═══ 1. About ScreenSaver ═══ Version 1.4 Copyright (C) 1993-94 Siegfried Hanisch This program is dedicated to Michaela. Permission to copy and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without charging more than a nominal fee for copying is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. Please note that from version 1.3 on ScreenSaver is Shareware not Freeware. ScreenSaver is an easy-to-use 32-bit screen saver for OS/2 2.x. When ScreenSaver is started, it monitors your keyboard and mouse activity in the backgound. If there has not been any activity for some time, the saver becomes active. It stays active until the mouse is moved or clicked or a key is pressed. You can set various options by double clicking ScreenSaver in the window list (press Ctrl+Esc to show the window list). If you want to quit ScreenSaver, press the "Exit ScreenSaver" button in the configuration panel. ScreenSaver has the advantage of low memory consumption and very low CPU usage - this means virtually no performance impact on your normal work. ScreenSaver has a very modular structure: It searches its directory for saver modules and selects a module randomly when the saver becomes active. Therefore it is very easy to extend ScreenSaver by just copying new saver modules to its directory. Version 1.3 has now password protection similar to the OS/2 lockup feature. It is now possible to use Deskpic modules with ScreenSaver. Just copy them to the ScreenSaver directory. Sample source code for do-it-yourself saver modules is included in the archive; see Creating new saver modules for information on how to create your own modules. Even for people who don't know anything about programming it is possible to create their own saver modules; see Creating bitmap saver modules for more information. Related information: Options dialog controls Contacting the author Registration ═══ 2. Options dialog controls ═══ The options dialog allows you to select various ScreenSaver options. The settings take effect immediately. It contains the following controls: Close button Exit ScreenSaver button Timeout slider Saver now corner Saver now corner enabled Saver never corner Saver never corner enabled Configure module button Test module button Saver enabled check box Mouse sensing check box Available saver modules list box Low priority check box Monitor fullscreen sessions check box Password push button Related information: About ScreenSaver Registration ═══ 2.1. Close button ═══ The "Close" button closes the Options dialog. You can also press the Hide button in the top right corner of the dialog window. Related information: Options dialog controls About ScreenSaver ═══ 2.2. Exit ScreenSaver button ═══ Use the "Exit ScreenSaver" button to end ScreenSaver. You can also double click the system menu or select Close from the system menu in the top left corner of the dialog window. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.3. Timeout slider ═══ With the "Timeout" slider you can adjust the time after which the saver becomes active. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.4. Saver now corner ═══ Use these radio buttons to select the corner of the screen into which you have to move the mouse pointer to activate the saver immediately. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.5. Saver now corner enabled ═══ With this check box you can enable and disable the "saver now" feature. Related information: Saver now corner Options dialog controls ═══ 2.6. Saver never corner ═══ With these radio buttons you can select the corner of the screen into which you have to move the mouse pointer to temporarily disable monitoring mouse and keyboard activity. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.7. Saver never corner enabled ═══ With this check box you can enable and disable the "saver never" feature. Related information: Saver never corner Options dialog controls ═══ 2.8. Configure module button ═══ This button displays the configuration dialog of the saver module which is selected in the list box. You can also double click on the list box item to display the corresponding configuration dialog, too. Press the '+' or '-' keys to directly enable or disable a saver module (this does not work for Deskpic modules ). Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.9. Test module button ═══ This button activates the saver module that is selected in the list box. To stop the test, either move the mouse or click a mouse button or press a key. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.10. Saver enabled check box ═══ Use the "Saver enabled" check box to enable or disable screen saving. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.11. Mouse sensing check box ═══ The "Mouse sensing" check box enables or disables monitoring of mouse movement while the saver is active. This means, if mouse sensing is disabled and the saver is active, the saver can only be stopped by pressing a key or clicking a mouse button, but not by moving the mouse; this may be useful if you do not want the saver to stop if you accidentially touch the mouse. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.12. Available saver modules list box ═══ The "Available saver modules" list box shows all available saver modules. Double clicking on a list box item displays the corresponding configuration dialog. A plus sign in front of a module name means the module is enabled, a minus sign means it is disabled. You can enable or disable a module in its configuration dialog or by highlighting it and pressing '+' or '-' (this does not work for Deskpic modules ). When the timeout interval expires, ScreenSaver chooses one of the enabled saver modules randomly. If all modules are disabled, the built-in "Eternal Blackness" module is used for screen saving. If you want another font in the list box, choose one from the font palette and drag it into the list box. Related information: Options dialog controls About ScreenSaver Contacting the author Registration ═══ 2.13. Low priority check box ═══ Use the "Low priority" check box to decide wether the saver, when activated, should run with low priority or normal priority. On low priority the saver gets CPU time only when no other application requests CPU time. Normal priority means the saver shares CPU usage with all other tasks; this means the animation is smoother, but other applications may run slightly slower. Some saver module animations may work considerably slower when low priority is disabled. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.14. Monitor fullscreen sessions check box ═══ If monitoring of fullscreen sessions is enabled, ScreenSaver will switch from an active fullscreen session to the Presentation Manager when the timeout interval expires to do its saver action. When a key is pressed or the mouse is moved, ScreenSaver switches back to the fullscreen session. In this version only OS/2 fullscreen sessions are monitored. DOS fullscreen sessions and Win-OS/2 fullscreen sessions are not monitored. This option is not available on OS/2 2.0. Related information: Options dialog controls ═══ 2.15. Password push button ═══ This button displays the password protection dialog. Related information: Options dialog controls Password protection dialog ═══ 3. Password protection dialog ═══ This dialog lets you change your password and enabled/disable password protection and startup locking. In order to enable or disable password protection, you must enter the old password. In order to enable or disable the "Lock on startup" feature, you must enter the old password. In order to change your password, you must enter the old password and the new password (enter the new password twice for verification). When you install ScreenSaver, the predefined password is I will send money to remind you to register ScreenSaver :-) See also Registration ═══ 4. Creating your own saver modules ═══ The following two sections describe how to create saver modules: Creating bitmap saver modules Creating new saver modules ═══ 4.1. Creating bitmap saver modules ═══ Even for a non-programmer, it is VERY easy to create new bitmap saver modules. There are six steps involved in doing so: 1. Open an OS/2 command session, change your working directory to the ScreenSaver directory, and make sure the files BITMAPS.RES, BITMAPS.SSM, BMPSAMP.RC and MAKEMOD.EXE are there. If they are not, unzip them from the file CUSTBMP.ZIP (CUSTBMP.ZIP can be found in the ScreenSaver distribution file). 2. Get some pictures in bitmap format (*.BMP). You can create bitmaps by scanning photographs, you can convert existing pictures from other formats (*.GIF, *.TIF etc.) to bitmap format with appropriate software, or you can draw them yourself (with the OS/2 Icon Editor or Paintbrush or any other program that can handle bitmap files). Copy all the bitmaps you want to use to the ScreenSaver directory. 3. Choose a name for the new saver module and a name for the file in which your saver is stored. The name for the file must be exactly 8 characters long; the name of the saver module should have a maximum length of 32 characters. Now type "COPY BMPSAMP.RC FILENAME.RC" and press Enter (replace FILENAME with the file name you chose). Load the new file into an editor. You can use the OS/2 system editor E.EXE to edit the file. 4. Replace the string "Custom Bitmaps" with the name you chose for your saver module. Do not change the number in front of the string. 5. Insert lines with the name of your bitmap files. The lines must have the following format: BITMAP number bitmap-file-name The numbers must be consecutive and in ascending order (in the first line inserted number must be 1, in the second 2 and so on). There is no limit on the number of bitmaps in your saver module. Now save the file and quit the editor. 6. Type "MAKEMOD FILENAME" (again, replace FILENAME with the file name you chose) and press Enter. If everything is ok, MAKEMOD tells you that it created the new module. In case of an error, MAKEMOD prints an error message and some hints what you should do; it is most likely that you mistyped the name of a bitmap file. If module creation was successful you have to restart ScreenSaver. The name of the new module should be listed in the "Available saver modules" list box then. The following tutorial shows how to build a new bitmap module. Assume that you want to use the three bitmaps ME.BMP, YOU.BMP and DOG_BOO.BMP; you chose the name of the saver module to be "My Family" and the name of the saver module file to be "MYFAMILY". You enter COPY BMPSAMP.RC MYFAMILY.RC at the command prompt. Then edit the new file (in this example we use the OS/2 system editor E.EXE) E MYFAMILY.RC and change the file contents to look like this. The part of the file that is marked green (the text between "/*" and "*/") is a comment. You can include your own comments if you like. The red text is the module name you insert and the cyan text are the lines enumerating the bitmap files. The rest of the text has to be there; don't alter it. Note that the name of the module and the names of the bitmap files have to be enclosed in double quotation marks. /* MYFAMILY.RC resource file for custom bitmaps saver module */ STRINGTABLE { 1 "My Family" } BITMAP 1 "ME.BMP" BITMAP 2 "YOU.BMP" BITMAP 3 "DOG_BOO.BMP" Now save the file, quit the editor and type MAKEMOD MYFAMILY at the command prompt. MAKEMOD prints a few messages as it works, and finally a success message or a self-explanatory error message. Now you restart ScreenSaver. The item "My Family" should appear in the list box. Related information: Creating new saver modules ═══ 4.2. Creating new saver modules ═══ You should have some experience with Presentation Manager programming and knowledge of the C programming language to create your own saver modules. The ScreenSaver archive comprises sample source code that shows you how to do it. Unzip the files sample.c, sample.h, sample.rc, sample.dlg, sample.def and sample.mak from the file SAMPLE.ZIP (SAMPLE.ZIP can be found in the ScreenSaver distribution file) and copy these files to some other name of your choice (keep the original extensions). If you compile and link in another directory than the ScreenSaver directory, also copy the file SSAVER.ICO to your working directory. Now take a look at these files. They are are commented and contain something like /* $$$$$ insert code here $$$$$ ... comment ... $$$$$ for example $$$$$ ... example code ... */ at those places where you should fill in your code. You can't miss it. Be sure to read the comments before inserting your code. In the "for example" sections of the comments you will find the source code of the "Pyramids" saver module that comes with the ScreenSaver distribution. You can use it as a template for creating your own saver modules. After having successfully compiled your new module the first time, you can use the Dialog Editor to edit the *.RES file and change the configure dialog if required. You should be able to use EMX0.8g (or higher) or the IBM compiler to build new modules. Maybe other compilers work too, but I have not tested that. Now some explanations how a saver module works: After the timeout occurred, the ScreenSaver program loads a saver module into memory and makes it start screen saving. The saver module creates a window that has the size of the whole screen. It then starts another thread (the one you will have to write the code for) that draws anything it wants in this window; see the sample code for more information. When the ScreenSaver program stops the saver module, this thread ends, the window is destroyed and the saver module is unloaded from memory. The idea is, that this independent thread can run with idle time priority without considering any processing of PM messages. Related information: Creating bitmap saver modules ═══ 5. Note for users of OS/2 2.1 ═══ There is a known bug in OS/2 2.1 which sometimes prevents applications from saving their data to the OS/2 INI-files. Therefore, if you experience that the ScreenSaver options are not saved correctly, please try the following solution: Add the line attrib -r x:\os2\os2*.ini to the file x:\startup.cmd (x is the drive letter of your boot drive; if the file x:\startup.cmd does not exist, create it) and reboot. ═══ 6. Using Deskpic modules ═══ It is now possible to use Deskpic modules with ScreenSaver. Deskpic is a public domain OS/2 screen saver written by John Ridges. A lot of saver modules exist for this program. They can be found at the usual locations such as Internet FTP sites and BBSs. The saver module files have the extension *.DSS. In order to use them with ScreenSaver, just copy them into the ScreenSaver directory. Deskpic modules are marked with "[Deskpic]" in the list box. The only restriction is that you can not enable or disable them by pressing '+' or '-'; you have to use the module configuration dialog to do so. ═══ 7. Contacting the author ═══ My mail address is Dipl.-Ing. Siegfried Hanisch Einsiedlergasse 6/16 A - 1050 Vienna AUSTRIA / EUROPE My Internet address is hanisch@ci.tuwien.ac.at Please send any suggestions, comments or bug reports to one of the above addresses. If you have questions concerning the programming of new saver modules, please contact me via e-mail. Related information: Registration ═══ 8. Registration ═══ The registration fee for ScreenSaver is 20 US$ / 30 DM / 200 ATS. There are several ways to register ScreenSaver: o Send a cheque or cash to the following mail address: Dipl.-Ing. Siegfried Hanisch Einsiedlergasse 6/16 A - 1050 Vienna AUSTRIA / EUROPE o You can register by contacting BMT Micro : By Mail: BMT Micro 452 Horn Rd Wilmington, NC 28412-2411 USA By Phone: (910) 791-7052 Voice (800) 414-4268 Orders Only By Fax: (910) 350-2937 By BBS: (910) 350-8061 (10 lines, all 14.4) (910) 799-0923 (28.8 Line) BMT Micro accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Cashiers Checks, Money Orders, Personal Checks. Payment must be in US Currency. No cash please! No charge for 1st Class shipping anywhere in the world. Priority shipping extra and will be explained when the order is placed. o For users in Austria only: Sie kФnnen den Betrag auch auf folgendes Konto Бberweisen:Bank Austria, BLZ 20151, Kto.Nr. 709353049, lautend auf Siegfried Hanisch. Bitte teilen Sie mir auch Ihre e-mail- oder Post-Adresse mit, damit ich Ihnen die Registrierungsnummer zukommen lassen kann. o For users in Germany only: Sie kФnnen den Betrag auch auf folgendes Konto Бberweisen:Dresdner Bank, BLZ 76080040, Kto.Nr. 45422942, lautend auf Anneliese Hanisch. Bitte teilen Sie mir auch Ihre e-mail- oder Post-Adresse mit, damit ich Ihnen die Registrierungsnummer zukommen lassen kann. Registered users receive a registration key. You can then enter the registration information by typing ssaver -r key Your Name