Short: v0.2 A tool that disables your screen blanker when certain tasks are running Uploader: Alexander Niven-Jenkins (anj@cremlinsoftware.org) Author: Ghandi (ghandi@cremlinsoftware.org) Type: util/blank Replaces: AntiBlanker.lha Why Was It Written? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was written because the screen blanker I was using would eat up too much CPU time when I was trying to burn CD-Rs thus ruining them, and I kept forgetting to disable it beforehand, so I thought I'd get my Amiga to do it for me. How Do I Run AntiBlanker From WorkBench? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Just Double-Click on the AntiBlanker icon. In order to tell AntiBlanker what tasks to look out for you must set-up it's ToolTypes as follows: TASK= DELAY= For Example: TASK=MakeCD TASK=QuarterBack DELAY=6000 Will disable your screen blanker whenever MakeCD or QuarterBack are running, and it will check to see if they are running every 2 minutes (6000/50/60 = 2 minutes), but How Do I Run AntiBlanker From The CLI? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Type the following at a CLI prompt: AntiBlanker ... where are any number of configuration files, AntiBlanker will automatically append them all together. the format of the configuartion files are as follows: Line1:The delay between check (in 1/50ths of a second) Line2:The 1st TaskName you would like to Disable your Screen Blanker For Line3:The 2nd TaskName you would like to Disable your Screen Blanker For Linex:the xth TaskName you would like to Disable your Screen Blanker For Blank lines in the configuration file are ignored. Which blankers work with AntiBlanker? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AntiBlanker has been tested and proven to work with the following screen blankers, although it should work with almost any screen blanker. If you have tested it with a blanker not listed, please let me know the results so that I can update the list. Blanker AntiBlanker version ------- ------------------- extras:tools/commodities/Blanker 0.2 util/cdity/mcx280.lha 0.1 util/blank/ASwarmII2_0.lha 0.2 util/blank/Auror15a.lha 0.2 util/blank/BeyondTheDark.lha 0.2 util/blank/Blanker2.6.lha 0.2 util/blank/DesktopMAGIC.lha 0.2 util/blank/GBlanker36.lha 0.2 util/blank/GBlanker36_020.lha 0.2 util/blank/FlyingToasters.lha 0.2 util/blank/ShadowMaster.lha 0.2 util/blank/StarBlanker.lha 0.2 util/blank/SwazBlanker240.lha 0.2 Miscellaneous Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At the present time AntiBlanker never quits, but does allow more than one copy of itself to be run at a time. I do not see this as a major problem as it uses no CPU time when sleeping and no more than 0.4% CPU time checking. For example if you had it checking once a minute then AntiBlanker would eat 0% CPU time for 59 seconds and no more than 0.4% CPU time for 1 second (as AntiBlankers checks take less than a second to perform), which is an average of 0.0067% CPU time, which as you can see is negligible. To get the most performance out of AntiBlanker (so that it uses the least CPU time), put the tasks that you use most at the bottom of the configuration file (or ToolType list). Due to the way AntiBlanker stores the TaskNames internally it actually checks for the tasks in the reverse order to the way you specified them. Registration & Contacting Us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AntiBlanker is PostcardWare, this means that if you use it then you must send me a postcard of your home town/city/area. As you can see this is a very small cost to pay (a few pence at most). All postcards should be sent to me (Ghandi) at the following address: Cremlin Software 86 Antrobus Road Boldmere Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 5EL Also how about visiting out website at: http://www.cremlinsoftware.org AntiBlanker History ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Version Date Notes 0.1 15/06/1998 ·First public release. 0.2 15/06/1998 ·Fixed AntiBlanker so that it works with Garshneblanker (thanks to a 3rd party user, oops I forgot your name :-().