*************************************************************
     * 	 	        SoundTracker Player V1.0		 *
     *     Copyright © 1990 AUSTEX SOFTWARE (FreeWare Software)	 *
     *        Authors: Stephen J.Smith & Paul N.Goulding	 *
     *************************************************************


			

 This program can be run as a background task to play SoundTracker Songs
and Modules. The songs are listed one after another in a text script file
which is read by the Player.



 STARTING THE PROGRAM
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 From the CLI:

 	Run STP Sample.script

 From the WORKBENCH:

	Click on the script file icon, hold the shift key, then
	double click on the STP icon
 
	OR

	Double click on the script icon. (the one supplied)


 OPTIONS
 ~~~~~~~

 The program will open up a standard intuition window containing eight
simple gadgets. These are;



	FILTER 		- Selecting this will toggle the Amiga's filter 
			on and off.
	RANDOM		- With this selected, STP will load in a random
			song from the script when the current song has
			ended.
	LOAD		- This will allow the selection of a new script
			file. You need the ARP library to use this
			feature.
	RESET		- Starts playing the CURRENT song from it's
			beginning.
	PAUSE		- Pauses the current song. Skip song is disabled
			during this mode.
	<<		- Select the previous song in script. Note that
			when the RANDOM option is on, that this will be
			a random song selection
	>>		- Select the next song in script. Note that when
			the RANDOM option is on, that this will be a
			random song selection.
	STATUS		- Shows current status of the player.


 DISPLAY WINDOW
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 This window will display the immediate status of the player. The following
messages can occur;

 "No Script !"	-	No script file is currently loaded
 "  Error    "	-	An error has occured. This could be caused by
			an empty/non-existent file or from a corrupted
			song.
 " Loading.. "	-	A new song is currently being loaded.
 "UnPacking.."	-	A packed song has been loaded, unpacked and the
			instruments are now being loaded in.
 
 If no errors have occurred, then the normal status message will appear.

 For e.g.

  Current song number ---> 01.04 00:32 <--- Time song has been playing

			      ^
			      | 
			      |
			      +--- Current pattern number in song

 SCRIPT FILES
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The format of the script files is quite simple. STP uses a standard ascii
input file for scripts. Each line of the file will contain information
about the music to be played. 

				PLEASE NOTE

 A SONG is a SoundTracker file which contains no instrument data, only the
song patterns and notes. This means that you will have to Assign the
ST-00:, ST-01: ST-02:  etc directories BEFORE you run the program so that
the instruments can be loaded in.
 A MODULE is a superset of a song and also contains the instrument data,
and so the directories don't need to be assigned.


 At the beginning of each line, there should be an ascii hash symbol '#'
(it stands for command) followed by one of the following;

	's' - song
	'm' - module
	'r' - repeat
        'e' - end of play

After this you should place a space (' ') and then the filename of the
song/module that is to be played. The 'r' and 'e' options are mutually
exclusive, and require no parameters after them.

Comments are allowed and are preceded by a semicolon ';'.


This is an example STP script:-  (The boxes are just for clarity)

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|	#m st/st-00/modules/axel f.		; Great song!		|
|	#m st/st-00/modules/bluemonday		; Another one		|
|	#m st/st-00/modules/thing1		; Not bad		|
|  #e                                      	; Stop playing and close|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+


Another script file could be;


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  #m ST-00:modules/thing2		; Great song			|
|  #r                                   ; Go back to beginning...(play	|
|					; forever)			|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

 That's it, so please Enjoy!



 NOTE: If the repeat length for an instrument has been set incorrectly
       in a song, then this could result in noticeable garbage noises.
       If this is the case, you will have to set the instrument
       correctly using a SoundTracker program.


 HISTORY
 ~~~~~~~

 V0.7 	Pre-release version. This version is now workbench compatible.
 	Packed songs are not yet supported.
 V0.8	Now works with NTSC or PAL Amiga. Released.
 V0.9   New window and options setup.
 V1.0	Handles packed songs. Improved playroutine.
 

	 AUSTEX SOFTWARE
	 P.O. BOX 48
	 KIRWAN	4817
	 QUEENSLAND
	 AUSTRALIA

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