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1992-08-28
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***************** TOUR OF THE MAIN MENU *****************
THIS MANUAL WILL NOW TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF THE OPTIONS ON THE
MAIN MENU, INCLUDING GENERAL NOTES ABOUT THE MULTIMEDIA
WORKSHOP AS THEY RELATE TO THE DISCUSSION.
This is the main menu which appears at the bottom of the
screen:
┌──────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
│ File │ Paint │ Sound │ Write │ Time │ View │Option │ Build│░
└──────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
To navigate the main menu, use the left and right arrow
keys or move the mouse left or right. To select a sub-menu,
click the left mouse button or press [Enter]. To cancel most
sub-menus, click the right mouse button or press [Esc].
Once a sub-menu pops up, you can select the next sub-menu
to the left or right simply by pressing an arrow key again or
moving the mouse.
You can select a sub-menu item by moving the mouse up or
down or by pressing the up or down arrow keys.
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE FILE MENU
┌────────────────────────┐
│ Switch To Another File │░
│ General Help │░
│ Add A File │░
│ Temporary Layer A File │░
│ Report On A .PCX File │░
│ Add a .PCX File │░
│ Save As │░
│ Dos Window │░
│ Quit Program │░
└────────────────────────┘░
╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
║ File ║ Paint │ Sound │ Write │ Time │ View │ Option│ Build│░
╚══════╝───────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
-------------------------------------------------------------
SWITCH TO ANOTHER FILE
This service lets you pick another script file or create
a new one. When selected, a sub-menu pops up:
┌──────────────────┐
│ Pick File │░
│ New │░
│ Type Filename │░
│ Change Disk\Dir │░
│ Exit │░
└──────────────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
PICK FILE
The PICK FILE service pops up a list of files which
already exist in the currently selected disk and directory.
Use the mouse or arrow keys to select a file then press
[Enter] or click left mouse button. If more files exist than
will fit in the menu, use [Page Down], [Page Up], [Home] or
[End] to see more.
This list will show many types of files. Be careful to
avoid picking any files which are not script files.
If you want to create a new file, or change to another
directory, press [Esc] and select the correct service.
NEW
Use this service to type the name of a new script file.
You can precede the filename with standard drive and
sub-directory information if you wish. A filename must be
DOS-legal, meaning no more than 8 letters, optionally
followed by a period and up to 3 more letters. The computer
makes no distinction about capital letters, and the program
can use any extension after the period, except .COM, .BAT,
.EXE, .CHR, .PCX, .DOC, .TXT and other common extensions used
by other programs for other purposes.
These examples are legal:
Jeff.scr
c:\STUFF\bigthing
c:\stuff\more\hOusE.xXX
TYPE FILENAME
Use this service to manually type the name of a file
instead of looking it up with PICK FILE. This is useful if
you like typing more than point & clicking, or if you have
many files on your list.
Interestingly, TYPE FILENAME and NEW can be used
interchangeably.
CHANGE DISK/DIR
Select this service if you want to change to another disk
drive or directory (or sub-directory). Simply type the name
of the new location and press [Enter]. The PICK FILE service
will now access that disk/directory. NEW and TYPE FILENAME
will use the chosen disk/directory.
You can enter just a drive letter for the root directory
of that drive, or you can type as much information as needed.
Final backslash and/or colon are optional. These examples
are ok:
d
c:
c:\mystuff
a:\
c:\Mass\Boston\
As with many variables maintained by The Multimedia
Workshop, your most recent selection of CHANGE DISK/DIR is
saved, even if you quit and restart The Multimedia Workshop.
EXIT
This is to leave the SWITCH FILES service without
changing to another script file. If a filename is required
by the program, yet you choose Exit, the filename "NONAME"
will be assigned to your file.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL HELP
This service offers three screens of general information
about using The Multimedia Workshop. Those who would rather
experiment than read long .DOC files might find this option
easier than reading the file you are now reading!
-------------------------------------------------------------
ADD A FILE
With this service you can combine two or more files into
one. This is very useful for working with collections of
clip-art or clip-sounds. In other words, let's say you are
making a presentation about cattle: You can pre-create
several different pictures of cows, then easily "draw"
complicated pictures by merely adding several cow pictures to
each of your main script files.
When this service is selected, the same sub-menu pops up
which is used by SWITCH TO ANOTHER FILE. See above. In this
case, however, if you select EXIT, or press [Esc], no picture
will be added.
-------------------------------------------------------------
TEMPORARILY LAYER A FILE
Use this service to create templates for precise
alignment of animations or picture elements. A file can be
made which continues outlines showing you where you want
things to line up. You can double-expose this "template"
file over your current file, add your picture elements
precisely over the outlines, then when you select VIEW, or
other services which re-draw the script file, the template
will disappear.
-------------------------------------------------------------
REPORT ON A .PCX FILE
.PCX files are pictures saved on disk in a special format
which records the color at every pixel location on screen,
then compresses that information. This is called a bitmapped
file. There are actually several varieties of bitmapped
files, with .PCX being the most common. Within the .PCX
format, there are several more variations. Most will work
with The Multimedia Workshop, as long as they were created in
one of the video modes supported by The Multimedia Workshop
and your computer's video system. However, you must use a
script file created in the proper video mode for your chosen
.PCX file to work. You can't use a Hercules .PCX file in a
CGA-LO script, for instance.
This service will examine any .PCX file and recommend the
proper video mode to use.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ADD A .PCX FILE
This service will put a line in your script file calling
on TMW or MSHOW.EXE to display a chosen .PCX file. Once
displayed, you can continue to draw over the .PCX image, add
sounds, animations, etc.
Because the video mode of the .PCX file must match that
of the current script file, the .PCX is first checked. If
there is a potential mis-match, you are warned, but may opt
to ignore the warning. Sometimes this will work fine,
(sometimes you can mis-match video modes successfully) but in
some cases the computer may crash, requiring reboot.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SAVE AS
With this service you can rename a file. Actually, you
are asked to type a filename. If a file by the name you have
entered already exists, the service aborts without change.
Otherwise, a new file is created and the current script file
is copied into the new file. Then The Multimedia Workshop
switches to the new file.
-------------------------------------------------------------
DOS WINDOW
This service allows you to jump out of The Multimedia
Workshop and run another program, then return to exactly
where you left off. This is useful to take a note when the
phone rings, or switch to a calculator program, or jump into
an ASCII editor to modify a script file.
To return, type EXIT at the DOS prompt.
If you do not have sufficient RAM, DOS WINDOW request is
ignored.
-------------------------------------------------------------
QUIT
This is the way to exit The Multimedia Workshop. Your
current script file is saved automatically upon exit.
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE PAINT MENU
There are two variations of this menu, graphics-based and
text-based. The default (start-up) menu style is
graphics-based, which uses icons to represent the drawing
services in the PAINT menu. Within the graphics-based
version, move the arrow to point to a desired item and then
press [Enter] or click the left mouse button. For help, move
the pointer to the icon in question and press the [F1] key.
To exit the graphics-based PAINT menu, move the arrow out of
the menu area, press [Esc] or click the right mouse button.
The services offered are the same as the ones below.
To switch between the graphics-based and text-based PAINT
menu, select MORE OPTIONS from the OPTIONS menu, then select
PAINT MENU STYLE.
┌──────────────┐
│ Change Color │░
│ Lines │░
│ Rectangle │░
│ Circle │░
│ Ellipse │░
│ Blocks │░
│ Fill │░
│ Undo │░
│ Pixel Edit │░
│ Pattern │░
│ Freehand │░
│ More │░
└──────────────┘░
┌──────╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░───────┬──────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
│ File ║ Paint ║ Sound │ Write │ Time │ View │Option │ Build│░
└──────╚═══════╝───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
-------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGE COLOR
Use this service to change the current drawing color.
The chosen color will be used for pictures elements such as
lines, circles and rectangles, as well as for text, until
another color is chosen. In 16- and 256-color modes, simply
point to a color and press [Enter] or click the left mouse
button. Press [Esc] or click the right button to cancel. In
other video modes with fewer colors, a menu will pop up with
the available options.
In EGA-HI and VGA-HI modes, although only 16 colors can
be shown on screen at one time, these 16 can be any of 64
possible colors. In VGA-LO, the 256 on-screen colors can be
chosen from approximately 262,000 possibilities. To change
the on-screen color possibilities, select CHANGE PALETTE
COLORS on the OPTION menu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
LINES
Use this service to draw straight lines.
If using a mouse, click the left button to start a line,
then click the left mouse button again to 'set' the line, or
click the right button to cancel the line. When done with
LINE, click the right mouse button again.
If using the keyboard, use the [Enter] key to simulate
the left mouse button and the [Esc] key to simulate the right
mouse button.
When using the mouse or the keyboard, it might be
desirable to float a partially completed line to a new
location. You can toggle FLOAT MODE by clicking the
spacebar. Then click the spacebar again to return to STANDARD
MODE.
This can lead to confusion. If a line misbehaves, try
clicking the spacebar to toggle to STANDARD MODE.
Normally the coordinate display in the lower left corner
reflects the starting point of the line, but when SIZE MODE
is toggled with the right mouse button or the spacebar, the
coordinate display shows the dimensions of the line.
-------------------------------------------------------------
RECTANGLE
Using the mouse, hold down the right mouse button to
change the size or shape of a rectangle, then click the left
button when done. SIZE MODE can also be toggled with the
spacebar.
Using the keyboard, click the spacebar to toggle SIZE
MODE to change the size or shape of a rectangle, then click
it again to return to MOVE MODE. Click [Enter] when done.
When SIZE MODE is toggled (with the spacebar or the right
mouse button) the coordinate display in the lower left corner
will reflect the dimensions of the rectangle. When not in
SIZE MODE, the coordinates indicate the upper left corner
unless you have inverted the rectangle.
Rectangles cannot be cancelled with [Esc] or the right
mouse button. If you have made an incorrect rectangle, use
UNDO from the PAINT menu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CIRCLE
Circles are drawn in the same manner as rectangles, but
you can't change the shape of a circle, only it's size. Size
is affected by vertical movements of the mouse, or the up and
down keys, but not affected by horizontal movement. You can
use the spacebar to toggle between SIZE and MOVE MODE.
Circles cannot be cancelled with [Esc] or the right mouse
button. If you have made an incorrect circle, use UNDO from
the PAINT menu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ELLIPSE
Ellipses are drawn in the same manner as circles.
In some cases, ellipses can be made more 'round' than
circles, such as in a presentation made to display on a
laptop computer with a compressed CGA screen, or when drawing
in a graphics mode not designed for the computer it will
eventually be displayed on.
The ELLIPSE service can also be used to draw arcs. This
modification is easily made on the fly with the ELLIPSE TYPE
service within the OPTION menu.
Ellipses cannot be cancelled with [Esc] or the right
mouse button. If you have made an incorrect ellipse, use
UNDO from the PAINT menu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BLOCKS
This brings up a submenu:
┌───────────────┐
│ Block Erase │░
│ Block Copy │░
│ Block Move │░
│ Copy Style │░
│ Block Animate │░
└───────────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
BLOCK ERASE
With this service you place a rectangle around an area
on the screen, and then it is erased, leaving background
color (usually black).
When selected, a dotted rectangle appears. You can
change it's size and shape by holding the right mouse button
or by toggling SIZE MODE with the spacebar. When you press
the spacebar the first time, any movement of mouse or arrow
keys causes the rectangle to change size, not position.
Pressing the spacebar again returns to MOVE MODE, in which
the rectangle can be moved, but remains the same size and
shape. When satisfied, press [Enter] or click the left mouse
button and the area will disappear.
BLOCK COPY
As with BLOCK ERASE, you can throw a rectangle around an
area. But when you press [Enter] or click the left mouse
button, a copy of the area seems to become loose. You can
move this copy to a new location. When satisfied, press
[Enter] or click the left mouse button again.
BLOCK MOVE
This service works just like BLOCK COPY (above), but the
original area disappears, leaving background color.
COPY STYLE
The normal COPY STYLE is OPAQUE, meaning the copied area
will entirely replace whatever was under it. You can also
choose TRANSPARENT, where the copy blends into whatever it
overlays. This is most useful if you have copied a block from
an area with black background, but the new area has a
different background. Your choice of COPY STYLE remains in
effect unless you later change it again.
BLOCK ANIMATE
This is a wonderful service. It starts like BLOCK COPY,
where you make a rectangle around an area on the screen. But,
then, as you move it, your motion is remembered and written
into the script file. In the finished product, the movement
will exactly follow what you have done.
You are asked to name an amount of time between "steps."
A typical number for a medium speed animation is 20
milliseconds. You can pick any number between 0 and 30000
milliseconds. 1000 milliseconds equals one second. For best
results, don't move the mouse fast, but instead, move it very
slowly and carefully (or better, use the arrow keys), then
pick a fairly large (like 50 millisecond) time between steps,
so your animations look smooth and natural.
A certain amount of time is required between steps to
actually move the animated area, and so the millisecond
timing between steps is not really accurate. In fact,
because of the time needed to move large areas, moving as
small an area as possible is recommended.
On the other hand, it is sometimes required to get at
least an extra pixel's with of background around the area to
be animated, to end up with an accurate animation.
If you select BEGIN LOOP before a block animation, and END
LOOP after (from TIME menu), then if your animation ends
where it started, you'll be able to make an animation which
continues over and over until the end user presses a key.
-------------------------------------------------------------
FILL
With this service, you can FILL an area in a picture with
solid color or a pre-selected pattern. To choose a pattern,
select PATTERN on the PAINT menu.
FILLs are tricky. In most video modes, the current
drawing color must be the same as the border of the area to
be filled. Even one missing pixel in a border will cause the
FILL to leak out into the rest of the picture.
In VGA-LO 256-color mode, FILLs work a bit differently.
There are only two FILL patterns. You can FILL an area with
any color, as long as the border is not black. FILLs must
sometimes be selected several times to completely fill an
irregular area.
-------------------------------------------------------------
UNDO
This service will repair most mistakes. It works by
deleting the last line in the script file and then replaying
the script. Some services add several lines to the script,
and others are seemingly invisible, and so UNDO must
sometimes be selected several times. You can Undo as much as
you like, even clear back to the beginning of the script
file. UNDO deletes blocks of text one line at a time. UNDO
works for sound effects and music, too.
Since PIXEL EDIT, FREEHAND, BLOCK ANIMATE, and many
sound effects can write hundreds of lines for seemingly small
changes, UNDO will not work well for correcting these
things.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PIXEL EDIT
When this service is selected, a rectangle appears on
screen. It's size cannot be changed, but you can move it to
surround an area you want to work on in close detail.
Move the rectangle to the area you want to edit and press
[Enter] or click the left mouse button. Then the original
area will be pictured in it's normal size in the upper left
corner, and the rest of the screen will be a very blown up
version. You can point to any enlarged pixel and click the
left mouse button or press [Enter] to change it's color to
the current drawing color. Press [Esc] or click the right
mouse button when done.
To change many pixels to a new color, toggle GO MODE with
the spacebar.
To change to another color, exit PIXEL EDIT (press [Esc]
or right mouse button), select the new color with CHANGE
COLOR on the PAINT menu, and then reselect PIXEL EDIT.
PIXEL EDIT rapidly uses lots of disk space, so use it
sparingly in large presentations.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PATTERN
Use this service to select a pattern for use with the
FILL service. In 256-color mode, there are only two patterns
available.
-------------------------------------------------------------
FREEHAND
With this service, you can move the mouse or use the
arrow keys to draw freehand lines as if you were drawing
with a pen.
With a mouse, hold the left button to start drawing, and
let it go when you want to move the arrow to another location
or quit drawing. When done, click the right button.
From the keyboard, press the spacebar to start drawing,
and press it again if you want to move the arrow or quit
drawing. When done, press [Esc].
FREEHAND requires lots of disk space, so use this service
sparingly in large presentations.
-------------------------------------------------------------
MORE
There are even more drawing services. This menu brings
up a submenu:
┌──────────────┐
│ Zoom │░
│ Spraypaint │░
│ Hidden Note │░
│ Line Style │░
│ Mark Centers │░
│ Take Breath │░
└──────────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
ZOOM
A rectangle appears on the screen. Move it to surround an
area who's size or shape you want to change. You can change
the size and shape of the rectangle by holding the right
mouse button or by toggling SIZE MODE with the spacebar. When
satisfied, press [Enter] or the left mouse button.
Then you can change the size and shape of the rectangle
(although it remains anchored in position). When satisfied,
again click the left button or press [Enter]. The area will
change size.
This is a slow service, especially on XT-class machines,
so it is recommended that you zoom as small an area as
possible.
SPRAYPAINT
With this service, you can spray the current drawing
color on your picture, just like using a can of spray paint.
When selected, an arrow appears. Move to the desired
location, and hold the left mouse button or toggle SPRAY MODE
with the spacebar. When done SPRAYPAINTing, click the right
mouse button or press [Esc].
You can change the size of the spray pattern and the
density of the spray with SET SPRAYS on the OPTION menu.
SPRAYPAINT is also a space-intensive service, so if
making a large presentation, you may want to use this
sparingly.
HIDDEN NOTE
Use this service to create a note in the script file
which will never appear on screen.
This is useful if you edit your script file with a text
editor. For instance, let's say you are in the middle of a
complex picture and want to create a hand. Perhaps you fear
the hand won't come out right on your first try. You could
do this:
Select HIDDEN NOTE and write: "Hand starts here." Then
draw your hand. If it is not correct, use the text editor
and find the note, "Hand starts here." Delete everything
south of that note, save the file, and try drawing the hand
again.
Another interesting use for HIDDEN NOTE is to embed
keywords for a Search. MSHOW.EXE, when showing a
presentation, has a SEARCH feature. When the user selects
SEARCH, any script file in the presentation containing text
matching the user's request will be displayed. Normally,
this would be used for pictures showing text. But what if
the user types "elephant," hoping to find the unlabeled
picture of a elephant? If you embed the word "elephant" in
that file, the picture will be displayed upon a SEARCH
request.
LINE STYLE
For use with the LINE, FREEHAND and RECTANGLE services,
you can control line style and thickness. There are thin and
thick, solid, dotted and dashed line styles available. You
can select one from the menu that will pop up.
Circles and ellipses are also affected, but can be drawn
only in thin or thick solid lines.
MARK CENTERS
Normally, a circle or an ellipse is drawn without
indication of where it's center is located. In technical
drawings, you often want to leave marks at these centers.
Also, in situations where you want to align concentric
circles or ellipses, you can temporarily mark the centers. A
menu pops up offering these choices. Your selection remains
in effect until you reselect a different option.
TAKE BREATH
This is a unique service to The Multimedia Workshop.
Because script files using ASCII-Vector-Graphics can become
large in presentations with lots of animation, music, etc,
only a portion is read from disk at one time, that portion is
played, then more is read from disk. You don't want your
presentation to stop in the middle of a time-sensitive event
to read more from disk. Therefore, you can select this
service to reset the file before proceeding. If the disk is
freshly read, the program can go through over 16,000 bytes of
script before it will need to look at the disk again, and
therefore, you can be fairly assured that your time-sensitive
portion will run without a 'hitch.'
TAKE BREATH can be added to a script file at any time. It
is ignored if it is in a loop (see TIME menu).
-------------------------------------------------------------
SOUND MENU
┌───────────────┐
│ Music │░
│ Sound Library │░
│ Noise │░
│ Silence │░
│ Custom │░
│ PC Speech │░
│ Sound Blaster │░
└───────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░─────┬──────┬───────┬──────┐
│ File │ Paint ║ Sound ║ Write │ Time │ View │Option │ Build│░
└──────┴───────╚═══════╝───────┴──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu contains the services for sound effects.
Because you have to hear the sounds as you use these
services, programs sounds (if selected) are temporarily
turned off.
All these effects except SOUND BLASTER can be played
through the standard IBM-Pc speaker. The timing of the
sounds will be the same whether played on a 4.77 mhz XT or a
50 mhz '486.
-------------------------------------------------------------
MUSIC
When this service is selected, a graphical menu pops up.
It allows you to compose melodies using standard music
notation.
Generally, you select timings first, from the lower
staff. If you point to a quarter note and click the left
mouse button (or press [Enter]), for instance, notes then
selected from the upper staff will play for 250 milliseconds
(a quarter of a second).
You can select as many notes as you like up to
approximately 1500 in a row! Timings remain in effect until
you select a different timing note from the lower staff.
You can also select rests from the lower staff, to put
rests in your music.
There are three "attacks" available, Regular, Staccato,
and Slur. When you choose one of these, all notes selected
will be of that type until you select a different attack.
The general services within the MUSIC menu are available
by pointing into the box labeled, "CLICK HERE FOR MENU." They
are:
┌──────────────────┐
│ Preview Melody │░
│ Delete Last Note │░
│ Delete Melody │░
│ Save Melody │░
│ Quit │░
└──────────────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
PREVIEW MELODY
Select this service to hear how your melody currently
sounds.
DELETE LAST NOTE
This erases the last note in the melody. Delete Last
Note can be selected over and over again, clear up to the
beginning of the melody.
DELETE MELODY
To remove the entire melody.
SAVE MELODY
This service writes the melody into the current script
file and quits the MUSIC menu.
QUIT
Just like SAVE MELODY, this service writes the melody
into the current script file and quits the MUSIC menu.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SOUND LIBRARY
┌───────────┐
│ Pink │░
│ Liquid │░
│ Wind Up │░
│ Wind Down │░
│ Bugle │░
│ Sorry │░
│ Freefall │░
│ Twinkle │░
│ Exit │░
└───────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░
This is a menu of pre-created sound effects which will
play on all ordinary computers (Sound Blaster not required).
PINK, LIQUID, WIND UP, WIND DOWN, BUGLE, SORRY,
FREEFALL, TWINKLE
These are pre-made sound effects. You can hear them
merely by selecting them from the menu. You are asked if
you want to "accept" them. If you answer [y] or click the
left mouse button, the sound effect is added to the script
file. Some ask you to enter a time in milliseconds for
length of play. One thousand milliseconds = one second. The
acceptable range is 1 to 30000 milliseconds. If you need
more time than 1/2 minute, select the same sound effect
several times.
-------------------------------------------------------------
NOISE
This service creates a general cacaphony. You are asked
to type an amount of time in milliseconds. One second = 1000
milliseconds. The range is 0 to 30000. If you need more
time, choose NOISE several times in a row. If entering an
amount of time larger than 3 digits, do not use a comma.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SILENCE
This service asks you to enter an amount of time in
milliseconds. 1000 milliseconds = one second. The allowable
range is 1 to 30000 milliseconds. If you need more than 1/2
minute of silence, select SILENCE several times in a row.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CUSTOM
With this service, you can build your own sound effects,
or create music if you don't know music notation. You can
even build your own clip-sounds library, a collection of
sounds which you can add to script files as you need them.
Sounds are created one note at a time.
You are first asked to enter a number representing a
frequency. The acceptable range is 20 - 30000. Middle A is
usually 440. The highest sound most folks can hear is around
20000. Then you must enter a duration in milliseconds.
When entering numbers larger than 3 digits, do not use
commas.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PC SPEECH
Good, intelligible-quality speech is possible from most
standard IBM-PC speakers! This service is an option made
possible by PC-TALK.EXE, a product of C.S.S. Inc. In order
to use this option, you must purchase THE SPEECH LIBRARY, a
collection of over 1,000,000 bytes of digitized speech and
sound effects. The price is a very reasonable $29.50
including postage within the United States.
The SPEECH service works like this: The Multimedia
Workshop, or MSHOW.EXE runs a sub-program on disk called
PC-TALK.EXE which runs one or more synthesized speech files
from the disk.
There are 8 speech files included with The Multimedia
Workshop, just so you can experiment with this service and
see whether you might want to incorporate speech into your
presentations. These files are:
SPEECH.SP
ANYKEY.SP
BYE.SP
HELLO.SP
HI.SP
REGISTER.SP
THANKYOU.SP
WORKSHOP.SP
To use one, select SPEECH from the SOUND menu, type the
name of one of these files, then press [Enter]. The speech
is now a part of the script file, and will play when the
script files is played.
REMEMBER: PC-TALK.EXE plus the speech files you are using
must be copied onto your final disk.
To order THE SPEECH LIBRARY send check with order to:
C.S.S. Inc.
3005 Glenmore Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21214
(410) 665-0193
Credit card orders, phone: 1-800-847-0309
C.S.S. can also supply custom phrases at $20 per
phrase/sentence. Write to them for details.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SOUND BLASTER
The Multimedia Workshop now plays standard Sound Blaster .VOC
files which you can create if you have a Sound Blaster card.
These are generally used for synthesized speech, but may also
be used for excellent, multi-instrument music and sound
effects. A Sound Blaster card is required to replay these
sounds. If attempted on a computer without a Sound Blaster
card, nothing will happen. To use this service, simply type
the name of the .VOC file you want played.
The .VOC file must be copied along with your script files
onto your finish product disks. The end-users' computers
must have have a path to VPLAY.EXE, which comes with the
Sound Blaster card.
There is no support for sound cards by other manufacturers,
unless they are fully Sound Blaster compatible, but you may
be able to jury-rig something if you are working with an Ad
Lib or Sound Master card.
-------------------------------------------------------------
WRITE MENU
┌───────────────┐
│ Change Color │░
│ Choose Font │░
│ Regular Text │░
│ Title │░
│ Import Text │░
│ Justification │░
└───────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────┬───────╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░────┬───────┬──────┐
│ File │ Paint │ Sound ║ Write ║ Time │ View │Option │ Build│░
└──────┴───────┴───────╚═══════╝──────┴──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu handles text services.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGE COLOR
Use this service to change the current color. The chosen
color will be used for picture elements such as lines,
circles and rectangles, as well as for text, until another
color is chosen. In 16- and 256-color modes, simply point to
a color and press [Enter] or click the left mouse button.
Press [Esc] or click the right button to cancel. In other
video modes with fewer colors, a menu will pop up with the
available options.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CHOOSE FONT
There are up to 10 fonts available and most can be scaled
both vertically and horizontally. (In VGA-LO mode, there are
only 2 fonts available.) When this service is selected, a
picture of all available fonts pops up. Point to the one you
want and click the left mouse button or press [Enter]. Then
a sample of that font appears in a box. You can change it's
vertical size and horizontal size independently, stretching
it this way or that with the mouse or arrow keys. (The first
font, BITMAP, can only be adjusted for overall size.) When
satisfied with it's size and shape press [Enter] or click the
left mouse button again.
The first two fonts, BITMAP and TRIPLEX, are built into
the programs TMW.EXE and MSHOW.EXE. The rest of the fonts
live externally in .CHR files on disk. If any of the .CHR
files are missing, The Multimedia Workshop will let you know,
then substitute the BITMAP font for them in the CHOOSE FONT
chart. If you use a font other than BITMAP or TRIPLEX in
your presentations, the corresponding .CHR file(s) must be on
the disk distributed with your presentation.
-------------------------------------------------------------
REGULAR TEXT
When this service is selected, a rectangle appears on
screen. You can change it's size and shape by holding the
right mouse button or by toggling SIZE MODE with the
spacebar. Move it to the desired location and press [Enter]
or click the left mouse button. While in SIZE MODE you'll
notice that the coordinate display in the lower left corner
changes to show the size of the box in characters using the
currently selected font and font dimensions. The first number
becomes the number of characters per line, and the second
number is the number of lines. The first number is
approximate, because it is based on the size of an average
character, since not all are the same width.
Once the text area is selected, you can simply type text.
Word wrap is automatic when you reach the right hand edge of
the chosen text area. You can use the backspace key for
deleting mistakes. Press [Esc] when done entering text.
If right justification is selected from the last item on
the WRITE menu, (JUSTIFICATION) then extra spaces will be put
between words so that the last character in each line is
against the right edge of the text area.
If you try to select an area smaller than 2 characters
wide or one character tall in the current font, the service
will abort and return you to the main menu.
You can, of course, select an area larger than you need.
-------------------------------------------------------------
TITLE
When selected, an arrow appears. Move it to the desired
location and press [Enter] or click the left mouse button.
You can then type a line of text centered around where the
arrow was. The current color, font and font dimensions will
be used.
To center a line of text in the exact middle of the
screen, use the coordinate display in the lower left corner.
In most video modes, 320 is the middle of the screen. In
VGA-LO and CGA-LO, the center position is 160 and in
Hercules, it is 360.
-------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORT TEXT
Even though there is a simple word processor built into
The Multimedia Workshop, you might have already composed
text in a different program, or might prefer to use a
full-blown word processor to make text, then import it into
your picture.
There are two modes available from within IMPORT TEXT:
-------------------------------------------------------------
FLOWED IMPORT:
This is an interesting automated feature. You will be
asked to name an ASCII file containing the text you want to
incorporate into your picture(s). Then you must indicate the
upper left corner of the area the text will be allowed to
fill by moving the cursor arrow and pressing [Enter] or
clicking the left mouse button. The program then reads the
text file, and places as much of the text as will fit in the
picture, starting at the area you have indicated. No text
will occur left of the area you indicated. Text will stop
before anything drawn to the right, and continue down to the
next line. It is right justified to flow around obstacles!
Text will stop at the bottom of the screen, or when an
obstacle is encountered at the bottom of the area.
If there is more text than will fit in the area, the rest
is saved in a temporary disk file. When you next select
FLOWED IMPORT, indicating another area in the same picture,
or in another picture, the text continues to flow from where
you left off.
Until you use up all the text in the text file, you will
not be asked to name any other text files, it
automatically knows when you haven't used it all up.
You can take advantage of FLOWED IMPORT's intelligence by
drawing temporary lines (or use TEMPORARY LAYER A FILE from
within the FILE option) to restrict the area in which you
will allow text.
FLOWED IMPORT mode uses the currently selected typeface,
font size and color. These settings can optionally be changed
from one flow to the next even with the same ASCII file.
Pure standard ASCII text is required. Almost all word
processing programs do this, although with some you may have
to take a careful look at your owner's manual to figure out
how it's done. There should be no border or blank spaces to
the left of the text in the ASCII file, except paragraph
indentations.
Paragraph indentations are respected, but completely
blank lines are skipped.
Formatting text into columns is easy. For two columns,
you can place a vertical line in the middle of your picture.
Flow text into the left side, and then flow more into the
right side.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BLOCK IMPORT:
This option will transfer text from an ASCII file
verbatim, except it will use the currently selected typeface
and font size.
You must first prepare your text. It must be in standard
ASCII format. Almost all word processors can make ASCII
files (plain text) but many use non-ASCII formats to include
coding for fonts, special right justification and other
special things. Each word processor handles ASCII
differently, so you'll have to read your word processing
program's documentation to use ASCII format. There are some
good shareware word processors that use normal ASCII as their
own standard format. One is called Galaxy-Lite.
If your text file contains more text than would fit in a
single picture, you must break it up into several smaller
disk files, each containing the text for one picture. Each
of these files must have the text formatted into a block
which will fit on the screen. Lines of text 75 columns wide,
will not fit in a space half as wide as a whole picture, for
example. Each block must contain no more than the number of
lines a picture can contain. How many columns and lines are
allowable? There is no easy answer, because different
graphic modes and different fonts require different amounts
of text space. Generally, using the smallest BITMAP font,
the graphics modes with 640 pixels horizontally - CGA-HIGH,
EGA, Hercules and VGA, can handle lines of text up to 76
characters wide. In the case of 200 vertical pixels, such as
CGA-HI, and EGA-LO, you can fit as many as 18 lines of text
when using the smallest font.
To get your text block sizes to fit really well, you'll
have to experiment a bit.
To use IMPORT TEXT, you will be asked to name a file.
This is the file containing ASCII text to import. Then a
dotted rectangle will appear on your picture representing the
amount of area your text will require. Move the rectangle to
the proper location, then click [Enter] or the left mouse
button. If IMPORT TEXT overwrites the background of a
picture, simply select something from the VIEW menu to see
the finished product.
-------------------------------------------------------------
JUSTIFICATION
With this service you can choose right justification for
use with REGULAR TEXT and IMPORT TEXT. Right justification
puts extra spaces between words so that the right-most
character in each line of text aligns with the right-hand
edge of the text area.
-------------------------------------------------------------
TIME MENU
┌──────────────────┐
│ Use Preset Delay │░
│ 5 Milliseconds │░
│ 10 Milliseconds │░
│ 50 Milliseconds │░
│ 200 Milliseconds │░
│ 1 Second │░
│ 5 Seconds │░
│ Custom Delay │░
│ Wait For User │░
│ Change Preset │░
│ Start Loop │░
│ End Loop │░
└──────────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────┬───────┬───────╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░─┬──────┐
│ File │ Paint │ Sound │ Write ║ Time ║ View │Option │ Build│░
└──────┴───────┴───────┴───────╚══════╝──────┴───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu is something you'll never see in a typical
paint program!
Because of the nature of ASCII-Vector-Graphics scripting,
you can partially develop a picture, then alternate some
delays with additional picture development, making custom
animations and presentations that evolve at the speed a
viewer can comprehend.
-------------------------------------------------------------
USE PRESET DELAY
If CHANGE PRESET has been previously selected from this
menu, when USE PRESET DELAY is selected, a delay of the
amount of time you specified will be added to the script
file. For instance, you can specify 15 milliseconds, then
make a small block move, select Use PRESET DELAY, make
another small block move, select USE PRESET DELAY again, and
so on. Then you'll end up with a smooth animation which
waits 15 milliseconds between steps.
-------------------------------------------------------------
5, 10, 50, 200 MILLISECONDS, 1, 5 SECONDS
As soon as you select any of these services, a delay is
written into the script file. 1000 milliseconds equals one
second, so, for instance, 50 milliseconds is 1/20 of a
second.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CUSTOM DELAY
When this service is selected, you are asked to enter a
number of milliseconds to delay the development of the
script. 1000 milliseconds = one second. The allowable range
is 0 to 30000. If you need more than 30 seconds delay, select
this service several times in a row. For numbers larger than
3 digits, do not use commas.
-------------------------------------------------------------
WAIT FOR USER
This is a neat, but also a tricky service. When
selected, a halt is written into the script. The computer
then waits for the user to press any key before continuing.
This is useful in cases such as this:
Let's say you are demonstrating the four strokes of a
four-cycle engine. First you picture the intake stroke. In
your picture is a caption, "Intake Stroke" plus the words,
"Press any key to continue..."
After the WAIT FOR USER, you erase the position of the
piston and contents of the cylinder and draw the compression
stroke. You also erase the caption and replace it with,
"Compression Stroke." So, when the user presses a key, the
picture changes to show the compression stroke.
And, you repeat this with two more WAIT FOR USERs and
two more changes to illustrate the firing stroke and the
exhaust stroke.
The reason WAIT FOR USER is "tricky" is that it may fool
end users, and even you, the author, if you forget to put the
words, "PRESS ANY KEY..." or something similar in your
pictures. The presentation will stop until a key is pressed,
and the end user may think the computer has locked up or
broken. I've been fooled several times by this myself as I
was developing scripts with WAIT FOR USER in them.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGE PRESET
With this service you can select an number of
milliseconds for Use Preset Delay. The number you have
selected remains in effect until you again select CHANGE
PRESET.
-------------------------------------------------------------
START LOOP
You can cause a section of the script file to repeat
over and over again until the user presses a key. First, you
must mark the beginning of the loop by selecting this
service.
-------------------------------------------------------------
END LOOP
When you have come to the end of a section of script
which you want to repeat over and over, select this service.
The portion between your selection of START LOOP and END LOOP
will repeat endlessly until the user presses a key.
The maximum amount of script file which can be looped is
16380 bytes. Normally, this is plenty of space, but PIXEL
EDITing, FREEHAND drawing and SPRAYPAINTing can use it up
quickly.
You must be careful to consider all effects within a
loop. For instance, if you have a BLOCK MOVE within your loop
which moves an area that has been changed by another portion
of the loop, the effects from that point forward will be
different the second time the loop executes.
-------------------------------------------------------------
VIEW MENU
┌───────────────────┐
│ View Full Script │░
│ Fast View │░
│ Grid │░
│ View Presentation │░
└───────────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬──────╔═░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░┐
│ File │ Paint │ Sound │ Write │ Time ║ View ║Option │ Build│░
└──────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴──────╚══════╝───────┴──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu contains services for viewing your scripts.
Sometimes you want to see exactly what the end user will see.
Also, many services within The Multimedia Workshop
temporarily mess up the picture. To restore it, select one
of these options.
-------------------------------------------------------------
VIEW FULL SCRIPT
This is true WSYWYG (What You See is What You Get),
including animations and sound effects. Select this
service, and the screen will clear, then the current script
file will be played in it's entirety.
-------------------------------------------------------------
FAST VIEW
Select this service if you want to skip animation and
sound effect delays. The static picture will be correct, but
animations will appear speeded up, and sound effects will not
play. The screen is cleared, and the script is then replayed
as quickly as possible. WAIT FOR USERs and LOOPs are also
skipped.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GRID
This service temporary lays a grid over your picture.
This is useful when you need to align picture elements
precisely. You will be asked to type a number of pixels
between points. The range is 3 to 100, and 10 is a typical
number. Once you enter a number, the screen will be cleared,
the script will be replayed, and a grid of evenly spaced
white dots will be overlaid.
These white dots are easily overwritten as you work on
your picture. To restore the grid, select VIEW FULL SCRIPT,
FAST VIEW or reselect GRID.
To get rid of an existing grid, simply reselect GRID,
but answer [n] when you are asked if you want a grid. To
change it's size, simply answer [y] then enter a new number.
-------------------------------------------------------------
VIEW PRESENTATION
A presentation is made up of two or more script files.
When this feature is selected, your entire presentation can
be viewed, almost as if you were an end user using MSHOW.EXE.
It doesn't matter what script file is currently loaded,
VIEW PRESENTATION simply looks for the file MSHOW.CFG,
(created with the BUILD PRESENTATION option on the BUILD
menu) and displays the files found there.
Because VIEW PRESENTATION emulates MSHOW.EXE while The
Multimedia Workshop is loaded in the background, some
services are not available which are part of MSHOW.EXE.
Simply too much RAM is required. Most programs built into
MSHOW.CFG (with BUILD option) will be ignored. SPEECH
synthesis will also be ignored if RAM space is tight.
While VIEW PRESENTATION is in effect, the main menu
changes to emulate the menu in MSHOW.EXE. When you select
QUIT from this menu, the normal main menu returns, and the
script file previously loaded is replayed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
OPTION MENU
┌───────────────────────┐
│ View all Settings │░
│ Line Style │░
│ Hidden Note │░
│ Paper Copy │░
│ Mark Centers │░
│ Ellipse Type │░
│ Set Sprays │░
│ Change Palette Colors │░
│ Grid │░
│ More Options │░
└───────────────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬──────░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
│ File │ Paint │ Sound │ Write │ Time │ View ║Option ║ Build│░
└──────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────╚═══════╝──────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu contains services which control the ways in
which The Multimedia Workshop behaves, plus some services not
found elsewhere in the program.
-------------------------------------------------------------
VIEW ALL SETTINGS
This service puts a chart on the screen showing all the
current settings of The Multimedia Workshop. These include
current script file, current directory, current font, color,
pattern style, delay, grid status, and much more. Press any
key when done viewing this chart.
-------------------------------------------------------------
LINE STYLE
For use with the LINE, FREEHAND and RECTANGLE services,
you can control line style and thickness. There are thin and
thick, solid, dotted and dashed line styles available. You
can select one from the menu that will pop up.
Circles and ellipses are also affected, but can be drawn
only in thin or thick solid lines.
-------------------------------------------------------------
HIDDEN NOTE
Use this service to create a note in the script file
which will never appear on screen.
This is useful if you edit your script file with a text
editor. For instance, let's say you are in the middle of a
complex picture and want to create a hand. Perhaps you are
concerned that the hand won't come out right on your first
try. You could do this:
Select HIDDEN NOTE and write: "Hand starts here." Then
draw your hand. If it is not correct, use the text editor
and find the note, "Hand starts here." Delete everything
south of that note, save the file, and try drawing the hand
again.
Another interesting use for HIDDEN NOTE is to embed
keywords for a SEARCH. MSHOW.EXE, when showing a
presentation, has a SEARCH feature. When the user selects
SEARCH, any script file in the presentation containing text
matching the user's request will be displayed. Normally,
this would be used for pictures showing text. But what if
the user types "elephant," hoping to find the unlabeled
picture of a elephant? If you embed the word "elephant" in
that file, the picture will be displayed upon a SEARCH
request.
-------------------------------------------------------------
PAPER COPY
Select this option to print a screen to paper. You will
be asked to verify that your printer is ready. If you answer
yes, the picture will be printed in a nearly correct aspect
ratio. In some video modes, the printed picture ends up
larger than in others.
NOTE: The PAPER COPY option may not work with all printers.
If your printer is not properly supported, or the aspect
ratio of the printout is inaccurate, you can use the
GRAPHICS.COM TSR program which comes with MS-DOS. Type
GRAPHICS at the DOS prompt before using TMW.EXE or MSHOW.EXE,
then hold [Shift] and press [Print Screen] to get a printout.
When a picture is printed, all colors which are not
black are printed. In other words, a paper copy will not
reflect differences in color except between black and
everything else.
Actually, as is typical when printing color graphics onto
paper, all non-black colors become black, and black is white.
Try it, you'll see what I mean.
In order to accommodate the widest variety of printers
and video modes, the size of the resulting paper copy may
vary from one video mode to another. If you want something
larger or smaller, and if your computer supports them,
experiment with different video modes.
-------------------------------------------------------------
MARK CENTERS
Normally, a circle or an ellipse is drawn without
indication of where it's center is located. In technical
drawings, you often want to leave marks at these centers.
Also, in situations where you want to align concentric
circles or ellipses, you can temporarily mark the centers. A
menu pops up offering these choices. Your selection remains
in effect until you reselect a different option.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ELLIPSE TYPE
In addition to full 360 degree ellipses, you can draw
just the top, bottom, left or right halves of an ellipse.
You can also choose custom ellipse parameters. Simply point
to the portion of an ellipse you want and click [Enter] or
the left mouse button. If you choose CUSTOM, you will be
taken to a sub-menu with additional instructions.
Your choice of ELLIPSE TYPE remains in effect until you
use this service again and change your selection.
-------------------------------------------------------------
SET SPRAYS
Use this to control how the SPRAYPAINT service works. You
can control the density (speed) of paint flow, and you can
control the width of the pattern. If you are drawing from
the keyboard, the SPRAYPAINT service tends to run too fast.
Readjust to suit your tastes with this option.
You are asked to type numbers for density and pattern
width. The range is 1 to 40. A high density causes lots of
paint to flow quickly and a small number is a lighter spray,
but easier to control. A large number for pattern width
results in a wide spray, and a small number sprays paint
over a small area.
Your settings will remain in effect until you reselect
this service and change them.
-------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGE PALETTE COLORS
This function is only available for EGA-LO, EGA-HI,
VGA-HI and VGA-LO video modes. You see: In EGA-LO mode, the
computer allows up to 16 colors on the screen at one time,
but they may be switched around so that what was white can be
yellow, etc. In EGA-HI and VGA-HI, there can be only 16
colors on the screen at one time, but these 16 can be chosen
from a group of 64 different colors. In VGA-LO, each of the
256 colors can be composed of 0 to 63 parts of red, blue and
green, resulting in somewhere around 242,000 possibilities.
When this feature is selected an arrow appears. Point to
any area of your picture containing the color you want to
change. In the 16-color modes, roll the mouse up or down or
use the up and down arrow keys to change the color amongst
it's 16 or 64 possibilities. Press [Enter] or click the left
mouse button when you come to a color you like. In 256-color
mode, you can also click [R], [G] or [B] on your keyboard to
add or subtract varying amounts of negative Red, Green or
Blue.
Sometimes this color selection is important after
hooking a .PCX file, since they often change the color
palette, and you might want to change some of it back.
Color palette changes are immediately written to your
script file on disk.
-------------------------------------------------------------
GRID
This service temporary lays a grid over your picture.
This is useful when you need to align picture elements
precisely. You will be asked to type a number of pixels
between points. The range is 3 to 100, and 10 is a typical
number. Once you enter a number, the screen will be cleared,
the script will be replayed, and a grid of evenly spaced
white dots will be overlaid.
These white dots are easily overwritten as you work on
your picture. To restore the grid, select VIEW FULL SCRIPT,
FAST VIEW or reselect GRID.
To get rid of an existing grid, simply reselect GRID,
but answer [n] when you are asked if you want a grid. To
change it's size, simply answer [y] then enter a new number.
-------------------------------------------------------------
MORE OPTIONS
┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Coordinate Display │░
│ Bottom Help Bar │░
│ Program Sounds │░
│ Force Pointer to White │░
│ Take Breath │░
│ Change Printer Type │░
│ Paint Menu Style │░
│ Hook A Program Into Script │░
│ Restore All Defaults │░
└────────────────────────────┘░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
COORDINATE DISPLAY
With this service you can turn on or off the little box
in the lower left corner containing a coordinate display.
BOTTOM HELP BAR
With this service you can turn on or off the status/help
bar which often appears at the bottom of the screen when the
main menu is not present.
PROGRAM SOUNDS
These are sound effects which give indications of program
status. For instance, when an operation is completed, you
get a twinkle sound, or when a menu pops up, a pop-up sound
occurs. These can be turned on or off. They are not related
in any way to sounds built into script files.
FORCE POINTER TO WHITE
Sometimes after hooking a .PCX file, the color palette is
changed by the file, and the cursor (arrow) becomes an
invisible color. You can force it back to which with this
service.
TAKE BREATH
Because script files using ASCII-Vector-Graphics can
become large in presentations with lots of animation, music,
etc, only a portion is read from disk at one time, that
portion is played, then more is read from disk. You don't
want your presentation to stop in the middle of a
time-sensitive event to read more from disk. Therefore, you
can select this service to reset the file before proceeding.
If the disk is freshly read, the program can go through over
16,000 bytes of script before it will need to look at the
disk again, and therefore, you can be fairly assured that
your time-sensitive portion will run without a 'hitch.'
TAKE BREATH can be added to a script file at any time. It
is ignored if it is in a loop (see TIME menu).
CHANGE PRINTER TYPE
If you switch back and forth between a dot-matrix and a
laser printer, you may need this service.
PAINT MENU STYLE
This services lets you choose between a graphics-based or
text-based PAINT menu. The graphics-based menu uses icons to
represent the drawing services, but runs a bit more slowly
and requires more RAM space.
HOOK A PROGRAM INTO SCRIPT
This is a powerful service, but a tricky one. You are
asked to name an executable program file or a batch file.
Whatever you type here will be built into the script file,
and will execute when the script is 'viewed.'
Because most programs write some output to the screen,
and most reset the display when they start, the screen is
cleared before a hooked program is run. Whatever exists on
the screen before the hooked program executes is lost. After
the hooked program is done, you can of course, redraw your
picture, or draw a new one.
Lots of RAM space is reserved by MSHOW.EXE or by TMW.EXE
while running a hooked program, so the hooked program cannot
be one which will use lots of memory itself. The usual
result of using a hooked memory-hog is simply that the call
to run the hooked program will be ignored, but complete
crashes are possible.
RESTORE ALL DEFAULTS
Select this service if you want to reset all parameters
used by The Multimedia Workshop. Ellipses will be reset to
full 360 degrees, the drawing color will be reset to white,
pattern style will be solid fill, text will be smallest
BITMAP font, etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BUILD MENU
┌───────────────────┐
│ Build/Modify List │░
│ View Presentation │░
└───────────────────┘░
┌──────┬───────┬───────┬───────┬──────┬───░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
│ File │ Paint │ Sound │ Write │ Time │ View │Option ║ Build║░
└──────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴───────╚══════╝░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
This menu is for connecting several script files together
into a presentation. A presentation is two or more script
files chained together. This is done by listing them in a
special file called MSHOW.CFG. When the run-time program
MSHOW.EXE or TMW.EXE sees this file, it reads it to find out
which files you want presented and in what order. You can
list up to 132 files in a presentation. They will be shown
one after another unless the end user selects options such as
SEARCH, GOTO or BACK.
-------------------------------------------------------------
BUILD/MODIFY LIST
Use this service to build or modify the list of files to
be presented. When selected, a full-screen spread-sheet like
menu appears. If there is no existing MSHOW.CFG file, all
cells will be empty. If there is a previous MSHOW.CFG file,
then the menu will contain the files listed in MSHOW.CFG. You
can delete existing files and add your own. Simply move to
the cell where you want a file to appear, then type the name
of that file. The program reads the first column from top to
bottom, then moves to the next column, etc.
Do not use drive and path designators with file names.
The files which are to be displayed should all be in the same
directory as MSHOW.EXE or TMW.EXE. When the end user gets a
disk with your presentation on it, the script and MSHOW.EXE
will all be on the same disk (or in the same Zipped BBS
file). If you try to add drive or directory information here,
and if the end user's computer is not configured like yours,
Bloooie!
Although you can leave spaces between files, it is not a
good practice to do so.
When done with the BUILD menu, press [Esc]. The
new MSHOW.CFG file will automatically be written to disk. If
you have an important version of MSHOW.CFG already, you
ought to make a back up copy first.
In addition to script files, you can also include .EXE,
.COM, .BAT or .PCX files in this menu, and these
programs/files will be executed or displayed properly.
-------------------------------------------------------------
VIEW PRESENTATION
A presentation is made up of two or more script files.
When this feature is selected, your entire presentation can
be viewed, almost as if you were an end user using MSHOW.EXE.
It doesn't matter what script file is currently loaded,
VIEW PRESENTATION simply looks for the file MSHOW.CFG,
(created with the Build Presentation option on the BUILD
menu) and displays the files found there.
Because VIEW PRESENTATION emulates MSHOW.EXE while The
Multimedia Workshop is loaded in the background, some
services are not available which are part of MSHOW.EXE.
Simply too much RAM is required. Most programs built into
MSHOW.CFG (with BUILD option) will be ignored, and SPEECH
synthesis will also be ignored.
While VIEW PRESENTATION is in effect, the main menu
changes to emulate the menu in MSHOW.EXE. When you select
QUIT from this menu, the normal main menu returns, and the
script file previously loaded is replayed.
_____________________________________________________________
end of chapter.