StarShow(tm) Viewer by Warme Software Explore the Universe with Out-of-this-World Software Program Description and Requirements StarShow Viewer is a shareware astronomy program that displays stars, constellations, planets, galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. You can change the location, angle, or time of view and zoom in or out to see the universe from any perspective. Versatile animation features can change the view automatically at selectable time intervals. Ten animation files demonstrate features of the program, accompanied by informative descriptions of each frame. StarShow can also be used as a colorful screen saver, showing any of the supplied animation files. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: 80386SX or faster CPU, 2 Mbytes RAM or more, VGA or better display, Math coprocessor recommended but not required. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS: Windows 3.1 or newer, DOS 3.0 or newer, 500 Kbytes disk space. KEYWORDS: Astronomy, Stars, Planets, Windows, ScreenSaver, Space How to Register this ShareWare Thank you for evaluating StarShow, which is distributed as ShareWare (try before you buy). If you enjoy using StarShow, please support this method of distribution by paying the registration fee. Your support will encourage the author to release future programs as ShareWare, and you will be notified as they become available. If you have any comments or suggestions for improvements, please send them to the address below. You are welcome to try StarShow on your computer for up to 10 days. If you continue to use it after the 10 day trial period, please register by sending $20 to: Warme Software StarShow Registration 120 South Patterson Street State College, PA 16801 You will receive a high density floppy disk (specify 3.5 or 5.25 inch) containing the latest version of StarShow with your name in the registration message, plus additional movie files. You will also receive information about our new StarTrax(tm) Astronomy Software, which lets you create your own movie files and offers unlimited possibilities for exploring the universe. You are encouraged to pass along exact copies of the StarShow disk to your friends, provided that you include all files on the original disk and mention that it is ShareWare, not Public Domain (free) software. You are authorized to upload the complete ShareWare package (STARSHOW.ZIP) to Bulletin boards, which are authorized to distribute it electronically without any fee beyond time charges. Selling (or requesting donations for) this program is prohibited, but a copying fee or distribution charge of $5 or less is permitted. Commercial distribution of this program alone or in combination with other programs is prohibited without written permission from Warme Software (at address above). The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that we can send updated versions to distributors, so that only the most recent version of this program will be distributed. How to Install StarShow StarShow is a Windows program and it cannot be started from DOS. Although Windows can run StarShow directly from floppy disk, it will run faster from your hard drive. The ScreenSaver version will work only if it is installed on your hard drive. INSTALL.EXE is a Windows program that copies all of the files on the StarShow disk to a subdirectory on any hard drive (for example, C:\STARSHOW), and copies only the file called STARSHOW.SCR to your \WINDOWS\ directory. Install then adds the StarShow icon to the Applications group in Program Manager (Windows 3.1 only) and optionally, lets you run StarShow or run Control Panel so that you can configure the ScreenSaver. 1. If you are starting with a floppy disk containing INSTALL.EXE, STARSHOW.EXE, and various movie (.TRX and .TXT) files: a.) If necessary, start Windows by typing WIN at the DOS prompt. b.) Run the Install program by selecting Run... from the File menu of either File Manager or Program Manager. In the Run dialog box, type A:INSTALL (or B:INSTALL) in the Command Line: box, and select [OK]. c.) When the Install StarShow dialog box appears, edit the drive and directory (for example, C:\STARSHOW\), and then click [Install StarShow] or press . The Install program will copy all required files to the given directory. d.) After successful installation, you can choose [Configure StarShow ScreenSaver] or choose [Run StarShow] to run the standalone program. The [Configure StarShow ScreenSaver] option is not yet available for Windows 95, but the ScreenSaver can be installed manually (see How to Install the ScreenSaver). 2. If you are starting with a single file called STARSHOW.ZIP or you wish to install StarShow without using the Install program: a.) Create a directory called STARSHOW on any disk drive and copy all StarShow files to this directory, as follows: From Windows File Manager, select the root directory of any drive. From the File menu, select Create Directory..., type STARSHOW as the name of the new directory, and select [OK]. Select (highlight) all StarShow files in the source (floppy disk) drive and directory. Select File:Copy... and, in the To: box, type [drive:]\STARSHOW, where [drive:] is the letter for the drive chosen above. Click [OK] to copy all files to your hard drive. Or, from DOS, switch to the root directory of any drive (for example, type C: and then CD\). Type MD STARSHOWto Make a Directory called STARSHOW and then type CD STARSHOW to change to this directory. Next, switch to the source (floppy disk) drive and directory containing the StarShow files (for example, type A:). Copy all files to the new STARSHOW directory (for example, type COPY *.* C:\STARSHOW). b.) If you are starting with a single file called STARSHOW.ZIP (or a similar name, such as STARSHW4.ZIP), it must be unzipped using PKUNZIP. Otherwise, go to step c. From Windows File Manager, find and select (highlight) the file called STARSHOW.ZIP. Select Run... from the File menu and edit the Command Line box to say: [path]PKUNZIP STARSHOW.ZIP where [path] is the disk drive and directory containing PKUNZIP.EXE. Click [OK] or press to unzip all files. Or, from DOS, change to the directory containing STARSHOW.ZIP (for example, CD C:\STARSHOW). Then, type [path]PKUNZIP STARSHOW.ZIP where [path] is the disk drive and directory containing PKUNZIP.EXE. After successfully unzipping all files, run the Install program (INSTALL.EXE) to complete the installation. If the files were unzipped to a directory called STARSHOW, you can install to the same directory; in this case, the Install program copies STARSHOW.SCR to your \WINDOWS\ directory and allows you to configure the ScreenSaver. After successful installation, you can delete STARSHOW.ZIP from your hard drive. However, you might want to keep a copy of STARSHOW.ZIP on a floppy disk in case you need to reinstall the program later, perhaps on a different computer. c.) To run StarShow, change to the directory called STARSHOW and then: From Windows File Manager, double-click the file called STARSHOW.EXE. Or, select (highlight) STARSHOW.EXE, select Run... from the File menu, and click [OK] or press . From Windows Program Manager, select Run... from the File menu, type [path]STARSHOW.EXE, where [path] is the disk drive and directory containing STARSHOW.EXE, and then click [OK] or press . If you want to run StarShow from Program Manager, you can click and drag the filename STARSHOW.EXE and drop it into any folder on the desktop. The StarShow icon will then appear in that folder and you can run the program by double-clicking the icon. Or, from DOS, type WIN [path]\STARSHOW.EXE, where [path] is the disk drive and directory containing STARSHOW.EXE. To help you remember, you may want to create a batch file containing this command. How to Install the ScreenSaver Before installing the ScreenSaver, you must first install StarShow (see How to Install StarShow). The ScreenSaver version will work only if all files are installed on your hard drive. To install and configure the ScreenSaver, follow this simple procedure: a.) If StarShow was installed successfully using the Install program, skip to step b. Otherwise, copy the file called STARSHOW.SCR from the STARSHOW\ directory to your WINDOWS\ directory. From Windows File Manager, select the STARSHOW\ directory and then select (highlight) the file called STARSHOW.SCR. A quick method is to drag STARSHOW.SCR to your WINDOWS\ directory. A slow- but-sure method is to select Copy... from the File menu and then, in the To: box, type [drive:]\WINDOWS, where [drive:] is the drive containing your main Windows directory. Finally, select [OK] to copy only the STARSHOW.SCR file. All of the other StarShow files should remain in the STARSHOW\ directory. b.) Configure the ScreenSaver. Run the Windows Control Panel and double-click the Desktop icon (for Windows 95, double-click the Display icon and then select the Screen Saver tab). Next, click the Screen Saver Name: dropdown listbox. Select StarShow ScreenSaver from the list of names. To configure the ScreenSaver, click the [Setup...] pushbutton. If the StarShow Pathname field at the bottom of the dialog box does not contain the path to your StarShow directory, enter the correct pathname (for example, C:\STARSHOW\) and click [OK]. You will then have five choices of Display Type and a Variable option to go with each Display Type (the Variables for other Display Types are ignored). For the first trial, choose Movie File and select Constars.trx from the list of movie files on the right half of the dialog box. Check Smooth Transitions and enter a Delay value of 10 seconds. After you click [OK] to accept these choices, this configuration info will be saved in CONTROL.INI. Back in the Desktop dialog box, enter the Delay in minutes, which controls the minimum time period that your computer must remain idle before the ScreenSaver starts. Click [Test] to start the ScreenSaver immediately. To end the test, just move the mouse or click any mouse button or press any key. NOTE: If the ScreenSaver is triggered while you are already running StarShow, the ScreenSaver will not run. Instead, the StarShow window will be maximized, the Control bar will disappear, and the movie will start running automatically, using the current configuration. The only notable difference between this mode of operation and the ScreenSaver is that the caption and menus will remain visible so that you can resume normal control of StarShow when you return to your computer. Version History Version 1.01 (5/3/95) was the first release version. Version 1.02 (5/6/95) saves the screen position and configuration of the stand-alone program in a separate STARSHOW.INI file. While drawing the stars, the hourglass cursor lets you know that the computer is busy; if you click the mouse button or press a key, your command will be acted upon after the drawing finishes. Version 1.02a (5/8/95) changed the default options for the ScreenSaver and modified the ScreenSaver dialog box to clarify that Variables for Display Types other than the one chosen are ignored. Version 1.04 (7/1/95) added the sidereal days option for the Time mode, which shows the planets moving while the stars remain in fixed positions. Pressing brings up help for the dialog box while it has the focus, and pressing switches the focus between the menu and the StarShow Options. Three movies (COLORBLK.TRX, COLORBLU.TRX, and COLORWHT.TRX) were changed to include rotation of the stars, as well as color changes, in order to make them more interesting. A new movie, STARNAME.TRX, shows each of the 147 stars with common names in a separate frame, and the text legend lists the magnitude, spectral type, distance in light years, and constellation of each named star.