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1990-08-06
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StarBlanker version 1.10 © 1989, 1990 Chris Bailey
Yet Another ScreenBlanker All Rights Reserved
. . . . . . .
. . . .
. . . .
--
Before You Start
--
If you intend to distribute this software further, you must agree
to the distribution guidelines described in the file "Distribution"
that is included in this archive. If you do not intend to distribute
this software further, then there is no need to read that file. Note
that some minor details about distribution have changed since v1.0.
If you wish to know what specific changes were made between releases
1.0 and 1.1 of StarBlanker, refer to the Revision History at the end
of this file.
--
Overview
--
StarBlanker is a screen blanker, pure and simple. It helps you avoid
monitor burn-in if you should leave your computer sitting with the same
display showing for an abnormal amount of time. It operates in the same
manner as most screen blankers operate - if no keyboard or mouse activity
is detected for a specific amount of time, the display will do something
interesting until you either press a key or move the mouse.
--
When the screen blanks
--
When the timeout expires, instead of just making the screen black like
some other screen blankers do, StarBlanker replaces your current display
with one of two different scrolling starfields. The starfield will
continue to scroll until you either touch a key on the keyboard or move
the mouse.
To make things interesting, StarBlanker chooses which starfield to
blank the screen with at random.
--
Setting the timeout
--
StarBlanker needs one number from you before it can start. It needs
to know how many seconds of no activity should cause the starfield
display to pop up. If you don't specify a number (as outlined below),
StarBlanker will use an internal default of 4 minutes.
The method of specifying the timeout has changed since version 1.0 of
StarBlanker. There is no longer a way to directly specify the timeout
value when you invoke the program from CLI or Workbench. Instead, I've
used what I feel is a more logical approach to setting a timeout that
you won't want to change very often - using environment variables.
Although this method will require you to use the CLI, you only have
to do it once.
From the CLI, the timeout is set by specifying an SBTIMEOUT environment
variable. For example, this would set the timeout value to 5 minutes:
1> setenv sbtimeout "300"
As you can see, the timeout value is entered in seconds. The minimum
number of seconds is 10 and the maximum is 9999. If you specify a value
out of this range (or non-numeric), StarBlanker will default to its
internal default of four minutes.
After you have set the SBTIMEOUT environment variable, you should never
need to set it again unless you want to change the timeout value or the
contents of your ENV: directory are lost somehow.
StarBlanker only reads the environment variable when you first invoke
it. If you change the environment variable while StarBlanker is running,
you will need to quit StarBlanker and re-invoke it.
Note
: You
must
use Commodore's "setenv" command.
Oh, and after the timeout has been specified, you invoke StarBlanker
from the CLI like so:
1> StarBlanker
From the Workbench, just click on the icon. If started from the CLI,
StarBlanker will detach, so there's no reason to use runback, excessive
redirection, or anything else.
--
Blanking the screen by hand
--
New to version 1.1 is the largest request I had from 1.0 - the ability
to press a key combination and blank the screen. The following key
combination will cause the screen to blank:
RIGHT SHIFT + RIGHT ALT + "b"
--
Killing StarBlanker
--
The easiest way to de-install StarBlanker is to re-activate the program,
either from Workbench or from the CLI. StarBlanker will announce that it
is removing itself, and free up all memory that it was using.
The following hotkey combination will also remove StarBlanker:
RIGHT SHIFT + RIGHT ALT + "x"
--
Using StarBlanker with DMouse
--
As of this writing, the easiest way to use StarBlanker with DMouse is
to simply turn DMouse's screen blanker option off before starting
StarBlanker. This is done by specifying -s0 on dmouse's command line.
A future version of starblanker may have an included program to help
this.
--
Of Memory And Multitasking
--
When StarBlanker is dormant, it doesn't take up very much memory, but
when it opens its display, it can take more than a small amount of memory.
The starfield display is 2 bitplanes deep, and there are also a couple of
offscreen bitmaps to make the animation smooth and fast. If there is not
enough memory for StarBlanker to open the displays needed, it simply won't
blank the screen.
At the request of Martin Taillefer, the starfield display updates with
IntuiTicks messages. This means that while the screen is blanked,
processor time won't be noticeably degraded. This also means that the
starfield isn't going as fast as it could, which is okay, since this
is a screen blanker and not a european demo.
--
Revision History
--
1.0 - 04-Jan-1990
----------------
StarBlanker first released.
1.1 - 06-Aug-1990
-----------------
After seeing no less than 3 other 'versions' (some with the same names!)
of this wonderful program, I decided it was time for an upgrade.
- Reliability should be much better. 1 call to ClearPointer wasn't
quite in the right place. Apparently the MAIN problem was that I
was setting the stack of the detaching process too small in an attempt
to save memory, which caused it to work on my trusty A1000 but to
go screwy on other Amiga models.
- Startup changed from command line/tooltypes to using environment
variables. This should fix problems with trying to get the command
line after a detach.
- Ability to blank screen with a keypress added.
- Screen will now only unblank with the downstroke of a key (added this to
support the above)
- Source code removed from the archive, mainly to save space. If you want
the source code, ask me.
- Size went way down - 7000 bytes vs. 8428 bytes.
(enough room now to add a new blank mode?)
- Minor whacking at the routine that shows the opening and closing messages.
- Brand new 2.0 looking icon that looks like trash under 1.3
- ANSI color added to the doc file (whoopee)
--
The Future & Other Junk
--
There is no fee for using this software. You can put it in your
startup sequence right now if you wish without giving the author a second
thought. If your conscience asks you to donate, the recommended fee is
$10, although again, this is *not* required to use this software.
I fully intend to release future versions of StarBlanker, but I can make
no estimation of when they might appear. I will say that I have a fireworks
blank mode about 30% finished....
If you wish to contact me for bug reports, praise, comments, or anything
else, here's how. Electronic means are preferred.
(*=======================================================================*)
Chris Bailey Phone : 803-794-4933
2405, Feather Run Trail
W. Columbia, SC 29169
UUCP:{uunet!ncrlnk, gatech!hubcap}!ncrcae!secola!smoak!avcom!bailey!chris
BIX : csbailey
SDI : Starving Developers Incorporated
A witty saying proves nothing, but saying something pointless gets
people's attention.
(*=======================================================================*)