WarpWait Version 1.1
====================

Copyright (C) 1996 Nils Meier

Permission to copy and distribute this software and its documentation
for private purpose and without charging more than a nominal fee for
copying is hereby granted, provided that this copyright notice appears
in all copies.
This software is provided "as is" without expressed or implied warranty.
The author does not guarantee the correctness of the program. The author
may not be held responsible for any loss of data or other damages.

WarpWait is Freeware, so enjoy it :).

Please note, that the sample animation CLOUDS1.ICO to CLOUDS20.ICO
are copyright by Stefan Gombar <e9125065@stud1.tuwien.ac.at>.

SHORT DESCRIPTION:
==================

WarpWait changes the default wait clock of OS/2 to an animated WARP-logo.
This was not intended as a big development project, since I'm concentrating
my time on my OS/2 project FamilyTree ;).
(That's FamilyTree/2, a genealogy program for OS/2. You're invited to
 test that one, too. Just get it from http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro.)

It always bothered me, that the wait pointer isn't animated. Now that I
have OS/2 Merlin Beta on my machine, I've found out that IBM doesn't
care to improve the SIQ problem, so you still see the clock quite often :(.

Now, if I have to wait for some application to release the message queue
I want to see something I like ;) ... little later ... this is the
result.

WarpWait was written and tested on OS/2 3.0 with VAC++ 3.0.

INSTALLATION:
=============

Unpack the file WWait*.ZIP into the wanted directory on your hard disk.
Start WarpWait.exe with the parameters described below or put it in 
your startup folder.


RUNNING WARPWAIT:
=================

You can start WarpWait from the commandline or via a wps object. The
following parameters apply:

  WarpWait.exe [options]

  options: x         eXit WarpWait
           p(h|l)    set *High or Low priority
           s(s|f)    set Slow or *Fast animation speed
           aPrefix:X set Animation to file Prefix1.ico to PrefixX.ico

  * is the default setting

PRIORITY means the privilige state, WarpWait is running at. Since WarpWait
does consume a very small slice of processor time, it is save to let it
run at a HIGH priority "TimeCritical" (ph). This way you will get a smooth
animation, even if other applications do heavy work.
If you're considered about keeping all priorities below TimeCritical, you
can chooose a LOWER "Regular" priority (pl).

SPEED stands for the time spend between to following pictures. If you choose
SLOW speed (ss) you will see 4 pictures per second. The default setting is
FAST speed (sf) which shows 10 pictures per second.
Note: A faster frame rate consumes more of your precious processor time.

Specify an ANIMATION of your choice with the switch 'a'. You have to specify
the file prefix of your .ico-files and the number of frames it has, separated
by a ':' (see below). WarpWait will put together file names from your parameters.
For example the option 'aTEST:5' tells WWait to show the animation with
pictures Test1.ico+Test2.ico+Test3.ico+Test4.ico+Test5.ico. Make sure WarpWait
can find all frames or it will go back to the default animation.
( There is a sample animation in the subdirectory 'Anim' which you can test
  by starting Warpwait with 'aANIM\CLOUDS:20' )

You can start WarpWait with no parameters, so that the default settings
become active or give the above command line parameters.
A detached WarpWait process will be started, unless you specify eXit to
terminate WarpWait.

In the case of 'x', a detached WarpWait will be ended (if running).

If you start WarpWait.exe and a detached WarpWait is already running, your
settings will change the running WarpWait, so there's always only one
WarpWait active.

Examples:

 c:>WarpWait                 -> Starts WarpWait
 c:>WarpWait                 -> Starts WarpWait again but leaves only one running
 c:>WarpWait x               -> Ends a running WarpWait process
 c:>WarpWait pl sf           -> Starts WarpWait (if not running already) 
                                and sets priority to low and speed to fast.
 c:>WarpWait aANIM\CLOUDS:20 -> Starts WarpWait (if not running already) 
                                and sets the animation to pictures:
                                'ANIM\CLOUDS1.ICO' - 'ANIM\CLOUDS20.ICO'

RELEASE HISTORY:
================

version
1.0 , Aug 16 1996: NEW:initial release

1.1 , Sep 06 1996: NEW:User definable animations
                   BUG:Starting WarpWait via cmd.exe is a no go
                       unless warpwait.EXE is entered because cmd.exe
                       doesn't give the full exename in args[0]


CONTACTING THE AUTHOR:
======================

My mail address is
    Nils Meier
    Birkenweg 27
    53797 Lohmar
    GERMANY / EUROPE
    Telephone number: +49 / 2246 / 3202

My Internet address is
    meier2@athene.informatik.uni-bonn.de

Please send any suggestions, comments or bug reports to one of the above
addresses.