
PROGRAM NAME:		MoviePlay
DESCRIPTION:		A program to play digital video or audio files of various types, 
			or VideoCD titles and includes some useful functionality.
AUTHOR:			Nic Wilson
EMAIL                   nicw@powerup.com.au
COPYRIGHT		Nic Wilson's Software (C) 1997 (Registered Australian Business Name)
WEB SITE:		http://www.powerup.com.au/~nicw
URL FOR MOVIEPLAY:	http://www.powerup.com.au/~nicw/movplay/moveplay.hrm
CURRENT VERSION:	V1.19 Release 

LAST UPDATED:		13th November 1997
RELEASE DATE:		13th November 1997
OPERATING SYSTEM:	WINDOWS 95 OR WINDOWS NT 4.0 OR LATER
			TESTED ON WINDOWS 98 BETA 2
REQUIREMENTS:		MS ACTIVEMOVIE INSTALLED (It will install it for you 
			if the program finds "amovie.exe" in the same directory)
KNOWN BUGS: 		NONE KNOWN
WORK AROUND:		
COMPATIBLE FILES:	Any files ActiveMovie can play, eg. MPG, AVI, MOV, QT, MPA, DAT,
				  			                  WAV, AU, AIFF, MID ETC..
										VideoCD Titles.
HISTORY:		For history see the end of this document.
				
BUG REPORTS, CRITISISMS, WISHES AND SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME.  THE BEST
ONES WILL RECEIVE A FREE SINGLE USER LICENCE. SEND TO EMAIL ADDRESS ABOVE

THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE.  
 
DISTRIBUTION:  
THIS PROGRAM MAY BE DISTRIBUTED FREELY ON THE CONDITION
THAT NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR THE DISTRIBUTION.  

IT MAY NOT  APPEAR ON DISKS OR WEB SITES WHERE A FEE IS CHARGED 	
FOR THE DOWNLOAD OF THE PROGRAM, OR ON WEB SITES WHERE FEES
ARE CHARGED FOR BYTE SIZE DOWNLOADS.  

IT MAY APPEAR ON THOSE WEB SITES WHERE A SET FEE IS CHARGED FOR ACCESS 
OR WHERE THE FEE CHARGED IS BASED ON TIME.

IT MAY APPEAR ON DISKS SUCH AS MAGAZINE COVER DISKS WHERE FEES
ARE CHARGED FOR THE MAGAZINE ONLY AND THE COVER DISK IS FREE OF CHARGE.

IF A MAGAZINE CHARGES MORE FOR A COVER DISK OVER THEIR NORMAL RETAIL PRICE
THEN PERMISSION MUST BE SOUGHT BEFORE DISTRIBUTION WILL BE PERMITTED.

The shareware fee for an single user on up to two computers is US$20.00.  This
gives the user access to updates and discounts on other products or services.
The fee for multiple users or site licence is $10.00 per computer with a minimum
licence of  3.  All programs and updates will only be supplied via the Internet, 
please include your e-mail address along with payment.

A licence for unlimited use within a single company is available upon request.

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED
Payments can be made by the following means.

MASTERCARD or VISA CARD  --  Send Number, Expiry Date and name as it 
				     appears on the card.
BANKCARD with AUSTRALIA only, details needed as per MASTERCARD.

CHEQUES (OZZY SPELLING)
Personal Cheques only within AUSTRALIA, DO NOT SEND OVERSEAS CHEQUES.
Overseas Bank cheques that are drawn on an Australian Bank are acceptable.

It is unwise to send cash through the mail.  If you do not have a credit card then payment
will be accepted in blank gold CDr disks to the same value.

FAX NUMBER FROM OVERSEAS          + 61 7 3823 2559
FAX NUMBER FROM WITHIN AUSTRALIA      07 3823 2559
EMAIL  nicw@powerup.com.au
WEB	 http://www.powerup.com.au/~nicw

OR SEND PAYMENTS TO
Nic Wilson's Software
REGISTRATION DEPT
32 Willard Road 
Capalaba Queensland 4157.

THIS PROGRAM IS COPYRIGHT 1997 NIC WILSON'S SOFTWARE  THE
USE WITHOUT AUTHORISATION OR PROPER PAYMENT IS FORBIDDEN 
AND IS A VIOLATION OF THE COPYRIGHT.

THIS PROGRAM IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAWS AND INTERNATIONAL
TREATIES.  UNAUTHORISED USE WILL RESULT SEVERE CRIMINAL OR
CIVIL  PENALTIES AND WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF 
THE LAW.

VIEWING AREA
The maximum size of the view area is currently 405 x 341 pixels.  All files 
larger than this will be resized to this size, smaller movies can be toggled 
between normal size and full size of the FILL AREA or other full scree modes
are available. (See FULL SCREEN or MAXIMIZE).

THE MENU OPTIONS
OPEN FILE
Same as OPEN button option. Loads a file ready for playback.

PREFERENCES
Opens a window and allows you to set certain preferences.  If accepted, all options
are saved to the registry and reloaded each time the program is launched.

VIDEOCD PREFERENCE OPTIONS (REGISTERED VERSION ONLY)
PLAY BUMPER PREFERENCE
If checked (default) the VideoCD will commence from its 'bumper'.  This is 
usually a logo or copyright notice.   If unchecked this first bumper stream
will be skipped.  This option is saved to the registry automatically.

PROMPT ON FINDING VIDEO CD PREFERENCE
If checked (default) when a CDROM/VIDEOCD has been found, the program
will ask you if you want to accept and play it or continue the search.
If unchecked the first VideoCD found will be played with no prompting.
This option is saved to the registry automatically.

FILES PREFERENCES
ALLOW MULTIPLE SELECT FILES
if checked (not default) it allows you to multiple select files in the
open file dialog box.  If multiple files are chosen each will be played
one after the other until there are no more to play.  If unchecked (default)
it will only allow you to choose one file.
This option is saved to the registry automatically.

AUTOPLAY ON DRAG AND DROP (REGISTERED VERSION ONLY)
if checked this option will cause any files that are dropped on to 
the window to automatically start playing.  If un-checked the files
are just loaded and the first frame displayed.

GENERAL PREFERENCES
DISABLE SPLASH WINDOW (REGISTERED VERSION ONLY)
if checked this will cause the option window to no longer display
when the program is launched.  It can be launched manually however
via the menu function should you want to check for updates or send
email via the button functions on the about menu.

TIME BOXES UPDATE PERIOD
The main loop of the program works on a multitasking interrupt timer.
Now that the minimum time period of the clocks have been lowered to
1 ms the timer interrupts had to be called more often.  The default is
every 80 milliseconds, but via this preferences slider this can be changed
anywhere between 40ms and 500ms.  The effect is instantaneous so you can
actually see the difference to the clocks as you drag it.  The faster the
better but this may impact on some slower systems, this is the reason for
this timer option.  This option is automatically saved.

THE BUTTON OPTIONS
MAXIMIZE CONTROL
This system control causes the program to go full screen and all program controls are 
unavailable.  The view will go to full size and will not maintain aspect ratio.  The program 
will remain fullscreen until the maximise control is clicked again.  When this occurs the 
normal window size and position will be restored.  If playing multiple streams such as 
VideoCD the right mouse button will advance to the next stream. 
(see FULL SCREEN  for information on the second full screen mode)

MINIMIZE CONTROL
This system control minimises the window.

FULL SCREEN OPTION
Once selected this will signal the playing stream change to full screen mode.  
Once fullscreen, the only options available are a left mouse button click to 
abort full screen mode or right mouse button click to advance to the next
subsequent file while staying in full screen mode.  

OPEN 
Opens a file requestor dialog box and prompts the user for a file.
This function saves the last directory path to the system registry, so
subsequent uses of the program will open in your previous accessed
directory.

EJECT
This ejects the currently loaded file and clears the view.

PLAY
If a file is loaded this button will play the movie.

PLAY SPEED SLIDER AND BUTTONS.
This slider will alter the speed of playback.  The increment of the slider 
is 1, that is, the playback speed will increment by a factor of 1 for each
slide increment. If a file is already playing then the change will be instantaneous.  
If a file is not currently loaded or playing then there will be a 2 second delay 
before the new speed 'kicks' in to allow the stream time to stabilize, otherwise 
playback would be erratic. When in Single or double speed mode sound is enabled, 
if above double speed the sound will be muted.  Above the playback speed display box 
there are 3 buttons that give direct access to single speed, double speed and ten
speed.

NOTE THAT SOME VIDEO STREAMS ON SOME MACHINES MAY NOT PLAY SMOOTHLY AT SOME
SPEEDS ESPECIALLY HIGH SPEEDS, IF THIS OCCURS THEN LOWER THE SPEED TO A SLOWER
SETTING.

VCD
This button will search all the logical drives looking for a CDROM drive,
if found it checks to see if a CD is loaded and if so check to see if it
is a VideoCD.  If a VideoCD is found it starts playing either at the bumper
or the first video stream depending on the setting in the preferences window.
If a VideoCD is not found in this drive it will continue to check each CDROM
drive found until all logical drives have been checked.

REW
When this is selected the current movie position will be set to the position of the
START TIME slider, if the current position is already the same as the slider then
the current position will be changed to the beginning of the file.

FWD
When this is selected the current movie position will be set to the position of the
END TIME slider, if the current position is already the same as the slider then
the current position will be changed to the end of the file.

REV
When this is selected the current movie position will be decremented by 1 second.

CUE
When this is selected the current movie position will be incremented by 1 second.

STOP
If a file is loaded and playing this button will stop the movie and reset the current
position to the setting of the start time slider.

PAUSE
If a file is loaded and playing this button will pause the movie. To restart the movie
click the "PAUSE button again or click the "PLAY" button.

CANCEL
This aborts everything and ends the program.

START TIME AND END TIME
These two buttons effect the top and bottom of the three sliders at the lower part 
of the window.   When any these are clicked, they will set the start/end slider to the 
current movie position.  This allows you to visually set the start and end positions 
according to a particular movie scene.

NOTE. When the SET END button is clicked, the corresponding slider will move 
immediately but the end position will not be set until the "PLAY" button is clicked
again.  This allows you to set a end position and allow the movie to keep playing
so you may change the end time again by re-clicking the SET END button again if
a better end point is found.

RESET
This button resets the START TIME and END TIME sliders to their home positions.
The START TIME slider will assume position zero and the END TIME slider will
assume maximum position.

If no file is loaded then nothing more will happen.  If a file is loaded but not playing
the file position will immediately become reset to position zero.  If the file is currently
playing then no action will be taken, until the PLAY or STOP buttons are clicked.

LOOP
If checked the movie will loop between the START TIME and END TIME positions.
If multiple files are loaded or dragged and dropped then the whole list will play
and then the whole list will loop and play again.

FILL AREA
When this option is 'checked', the current movie will change between its normal
size and full window size.

AUTO REWIND
Normally when the file comes to the end, or comes to the END SLIDER position,
play ceases and the position remains stationary.  If this option is checked then the
file will be positioned to the START SLIDER position.

FULL SCREEN
The second of the two full screen modes.  (for the first see MAXIMIZE).  When this 
option is 'checked', the current movie will change from its normal size to fullscreen, 
The only options available are the left mouse button, and ALT-F4, both will return
the screen to its normal size.  This fullscreen mode is done by ActiveMovie and 
maintains aspect ratio. 

MOVIE SIZE
This displays the size of the current movie in pixels as width x height.

TOTAL TIME
Displays the total running length of the current movie in minutes and seconds..

START TIME
Displays the start position of the movie as set by the "START SLIDER"
in minutes and seconds..

CURRENT TIME
Displays the current position of the movie in minutes and seconds.

END TIME
Displays the end position of the movie as set by the "END SLIDER" in 
minutes and seconds.

TOP SLIDER OF THE THREE SLIDERS
The top slider, of the three sliders, like this one, sets the start time for the current movie.  
Used in conjunction with the END TIME slider, a portion of a movie can be played.  When
the PLAY button is clicked the movie will start playing from this position.
Clicking to the left or right of the slider decrements or increments the time by 1 second.

BOTTOM SLIDER OF THE THREE SLIDERS
The bottom of the three sliders, like this one, sets the end time for the loaded movie.  Used in
conjunction with the START TIME slider, a portion of a movie can be played.  When
this time is reached the movie will end or loop depending on the state of the LOOP check box.
Clicking to the left or right of the slider decrements or increments by 1 second.

MIDDLE SLIDER OF THE THREE SLIDERS
The middle of the three sliders, like this one gives a visual display of the progress of the movie. 
The tick marks above designate a period of the current file depending on its length.  For files
smaller than ten minutes, each tick represents a ten second period, for files between ten minutes 
and one hour each tick represents a one minute period and for files larger than one hour,each
tick represents a ten minute period.  The tick marks will automatically update to reflect
this when a movie is opened.  The control can be moved "on the fly" to change the current 
position of the movie.  When a file has been loaded but it not yet playing this slider can
be moved to visually advance or retard the current file position.

ICON
The icon in the top left corner has a menu with three self explanatory menu choices.

WINDOW TITLE
The title at the top of window will change to reflect any loaded path and file.


HISTORY OF PREVIOUS VERSIONS

History prior to 1.12 deleted.

V1.12 
Release 18th Oct 1997    TOTAL CRAP VERSION THAT FIXED NOTHING, THROW IT IN THE BIN!!!!

V1.13 
Release 18th Oct 1997    BIG CHANGES SEE BELOW!.  The real fix!!  That was one of the most trickest bugs 
			 to track down and turned out to be the way windows handles its full screen mode.  
			 Big changes to screen layout to provide more room for new functions and to
			 'balance' out the main window.  Added a playback speed to the main window that
			 will alter the speed of playback between 1 and 10 speed.  Sound will remain for
			 single and double speed modes but above that sound is muted.  See PLAYBACK SPEED
			 ABOVE FOR FULL INFORMATION  ON USAGE AND EFFECTS OF THESE CONTROLS.
V1.14 
Release 19th Oct 1997	 I removed the old "about menu" that was still kicking around the system menu
			 as it was rather redundant and was just taking up space.  My own About/Splash
			 dialog is still there.    
			 Removed all the text on the buttons and replaced with suitable bitmaps, I think
			 it looks better and easier to use, what do you think?
			 Fixed a couple of FILLAREA bugs with VideoCD playback.
			 Fixed the bug where VideoCD tried to render even if no VideoCD was found.
V1.15 
Release 20th Oct 1997	 In 1.14 I broke the ESCAPE key again by mistake, now fixed and changed the
			 icons for rew. ff, cue and review to more suggest what they do.
V1.16 
Release 22th Oct 1997	 Added "pop up" tool tip help for most button controls in the main window.
			 When the mouse is held over a button, a small window will pop up and identify				 
			 the button.
V1.17 
Release 27th Oct 1997	 Added Volume control to main window. NOTE this volume is not master volume
			 it is only wave volume, so will only go as high as your current master setting		
			 will allow. 
			 Added command line parameters.  This means you can now "Associate" the compatible
			 files with MoviePlay so you can double click them and have them auto-launch MoviePlay
			 and start playing.
			 Fixed a bug with the "Fill Area" function, in that if you checked it before doing
			 anything else, the first file played would not fill the area until you clicked the
			 fill area check box on and off again.
V1.18 
Release 28th Oct 1997    File association was not working on some versions of windows95 due the "strange"
			 way that these versions supply the command line parameter.  It seems to be now 
		  	 corrected as I look for and modify these wierd strings.
V1.19 
Release 9th Nov 1997     Fixed a problem with the VCD function, not finding some VCD's as
			 valid and or not playing the bumper.
			 Changed the looping function so if multiple files are loaded or
			 multiple files are dragged and dropped the looping function loops
			 the whole list of files not the first file.