Copyright: (c) 1992 Graphical Bytes, Inc.


Main Index
CD Player for Windows - Main Index

Contents:

Introduction

Menus

Player Controls

Player Overview

Playing a CD

Position Locater

Saving CD Titles

What Happened? - Commonly Asked Questions


Application Overview
The Player Face and its Controls

Click in the picture at the left on the item for which you want Help or go to the Main Index!


Introduction
CD Player for Windows - Introduction

CD Player for Windows, by Graphical Bytes, Inc., allows a Windows 3.1 user who has a compact disk player installed in his/her computer play standard music CD's easily from within Windows.  It allows you to either play all tracks on the CD, or a selected range of musical tracks.

Multimedia support must be present for this program to work.  If your machine is not properly setup to work with the CD player, CD Player for Windows will not work either!  If you cannot get the program to work, or are unsure of the proper operation of your CD-ROM drive, please contact the manufacturer.

Some of CD Player's features are:

CDPFW looks and acts like a standard Audio CD Player.

CDPFW catalogs CD's and the tracks you like, so that you don't have to fumble for your favorite tracks.

CDPFW allows you to switch to an EXACT position on each track, by clicking in the Position Locator.

CDPFW keeps track of CD Track Time in both Elapsed and Remaining modes.

CDPFW allows you to either play your whole CD, selected tracks, or a range of tracks!


PLAYER CONTROLS

The CD Player for Windows has many controls.  The main operational controls are clustered together into an operational panel  The Main Cluster looks like the following:

Each button performs a seperate function, depending upon the action that is being performed.  Click on the button for which you need Help!


Reverse
Reverse Button

When the player is stopped, this button will make the player seek backwards one track.  When you are simply playing a CD from the beginning on, this button will retreat the player to the beginning of the track that is playing.  A second click will retreat the player to the prior track, unless you are playing track 1 already.

If you are playing Selected Tracks, this button will bring you to the previous track on your selected list, unless you are currently playing the first selection on your list.


Forward
  Forward Button

When the player is stopped, this button advances the player to the next track on the CD.  If you are currently on the last track of the CD, this button will be disabled.

When playing a CD normally, this button will interrupt the current track, and advance to as well as begin playing the next CD track.

If you are playing Selected Tracks, this button will skip to the next selected track on your list, unless you are playing the last selected track on your list.


Play
 Play Button

This button plays a CD.  Use this button when you want to begin playing a CD in the player.  If the player is playing, this button is disabled.


Pause
  Pause Button

This button pauses the player.  You then can move ahead or back through the CD tracks, or resume playing from where you were when you paused by clicking the Play Button.  You can also click on the Position Locator to go to an exact position on a track.


Stop
  Stop Button

The Stop button stops the player, and resets the position of the play heads to track 1, position 0:00.  It is always enabled.  This button will halt ANY playing operation.


Eject
 Eject Button

This button will Eject a CD from the player.  It is always enabled, unless there is no CD in the player.  Pressing this button halts the play process, and ejects the CD from the physical player.


Elapsed
Elapsed Timer Button

When this button is showing as it is to the left, the timer will read out in advancing time.  If clicked, it will change to the Remaining Timer Button as shown below.

Remaining Timer Button

When this button is showing as it is to the left, the timer will read out the remainin time on the CD track currently playing.  If you click on this button, it will change to the Elapsed Timer Button as shown above.


Volume

  Volume Bar

This control is actually an "activator" region on which you can click.  Many sound cards such as the Sound Blaster Pro come equipped with a software "controller" from which you can adjust the volume output levels from your sound card.

To utilize this control, save the name of the controller program from the CD Controller Setup... menu choice under the File menu.  Once this application has been saved, a click on the volume bar will execute, or bring the application to the front of your screen, even if it's running or minimized.


Position Locator

Click on the area about which you need information!

The Position Locator is accessed from the grey rectangle at the bottom middle of the player.  When this "button" is pressed, the Position Locator will drop down.  This control reflects the length of the CD track playing at the time.  The needle will move across the time indicator, showing your present position in the track.  At any time, you can click with the mouse on a position on the indicator, and the player will move to that spot on the track.

In PLAYING mode, a click on the blue position bar will skip the player to the position on the track where you clicked, and continue playing from there.

In PAUSED mode, a click on the blue position bar will move the CD Player to that position on the track, play a quick burst of sound for verification, and wait there for you to either hit the PLAY BUTTON to continue playing from that spot, or select another position or track to play from.

To close the Position Locator, click on the Up Button on the right side of the Position Locator.


Menus

Menus:

File Menu

Actions Menu

Settings Menu

Help Menu


File Menu

Load This CD's Programmed Tracks - Loads the CD's selected tracks, if not done already.  Can also be accomplished from the selection window, by clicking on the CD Button.

Catalogue This CD - Invokes the Save CD dialog box, so the CD can be catalogued for automatic reference later.  When cataloguing a CD, ONLY catalogue the CD that is in the player at the time.  CD Player for Windows saves information about the first three tracks of each CD, so that it can identify it later.  The same as clicking the Catalogue Button in the Selection Window.

CD Controller Setup - This menu choice invokes the CD Controller Setup window where you select and save the application to run when you click on the Volume Control bar.

Execute CD Controller - Invokes the CD Controller you saved in the CD Controller Setup window.  It is easier, however, to click on the Volume Control bar on the front panel of the player to accomplish the same task.

Exit - Closes CD Player for Windows.


Action Menu

Actions Menu

Open Selection Window - Drops down the second half of the CD Player's main window from where you can select specific tracks, or a range of CD tracks to play.

Hide Selection Window - Closes the Selection Window, which is the second half of CD Player's main window.

Play Selected Tracks - Plays the queued selected tracks for the CD in the player.


Settings Menu

Track/Time Display Under Icon - This menu choice toggles the icon display.  When checked, the current track playing, as well as the Elapsed Time (E) or Remaining Time (R) on the track playing.  When not checked, no icon readout will be displayed.  When enabled, the icon display will be refreshed every 2-4 seconds.  Elapsed and remaining time are toggled with the Elapsed/Remaining Time Buttons.

Italic Readout Displays - Determines whether or not the readout displays on the main screen are in italics.  When checked, italics are enabled, when not checked, regular text characters are displayed.

Black Display Boxes - Toggles the readout display backgrounds.  When checked, the readouts have black backgrounds, when not checked, the backgrounds are gray.

Show Frames Around Readouts - Enables or disables the colored frames around the readout displays.  Checked, the frames are displayed, and unchecked, no frames are shown.  If frames are not to be shown, the next menu item, Frame Colors, will be disabled.

Frame Colors - This menu choice invokes another menu of colors from which you can choose a suitable frame color for your player.  This item is disabled if the previous menu item, Show Frames Around Readouts, is checked.


Help Menu

Contents - Invokes this help file.

Help on Help - Executes Help on using the Windows help file system.

About CD Player - Brings up CD Player's about box.


Playing a CD

Playing a Compact Disc with the CD Player for Windows is easy!  There are several ways to initiate playing...

The first is to hit the Play Button on the main cluster.  This action will begin playing the CD in the CD-ROM drive where it is positioned at the time you click the button.

The next is to Play Selected Tracks.  Either click on the Play Selected Tracks button in the Expanded Track Selection Window, or choose the Play Selected Tracks menu choice under the Actions Menu.

The third is to play a Range of Tracks from the CD in the player.  This is accomplished by setting the range in the Expanded Track Selection Window, then clicking on the Play Track Range button.


Expanded Track Selection Window

The Expanded Track Selection WIndow is accessed by clicking on the small button in the lower right hand corner of the player , or you can choose the "Open Selection Window" menu selection from the Settings Menu, or you can hit the F-5 key.

In the Expanded Selection WIndow, you can select several types of CD track ranges:

Track Range - Clicking the "Track Range" radio button enables the track range section (when the window opens, CD Player for Windows defaults to "Program Selections").  Once this section is active, simply set the starting track ("From Track"), and the ending track ("To Track"), then click on the "Play Track Range" button.  This area is fairly straightforward.

Program Selections: - The Program Selections area is a bit more complicated than the Track Range section!  Here, you can select specific tracks to play, load saved tracks for the current CD, save selected tracks, and catalogue a CD.

The Track List is a list of all of the available tracks on the current CD.  By double clicking on any of the tracks in the Track List, the selected track will be placed in the Selected listbox.  You can click on several tracks, or only one.  You can repeat a track over and over by adding it several times to the Selected list.

The CD button, located at the upper right hand corner of this area, loads the saved tracks for the current CD.  When you click on this button, all tracks listed in the Selection listbox are removed, and replaced with the saved tracks.  You can remove a track from the Selected list by double clicking on it, and then confirming the removal by clicking on "Yes."

The Catalog Button allows you to save the selected tracks, CD title, and CD artist name, FOR THE CD IN THE PLAYER AT THE TIME!  CD Player for Windows saves information about the first few tracks of the CD for later identification purposes, so you MUST identify this CD properly when you save.  You can save up to 20 selected tracks for each CD, and these will be catalogued when you save the CD itself.  However, they MUST be selected BEFORE you cataloG the CD.

The Flush Button clears all selected tracks, and resets the player back to Track 1, position 0.

When you click the Play Selected Tracks button, the selections you have made will be played.  You can skip back and forth throught these selections with the Forward Button and the Reverse Button.


Cataloguing a CD

Cataloging and Saving a CD

Once you have selected "favorite" tracks for the CD in the player, and have clicked on the Catalog Button, you will be presented with the above dialog box.  If the CD has been previously catalogued, the CD title and artist name will already be selected for you.  If not, enter the appropriate information.  The CD Title and Artist name will be saved, along with the tracks that were selected when you chose the Catalog Button, as well as information about the CD itself.

You can delete a saved CD by clicking the Delete button.

If you want to end this action, click on the Cancel Button.


Time

CD Player's Clock Display

CD Player for Windows displays time in two ways.  The first is Elapsed Time, where the time increments upwards as the track plays.  The other is Remaining Time, which counts from the length of the track down..

These two states can be toggled by clicking on the Elapsed/Remaining indicator.


Status

Present Status

The present status of the CD player hardware is shown above the main control cluster.  It can have the following notations:

EJECTING - The player is ejecting the current CD.

INSERT CD - The player has no CD inside.  Insert a CD into the player.

PAUSED - The player is in a paused state.

PLAYING - The player is playing the CD straight through, and not following any other pattern other than the layout of the disk.

PLAYING SEL - The player is playing your selected tracks for the current CD.

SEEK >> - The player is seeking forward to the next track, or if you are playing selected tracks, to the next selected track.

SEEK <<	- The player is seeking backward to the beginning of the current track, the previous track, or if you are playing selected tracks, to the previous selected track.

STOPPED - The player is stopped, and positioned at track 1, ready to play.


Tracks

Tracks Display

The Tracks display area shows how many tracks are on the current CD to play, and is located between the Main Cluster and the Volume Control.


CD Door

CD Drive Door

The CD Drive Door is where the current CD title and artist name is displayed.  If the player hardware has no CD inserted, the title will read "THERE'S NO CD IN THE PLAYER!"


Current Track

The Current box shows which track is presently being played by the player, or where the player is currently positioned if stopped or paused.


Track Selection Drop Down Button

Expanded Track Selection WIndow Drop Down/Hide Button

This button, located just under the lower edge of the player front, toggles the showing of the Expanded Track Selection Window.


Flush Button

The Flush Button clears all selected tracks, stops the player, re-enables the Play Selected Tracks button and resets the player back to Track 1, position 0:00.


Play Selected Tracks

Play Selected Program Tracks Button

The Play Selected Tracks button is located in the Expanded Track Selection Window.  When clicked, it begins playing the tracks you have selected (tracks listed in the Selected Listbox).  This action cancels any other operation other than ejection.

Once the player has begun to play your selected tracks, this button becomes disabled, and does not become enabled again until either all selected tracks have been played, or the Stop button is pressed.


Closing the Position Locator

Close Locator Button

The locator may be closed in two ways.  The first is by choosing "Close Position Locator" from the Actions menu, and the second is by clicking on the Close Position Locator button.

This button is located on the far right side of the Position Locator window.


Track Ranges

Play Track Range Button

The Play Track button is located in the lower left corner of the Expanded Track Selection Window.  This button only becomes enabled when the Track Range RadioButton is clicked or "on".  When enabled, a click on this button starts the player playing the range of tracks you selected in the From and To editboxes.

The range will begin playing and continue until either the Pause, Stop or Play Track Range buttons are pressed.


From and To for Ranges

From and To Editboxes (for Track Ranges)

The From and To editboxes are located in the Expanded Track Selection Window, on the left hand side.  They are used to set the starting and ending tracks for a "range play" respectively.

Both editboxes are enabled ONLY when the Track Range RadioButton is selected.  Otherwise, they are disabled.

Enter the starting track in the From Track box, and the ending track in the To Track box.


Track List

The Track List is located in the Expanded Track Selection Window.  It lists all of the available tracks on the CD in the player, with their times to the right.

To select one of these tracks, double click on the preferred track, and it will be added to the Selected list.  You can repeat this operation as many times as you like.  You can even select a specific track several times.


Selected List

The Selected listbox is located on the right side of the Expanded Track Selection Window, and has the caption "Selected:" above it.

This is the list of tracks which have either been selected during this session, or have been previously saved for the CD in the player.  To add items to this list, double click on any track listed in the Track List to the left.  This action will add the double clicked item to the selected list.

To remove a selected item, double click on its entry in the Selected listbox, and confirm that you want to remove this track from the list.


Track Ranges

Track Range RadioButton

The Track Range RadioButton is located in the Expanded Track Selection Window, on the upper left hand side.  When selected, it enables all of the controls associated with track range selection, while disabling the Program Selections side of the window.

Choosing this radiobutton allows you to also choose a range of tracks to play, as well as actually play that range of tracks.


Program Selections RadioButton

The Program Selections RadioButton is located in the Expanded Track Selection Window, on the upper right hand side.  When clicked or selected, this radiobutton choice enables all of the controls in the Program Selections side of the window, and at the same time, disables those under Track Range.

This choice MUST be selected for you to be able to select specific tracks.


Minimize Button

As in most other Windows applications, the minimize button, located in the uppermost right hand corner of the CD Player Application WIndow.  Clicking on this button reduces CD Player for Windows to an icon which appears on your Windows Desktop.

If the "Track/Time Display Under Icon" in the Settings Menu is checked, when the application is iconized, the icon title will show the track and time of the CD playing in the player.


Position Locator Click Region

This is the blue middle region of the Position Locator.  It is here that the Indicator needle moves in sync with elapsed time, and where you can click to change the position of the indicator needle and the player heads.


System Menu

As other windows programs, CD Player for Windows has a System Menu in the upper left hand corner of the application.  A click on this box and you are presented with a menu from which you can close the application, minimize the application, and move the application.


Position Indicator Needle

The Position Indicator Needle is the red indicator in the Position Locator.  When the player is playing, it moves in sync with the elapsed time counter.   When the player is paused or playing and the Position Locator is visible, this needle will move to the place on the bar where you click.


Time Scale

Position Locator Time Scale

The Position Locator Time Scale reflects the length of the current CD track.  It changes its spacing, depending upon the length of the current track.

All marks represent 6 seconds, and correspond to the marks in the Position Locator Click Region.

When the track length is under 10 minutes, the main minute markers are denoted by 0:00, 1:00, 2:00 and so forth.  When the track time is over 10 minutes, the minute markers will be displayed as 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on.


Common Questions

Not all tracks I selected played!

I cannot get the needle in the Position Locator to move when I click!


Not All Tracks Played

I chose my selected tracks, but not all of them played!

Selected tracks will play as selected as long as CD Player for Windows is running, and provided that no other application has exclusive control of the CPU.  If you start the Play Selected Sequence, and then close CD Player for Windows, CD Player can no longer control the physical disc player.  There is, however, an exception to this!

If you simply Play the CD from one point on without playing specific selected tracks, or by initiating a play sequence of a range of tracks, once the process is initiated, and CD Player is closed, the play command initiated while the program was open will continue and finish, even after CD Player for Windows is closed.


Position Needle Doesn't Move!

I'm clicking in the Position Locator Click Region, but the needle won't move!

The click region in the Position Locator only moves when CD Player is in the following modes:  PLAYING, PLAYING SEL, or  PAUSED.

When CD Player for Windows is STOPPED, it is stopped at the "Home" position on the CD.  Either move to the next track and back with the forward and reverse buttons respectively which will put the Player into PAUSED mode, or begin PLAYING, and then Pause the Player, and move to your selected position with the Click Region.


  Load Selected Tracks Button

A click on this button, located in the Expanded Track Selection Window, clears the Selected listbox, and retrieves all selected tracks saved for the CD presently in the player.


CD Controller Setup...

Almost every sound card for a PC comes with a software package to adjust volume levels.  Since these apps are specific to eack piece of hardware, CD Player for Windows allows you to set which application to run when you desire to adjust volume levels.

Choose CD Controller Setup... from the File menu.  You will be presented with the following dialog box:

If you need help on a specific control, click on that item in the picture to the left!

Using the Drive List, the Directory List, and File List, choose the application you wish to run when you press the Volume Control on the main window.

You can load the selected application by clicking on the Load App button.  Using this method, you can utilize this dialog box to load any Windows app on your system.

You can save the app in the ini file by clicking on the Save button.  If you desire to save the app as part of the setup, that app CAN NOT BE RUNNING when you click on the Save button!  If you don' have a volume controller for you sound card, you can launch any Windows program from the volume control on the main screen, by saving it here in the CD Controller Setup dialog box!


CD Controller Name
Controller Name (CD Controller Setup)

The Controller Name is the complete drive path and file name of the sound controller you are going to use (or other program if you have no volume controller.  It is located at the top left corner of the CD Controller Setup dialog box.


Load App Button
Load App Button (CD Controller Setup)

This button, located on the right hand side of the CD Controller Setup dialog box, runs or loads the application named in the Controller Name editbox.


Save Button in Controller Setup
Save Button (CD Controller Setup)

The Save button in the CD Controller Setup dialog box SAVES the selected file (Controller Name) to CD Player's ini file.  The saved application can then be run by clicking the Volume Control button on the front face of the player.

It is important to note that when you want to initialize and save an application in the CD Controller Setup dialog, the application you wish to save CANNOT BE RUNNING WHEN YOU CLICK THE SAVE BUTTON!  If the app is running, even if it's iconized, close it, then choose it from this dialog box.


Cancel CD Controller Setup
Cancel Button (CD Controller Setup)

If you decide to cancel the changes you have made in the CD Controller Setup dialog box, click on the Cancel button.  This action will close the CD Controller Setup dialog, and return you to the main screen.


Directory List in CD Controller Setup
Directory List (CD Controller Setup)

When choosing an application to Load or Save in the CD Controller Setup dialog box, this listbox shows all available subdirectories located on the selected Drive.

A double-click in this listbox will change the current default directory to the directory on which you clicked.


Drive List in CD Controller Setup
Drive List (CD Controller Setup)

When choosing an application to Load or Save in the CD Controller Setup dialog box, this listbox shows all available drives on your system!


File List in CD Controller Setup
File List (CD Controller Setup)

After you have chosen a Drive and Directory, you can select the file to Load or Save in the  CD Controller Setup dialog box by double-clicking in the File listbox.  This will change the Controller Name to reflect the chosen drive, directory and file name.