@DataBase SimplePlayer.guide @Author "Allan Versaevel" @$VER: SimplePlayer v1.9a (08-AUG-98) @WordWrap @Font topaz.font 8 @Tab 8 @TOC Main @Node Main "SimplePlayer Documentation." @{JCenter}SPlayer v1.9a - August 7, 1998 @{JCenter}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @{JCenter}@{" Intro " Link Intro} @{JCenter}@{" Requirements " Link Req} @{JCenter}@{" Install " Link Install} @{JCenter}@{" SPlayer Controls and GUI's " Link Guis} @{JCenter}@{" Menu and Tooltypes " Link Tool} @{JCenter}@{" Preferences " SYSTEM "Sys:Utilities/MultiView GuidePics/SPrefs.pic"} @{JCenter}@{" CLI and Directory Opus Use " Link Cli} @{JCenter}@{" ReqChange 3.x " Link ReqChange} @{JCenter}@{" IBrowse Set-Up " Link IBrowse} @{JCenter}@{" AWeb 1.x to 2.0 Set-Up " Link AWeb_2.0} @{JCenter}@{" AWeb 2.1 Set-Up " Link AWeb_2.1} @{JCenter}@{" To Do " Link ToDo} @{JCenter}@{" Strange Behavior? " Link Bugs} @{JCenter}@{" The Author " Link Author} @{JCenter}@{" Credits " Link Credits} @{JCenter}@{" History " Link History} @{JLeft} I have put many hard hours and days into SPlayer 1.9a. Please send me your comments and suggestions via E-Mail or mail me a nice postcard. Since this program is absolutely free and still has a future, I don't think I am asking for much. @EndNode @Node Intro "What's is SPlayer ?" SPlayer is now MAIL-WARE I have spent many hours on SPlayer. Years to be exact. If you use this program let me know. You can @{" E-Mail me or send a Post card " Link Author}. The future of SPlayer relies on this. Since SPlayer is free, I don't think it's much to ask for a little feedback. Please no MUI vs GadTools Flame wars. SPlayer is a GUI for Play16 1.7 and Mpega 3.4 SPlayer controls most of Play16's and Mpega's functions @Endnode @Node Install "How to install SimplePlayer" Just click on the install Icon..that's it. You can put Simple Player where ever you want. <<<< YOU MUST RUN THE INSTALLER >>>> Failure to do this will cause certain doom.... ie: The program will not run as intended. Manual installation is possible. If you want to see where the Installer puts everything, click @{" here " Link Bugs} @EndNode @Node Req "Requirements to run SimplePlayer." - Any Amiga with Kickstart 3.0+ (020 or better for Mpega) - Play16 1.7 (from Aminet) - Mpega 3.4 (from Aminet) - mpega.library archive (from Aminet) - AHI v4.x (from Aminet). This optional but comes in handy. For Play16 an '020 or higher is recommended for playing 16-Bit samples at 14-Bit resolution. Mpega needs a lot of CPU power. An 030/50 is usually the bare minimum for Mp2 playback. 040 or 060 recommended Read the Play16 and Mpega docs for more info. @EndNode @Node Guis "SPlayer Controls and the Play16 and Mpega GUIs" @{JCenter}@{"Main Controls" SYSTEM "Sys:Utilities/MultiView GuidePics/SMain.pic"} @{JCenter}@{"Displays" SYSTEM "Sys:Utilities/MultiView GuidePics/SDisplay.pic"} @{JCenter}@{" Play16 GUI " SYSTEM "Sys:Utilities/MultiView GuidePics/SPlay16.pic"} @{JCenter}@{"Mpega GUI" SYSTEM "Sys:Utilities/MultiView GuidePics/SMpega.pic"} @{JLeft} Special modes: Play Mode: ("Single" must be selected) When you press Play SPlayer goes into Play Mode. The Display will show ">" and when the sample is finished the Display will show ">|" By pressing Skip forward or Skip back the sample will play automatically. You do have to press Play again. Pressing Stop at any time will exit Play Mode. The Display will change to the Stopped Symbol. This comes in handy when you do not want the next sample to play immediately. * Hitting Stop twice in a row will reset the playing list back to Track 1. Scan: In Scan Mode (Mpega only) the scanning speed will slow down when there is 10 seconds left of the Mpeg. This wil give you time to go back into the sample without having SPlayer skip to the next one. Save Mode: All the files you save out will be in their native format. Voc, wav, aiff, etc. They will not be converted. Since Play16 can play these files, I see no need to have SPlayer convert them. NOTE: SPlayer will try to switch GUIs when an Mpeg is loaded on the Play16 side or vice-versa. Please make sure all you Mpegs are labeled with .mp1, .mp2, or .mp3 at the end of the Mpeg file's name. SPlayer uses these extensions to prevent the wrong GUI from Playing them if you accidently loaded the wrong sample type. @EndNode @Node ToDo "Stuff to add" If you like, use, and recommend this program to your friends, let me know. I like to hear good things about my work. Stuff that I'll add soon (maybe): - MUI - Yes. Due to great public demand :) - Improve Play16 support - Make as a true Web plugin - Able to save multiple play lists - Be able to edit sample lists - Add Audio CD Player support ? Any suggestions welcome.. You can E-Mail me at: splayer@execulink.com @EndNode @Node Bugs "Bugs and Installation" Firstly, make sure you read the entire docs and Play's docs on the proper use of these programs before sending me any Bug reports. Also, the installer is included for a good reason..use it! If there is any bizarre misbehavior of SimplePlayer on your system let me know. Make note of your Amiga model, OS version, and programs you might have run at startup. If SPlayer is called from the cli or a web browser but refuses to play the sound sample, low chip-mem is usually to blame. Also, remember that SPlayer controls two programs, Play16 and Mpega. Try to determine that it is SPlayer, not these programs that is causing your grief. One known bug is that SPlayer's List View seems to dislike Visual Prefs. The List View errors on exit and SPlayer quits. I can't seem to figure out what is causing this. Not sure if it is SPlayer or Visual Prefs. SPlayer works fine with MCP's New GadTools option. I will try to fix this problem if possible. The following files are used by SPlayer: C: Copy Status Env-Archive:SPlayer/ *SPlayer.images *SPlayer.prefs Fonts: *SPlayer8/8 *SPlayer8.font *SPlayer/10 *SPlayer.font *SPlayerBig/16 *SPlayerBig.font * - These files are installed by the Installer program @EndNode @Node Author "The Author...... That's me!" SPlayer was written Allan Versaevel. Now the Disclaimer Part (legal stuff): Any unauthorized distribution outside this archive of SPlayer is prohibited. SPlayer is © 1996-1998 of Allan Versaevel. I am not responsible for any damage to you, your family, or your computer system, caused directly or indirectly by the use of this software package. Use at your own risk... Boy, glad that's over with... I hope you enjoy this program. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: splayer@execulink.com Official Web site: www.execulink.com/~splayer Snail Mail: Allan Versaevel 679 Miller Street Woodstock, Onatrio Canada. N4S-5K2 @EndNode @Node Credits "Excellent Jobs Everyone!" Many Thanks To The Following People: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Beta Testers: ************ Eric Giroux - Fellow Canadian and X-Files fan Christian Birchinger - The guy with Mpeg audio to spare D.F.Duck - Master Arexx programmer and great critic ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thomas Wenzel - Play16's Author. Maker of The best multi-sound format player the Amiga has ever seen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stephane Tavenard - Author of the fastest Real-Time Amiga Mpeg Audio decoder on the planet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Martin Blom - Author of the AHI drivers and Gaip16. Soundcards on The Amiga can actually be of use now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Robert C. Reiswig - For his talents in making the much improved Installer for SPlayer This Installer is © 1998 of Robert Reiswig. Any copying in whole or in part without the author's permision is strictly prohibited. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Many thanks to those who replied with their suggestions and bug reports. @EndNode @Node History "A Simple History Of Simple Player" History in the making (well... it is to me) v1.9a - By using Mpega 3.4 and the correct mpega.library, SPlayer can be use on PPC machines aswell as 68K ones to deocode mpegs. - Mpega file load buffer added to main Prefs. 16K to 512K. - Audio Buffer added to to main Mpega GUI. 0-20 secs. Now slower systems can play mpegs easier. - Boost slider added to main Mpega GUI. Acts like a volume control for mpegs awell. - Improved play modes gadget: Single, All Tracks, Repeat One, and Repeat All. - NTSC and PAL auto-sensing. - Quicker display redraw when un-iconifying SPlayer while playing mpegs. - Various bug fixes. v1.9 - Iconify and full Commodity support added - WaitBuffer option added via the menu. - Using the cycle gadgets while playing mpegs will not re-start the mpeg anymore. Instead, it will start playing from where it left off. - C:Break no longer used. Exec commands are now used to stop samples from playing. - Menu fonts are properly rendered to the current screen font - Proper use of Pubscreens . - Improved error handling for non-existant player files (Mpega or Play16). - various bug fixes and improvements. v1.8 - GUI uses less CPU power and is a bit faster - Mpega scan and pause. Greater control over Mpeg playing - Slightly improved Gfx for the control pannel - Touched up the SPlayer.font. Cleaner look - Cycle gadgets work properly when pressing shift - Easier selection of loaded files through the listview gadget - Saving of sample lists (one per GUI at present) - Autoloading of saved sample lists - Reload saved lists on the fly - Play16 or Mpega on startup is now selectable - Menu added (including new about window!) - Tooltypes are now saved via the Menu. No more manual editing! - Various new features added - Fixed audio filter bug that crashed some systems - Slight change to the documentation - other bug fixes... v1.7 - Mpega 2.5+ support added - Tooltypes added - Directory Opus 5.x support added - AHI v4 support added - Led command replaced with assembly routine. Thanks to Christian Birchinger for this 3 line source code. - Play16 removed from archive v1.6b - Internal Prefs Bug fix v1.6a - Fixed (I hope) a Bug in the Prefs. Some other bugs killed - Added More Control Over Raw samples (8/16 Bit or Mono/Stereo) v1.6 - Prefs window added - AHI support via Play16 1.7 added - Improved installer v1.5 - Fixed Random routine bug. - Added a Custom Font for the Elapsed timer. Easier to read - Cleaned up SPlayer's GUI. 20 lines smaller - Added CD-like Display Graphics - Killed some redundant code. v1.4 - Can now be used with IBrowse and AWeb. - Supports saving of sound files. If you liked what you listened to, you can now save it out. Great for Web Browsing. - SPlayer can now handle one command line argument. ie: "SPlayer Sys:Sound/sample.iff". Can be used with any program or via the shell. - "Smart"" Random Play added. - Replaced the Eject Graphic with a more standardized one. - c:version command computable. - various bug fixes. v1.3a - Added IBrowse Support. Now SPlayer can be called up by IBrowse to play sound files off the net. v1.3 - Now you can save SPlayer's Window position. - Random Play feature has been added. - Reverse Play feature added - GUI has been moderately changed. Looks better. - Fixed Font Bug. SPlayer will adapt it's window to the Window Title's Font. - If a sample list is already loaded and you select load/eject but do not select any files (press cancel or close gadget), the original list will not be erased. - Some Optimizing has been done. Dead, repetitive code has been removed. - Various Bug fixes. v1.2 - Seq Play can be turned on or off - File Requester "remembers" last Directory you were in. - Fast search added. - Elapsed "Real Time" Timer added. - Fixed it so that only one Simple Player can be run at a time. - Another slight GUI change. - Killed "50-feet software" ( I was tired when I thought of that one) Now My Name appears. v1.1 - Repeat option added. Will loop lists of samples. - Filter option added. Turns the Amiga's Low-Pass filter on and off. Useful for "Dirty" sounding samples. - Slight GUI change to make room for the above mentioned options. - Included RequestFile 34.7 by Simon Dick. Now will run on 2.x machines. v1.0 - First Public Release of SPlayer. v.9 - Fixed bug #2008. Raid finally did the trick..Got ya ! v.8 - Stop actually works now... v.5 - Too strange to mention. Fixed it though. v.1 - First Semi-Usable version of SPlayer. V.0 - Didn't exist yet. @EndNode @Node IBrowse "IBrowse Set-Up" SPlayer can now be called up by IBrowse to play sound files off of the net. The only exception is if you use IBrowse on FTP sites. IBrowse uses a different protocol for those pages. How to Set up the IBrowse Preferences to use SPlayer: 1) Go into "Preferences" in IBrowse 2) Select "General" 3) In the window that pops up click on "Ext.viewer" 4) Select "Add" 5) In "Mime Type" enter "Audio". Press return 6) Enter "*" in the adjacent box. (to the right). Press enter 7) In "Extension" type "wav,voc,aiff,au,maud,iff" pres enter 8) Beside "Action" select the "Ext.viewer" button 9) In the "Viewer" box, type or use the file gadget, enter the path and name os SPlayer. 10) In "Arguments" enter %f and press return. 11) Click on "OK" 12) In the "Preferences" menu again, select "Save Settings" That's it. Now whenever you click on a wav, aiff,au,etc. file, SPlayer will pop up and play the sample. @EndNode @Node AWeb_2.0 "AWeb 1.x to 2.0 Set-Up" SPlayer can now be called up by AWeb to play sound files off of the net. How to Set up the AWeb Preferences to use SPlayer: 1) Select "Change Settings" from the "Settings" menu 2) Use the page cycle gadget and keep clicking on it till you reach the Mime Type and External Viewer Page 3) Click on ADD 4) Type "AUDIO" in the Type box (left side) and "*" in the box beside it. 5) In "Extensions" enter "wav aiff voc iff maud". Press return 6) In "Command" enter the path of SPlayer including it's name. 7) In "Arguments" enter %s and press return. 8) Click on "Save" That's it. Now whenever you click on a wav, aiff,au,etc. file, SPlayer will pop up and play the sample. @EndNode @Node AWeb_2.1 "AWeb 2.1 Set-Up" SPlayer can now be called up by AWeb to play sound files off of the net. How to set up the AWeb Preferences to use SPlayer: 1) Select "Browser Settings" from the "Settings" menu 2) Select Viewers (5) from that window 3) Click on ADD 4) Type "AUDIO" in the Type box (left side) and "*" in the box beside it. 5) In "Extensions" enter "wav aiff voc iff maud". Press return 6) In "Command" enter the path of SPlayer including it's name. 7) In "Arguments" enter %s and press return. 8) Click on "Save" That's it. Now whenever you click on a wav, aiff,au,etc. file, SPlayer will pop up and play the sample. @EndNode @Node Tool "Menus and Tooltypes" SPlayer 1.9 has a menu that sets and saves all tooltypes. The listing of the tooltypes types below can now be used for reference only. Cool, eh ? No more mucking around with SPlayers .info file :) The only tooltpes you have to edit is CX_HIDE and CX_SHOW. These set what key combo shows or hides SPlayer's GUI. Defaults are : CX_SHOW=ctrl lalt s CX_HIDE=ctrl lalt h Chnage these to whatever you like. What's in the Menu Project ------- About - Brings up a window that shows some really neat Stuff Iconify - Gets SPlayer's GUI out of your face. Double click on the Appicon or use the CX_SHOW keys to un-iconify it. Quit - Hmmm....wonder what this does ? Settings -------- AutoPlay : This will automatically play samples after they are loaded via requester or Reload Gadget. AutoLoad : If you have saved a sample list that list will be loaded automatically on startup. MpegaGUI : Load the Mpega GUI on startup WaitBuffer : Delays playing of Mpegs untill the Audio Buffer is full. This is usefull for slow systems or hard drives. Scan : Sets the Mpega Scan speed. Self explanitory here. Priority : Sets the priority for Play16/Mpega to run at. -1, 0, or +1 The prority is can be unique to each GUI. In other words, Play16 and Mpega can have different priorities. Save Settings : Saves the current menu options as tooltypes. All menu prefs are saved in SPlayers Icon. Current loaded sample paths are saved aswell. No need to edit them manually anymore. Tooltypes (for the Curious) --------- PLAY16DIR : This is the Default Path were you keep your samples for Play16. MPEGADIR : This is the Default Path were you keep your samples for Mpega. SAVEPATH : The path where you want any of these samples to be saved AUTOPLAY : If you want the sample(s) to play after loading, set this to on by un-bracketing it. AUTOLOAD : This will cause the saved sample lists for the perspective GUI to be loaded automatically. Set this by un-bracketing it. MPEGAGUI : Causes the MpegaGUI to load at start up instead of Play16. Un-bracket this if you want this to happen. PLAY16PRI : Sets the priority that Play16 will run at. -5 to +5 are reasonable numbers. 1 works well MPEGAPRI : Sets the priority that Mpega will run at. -5 to +5 are reasonable numbers. 1 works well SCANSPEED : This setting is for how fast you want to scan through Mpeg files in Mpega. 0 is fastest, 2 is slowest. WAITBUFFER : 0=OFF,1=ON. Tells Mpega to wait till the buffer is full before playing the Mpeg. CX_SHOW : Uniconify or bring the GUI to front. "ctrl lalt s" is the default. CX_HIDE : Iconify the GUI. "ctrl lalt h" is the defualt. NOTE: As long as the .info file (icon) is with SPlayer. These settings are loaded from the Cli as well @Endnode @Node CLI "CLI and Opus Use" CLI Usage --------- I only recommend SPlayer to be used with 1 to 10 parameters from CLI ie: SPlayer sample.wav test.wav pig.wav ......help.wav There is a bug in one of the Blitz Basic commands that causes a GURU if the paramerers exceed 256 chracters. Directory Opus -------------- Make a button in Opus and enter the following command and settings: Select Workbench mode, not AmigaDos Enter "SPlayer {F} Select Run Asyncronously Save these settings Refer to you Opus Manual for more info Select the samples and press the SPlayer button. You may notice only 9 or 10 samples will load. This is normal. Quitting SPlayer will load the next set of Samples (if there are any). @Endnode @Node ReqChange I strongly recommend ReqChange 3.x by Magnus Holmgren. It gives SPlayer and your system requesters more power. ReqChange will centre requesters, as well as give you the indispensible "All" button. SPlayer loves this feature. One click and all your samples are loaded. Many more features too. Get it! ReqChange can be found on Aminet. @Endnode