FILES PANEL: From the FILES PANEL you can load, save, and delete songs, instruments, MIDI Maps, and MIDI Messages. This is where you choose the format for saving the song and the option of saving an icon and additional information with song files. THE REQUESTER: After you open the FILES PANEL a file requester fills the lower two-thirds of the screen. At the top of the requester is a string gadget that gives you information about the capacity of the disk you are looking at. On the right side of the requester is a list of the disk drives, devices, and assignments. The left side displays the contents of the current directory. The DIR: string gadget shows the path description to the current directory. When you first start OctaMED-Pro the FILE: string gadget will be blank, but it will display the file names as you select them. If either list is too long for you to see all the entries, there are up and down arrow buttons on the right of each list which scroll the lists. You can also drag the proportional gadgets above the arrows to scroll very long lists more quickly. The list on the right side never changes. Use this list to select the drive or assigned directory you want to work with. To select an item from either side of the requester, click it with the left mouse. When you select a drive or directory, the requester on the left side will display its contents. If you open a drive from the right list, or a directory from either list, the path description is updated in the DIR: string gadget with the new path information. 15 If you select a sub-directory, the left list will display a list of its contents. At the top of the list will be a "(dir)/Parent Dir" item. Click this to move one level up the path description. After you select a file name, that name will appear in the FILE: string gadget and is the current file name. The FILE PANEL buttons use this file name for load, save, and delete operations. SAVE FORMAT: Under this heading are four buttons which allow you to choose the format of the saved song. The format you select will depend on how you intend to use the song. You may Use OctaMED-Pro to convert file formats by loading songs in one format and saving them in another. SAVE FORMAT: +----------------+ | MOD1(+INSTR) | +----------------+ | MOD1(NO INSTR) | +----------------+ | MOD0 (OLD) | +----------------+ | ST-MODULE | +----------------+ Format Selector MOD1(+INSTR) is a new OctaMED-Pro song format. You must use it for songs that use the full MIDI note range and two-number note commands. It produces the same type of file as the MOD1(NO INSTR) format, but it saves the song's instruments in the song file. This is a good selection if you want to use the song with OctaMEDPlayer on demo disks. The files load quickly, and it avoids any problems withlocatinginstruments. MOD1(NO INSTR) saves songs with only the instruments' names. Then,when you load a song, OctaMED-Pro looks for the instruments in the current directory. If they are not there, OctaMED-Pro will search for them using the MED_Paths file. If the instruments are found, they are automatically loaded with the song. There are two advantages to this format: smaller song files because they do not include the instruments, and instruments on the disk are not duplicated for songs that use the same instruments. 16 MOD0 (OLD) is compatible with earlier versions of OctaMED and MED after version 2.13. It is similar to MOD1(+INSTR) and it saves multiple songs. If you are going to use the song in another program, this format is the most readily recognized. Files saved in this format are usually somewhat larger than MOD1(+INSTR) files. ST-MODULE saves songs as Sound/Noise/ProTrackers compatible modules. This is the only choice for accessory programs that recognize only SoundTracker modules. However, this format does not support many advanced OctaMED-Pro features, the following information will be removed: Instruments from 10-1V Tracks 4-15 MIDI commands and capability Block lines greater than 64 Screen color information Relative volume settings Transposition of instruments Hold and decay commands Synthetic and hybrid instrument support After selecting a file format, enter the path and file name from the keyboard into the DIR: and FILE: string gadgets or use the requester and mouse to select the path and file name. +------+-----------+------------+------+ | INFO | LOAD SONG | LOAD INSTR | DEL | +------+-----------+------------+ | | ICON | SAVE SONG | SAVE INSTR | FILE | +------+-----------+------------+------+ File Operation Buttons SAVE SONG button will save the song using the name in the FILE: string gadget in the format you have chosen. If the file name you use already exists, the MESSAGE LINE at the top of the screen will ask if you want to overwrite the old file. Enter a "Y" from the keyboard and the new file will replace the old one. If you enter "N", the save process ends and no action is taken. 17 ICON button, when selected, instructs OctaMED-Pro to add an icon to the file when it saves a song. It will write OctaMEDPlayer as the default tool in the info. files. INFO button when selected instructs OctaMED-Pro to save "extra" information, such as instrument names, screen colors, block names, and various text information. Otherwise OctaMED-Pro saves only what is essential to play the songs. The files are slightly shorter when you do not select INFO. LOAD SONG will load the song shown in the FILE: gadget. Click the LOAD SONG button and OctaMED-Pro determines the type of file format and displays the version number of the program that saved the file on the MESSAGE LINE. The song will load and the MESSAGE LINE will display whatever text is in the TEXT string gadget on the TRANSPOSE PANEL. If OctaMED-Pro cannot identify the song format, the MESSAGE LINE will ask whether you want to try loading it as a ST-Song. Enter "Y" or "N". Usually, when OctaMED-Pro loads a song, it also loads the song's instruments. If OctaMED-Pro cannot find an instrument, the MESSAGE LINE will ask if you wish to continue loading the song. To continue you must respond with "Y" for each instrument that OctaMED-Pro cannot find. OctaMED-Pro will load the instruments it can find and put the names of the instruments it cannot find in their proper numbered places. You must then locate and load appropriate instruments into these positions. Otherwise, the notes played by those instruments will be silent. LOAD INSTR loads a sampled, synthetic, hybrid sound or MIDI instrument name into the instrument location displayed on the STATUS BAR. If an instrument already exists in that position, the new one will replace it. If the instrument is a sampled or synthetic sound, the MESSAGE LINE displays the size in bytes. When it is a synthetic sound, it will display the number of waveforms the sound uses. SAVE INSTR saves the current instrument with the file name in the FILES: string gadget. If a file by that name exists, the MESSAGE LINE will ask for confirmation before it replaces the file. By default OctaMED-Pro saves sampled sounds in RAW format. If you want a sample saved as an IFF file, select the SAVE: IFF switch in SAMPLE EDITOR. 18 DEL FILE erases the file with the file name displayed in the FILES: string gadget from the disk after confirmation. THE FILE WILL BE PERMANENTLY ERASED FROM THE DISK! MIDI SUPPORT FILES: +------+-----+-----+ | LOAD | MSG | MAP | |------+-----+-----+ | SAVE | MSG | MAP | +------+-----+-----+ Message and Map Files LOAD MSG loads MIDI Messages. The MESSAGE LINE will ask if you want to replace the current MIDI Message or allocate a new Message before it loads. You should read the MIDI PANEL section for a description of making and using MIDI Messages. SAVE MSG saves the current MIDI Message in the MIDI PANEL as a separate file.OctaMED-Pro always includes MIDI Messages with saved songs,but you may want to save them as separate files you can load into other songs. LOAD MAP loads MIDI Map files that define the input mapping of the MIDI keyboard. If you are using a MIDI you should read the MIDI PANEL section for a description of making and using these maps. You must create a MIDI Map use the MIDI as an input keyboard. SAVE MAP saves the files that you create which describe MIDI Maps for keyboard input. SPECIAL NOTES: OctaMED-Pro will attempt to load ANY file you choose from the requester as the type of file indicated by the button you select. If,for example, the FILE: string gadget contains the name of an instrument and you click the LOAD SONG button, the MESSAGE LINE will ask if you want to try loading it as an old ST-Song.If you attempt to do this, OctaMED-Pro will probably lock-up and you will have to restart your computer.If you have the PowerPacker.library in your Libs: directory,OctaMED-Pro can load and unpack a song,instrument,and MED_Path files packed with PowerPacker. More memory is required for this than loading files that are not packed. 19