(*==================================================================*) StarBlanker version 1.00 © 1989, 1990 Chris Bailey Yet Another ScreenBlanker All Rights Reserved (*==================================================================*) If you intend to distribute this software further, you must agree to the distribution guidelines provided at the end of this documentation. Thanks. Overview -------- StarBlanker is a screen blanker, pure and simple. It helps you avoid monitor burn-in if you should leave your computer sitting with the same display showing for a specified length of time. It operates in the same manner as most screen blankers operate - if no keyboard or mouse activity is detected for a specific amount of time, the display will do something interesting until you either press a key or move the mouse. When the screen blanks ---------------------- When the timeout expires, instead of just making the screen black like some other screen blankers do, StarBlanker replaces your current display with one of two different scrolling starfields. The starfield will continue to scroll until you either touch a key on the keyboard or move the mouse. To make things interesting, StarBlanker chooses which starfield to blank the screen with at random. Setting the timeout ------------------- StarBlanker needs one number from you before it can start. It needs to know how many seconds of no activity should cause the starfield display to pop up. If you don't specify a number (as outlined below), StarBlanker will use an internal default of 4 minutes. Startup from either CLI or Workbench is defined below. Note : all timeout values are in seconds. FROM CLI -------- Enter "Starblanker" and the number of seconds you wish the screen to blank after. For example: ( pretend you're staring at a CLI window ) 1> StarBlanker 300 After 5 minutes of no activity, the screen will blank. Starblanker detaches itself from the CLI, so there is no need for RunBack or anything else. FROM WORKBENCH -------------- There is one TOOLTYPE you can set with the Workbench "Info" command. That tooltype is "TIMEOUT". For example: ( pretend you're in Workbench staring at the Info display ) TOOL TYPES TIMEOUT=300 If this is entered and StarBlanker is launched from its icon, the screen will blank after 5 minutes of no activity. Further Note : Your timeout can not be less than 10 seconds. If it is, StarBlanker will use the default timeout, which is 4 minutes. The 4 minute timeout also is used if you invoke the program from CLI or Workbench with no command line arguments or Workbench tool types. Killing StarBlanker ------------------- The easiest way to de-install StarBlanker is to re-activate the program, either from Workbench or from the CLI. StarBlanker will announce that it is removing itself, and free up all memory that it was using. The following hotkey combination will also remove StarBlanker: RIGHT SHIFT + RIGHT ALT + "x" Using StarBlanker with DMouse ----------------------------- As of this writing, the easiest way to use StarBlanker with DMouse is to simply turn DMouse's screen blanker option off before starting StarBlanker. I have had a request to use Matt Dillon's IPC, so that StarBlanker will cooperate with DMouse. Therefore, some time in the future I will be releasing DStars. This will be a blanking function that operates identical to StarBlanker, except it won't have an input handler, and will blank the screen when DMouse signals it to. Of Memory And Multitasking -------------------------- When StarBlanker is dormant, it doesn't take up very much memory, but when it opens its display, it can take more than a small amount of memory. The starfield display is 2 bitplanes deep, and there are also a couple of offscreen bitmaps to make the animation smooth and fast. If there is not enough memory for StarBlanker to open the displays needed, it simply won't blank the screen. At the request of Martin Taillefer, the starfield display updates with IntuiTicks messages. This means that while the screen is blanked, processor time won't be noticeably degraded. This also means that the starfield isn't going as fast as it could. In the future, I may release a version that gives you the option to use IntuiTicks, or to just run in a tight loop. Distribution ------------ - This product may not be sold for a profit. - The contents of this archive may be posted to BIX and to PeopleLink. I don't have a PLink account, so if somebody could post it there, I would be greatful. Upgrades (if any) will appear first on BIX. - The contents of this archive may NOT be posted to any commercial network, other than BIX and PLink. - The contents of this archive may be distributed on any public domain disk whose price does not exceed that of the cost of ordering a disk from the Fred Fish library of freely distributable software. This is limited by the paragraph below. - None of the contents of this archive may be used in any manner by Amiga Exchange (A.X.) magazine, their public domain disks, or any other endeavor they happen to be currently involved in. (For example, Graf-X magazine, or special issues of A.X.) - This archive may be made available to FTP sites along the Usenet lines. I haven't had my Usenet account long, so I'm not quite sure how to do this myself. - This archive may be posted to any public bulletin board system, provided that the use of the system is made available to the users without a mandatory fee. In other words, this archive may not be posted to pay BBS systems. - None of the source code to this program may be placed in print in any magazine or other form of printed media without the author's written, electronic, or verbal consent. - Any of these conditions may be reconsidered by contacting the author via written, electronic, or verbal means and asking for explicit permission to use the material in such a manner. ---------------------------------------- I apologize for the above. Apparently there have been some misunderstandings as to what "Freely Distributable" means in regards to some of my past work, and I am obliging those misunderstandings with these guidelines. If you wish to contact me, here's how. Electronic means are preferred. (*=======================================================================*) Chris Bailey Phone : 803-794-4933 2405, Feather Run Trail W. Columbia, SC 29169 UUCP:{uunet!ncrlnk, gatech!hubcap}!ncrcae!secola!smoak!avcom!bailey!chris BIX : csbailey SDI : Starving Developers Incorporated "They've come to take our beer" (*=======================================================================*)