*************************************************************************** Instructions for using "medplayer.library", "octaplayer.library" and "octamixplayer.library" V7.0. *************************************************************************** medplayer.library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "medplayer.library" is a shared library, which can be used to load and play MED/OctaMED 4-channel modules You can call its functions from any language which supports library calls (C, Assembler, Basic...) "medplayer.library" supports only 4-channel MED songs. For OctaMED 5 - 8 channel songs, you must use octaplayer.library. "octamixplayer.library" is provided for OctaMED Soundstudio songs that use the mixing routine. There's a header file 'libproto.h' that contains the prototypes and #pragmas of all three libraries for use with SAS/C. Here's the complete list of the functions in "medplayer.library" (in RKM autodoc-style): --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GetPlayer NAME GetPlayer -- get and initialize the player routine SYNOPSIS error = GetPlayer(midi) D0 D0 FUNCTION This routine allocates the audio channels and CIAB timer A/B and prepares the interrupt. If "midi" is nonzero, serial port is allocated and initialized. You should call this routine when your programs starts up. INPUTS midi = 0 no midi, 1 set up midi. When you use a song that has only Amiga samples, there's no reason to allocate the serial port. Then set midi to 0. RESULT If everything is OK, GetPlayer() returns zero. If initialization failed or somebody else is currently using the library, then GetPlayer() returns nonzero value. NOTE: Even if GetPlayer() returned an error, you can still call the library functions without making harm. They just won't work (except LoadModule(), UnLoadModule(), RelocModule() and GetCurrentModule(), which always work). SEE ALSO FreePlayer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FreePlayer NAME FreePlayer -- free the resources allocated by GetPlayer() SYNOPSIS FreePlayer() FUNCTION This routine frees all resources allocated by GetPlayer(). Remember always call this routine before your program exits. It doesn't harm to call this if GetPlayer() failed. If you don't call this function during exit, audio channels, timer etc. will remain allocated until reboot. SEE ALSO GetPlayer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PlayModule NAME PlayModule -- play module from the beginning SYNOPSIS PlayModule(module) A0 FUNCTION This routine starts to play the module from the beginning. The module can be obtained by calling LoadModule() or it can be incorporated directly into your program. The module has to be relocated before calling PlayModule()! INPUTS module = pointer to the module. SEE ALSO ContModule, StopPlayer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ContModule NAME ContModule -- continue playing the module from where it stopped SYNOPSIS ContModule(module) A0 FUNCTION ContModule() functions just like PlayModule() except if you have stopped playing with StopPlayer(), the playing will continue where it stopped. When you play the module first time, you should use PlayModule(). INPUTS module = pointer to module. SEE ALSO PlayModule, StopPlayer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- StopPlayer NAME StopPlayer -- stops playing immediately SYNOPSIS StopPlayer() FUNCTION Stop. SEE ALSO PlayModule, ContModule --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- DimOffPlayer NOTE This is an obsolete function! It was removed in V2 of the library, and it now just does StopPlayer()! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SetTempo NAME SetTempo -- modify the playing speed SYNOPSIS SetTempo(tempo) D0 FUNCTION If you want to modify the playback speed, you can call this one. This number should be 1 - 240. Note that tempos 1 - 10 are recognized as SoundTracker tempos. This function probably has not much use. INPUTS tempo = new tempo --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LoadModule NAME LoadModule -- load a MED module from disk and relocate it SYNOPSIS module = LoadModule(name) D0 A0 FUNCTION When you want to load a module from disk, call this function. The function loads only MED modules (MMD0). It doesn't load Tracker-modules, MED songs or object files. Only MMD0's (MMD0 is the identification word at the beginning of the file). Because the module contains many pointers, they must be relocated. This function relocates the module automatically. If you include the module as a binary file converted with Objconv, YOU must relocate it. This is an easy thing to do. Just call RelocModule(). Medplayer.library version 3 and later also handle OctaMED Pro MMD1 modules. Versions 5 and above handle MMD2 modules as well. INPUTS name = pointer to file name (null-terminated) RESULT module = pointer to module. If failed to load for some reason (disk error, out of memory, not a module), zero will be returned. SEE ALSO UnLoadModule --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UnLoadModule NAME UnLoadModule -- frees the module from memory SYNOPSIS UnLoadModule(module) A0 FUNCTION When you don't need the module anymore, you MUST free the memory it has used. Use this routine for it. Remember to stop the player before unloading the module it is playing. NOTE: unload only those modules which are loaded with LoadModule(). If you attempt to free module which is a part of the program, you will get a guru (81000009/81000005). INPUTS module = pointer to module. If zero, nothing happens. SEE ALSO LoadModule --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- GetCurrentModule NAME GetCurrentModule -- returns the address of module currently playing SYNOPSIS module = GetCurrentModule() D0 FUNCTION Simply returns the pointer of the module, which is currently playing (or if player is stopped, which was played last). This works also if some other task is currently playing. In this case, because of multitasking, you should have no use for the value (the module can be already unloaded). You may ask what use this function has. Well, I'm not sure, but because this function takes only 2 machine language instructions (8 bytes of memory) there's not much harm of it. RESULT module = pointer to current module --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ResetMIDI NAME ResetMIDI -- reset all pitchbenders and modulation wheels and ask player to resend the preset values SYNOPSIS ResetMIDI() FUNCTION This function resets pitchbenders and modulation wheels on all MIDI channels. It also asks the player to send again the preset change requests for all instruments, so that the presets will be correct if the user has changed them. It performs the same function as Ctrl-Space in OctaMED. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: The following functions are only available in medplayer.library V2 or later, be sure that you're really using V2 of the library e.g. MEDPlayerBase = OpenLibrary("medplayer.library",2); --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SetModnum NAME SetModnum -- select the number of the song (in multi-module) SYNOPSIS SetModnum(modnum) D0 FUNCTION Use this function to set the number of song you want to play. Call this before PlayModule(). 0 is the first song, 1 is the second, and so on. If the module is not a multi-module, this function has no effect. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RelocModule NAME RelocModule -- relocate module SYNOPSIS RelocModule(module) A0 FUNCTION This function relocates the module. It should be used if you've incorporated the module with Objconv program before using the module. Note that LoadModule() automatically relocs everything. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: The following functions are only available in medplayer.library V7 or later, be sure that you're really using V7 of the library e.g. MEDPlayerBase = OpenLibrary("medplayer.library",7); --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RequiredPlayRoutine NAME RequiredPlayRoutine -- tell which playing routine this mod needs SYNOPSIS routine = RequiredPlayRoutine(module) D0 A0 FUNCTION Returns the number of the playing routine (and therefore playing library) which is required for correctly replaying the module. RESULT 0 = normal four channel routine (medplayer.library) 1 = 5-8 channel routine (octaplayer.library) 2 = 1-64 channel mixing routine (octamixplayer.library) Other values are reserved for the future. You shouldn't do anything with the module if any other value is returned. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FastMemPlayRecommended NAME FastMemPlayRecommended -- does the module require fast mem playing? SYNOPSIS result = FastMemPlayRecommended(module) D0 A0 FUNCTION Tells if the module uses some of the goodies (long samples and/or odd repeat values) that are only available with FastMem playing. It's up to you to activate FastMem playing. RESULT 0 = doesn't require FastMem playing 1 = does require it SEE ALSO SetFastMemPlay() --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LoadModule_Fast NAME LoadModule_Fast -- load a module from disk into Fast RAM SYNOPSIS module = LoadModule_Fast(module) D0 A0 FUNCTION Loads a module into Fast RAM. Otherwise identical to LoadModule(). RESULT module = pointer to the loaded module SEE ALSO LoadModule() --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SetFastMemPlay NAME SetFastMemPlay -- activates/deactivates Fast RAM playing SYNOPSIS SetFastMemPlay(newstate,buffsize) D0 D1 FUNCTION Enables or disables Fast RAM playing, and sets the size of the output buffer. This routine should only be called when playing is stopped. INPUT newstate = New state of Fast RAM playing mode (i.e. 1 or 0) buffsize = Size of the output buffer, must be between 4 and 400, and divisible by four. Use 0 if you want to retain the old value SEE ALSO FastMemPlayRecommended() *************************************************************************** octaplayer.library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This library is made for playing OctaMED 5 - 8 channel songs ONLY. It does not support MIDI or 4-channel songs. The functions in it are analogous to functions in medplayer.library. (See the medplayer.library docs above for explanation of their usage.) The functions are: GetPlayer8() (midi switch ignored) FreePlayer8() PlayModule8(module) ContModule8(module) StopPlayer8() LoadModule8(filename) UnLoadModule8(module) SetModnum8(modnum) RelocModule8(module) RequiredPlayRoutine8(module) FastMemPlayRecommended8(module) LoadModule_Fast8(module) SetFastMemPlay8(newstate,buffsize) As you can see, every function has '8' in its name, and some functions that are in medplayer.library don't exist. There's also an additional function that exists only in octaplayer.library (V6 and above): --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SetHQ NAME SetHQ - set high quality mode (V6) SYNOPSIS SetHQ(hq) D0 FUNCTION When you allocate the player with GetPlayer8(), the HQ mode is set off by default. This function switches the HQ mode on or off. (D0: nonzero = on, zero = off). Note: The player should be stopped when calling this. Also note: No check is made whether the computer is fast enough to handle HQ properly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** Note: ~~~~~ Version 3 of both medplayer.library and octaplayer.library handle the new MMD1 module type correctly. No changes are required to programs calling these libraries. If you absolutely want MMD1 support, be sure to request V3 of the libraries. (e.g. OpenLibrary("medplayer.library",3); ) As well, if you want MMD2 support, be sure to ask version 5 or later. *************************************************************************** octamixplayer.library ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This library is for playing OctaMED Soundstudio modules which utilize the mixing mode (with 1-64 channels). These functions in octamixplayer.library are identical (in functionality) to routines in the above two libraries: GetPlayerM() (midi switch ignored) FreePlayerM() PlayModuleM(module) (see note below!) ContModuleM(module) StopPlayerM() LoadModule_FastM(filename) (loading to chip mem is unnecessary) UnLoadModuleM(module) SetModnumM(modnum) RelocModuleM(module) RequiredPlayRoutineM(module) Note that PlayModuleM() may fail (probably because out of memory), and it returns a non-zero value if it does. These functions control the settings of the mixing routine. They should be called only when playing is stopped: Acceptable values Default value Set14BitMode(newmode) 0 or 1 (*) 1 SetMixingFrequency(newfreq) 1000 - 65535 (**) 15000 SetMixBufferSize(newbuffsize) 4 - 32764 (***) 1024 * The sound is louder (but more noisy) if 14-bit mode is turned off. ** Note that the maximum usable mixing frequency depends on the screen mode. The highest value that works in the standard 50 Hz modes is about 28800. *** The default value is suitable for most applications.