_______________________________________________ |Program: DeskTracker MultiTask | |Type: Accessory | |Version: s 1.00 | |Distribution: Shareware | |System: STe/TT/Falcon*; | | not MultiTOS* | | any ST screen rez | |Last update: 22nd April 1993 | |Written by: David Oakley, original tracker | | playing routine by WizCat | | | |Copyright ½1991 Wizzcat (Tracker player only), | | ½1992,1993 ASTRAsoft | | | |Purpose: Play NoiseTracker modules in | | the background with animated | | graphic display of tune. | ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Based on a NoiseTracker player routine written by Wizzcat in 1991, DeskTracker and the current version (DeskTracker MT) are designed to play MOD files on any machine with PCM sound chip. NOTE: ON SOME MACHINES AND SETUPS THE COMPLICATED NATURE OF DESKTRACKER'S MODULE PLAYER MAY CAUSE A CRASH IF EXPOSED TO TOO HEAVY WORKLOAD DURING HIGH-SPEED PLAYBACK. EXPERIMENT FOR A WHILE BEFORE DOING IMPORTANT THINGS WHILE RUNNING DTMT!!!!! __________________ / Compatibility * / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ DeskTracker will only run on an ST compatible that supports Atari's PCM sound which was first introduced on the STe. We have tested DtMt on an 1040STe, Mega/STe 4 and a Falcon. On the Falcon we failed to get any sound out, though DeskTracker reported that it was playing correctly. I think it's something to do with setting up sound channels and you may be able to do better. Last time we tried it on MultiTOS (OK, the only time) it didn't work. You never know it might now - I'm sure somebody will tell me. Since it ran on a Falcon, we are confident that it should run on a TT or upgraded STe using an 030. ____________ / The files / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ In this package (archive or folder) you should find the following files: DTMT.ACC The GEM interface. Can also be run as a program. DTMTTRAK.PRG The Tracker module. Put in your AUTO folder or run before first accessing DTMT.ACC DTMT.TXT This file __________________ / Getting started / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Just copy DTMTC.ACC into the root of your boot drive (e.g. A:\ or C:\), and ATRAK.PRG into your AUTO folder. Just in case you're wondering about putting a new program in the AUTO folder of your hard drive, don't worry! On first running, ATrak only sets itself up a Cookie and then stays resident. It doesn't attempt to play any Tracker tunes! ____________ / Operation / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ DeskTracker is designed to work just like a real CD player. Well, it works like mine does. It has two main modes of operation: normal and memory. When in Memory mode, several of the buttons have different meanings, usually when no MOD is being played. In the list below, shortcut keys are in square brackets (eg. [E] ). Click on the menu item 'DeskTracker MTc' in the File menu. The DeskTracker window will appear: ________________________________________ |X| DeskTracker MTc |O| |----------------------------------------| |___________Version_1.20________|iii|~~~~| | ____ ____ ____ ____ ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ| || /\ | [] | |> || 00 | ASTRAsoft |06| ||====|====|====||----| ____ ____ ____|12| || << | || | >> ||<=> ||MEM |ADD |RAND|25| | ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ ÿÿÿÿ|50| ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ What the buttons do: Button Display Description Close If in Accessory mode, closes the window but keep playing. [Undo] If in Program mode, stops playing and quits the program. Full Iconises DeskTracker to a very small window. All keyboard shortcuts still work and operation continues as normal. Useful for MultiTOS. ______ Eject | /\ | Load and start a new NoiseTracker MODule. If you press [E] | == | Cancel on the fileselector then the current tune is ÿÿÿÿÿÿ erased from memory and the memory is freed. ______ Stop | |ÿÿ| | Stop the currently playing song, but don't erase it [S] | |__| | from memory. Reset pointers to start of song. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Play | |\ | Play the current song from the current position. If any [Spc] | |/ | other program has stoped DeskTracker, this will restart ÿÿÿÿÿÿ the tune from where it was stopped. _______ Pause | |ÿ|ÿ| | Stop the currently playing song, but remember where [P] | |_|_| | we were so play restarts from this point. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Rewind | /|/| | Move the play position back by one section [,] | \|\| | ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Fast | /|/| | Move the play position forward by one section Forward | \|\| | [.] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Add to | ADD | Select a MOD file and add it to the end of the memory | | playlist [+] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Memory | MEM | Shown depressed when songs are in memory On | | Click to deselect and clear the memory [M] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Repeat | +->+ | Toggles whether the MOD file will repeat once it [R] | +<-+ | has reached the end. DtMt will even trap those MOD ÿÿÿÿÿÿ files which will normally always loop! ______ Oscillo |\/\/\/| Opens the oscilloscope window. [O] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Anim |IIIIII| Opens the animation window and then toggles between [A] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ the three representations. __ Frequency |06| These buttons select what the output frequency Selectors |12| of the player is through the STe's PCM sound [1..4] |25| generator. Higher frequency means better quality |50| but more processor time. 50 will lock an 8MHz ÿÿ computer!!! _____________ | Memory Mode | ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Once the ADD function has been used to move into Memory mode, several of the buttons change: Button Display Description ______ Eject | /\ | Stops and unloads the current song, and resets to [E] | == | the start of the playlist. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Stop | |ÿÿ| | Stops and unloads the currently playing song. [S] | |__| | ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Play | |\ | Plays the current song from the current position. [Spc] | |/ | Loads the current song if it is not in memory. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ _______ Pause | |ÿ|ÿ| | Stop the currently playing song, but remember where [P] | |_|_| | we were so play restarts from this point. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Rewind | /|/| | Rewind through the current song if PLAYing [,] | \|\| | or move to the previous song in the playlist. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Fast | /|/| | Speed forward through the current song if PLAYing Forward | \|\| | or move to the next song in the playlist. [.] ÿÿÿÿÿÿ ______ Repeat | +->+ | Toggles whether the playlist will repeat once all [R] | +<-+ | songs have been played. Songs will never repeat when ÿÿÿÿÿÿ in Memory mode. ______ Random | RAND | Play items in the playlist in a random order. Currently play | | tracks may repeated before all tracks have played. ÿÿÿÿÿÿ Effectively turns on Repeat mode. ______________________ / DeskTracker History / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The core song player in DeskTracker is based on Replay STe, a Tracker player written by Wizzcat in May 1991. Work on the GEM interface began in April '92 when I got my Mega/STE... a working version of it was completed in three weeks! DeskTracker was written in GFABASIC 3.5 and provided a dialog box interface, but it did look quite like the version you see here. After a year of work I've added a lot and refined a lot. Don't be deceived by its relatively small size - I'd call it finely chizelled artwork! This version is written in Lattice C 5.52 and DevPac 2. I really do recommend Lattice to anyone who is serious about Atari software production in the future... if Atari Corp use it I'd say that's a pretty good guarantee of its longevity. The major changes to the original program were: o conversion of DeskTracker into a window (when it became DeskTracker MT), o moving the animation bars into a separate window, o adding memory functions, o allowing the user to change play frequency at any time o DtMt can read in ICE packed MOD files as created by using the DATA pack in JAM Packer 4.0 o Load and decompress a new song while the previous one is playing o Realtime oscilloscope in a GEM window o Information bar o Iconise DtMt by clicking on the Full-box o Load old 15-sample type MOD files ___________________ / Revision History / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Date Version Comments 26/04/93 1.00 First released version 28/04/93 1.01 ACC now installs correctly; animation bars didn't run(fixed); alert informing user that Trak wasn't running _____________________________________ / And the thanks and hellos go to... / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ People who helped in the development of the DeskTracker project (whether they knew it or not...!) Fozz, R.T.D., Had, Ian R., Wizzcat, 4-mat, U4ia And the hello list in alphabetical order... Ant, Andy-O., Fez(and his amazing technicolour hair), Fozz, Had(watch out for Fire, world!), Ictari, imr, Ian-S., Jase, Kev, Mike-G., Paul-S., RTD, Shaunie(someone's got to support Derby County), Stephe, Stevie, U4ia, 4-mat(I'm an all-time fan of that song!) several of whom own Amigas, though it's not really their fault. ______________________ / Contact the author! / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I'd like to hear from you whether you've found a bug, can suggest any improvements or just plain like the program. I'd especially apreciate it if you could send me a postcard! I'll try to reply to any mail I get. By email... Probably the best address is D.Oakley-SE1@cs.bham.ac.uk or try D.Oakley%uk.ac.icl.wins.kid0112@pipex.co.uk or send your mail to: u2e32@uk.ac.kl.seq1 if you're sending mail from abroad you may need to go via a gateway. Ask your system administrator for info. By post... or David Oakley Graham Harrison 6 Watlands Road 353 Heathcote Road Bignall End Halmerend Stoke On Trent ST7 8QQ Stoke On Trent ST7 8BH England England ___________________ / This program is / / SHAREWARE! / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ DeskTracker has taken a lot of work by an overstressed university student! If you like this program, please do send a donation. If it is œ5 UK sterling or more, I will send you the latest version of DeskTracker, plus some other ASTRAsoft things. Please don't expect an immediate reply though! Also if you register, I'll send details of how to use the Trak player in your own C (or possibly GFA if I get round to it) programs! Please make all cheques payable to David Oakley and in sterling only. When registering please state which model of Atari you have and which monitor you use. ASTRAsoft do quite a few mono only things, so do mention it. ________________ / Warranty Free / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sorry, but this software comes with absolutely no warranty, other than that enforced by law in your country. ASTRAsoft takes no responsability as to the suitability of use of this software on your system or in your particular circumstances. The author is not responsible for any damages that may occur as a result of use or missuse of this software, or inaccuracies in this manual. _________________________ / A Note to Distributors / ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Please do not include this disk on any Public Domain/Shareware library disk without the explicit permission of ASTRAsoft. We like to ensure that libraries have the most up-to-date versions of our products and so if you let one of us know we'll send you the latest versions as they come out. Send a letter by post or email explaining who you are, what your address is and which products you have got at the moment. We will then send you a reply by either of these means... once that has happened you can put it on a disk! Formally, DeskTracker or any other ASTRAsoft SHAREWARE product may not be included on any PD/shareware library disk or magazine cover disk without the permission of the ASTRAsoft partnership. See ya! David.