------- PROGRAM ------- BLANKER.EXE 1/1/91 Copyright (c) 1991, by Michael C. Robert. Portions Copyright (c) 1991, Turning Point Software, Inc. All rights reserved. ------- PURPOSE ------- Screen Blanking Application to save those pesky little phosphers in your CRT. ------- VERSION ------- 1.00 Beta. (Yeah, that's right, beta. I sincerely hope that it doesn't crash your machine. Really, I do. (Just kidding!)) ------ AUTHOR ------ Michael C. Robert 13 Mansfield St. #3 Allston, MA 02134 (617) 782-2424 ---------------- SHAREWARE NOTICE ---------------- This product is Shareware. You are free to evaluate it for 30 days, but thereafter you are required to send a $15 remittance to the AUTHOR. With this you will become a registered user, and will also make the AUTHOR very happy, help put his kid through college, etc. etc. What do you get for being a registered user? Well, um, I, ah, hmmm. Let's see... First off you get a personal and unique entry in my database. Yeah, yeah, and then... Hmmm. Oh, yeah, if I write any more programs, which I probably won't do if you don't send the remittance (plug, plug), then I'll drop you a postcard letting you know about them. I'll also send you information on updates to the program and the upgrade fee if you want me to send you a disk. Also, feel free to pass around the ZIP file to your favorite friends and fiends, and to upload it to the BBSs you subscribe to, PROVIDED that the following files are all and the only ones included and that they have not been modified in any way: README.TXT, BLANKER.EXE, TPS.DLL, SBCLOCK.DLL, SBPUZZLE.DLL, SBMELT.DLL, SBFLASH.DLL, and SBORBIT.DLL. ----------- BETA NOTICE ----------- Since this release is a Beta, any unique bugs you report will entitle you to a FREE registration (ooooo, ahhhhh), and a free copy of the final 1.00 version. --------------------- WARRANTY & DISCLAIMER --------------------- This product is sold AS IS, and provides no inherent warranty. It'll do what I designed it to do, which may not agree with what YOU think it should do. But if you drop me a line, I'll give your suggestions consideration. If I incorporate them, you get an honorable mention in the About Box, as well as a free copy of the new release. (But only if you are a previously registered user (plug, plug)). The AUTHOR makes it known that he will not be responsible for any damages incurred during the use of this product. I.E., if through MISUSE, it somehow mangles your computer and/or data, which it won't do by itself, by the way, then don't come to me with your problems. This especially applies to any third party DLL's not directly supplied with this product. Okay, Nasty Mode Off. --------- FILE LIST --------- File Purpose ---- ------- README.TXT This text file BLANKER.EXE The screen blanking application TPS.DLL Turning Point Software DLL SBCLOCK.DLL Roving clock DLL SBPUZZLE.DLL Turns the screen into a puzzle DLL SBMELT.DLL Melts the screen DLL SBFLASH.DLL Roving flashlight(s) DLL SBORBIT.DLL Particle orbit DLL ------------ INSTALLATION ------------ Install all the files listed above into the same directory that Windows is installed into, or if you want, install it in another directory that is listed in your PATH statement. If you modify your PATH statement, don't forget to reboot. ---------- INVOKATION ---------- Run BLANKER.EXE as you would any other Windows application. After you run it, it will remain as an icon while waiting to blank the screen. Double click on the icon to bring up the Screen Blanker Options Dialog. If you want BLANKER to be run automatically every time you start another windows session or re-invoke the program, add the filename BLANKER.EXE to the LOAD= line in the [Windows] section of the WIN.INI section. If you are unsure of how to go about this, look it up in the Windows User's Guide. ********* * * * Hints * * * ********* Once the program is running bring up the Screen Blanker Options dialog and use the Add... Push Button to add the Screen Blankers to the Choices List Box. Select the Save Check Box so that all the Screen Blankers will be preserved. Then set the options and parameters as described below. Use the Demo Push Button freely to get a feel for the different backgrounds and when you are satisfied with their behavior use the Save Check Box. ------------------- DIALOG DESCRIPTIONS ------------------- Screen Blanker Options Dialog: ----------------------------- Choices List Box: Contains the list of Screen Blankers that have been loaded by BLANKER in addition to the and items. Selecting will cause the screen to just go to black when blanked, means a random Screen Blanker will be activated when blanked, and specifically choosing a Screen Blanker means that only that one will be activiated when the screen is blanked. Add... Push Button: Allows you to add a new DLL to BLANKER. See the Add Background dialog description for more information. Setup... Push Button: Allows you to change some of the parameters for a particular Screen Blanker. Use the Choices List Box to select the Screen Blanker that you want to modify, and if it has user selectable parameters, then this button will be active. If the Screen Blanker that you choose does not allow you to modify its parameters, then this control will be grayed out and inactive. Demo Push Button: Allows you to preview a demo of the Screen Blanker selected in the Choices List Box. Inactivity Period Group: Click on the Radio Button for the time period of inactivity that you want to elapse before the screen is blanked. The bottom radio button allows you to specify an arbitrary number of seconds from 1 to 32767 (which if you're interested is 9 hours, 6 minutes, and 7 seconds). Click on it and type in the number of seconds that you desire. Save Check Box: When checked, causes all parameters that you have modified to be saved for the next Windows session or when you re-invoke the program. Disable Check Box: Disables BLANKER from operating while checked. This allows you to suspend operation during DOS typing activity. Exit Push Button: Causes the BLANKER program to terminate. About... Push Button: Causes the About Screen Blanker Dialog Box to be activated. OK Push Button: Indicates that you accept the current options. Cancel Push Button: Indicates that you don't want the current options to take affect. Note: this doesn't cancel any parameter changes that you made to individual Screen Blankers. Add Background Dialog: --------------------- Filename Edit Field: Allows you to enter the name of the file specifically, or alter the wild card mechanism. Only whole filenames with a .DLL extension will be accepted by the OK Push Button when you want to complete the Dialog, though you can list other files with different extensions if you want as long as you use wildcards. Note: if this field contains wildcards, a drive designator, or a path designator, the behavior of the OK button will be to list new files, switch to the drive, or switch to the path specified respectively. Directory Text Field: Displays the current directory path. Files: List of files that match the current wildcard lookup as specified in the Filename Edit Field. Single clicking on an item will place it in the Filename Edit Field. Double clicking will cause the OK Push Button to be automatically activated. Directories: List of the current subdirectories available at the current path level in addition to a list of the drives on the system. Single clicking on a selection will cause the Filename Edit Field to be updated to include the selection. Double clicking will automatically activate the OK Push Button. See note above for the Filename Edit Field. OK Push Button: Causes the contents of the Filename Edit Field to be processed. If it contains a .DLL file specification, except as noted above, then that DLL will be loaded into BLANKER. Note: you have to select the Save Check Box in order for BLANKER to remember the new DLL for new Windows sessions or when you re-invoke the program. Cancel Push Button: Cancels the Add Background operation. -------- GLOSSARY -------- BLANKER Refers to the main application program, BLANKER.EXE, while it is running. Screen Blanker A DLL that controls what happens to your screen while it is blanked, i.e. the Orbit DLL is a Screen Blanker. Background Synonym for a Screen Blanker. DLL Dynamic Link Library. There, now you know just as much as you did before. Okay, okay, I'll tell you some more. A DLL is a way for a developer, namely yours truly, to add functionality to a program without having to rewrite and redistribute the program itself. I.E. all I have to do to add a new Screen Blanker is to write the DLL for it and then just distribute that DLL. Neat, eh? I think so. This is the greatest boon of DLL's, though unfortunately very few companies out there seek to use it. Most just use it as a glorified library mechanism. Do they want to improve the world? Make it better for you and me and our collective children, not to mention all the furry animals? Noooooooooo. But I'll stand alone, if I have to, to trumpet the news to the corners of the globe... I'll... Oh, sorry, this is just supposed to be user documentation, right? Ooops. Ha ha. Sorry. ----------- LIMITATIONS ----------- BLANKER can not currently detect typing activity in a DOS session, hence it will interrupt that session when it wants to blank the screen because it thinks you aren't doing anything. (Maybe you really aren't doing anything, catch my drift, but I don't think BLANKER should be making value judgements of that sort.) There are two ways to get around this: (1) make all your DOS sessions Exclusive using the Settings... option, this will prevent BLANKER from running at all while that session has the focus (consequently it will also suspend any other Windows applications currently running, oh well); (2) use the Disable Check Box in the Screen Blanker Options Dialog to disable BLANKER for extended DOS typing sessions. If you hadn't guessed it, this is a major limitation of this program, and if the other Screen Blankers out there are any indication, this is a fairly common problem. But, if you know a way around this and share the info with me, I'll cut you a check for a fair fee. (Can you say: Bribe?) ---- BUGS ---- What? Bugs??? My software has bugs???????? You must be incorrectly interpretting a feature. ------ THANKS ------ Thanks. ----------- Windows is a Trademark of Microsoft, Inc.