Copyright: Audio Box 2.1a Copyright® 1994 Larry R. Seater


The Audio Box 2.1a

This is a shareware program and is written in Visual Basic 3.0.  If you would like to give this program to anyone please include all files that came with this program. The fee for this program is only $7.50 and is just to keep me equipped with programming tools and books.  If you do not pay the registration fee you must remove this program from your computer after thirty days of evaluation.  There are no nag screens and this is the full working product.  Please feel free to pass along any comments or requests for future versions.  Also tell me if any problems arise with this version.

The CD Player Controls

The List Controls

Thank you for trying this program, please if you have any ideas or comments about The Audio Box, E-Mail me, or write to one of the addresses below.  Your comments and suggestions are important and will help shape The Audio Box in future releases.

Larry Seater
2124 NE 36th Av.
Portland, OR 97212

America On Line
E-Mail to
LarryS8302

CompuServe
E-Mail to
75240,1041


THE CD PLAYER CONTROLS
The CD Player Controls:

• LOAD and LIST:  All controls are disabled until the Load command button or Load menu item is selected with the exception of the Random command.  After the Load command is selected the available controls are 'set' and have changed the button face to black.  The Load command starts the program and 'loads' the audio CD.  After Load has been selected the button caption will change to List.  The List command opens another window containing the List controls.

• RANDOM:  Another way to enable the controls is to use the Random command button.  This 'loads' the audio CD and begins playing the audio CD tracks randomly.  This not a shuffle type of control, the tracks will play totally randomly with the exception that no track will play twice in a row.  If the audio CD controls are used (such as pause) random play is ended and the tracks will play from that point on in sequence.  The Random command button can be selected at any time and will play a random track immediately after being selected. A key difference between Random and Shuffle is that the Random command will play the CD literally forever if there is no user interaction and the computer is left on.

• SHUFFLE:  The Shuffle command is enabled after the Load command or the Random command has been selected.  This command button shuffles the tracks and plays each track only once in random order.  After each track has been played once the Audio Box stops and returns to the first track.  If the audio CD controls are used (such as pause) shuffle play is ended and the tracks will play from that point on in sequence.

• REVERSE:  The Reverse command is enabled after the Load command or the Random command has been selected.  This command button reverses the order in which the tracks are played.  If the audio CD controls are used (such as pause) reverse play is ended and the tracks will play forward from that point on in sequence.

• GO!:  The Go! command button plays the selected track using the SPIN control beside it.  After the Load command has been selected the Go! command and Spin control are activated.  Simply click on the SPIN arrows to the track you want to play and then click the Go! command button. The selected track will play.  The Go! command button is disabled until the Stop control has been selected.

• EXIT:  The Exit command stops the audio CD from playing and exits the Audio Box program.

The Audio CD Controls:

REWIND:  This is actually a skip reverse control and skips to the previous track.  Or if the Play control has been selected prior to the rewind control the track playing will be started at the beginning of the current track.

SKIP:  This control skips to the next track on the audio CD.

PLAY:  This control starts the audio CD playing, if you have used the Rewind or Skip control it will start at the beginning of the  indicated numbered track.  If you have clicked Pause the track will resume at the location that was playing prior to pressing pause.

PAUSE:  This control pauses the current track playing, in order to resume playing the track you must click the Play control.

EJECT:  This control ejects the CD that is in the CD ROM drive.  Once the audio CD has been 'loaded' this control should be used to eject the audio CD for the Audio Box's controls to work properly.

MOUSE CONTROL:  Standard Windows conventions.  Point and single click with the left mouse button on all controls and menu items that are enabled.

KEYBOARD CONTROL:  The Alt. M key combination represents the Menu choice and drops down a menu with six choices on it.
Load
Random
Shuffle
Reverse
Always On Top
Exit

The Alt. C key combination will drop down a menu with five choices on it.  These are the color choices of the track and time fonts, as well as the Mute 'light' indicator.
Blue
Green
Yellow
White
Custom
Note:  The color red is reserved by the Audio Box and will not be selected by the custom color dialog box for use.  This color is used to show which track is currently being played on the Play List.

The last keyboard choice is Help.  The Alt. H key combination will drop down a menu with five choices on it.
Index
List Controls
CD Controls
Using Help
About...

The letter that is underlined is the letter that will activate that command.  For example: Pressing Alt. + M drops down the Menu choices, and then pressing the letter R starts Random play.

A status bar at the bottom of the Audio Box tells what action is taking place or the status of the Audio Box.  The status bar also displays the amount of time that has pasted since the track has begun playing and the total playing time of the current track.

Miscellaneous Controls:
The Mute button is located in the status bar.  A 'light' indicates Off or On modes for the Mute button.  Red indicates that Mute is On and blue indicates that Mute is Off.

When the Audio Box is minimized while playing a song, the current track number is displayed in the Audio Box icon.  The status of the Audio Box and time played on the current track is given below the Audio Box icon.


THE LIST CONTROLS
The List Controls:

The List window is a whole new way to run Audio Box.  Once an audio CD with more than two tracks is loaded the Load command button changes it's caption to List.  By pressing the List command button a window will open and appear in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.  The List window supports drag and drop and has connections to the Audio Box window.

The Command Buttons:

• ADD:  The Add command and spin control beside it add tracks to the list of thirty-six.  To add select the track number you would like to add using the spin control and then press the Add command button.  A visual clue as to where the track will be placed is the ^ above one of the thirty-six boxes that make up the list.  To change the placement of the ^ (where the newly added track will be inserted), simply single click with the left mouse button on the track box that you would like to add or change a track to, then press the Add command button the track is now added and the ^ has changed to the next box.

• CLEAR ALL:  The Clear All command clears the list of all track numbers.

• LIST ALL:  The List All command lists all the tracks of the audio CD that is currently 'loaded' in the CD ROM.  The listed tracks are in ascending order.

• SHUFFLE:  The Shuffle command is the same as the Shuffle command on the Audio Box.

• HIDE:  The Hide command hides the List window.

• AUTO START PLAY:  This is a check box that when checked will start play for the List All command and the Shuffle command (Shuffle command for the List window only, the Audio box window command buttons are unaffected by the Auto Start Play check box).

Dragging and Dropping:

An exciting feature of the List window is the drag and drop capabilities.  To modify the order and content of the List track boxes you can drag any number that is listed in the List track boxes to a different location (the original number stays in place, a copy is produced).  To start the drag and drop operation select a box with a number in it.  Push down with the right mouse button, a gray box the size of the box will appear.  Continue to hold the right mouse button down and move the mouse cursor to the location you wish to change.  If the mouse cursor is over a valid dropping area the track boxes' background color will change from black to the font color.  To change that track box location simply let up the right mouse button.  The track listed should now be the dropped number.  To remind you of the number that is being dragged the Add command's number box changes to the currently dragged track number.

Starting Play List:

To start the List simply double click any track box with a number in it using the left mouse button.  The selected track will play and if there are tracks listed after the selected track those tracks will play in the order listed.  The track that is being played will appear in red.

Some Hints and Suggestions:

When you want to play a certain track, the fastest way is using List.  To play a certain track open the List window and then press the command List All.  Use the mouse to select the desired track by double clicking the List track box with the desired track number.

To fill the entire list in a random order with an audio CD of less than thirty-six tracks.  Use the Shuffle button and then select different track numbers to fill in the blank List boxes, by using the drag and drop technique described above.

If you drag and drop a track onto a playing track (a playing track in List has a red font) the new track will begin play immediately.


Always On Top

Keeps the Audio Box program 'on top' of a active Windows program.  This also will keep the icon on top and in view to monitor the current track if working with a different program.


Audio CD

A compact disc with music or the spoken word recorded on it.


check box

A windows type of control that places an 'X' inside when selected and if selected again removes the 'X'.


icon

A picture representation of a program, used to launch programs from Windows.


minimized

When a application is reduced to it's icon.


Mute

Prevents any sound or music from being heard when engaged.  May not be compatible with all CD ROM drives.


shareware

An honor system of purchasing software.  A person can try the software for some specified period of time and then decide if the software is useful or not.  If the software is useful, then the person sends in their registration fee and then can legally continue to use the software.


SPIN

A Windows type of control used to toggle up and down a range usually numbers.


status bar

An area usually defined by a 3-D rectangle that is used by applications to inform the user of actions taking place or what a control is for.


track

A single song on an audio CD.


Visual Basic 3.0

A programming language written by Microsoft Corporation.  I highly recommend this language to anyone interested in learning to program in the Windows environment.