LWStatus V37.11 - Copyright Richard Waspe 1995


WHAT

LWStatus is a utility for LightWave 3.5 users, particularly those
with a graphics card. It opens a small window on the Workbench that
shows the progress of a render. It displays the current Frame,
Segment and Pass that is being rendered. When the last frame has been
rendered the display is flashed.


WHY

Although LW offers the same information on it's rendering screen,
this is not avalailable to Picasso users or to any graphics card that
does not like attached screens. Also, you may not want to have the LW
screen to front. If you wish to carry on rendering in the background
whilst working on the Workbench, then LWStatus will give you an 'at a
glance' summary of the progress of your rendering.


HOW

To use LWStatus you will need to add or modify one line in your
Toaster:3D/LW-Config file. Open that file in your favourite editor
and add the line :

StatusFilename  filename

'filename' can be anything you like but it must be a full path such
as RAM:foobar or SD0:whatever. I advise making the filename on a ram
disk, as both LW and LWStatus will make access to the file at the
completion of every Frame, Segment or Pass, and also every ten
seconds, whichever is the soonest. Save your LW-Config file.

You can run LWStatus from the Workbench via it's icon or from the
CLI. It needs no Tooltypes and will not detach from a CLI unless you
Run LWStatus >NIL: <NIL: . You should run LightWave 3.5 first and
then run LWStatus. A small font sensitive window will open on the
Workbench and initially show Frame, Segment and Pass all as zero. Now
start rendering your animation. LWStatus will increment the numbers
in it's display to show you the progress of the rendering. When your
rendering is complete LWStatus will do a DisplayBeep. Using
Workbench's Prefs you can add a sample or sound to the DisplayBeep to
get an audible warning that your rendering is complete. You can
safely quit LWStatus at any time by clicking it's close gadget or
using the Quit menu item. You can put the program anywhere you like
and no third party libraries or addons are needed, other than
Workbench 2.04 or later. LWStatus is Pure and can be made resident.


WHO

LWStatus is Copyright Richard Waspe 1995 but may be freely
distributed on any media. No charge may be made in excess of the
current cost of a Fred Fish disk. It may not be used for commercial
gain without the author's express written permission. Magazines are
specifically excluded from including LWStatus on coverdisks without
the authors express written permission. Fred Fish is explicitly
granted permission to include this program in his library.

If you use this program and find it useful then I will leave it you
if you feel you should send me something useful. You can contact me
by post or EMail.

EMail : waspy@cix.compulink.co.uk

Post  : Richard Waspe
        7 Beatrice Road
        Norwich
        NR1 4BB
        ENGLAND


THANKS

Steve Loughran (zorlac@cix.compulink.co.uk) for the original idea,
encouragement and initial testing.

Gary Fenton   (garygfx@cix.compulink.co.uk)
Nigel Critten (ncritten@cix.compulink.co.uk)

for Beta testing



DISCLAIMER

Use LWStatus at your own risk. No warranty or claim is offered that
it is fit for purpose and the Author will accept no responsibility
for any loss, damage or injury however caused, consequential or
otherwise.



HISTORY


V37.11 :  Now got menus with simple About and Quit. First released
          version. 16 April 95


V37.10 :  Now does a DisplayBeep at the end of the render. You can
          use Workbench prefs to add a sound sample to DisplayBeep and
          thus play your favourite tune when the render is done.


V37.9  :  Fixed Enforcer hits and memory loss. Wasn't checking to see
          if StartNotify() had been done when exiting after error,
          therefore was FreeSignal()'ing a non allocated signal and
          EndNotify()'ing a Notify struct that had not been
          StartNotify()'d. Oops! :-)


V37.8  :  Changed from assert to request for error notification
          Still causing memory loss and Enforcer hits if file not
          found. Also causing chipram trashing.

V37.7  :  Timer retained to read file every 10 seconds if no notify.

V37.4  :  Notify added and config file dispensed with.