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1994-03-02
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" ShowMe Saver "
Ver. 4.00
(c) Copyright 1992-94 Harold Schwartz
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Harold Schwartz
P.O. Box 104482
Jefferson City, MO 65110
Welcome to ShowMe Saver!!!
ShowMe Saver is a screen saver, but with a difference... ShowMe Saver is
a 'message' screen saver. ShowMe Saver protects your monitor from 'burn-in'
and 'ghosting' damage caused by displaying the same screen image when your
computer is left unattended for long periods of time. It displays a
randomly changing graphic image while showing a message of your choice.
ShowMe Saver accomplishes this by watching for periods of keyboard and/or
mouse inactivity. If ShowMe Saver detects no keyboard and/or mouse activity
for a period of time which you select, it 'pops up', at random, one of
sixty-four graphic image modules, each of which incorporates your message.
Then, while a graphic saver image is popped up, ShowMe Saver again watches
for keyboard and/or mouse activity. If it detects a single keystroke or
mouse button press, ShowMe Saver will pop down.
ShowMe Saver is a DOS screen saver. It is NOT a Windows screen saver.
ShowMe Saver will not pop up over a graphics application. Since Windows is
a graphics application, ShowMe Saver disables itself and will not pop up
while Windows is running. ShowMe Saver WILL pop up over nearly any DOS text
application. When ShowMe Saver pops up over a text-based application, it
'saves' the application it popped up over, then 'restores' the application
when it pops down. ShowMe Saver is designed to pop up over any of the
standard text-based programs that use the standard text modes 80 x 25,
80 x 43, 80 x 50.
The following sections will explain more of the details about how ShowMe
Saver works and how to run ShowMe Saver on your system.
--What is included in the ShowMe Saver package?...
The ShowMe Saver package consists of seven files:
SHOMESAV.EXE
README.DOC
REGSHOME.DOC
SHOWCFIG.EXE
README.1ST
INSTALL.EXE
SITEREG.DOC
SHOMESAV.EXE is the executable file which you run to install
ShowMe Saver, README.DOC is the documentation file you are
Page 2
reading now, and SHOWCFIG.EXE is a configuration utility that
allows the user to change the default password, the default
message, as well as the hot key for the pop up configuration
window and the hot key for forcing immediate pop up of the
saver. ShowMe Saver is completely selfcontained. The only
file required to install ShowMe Saver is SHOMESAV.EXE. The
README.DOC file contains the necessary instructions for config-
uring ShowMe Saver to fit your needs. README.1ST contains
instructions on the options for installing ShowMe Saver and
INSTALL.EXE is the installation utility provided to make it
easier to get ShowMe Saver up and running on your computer.
REGSHOME.DOC is the registration form and SITEREG.DOC is the
site registration form.
--Is "ShowMe Saver" ***FREE*** software?...
The bad news is, "ShowMe Saver" is NOT ***FREE***.
The good news is, "ShowMe Saver" is NOT ***EXPENSIVE***.
The development of software is a very time-consuming process.
I have spent many, many hours developing "ShowMe Saver". I
am releasing "ShowMe Saver" in the ShareWare market for a
very moderate price. As ShareWare software, you are
entitled to try "ShowMe Saver" for two weeks to see if you
like it. If you decide to keep "ShowMe Saver" you must
pay for it. The price is $10.00 U.S (all payments in US funds
only). NO SHIPPING, NO HANDLING, just $10.00. Included in
the price is the latest version of "ShowMe Saver". The version
that you receive will NOT have the ShareWare screens which you
encounter when loading or using the pop-up window in the Share-
Ware version. Once you have received the latest version, you
will be entitled to any updates at a reduced rate, typically
one-half the 'new' price. Included in this package is a regis-
tration form called REGSHOME.DOC. Print this form and send it
with your registration fee to the address indicated on the
registration form or shown at the beginning of this documen-
tation.
--What kind of system must I have to run ShowMe Saver?...
ShowMe Saver requires an IBM PC/XT/AT/Portable or IBM "compat-
ible" computer running MS-DOS or PC-DOS with 460K available
memory. ShowMe Saver requires an EGA, VGA, or better monitor
and a color video card that supports graphics. Since ShowMe
Saver uses page swapping routines in some of its saver modules,
your system must be capable of multiple page swaps. This gener-
ally limits you to EGA or better video modes. ShowMe Saver is a
swapping TSR and therefore, will run best on systems with EMS
(expanded) or XMS (extended) memory. However, EMS or XMS are not
a requirement since ShowMe Saver is capable of swapping to a hard
drive or floppy diskette (more about the swapping feature later).
Version 3.01 and later also support mouse selection in the pop up
configuration window.
Page 3
--How do I install ShowMe Saver?...
ShowMe Saver can be run from your hard drive or from a floppy
diskette. The best choice is to run ShowMe Saver from a hard
drive. If you do not have a hard drive, ShowMe Saver may be run
from a floppy drive, however, performance will suffer consider-
ably. In either case, you have a couple of options to install
ShowMe Saver.
The first and best option is to run the provided utility,
INSTALL.EXE. INSTALL automates the installation process and
guides you through the steps to successfully get ShowMe Saver up
and running on your system. To run the installation program,
simply make the drive that contains your source diskette the
current drive. For instance, if you are installing from the 'A'
drive, type A: and press <Enter>. At the 'A' prompt just type
<Install>, press <Enter>, and follow the on-screen instructions.
ShowMe Saver requires about 600K of hard disk space to install all
of its files. If you do not have at least this much free hard
disk space, ShowMe Saver will not install.
NOTE: Remember to make a backup copy of the ShowMe Saver diskette
and put the original away in a safe place.
Another option is to manually copy SHOMESAV.EXE to a directory on
the drive from which you plan to run the program. The following
instructions assume that you have a hard drive and that you are
running ShowMe Saver from a directory called SHOW. If this is not
the case, you must alter the instructions accordingly. For
example,
COPY A:\SHOMESAV.EXE C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE
will copy SHOMESAV.EXE to the SHOW subdirectory on your 'C'
drive.
There are two ways to run ShowMe Saver once installed. The first
method (and the best method) is to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to
install ShowMe Saver to memory each time you turn on your computer.
(This can be done for you automatically if you install using the
INSTALL.EXE utility.) To use this option you must add the line
C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE [options]
to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (I'll explain the [options] part later).
ShowMe Saver can usually tell if it is being run on a system that
is also running other TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) programs (for
instance, SideKick) and will install itself accordingly. There
may be cases where ShowMe Saver detects a problem when installing
with other TSR's and will give an appropriate error message. In
these cases, ShowMe Saver may refuse to install itself into memory.
If this happens, you can try changing the location of the line
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that is loading ShowMe Saver. In cases
where ShowMe Saver refuses to pop up, this may also correct the
problem.
Page 4
The second method (not the best method) is to run ShowMe Saver from
the DOS prompt. When using this option, you must manually load
ShowMe Saver each time you start your computer. For example, type
C:\SHOW\SHOMESAV.EXE [options]
and press <Enter>.
--How much memory does ShowMe Saver use?...
ShowMe Saver is a TSR, but don't be misled by the size of
SHOMESAV.EXE. ShowMe Saver will swap most of itself out of mem-
ory until it is called to pop up by keyboard or mouse inactivity.
Once resident, ShowMe Saver leaves only a small kernel of about 8K
in memory; the rest of the resident portion is optionally swapped
to EMS (expanded) memory, XMS (extended) memory or to disk. If
ShowMe Saver finds EMS memory on your system, it will swap all but
the resident kernel to this memory. If ShowMe Saver finds XMS
memory on your system, it will use the XMS memory for the swap
location. If your system has both EMS and XMS memory available,
ShowMe Saver will first try to swap to the EMS memory. If there
isn't enough EMS memory available, ShowMe Saver will then try to
swap to the XMS memory. If there is no EMS or XMS memory available
in sufficient quantity, ShowMe Saver will swap itself to disk. A
file will be created on your 'C' drive to hold the non-resident por-
tion of ShowMe Saver until it is time to pop up. This file is
hidden and will be named SHOMESV1.$$$. It should not be deleted if
ShowMe Saver is running on your system. The 'swap' files also have
the system attribute set to avert accidental deletion while ShowMe
Saver is running. When installing and when popping up, ShowMe Saver
requires about 440K free conventional DOS memory. If you have at
least this much free memory when you install ShowMe Saver you should
encounter no problems when popping up.
In addition, when ShowMe Saver pops up it will swap the session it
is popping up over to either EMS memory, XMS memory, or to a file
on your 'C' drive named SHOMESV2.$$$. In the section showing
command line options, I will explain how to force ShowMe Saver to
swap to disk, even though your system has EMS memory and/or XMS
memory. Note, however, that best performance will be obtained by
a swap to EMS memory or XMS memory and is the best option, if
available.
NOTE: If your machine has extended memory and you want ShowMe
Saver to use it for the swap location, you must have the DOS
extended memory manager, HIMEM.SYS, installed unless you are
running a third party memory manager, such as QEMM. HIMEM.SYS is
installed by adding a line to your CONFIG.SYS file. See your DOS
manual for instructions on adding this line. ShowMe Saver pops up
and down much more quickly if it has EMS (expanded) or XMS (exten-
ded) memory available.
The easiest way to remove these temporary swap files from your
system is to unload ShowMe Saver with the /U command-line option.
Page 5
When ShowMe Saver is unloaded this way, it "cleans up" after it-
self by deleting the temporary swap files.
--What is the password utility included in ShowMe Saver?...
There may be times that you do not want unauthorized personnel
tampering with your computer while you are away from your desk
or workstation. Your machine can be 'locked' by ShowMe Saver.
If you enable the password option, a saver module cannot be
popped down unless you enter the password. When a key is
pressed or the mouse is pressed, a small prompt appears and
asks for the password. If you enter the correct password, the
saver will pop down normally. However, if you cannot give the
correct password, the saver module will immediately pop up again
so that the system cannot be accessed.
The password option can be configured in two ways. The password
can be enabled by the inclusion of command line switches. In
addition, you may enable and/or disable, as well as change the
password itself, via the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. These
methods for configuring the password option are outlined in the
appropriate sections below.
NOTE -- ShowMe Saver starts initially with a default password of
102582. If you change the password in the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up
window, the new password will only be in effect as long as ShowMe
Saver remains in memory. When you reload ShowMe Saver the pass-
word will revert to the default. Included in the ShowMe Saver
package is a configuration utility called SHOWCFIG.EXE which
allows you to change the default password. SHOWCFIG.EXE must be
run from the sub-directory where SHOMESAV.EXE is located. A new
default password of up to 8 characters may be entered in this
manner. It is best to store the configuration utility in a safe
place along with your backup copy of ShowMe Saver. If the SHOW-
CFIG.EXE file is left in the location from which ShowMe Saver is
started, there is a possibility that unauthorized personnel could
tamper with the default password.
If you enter a new password in the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window,
the new password is IN ADDITION to the default password. In
other words, when a keystroke or mouse activity tries to pop down
the saver module that is running, you have a choice of which
password to enter. If you have entered a new password in the
Ctrl + Alt + M window, that new password AS WELL AS the default
password will allow you to pop the saver down. The reason for
allowing this option is so that unauthorized personnel cannot
use the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window to lock you out of your own
system.
A note of caution is in order:
If you use the password option, DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD,
especially if you are starting ShowMe Saver from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file with the immediate popup feature enabled. Should you forget
Page 6
your password, you must have a bootable floppy diskette available
in order to regain control of your own system.
--Will ShowMe Saver interfere with communication activity?
No. Beginning with version 3.81 of ShowMe Saver, when you are
active in a communication program, ShowMe Saver will "see" that
activity and will not pop up. This means that if you are using
a communication program to do a file transfer, ShowMe Saver will
"know" this and will not pop up and corrupt the transfer. Also,
if you are in a communication program, as long as you are active,
i.e., using the keyboard or mouse, ShowMe Saver will not pop up.
If you become inactive, i.e., you leave your machine while a file
transfer is occuring, as soon as the transfer is complete, ShowMe
Saver will be able to pop up if you do not become active again.
--What are the command line options for running ShowMe Saver?...
Typing SHOMESAV /? or SHOMESAV -? at the DOS prompt will display
a help screen showing the various command line options available
when starting ShowMe Saver. The options are as follows:
/Bx slows the display of modules (1 = min.(default) 250 = max.)
/D specifies to load saver in 'disabled' status
/E indicates not to use EMS (expanded) memory
/F indicates not to use XMS (extended) memory
/Ix causes immediate popup in x secs. with default password
/L indicates to enable default password
/Mtext specifies text for screen saver message
/N indicates not to use swapping
/O causes saver modules to pop up in order
/Ppathname specifies pathname to use for swapping
/Rx causes saver to cycle 'x' times thru each module
/Scodes saver modules to enable (0-9,:;<=>?`@,A-Z,[\]^_`a-o)
/Ttime specifies time to pop up saver (1 to 60 min.)
/U removes ShowMe Saver from memory
/X specifies to use XMS (extended) memory first if avail.
/? displays this help screen
The proper use of these command line options is:
SHOMESAV /x
where "x" represents one of the characters shown on the help
screen. Note that /x or -x are both acceptable.
NOTE: If multiple options are included on the command line, you
must separate each option with a space.
Page 7
A description of each follows:
/Bx -- On some computers, especially newer, higher
speed machines, some of the graphic modules may
run too quickly. This option can be used to
slow them down a bit. It can only be entered
as a command-line option be entered as a
command-line option when starting ShowMe Saver.
The effect of the option is to slow things down
somewhat in some of the modules. A value of 1
(which is the default value) has little effect
and a value of 250 has the maximum effect. If
some of the modules seem to run too fast to
suit your taste, you can experiment with various
values to find one that works best on your
system.
/D -- Use this option if you want ShowMe Saver to start
in the 'disabled' mode. If started with this
command line switch, you must manually enable
ShowMe Saver with the shift-shift hot key or in
the Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window.
/E -- This option will tell ShowMe Saver not to use EMS
memory when it installs. This forces ShowMe Saver
to swap to XMS memory or to disk. If the /E
as well as the /F options are included on the
command line, ShowMe Saver will be forced to swap
to disk. (See note above about configuring
XMS memory)
/F -- This option will tell ShowMe Saver not to use XMS
memory when it installs. This forces ShowMe Saver
to swap to EMS memory or to disk. By including
this option as well as the /E option, you may
force a swap to disk.
/Ix -- This option will cause ShowMe Saver to pop up
immediately (in 'x' seconds) after loading,
using the default password. Use of this option
will allow you to run ShowMe Saver from your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file with an immediate popup. This
enables you to protect your system from tampering
by unauthorized personnel. In order to use this
option, you should set 'x' to a relatively low
number of seconds so that ShowMe Saver pops up
immediately after the machine has completed its
boot sequence. In order to use this option pro-
perly you must time your boot sequence and insure
that the number of seconds that you specify in the
/I option is somewhat GREATER than the maximum time
your machine takes to boot up. This is to keep
ShowMe Saver from trying to pop up before the boot
sequence is complete.
Page 8
WARNING -- If you use this option, be certain that
you do not forget the default password. If you
forget the default password, you will lock yourself
out of your own system. You should use this option
ONLY if you are CERTAIN that you have a bootable
floppy diskette stored in a safe place. Do NOT use
this option if you are running ShowMe Saver from
a floppy diskette.
/L -- Inclusion of this option causes ShowMe Saver to pop up
with the default password enabled. The time to pop
up will be 5 minutes unless you also include the /T
option, in which case the time to pop up will be the
time you specify with the /T option.
/Mtext -- ShowMe Saver defaults to a saver message of 'SHOWME
SAVER' unless a different message is given as a
command line option, as in
SHOMESAV /MJake
in which case the message displayed would be
'Jake'. A maximum length of twelve characters
is allowed and any longer message will be
truncated. Messages entered from the command
line may contain up to four spaces. (HINT: If
you prefer that no message be displayed, enter
/m with no message as a command line option.)
The SHOWCFIG.EXE utility may be used to change
the default message as explained below.
/N -- ShowMe Saver will first try to use EMS memory for
swapping. If EMS memory is not available on the
system, ShowMe Saver will try to swap to XMS mem-
ory (see note above). If XMS memory is not avail-
able, ShowMe Saver will then swap to disk. In the
event that you do not want ShowMe Saver to swap to
EMS, XMS, or to disk, you may use this option to
disable swapping entirely. However, a word of
caution. If you use this option, ShowMe Saver will
take a large bite out of low memory. Depending
upon how your system is configured, this may not
leave enough room in low memory to run many pro-
grams.
/O -- If you want the saver modules to pop up in a
specific order, you should include this command
line option. If you have specified certain
saver modules to enable using the /Scodes option
described below, the /O option causes ShowMe Saver
to cycle through the modules in the order in which
you listed them in the /S option. If you did not
include the /S option on the command line, this
option causes the saver modules to pop up in the
order A through ~. This option as well as the /S
Page 9
option discussed below can be configured in the
Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window.
/Ppathname -- The default pathname used by ShowMe Saver is C:\.
If you wish ShowMe Saver to swap to a different
location,
a different pathname must be specified as in
/PD:\SHOW\
which would cause ShowMe Saver to swap to the SHOW
sub-directory on your 'D' drive. This option only
has an effect, of course, if ShowMe Saver is not
using EMS or XMS memory for swapping. Be certain
that the path that you specify is valid. If the
'SHOW' sub-directory, as shown in the above example,
does not exist, ShowMe Saver will not swap itself
out of memory when it installs. The effect would be
the same as if you had included the /N option on the
command line.
/Rx -- By default ShowMe Saver loads so that each module
runs continuously after it is popped up. After that
module pops down by seeing a keystroke or a mouse
press, it does not pop up again until its 'turn'
comes up again according to where it is in the list
of modules you have enabled. If you want ShowMe
Saver to continuously cycle through the list of
modules you have enabled, then you can include this
command line option. For example
SHOMESAV /R5 /SAEIOU
would cause ShowMe Saver to cycle through modules A,
E, I, O, and U five times each, and then start over
at module A again. (This assumes that you have
ShowMe Saver configured to use the enabled modules
'in order'. If configured to run the modules in
'random' order, the modules would be selected
randomly and run five times each.) ShowMe Saver
can be configured to cycle through each module
from 1 to 15 times. This option may also be con-
figured from the pop up configuration window.
/Scodes -- If you do not include the /S command line parameter
when starting, ShowMe Saver by default loads with
all 64 (0-9,:,;,<,=,>,?,@,A-X,[,\,],^,_,`,a-o)
saver modules enabled. If you want certain saver
modules to be enabled on start-up, you may include
this option to enable as many as you wish. For
example,
SHOMESAV /SAC\FG[P
would start ShowMe Saver with the A, C, \, F, G, [,
Page 10
and P modules enabled. At any time after start-up,
you can change the enabled-modules list in the
Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. The module codes
are listed below. (Note that the letters used with
the /S switch may be both upper AND lower case,
eg., 'A' signifies the module Orbs and 'a'
signifies the module Twirl.)
GRAPHIC SAVER MODULES
0 - Orbs 1 - ShowMan 2 - Fade Out 3 - Air Mail
4 - Wormy 5 - Fade In 6 - Sine Fun 7 - Black Hole
8 - Boxes 9 - 3D Bars : - Text Pop ; - Whole Sine
< - Lines = - Circles > - Twinkler ? - Random Lines
@ - Train A - Drained B - Cherry B C - Double Paper
D - Boing E - Planets F - Saturn V G - Bounce Names
H - Mower I - Vortex J - Rolling K - Passing Thru
L - Quake M - Stormy N - Fireworks O - Space Flight
P - Twirl Q - Spider R - Scotch S - Starstruck
T - Flags U - Watch V - Marquee W - Pulsator
X - Snow Y - Blanker Z - Searching [ - Kaleidoscope
\ - Swirl ] - Cascade ^ - Fract _ - Bouncing
` - Orbit a - Tangle b - Cubical c - Cyclatron
d - Doily e - Sparkle f - SummerTime g - PollyGone
h - Clone i - Psycho j - Twister k - Ricochet
l - Spiral m - Corners n - Drifter o - Balloons
/Tnumber -- The default pop-up time used by ShowMe Saver is 5
minutes. If you would like a different pop up
time, you may set it by including a command line
option such as
/T20
This would cause ShowMe Saver to pop up after 20
minutes of keyboard or mouse inactivity. The pop
up time may be set from 1 to 60 minutes.
/U -- This option is used to disable ShowMe Saver and
remove it from memory, if it is safe to do so.
If ShowMe Saver is running on your system, it may
be run again with the /U option, as in
SHOMESAV /U
to remove ShowMe Saver from memory and return all
memory used by ShowMe Saver to the system. If you
have installed other TSR's after loading ShowMe
Saver, you will probably not be able to unload
ShowMe Saver until you have first unloaded those
TSR's. ShowMe Saver detects this and will refuse
to unload the resident copy. When unloaded from
Page 11
memory with this option, ShowMe Saver deletes any
temporary swap files it may have created.
/? -- Displays the help screen.
NOTE -- ShowMe Saver automatically watches for printer activity.
If you are sending a long print job to your printer, ShowMe Saver
will not pop up until the entire print job has been sent.
More than one command line option may be used when starting
ShowMe Saver. For example
SHOMESAV /MJulie Ann /E /PD:\saver /t1 /o
would set the saver message to 'Julie Ann', tell ShowMe Saver NOT
to use EMS memory for swapping, set the location for the swapping
files to the 'SAVER' directory of drive 'D', set the pop up time
to 1 minute, and tell ShowMe Saver to pop up the saver modules in
the order that you specified.
Note that "/" or "-" may be used interchangeably on the command
line to specify options. An examination of the example given
above shows the proper use of spaces between each option used.
There must be a space between each option or ShowMe Saver will
only "see" the first option. Each option must begin with either
an '/' or an '-' and must end with a space (the spaces within a
message when using the /M option are ignored).
--Can I change parameters after installing ShowMe Saver?...
Six parameters can be changed after ShowMe Saver has been in-
stalled. The message for display can be changed at any time. A
hot key combination will pop up a configuration window which will
allow you to change the message. The window will show the mes-
sage currently being used and will prompt for a different message.
When entering a new message in this manner, any number of spaces
may be included, however, the absolute maximum of twelve char-
acters (including spaces) is still enforced as mentioned above.
(HINT: If you do not want a message displayed, enter no text at
the prompt). The hot key combination to pop up the message window
is CTRL + ALT + M. (Hold down the 'Ctrl' and 'Alt' keys and press
the 'M' key.)
If you want to change the pop up time after ShowMe Saver is in-
stalled, you may set the time from 1 to 60 minutes by using the
Ctrl + Alt + M pop up window. The window shows the current pop
up time and prompts for a new time.
There may be times when you want to disable ShowMe Saver tempo-
rarily after it is installed. For instance, you may be running
a text based DOS application which should not be interrupted.
The window which pops up when the Ctrl + Alt + M hot key combina-
tion is pressed also allows you to enable and disable ShowMe
Saver. The window shows the current saver status (on or off)
and allows you to change the status.
Page 12
The password utility may also be configured from the pop up
window. The password may be enabled and disabled or the
password can be changed to anything you desire, up to a maximum
of eight characters. Note that many keys may be included in
the password that are not normally associated with text. For
instance, an 'Esc' or 'Backspace' may be included in the pass-
word. Use of these keys produces passwords that are especially
difficult to 'crack'.
ShowMe Saver by default starts with all 64 saver modules enabled.
If you only wish certain modules to pop up, you may enable them
from the pop up window. You may enable from 1 to 64 modules
(0-9,:,;,<,=,>,?,@,A-Z,[,\,],^,_,`,a-o) at any time. The names for
each module are shown in the pop-up 'pick' window shown below,
which appears when the '(E)nable' option is selected.
----------------------------------------------------------
| -----------------> MODULE SELECTION <------------------- |
||--------------------------------------------------------||
|| <Orbs> ShowMan Fade Out <Air Mail> ||
|| <Wormy> Fade In Sine Fun Black Hole ||
|| Boxes <3D Bars> <Text Pop> Whole Sine ||
|| Lines Circles Twinkler Random Lines ||
|| Train Drained Cherry B Double Paper ||
|| <Boing> Planets Saturn V Bounce Names ||
|| Mower <Vortex> <Rolling> <Passing Thru> ||
|| Quake Stormy Fireworks Space Flight ||
|| Twirl <Spider> <Scotch> <Starstruck> ||
|| Flags Watch Marquee Pulsator ||
|| Snow Blanker Searching Kaleidoscope ||
|| Swirl Cascade <Fract> <Bouncing> ||
|| Orbit Tangle Cubical Cyclatron ||
|| Doily Sparkle SummerTime PollyGone ||
|| Clone Psycho Twister Ricochet ||
|| Spiral Corners Drifter Balloons ||
||--------------------------------------------------------||
| - CTRL-ENTER = Toggle All ----- SPACEBAR = Toggle Item - |
----------------------------------------------------------
An examination of the example pick window above shows that
some of the module names in the window are enclosed in
brackets (for example, <Orbs> ). The brackets indicate that
this module is selected for pop up. As few as one of the
modules may be 'selected' or all of them may be selected.
When you first enter this pick window, if you wish to change
the modules selected for pop up, you must FIRST deselect all
of the modules. As shown in the lower left of the window
frame, pressing <CTRL-ENTER> will deselect all modules or,
placing the mouse cursor on the <CTRL-ENTER> area and pressing
the left button will do the same thing. Then, you may
select those modules that you wish to be enabled. If you wish
all modules to be enabled but in no specific order, the
<CTRL-ENTER> key combination can be used to toggle all items
off then back on.
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Modules are selected in one of two ways. The highlight bar
may be moved around the window using the arrow keys and, when
a selection is highlighted, pressing the spacebar will toggle
that item on. If you have a mouse installed, double-clicking
an item with the left button will also select the item. When
selecting modules, if you want them to pop up in a specific
order, they must be 'selected' in that order. However, if you
decide to change the order of pop up, you should deselect all
items and start the selection process over.
Once your selection is complete, pressing <ENTER>, <ESC>, or
clicking the right mouse button will exit the pick window and
enable for pop up all of the modules that were selected. Once
you begin to use the 'pick' window to enable modules, you will
quickly become accustomed to it, whether you are using the
keyboard or a mouse.
The '(O)rder' option toggles between 'In Order' and 'Random'.
'In Order' indicates that the saver modules shown as 'Enabled'
will pop up in the order shown. Once you have cycled through
the 'Enabled' list, pop up returns to the start of the list.
'Random' indicates that the saver modules enabled will pop up
at random.
The '(C)ycling of saver modules' option configures ShowMe Saver
to cycle through the modules you have enabled in the module
selection window. If the 'Module cycling' option is set to 'YES'
as shown in the upper portion of the pop up configuration window,
selecting 'C' or clicking on the option with the mouse will set
the cycling option to 'NO' which indicates that once a module pops
up, it will stay up until popped down. If the 'Module cycling'
option is set to 'NO', selecting 'C' or clicking on the option
with the mouse will give a prompt to 'Enter the number of cycles
(1 to 15)...'. You may then enter the number of times you want
each module to run before it pops down and the next one pops up.
At any point while in the pop-up window, you may exit and leave
all parameters unchanged by pressing <Esc>. Beginning with
verison 4.00, the changes you make to the message, pop-up time,
order, module cycling, and enabled modules are 'remembered' by
"ShowMe Saver" if you shut your computer off or unload it from
memory. Those options will still be in effect the next time you
start "ShowMe Saver". The password and status options will NOT
be 'remembered'.
The configuration pop up window supports a mouse. All of the
options available can be accessed with either the keyboard
or the mouse. If you have a mouse installed on your system, it
will be detected automatically and will become active when the
pop up window is called. A little experimentation will show the
capabilities of the mouse. In general, the left button is used
for selection of options. The right button is used as either the
<ESC> key, if you are in the main window, or the <ENTER> key if
you are in the secondary module selection window.
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There are two additional hot-key combinations available while
ShowMe Saver is installed:
Shift + Shift -- Depressing both the left and right 'shift' keys
allows you to quickly disable ShowMe Saver. The
effect is the same as if you used the pop up
window to disable ShowMe Saver, but much faster.
Depressing shift-shift again will reenable
ShowMe Saver, thus the shift-shift hot key acts
as a 'toggle' to turn ShowMe Saver OFF and/or ON
quickly. If you forget what the present status
is, just pop up the configuration window and
check the 'STATUS' entry.
NOTE: At times when you are using a graphics
based program you may notice the mouse behaving
erratically. The shift-shift hot key is particu-
larly useful because it will allow you to tempo-
rarily disable ShowMe Saver while you are in the
program. Then, when you leave the program you
can use the shift-shift hot key to re-enable
ShowMe Saver.
Ctrl + Alt + Rt. Shift -- Pressing the right 'Shift' key while
holding down the 'Control' and 'Alt'
keys will force ShowMe Saver to pop
up immediately.
(NOTE: The three hot key combinations discussed so far are the
default hot keys enabled when you get ShowMe Saver. See the
section below entitled " Can I change the hot keys
used by ShowMe Saver? " for information on changing them.)
--What are the saver modules used in ShowMe Saver?...
ShowMe Saver contains sixty-four different graphic saver image
modules. They are:
Orbs -0- Your message popping to the screen on spheres
of various colors and shapes.
ShowMan -1- Your message being gobbled up by ShowMan and
then spit back at you.
FadeOut -2- Your message slowly disintegrating.
Air Mail -3- Your message being towed by the ShowMe Saver
airplane.
Wormy -4- Your message being carried by the ShowMe Saver
wooly worm.
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Fade In -5- Your message gradually fading in.
Sine Fun -6- Your message disappearing in a multicolored
tunnel of sine waves.
Black Hole -7- Your message being sucked down a black hole,
along with an entire solar system.
Boxes -8- Your message displayed in various formats
while being blasted by multicolored cubes.
3D Bars -9- Your message popping up on vari-colored 3D
cubes in many colors.
TextPop -:- Your message popping to the display in a
multitude of sizes and at random
locations.
Whole Sine -;- Your message under an everchanging pattern
of circles, boxes, and ellipses.
Lines -<- Your message being displayed over random lines in
various colors and locations.
Circles -=- Your message displayed in various multi-colored
circles and spheres.
Twinkler ->- Your message disappearing under an exploding
display of colored stars.
Random Lines -?- Your message being covered and uncovered
by a random line in a continuously
changing color and direction.
Train -@- Your message being hauled by the ShowMe Saver train.
Drained -A- Your message slowly seeping down the drain.
Cherry B -B- Your message exploding on a "Cherry Bomb"
firecracker.
Double Paper -C- Your message displayed between two
multicolored bands of paper.
Boing -D- Your message bouncing around the screen.
Planets -E- Your message on the surface of planets
floating through space.
Saturn V -F- A Saturn V rocket crashing into your
message in deep space.
Bounce Names -G- Your message bouncing onto the screen
in various colors and at various
locations.
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Mower -H- Your message being uncovered by a couple of
hard-working fellows.
Vortex -I- Your message displayed on the fringes of a
swirling vortex.
Rolling -J- Your message rolling through the screen from
both directions.
Passing Thru -K- Your message sliding across the screen
from every direction.
Quake -L- Your message shaken up by an earthquake.
Stormy -M- Your message appearing beneath flashes of
lightening in a darkened sky.
Fireworks -N- Your message on a billboard with multi-
colored fireworks bursting overhead.
Space Flight -O- Your message speeding by as you hurtle
through space.
Twirl -P- Your message being surrounded by brightly
colored swirling designs.
Spider -Q- The ShowMe spider slowly spinning a multi-
colored web around your message.
Scotch -R- Plaid patterns slowly woven across the screen
around your message.
Starstruck -S- Your message in the marquee lights with
the stars.
Flags -T- Your message popping to the screen on various
ShowMe flags, along with "Old Glory".
Watch -U- The ShowMe watch, personalized with
your message, bouncing around the screen.
Marquee -V- Your message exploding onto the screen amid
the marquee lights.
Pulsator -W- Your message coming and going and going and
coming.
Snow -X- Gently falling snowflakes cascading around your
message.
Blanker -Y- Just a plain, jane blanker... No message, just
a blank screen. Included due to numerous
requests.
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Searching -Z- Searchlights constantly scanning the screen
for your message.
Kaleidoscope -[- Your message displayed above and below a
kaleidoscope of color.
Swirl -\- Swirling, twirling, psychodelic patterns cover
your message.
Cascade -]- Cascading cones and circles covering your
messsage.
Fract -^- Your message framed by a multicolored fractal
pattern.
Bouncing -_- Bouncing balls carrying your message through
from both directions.
Orbit -`- Your message being orbited by multicolored
spheres.
Tangle -a- Your message overlaid by cascading retangular
patterns.
Cubical -b- A cubical pattern revealing your message.
Cyclatron -c- Your message at the center of a cyclatron
being bombarded by quarks and leptons.
Doily -d- Your message in the center of a fractal doily.
Sparkle -e- Your message amidst sparkling stars.
SummerTime -f- A fractal scene of a tree, complete with
birdhouse and swing. Your message takes a
ride.
PollyGone -g- Your message is displayed in random locations
while everchanging polygons drift about,
changing colors and styles.
Clone -h- Your message displayed on an IBM "Clone"
computer.
Psycho -i- Your message at the center of a colorful, cycling
display.
Twister -j- A twirling and spinning display, weaving over
and around your message.
Ricochet -k- Bouncing balls ricocheting across the screen
around your message.
Spiral -l- A pair of spiraling balls swirl a pattern of colors
around the screen.
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Corners -m- A multi-colored rectangle dancing around the
screen under your message.
Drifter -n- Your message drifting aimlessly around the screen
while the color cycles.
Balloons -o- A colorful bunch of party balloons floating
around the screen, each imprinted with your
message.
--Can I change the hot keys used by ShowMe Saver ?...
Yes. Since there are many applications that make the use of hot
keys, a conflict may occur between the hot keys used by ShowMe
Saver and those used by an application you may be running. If
this is the case, the default configuration utility, SHOWCFIG.EXE,
may be used to change two of the default hot-key combinations.
Simply place SHOWCFIG.EXE in the same directory as SHOMESAV.EXE,
MAKE THAT DIRECTORY THE CURRENT DIRECTORY, and start the configura-
tion program by typing 'showcfig' and pressing 'enter'. Use of the
utility is relatively intuitive. You are initially presented with
five options:
<C> to change hot key for pop-up configuration window
<I> to change hot key for immediate pop up
<M> to change default message
<P> to change default password
<S> to save configuration changes
<ESC> to quit without saving changes.
If you wish to change the hot key for immediate pop up, press 'I'
and you will be presented with another menu allowing you to select
the hot key you desire:
1) CTRL-ALT-RIGHT SHIFT
2) ALT-LEFT SHIFT
3) CTRL-RIGHT SHIFT
4) NONE
Option 1) is the default for this hot key when you get ShowMe Saver.
You are allowed to select any one of the three hot keys shown or to
disable the immediate pop-up hot key entirely.
If you wish to change the hot key for the pop up configuration
window, press 'C' and you will be presented with another menu which
allows you to select the hot key you want:
1) CTRL-ALT-M
2) CTRL-LEFT SHIFT-HOME
3) CTRL-DEL
4) ALT-RIGHT SHIFT-*
5) CTRL-LEFT SHIFT->
6) CTRL-BACKSPACE
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Option 1) is the default for this hot key when you get ShowMe
Saver.
You are allowed to select any one of the six hot keys shown.
If you wish to change the default message, press 'M' and you will
be prompted for a new default message (up to 12 characters, of
course).
If you wish to change the default password, press 'P' and you
will be prompted for a new default password.
After making your selections, you MUST choose the
<S> to save configuration changes
option to save your changes. If you press <ESC>, you will exit
the configuration program without saving any of the changes you
made.
(NOTE: SHOWCFIG.EXE is NOT compatible with versions of ShowMe Saver
earlier than version 3.81.)
--Is ShowMe Saver compatible with Microsoft Windows?...
Yes. We have encountered no compatibility problems when switching
between DOS and 'Windows'. As mentioned above, if you are
currently running a 'Windows' session, ShowMe Saver will disable
itself and will not attempt to pop up. If you are also running a
'Windows' screen saver, it will continue to operate normally
while you are in the Windows session. When you leave the 'Windows'
session and return to DOS, ShowMe Saver will re-enable itself and
continue to pop up normally.
-- Are there times when ShowMe Saver should be disabled?...
Yes. Anytime you are running software that should not be inter-
rupted, you should disable ShowMe Saver. Some programs may operate
unattended for long periods of time with little or no user input
from the keyboard or mouse. As mentioned earlier, ShowMe Saver can
detect printer activity, file transfers in a communication
program and hard drive activity. However, there may be software
that requires infrequent user input. In these cases, ShowMe Saver
should be temporarily disabled while they are running. A good
example of such a program might be a hard disk defragmentation
utility.
If you encounter an incompatibility with a program that you use
often, it is best to unload ShowMe Saver before running the pro-
gram. This can be done manually before starting the program
by unloading ShowMe Saver by using the "/U' command line option.
An even better way is to start the program with a batch file.
For example, if the incompatible program is a communication pro-
gram called "COMM", you might create a batch file called
Page 20
GOCOMM.BAT that contains the following lines:
C:
CD C:\SHOW
SHOMESAV /U
CD C:\COMM
CALL COMM.EXE
CD C:\SHOW
SHOMESAV [options]
where [options] are all of the options you normally use when
starting ShowMe Saver . This, of course, assumes that you have
installed ShowMe Saver in the "SHOW" directory on your C-Drive.
The use of a batch file such as this will allow you to auto-
matically unload ShowMe Saver when you start the incompatible
program. Then, ShowMe Saver will also automatically reload when
you exit the program.
--What do I get with the registered version of "ShowMe Saver Saver"?...
You will get the latest version of "ShowMe Saver". This version
will NOT have the opening ShareWare screen NOR will it have the
ShareWare screens that you see when you exit the pop-up window.
--How do I register "ShowMe Saver"?...
The easiest way to register "ShowMe Saver" is to print out the
registration form in REGSHOME.DOC, fill it out and send it, along
with the $10.00 registration fee (US FUNDS ONLY), to
Harold Schwartz
P.O. Box 104482
Jefferson City, MO 65110
Printing the form is easy. Just type
COPY REGSHOME.DOC PRN
and press <enter>. Send in the completed form and $10.00 U.S.
to the address given above.
For those of you wishing to obtain "site" registration for
ShowMe Saver, the registration form SITEREG.DOC is included.
Thanks and ***ENJOY*** ShowMe Saver.
Page 21
--Acknowledgements...
In this documentation, references are made to several products:
Borland Pascal and Sidekick are registered trademarks of Borland
International.
QEMM is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
DOS refers to either PC-DOS or MS-DOS.
PC-DOS is a registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation.
MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
***** DISCLAIMER *****
(please read)
"ShowMe Saver" is a powerful program. While I have
attempted to build in reasonable safeguards, as with
any useful computer software, "ShowMe Saver" may
contain errors in the program or documentation. The
author does not give any warranty, either expressed or
implied, to anyone using this program other than for
the replacement of defective media. In no event
shall the author be liable for any damages, including
loss of profits or anticipated profits, lost savings,
or other incidental or consequential damages arising
out of the use or inability to use this program. The
program comes "as is" and it is the user's responsi-
bility to determine whether the program is suitable
for his or her computer system and software needs.
***** COPYRIGHT *****
Copyright (c) 1992-94 Harold Schwartz. All Rights
Reserved. You may copy "ShowMe Saver" for backup
purposes, and you may give copies of the unregistered
version to other individuals, which they may also use
and copy under the terms of this agreement. If you
copy the unregistered version of "ShowMe Saver" for
others, you must include all of the files distributed
with it. "ShowMe Saver" may not be sold, licensed,
or a fee charged for its use. If a fee is charged in
connection with the unregistered version of "ShowMe
Saver", it must cover the cost of copying or dissemina-
tion only. Such charges must be clearly identified as
Page 22
such by the originating party. Under no circumstances
may the purchaser be given the impression that he is
buying "ShowMe Saver" itself.
The author encourages BBS operators to post the
unregistered version of the "ShowMe Saver" package
on their systems for download by users wishing to
evaluate it. No other reproduction or use is
authorized without the express prior written consent
of the copyright owner.