
                      DOCUMENTATION for PLAYER.EXE 1.0
                      --------------------------------


1- COPYRIGHT NOTICE
-------------------

        This program is not ShareWare, neither FreeWare. It's a PostCardWare.
        If you find it wonderfull (like me), all you must do to continue to
        use this soft is to send me a postcard. My adress is :

                        Mr Jean-Denis MUNOS
                        5, Rue du capitaine Fonck
                        78140 VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY
                        FRANCE

        All critics, bugs, or congratulations are welcome !




2- INTRODUCTION
---------------


        This program is intended to provide a most powerfull interface
        for data files which needs 'players' to run.
        Suppose you want to play, like with a jukebox, following files :
        ALPHAV.MID, ENJOY.MOD, FAIRY.CMF, SMAN.CMS, ...
        Ho do you do that ? I bet you will do a batch file, which
        will run all players, with the file as argument.
        But, don't forget to load the driver, too ! PLAYCMF needs, for
        example, SBFMDRV.COM to run, which is not easy to remember !

        Player will do this work for you. Once configured, with the name of
        the driver, the extension of the associated file, the name of the
        player, and, eventually, the uninstall switch of the loader, all
        you have to do is to choose in the listbox which file you want to
        hear ! Player will automatically run the driver, transmit the
        command to DOS, and you will hear your prefered file !

        But, it's not finished ! To save disk space, you have probably
        compressed your prefered files, and if you want to hear them, you
        must extract them manually. One more time, Player will help
        you. It will automatically extract files in ZIP archives, and
        propose you to play them exactly as if they were in your directory.
        Once played, files will be erased.



3- TECHNICAL NOTICE
-------------------


        * Player can't propage any virus. It will stop if CRC-check is
          not correct.


        * Before running Player, you must create an environment variable
          called 'player' which will contain the name of the directory where
          player.cfg is. Type, at dos prompt :

                set player=c:\player
             or set player=c:\tools\music

             (PLAYER.CFG contains all defaults parameters which allows
              Player to run).

          Nota : If you plan to use player from a root directory, don't
          indicate the ending backslash \, ie : set player=f:

          You should add this command to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, to avoid to type
          it every time you want to use player.


        * Contents and description of menus :

                *File
                 ----

                 -Open : Lets you choose the directory where to look for
                  files. Then, display the ListBox with all known files. If
                  you get the 'No files in the specified directory' message,
                  please verify that Player is correctly configured. To select
                  one file, double-clik on it, or press Space-Bar. A second
                  selection on a selected file removes the selection.
                  The short key for this command is F3.

                 -Extract ZIP : Lets you to choose the name of the ZIP
                  file where files are stored. After double-clicking on one
                  item, the listbox will display all known files contained
                  in it.
                  The short key for this command is ALT-E.

                  Note that you must have PKUNZIP 1.x or 2.x present
                  in your path to work properly. (Yes, Player work with either
                  PKUNZIP version 1.x or 2.x !).

                 -Quit : End session.
                  The short key for this command is ALT-X.

                *Options
                 -------

                 -Toggle Video : Cycles from 25 to 43/50 lines.
                  The short key for this command is ALT-T.


                -Configuration : Lets you indicate the player, driver, and
                 uninstall switch associated with the datafile. An integrity
                 test is made which avoid to have one extension played by
                 two or more differents players. After all changes are made,
                 click on the Save button.
                 When editing the name of a player, or/and a resident, you
                 must verify that the player is in the path. If not, you
                 must enter the complete name, including the drive and the
                 directory. (Input is limited to 127 chars).
                 Do not add the >NUL command, it is added automatically.
                 The short key for this command is ALT-C.

                 -Preference : Allow to start with 25 or 43/50 lines,
                 and to tell Player to make a pause after each file played.
                 Each option is automatically saved in the Player directory.
                 The short key for this command is ALT-P.

                *Help
                 ----

                 -About : The name of this wonderfull software, in case you
                 have forgotten it, and his creator.



        * Limitations :

          There are practically no limits to this software. You can have
          up to 255 differents drivers, and as many files to play as you want,
          you are only limited by the amount of free memory beyond 640K.


        * Tips :

          You can use Player with other files than music files. For example,
          you can use it to display graphics files. All you need to do is
          to configure it !

          If you have selected more than one file, and not selected the
          Pause option, it is possible to cancel Player. You must quit the
          player program (generally, by the ESCape key), and press A key
          within 1/2 second.

          If you have a player which needs a loader, and there is no
          uninstall switch, I suggest to make a .BAT to run Player. This
          .BAT can load the loader and run Player after. This allows  to
          have a bigger continuous memory size to run the player.

          If you find Player is a little slow before running a player and make
          a lot of disk access, you should use a Disk-Cache program, with
          stagged write (ie: Hyper386, SmartDrive 4, ...).




4- KNOWN PROBLEMS
-----------------


        A Microsoft's Bug in DOS versions (since 5.0) avoid to
        run a resident from a batch file, and redirect its output
        on a peripheric like >NUL (DOS will not close the associated file).
        That's why I have written a program (Freehndl.exe) which
        close all open handles using undocumented functions, but it could not
        work with all loaders. If DOS does not have too much handles, Player
        will display an error message and will attempt to close opened
        handles. In order to work properly, you must not delete FREEHNDL.EXE.



5- CONTENTS OF PACKAGE
----------------------


          Name         Date     Time    Length   CRC-32 (by PKZIP 2.04g)
        ----------   --------   -----   ------   -----------------------

        PLAYER.EXE   08/22/93   01:00   46772         44ea9802
        README.EXE   08/22/93   01:00    4886         55eef0ea
        README.      08/22/93   01:00    8595        (unknown)
       PLAYCMF.EXE   08/22/93   01:00   11904         428cf518
       SBFMDRV.COM   08/22/93   01:00    6183         ce203b4d
       PLAYCMS.EXE   08/22/93   01:00   43488         20c2aa28
        CMSDRV.COM   08/22/93   01:00    5057         36d8f23e
       PLAYROL.EXE   08/22/93   01:00   37698         8a185475
        ROLDRV.COM   08/22/93   01:00    7014         2576d246
      FREEHNDL.EXE   08/22/93   01:00    3803         f44de042


        Some of these files are provided with Sound Blaster cards. I
        provide them only to be sure you use the correct version.




6- OTHERS
---------

        Player has been written with Borland Pascal 7.01, and Turbo Vision.
        Thank you to Borland to provide us so great softwares !

        Thank you, too, to Eric for beta-testing this software.
