|01 Specify Value The |BSpecify Value|B requester is used when a numerical value is needed. It is presented when you click on a gadget which requires a value. The |BSpecify Value|B requester is used to enter a numeric value; for example, a video frame number or the number of times a loop will run. The |BSpecify Value|B requester opens when you click on a field requiring a numeric value. The value may be an actual number or a variable and may be entered using one of the following three methods. 1. Type the desired number or variable name in the field at the top of the requester. 2. Click on the number gadgets to enter the value into the field. 3. Click on a variable name from the list at the right. The list contains all of the variables defined for the current position in the outline. Click on a variable to enter it into the field. You may exit the requester by one of the following methods: 1. To retain the value, click on the |HEnter|H or |HOK|H gadget or press the Enter key on your keyboard. 2. To retain the previous value, click on the |HCancel|H or Close Window gadgets. |02 Referencing There are two |BReferencing|B requesters. They are used to reference an icon which appears elsewhere in the outline. The first is presented when you click on the placeholder icon (the placeholder icon appears when one of the following icons is placed in the outline: |BGoto|B, |BConditional Goto|B, or |BCall|B). The second Referencing requester opens when you have selected the icon you wish to reference. The |BGoto|B, |BConditional Goto|B, and |BCall|B icons require a partner which is a reference to another point in the outline. When you place one of these icons into the outline, a Placeholder icon appears. 1. To begin the referencing process, double click on the Placeholder icon. This opens a requester which asks "Begin reference icon specification?" - Click on |HOK|H to begin the referencing process. - Click on |HCancel|H to abort the selection process. 2. Next, move around in the flow window to find the icon you wish to reference and double click on it. A second requester is presented. You will be prompted "Reference this icon." - Click on |HOK|H to choose the selected icon as the reference. The reference icon will then replace the Placeholder. - Click on |HContinue|H to search for a different reference icon. - Click on |HCancel|H to end the referencing process. After you have completed the process, the reference icon will appear beside its partner, as well as in its original location in the outline. |03 Transitions The |BTransitions|B requester is used to define the transitional screen between pictures. It is presented when you click on a Transitions gadget in an icon requester. The Transitions requester is offered as an option in the requesters for |HAudio Visual|H, |HPicture|H, and |HAnimation|H icons. It allows you to select one of several transitional screen patterns. A transition pattern is what the user will see when the screen moves from one picture or Animation sequence to another. Select the desired transition by clicking on its name in the list. Use the |HSpeed|H gadget to specify the speed at which the transition occurs. Click on it to change the mode from |HNormal|H to |HFast|H to |HSlow|H. After specifying the transition and the speed, click on the |HOK|H button. You will return to the icon requester. The transition you have chosen will appear in the icon requester in the field next to the |HTransition|H gadget. |04 Search The |BSearch|B option helps you locate an icon by name. When you choose this option a requester is presented. You can click on the |HIcon List|H gadget to get a list of all the icon names in that window. You can select a name and the flow window will display icons starting from that one. Also, that icon will be in a selected state. You can also type the name of the icon in the field to bypass the list. In this field you can use the wildcard characters * and ? if you do not remember the exact name of the icon to which you want to search. The ? is for representing a single character and the * is for one or more characters. For instance, if you vaguely recall the icon name as starting with "St" and with the second to the last character being the letter "r", then you can type in the field a name such as "St*r?". This will locate an icon if the name matches only with the given characters. You can use the multistate gadget to specify the location in your flow from which to start the search. You can choose |HFrom Selected|H or |HFrom the Top|H. The former one will search from the currently selected icon and the latter will search from the starting icon in the application. It is a good practice to name the icons as soon as you use them. This way ewhen the application gets very large you can locate various icons. The |BSearch|B option will not work without icon names. |05 Print The |BPrint|B option prints out the information in the outline of your application in the currently selected edit window. Click on the multistate gadget to select the output destination: |HPrinter|H or a |HFile|H. If you choose |HFile|H, type the name of the file in the filename field or click on the |HDirectory|H gadget to open the File requester. Here you may choose a filename or create a new one for the output. If you choose the |HPrinter|H option then make sure you have a printer connected to your computer, it is turned on, and has paper for printing. If you choose the |HPrinter|H option use the multistate gadget to specify whether you want |HText|H or icon |HImage|H printed. If you select |HText|H the name and the memo fields will be printed and if you select |HImage|H the icon images will be printed. In both cases the printing will be in the same flow sequence as seen in the flow editor. If you choose the |HFile|H option you can print to either a file or a printer. You cannot print images to a file. You may print either a selected icon or the entire outline. To print one icon, select it before choosing the |BPrint|B menu option. If there are no selected icons, |IAmigaVision|I prints the entire outline. The names of the icons will be printed. If you wish to print the memo fields as well, set the |HMemo|H gadget to on state by clicking on it. When you click on |HOk|H, AmigaVision starts printing. If you want to abort printing and exit the print requester click on |HCancel|H. |06 Runtime Create The |BRuntime|B option has two submenu items. |BCreate|B and |BInstall|B. |BCreate|B option helps install a finished application in diskettes for duplication and use. An AmigaVision application may consist of the flow file, the audiovisual files, the database files, fonts and music instruments. The |BRuntime|B options help install these files. When you select the |BCreate|B option, the Runtime requester is presented. 1. Click on the |HDirectory|H gadget to open the File requester. Then, specify the name of the application you wish to use. The name will appear in the Filename field. 2. Next, click on then |HCourse Name|H field. Type in the name for the application. This does not need to be the same as the File name. 3. Select |HEdit Protect|H to protect the application from editing. The user will be able to run the presentation but will not be able to view the icon structure in a flow edit window. 4. Specify the drives for copying the application to the disk (DF0-DF3). The Status Window tells you what files are being copied and to what disk they are being copied. It also informs you of any problems encountered while copying the files. If one disk becomes full during Runtime, AmigaVision will prompt you for the next disk. The disks will also be labelled in the order that they are copied. You cannot install more than one application in the same diskettes as the diskette labels are marked by hte name of the application. When the |BRuntime|B option creates runtime diskettes it copies all audiovisual and database files referenced in your application. It installs them in proper directories and modifies the application to reference the new pathnames and directories. If a filename is specified as a variable then the |BRuntime|B option does not copy a file. It simply creates a Log file in the runtime diskettes. The Log file also consists of a list of instruments for music playback and any non-standard fonts referenced in your application. As some instruments and fonts are proprietary you need to be careful copying these into an application intended for commercial use. You are responsible for distributing any copyrighted material. Please read the Log file using any word processer for a list of all the non-installed resources such as picture files, instruments, and fonts. The Log file is in ASCII format. In the case of instruments, you can install them in the run time diskettes by loading them in your application using a Resources icon ( refer to Chapter 2 ). Musical instruments are digitized sound samples and they can be loaded into the Resource icon. The |BCreate|B option will then install these instruments in the runtime diskettes rather than listing them in the Log file. |07 Runtime Install The |BRuntime|B option has two submenu items. |BCreate|B and |BInstall|B. The |BInstall|B option help installing an application from the source to a destination file. The |BInstall|B option is for installing an application either from a diskette to your harddisk or from one directory in harddisk into another. When you choose this option the |BApplication Mover|B requester is presented. You must specify the application source filename, the destination filename, and the specific paths for animation, ILBM (picture), SMUS (music), 8SVX (digitized sound), and other Miscellaneous files. Your application will be installed in the destination directory. You flow file will be automatically modified to reflect the changes in file directories. Using this you can move applications between disk drives and/or between directories. |08 Defaults The |BDefaults|B option specify for each application a set of default parameters that will be saved with the application. If you are editing different applications in different edit windows, you can specify separate defaults for each of the windows. You can set the edit |HWindow Grid|H gadget to on state if you want a grid displayed on top of your edit window. This grid can be helpful in giving visual alignments in placing icons in the outline. Click the |HDouble Buffering|H gadget to on state if you want animation playback to use double buffers, i.e. load two consequetive images in memory. This reduces delays in screen update. |HStandard Overscan|H uses screen widths of 352 for Low Resolution and 704 for High Resolution. If the overscan pictures on your monitor or display do not reach both the left and right edges of the monitor, swicth to |HMaximum Overscan|H which uses 368 pixels for Low Resolution and 736 for High Resolution. Note: when using a Multisync style monitor that can display more than 736 horizontal pixels, overscan will |Bnever|B completely cover the display. The primary need of |HMax Overscan|H is when recording Amiga graphics to a VCR with a Genlock as television sets and professional video monitors generally need more horizontal pixels than |HStd Overscan|H provides to fill the screen. Set the |HClose Workbench|H gadget to the on state if you want to save memory by closing down the Workbench screen during a presentation. The Workbench screen will be closed only if no other application is using the screen. For example, if you have a Cli window open |IAmigaVision|I will not be able to close down the workbench. There are four fields for specifying defaults for |Hinstrument path|H, |Hinitial screen file|H, |Hfeedback sound for hit boxes|H, and |Haudio volume|H. The |HDefault Instrument Path|H is useful in specifying the path name for locating the instrument files in playing back SMUS music files. The |HInitial Screen File|H is for selecting a picture file that will be the first one displayed at the start of the presentation of an application. It is a good practice to specify an introductory picture file or else the application will start off with a blank screen in the default high resolution mode with the four Workbench colors. The default |HFeedback Sound|H is the name of the digitized sound file that you want to playback as a feedback for objects or hit boxes created using the |BObject Editor|B. The default |HAudio Volume|H is an index in the range of 0 to 64 for specifying the default volume of all the sound files: disgitized audio, music, and speech. In the icons that control these sounds you have the option of overriding the default setting. This option cannot be used for controlling the audio from the two channels of videodisc players, which do not have any volume control through software. The volume control feature is to help you select a volume for sounds from the computer that is consistent in loudness with the audio from the videodisc player.