WARPedBMP Version 1.2 NOTE: This package does not contain the VROBJ.DLL file, see INSTALLX.TXT for details. Have a new BackGround on your DeskTop each time OS/2 is started. Why look at the same thing each day, have a new LockUp BackGround each day too (non-Warp systems), if you like. WARPedBMP can do both, and save you disk space for storing these images as well. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS Licensing Information: --------------------- WARPedBMP by ATN Enterprises 1994 (All Rights Reserved). WARPedBMP is not public domain software, nor is it free software. Full licensing information is provided in the License.Txt File. Ordering Information: -------------------- The registration fee for continued use of WARPedBMP after the 30 day evaluation period is $14.95. Full ordering information is provided in the Order.Txt file. Files Included: -------------- The following files should be included with the Evaluation Copy of WARPedBMP. If you did not receive all of these files in the archive that contained WARPedBMP then you have an unauthorized copy of WARPedBMP and should inform the source that provided this archive to you of this fact. WARPedBMP.Exe - The WARPedBMP program WARPedBMP.Ico - WPS Icon Install.Cmd - The WARPedBMP automatic installation program Order.Txt - Ordering instructions and order form License.Txt - ShareWare 30 day evaluation license agreement Manual.Txt - Operating instructions (This file) BBS.Txt - Instructions for posting WARPedBMP to public BBS systems Read.Me - Description of WARPedBMP Readme.New - Latest changes to WARPedBMP WarpRead.Me - Operating instructions for enhanced OS/2 Warp functions Purpose: ------- The WARPedBMP utility is used to change the WPS OS/2 DeskTop Background each time that the computer system is started or rebooted and to store the BitMaps to be used in a compressed archive file to save disk space. This change is done without manipulating the WPS settings or making any changes to the OS2.INI or OS2SYS.INI files. The archive contaning the BitMaps can be placed on any fixed drive on the system, it does not have to be on the OS2 default drive. Installation requirements: ------------------------- 1. WARPedBMP requires OS/2 Version 2.x, OS/2 for Windows, or OS/2 Warp. WARPedBMP will not install on OS/2 Version 1.x or on any version of DOS. 2. WARPedBMP requires an external archiving utility to be used to process the BitMaps to be used, into an archive file to save space. All access to the archive and its processing are controlled by WARPedBMP, however, the actual archiving utility is not included with WARPedBMP. The following archiving utilities are supported: (only OS/2 versions of these utililties should be used) Actual Exe File Name: Source: -------------------- ------ a. PKZIP2.EXE / PKUNZIP2.EXE (C) PKWare Inc. PKZIP.EXE / PKUNZIP.EXE (C) PKWare Inc. b. LH.EXE Peter Fitzsimmons c. InfoZip as: (C) Mark Adler, Richard B. Wales, Jean-loup Gailly, Kai Uwe Rommel ZIP.EXE / UNZIP16.EXE or UNZIP32.EXE These utilities can be obtained from almost any BBS, CompuServe, Prodigy, America On Line, or any source of ShareWare applications. 3. The archive utility to be used must be located in a directory that is contained in the OS/2 path statement in the config.sys file. 4. OS/2 Rexx and the OS/2 Rexx Utilities must be installed for WARPedBMP and the WARPedBMP installation program to be used. These are normally installed as part of the normal installation process, if they are not installed then select the OS2 System Folder , Setup, Selective Installation Object to install Rexx prior to using WARPedBMP. Installation procedure: ---------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are upgrading from a version of AutoBMP to this version of WARPedBMP, you must change your DeskTop BackGround setting to WARPBMP.BMP as outlined in Step 7 below. The BitMap file AutoBMP.BMP has been replaced by WARPBMP.BMP in this version. If you are using an OS/2 Warp system and running WARPedBMP in the -WARPed Enabled- mode, this change will be automaticly completed for you by WARPedBMP. Automatic Installation 1. Copy all of the files that you received with WARPedBMP to a temporary directory on any fixed drive, or to a floppy disk. 2. Set the default drive and directory to the location in 1. above. 3. Type INSTALL, press ENTER. 4. The Install program will determine the location of OS/2 on your system, find all supported archive utilities that are in the OS/2 search path, determine if the VROBJ.DLL is already installed on the system, and install it if necessary, create a DeskTop WPS object for WARPedBMP, and create an WARPedBMP object in the StartUP Folder to automaticly change the DeskTop when the system is booted. 5. After the installation is completed, WARPedBMP will be started, you should then switch to the OS/2 WPS DeskTop, you now can begin to add the BitMaps desired to the WARPedBMP archive as outlined in the Operating Instruction portion of this manual. 6. When at least one BitMap has been added to the WARPedBMP archive, select "SETTINGS" from the tool bar, then select "LOAD NEXT BITMAP FROM ARCHIVE." This will create a BitMap named "WARPBMP.BMP" in the OS2_Drive:\ OS2\BitMap directory. This BitMap will contain the image of the first BitMap in the WARPedBMP archive. If you are using OS/2 Warp, the WARPedBMP control panel should display the words - WARPed Enabled - in the lower center of the panel, if this is displayed and you have completed step 6 above you should now see the first BitMap that is stored in WARPedBMP now displayed as your WPS DeskTop. When you operated WARPedBMP in the - WARPed Enabled - mode the WPS DeskTop will be updated immediately when the WarpBMP.Bmp file is changed. Please see the WarpRead.Me file for complete - WARPed Enabled - instructions. If you desire to use WARPedBMP in the - WARPed Disabled - mode when OS/2 Warp is installed, then the following installation steps must be completed just as if the normal version of the OS/2 operating system is installed. **** IMPORTANT STEP, THIS MUST BE COMPLETED FOR WARPedBMP TO FUNCITON **** (if not using OS/2 Warp, or using WARPedBMP in the WARPed Disabled mode -------------------------------------------------------------- 7. ONCE THE WARPBMP.BMP BITMAP HAS BEEN CREATED IN 6. ABOVE, OPEN THE DESKTOP SETTINGS FOLDER USING THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON ON AN EMPTY PART OF THE DESKTOP, SELECT THE BACKGROUND TAB AND SELECT THE WARPBMP.BMP BITMAP AS THE DEFAULT BACKGROUND BITMAP, CLOSE THE DESKTOP SETTINGS FOLDER. THE FIRST BITMAP THAT WAS ADDED TO THE WARPedBMP ARCHIVE IS NOW DISPLAYED AS THE DESKTOP WPS BACKGROUND. ************************************************************************ 8. After adding additional BitMaps perform step 6. above once more. This will change the WARPBMP.BMP to the next BMP in the archive, so that when the system is rebooted this will become the new DeskTop WPS BackGround. If this is not done, then at the first reboot after installation the system will display the same BitMap again, however, all reboots after this initial one will change the BitMaps properly. See 10. below for details. 9. The installation is now complete. Each time that the system is rebooted WARPedBMP will be run from the WARPedBMP object in the StartUp Folder, this will automaticly change the DeskTop BitMap to the next one in the archive, when the last BitMap in the archive is used, the system will reset and start from the first BMP in the archive. 10. REMEMBER, the BitMap being displayed is the image that was in the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap when the system was booted, after booting and automaticly running WARPedBMP, the WARPBMP.BMP will contain the image that will be displayed at the next reboot of the system. 11. When the installation has been completed delete the temporary directory that was used to hold the WARPedBMP files during installation. Manual Installation: ------------------- 1. Create a directory for WARPedBMP on any system fixed drive. 2. Copy WARPedBMP.Exe and WARPedBMP.Ico to this directory. You should also copy the Order.Txt and License.Txt files to this directory for your future reference at the end of the Evaluation Period. 3. Copy the file VROBJ.DLL to any directory that is contained in the OS/2 config.sys file LIBPATH. 4. Change to the directory containing WARPedBMP and enter START WARPedBMP. 5. Switch to the WPS DeskTop and perform 6. thru 10. of the "Automatic Installation Instructions" above. 6. You must manually create the DeskTop Objects for WARPedBMP and the StartUp Folder Object for WARPedBMP. To cause WARPedBMP to start in the "Change BitMap Mode," that is to automaticly load the next image from the archive into the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap during OS/2 Boot up, an object for WARPedBMP must be placed in the StartUp Folder or a line placed in the OS/2 StartUp.Cmd file in the following manner: WARPedBMP must be started with the following Command Line option: CHANGE if you place this in your STARTUP.CMD file the Syntax is: START 'drive-dir-path'\WARPedBMP CHANGE if you create an Object in the STARTUP FOLDER for WARPedBMP then CHANGE should be entered in the "OPTIONAL PARAMETERS" entry on page one of the Object. To start WARPedBMP in the normal user entry mode, simply enter WARPedBMP at a command line prompt, after changing to the dir containing WARPedBMP or create a DeskTop Object for WARPedBMP. Method of operation: ------------------- (See WarpRead.Me for description of OS/2 Warp Operating Method) WARPedBMP makes use of the fact that the BitMap (BMP) that is used for the WPS background is loaded into memory during the initialization of OS/2 when the system is booted. This is the only time that this BitMap is loaded unless there is a system (WPS) failure during the operation of OS/2 which would require the WPS to reboot. The method that WARPedBMP uses to change the DeskTop is to set the WPS Background (DeskTop) (via the DeskTop Settings Folder) to use a specific named Bitmap (WARPBMP.BMP) and then after the DeskTop has been loaded from that BitMap during booting, changing the content of that BitMap to be the new background BitMap that will be used at the next reboot. This also allows an interesting method of changing the lockup BitMap display at the same time (non-Warp systems, or - WARPed Disabled -), since the lockup screen background is loaded into memory each time that the lockup funciton is called, if the lockup BitMap selection is also set to use the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap then it will display the BitMap that will be used at the next reboot, which is different from the one that is being used by the current DeskTop background. This allows both the Desktop Background and the Lockup Screen background to be changed each time the system is rebooted and have only one BitMap using space on the system to accomplish this, (two for the disk space of one). If you elect to also use the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap for the LockUp Screen background and have set the LockUp function to lock the DeskTop during OS/2 startup, this initial LockUp screen will display the same background as the DeskTop, since the WARPBMP.BMP file has not yet been updated during the boot process, however, all subsequent LockUp screens will display the new image contained in the WARPBMP.BMP file after WARPedBMP has been run from the StartUp Folder or the StartUP.Cmd file during the completion of the OS/2 boot process. Operating Instructions: ---------------------- WARPedBMP runs in two modes: The NORMAL mode of WARPedBMP is started either by clicking the mouse on the DeskTop WARPedBMP object or from the command line by issuing the command START WARPedBMP in this mode, the user interface window is started and BitMaps can be added or deleted and all functions of WARPedBMP can be accesed. The AUTOMATIC BitMap CHANGE mode is started by the WARPedBMP Object in the StartUp Folder or, in the command line mode, by an entry in the StartUp.Cmd file. This mode automaticly changes the image contained in the WARPBMP.BMP (the next DeskTop background that will be displayed) each time the system is rebooted. This mode will display a window showing the current DeskTop background image and the image that will be displayed the next time the system is rebooted. This window has no user access and will be displayed for a period of 10 seconds after both BitMap images have be updated from the WARPedBMP archive. The total time that this window displays is dependent upon the speed of the archive utility that was selected to process the BitMap BMPs. The command line instruction for this mode is START WARPedBMP CHANGE if you wish to add it to the Startup.Cmd file. An object to issue this command was created in the OS/2 StartUp Folder, if WARPedBMP as installed using the supplied Install.Cmd file. Operating WARPedBMP In The Normal Mode: ------------------------------------ Adding BitMaps, Creating WARPedBMP Archive: ------------------------------------------ To Create an archive of BitMaps simply click the SELECT button to select a BiTMap, this BitMap will be displayed in the BitMap Window, and its name placed into the "New BitMap(s)" List. When you have finished selecting the BitMaps you want, then click the ADD button to add the BitMaps to the archive, if there is a BitMap in the list that you decide you do not wish to add just unhighlite it prior to clicking the ADD button. If you already have BitMaps in the archive, you will not be able to place a BitMap in the "New BitMaps(s)" List that is already in the archive. Deleting BitMaps From The WARPedBMP Archive: ------------------------------------------- Highlite the BitMaps to delete in the "WARPedBMP List" window, then click on any one of the following buttons: REMOVE. The selected BitMaps will be deleted from the WARPedBMP archive, and a copy of the BitMaps will be created in the OS2\BITMAP directory. This allows you to delete the BitMaps from the archive, but save the bitmap for other use. DELETE. The selected BitMaps will be deleted from the WARPedBMP archive and completely eliminated from the system. There will be a warning issued and you will be given a chance to abort the procedure, if this was selected in error. Viewing BitMaps: --------------- Clicking the left mouse button on the BitMap Preview Window will cause the previewed BitMap there, to be displayed full size. To return to the preview window size, click the left mouse button on the full size BitMap display, this will close the full size display. If you have selected the full size display radio button, the Preview Window will automaticly expand to full size when a new BitMap is placed in the window. New BitMaps: ----------- The last BitMap that was selected with the Select Button will be displayed in the small preview window, selecting the Full Screen Button will cause this BitMap to be displayed in a window, full size, if the bitmap is larger than the screen size of the system, the bitmap will not be resized to fit the screen but will overlap the screen edge. To exit this full size display simply click the Left Mouse Button on any part of the Full Size Window. Archived BitMaps: ---------------- Highliting the BitMaps you wish to display, in the WARPedBMP List Selection Window, will cause those BitMaps to be displayed in the BitMap Preview Window, at 10 second intervals until the end of the list is reached. If you have the Full Size image selected when you start this view process, the archived BitMaps will be displayed full screen when they are placed into the Preview Window. The display time for each BitMap may exceed 10 seconds if the time necessary to extract the next BitMap takes longer that that amount of time, this is dependent upon the archiving program that you are using and the size of the stored BitMap. Other BitMap Displays: --------------------- The Preview Window will display the current contents of the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap when you start WARPedBMP. It will also display the contents of the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap when you complete changes using the Settings Functions of the Tool Bar selections. If the Preview Window is blank when WARPedBMP is started, then there is no WARPBMP.BMP on the system. Use the Tool Bar Change Selections to create one after at least one BitMap has been added to the WARPedBMP List Window. Tool Bar SETTINGS Selections: ---------------------------- CHANGE ------ a. Change Next DeskTop BitMap: This selection allows you to change the next BitMap to be displayed to any BitMap that is in the archive, and to optionally change the display count to point to next BitMap after the one selected. The Preview Window on this selection will show the name and BitMap that will be displayed at the next reboot. This Window will be blank, with a the name listed as unknown, during the initial installation/setup of WARPedBMP or if the Reset WARPedBMP function has just been run. After WARPedBMP has changed the DeskTop WARPBMP.BMP file during the next reboot or if the Load Next BitMap From Archive Selction is executed this Preview Window will then display the BitMap that was selected by these processes. b. Load Next BitMap From Archive: This selection will cause the WARPBMP.BMP BitMap to be updated with the image from the next BitMap in the archive, and the BitMap count to be set to the next BitMap after the one just loaded. This has the same effect as if you had started WARPedBMP with the CHANGE Command Line parameter. SETUP ----- a. Display Current Setup: This selection will display the current archiver being used, the status of the WARPed functions, the current BitMap Name being displayed as the WPs background, and the name and archive sequence number of the next BitMap to be placed in the WARPBMP.Bmp BitMap for use as the WPS background. b. Change Archiver: This selection will allow the archiving utility type to be changed. If the new archiver is compatable with the existing WARPedBMP archive, then the archive will be used by the new archiver and reset to its default values. If the archiver is not compatable with the current WARPedBMP archive, then the select and add functions must be used to add BitMaps to create a new archive file for use by WARPedBMP. c. Recreate INI File: This selection can be used to recreate a default INI file should the current INI file be damaged for any reason. This selection will also reread the current WARPedBMP archive file, if one exists, when creating the new INI file. d. ReSet WARPedBMP Archive: This selection will cause WARPedBMP to read the names of all BitMaps currently in the WARPedBMP archive and set its list of BitMaps to match, it will also reset the next BitMap to be displayed count to the first BitMap in the archive. You should use this selection if your archive contents get out of sync with the INI files settings of WARPedBMP, or if you manually change the contents of the WARPedBMP archive by using the archiving utility. from the OS/2 Command Line. It is possible to add a large number of BitMaps by using the archiver command line functions and then use this selection to make these BitMaps know to WARPedBMP, this is an alternative to the use of the Select/Add functions of WARPedBMP. Mode: ---- This selection Availble for OS/2 Warp systems only, see WarpRead.Me. Register: -------- This selection explains the licensing agreement and allows entry of your unique registration number. Exit: ---- This selection will exit WARPedBMP, exiting can also be done from the standard system pulldown menu. Help: ---- At the bottom of each window a short discription of each control, list box, and window item is displayed when the mouse cursor is placed on that item. Errors/Reinstall: ---------------- If there are problems with the registration information, or correct processing of BitMaps, the most likely cause is improper information in the WARPedBMP.INI file. Simply delete the WARPedBMP.INI file and restart WARPedBMP. This will create a new INI file. You may then recover the settings for the WARPedBMP archive file, by selecting the Reset WARPedBMP Archive selection from the Settings Menu. If you change the type of archiving program you are using during the creation of this new INI file, if the old WARPedBMP archiving program is not compatable with the new one then you will have to create a new WARPedBMP archive file. If you do desire to change the type of archiver used after you have installed WARPedBMP, then delete the WARPedBMP.INI file and retart WARPedBMP, this will allow you to select a new archiver and create a new WARPedBMP archive. Any time that the WARPedBMP.INI file is recreated, you will need to reenter your registration name and number. You may also use the Recreate INI function, instead of deleting the INI file, as outlined above. Additional OS/2 BitMap Display Information: ------------------------------------------ 1. The OS/2 2.x WPS DeskTop BackGround is displayed by a fixed palette application, this means that all colors that are in the BitMap to be displayed must be in the OS/2 default palette in order for the BitMap to be displayed properly. Many BitMaps have more than these colors in them, these types of BitMaps will be displayed with shifted colors and may or may not be usable as DeskTop BackGrounds. 2. The BackGround display BMP is loaded into memory during the OS/2 boot process, this memory is lost to the system for all processing functions from that time on. You should consider using small size BMPs if you have limited memory resources in your system. If you are using a BitMap that has a small picture image in its center and this is surrounded by a solid color for the remainder of the image, you should crop this BitMap to the size of the picture at its center. The color that has been set for the DeskTop color, using the settings folder BackGround settings, will then be displayed around this image. This may make a significant decrease in the size of the BitMap, which will save both disk storage space and memory as well. This smaller image will also cause the screen displays to change more quickly during the operation of OS/2. There are many ShareWare image processing utilities that can be used for BitMap cropping. 3. The speed of processing of the archived BitMaps and the compressed size of the archive will depend upon the type of archiver that you select to use. Some of the supported archivers compress quickly, but do not make as small an archive as one that processes slower. You should consider this when selecting the archiver to use. Problem Reports, Comments, or Questions: --------------------------------------- These may be mailed to the address listed for Registration/Ordering or may be Emailed on CompuServe to 71021,2531. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS