saver until you have first unloaded those
- TSR's. ShowMe Saver detects this and will refuse
- to unload the resident copy. When unloaded from
- memory with this option, ShowMe Saver deletes any
- temporary swap files it may have created.
-
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- Page 11
-
-
- /? -- Displays the help screen.
-
- NOTE -- ShowMe Saver automatically watches for printer activity.
- If you are sending a long print job to your printer, ShowMe Saver
- will not pop up until the entire print job has been sent.
-
- More than one command line option may be used when starting
- ShowMe Saver. For example
-
- SHOMESAV /MJulie Ann /E /PD:\saver /t1 /o
-
- would set the saver message to 'Julie Ann', tell ShowMe Saver NOT
- to use EMS memory for swapping, set the location for the swapping
- files to the 'SAVER' directory of drive 'D', set the pop up time
- to 1 minute, and tell ShowMe Saver to pop up the saver modules in
- the order that you specified.
-
- Note that "/" or "-" may be used interchangeably on the command
- line to specify options. An examination of the example given
- above shows the proper use of spaces between each option used.
- There must be a space between each option or ShowMe Saver will
- only "see" the first option. Each option must begin with either
- an '/' or an '-' and must end with a space (the spaces within a
- message when using the /M option are ignored).
-
-
- --Can I change parameters after installing ShowMe Saver?...
-
- Six parameters can be changed after ShowMe Saver has been in-
- stalled. The message for display can be changed at any time. A
- hot key combination will pop up a configuration window which will
- allow you to change the message. The window will show the mes-
- sage currently being used and will prompt for a different message.
- When entering a new message in this manner, any number of spaces
- may be included, however, the absolute maximum of twelve char-
- acters (including spaces) is still enforced as mentioned above.
- (HINT: If you do not want a message displayed, enter no text at
- the prompt). The hot key combination to pop up the message window
- is CTRL + ALT + M. (Hold down the 'Ctrl' and 'Alt' keys and press
- the 'M' key.)
-
- If you want to change the pop up time after ShowMe Saver is in-
- stalled, you may set the time from 1 to 60 minutes by using the
- Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. The window shows the current pop
- up time and prompts for a new time.
-
- There may be times when you want to disable ShowMe Saver tempo-
- rarily after it is installed. For instance, you may be running
- a text based DOS application which should not be interrupted.
- The window which pops up when the Ctrl + Alt + M hot key combina-
- tion is pressed also allows you to enable and disable ShowMe
- Saver. The window shows the current saver status (on or off)
- and allows you to change the status.
-
- The password utility may also be configured from the pop up
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 12
-
-
- window. The password may be enabled and disabled or the
- password can be changed to anything you desire, up to a maximum
- of eight characters. Note that many keys may be included in
- the password that are not normally associated with text. For
- instance, an 'Esc' or 'Backspace' may be included in the pass-
- word. Use of these keys produces passwords that are especially
- difficult to 'crack'.
-
- ShowMe Saver by default starts with all 60 saver modules enabled.
- If you only wish certain modules to pop up, you may enable them
- from the pop up window. You may enable from 1 to 60
- (A to X, [,\,],^,_,`, a to x, {, |) at any time. The names for
- each module are shown in the pop-up 'pick' window shown below,
- which appears when the '(E)nable' option is selected.
-
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------
- | -----------------> MODULE SELECTION <------------------- |
- ||--------------------------------------------------------||
- || <Orbs> ShowMan Fade Out <Air Mail> ||
- || <Wormy> Fade In Sine Fun Black Hole ||
- || Boxes <3D Bars> <Text Pop> Whole Sine ||
- || Lines Circles Twinkler Random Lines ||
- || Train Drained Cherry B Double Paper ||
- || <Boing> Planets Saturn V Bounce Names ||
- || Mower <Vortex> <Rolling> <Passing Thru> ||
- || Quake Stormy Fireworks Space Flight ||
- || Twirl <Spider> <Scotch> <Starstruck> ||
- || Flags Watch Marquee Pulsator ||
- || Snow Blanker Searching Kaleidoscope ||
- || Swirl Cascade <Fractal> <Bouncing> ||
- || Orbit Tangle Cubical Cyclatron ||
- || Doily Sparkle SummerTime PollyGone ||
- || Clone Psycho Twister Ricochet ||
- ||--------------------------------------------------------||
- | - CTRL-ENTER = Toggle All ----- SPACEBAR = Toggle Item - |
- ----------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- An examination of the example pick window above shows that
- some of the module names in the window are enclosed in
- brackets (for example, <Orbs> ). The brackets indicate that
- this module is selected for pop up. As few as one of the
- modules may be 'selected' or all of them may be selected.
- When you first enter this pick window, if you wish to change
- the modules selected for pop up, you must FIRST deselect all
- of the modules. As shown in the lower left of the window
- frame, pressing <CTRL-ENTER> will deselect all modules or,
- placing the mouse cursor on the <CTRL-ENTER> area and pressing
- the left button will do the same thing. Then, you may
- select those modules that you wish to be enabled. If you wish
- all modules to be enabled but in no specific order, the
- <CTRL-ENTER> key combination can be used to toggle all items
- off then back on.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 13
-
-
- Modules are selected in one of two ways. The highlight bar
- may be moved around the window using the arrow keys and, when
- a selection is highlighted, pressing the spacebar will toggle
- that item on. If you have a mouse installed, double-clicking
- an item with the left button will also select the item. When
- selecting modules, if you want them to pop up in a specific
- order, they must be 'selected' in that order. However, if you
- decide to change the order of pop up, you should deselect all
- items and start the selection process over.
-
- Once your selection is complete, pressing <ENTER>, <ESC>, or
- clicking the right mouse button will exit the pick window and
- enable for pop up all of the modules that were selected. Once
- you begin to use the 'pick' window to enable modules, you will
- quickly become accustomed to it, whether you are using the
- keyboard or a mouse.
-
- The '(O)rder' option toggles between 'In Order' and 'Random'.
- 'In Order' indicates that the saver modules shown as 'Enabled'
- will pop up in the order shown. Once you have cycled through
- the 'Enabled' list, pop up returns to the start of the list.
-
- 'Random' indicates that the saver modules enabled will pop up
- at random.
-
- The '(C)ycling of saver modules' option configures ShowMe Saver
- to cycle through the modules you have enabled in the module
- selection window. If the 'Module cycling' option is set to 'YES'
- as shown in the upper portion of the pop up configuration window,
- selecting 'C' or clicking on the option with the mouse will set
- the cycling option to 'NO' which indicates that once a module pops
- up, it will stay up until popped down. If the 'Module cycling'
- option is set to 'NO', selecting 'C' or clicking on the option
- with the mouse will give a prompt to 'Enter the number of cycles
- (1 to 15)...'. You may then enter the number of times you want
- each module to run before it pops down and the next one pops up.
-
- At any point while in the pop-up window, you may exit and leave
- all parameters unchanged by pressing <Esc>. Be aware, however,
- that any changes made while in the pop-up configuration window
- are in effect only while in the current session. If you turn
- off or re-boot your computer, the default options will be in
- effect. The configuration pop up window supports a mouse. All
- of the options available can be accessed with either the keyboard
- or the mouse. If you have a mouse installed on your system, it
- will be detected automatically and will become active when the
- pop up window is called. A little experimentation will show the
- capabilities of the mouse. In general, the left button is used
- for selection of options. The right button is used as either the
- <ESC> key, if you are in the main window, or the <ENTER> key if
- you are in the secondary module selection window.
-
- There are two additional hot-key combinations available while
- ShowMe Saver is installed:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 14
-
-
- Shift + Shift -- Depressing both the left and right 'shift' keys
- allows you to quickly disable ShowMe Saver. The
- effect is the same as if you used the pop up
- window to disable ShowMe Saver, but much faster.
- Depressing shift-shift again will reenable
- ShowMe Saver, thus the shift-shift hot key acts
- as a 'toggle' to turn ShowMe Saver OFF and/or ON
- quickly. If you forget what the present status
- is, just pop up the configuration window and
- check the 'STATUS' entry.
-
- NOTE: At times when you are using a graphics
- based program you may notice the mouse behaving
- erratically. The shift-shift hot key is particu-
- larly useful because it will allow you to tempo-
- rarily disable ShowMe Saver while you are in the
- program. Then, when you leave the program you
- can use the shift-shift hot key to re-enable
- ShowMe Saver.
-
-
- Ctrl + Alt + Rt. Shift -- Pressing the right 'Shift' key while
- holding down the 'Control' and 'Alt'
- keys will force ShowMe Saver to pop
- up immediately.
-
- (NOTE: The three hot key combinations discussed so far are the
- default hot keys enabled when you get ShowMe Saver. See the
- section below entitled " Can I change the hot keys
- used by ShowMe Saver? " for information on changing them.)
-
-
- --What are the saver modules used in ShowMe Saver?...
-
- ShowMe Saver contains sixty different graphic saver image modules.
- They are:
-
-
- Orbs -A- Your message popping to the screen on spheres
- of various colors and shapes.
-
- ShowMan -B- Your message being gobbled up by ShowMan and
- then spit back at you.
-
- FadeOut -C- Your message slowly disintegrating.
-
- Air Mail -D- Your message being towed by the ShowMe Saver
- airplane.
-
- Wormy -E- Your message being carried by the ShowMe Saver
- wooly worm.
-
- Fade In -F- Your message gradually fading in.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 15
-
-
- Sine Fun -G- Your message disappearing in a multicolored
- tunnel of sine waves.
-
- Black Hole -H- Your message being sucked down a black hole,
- along with an entire solar system.
-
- Boxes -I- Your message displayed in various formats
- while being blasted by multicolored cubes.
-
- 3D Bars -J- Your message popping up on vari-colored 3D
- cubes in many colors.
-
- TextPop -K- Your message popping to the display in a
- multitude of sizes and at random
- locations.
-
- Whole Sine -L- Your message under an everchanging pattern
- of circles, boxes, and ellipses.
-
- Lines -M- Your message being displayed over random lines in
- various colors and locations.
-
- Circles -N- Your message displayed in various multi-colored
- circles and spheres.
-
- Twinkler -O- Your message disappearing under an exploding
- display of colored stars.
-
- Random Lines -P- Your message being covered and uncovered
- by a random line in a continuously
- changing color and direction.
-
- Train -Q- Your message being hauled by the ShowMe Saver train.
-
- Drained -R- Your message slowly seeping down the drain.
-
- Cherry B -S- Your message exploding on a "Cherry Bomb"
- firecracker.
-
- Double Paper -T- Your message displayed between two
- multicolored bands of paper.
-
- Boing -U- Your message bouncing around the screen.
-
- Planets -V- Your message on the surface of planets
- floating through space.
-
- Saturn V -W- A Saturn V rocket crashing into your
- message in deep space.
-
- Bounce Names -X- Your message bouncing onto the screen
- in various colors and at various
- locations.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 16
-
-
- Mower -Y- Your message being uncovered by a couple of
- hard-working fellows.
-
- Vortex -Z- Your message displayed on the fringes of a
- swirling vortex.
-
- Rolling -[- Your message rolling through the screen from
- both directions.
-
- Passing Thru -\- Your message sliding across the screen
- from every direction.
-
- Quake -]- Your message shaken up by an earthquake.
-
- Stormy -^- Your message appearing beneath flashes of
- lightening in a darkened sky.
-
- Fireworks -_- Your message on a billboard with multi-
- colored fireworks bursting overhead.
-
- Space Flight -`- Your message speeding by as you hurtle
- through space.
-
- Twirl -a- Your message being surrounded by brightly
- colored swirling designs.
-
- Spider -b- The ShowMe spider slowly spinning a multi-
- colored web around your message.
-
- Scotch -c- Plaid patterns slowly woven across the screen
- around your message.
-
- Starstruck -d- Your message in the marquee lights with
- the stars.
-
- Flags -e- Your message popping to the screen on various
- ShowMe flags, along with "Old Glory".
-
- Watch -f- The ShowMe watch, personalized with
- your message, bouncing around the screen.
-
- Marquee -g- Your message exploding onto the screen amid
- the marquee lights.
-
- Pulsator -h- Your message coming and going and going and
- coming.
-
- Snow -i- Gently falling snowflakes cascading around your
- message.
-
- Blanker -j- Just a plain, jane blanker... No message, just
- a blank screen. Included due to numerous
- requests.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 17
-
-
- Searching -k- Searchlights constantly scanning the screen
- for your message.
-
- Kaleidoscope -l- Your message displayed above and below a
- kaleidoscope of color.
-
- Swirl -m- Swirling, twirling, psychodelic patterns cover
- your message.
-
- Cascade -n- Cascading cones and circles covering your
- messsage.
-
- Fractal -o- Your message framed by a multicolored fractal
- pattern.
-
- Bouncing -p- Bouncing balls carrying your message through
- from both directions.
-
- Orbit -q- Your message being orbited by multicolored
- spheres.
-
- Tangle -r- Your message overlaid by cascading retangular
- patterns.
-
- Cubical -s- A cubical pattern revealing your message.
-
- Cyclatron -t- Your message at the center of a cyclatron
- being bombarded by quarks and leptons.
-
- Doily -u- Your message in the center of a fractal doily.
-
- Sparkle -v- Your message amidst sparkling stars.
-
- SummerTime -w- A fractal scene of a tree, complete with
- birdhouse and swing. Your message takes a
- ride.
-
- PollyGone -x- Your message is displayed in random locations
- while everchanging polygons drift about,
- changing colors and styles.
-
- Clone -y- Your message displayed on an IBM "Clone"
- computer.
-
- Psycho -z- Your message at the center of a colorful, cycling
- display.
-
- Twister -{- A twirling and spinning display, weaving over
- and around your message.
-
- Ricochet -|- Bouncing balls ricocheting across the screen
- around your message.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 18
-
-
- --Can I change the hot keys used by ShowMe Saver ?...
-
- Yes. Since there are many applications that make the use of hot
- keys, a conflict may occur between the hot keys used by ShowMe
- Saver and those used by an application you may be running. If
- this is the case, the default configuration utility, SHOWCFIG.EXE,
- may be used to change two of the default hot-key combinations.
- Simply place SHOWCFIG.EXE in the same directory as SHOMESAV.EXE,
- MAKE THAT DIRECTORY THE CURRENT DIRECTORY, and start the configura-
- tion program by typing 'showcfig' and pressing 'enter'. Use of the
- utility is relatively intuitive. You are initially presented with
- five options:
-
- <C> to change hot key for pop-up configuration window
- <I> to change hot key for immediate pop up
- <M> to change default message
- <P> to change default password
- <S> to save configuration changes
- <ESC> to quit without saving changes.
-
- If you wish to change the hot key for immediate pop up, press 'I'
- and you will be presented with another menu allowing you to select
- the hot key you desire:
-
- 1) CTRL-ALT-RIGHT SHIFT
- 2) ALT-LEFT SHIFT
- 3) CTRL-RIGHT SHIFT
- 4) NONE
-
- Option 1) is the default for this hot key when you get ShowMe Saver.
- You are allowed to select any one of the three hot keys shown or to
- disable the immediate pop-up hot key entirely.
-
- If you wish to change the hot key for the pop up configuration
- window, press 'C' and you will be presented with another menu which
- allows you to select the hot key you want:
-
- 1) CTRL-ALT-M
- 2) CTRL-LEFT SHIFT-HOME
- 3) CTRL-DEL
- 4) ALT-RIGHT SHIFT-*
- 5) CTRL-LEFT SHIFT->
- 6) CTRL-BACKSPACE
-
- Option 1) is the default for this hot key when you get ShowMe
- Saver.
-
- You are allowed to select any one of the six hot keys shown.
-
- If you wish to change the default message, press 'M' and you will
- be prompted for a new default message (up to 12 characters, of
- course).
-
- If you wish to change the default password, press 'P' and you
- will be prompted for a new default password.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 19
-
-
- After making your selections, you MUST choose the
-
- <S> to save configuration changes
-
- option to save your changes. If you press <ESC>, you will exit
- the configuration program without saving any of the changes you
- made.
-
- (NOTE: SHOWCFIG.EXE is NOT compatible with versions of ShowMe Saver
- earlier than version 3.81.)
-
-
- --Is ShowMe Saver compatible with Microsoft Windows?...
-
- Yes. We have encountered no compatibility problems when switching
- between DOS and 'Windows'. As mentioned above, if you are
- currently running a 'Windows' session, ShowMe Saver will disable
- itself and will not attempt to pop up. If you are also running a
- 'Windows' screen saver, it will continue to operate normally
- while you are in the Windows session. When you leave the 'Windows'
- session and return to DOS, ShowMe Saver will re-enable itself and
- continue to pop up normally.
-
-
- -- Are there times when ShowMe Saver should be disabled?...
-
- Yes. Anytime you are running software that should not be inter-
- rupted, you should disable ShowMe Saver. Some programs may operate
- unattended for long periods of time with little or no user input
- from the keyboard or mouse. As mentioned earlier, ShowMe Saver can
- detect printer activity, file transfers in a communication
- program and hard drive activity. However, there may be software
- that requires infrequent user input. In these cases, ShowMe Saver
- should be temporarily disabled while they are running. A good
- example of such a program might be a hard disk defragmentation
- utility.
-
- If you encounter an incompatibility with a program that you use
- often, it is best to unload ShowMe Saver before running the pro-
- gram. This can be done manually before starting the program
- by unloading ShowMe Saver by using the "/U' command line option.
- An even better way is to start the program with a batch file.
- For example, if the incompatible program is a communication pro-
- gram called "COMM", you might create a batch file called
- GOCOMM.BAT that contains the following lines:
-
- C:
- CD C:\SHOW
- SHOMESAV /U
- CD C:\COMM
- CALL COMM.EXE
- CD C:\SHOW
- SHOMESAV [options]
-
- where [options] are all of the options you normally use when
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 20
-
-
- starting ShowMe Saver . This, of course, assumes that you have
- installed ShowMe Saver in the "SHOW" directory on your C-Drive.
- The use of a batch file such as this will allow you to auto-
- matically unload ShowMe Saver when you start the incompatible
- program. Then, ShowMe Saver will also automatically reload when
- you exit the program.
-
-
- --What do I get with the registered version of "ShowMe Saver Saver"?...
-
- You will get the latest version of "ShowMe Saver". This version
- will NOT have the opening ShareWare screen NOR will it have the
- ShareWare screens that you see when you exit the pop-up window.
-
-
- --How do I register "ShowMe Saver"?...
-
- The easiest way to register "ShowMe Saver" is to print out the
- registration form in REGSHOME.DOC, fill it out and send it, along
- with the $10.00 registration fee (US FUNDS ONLY), to
-
- Harold Schwartz
- P.O. Box 104482
- Jefferson City, MO 65110
-
- Printing the form is easy. Just type
-
- COPY REGSHOME.DOC PRN
-
- and press <enter>. Send in the completed form and $10.00 U.S.
- to the address given above.
-
-
-
- Thanks and ***ENJOY*** ShowMe Saver.
-
-
- --Acknowledgements...
-
- In this documentation, references are made to several products:
-
- Borland Pascal and Sidekick are registered trademarks of Borland
- International.
- QEMM is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
- DOS refers to either PC-DOS or MS-DOS.
- PC-DOS is a registered trademark of International Business
- Machines Corporation.
- MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
- Corporation.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 21
-
-
- ***** DISCLAIMER *****
-
- (please read)
-
- "ShowMe Saver" is a powerful program. While I have
- attempted to build in reasonable safeguards, as with
- any useful computer software, "ShowMe Saver" may
- contain errors in the program or documentation. The
- author does not give any warranty, either expressed or
- implied, to anyone using this program other than for
- the replacement of defective media. In no event
- shall the author be liable for any damages, including
- loss of profits or anticipated profits, lost savings,
- or other incidental or consequential damages arising
- out of the use or inability to use this program. The
- program comes "as is" and it is the user's responsi-
- bility to determine whether the program is suitable
- for his or her computer system and software needs.
-
-
-
-
-
-
- ***** COPYRIGHT *****
-
-
- Copyright (c) 1992-93 Harold Schwartz. All Rights
- Reserved. You may copy "ShowMe Saver" for backup
- purposes, and you may give copies of the unregistered
- version to other individuals, which they may also use
- and copy under the terms of this agreement. If you
- copy the unregistered version of "ShowMe Saver" for
- others, you must include all of the files distributed
- with it. "ShowMe Saver" may not be sold, licensed,
- or a fee charged for its use. If a fee is charged in
- connection with the unregistered version of "ShowMe
- Saver", it must cover the cost of copying or dissemina-
- tion only. Such charges must be clearly identified as
- such by the originating party. Under no circumstances
- may the purchaser be given the impression that he is
- buying "ShowMe Saver" itself.
-
- The author encourages BBS operators to post the
- unregistered version of the "ShowMe Saver" package
- on their systems for download by users wishing to
- evaluate it. No other reproduction or use is
- authorized without the express prior written consent
- of the copyright owner.
-
-
-
-
-