WinWav Help

What is WinWav?

WinWav Setup

Hints and Troubleshooting

Starting WinWav


Starting WinWav

When you first start Windows, double click the WinWav icon once to load it into memory.  Double click the icon a second time (or choose WinWav from the Task List) to configure WinWav.

When you start WinWav, it looks for configuration information in its .INI file, WINWAV.INI.  WinWav creates this file the first time you select OK in the Setup window.  If WinWav can't find WINWAV.INI at startup, it displays the WinWav Setup... dialog box, from which you can begin attaching sounds to events and applications.  When you click OK in the WinWav Setup dialog box, all configured information is saved to the .INI file in the \WINDOWS directory.  You can specify a different name and location for WinWav's .INI file by adding it to the Command Line in the Program Item Filename dialog box (in Program Manager).  For example:

    c:\winwav\winwav.exe c:\winwav\mywinwav.ini


General
What Is WinWav?

WinWav is an application that allows you to attach sounds to applications and events in Microsoft Windows.  When you start or exit an application, or when a particular event (such as  moving, sizing, minimizing, maximizing, or restoring a window) occurs, WinWav can be configured to play a sound stored in a .WAV file.

WinWav also lets you attach sounds to your PC's system clock.  Sounds can be set to play on a weekly, daily, or hourly basis, or at a predetermined point in time up to a year into the future.

Sounds can be grouped into categories.  The sound that is assigned to an event can be a specific sound, a randomly selected sound from a particular category, or a randomly selected sound from all categories.

An application can be specified by its program file name (for example, WINFILE.EXE), or by the title as it appears in the application's title bar (for example, "File Manager").


WinWav Setup

Main Setup Dialog

Clock Event Setup Dialog

Random Setup Dialog


Hints and Troubleshooting

• What to do if Win Wav seems to be "missing" events:

If you find that sounds are not being played for one or more specified applications or events, the problem may be in the way the application interacts with Windows.

For example, some applications start server applications or create hidden windows before creating their main window, which WinWav may interpret as a default application starting.  This may cause WinWav to play a portion (or all) of the default application's start sound, followed by the application's specified start sound.  There are a couple of methods to avoid this problem.  You can leave the default start sound specification empty, or (if you have a relatively fast machine), you can choose a default start sound that has a small amount of silence at the start.  This will give the application time to create its main window, and WinWav will then recognize it as a specified application, preempting the default start sound while it's still in its silent phase.

WinWav uses the title bar and the module filename of the first window created by an application to determine when the application has been started.  But some applications create their windows with empty titles, and then set them before they appear on the display, while others have their windows created by a module or DLL other than the module you select to execute.  This can cause WinWav to 'miss' an application that you have specified during Setup and attach the Default sounds to it instead.

Similarly, some applications do not exit windows in a graceful fashion, causing WinWav to 'miss' termination and thus to fail to play the exit sound.

At any time, you can cause WinWav to reinitialize itself by bringing up the WinWav Setup dialog box and pressing the OK button.  WinWav will then attach sounds based on the current window titles and modules that are running at that time.  This may cause a conflict for DOS applications that have been specified by title (See the DOS application notes below).

• Using WinWav with DOS applications:

DOS application windows are all created by the same Windows module (WINOA386.MOD).  For this reason, it is best to specify DOS applications by their window title.  DOS applications are created with the window title specified in the application's .PIF file, which may be different than the title of the window when it is displayed on the screen.  If you have an active DOS applications with a .PIF title that differs from the title shown on the icon in the Program Manager, WinWav may 'miss' this application.  The best way to ensure stability is to specify the same window title in the application's .PIF file as is specified in the icon shown in the Program Manager.

• Additional Notes:

--If you have an application that you wish to have NO sounds attached to, simply add the application to the Application list, and leave all of its events blank.

--You can stop any sound that WinWav is playing simply by clicking in the upper left corner of the Windows Desktop (the background), or by clicking on WinWav's icon with the right mouse button.

--WinWav was designed mainly for PC's that are able to play asynchronous sounds.  Although it will work with PC's that do not have asynchronous sound capability, you may notice some sound duplications during certain events.


Main Setup Dialog

The WinWav Setup dialog box is what you see when you start WinWav.  It is your starting point for all WinWav operations.  Click Application (that is, click the arrow at the right of the field to display a list) to see which applications WinWav is aware of.

Select New to add an application--that is, to assign sounds to events in a specific application.

Select Copy to copy the event setup from one application to another.  You cannot copy from Clock or System, since these are unique "applications."  You can copy from Default (which covers all applications not set up explicitly) or from an application you have already added.

Click Remove to delete an application from the Applications list box.  After you remove an application, WinWav uses the Default application configuration to play sounds for that application.

The Event list box shows the events that you can attach sounds to in the specified application.

The Waveform Files are is where you select a specific sound to associated with the selected Event.

If you don't want to assign a specific sound to an event, use the Random Control area to have WinWav randomly select from a predetermined set of sounds whenever the event occurs.


Applications

The following items are always in the Applications list box and cannot be removed:

• System

Select System to assign sounds to Windows System events—that is, to events relating to Windows rather than to an application within Windows.

• Clock

Select Clock to assign sounds to times rather than to a specific application.  Select Event Setup in the Clock area of the WinWav Setup screen, midway down the right side, to configure time events for the clock.  Clock events can be configured to play a sound at a single specific time or to be played at the same time every hour, day, or week.

• Default

Select Default to assign sounds to all Windows applications that you have not explicitly added to the Applications list.  If you don't want to hear sounds for a specific application even though you have sounds configured for Default, add the application to the Applications list and then don't attach any sounds to any events for that application.

To add an application to the list box, choose the New button.


Adding an Application

To configure events for a specific Windows application, choose the New button in the WinWav Setup dialog box.  WinWav offers you two options:

• To identify the application by the title that appears in the applications' window, choose Title.  WinWav then prompts you to type in the title.  This method is recommended for DOS applications (see Hints and Troubleshooting).

• To identify the application by the name of it's executable file, choose Module.  WinWav then provides a standard Windows dialog box for opening a file.


Standard Application Events
Events

The Event list box is where you choose an event associated with the selected Application to assign a sound to.  (The exception is if the event is a time, in which case choose the Event Setup button in the Clock area of the Win Wav Setup dialog box to set up your event.)

After you choose an event, you can either choose a specific .WAV file from the Waveform Files list box, or go to the Random Control area if you don't want to play the same sound every time the event occurs.

Choose Clear Event Sound to remove the sound associated with the selected event, or Play Event sound to test out the sound assigned to the selected event.

There are two sets of values you can see in the Event list box.

If you are attaching sounds to Windows rather than to a specific application or to all applications (that is, if you have selected System in the Applications list box), the Events listed are:

Asterisk	The sound configured for this event is played when an application requests the MB_ICONASTERISK system sound.
Critical Stop	The sound configured for this event is played when an application requests the MB_ICONSTOP system sound.
Default Beep	The sound configured for this event is played whenever Windows would normally play a beep sound--for example, clicking on an application's main window while the application's About... box is displayed.
Exclamation	The sound configured for this event is played when an application requests the MB_ICONEXCLAMATION system sound.
Question	The sound configured for this event is played when an application requests the MB_ICONQUESTION system sound.
Windows Exit	The sound configured for this event is played when you start Windows.
Windows Start	The sound configured for this event is played when you exit Windows.

If you attaching sounds to a specific application or to all applications via the "default" application (that is, if you have selected anything other than Clock or System in the Applications list box), the Events listed are:

Application Start	The sound configured for this event is played when you start the application.
Application Exit	The sound configured for this event is played when you exit the application.
Minimize Window	The sound configured for this event is played when you minimize any window in the application.
Restore from Icon	The sound configured for this event is played when you restore any window in the application after previously minimizing it (for example, by double clicking the application's icon).
Maximize Window	The sound configured for this event is played when you maximize any window in the application.
Restore from Maximized	The sound configured for this event is played when you restore any window in the application to its non-maximized size (for example, by double clicking the title bar while maximized).
Move Window	The sound configured for this event is played when you move any window in the application.
Size Window	The sound configured for this event is played when you resize any window in the application.
Dialog Open	The sound configured for this event is played when you open a dialog box in the application.
Dialog 'OK'	The sound configured for this event is played when you choose the OK button in a dialog box in the application.
Dialog 'Cancel'	The sound configured for this event is played when you choose the Cancel button in a dialog box in the application.
Dialog 'Yes'	The sound configured for this event is played when you choose the Yes button in a dialog box in the application.
Dialog 'No'	The sound configured for this event is played when you choose the No button in a dialog box in the application.


Selecting a Waveform File

The Waveform Files area of the WinWav Setup dialog box is like a standard dialog box for file selection in Windows.  Once you've selected an event in the Event list box, select a .WAV file and then attach it to the event.  You can type complete path information (for example, G:\SOUNDS\WOLF.WAV) in the File Name text box, or use the Drives and Directories fields to search for .WAV files.

After you select a .WAV file, you can choose Play to see what it sounds like.  When you find the sound you want, choose Assign to Event to link it to the selected event.

One shortcut is to double-click on a .WAV file; another is to drag a .WAV file from the Waveform Files list box to the Event list box and drop it on the desired event.

Remember that you don't have to pick just one sound for an event.  You can configure WinWav to select a sound from a category of sounds or to select a sound completely at random from all available .WAV files.  You do this in the Random Control area.


Random Control

Use the Random Control area of the WinWav Setup dialog box when you want to have WinWav choose from a range of possible sounds for the selected event

You must select an application and an event before you can assign a range of sounds to an event.  You also probably want to set up some themes in the Random Setup dialog box.  Even if you don't plan to divide your sounds into distinct themes, you need to at least create a General theme to let WinWav know where your .WAV files are.

Once you've identified an event, use the Mode of Event list box to determine when to re-randomize the sound for the selected event.  The values are as follows:

None

This is the default value.  Use this value if you do not want WinWav to randomly select a sound for the selected event.  You can choose a .WAV file to associate with this event (from the Waveform Files area) or leave it empty so that no sound is associated with this event.

WinWav Start

Choose this value if you want the sound for the selected event to be re-randomized (that is, reselected) when you first start WinWav.  When the event first occurs, WinWav choose a sound at random either from a single theme or from all available themes, according to your instructions, and plays that sound.  Then, whenever the event recurs, Win Wav plays the same sound that it randomly selected the first time it occurred, until you exit WinWav (typically by exiting Windows).

Event Occurrence

Choose this value if you want the sound for the selected event to be re-randomized (that is, reselected) every time the event occurs.

Application Start

Choose this value if you want the sound for the selected event to be re-randomized (that is, reselected) whenever you restart the application for which the event is defined.  This option is not available if the selected application is Clock or System, since these are not really applications at all and cannot be started or stopped.

Once you've selected a Mode of Event, select a Theme (or select All Themes) from the Sound Theme list box.  If you don't have any themes set up, or if you want to reorganize your themes, choose the Random Setup button.


Clock Event Setup Dialog

Use the Clock Event Setup dialog box in WinWav to configure a sound for either of two types of clock events: one-time events or recurring events.

To set up a one-time event:

1. Choose Date as the Event Type.

This is actually the default value, so this step is only necessary if the value has been changed since you started WinWav.

2. Choose a month from the Month list box.  The default value is the current month.

3. Choose a date from the calendar display.  The calendar is for the selected month.

4. Choose a time.  You can type an hour (1-12) and a minute (1-60) directly into the boxes or use the arrow keys to spin the values up or down.  WinWav uses a 12-hour clock, so remember to click the correct button—either am or pm.

To set up an repeating event, to occur every hour, day, or week:

1. Choose the appropriate option button from the Event Type field (Weekly, Daily, Hourly).

2. Fill in the fields below as necessary.

--If you're configuring a weekly event, you'll need to choose a day or the week (from the calendar) and a time.

--If you're configuring a daily event, you'll need to choose a time.  (WinWav uses a 12-hour clock, so remember to click the correct button—either am or pm.)

--If you're configuring an hourly event you only need to fill in the minutes part of the hour field.

Once you've set up your time event, you have the option of also supplying a typed message which WinWav will display for this event.  If you want to supply a message, type it in the Message box.  Click the "Automatically close..." check box if you don't want this message to remain on the screen indefinitely.

When you're done, press OK to return to the WinWav Setup dialog box.  The time event you just created appears in the Events list box.  All that remains is to associate a sound with the time event.  Go to the Waveform Files area if you want to associate a specific sound with the event, or to the Random Control area if you want the sound for this event to be randomly selected (either from a category or from all categories) by WinWav.

If you do not supply a message for the time event, a message box will not appear when the event is triggered, only the sound chosen for the event will be played.

Clock events that are configured for a specific date and time (one-time events) that have already been triggered are automatically removed the next time you start WinWav


Random Setup Dialog

Use the Random Setup dialog box in WinWav to create, remove, or rename themes.  A theme is just a collection of .WAV files.  You can include a single .WAV file in more than one theme.

To add a theme, choose New Theme and type in a name for the theme.  Then choose Add sounds to start adding .WAV files.  Use the Directories and Drives fields In the Add Sounds to Theme dialog box to identify a directory containing .WAV files.  To select a single .WAV file, click it.  To select multiple .WAV files hold down the Ctrl key as you click files.  If you don't have a mouse, use the arrow keys to highlight a filename and then press Enter.  To extend the selection press Shift and use the arrow keys.

Or, if you prefer, you may also use the Windows File Manager to select a group of files and drag them to the Theme Sounds listbox in the Random Setup dialog (without pressing the Add Sounds button).

To remove sounds from a theme, select the desired .WAV files in the Theme Sounds listbox and press the Remove button.

To remove a theme, choose Remove Theme.  Note that you cannot remove a theme that is currently being used by one or more events in the Main Setup Dialog.

To rename a theme, choose Rename Theme and enter the new name in the Rename Theme Dialog that appears.