VOC THING -=-=-=-=-=- Copyright (c) 1992 Melvin Douglas All Rights Reserved Player for VOC Format Sound Files for the Sound Blaster Sound Card Version 1.0 September 1992 Shareware FAX (516)-533-2633 Purpose: Plays .VOC Sound Files for Sound Blaster Owners. ----------- LEGAL STUFF: ----------- VOC THING software is hereafter referred to as VOC THING or VT. Users of VT must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "VOC THING is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of VOC THING." VT is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using VOC THING and continue to use VT after a 21 day trial period, you must make a registration payment of $9.00 U.S Dollars. To register this copy, print and complete the REGISTER.FRM file and send it along with the registration fee of $9 directly to: Melvin Douglas Post Office Box 141 Uniondale, New York 11553-0141 Adlib is a registered trademark of Adlib inc. Sound Blaster is a registered trademark of Creative Labs Inc. QuickBasic is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. PROGRAM FILES: ------------- VT.EXE - Voc Thing program VT.DOC - Voc Thing documentation REGISTER.FRM - Registration form FILE_ID.DIZ - BBS file description text VENDOR.DOC - Vendor distribution agreement *.VOC - several pre-converted midi music files In case you don't read any further, note that you may use any key on the command line as a switch to bypass the opening screen: i.e., "VT X". --------------------- HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: --------------------- o An IBM PC/XT/AT/386/486 or true "compatible" running MS-DOS or PC-DOS 3.0 or later. o 528K System Memory. o CGA/EGA/VGA Video Adaptor. o One floppy disk drive or hard drive. o A Sound Blaster Sound board. NOTE: No "drivers" are required to run VT. Active Play Controls are as follows: ----------------------------------- - Pause sound. - Continue sound from a paused state. - Skip the current sound (immediate). - Cancel sound play mode and return to the Main Menu. - Cancel sound play mode and return to the File Selection Window. -------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: -------------------- As mentioned earlier, any single alphanumeric character on the command line will allow you to bypass the opening screen ie., "vt z", where "z" may be any printable letter or number. --------------------- FILE SELECTION WINDOW: --------------------- You may invoke the File Selection Window by typing ALT-V. A listing of VOC files will be displayed if they are present in the current directory. ----------------------- FILE SELECTION COMMANDS: ----------------------- NOTE: YOU MUST "TAG" A FILE IN ORDER TO PLAY IT UNLESS YOU ARE PLAYING A SINGLE SELECTION FROM THE COMMAND LINE. Tag one file at a time by pressing the RIGHT ARROW key, or RIGHT ARROW key. Unshifted, the highlighted bar will move down one file after each tag. Shifted, it will move up one file. Un-tag is exactly the same except using the LEFT ARROW key. will produce the same effect as Left or Right arrows. Tag all files using (Ctrl> RIGHT ARROW, and un-tag all files with LEFT ARROW. Pressing RETURN after selecting files will immediately begin the Play mode and sound will start. If you press Escape after making a selection(s), the selected files will be abandoned and you will be returned to the main menu. Additionally, if you press RETURN without selecting any files, you will be returned to the main menu. ---------- SORT FILES: ---------- Sorting is easy, just pick a number (as follows): 1 = Sort by filename. 2 = Sort by file size. 3 = Sort by file date. ------------- PAUSE Command: (P) ------------- Pressing "P" will temporarily PAUSE the current sound. While PAUSE is active, the CONTINUE command is highlighted and other commands will be visually de-emphasized. NOTE: Occasionally, when you select the PAUSE command, it may get stuck on a note that refuses to be silent. If this happens, use the "C" command to CONTINUE and then use the "P" command again until the sound fades out. ---------------- CONTINUE Command: (C) ---------------- Pressing "C" will CONTINUE a sound, or reverse a PAUSE command. Sound will resume playing from the point that it was PAUSED. ------------ SKIP Command: (S - or you may press the Spacebar) ------------ Pressing "S" will terminate the current sound and will play the next sound in the queue immediately. You may also use this command to move to the next sound if the current file gets "stuck" or just stops playing (probably a corrupt file). You may also press the SpaceBar to invoke this command. The term "skip" in this instance means that the file was aborted during play rather than actually "skipped over" before being heard. --------------------------- FILE WINDOW [EXIT] Command: (F) --------------------------- Pressing "F" will terminate VT's Sound play mode and return you to to the FILE SELECTION WINDOW where you may select more files to play or exit to the Main Menu. ------------ EXIT Command: (X - or you may press the Escape Key) ------------ Pressing "X" will shut down VT's sound play mode and return you to the main menu. On the other hand, when the last file has been played, VT will exit the Play Mode and return you to the main menu. At that point the, the File Selection Window will pop-up automatically. ------------------- ENDING THE PROGRAM: (ESC - from main menu) ------------------- Pressing ESCape from the main menu will terminate VT and return you to the DOS prompt (assuming the File Selection Window was not active). If the File Selection Window is active, pressing ESCape 3 times will terminate VT, and return you to the DOS prompt while displaying a low key shareware screen and session statistics. Version History Version 1.0 = August 1992 Initial Release. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions or problems? My direct FAX number is (516) 538-2633. The latest version of VT may be found on the following bulletin boards: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 - The Executive Network BBS, New York 914-667-4684 all baud speeds --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 - The Invention Factory, New York 212-431-1254 3 - Digital Zero, New York 212-353-8415 4 - Computer Connection, Washington, D.C. 202-543-8088 5 - Vernon Buerg's BBS, Calif. 707-778-8944 6 - Gene Plant's BBS, Illinois 708-843-8664 7 - The SoundBlaster Digest BBS, Toronto 416-840-2485 Thanks to Ro and Joe Malacria for the Wardrobe and Special Lighting (he,he) ...and Executive Network BBS, the BEST international bulletin board.