GCW Games & More & Wacky Windows Companion

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Text File | 1994-12-16 | 22.9 KB | 701 lines

MIDI Machine V1.10 (c) Excel Progs/TOW Development 1994 I. Info about Excel Progs/TOW Development II. Introduction III. What You Need IV. Running MIDI Machine V. Configuring MIDI Machine VI. Extra Animations VII. Support Info. VIII. Registering IX. Revisions X. Warranty/Disclaimer/License/Thanks I. Info about Excel Progs/Tow Development MIDI Machine V1.10 by Excel Progs/TOW Development MIDI Machine was written by Andrew Malek of Excel Progs, and is being distributed by Excel Progs and TOW Development. For more information, contact Excel Progs at: Excel Progs c/o Andrew Malek 434 Gallaher View Road Apt 60 Knoxville, TN 37919 Or, contact either Excel Progs or TOW Development via The Other World BBS of Knoxville, TN. The Other World BBS: (615)-577-9342, Games, No Ratio, More II. Introduction Congratulations for choosing MIDI Machine as your MS-Windows(c) MIDI player! Midi Machine is the latest of Excel Progs line of excellent products for the IBM(c)/clone computers, and like all EP products, it is backed by full support. Midi Machine allows you to play the .MID (MIDI) files that are seen all throughout the world. Midi Machine also allows you to play the standard .WAV (WAVEAUDIO) files. MIDIs cover all genres of music, including: o Big Band Jazz/Blues/Funk/New Age Jazz o Hard Rock/Heavy Metal o Pop Music/Rock 'N' Roll o Easy Listening/Soft Rock o Classical/Instrumental and many more styles of music are represented by this music file format. WAVs cover all types of sounds, including: o Instrument Demonstrations o Music Clippings o Voice-Mail Attachments o System Events and many more types of sound files are represented by this audio file format. III. What you Need In order to play music with Midi Machine, you must have: o MS-Windows 3.1 or higher o A Midi-compatible sound card (GUS, SB, SBPro, SBAWE32, TB, SMWave, ..etc) o Installed MIDI drivers for Windows o VBRUN300.DLL (found at many fine BBS's and distribution networks) If you wish to only play WAV files, the midi drivers and midi- compliant sound card are not needed. You will, however, need a sound card that can play digital sound and appropriate drivers. IV. Running MIDI Machine In order to run Midi Machine, you need to copy, unpack,..etc the files you received. Next, copy the MCI.VBX and ANIBUTON.VBX files to your main Windows System directory (C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM on most systems if Windows is on drive C). Get VBRUN300.DLL from your distribution site (or The Other World BBS), and place it in your Windows directory (C:\WINDOWS on most systems if Windows is on drive C). Add the Midi Machine icon to your program manager or equivalent (or just run it straight using your pm's run command). Midi Machine will execute and bring you up to the main status window. This window is divided into several parts: o Status Bar This bar displays the name of the song being played, the mode of operation you are in, and other information (it CAN be turned off...see "Configuring MIDI Machine.") o Info Bar This bar will contain file INFO on sound files when you request it (see "Text Buttons") o Drive Selection Window This will allow you to choose which drive Midi Machine will pull the Sound files from. o Directory Selection Window This will allow you to choose which directory from which Midi Machine will pull the files or album files. o File Selection Window This will allow you to choose the individual sounds that you wish to add to your playing queue (see below). Or, when loading albums, this is where you will select the album which contains files to place in your queue. o Animation Box This box is located under the INFO BAR, and defaults to blank. It will be replaced with an Icon-Animation when sounds are being played if so desired. When clicking on this box, you are able to customize the icons Midi Machine uses when playing .MID and .WAV files. There are 9 separate animations to choose from, as well as "none" for no animations to be seen and "Rand" for random viewing of animations. Choose the check box corresponding to the animation you wish to set (for .MID files, for .WAV files, or both) and click on the corresponding icon button. Your selection will be automatically started and will be saved if you save the .INI file from SETUP (see "CONFIGURING MIDI MACHINE"). o Sound Playing queue This will be a list of Sounds that you have selected to play, in order of selection (note that the order the Sound files are selected are NOT exactly the order in which that they will be played! See below for more options). o Text Input Bar A text input region above the three file buttons (Rename, Delete, and Info) that is used when performing various extended functions (see "GRAPHIC BUTTONS"). o Text Buttons Buttons are the method by which you can tell MIDI machine what to do. The text buttons are as follows: (R)ename Allows you to rename or move a sound when you are out of playing mode. (D)elete Allows you to delete a sound when not in playing mode. (I)nfo Allows you to get information on a sound. This information will be displayed in the INFO BAR which is the second text bar from the top. (A)dd Allows you to add a sound file from the file selection window to your Sound playing queue. Add A(l)l Allows you to add ALL sound files from the file selection window to your Sound playing queue. R(e)move Removes a sound or sounds from your playing queue. (C)lear Clears ALL sounds from the queue. A(b)out Information about Midi Machine, including the author, and the person to whom this version of MIDI Machine is registered to (if this is a registered version). E(x)it Exits Midi Machine or the current task if you are using one of the graphical buttons (see "GRAPHIC BUTTONS"). Set(u)p Goes into MIDI Machine configuration mode, where you can change many options of the program's operation (see "CONFIGURING MIDI MACHINE"). (H)elp Displays help about Midi Machine. (S)tart Start playing sounds! You must have sounds already in your queue for this operation to work. (N)ext Skip to the next sound in your queue. S(T)OP! Abort all sounds. Keeps any songs in the queue available for playing. (P)ause/(P)lay This button changes depending upon the state of the sound. You can temporarily pause the sound output and then resume later. o Graphic Buttons The graphic buttons are those to the top of the sound playing queue. This allow you to perform advanced operations, and are only accessible when you are not playing any sounds. Going from left to right, these are: Button 1 (Arrow pointing from disk to notes) Allows you to load an album to your queue. Albums are a collection of sound and music files that you may wish to play at a later time. They can be of rather large length (~32k), and can contain any combinations of sounds. Select the directory of the album using the directory selection window and the album name by the file selection window or the text input bar. You can only load ONE album at a time, and loading albums WILL ERASE your current queue! Button 2 (Arrow pointing from notes to disk) Allows you to save an album from your queue to disk. Same rules apply as far as selecting the file name. You will be warned if you wish to overwrite an existing album. Button 3 (Notes and a "1" in a diamond). Selects a "Header Midi." A Header Midi is a midi that plays before each other midi is executed. Useful if some midi songs do not return your card to its original state, and you have a midi that contains specific codes that do revert the card back to normal. Also useful if there is a song that you enjoy quite a bit, or if you want a "fanfare" before songs. This Header Midi will be saved to the INI file if you desire (see "CONFIGURING MIDI MACHINE"). o Sound Playing Check boxes (to the right of Queued Sounds) These check boxes allow you to change the order in which Sounds are being played. Simply click on the boxes to change the playing direction. S(h)uffle Plays the MIDIs in a format similar to a CD player's "Shuffle" mode. This will play all your sound files randomly until every song has been played. Then, the sounds will begin again with a new random combination. For example, if you have in your queue the files SOUNDA, SOUNDB, SOUNDC, SOUNDD, the way the sounds will be played COULD be like this: 1) SOUNDB 2) SOUNDC 3) SOUNDD 4) SOUNDA as all sounds have been played, the queue will start over with something randomly like: 1) SOUNDD 2) SOUNDB 3) SOUNDA 4) SOUNDC ...this will continue until you stop the sound playing by pressing "STOP!" or exiting the program by pressing "EXIT." This button is only visible when you are in selection, not playback, mode. Ran(d)om Plays the sound files COMPLETELY randomly, meaning that if you are using CONTIN. (continuous) mode you may hear one sound twice before hearing all of the others. Without CONTIN. mode, all sounds will play once and playing will stop. (B)kwrds Plays the sound files backwards. C(o)ntin. Plays the sounds continuously. This button is only visible when you are in selection, not playback, mode. o Sound Selection Check Boxes (M)id Adds .MID (MIDI) sound files to the list of files that can be selected (ON as default). (W)av Adds .WAV (WAVE) sound files to the list of files that can be selected (ON as default). o Help Bar This bar displays a line of help on the button or window which your mouse pointer is currently over. This is only applicable on the main screen and not in the configuration area (it CAN be turned off...see "Configuring MIDI Machine.") o Down-Pointed Arrow (Upper right-hand corner) Most programs made for the Windows(c) operating system have the ability to be minimized. Midi Machine takes this one step further, allowing you to have a "semi-minimized" mode. This mode displays: . The icon-animation (which you can click on to change the animations, similar to maximized mode) . The sound name . The button labeled "N," which goes to the next sound . The button labeled "S," which stops the sound playing . The button labeled "E," which exits the program . The arrow pointing up, which returns to the main sound selection/playing screen . The arrow pointing down, which minimizes the program completely. Double-clicking on the minimized icon will bring you back to the "semi-minimized" mode. o Drag&Drop Operation Not something you can visibally see, but a function that allows you to drag sound files from File Manager (or any other program that supports external drag&drop operations) and place them DIRECTLY into the sound queue. This ONLY WORKS when you are in sound playing/selection mode, and Midi Machine is maximized. You can set the program up to auto-play the queue after a drag&drop operation (See Below). V. Configuring MIDI Machine Midi Machine can be setup in many ways, and even more ways to make MIDI MACHINE configurable are being planned for later versions. o Visible Configurations These are configuration items that can be changed without editing the MM100.INI file (see below). Show Help Bar Allows you to allow/disallow the help bar from being displayed. Show Status Bar Allows you to allow/disallow the status bar from being displayed. Show Soundname When Minimized When Midi Machine is minimized or in the "semi-minimized" mode, the animation will still play! If this box is checked, the name of the sound currently playing will be displayed in the "semi- minimized" window along with the icon-animation, and in fully minimized mode, the sound name will be displayed under the icon- animation. Auto-Play on Drag&Drop Allows you to allow/disallow Midi Machine from playing the queue automatically after a drag&drop operation. This only is in effect if sounds are not already playing. Save Ini Saves all information on the setup screen, the icon animations, AND the current Header Midi into the MM100.INI file. Revert Ini Reverts the current configuration to that of MM100.INI. Exit To Main Exits back to the main screen. o .INI Configurations Midi Machine has a corresponding .INI file, MM100.INI. Various features of the program can be changed in this file with a simple TEXT editor (NOTEPAD will do fine). ShowStatusBar= X 1 = Show Status Bar 0 = Do Not Show Status Bar ShowHelpBar= X 1 = Show Help Bar 0 = Do Not Show Help Bar ShowSongWhenMinimized= X 1 = Show Sound Name When Minimized 0 = Do Not Show Sound Name When Minimized AutoPlayOnDrag = X 1 = Auto-Start the Queue After Drag&Drop Operation 0 = Do Not Auto-Start Queue. Anim_Mid= X Number of the MIDI to display when playing 0 = None 1-9 = Number of Picture (+1) 10 = Randomize Anim_Wav= X Number of the WAV to display when playing 0 = None 1-9 = Number of Picture (+1) 10 = Randomize Pic(0-8)= X Name of the animation to place in picture locations 0-8 instead of the default animation. The filenames used should be without the .CCC or .CCB extensions (see "EXTRA ANIMATIONS"). Leaving the space after the equal sign blank will stop Midi Machine from loading an external animation file. The defaults hard-coded into the program are: 0 = Conductor 1 = Ear 2 = Excel Progs Logo 3 = Wave 4 = Oscilloscope 5 = Dancing Notes 6 = Dancing Disk Man 7 = Feel The Music 8 = Fractal 1 [NOTE: Midi Machine MAY have been distributed with extra icon sets, and the icons you get when first running this program MAY be different. If that is the case, you may wish to examine the INI file.] HeaderMidi= X Name of the Header Midi (Midi to play before others). Leaving the space after the equal sign blank will stop Midi Machine from playing a header midi. [NOTE: For compatibility reasons and since V1.10 only adds one item to the .INI file, it was decided to keep the filename the same since V1.00.] VI. Extra Animations Midi Machine support external animation files (.CCB extension). These animations currently support 4 icons (more will be supported in the future). Each animation comes with a corresponding description file (.CCC extension), which is of this format (everything that is to be replaced by other text is in quotes). ~~~~~~This is the Beginning of the file~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "short icon description" [Date]:"icon creation date" [By]:"icon creator(s)" [Included]:"zip file or icon pack where animation was found" [Long Description] "description of icon." --------------------------------------------------------------- ~~~~~~This is the End of the file~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ REGISTERED users may send in the above information and 4 icons and shall receive an animated icon in return (note that if you do this via Internet I must have an e-mail address, and if you do this via mail I MUST have a disk and self-address stamped disk mailer! I also need to know whether or not the animated icon can be distributed freely). REGISTERED users may do this only with public domain icons which do not represent a company, group,..etc. The limit is 15 icons per registration, but special considerations may apply for other cases (especially if you're letting the animations be distributed freely). Contact me if you need information. For other cases (including making animations of business logos and having me draw you an animation)...leave me mail and we'll talk. VII. Support Info. If you notice any errors, please let me know. I can be contacted by the following ways: 1) SASE at the Excel Progs address. 2) E-Mail on The Other World BBS as Jman. 3) Internet E-Mail: admalek@sacam.oren.ortn.edu The only errors noticed (that haven't been corrected) is that the program will hang on a .MID that your current drivers can't support. If pressing the NEXT button does not work, pressing STOP and START should re-start the playing. Excel Progs is currently looking into this. There should be a new option whether to either display multimedia errors or simply skip the offending file(s) within the next two releases. If Midi Machine attempts to load a file in the queue that is not present, or if it attempts to load a .WAV that isn't supported (ex. trying to play a 16-bit wav on an 8-bit card), it will skip on to the next file. An option to halt the sound playing with an error is considered for the future. VIII. Registration Registration is $15.00, which will give you the current release of Midi Machine (up to version 1.5 - further versions MAY cost more) with your name on the title bar and in the ABOUT box (nothing profane, please!) Company/government/group registrations are as follows: 1-10 licenses / $14 @ 11-25 " " / $13 @ 26-49 " " / $12 @ 50 & up / $10 @ Mail the check or money order (NO CASH), your preferred disk format (3.5 or 5.25 double density), and your name or company name TO Andrew Malek. The full address is: Excel Progs re: Midi Machine Registration c/o Andrew Malek 434 Gallaher View Rd Apt. 60 Knoxville, TN 37919 (Note: TN Residents include 8.25% sales tax). (NOTE: MAKE SURE THE CHECK IS MADE OUT TO Andrew Malek AND NOT EXCEL PROGS). IX. Revisions V0.7 First Beta Version (For TOW Development beta-testing) V0.75 Misc. Features Added a minimum button. The text colors were changed from blue to yellow, letting the text stand out more. Altered the text in the "About" box slightly. You can now rename one file at a time (fixed), and it displays the name/size of the file in the box. Traps any errors in rename procedure. Ability to delete multiple files. Allows canceling of delete procedure. Traps any error in delete procedure. Able to play MIDIs in continuous mode. In the title bar, as well as when the icon is minimized, the text is changed to the midi name when playing, or "Paused..." when paused. V0.78 Graphics/More Minor Bug Fixes Added Setup Screen Added moving picture ability when midis are being played Created "Conductor," "Music Notes," "Feel the Music" animation sequences V0.83 WAV Support, Graphics/More Minor Bug Fixes Stopped "flicker" when changing icons in setup mode when playing midis. Added WAV support Added WAV icon support. Created "Ear," "Wave," "Oscil" animations. Added new feature of "Smart-Renaming"... wav files will add .wav extension if left off, mid files will add .mid extension if left off. V0.86 New About Box/More Bug Fixes Renaming a file to itself will not display error New "About" box New "About" and "Setup" box formats...windows stay on screen until you want them to be removed. You can have all three windows on at one time. V0.88 Bug Fixes/Speed Improvements Bug Fixes Increased speed with animated icons. When Midi Machine is minimized, the graphics will not move...speed increase. V0.89 Big Fixes/First Official Beta Release Bug Fixes V0.90 Sound Selection/Animation/Interim Release Added ability to select only .WAV / .MID files or both when adding files to the queue. Animated picture shows even when program is minimized. V1.00 Many Additions/First Official Standard Release Bug Fixes 9 default animations are installed, and WAV and MID files may use any/all of them. External animation support, with animation descriptions. Random animation play support. Shuffle play support. Load/Save Album support. Mouse-Pointer display help in Help Bar (configurable). Info Bar to display file information. .INI file support. Allows INFO button to be used during sound playing. Sound file information displayed in separate Info Bar. Added feature to turn-off display of sound name when minimizing icon. "Header Midi" support. Many other function/cosmetic changes not mentioned here. V1.05 "Semi-Minimize" Mode/Interim Release Added "semi-minimize" Mode. Placed Next, Stop, and Exit buttons on "semi-minimize" mode. V1.10 Auto-Play Drag&Drop/More Added Drag&Drop ability when loading and playing sounds. Added "Auto-Play On Drag&Drop" configurability. Changed the method of configuring icon-animations. Sped up the "AddAll" button operation. Bug Fixes/Cosmetic Changes X. Warranty/Disclaimer/License/Thanks EVERY EFFORT WAS MADE BY EXCEL PROGS/TOW DEVELOPMENT TO ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT AND EVERY ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO MAKE THE PROGRAM AS ERROR-FREE AS POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, NEITHER EXCEL PROGS, TOW DEVELOPMENT, ITS EMPLOYEES, SUPERVISORS,..ETC, TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OUTPUT OF THIS PROGRAM. YOU, THE USER, TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE USAGE OF THIS SOFTWARE. Microsoft, Windows, are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. All trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Midi Machine (c) 1994 Excel Progs, All Right Reserved REGISTERED/UNREGISTERED COPIES henceforth refer to this product, Midi Machine. You have the license to run UNREGISTERED COPIES on as many computers as you wish for a trial period. If you enjoy this program then you need to register. Only through registration can new versions be created. If you purchased a disk containing Midi Machine from a shareware vendor, that money DOES NOT count toward registration. You have the license to place UNREGISTERED COPIES on bulletin board systems, information systems, shareware compilations, or on cd-rom compilations, provided that you distribute the ENTIRE version with file descriptions (FILE_ID.DIZ and DESC.SDI). Although it is not required, it is appreciated if you let me know that you are distributing Midi Machine. REGISTERED copy holders have the license to place the REGISTERED copy on only one machine at a given time, and have the license to make backup copies for their PERSONAL ARCHIVAL USAGE ONLY! REGISTERED users may still make any copies they wish of the UNREGISTERED version for distribution. Thanks to everyone on the newsgroup ALT.BINARIES.SOUND.MIDI and others who have beta-tested this program, giving criticisms and ideas. I definitely appreciate the time you took to examine the beta version and give ideas for this full release.