WINCDP Version 2.3  (c) 1994  Tony G. Wu

Introduction

        What is WINCDP

        What is Shareware

        System Requirement

        Files You Should Have

        Revision History

        Vendor Documentation

Installation and Commands

        Install WINCDP

        WINCDP Commands

Register and Author information

        Register WINCDP

        Copyright Note

        About the author


Waht is WINCDP
 What is WINCDP

WINCDP provides a solution for Microsoft Windows to play CD audio through the CD-ROMs installed on users PC. WINCDP also provides a CD database that contains several columns for users to input textual information of a CD. In other words, users can easily maintain a CD catalog by using WINCDP. WINCDP also detect the existence and compatibility of a sound card. If a sound card does exist, WINCDP allow users to control volume, L/R volume if their sound card will.

WINCDP is a shareware application and gives users chance to try all its functionality before purchasing it.

I have set the registration fee to US $10 from the first release on and I do think that its a fair price.

Please support the shareware concept for encouraging the future development of windows' shareware.

WINCDP is written in MS C/SDK and WINCDP uses CTL3D.DLL to accomplish 3D effects. Try it and you will love it.

The latest version of WINCDP can be found on the:

Site:	IP Address	Location

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CICA:	winftp.cica.indiana.edu	/pub/pc/win3/sounds

SimTel:	OAK.Oakland.Edu	/pub/pc/windows3

See also:  Shareware , Registration , Author


System Requirement

You need the following devices and drivers to get WINCDP to work.

Must have:

(1)	CD-ROM

(2)	Windows 3.1 or above

(3)	386 SX or above

(4)	MCICDA.DRV

It can be found in one of the source disks of your windows pack. You can install this driver from

control panel by selecting Drivers icon.

Optional:

(1)	Sound Card.

If you have a sound card, then you can control volume levels within WINCDP.


Files You Should Have

There are seven files in the version 2.3 package I distributed.

The following is a short description for their usage.

File Name	Description

WINCDP.EXE	The Main Program.

WINCDDLL.DLL	The Timer Control Dynamic Linking Library.

WINCDP.TXT	The DOS Version Readme File.

REGISTER.TXT	The DOS Version Registration Form File.

WINCDP.HLP	This Help File.

CTL3D.DLL	3D dialog box dynamic linking library.

VENDOR.TXT	Text file for shareware vendors.

If you do not see any of them, you must download WINCDP again.

REGISTER.TXT is only included in evaluation package.


Install WINCDP

The installation of WINCDP is very simple. All you have to do is copy all the files to your hard disk

Select WINCDP into one of your Window Groups from Windows.

There are things that you have to notice ...

1.)	Make sure that WINCDP.EXE WINCDDLL.DLL and WINCDP.HLP

are in the same directory.

2.)	Copy CTL3D.DLL to your window\system directory. Dont override the newer one in your

windows\system directory.

Well, I am writing a Setup program that will automatically install WINCDP for you.

See Also: WINCDP Commands


WINCDP Commands

WINCDP uses bitmap buttons to replace regular text buttons.

Basic Operations

     Buttons Overview	Shortly Describe the Functionality of Each Button

     Play Modes	Toggle Playing Modes

     Timer Display Mode	Toggle Timer Display Modes

     Compact Disc Database	Overview of Compact Disc Database

Miscellaneous Options

     Pseudo-Random

     Program Order

     Volume Control

WINCDP Options

     Immediately Play After Init

     Remember Position

     Show Full Dialog

     Show Edit Box on New Disc

     Gray Buttons when Disabled

     Add Every Disc to Database

     Sleep Functionality

     Always On Top


Buttons Overview

The following table introduces shortly all the bitmap buttons in WINCDP.

Some of the following bitmaps have been changed several times.

Button	Name	Description
	Power	To close WINCDP window
	Play, Pause	To play and pause CD audio
	Stop	To stop playing CD audio and reset lens
	Eject	To eject CD
	Skip	To skip to the next track
	Back	To back to the previous track
	Seek Forward	To skip the next 10 seconds
	Seek Backward	To back 10 seconds
	Introduce	To play the first 20 seconds of each song
	Sound Plus	To increase volume level by 2.per click
	Sound Minus	To decrease volume level by 2 per click
	Set Option	To call up the Option Dialog Box
	Database	To call up the Database Dialog Box
	Help	To call up the WINCDP help file.
	About	To call up the About Dialog Box


Play Modes

There are six play modes now. They are described below.

Mode Name	Description

Normal	Play a CD in its original order, just once.

Shuffle Play	Randomly play songs on a CD.

Repeat Disc	continuously play the whole disc

Repeat Song	continuously play a certain song

Program Play	Play songs that are in program list

Pseudo-random	Play songs that are in pseudo-random list

When you want WINCDP to play in any mode shown above, just check that radio button and push play

button. Then WINCDP will play CD audio in the way you want.


Timer Display Modes

You can toggle the timer display mode between Count Upon and Count Down.

They are described below.

Name	Description

Count Upon	Display the timer from the beginning of a song.

Count Down	Display the timer from the end of a song.


Compact Disc Database

WINCDP provides a Compact Disc Database from 2.0 release on.

WINCDP saves all the textual information to WINCDP.INI. You can find this file in your windows

subdirectory. You can also edit your CD catalog with a text file editor such as PEII, NOTEPAD and

so on. Its very easy to understand the format of WINCDP.INI.

When you open Database Dialog Box, you will see a list box with all the CD titles and artists in it..

You can edit a certain CD by double-clicking on an item or push EDIT button when an item is highlighted.

Then you will be presented with a dialog box containing all the previously entered information.

You can change them by entering new information and push UPDATE button or leave without changing

any thing by push CANCEL button.


Pseudo Random

Pseudo Random is much alike to Program . It allows users to play songs on a certain CD from the one he/she likes best to the one he/she does not like. Of course, the users have to construct a pseudo-random list first.

There are two list boxes in the Pseudo Dialog Box.One is Available List,the other is Pseudo List.

As you can see, the Available List contains as many items as the total number of tracks on a CD.

You can select songs from Available List to Pseudo List by double-clicking the items in

Available List.. You can delete songs from Pseudo List by double-clicking the items in it.

Summary

Available List:	Display the information of songs on a disc. You can add them to Pseudo List by

double clicking on the items.

Pseudo List:	Display the information of songs you have selected. You can unselect them by double

clicking on the items.

After you have constructed a pseudo list, the pseudo-radio-button will be enabled. Then you can

select pseudo-random and push play button to enjoy songs in your order.

The major difference between Pseudo-random and Program is that songs can only be selected once

in pseudo-random while there is no limitation in the program mode.


Program

If you have a regular CD player, you will know for what purpose this option is. It allows users to enjoy

their CDs in any order they like without questions.

There are two list boxes in the Program Dialog Box.One is Available List,the other is Program List.

As you can see, the Available List contains as many items as the total number of tracks on a CD.

You can select songs from Available List to Program List by double clicking the items in

Available List.. You can delete songs from Program List by double clicking the items in it.

Summary

Available List:	Display the information of songs on a disc. You can add them to Program List by

double clicking on the items.

Program List:	Display the information of songs you have selected. You can unselect them by double

clicking on the items.

After you have constructed a program list, the program-radio-button will be enabled. Then you can

select program and push play button to enjoy songs in your order.

The major difference between Pseudo-random and Program is that songs can only be selected once

in pseudo-random while there is no limitation in the program mode.


Volume Control

There are two ways to change volume levels.

First:	From the Option Dialog

There are three meter-bars presenting left, right, and master volume level. There are also three

micro-scrolls for users to increase or decrease volume levels. Users can click the up or down

arrows of micro-scrolls to increase or decrease volume levels.

Second:	From Main Window

There are two bitmap buttons for users to change the master volume level.

See Buttons Overview for more information.

Volume Control of WINCDP is only available if your sound card will.  Some people dont have a sound card installed as the interface card for the cdrom and there enjoy Audio CD from the phone output on the deck of the cdrom. In this case, WINCDP will disable all the volume control buttons and will not allow users to change volume levels.


Immediately Play after Init
Immediately Play after Init.

If this option is checked, WINCDP will start to play CD audio whenever a compact disc is inserted.

This option is useful if you have a schedule utility which will automatically load WINCDP at a certain

time and WINCDP will start to play CD audio at that time.


Remember Position

If this option is checked, WINCDP will restore itself to the position you close WINCDP last time.

This option is useful if you care about the arrangement or settings of your windows' environment.

WINCDP will set its upper left corner to the position you close WINCDP and change its height to the

expanded or collapsed size depending on the Show Full Dialog option.


Show Full Dialog

If this option is checked, WINCDP will be displayed at the expanded size and disable the Set button.

That is, WINCDP will expand the Option Dialog Box and disable Set button to ensure that there is

no chance for users to collapse the Option Dialog Box.

See Also: Buttons Overview


Show Edit Box on New Disc

If this option is checked, WINCDP will display an Edit dialog box and query users the textual

information whenever a new compact disc is inserted. You can turn this option off and accept the

default strings as textual information.

This option will be disabled if the Add Every New Disc is not checked.


Gray Button when Disabled

If this option is checked, WINCDP will gray all the disabled buttons. It is clear to see which buttons

are enabled and which buttons are disabled. However, in my opinion, the grayed buttons doesnt look

good, so I added this option for users to decide to gray buttons or not. If you are familiar with the

operations of WINCDP, you can turn this option off.


Add Every Disc to Database

Some users complain that their database contains too many discs information that they dont want to

add. So, I added a new option for users to decide that whether the information of a disc should be added

to database or not. If this option is not checked, all the information of a new disc will be queued but not

save to database. A confirm-dialog-box will show up when users try to edit database.

If this options is not checked, WINCDP will disable the Show Edit Box on New Disc since users dont want to add every disc at all.


Sleep Functionality

WINCDP is now added a sleep functionality. Users can force WINCDP to close after a specified period

of time. This option can incorporate with a schedule utility which will automatically load WINCDP at a

certain time and WINCDP will close itself after a specified period.

This option is not fully tested. In fact I finished this option in a hurry and I had tested it triple times.

It roughly works.


Always on Top

If this option is checked, WINCDP will place itself at the topmost position and will not be hidden by

other applications.


What is Shareware

Shareware is a policy that gives users an opportunity to try an application out before purchasing it.  WINCDP is an application bases on this policy and allows users to try all the functionality before registering it.

There is a special association named Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). I am not a member of it. If you want more detailed information of it, you can write to the following address.

Association of Shareware Professionals

545 Grover Road

Muskegon, MI 49442-9427

See Also: Register WINCDP , What is WINCDP


Revision History

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE 2.3 RELEASE     Mar 15. 1994

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Added the eject in and eject out functionality. Thanks to Desrosiers for suggestion.

Added three vertical sliders for users to control volume levels. Users can page-up or page-down or

Thumb-Track the volume levels. Thanks to Michels for suggestion.

Added the fast-switch functionality. Users can begin or switch to any track of a CD.

Thanks to Prince for suggestion.

Added the Always on Top option. Users can force WINCDP to stay at the upmost position by checking

this option.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE 2.2 RELEASE     Feb 18. 1994

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fixed a bug which caused WINCDP to display wrong percent information while playing songs whose

length are longer than 11 minutes.

Added a help button. The users can obtain online help by pressing the help button.

Added a piece of code to paint the icon when WINCDP is minimized. In the previous versions, the

minimized WINCDP is a gray icon.

Append the option dialog box to the end of the main window. Thus, you can fine-tune the performance

of WINCDP. That's what I did in the 1.0 release.

Added 'Sleep' function. WINCDP will close itself after a user-specified time.

Added several checkboxes for users to define the behaviors of WINCDP,including 'Show Edit Dialog

on New Disc', 'Gray Button when Disabled' and so on.

Well, I have changed the bitmaps of some buttons because I found these bitmaps were too large and might

exceed the height or width of the buttons. So I could only change their size or even design newer bitmaps.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE 2.1 RELEASE     Feb 4. 1994

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fixed a major bug which caused WINCDP automatically ejects discs from

CD-ROM deck. OOPS ! Thanks to Phan and Michels for bug report.

Change the name of WINCDP.DLL to WINCDDLL.DLL because it might cause

WINCDP to fail.

Enhanced Bitmap-button technique. Now the bitmaps won't be screwed when

WINCDP is running at a display mode other than 800x600.

I have decided not to program the 'RECORD' option.

Instead, WINCDP adds a 'EJECT' button. It allows users to eject CD from

CD-ROM if their CD-ROM support 'software-eject'.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE 2.0 RELEASE     Jan 27. 1994

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are great enhancements in the 2.0 release.

   1.)	Database Support.

WINCDP supports database. Now you can maintain your own compact

discs database via WINCDP.

   2.)	Added one playing mode : PSEUDO-RANDOM.

You can play all the songs on a disc from the one you like best to

the one you don't like. (Much like to PROGRAM)

Thanks to Kress for suggestion.

   3.)	Added a meter bar

I have added a meter bar to display how much has been finished.

Thanks to Gottliep for suggestion.

   4.)	Fixed several bugs.

I am sorry for these bugs.

Thanks to those who helped me find them out.

   5.)	Enhanced Program-Dialog box.

Now, to make a program list is much easier in 2.0 than in 1.0.

   6.)	Changed its name from WINCD to WINCDP

I have changed its name from WINCD to WINCDP because there is already a commercial

software named WINCD.

   As you can see, the "record" option is not available in this release. It will be finished in the near future.

   Now, it's keeped as a secret.

   Thanks to vostveen for suggestion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE 1.0 RELEASE     Jan 10. 1994

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the first release of WINCDP and limited features are finished.

However, there are still exciting features available ....

  1.)	Provide Three Play Modes .

WINCDP provide three play modes. They are

(1) Normal Play

      With normal play mode, you can toggle another three modes.

      Don't Repeat, Repeat Disk and Repeat Single.

(2) Shuffle Play

      You can enjoy you compact disc RANDOMLY with this feature.

(3) Program Play

      You can rearrange the order of the songs on a Disc.

  2.)	Provide Volume Control

WINCDP provides volume control. And also if your sound card supports

Left/Right volume mixing, then WINCDP allows you to tune the L/R volume

separately.

  3.)	Toggle Time Display

You can toggle time display between COUNT DOWN and COUNT UPON...

The default is COUNT UPON, which makes WINCDP display the CD position

from the beginning of a song.

  4.)	Introduction Mode.

You can listen to the first 20 seconds of all the songs on a disc.

  5.)	Graphical Control

WINCDP is fully graphical. Most of the buttons are programmed using Owner-Draw-Button

and much alike to the control buttons of a regular CD player.

WILL have

  1.)  WINCDP will support CD database in the near future.

  2.)  WINCDP will allow more configurable options including the colors.

WINCDP acts like a personal CD player. In fact I got all the ideas from

my CD player ...


License request for WINCDP

WINCDP is licensed on a per user basis.  The license grants the user the right to install and use the software on one or more computers so long as the total number of users does not exceed the license quantity. I can only accept money orders

WINCDP  version 2.3

NAME_________________________________________

COMPANY_____________________________________

STREET________________________________________

CITY__________________________________________

STATE_____________________     ZIP_______________

COUNTRY_________________

Preferred way to receive registered version.

___ Email Box : _________________________________

___ Plain Mail : Disk Size preferred    3.5"___    5.25"____

WINCDP Version 2.3	$10.00...______

Shipping/Handling  by Plain Mail	$ 5.00... ______

                                                  Total Amount................ ______

Mail your completed registration request and money to:

Tony G. Wu

#42, Pu-Wei Road, Pitou Shiang,

Chang-Hua Shien, Taiwan, ROC

Thank you for supporting the shareware software concept and encouraging the future development of Windows shareware!


Copyright Note

Please listen to me.

WINCDDLL.DLL is copyrighted by Tony G. Wu , portion copyrighted by Douglas Boling.

WINCDP.EXE and all the others are copyrighted by Tony G. Wu.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation


Vendor Documentation

WINCDP Shareware Disk Vendor Documentation

Version 2.3 -- February 23, 1994

This file provides information for shareware disk vendors and user groups on the distribution of WINCDP

I am glad to work with you in the distribution of WINCDP, as user groups and disk vendors are an important part of the shareware distribution system.

WINCDP is a "shareware application" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation.

Feel free to share this evaluation version with your friends, and copy to bulletin boards, but do not give

it away altered or as part of another system. The original ZIP file must not be modified.

See What is Shareware

The registered version can not be distributed. Distributing a registered version breaks the law of

copyright. If you would like to have a registered version of WINCDP, send your request to me.

See Register WINCDP.

The latest evaluation version of WINCDP can be found at one of the following sites:

Site:	IP Address	Location

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CICA:	winftp.cica.indiana.edu	/pub/pc/win3/sounds

SimTel:	OAK.Oakland.Edu	/pub/pc/windows3

You can contact me at any of the addresses below.  Please mail your materials to me at the mail address below.

Mail Address:

Tony G. Wu

#42, Pu-Wei Road, Pitou Shiang,

Chang-Hua Shien, Taiwan, ROC

Email Box:

u800620@Winkie.Oz.nthu.edu.tw	(Preferred)

tony@Winkie.Oz.nthu.edu.tw


About the Author

Tony G. Wu

Tony G. Wu is the author of WINCDP. He is a junior in National Tsing-Hua University.

He majors in Chemical Engineering. WINCDP is the first shareware application he wrote.

You can contact him by either plain mail or email. He will be glad to hear from you.

Mail Address:

#42, Pu-Wei Road, Pitou Shiang,

Chang-Hua Shien, Taiwan,  ROC

Internet Address:

u800620@Winkie.Oz.nthu.edu.tw	(Preferred)

tony@Winkie.Oz.nthu.edu.tw

He says:

English is not my native language and I am still learning it. Please dont blame me for my

poor English but if I have made any mistakes please correct me. I also regard this as a bug

in my document file.