Die Multimedia Power-CD/MULTIMEDIA.bin/rol_play/intune/intune.doc

Text File | 1990-09-24 | 8KB | 202 lines

                                INTUNE v1.00
                       An Adlib ROL File Music Player
                       Copyright 1990 by Doug Brandon








      INTRODUCTION

           I haven't been satisfied with any of the ROL player programs
      I've  seen, so I  decided to write  my own.   INTUNE is a program
      which  makes  playing  Adlib  *.ROL  music  files  very  easy and
      straightforward.   Files  may be  easily selected  for playing by
      using  either the  keyboard or mouse.   Some  notable features of
      INTUNE  include full mouse support,  repetitive playing of songs,
      song pause, song progress status, and virus checking.




      RUNNING INTUNE

           INTUNE [pathname] [/bbankfile.bnk]

           INTUNE   has  two  optional  command  line  parameters,  and
      ordering  of  parameters is  not  relevant.   The  first optional
      parameter is a pathname where the ROL files are to be found.  The
      second  optional parameter is the pathname of the instrument bank
      file  you wish  to use (the  .BNK extension  is NOT automatically
      appended).   If this parameter is  not specified, INTUNE will try
      to  use  "STANDARD.BNK".    It  is  important  that  there  is no
      whitespace  between  the  "/b"  and  the  actual  instrument bank
      pathname.  If a full pathname is not specified for the instrument
      bank  file, INTUNE will look for it  in the same directory as the
      ROL files.

           When  you  first  run  INTUNE, the  program  will  check for
      presence  of the memory resident  Adlib sound driver (SOUND.COM).
      If the sound driver is not found, the instrument bank file is not
      found,  or  if there  are  no ROL  files  found in  the specified
      directory,  the program will  abort.  Once  these conditions have
      been satisfied, a list of all the ROL files will be obtained, and
      the  first  page  of  filenames will  be  displayed.    Each page
      displays  up to 176 filenames.  The  top line of the screen shows
      the  name and size  in bytes of the  currently selected ROL file,
      the  number  of ROL  files found,  and the  version of  the sound
      driver.   INTUNE  also checks its  own filesize  at runtime which
      should detect infection from most viruses.




      FILE SELECTION

           This  version of INTUNE will only play one ROL music file at
      a  time.  A new version is  in the works which allows queueing of
      multiple ROL files.

           a)  Selection with the keyboard:  The four arrow keys, home,
           end,  page up,  and page down may be used to move the cursor
           to the desired song.  You may also press the first letter of
           a song,  and the cursor  will move  to the first  song which
           starts with that letter.

           b) Selection  with  the mouse:   Simply  position  the mouse
           pointer on  top of the desired song,  and single click.   To
           switch  between pages, place the mouse pointer on either the
           right or left arrow  located on the  lower right hand of the
           screen, and single click  (note:  these arrows are displayed
           only if a mouse is detected).




      PLAYING SONGS

           There are a number of ways to begin playing a song.  The two
      keyboard  methods are pressing  either return or  Alt-P, the Play
      command.   The two mouse methods  are double clicking on the song
      name,  or  single clicking  on the  Play  command field  near the
      bottom  of  the screen.   Once  a song  starts playing,  the Play
      command  is  highlighted, and  the song  name changes  color from
      white  to green.  If  a ROL file requests  an instrument which is
      not  found  in  the instrument  bank  file, an  error  message is
      displayed  in  the  lower right  corner  of the  screen,  and the
      instrument PIANO1 is automatically substitued.



      STOPPING SONGS

           There  are a number of  ways to stop the  playing of a song.
      The two keyboard methods are pressing either ESCape or Alt-S, the
      Stop  command.  The mouse  method is to single  click on the Stop
      command  field near  the bottom  of the screen.   When  a song is
      stopped,  the  Stop command  is  highlighted, and  the  song name
      changes color from green to white.



      PAUSING SONGS

           There  are two ways to pause a song.  The keyboard method is
      to press Alt-U, the Pause command.  The mouse method is to single
      click  on the Pause command field  near the bottom of the screen.
      When  a song is paused,  the Pause command field  will flash.  At
      this  time, the Pause or Play command may be selected to continue
      playing the song, or the Stop command may be selected to stop the
      song.  When pausing some songs, notes in progress which have long
      sustain  levels or long  release rates may  continue to be heard.
      The  sound driver  can only stop  sending new notes  to the Adlib
      card, it can't stop notes already being played.




      REPEATING SONGS

           When  the repeat function is enabled, the selected song will
      be  played  repetitively  until  either  the  Repeat  function is
      disabled, or the Stop command is selected.  There are two ways to
      toggle  the repeat  function.   The keyboard  method  is to press
      Alt-R, the Repeat command.   The mouse method is  to single click
      the  Repeat command  field near the  bottom of the  screen.  When
      on this function is enabled,  the Repeat  command  field  will be
      highlighted.    There  is  a one  second  pause  in  between song
      replays.




      QUITTING INTUNE

           There  are two ways to quit  INTUNE.  The keyboard method is
      to  press Alt-Q, the Quit command.  The mouse method is to single
      click  on the Quit  command field near the  bottom of the screen.
      If a song is being played when Quit is selected, the Stop command
      will automatically be executed before quitting.




      ABOUT INTUNE

           A copyright notice and message from the author may be viewed
      with the About command.  There   are  two   ways  to   view  this
      information.   The keyboard  method is to  press Alt-A, the About
      command.    The mouse  method  is to  single  click on  the About
      command field near the bottom of the screen.




      STATUS INDICATORS

           I added a few indicators on the screen so that the status of
      a  song may be tracked.  First of all, the song name is displayed
      in  green while it is being played.   While song events are being
      loaded  into  the various  sound  driver queues,  a  flashing red
      musical  note is displayed on  the top line of  the screen.  When
      all  events of the song have been loaded, and the sound driver is
      just  waiting for  the events  to complete,  the musical  note is
      displayed  in green.  The amount of  RAM used by the song playing
      routines  is displayed in  the lower right  corner of the screen.
      It  is interesting to see when RAM is allocated, and how much RAM
      different songs take to play.





      MISCELLANEOUS

           INTUNE may be freely copied and distributed.  INTUNE is made
      available  under  the  "ShareWare"  concept.   If  you  find this
      program useful, you are asked to send its author a license fee of
      $10.   This will  be greatly appreciated,  and encourage updates,
      and  development  of other  useful  programs.   In  addition, any
      comments,  suggestions, or bug information  would also be greatly
      appreciated.

       INTUNE program and documentation Copyright 1990 by Doug Brandon


           Doug Brandon
           21136 Via Santiago
           Yorba Linda, CA  92687-3421

           Prodigy: CTJP63A
           Motown LA-BBS:      [phone]
           N.S.T.T.Z:          [phone]
           PC Treasure Chest   [phone]