
	
	 DLMplay v001	by Keith Gaughan
	

		another trackerplayer. Oh goodie!


   Preamble 

But unlike most, this one looks good and is multiformat - it can play both
Digital Symphony AND STracker files. Snazzy, eh! Ok, I know theres already
too many of these things around (trackerplayers that is, though maybe not
too many multiformat ones) but unlike most, this one can play DSym
trackerfiles and I havent seen that many which do cater for that format
(except for a Shareware one on HENSA). Even for that alone this program
might be worth a look.

Trackplayer Interfaces writing one is almost like a rite of passage, isnt
it! I mean, nearly everybodys written one at some point and this is my
fourth! Im starting to feel jaded with this stuff


   Use 

The program has what seems at first to be an economical interface yet its
surprisingly comprehensive. It consists of two windows - the playbar and the
controlwindow.

The Playbar:
The playbar acts in much the same way as the controls on a CD player or
tapedeck. The play button starts the track playing or unpauses a paused
track. The functions of the pause and stop buttons are predictable. The
final two buttons are the rewind and fast forward buttons. Clicking on these
skips sequences backwards and forwards. The bar on the far left of the
window (beside play) lets you move it around.

The controlwindow:
The controlwindow displays the information about the current track. It tells
you the name of the track, the author (if thats stored in the file), the
length of the track, the number of sequences and the current sequence being
played. It also lets you do one other thing: change the volume.


   Future 

	Purely to minimise memory usage, I might see if I can kill a module
	which isnt being used so its not using up memory which is needed
	for other stuff.

	Currently the application will stop any tune which is currently
	playing from playing and will clear it from memory. I dont like
	this myself and my older interfaces tried to update their displays
	if they could but this one won't because (a) DSym provides
	absolutely NO way of informing interface programs of any info which
	might actually be useful to them (like the tune name, is the song
	playing or paused, etc.), (b) one can't tell if QTMTracker is paused
	and (c) its a bit more uniform.

	If anybody knows a way around these problems, tell me (though
	preferrably Id like if at least QTMTracker would tell me if it was
	paused but as I have no way of contacting Phoenix, I cant really do
	anything about it! DSym - lovely format, lovely editor, shame about
	the playerroutine. Im not asking for CLI commands, just a way of
	getting the songname and if the tune is playing or paused. Its not
	much!


   Credits 

Program, Graphics & Template design by
	Keith Gaughan
	[I also did all the hi-res icons except for the DSym one. Use them again if
	you want, but say who did them please.]

DSymphony module by
	BASS

QTMTracker module by
	Phoenix/Quantum (or is that Kulture now?)


   DLMlib 

DLMlib is a set of shared resources by Keith Gaughan. It supports Panes,
MessageTrans, the desktop save protocol and interactive help. It is
currently only for use by by members of the DLM Design programming group but
may be made available to the public at some point in the future.

Both DLMlib and this application have only been tested on the authors RISC
OS 3.10 A3010 (1Mb, Paltry 40Mb HDD!) due to a drought of Acorn-owning friends and
for this reason, it is not guaranteed to work on every version of RISC OS,
though Id be very surprised if it didnt.


   Address 

If you want to contact me for any reason, then send a letter to either of
these two addresses:

i)	Home:
	Keith Gaughan,
	The Square,
	Aclare,
	Co. Sligo,
	REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

ii)	University digs (October '98 to June '99):
	Keith Gaughan,
	21 Glencairn Park,
	Rossa,
	Bishopstown,
	Cork,
	Co. Cork,
	REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Either address is fine but only use the second one during term times. If you
send it to my home address, it will get to me at any time of the year,
though you might end up waiting just a little longer if I don't have time
(and money) to go home at the weekend - after all, Sligo isn't exactly close
to Cork (they're on opposite sides of the country!)

You know the usual, send anything: suggestions for new programs or additions
to my existing ones, your own software, C64-related stuff, Tracker/DSym
files, interesting JPEG of Eva Hertzigova (she's became a bit too waifish of
late but brown hair suits her better), donations to my Get-a-RISC-PC-and-C-
compiler-or-at-least-Upgrade-my-A3010-to-a-Usable-State-for-Uni (Anybody
whos read this part of the helpfile before will know that Im getting
desperate) fund, anything really!

BTW, does anybody out there want to join a new programming group? Well, Ive
decided that being the sole member of DLM Design is a daft - after all, a
programming group is supposed to be just that, a group of people and not a
lone codehead. If anybody does want to join (and possibly avail of the use
of DLMlib, a very slick programming library) then just contact me at the
address above.


   Licence 

 Keith Gaughan, 1998
 DLM Design (Digital Light & Magic Software Design and Development), 1998

The copyright of the author supercedes that of DLM Design or any other body.

This application is Freeware and as such may be used and distributed freely
on condition that the following directives are respected.

   i. The application should be distributed in its original form, including
      any textfiles or source code supplied.
  ii. When distributed, this application must be supplied gratis (ie. for no
      charge) save any charge for carriage and distribution medium on
      condition that the charge does not exceed UK2 or IR2 (which are
      usually approximately the same).
 iii. No alterations may be made to the software without the prior *WRITTEN*
      permission of the author. Copyright for any altered versions is that
      of the applications original author and permission to distribute
      altered versions must be obtained from the author. Please note that
      permission to make alterations does not constitute permission to
      distribute these altered versions.
  iv. No attempt may be made to pass this software off as the work of
      anybody but that of the original author.
   v. No part of this application may be distributed seperately from this
      application without the permission of the author.


   Disclaimer 

DLM Design repudiates all liability for any malevent occurring as a
consquence, be it directly or indirectly, from use, abuse, misuse, or
inability to use (even in cases where the author has been informed of this
on a prior occasion) this software.


   History 

001		First version.
(27-Jul-1998)
