Waver: Random Wave File Player for Windows

Waver: Random Sound Player for Windows

Waver is a Windows application to randomly choose and play wave sound files at random times.  It supports drag and drop operation, and is configurable for the range of intervals it waits between plays.

Waver is one of the Barry Press Utilities, and is Copyright © 1993 by Barry Press.  Support for Waver and other programs in the Barry Press Utilities is available from the author (CompuServe 72467,2353).  The latest version of the Barry Press Utilities is maintained in the WINADV forum on CompuServe; search for keyword "Barry" to find the file.

Information on installation and startup is contained in the following two topics:

Installing Waver

Starting Waver

Information on using Waver is contained in the following topics:

Selecting Files

Drag and Drop

Playing Files

Setting Waver Options

Setting Up the Player

Finally, information on the Help menu in Waver can be found in the following topics:

Getting Help on Waver

About Waver

Help on using Windows Help can be obtained by pressing the F1 key.


Installing Waver

Waver consists of two files, WAVER.EXE and WAVER.HLP.  As long as they are installed in the same directory, they can be placed anywhere in the file system of your computers.  I tend to keep Windows application tools that are not part of Windows itself in a directory called \WINTOOLS, but you can put Waver anywhere you choose.  If the directory containing Waver is on the path, you will be able to start Waver simply by running WAVER.EXE.  Otherwise, you will have to supply the complete path to the program (e.g., C:\WINTOOLS\WAVER.EXE).


Starting Waver

As discussed in the topic Installing Waver, you can start Waver with a filename if WAVER.EXE is on your path, or with a full pathname otherwise.

Waver allows you to specify files to be played on the command line you use to start the program, and allows those file specifications to include standard DOS wildcard characters.  For example, suppose you want to load into Waver all the sounds (*.wav) in the c:\temp directory.  You could start Waver and hand it all those files in one operation with the command line:

waver.exe c:\temp\*.wav

(Of course, if you require a complete path to start Waver, you would use it in the example above.)

The ability to specify files on the Waver command line allows you to drag files within File Manager onto the line for the WAVER.EXE file.  This is distinct from the drag and drop feature, and probably you will find drag and drop more useful.

Files may also be selected in Waver using drag and drop from the File Manager and using the File Select menu command.  For further information see the following topics:

Selecting Files

Drag and Drop

Waver remembers its window size and position from one invocation to the next.  This means that, like Program Manager or File Manager, you can open the Waver window, set its size and position, then (if you like) close it back down to an icon.  The next time you start Waver (say after restarting your computer), it will remember the size and position you set whenever you open the window.


Selecting Files

Playing sounds with Waver is driven by selection of the files to play.  The selected files are displayed in the Waver window, which is itself a standard Windows list box.

Files are selected with the File Select command, which brings up a standard Windows file open dialog box.  The Waver version of this dialog box differs slightly from many Windows programs, however, in that it allows you to select more than one file at a time using the control and shift keys along with the mouse in standard Windows multiple-selection fashion.  All files highlighted in the list box are selected for playing when you hit the OK button, and are subsequently shown in the list box.

Files may also be selected in Waver from the command line used to start the program and using drag and drop from the File Manager.  For further information see the following topics:

Starting Waver

Drag and Drop


Drag and Drop

You can select files for playing by Waver using Drag and Drop from the Windows File Manager.  Simply select the files you want to play (using shift or control key modifiers with the mouse to select multiple files), then drag them with the left mouse button from the File Manager window to Waver.  You can do this whether Waver is open as a window or an icon at the bottom of the screen.  If you have turned on automatic play start playing will begin immediately.  Otherwise, Waver will queue up the files and wait for you to command it to start playing.  For further information on automatic play and on starting play, see the following topics:

Setting Waver Options

Playing Files

Files may also be selected in Waver from the command line used to start the program and using the File Select menu command.  For further information see the following topics:

Starting Waver

Selecting Files


Playing Files

The File Play menu command causes Waver to play the selected files (the complete pathnames of which are displayed in the main window listbox).  This command is used when the AutoStart option is not used, and therefore files are queued waiting to play rather than immediately being sent to the player.

You can terminate file play by hitting the <ESC> key.

In addition, when Waver is not playing files, you can request any file displayed in the list box to be played immediately by double-clicking on its line.

See also:

Setting Waver Options


Setting Waver Options

Waver allows you to set several options controlling its operation.  Fonts and the player setup have their own menu commands; the rest of the Waver options are set through the Setup Options dialog box..  The options setup through this dialog box are as follows:

Option	Function
Minimum Interval	Specifies the minimum interval, in seconds that will elapse from the end of one sound to the start of the next.
Maximum Interval	Specifies the maximum interval, in seconds, that will elapse from the end of one sound to the start of the next.
Start Playing Automatically	If this box is checked, Waver will begin playing files as soon as they are selected, dropped, etc.  Otherwise, files are queued up, with playing not starting until the File Play command is used.
All of these settings are retained from one execution of Waver to the next.


Setting Up the Player

The Setup Player command runs the Windows Control Panel drivers applet, allowing you to configure the multimedia and other drivers installed in your system.


Getting Help on Waver

The Help menu item offers three choices, About Waver and two help items.  The Help Index command brings up this help file; the Help on Help brings up help on using Windows help.  You can also get help on Windows help by pressing F1 in Help.


About Waver

The Waver About dialog box includes the version number and the date/time of the WAVER.EXE file.  Please include this information in any requests for support on Waver.