Here's a menu-by-menu description of the Codpiece features.
File Menu
 
New
New allows you to create a new Codpiece sounds file. A new Codpiece sounds file will contain no sounds, though sounds can be recorded, received, or imported into this new file.
Open
This lets you open a Codpiece sounds file that you already have.
Close
Close will close the current Codpiece sounds file.
Import
This allows you to bring sounds into the current Codpiece sound file. Note you must have one open for Import to be available. Import will allows you to select any file and import all of the sounds resources that the file contains. It works well for importing sounds in the standard System 7 sound file format, as well as sounds created by the Sound control panel. It will not work for sounds in SoundEdit format, or AIFF sounds that are stored in cross-platform format.
Quit
This makes your pancreas itch.
Edit Menu
 
Edit Commands
The edit commands actually don't do anything, and are really just there for Mac Human Interface requirements. Maybe someday cutting and pasting of sounds between files will be possible.
Preferences
The preferences menu item brings up the preferences dialog box. In it, program parameters may be modified to increase program performance and alter the program's behavior. The Preferences dialog box looks like this:
 
Codpiece Channel Name
Codpiece uses an IRC channel to interact with other Codpiece users. The default channel is "#alabaster" by convention. This channel can be set to anything that's a valid IRC channel name (note that the "#" is optional in the name.) If, for instance, there is already a large Codpiece session on #alabaster, several IRC'ers could join "#codpiece," for instance, and have a session that is completely independent of any other Codpiece sessions that might exist. As long as all of the users who wish to interact together have the same Codpiece Channel Name, they can all communicate. NOTE: Changing the channel only changes the default channel that will be used the next time Codpiece is run. It does not change the channel for the current session. You will need to select "Change IRC Sound Channel" from the Sounds menu to change the current session's channel.
On Receiving Duplicate Sounds
This dictates how Codpiece behaves when someone sends a sound that you already have. Sounds are unique by name, so every newly recorded sound should be given a unique title.
The default option is to "Just play the sound locally." If someone who is participating in a Codpiece session sends a sound you already have, your Codpiece will play the sound and be done with it. This allows a group of people who share a lot of common sounds to use Codpiece to punctuate the IRC experience with audio. It's much quicker than having to re-receive the sounds each time someone sends one.
"Ignore the sound completely" will cause Codpiece to do nothing when a duplicate sound is sent. This is useful when a bunch of Codpiece users are trying to synchronize their sound sets.
"Re-Receive the sound" will cause Codpiece to re-receive the sound, creating a duplicate. Sounds can always be renamed at the Sound Info dialog box (as described below.)
Recording Sound Quality
This allows you to set the degree of compression that will be used for sounds recorded inside Codpiece. Codpiece allows the user to record sounds using the standard System 7 sound input methods. The behavior is the same as the Sound control panel in terms of the recording process. Good Quality will create the smallest sound files with the lowest quality. This is the default, as this setting is optimal for human voice recording. Best Quality will create the largest sounds but with the highest recording quality. This is best suited for music or any sound samples that require a large dynamic range. The Better Quality setting is a balance of Good and Best.
Send Dup. Timeout
When you tell Codpiece to send a sound, it tells all other Codpiece users that you'd like to send a sound. It waits for someone's Codpiece to say "Yes! I need this sound." If no one asks for the sound data to be sent, Codpiece won't send it. This is useful in the instance that everyone else already has the sound, so there's no sense in wasting IRC bandwidth sending all that data. The default is 800 ticks, which is roughly equivalent to 13 seconds. The time is in "ticks." A "tick" is one sixtieth of a second, so 60 ticks is equal to one second. The higher the Send Dup. Timeout value, the longer Codpiece will wait to see if anyone needs the sound you're trying to send.
Send Packet Delay
When Codpiece is sending sound data across IRC. It sends the data in 256 byte chunks. The Send Packet Delay value is the amount of time that Codpiece will wait between 256 bytes chunks of data. If the delay is too small, the IRC servers will kill the Codpiece user for flooding the channel. The default value is 60 ticks (1 second between chunks,) but your server may be more sensitive to flooding than mine. Try 120 ticks if you find you're getting killed for flooding.
Play Sounds Before Sending
This option is set by default. Essentially this means that when a user sends a sound with Codpiece, Codpiece will play that sound at the outset of the send. If you don't want it to play 'em as you send 'em, just uncheck this option.
Keep Sound List Sorted
This is checked by default. The list of sounds in the Codpiece window (which is described below) is stored in alphabetical order if this is checked. You can then seek to the start of a sound name by typing the letter or number that the sound name begins with. This is convenient for searching large sound lists for a certain sound. Note that the sound list area has to be active for your typing to seek. (More on this below.)
Use 7-bit TextBinary
Codpiece encodes the sound data using a 7-bit TextBinary method of my devising. It's similar to Binhexing, or the converstion of 8-bit byte data to 6-bit byte data. My 7-bit TextBinary method saves a little bandwidth by using 7 bits instead of 6. Some IRC connections may reject or remap some of the extended characters that the 7-bit TextBinary creates. If this is the case, uncheck this option. With this option unchecked, Codpiece will use a 6-bit textbinary which is slower, but will work across these connections. If you find that the sounds you receive are coming through garbled or the checksums are failing, you may want to leave this option unchecked. NOTE: Sounds sent by people with 7-bit TextBinary will not be compatible with people set up to receive in 6-bit TextBinary format. Everyone in the Codpiece session should use the same TextBinary setting.
Work Properly
Just TRY and check this one, baby.
Sounds Menu
 
Send Sound
This menu option duplicates the function of the "Send" button in the Codpiece window. If a sound is selected from the list of sounds and no other sound is being sent, selecting Send Sound will cause that sound to be sent. I guess that's pretty obvious, huh?
Play Sound
This menu option duplicates the function of the "Play" button in the Codpiece window. This will cause the sound currently selected in the list of sounds to be played locally only.
Record Sound
This menu option duplicates the function of the "Record" button in the Codpiece window. Selecting this will let you record and name a new sound using the standard Macintosh sound input method. The sound is then added to the Codpiece sound list.
Remove Sound
This menu option duplicates the function of the "Remove" button in the Codpiece window. This will remove the currently selected sound from the sound list.
Get Sound Info
This lets you get information about the sound currently selected in the sound list. It also lets you change the name of the sound, should you want to for some reason.
 
Cancel Sound Send
If you have a sound send in progress, and it's hung up for any reason, selecting this option will allow you to abort the send. If people are in the process of receiving the sound that you cancel, their Codpieces will time out after a while. Note that if you're receiving a sound and that sound was cancelled, you have the option of removing the sound from the list.
Change IRC Sound Channel
This allows you to change the IRC channel that is being used for the current session. It doesn't alter the default Codpiece sound channel which has been set in the Preferences dialog box. It only changes the channel for the current session.
The Codpiece Window
When a file is open or created with New, you will see a Codpiece window resembling this:
 
The Sound List
All of the sounds in the current Codpiece sound file are listed in this area of the window. For each sound, the following pieces of information are displayed:
ORIGIN
This is where the sound came from. If the Codpiece sound file was just freshly loaded, the sound will be listed as having come from "Local." If the sound was received from someone since the last sound file load, it will display the IRC Nickname of the person who sent it.
SIZE
The length of the sound in bytes.
STATUS
This column indicates what's happening with the sound. It will be either "Receiving," "Sending," or "Saved."
% (PERCENT)
If the sound is being transmitted or received, this will indicate the progress of the transfer. If the sound is "Saved," it will be a full progress bar.
SOUND NAME
The name that the sound has been given by the sender. This can be changed with the Get Info command.
The Conversation Box
This area of the screen allows all users of Codpiece gathered together on the same channel (as specified in the Preference dialog box) to chat with each other. To make the Conversation Box active, hit the TAB key. TAB focuses either the Conversation Box or the Sound List.
The Control Buttons
These buttons perform the same functions as the corresponding options on the Sound menu, but provide convenient access to these features.
