Copyright: Copyright _ 1993 Paul Sobolik


Contents
Wally:
Your Personal Wallpaper Assistant

Copyright © 1993 Paul Sobolik
All Rights Reserved

Who or What is Wally?
Meet the Man; The program is described.
The Wally Window
A brief summary of the elements of the main window.
Wally's Wallpaper List
What it is, how to use it and how it is used.

Technical Notes
Like, who cares?


Who is Wally?
Who or What is Wally?

Wally is Your Personal Wallpaper Assistant.

Consult with Wally and choose your favorite Microsoft© Windows™ Wallpaper patterns. (You can select Wallpaper bitmap files from any directory.)

Work with Wally to arrange your selected Wallpaper styles into a pleasing order.

Tell Wally where to start.

Now, each time you call him he will change the Wallpaper on your Windows™ Desktop to the next selection on your list.

Put the Wally program in your Startup group and every time you start Windows™, Wally will automatically hang fresh Wallpaper!


The Wally Window

The "Wally Window" is the main window of the Wally program, as reproduced below.

Select the part of the window you would like more information about.


Editing Wally's Wallpaper List

Press the Edit list button in the Wally Window to edit Wally's Wallpaper List. Use the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box that pops up to Add, Remove or Reorder the Wallpaper Bitmaps in Wally's Wallpaper List

Close the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box with the OK or Cancel button. The Cancel button will discard any changes you have made to Wally's Wallpaper List; The OK button will pass your changes along, and Wally's Wallpaper List in the Wally Window will show the changes you have made.


Adding Bitmaps
Adding Wallpaper Bitmaps to Wally's Wallpaper List

Press the Edit list button in the Wally Window to edit Wally's Wallpaper List. With the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box that pops up, use one of the following methods to Add Wallpaper Bitmaps to Wally's Wallpaper List.

Select a Wallpaper Bitmap from the Files list box and then press the Add button.

Double click on the name of a Wallpaper Bitmap in the Files list box.

Type the name of a Wallpaper Bitmap into File name edit box and then press Enter or the Add button.

If you also specify a valid path in the File name edit box, the current path will change before the Wallpaper Bitmap is added, and the Files and Directories list boxes will be updated.

You can also use the File name edit box to change the file mask by using DOS wildcards (* and ?) in the name or extension. The Files and Directories list boxes will be updated appropriately.

Press the Add all button to add all of the Wallpaper Bitmaps in the Files list box to Wally's Wallpaper List.

Wally's Wallpaper List can contain Wallpaper Bitmaps from any directory. While you are using the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box to Add Wallpaper Bitmaps, you can change the current path and select files from other drives or directories.


Removing Bitmaps
Removing Wallpaper Bitmaps from Wally's Wallpaper List

Press the Edit list button in the Wally Window to edit Wally's Wallpaper List. With the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box that pops up, use one of the following methods to remove Wallpaper Bitmaps from Wally's Wallpaper List.

Select one or more Wallpaper Bitmaps from the Wally's Wallpaper List list box and then press the Remove button.

Double click on the name of a Wallpaper Bitmap in the Wally's Wallpaper List list box.

Press the Remove all button to remove all of the Wallpaper Bitmaps from Wally's Wallpaper List.


Reordering Wally's Wallpaper List

Press the Reorder list button in the Edit Wallpaper List dialog box to pop up the Reorder Wallpaper List dialog box. This dialog box is used to change the order of the Wallpaper Bitmaps in Wally's Wallpaper List.

Initially, Wally's Wallpaper List is shown in its current order in the Old order list, on the left. Rearrange the Wallpaper Bitmaps by moving their names to the New order list, on the right, in the desired order. Bitmaps may be moved back and forth in either direction, until the desired order is achieved in the New order list. The arrow between the two lists shows the direction that Wallpaper Bitmaps will be moved.

Use one of the following techniques to move Wallpaper Bitmaps from one list to the other.

Select one or more Wallpaper Bitmaps from one of the lists. Press the Move button to move the selected bitmaps to the end of the other list.
If more than one Wallpaper Bitmap is selected, they move in the order that they appear in the original list, not in the order in which you selected them.

Double click on the name of a Wallpaper Bitmap to move it from one list to the end of the other.

Use the Move all button to move all of the Wallpaper Bitmaps from one list to the other, in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Press the OK or Cancel button to close the Reorder Wallpaper List dialog box. The Cancel button discards any changes you have made. When you press the OK button, any Wallpaper Bitmaps still in the Old order list box are automatically moved to the New order list before the dialog box closes, and Wally's Wallpaper List will appear in the new order.


Changing the Current Directory

To Add Wallpaper Bitmaps from other drives and directories to Wally's Wallpaper List, use one of the following methods to change the current path.

Select a directory or drive from the Directories list box and then press the ChDir button.

Double click on the name of a directory or drive in the Directories list box.

Type a new path into the File name edit box and then press the Add button.


Wally's Wallpaper List

"Wally's Wallpaper List" is the list of Wallpaper Bitmaps Wally uses. When you start the Wally program, Wally selects the Wallpaper he will hang from this list.

 	Wally's Wallpaper List is displayed in the Wallpaper List combo box in the Wally Window. When you change the selection in this combo box, Wally immediately hangs the newly selected Wallpaper Bitmap on the Windows™ Desktop.

The first item in the Wallpaper List combo box is not a Wallpaper Bitmap, but the word, "<inactive>." When you select this item Wally will take down his Wallpaper and rehang the Wallpaper specified in the WIN.INI file, if there is one. If Wally is inactive when you close the Wally Window, Wally will remain inactive—that is, he won't change your Wallpaper the next time his program is run.

Wally's Wallpaper List is stored in a file named WALLY.INI. The list is read in from this file whenever Wally is started. The file is updated when when you use the Edit list button to change the list, and when the program is closed.

You determine the contents of Wally's Wallpaper List. See Editing Wally's Wallpaper List for information about how to add, remove and reorder the list.


WALLY.INI

Wally's Wallpaper List is stored in a file named  WALLY.INI. There is no good reason to change any of the settings in the WALLY.INI file directly—in fact, Wally may be badly confused by incorrect or inconsistent settings. Nevertheless, if you're interested, a description of the WALLY.INI file follows.

The WALLY.INI file contains two sections:

[Settings]
This section contains one key, Active=i. The parameter i is a number that corresponds to the Wallpaper Bitmap in the [Files] section (i.e. the one equal to Wallyi) which is to be displayed when Wally is next started. If there is no matching Wallyi key, or if Active=0 then Wally is considered inactive and he will not change your Wallpaper.
This number is updated when the Wally Window is closed.

[Files]
This section contains keys which specify the Wallpaper Bitmaps which comprise Wally's Wallpaper List. The keys are in the format Wally1=d:\path\filename.bmp, Wally2=d:\path\filename.bmp, ..., Wallyn=d:\path\filename.bmp, where d:\path\filename.bmp specifies the path and name of a Wallpaper Bitmap.
This list is updated when you edit Wally's Wallpaper List. If you edit the WALLY.INI file directly and don't properly sequence these keys, Wally will stop reading the Bitmap file names at the first missing number.


Technical Notes

WALLY was written in October and November 1993 by Paul Sobolik using Borland C++ and the Borland Object Window Library.

WALLY will only run under Microsoft© Windows™ version 3.1 (or, presumably, later) because it uses an API function to set the wallpaper which was unavailable in previous versions.

As far as I know, there is no documented way for an application like WALLY to indicate to Windows that a wallpaper bitmap should be tiled. For now, that parameter must be set for all bitmaps using the Windows Control Panel.


This is the Control-menu box, useful for manipulating the Wally Window with the keyboard. Consult your Microsoft© Windows™ User's Guide for more information.


Press this button to shrink Wally back to an icon.


Press this button to see copyright information about the Wally software.


Press this button to see this help file.


Press this button to close the Wally Window.
If Wally is active, the next time he is called he will hang the next Wallpaper on his list.


Press this button to create or modify Wally's Wallpaper List. See Editing Wally's Wallpaper List for details.


It's Wally!


This is Wally's Wallpaper List.


A "Wallpaper Bitmap" is a Device Independant Bitmap (DIB) file which can be used as Wallpaper on the Windows™ Desktop. These files usually have the file name extension .BMP. Several Wallpaper Bitmaps are supplied with Microsoft© Windows™, and many are available through other channels. You can create your own Wallpaper Bitmaps with Windows Paint™ or similar graphics editors.