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NOTE: THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES VBRUN300.DLL, NOT NECESSARILY
INCLUDED WITH IT. See section III below for details.
WWPlus 2.0
Windows Wallpaper Manager/Changer/Editor - screen saver.
This version has been tested with Windows NT 3.5/3.51 and with
Windows95 prerelease version. It is compatible with both.
Print this file for program instructions.
WWPlus is a program which has continuously evolved since the first
version in August, 1992. If you are upgrading from an earlier
version, see HISTORY.TXT for features that have been added or changed.
See the file FORMATS.TXT for additional information on the graphics
formats recognized by WWPlus.
⌐1992-1995 All rights reserved
By Don Bradner
Arcata Pet
600 F Street
Arcata, CA 95521
Compuserve: 76130,1007
America OnLine: DBirdMan
Internet: dbirdman@redshift.com
http://www.redshift.com/~arcatpet
Contents of this file:
I. Program Description
II. Program Requirements
III. Installing WWPlus
IV. Getting Started
V. Files that make up WWPlus
VI. Troubleshooting
VII. UnInstalling WWPlus
VIII. Obtaining wallpaper images
IX. Getting future upgrades
X. Registration and distribution
I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.
WWPlus is a program for organizing and displaying Windows 3.1
wallpaper files. With this program you can easily maintain a
collection of wallpapers, automatically change them at an interval you
select, and use image formats (GIF, PCX, TGA, TIF, .ICO and .JPG) that
would otherwise be unusable by Windows as wallpaper. GIF and PCX
provide compression of 256-color images, and .JPG provides compression
for 16-million color images, thus saving disk space.
There is a screen saver module that will turn your wallpaper files
into a screen saver after a period of inactivity. Extensive setup
options, including password protection, are available both from the
Windows Control Panel Desktop icon and from the main WWPlus screen.
Sixteen transition effects are available. Users may select a single
effect or a menu of effects that will occur randomly.
WWPlus has editing features and file conversion routines built in,
which allow you to change images to suit your wallpaper needs. You
can crop, resize, stretch, rotate, mirror, flip, sharpen, soften, and
adjust brightness, contrast and gamma.
Wallpapers may be tiled (small images displayed in multiples to fill
the entire screen) or not, individually determined. Each non-tiled
wallpaper may be precisely positioned anywhere on the screen, not just
centered (the Windows default). Non-tiled images may be resized
on-the-fly to full screen or a user-set dimension. A universal gamma
correction option allows for display-time lightening or darkening of
images.
Multiple sets of wallpapers called "queues" may be built, with easy
changing of queues. A wallpaper may appear in more than one queue.
Some program configuration items are maintained with the queue, others
are "Global." Queues may be specified as command line options, and
the .QUE extension may be associated with WWPlus to allow the program
to start by running the queue from File Manager or Program Manager
icons.
Full documentation is included in the form of a Windows Help file.
When you desire help, press your F1 function key for context-sensitive
help, or press the help key if you are in a file dialog box.
WWPlus contains functions which can read and right the .GIF format,
which contains compression technology covered by U.S. Patent No.
4,558,302, owned by the Unisys corporation. The author of WWPlus has
obtained a license from Unisys, and pays a royalty on each
registration, to use this technology. The following statement is
required by that license:
"Use of this software is permitted only to the extent
reasonably required to determine whether to purchase
the software.
"After payment is made, use of this software is limited
to use on only a single personal computer or
workstation which is not used as a server. An
additional payment is required for each use on
another personal computer or workstation.
"Only a single copy may be made of this software
solely for backup or archival purposes. The software
may also be transferred to a single hard disk.
"Any use of this software in violation of the above is
not licensed.
"For information concerning licensing the LZW
compression and/or decompression capability, please
contact:
Unisys Corporation
Welch Licensing Department - CISW19
Township Line & Union Meeting Roads
P.O. Box 500
Blue Bell, Pennsylvania 19424"
II. Program requirements.
WWPlus requires an IBM compatible 386 or better, running Windows 3.1,
with at least 4 megs of RAM and VGA or better graphics. Recommended:
486DX with 8 or more megs of RAM and accelerated graphics adapter.
Some operations require a mouse.
Graphics files can be quite large, particularly with true-color, so a
large hard disk is recommended. WWPlus will require about 1 meg for
installation.
III. Installing WWPlus
If you obtained WWPlus by downloading it from a computer Bulletin
Board (BBS) or another online source, one necessary file may not have
been included. You will need a file called VBRUN300.DLL, which is
almost always available from any source that would have WWPlus. On
BBS systems the file will usually be called VBRUN300.ZIP or
VBRUN3.ZIP. If you obtained the program on disk, the file should be
included. If it is missing, contact the supplier of the program.
Registered versions obtained from the author will always include
VBRUN300. If you are installing VBRUN300 separately, it MUST be put
in the \Windows\System directory.
To install WWPlus, insert the disk in your computer and choose
File/Run from the Program Manager. Enter A:Setup or B:Setup as
appropriate and follow the prompts.
If you downloaded WWPlus, you probably have the files in a download or
temporary directory. Change the directions above to provide a path to
the setup, such as D:\temp\setup.
At the end of the setup operation you will be given the option of
adding WWPlus to your Startup Group. Doing so will cause the program
to start whenever you start a Windows session. This is the
recommended procedure; you can always delete the icon from the group
at a later time if you wish.
NOTE: Setup will not run if any other program is using VBRUN300.DLL or
any other library file used by the program, including other versions
of WWPlus. An error message will be generated, and you must end all
such applications before retrying the installation. You may restart
these programs after installation is completed - they will share the
VBRUN module without problem.
IV. Getting Started.
You will need one or more wallpaper images to use with the program.
These files may be located in any directory on any drive, but
management will be simplified if you place them all in one directory.
A directory named WALLPAPR is recommended, either as a root directory
on your C: drive or a subdirectory under the \WWPlus directory.
Windows comes with a few wallpapers in .BMP format. If you do not
have any other images, you can make some simple drawings with Windows
Paintbrush and save them as either .BMP or .PCX files. For further
information on obtaining images see section VII below.
Double-click the WWPlus icon to start the program. The first time
that the program starts it will be a full program window. Once you
have one or more wallpapers installed, the program will start as an
icon, which you may double-click at any time to show the main window.
If you have chosen the hidden icon option, the program will not be
visible when started. Simply start it a second time; the first
instance will become visible and the second will end itself.
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the program elements on
screen. If you press the F1 key, a help file will be displayed, and
you may graphically choose different program elements to see an
explanation of their function.
When you move your mouse pointer across the toolbar icons and some
other screen elements a small "smart caption" will appear to give you
a better idea about what the icon does. You may turn these captions
off when you no longer need them, via the Preferences menu.
Now click the Add button (or choose Add from the Wallpaper menu). Use
the dialog box to browse for images in any of the supported formats.
If you do not know from a file name what the image looks like, click
the preview button and you will see a small representation of the
image. The size of and number of colors in the image will be shown
below the image.
When you have a desired image, click OK. The path and filename will
appear in the Wallpaper Queue. Click once on the listing to "select"
it. Now click the "Make Current Wallpaper" button to view the image
as a wallpaper. If it displays as you would wish, go on to add
additional wallpapers. If you would like to change the way the image
is displayed, you have many options to choose from, a few of which are
explained next.
1. Tiling. If a wallpaper image is small, you may wish to "tile" it.
This will make the image appear many times to fill the screen.
You may adjust the position of the first image in the same manner
described above; all other images will orient to the first. To
make an image tile, select it in the Wallpaper Queue and click the
"Tiling" icon. Tiling may be turned off in the same way. The
position of the tiled image will also be influenced by the X and Y
coordinates: The first image will follow the setting, and all
other copies of the image will orient to the first.
2. Displaying wallpapers as full screen. Non-tiled wallpapers may be
displayed full-screen, or at a pre-set size. Larger images will
be reduced, and smaller images will be enlarged. The images
proportions (aspect ratio of width to height) may be left intact,
or the image may be stretched to fill the entire screen or
selected size. Choose "Resize Wallpaper" in the preferences menu
to invoke this option.
3. Altering the image. You may perform a variety of editing functions
on an image by selecting it in the Wallpaper Queue and then
clicking the "Edit" button. The first time you do this, press the
F1 key when the editor is visible and browse through the help file
for explanations of the editing functions.
When you have a few images installed, click the screen saver setup
button (the one with a red ? in a computer screen). Set the entry and
exit options as you wish, and then set one or more effects (it will
run without effects, making simple changes). Press the test button to
see the result.
When you have it the way you want, click OK. Then turn the screen
saver on by clicking the red screen saver button (it will become green
when on).
Once you have everything the way you want it, minimize the program
window (click the down arrow at the upper right of the program window)
and leave it running as an icon.
Preferences: There are some items which you can set to affect the way
the program operates. These are found as a Preferences submenu under
the Wallpaper menu. The first is "Change Wallpaper at Startup." If
this is not checked, the wallpaper will be whatever was displayed
prior to the program startup. The second is "Remove Wallpaper at
Exit," which will make your next Windows session start faster. Next
is "Special 'Multipurpose' Icon." If this menu item is checked the
minimized program icon will be replaced with a miniature 4-button icon
that can be used to perform several functions. This form will
initially appear at the bottom right of the screen, but will
"remember" any change in its location which you may choose to make.
Double-Click the icon's control box to restore the main program
window. This option has no meaning if the hidden icon option
described above is in use.
The fourth preference is "Resize Wallpaper," explained above. Fifth
is "Screen Saver Setup," which will display a dialog for that
function's setup and allow testing. Next is "Display Order," with the
choices being Random or Sequential. The seventh is "Default Origin,"
which is where WWPlus will position your wallpapers unless they are
individually specified.
The Eighth preference is "Correct Screen Gamma." Monitors vary in the
darkness of an images midtones. Altering the gamma of an image upward
makes the midtones lighter and altering it downward makes the midtones
darker. Selecting this option produces a dialog with a test target
image for setting a gamma correction amount. This number should be
considered a starting point, with trial-and-error fine tuning until
wallpapers are displayed in the best way possible for your monitor.
The ninth is "Smart Captions," which sets your preference for text
boxes to identify the icons. The final preference is "Monitor Com
Ports." Because a wallpaper change would likely disrupt a data
transfer by modem, you may choose to have WWPlus monitor a com port to
which the modem is connected. When WWPlus detects that the port is
opened the timer is disabled. Choose ports 1 through 4, or None. The
default is None. If you choose a port that has a serial device other
than an modem attached, such as a printer, you may get unpredictable
results.
V. FILES THAT MAKE UP WWPLUS.
The program files are compressed prior to setup. They are listed here
with their compressed and uncompressed names. The setup program only
copies a file to your disk if it does not find the file already or if
this file is newer.
References to the WWPlus directory refer to the directory selected at
installation; default is C:\WWPLUS
Compressed File Name Type and where installed
WWPLUS.EX_ WWPLUS.EXE Program, WWPlus directory
WWPSAVR.SC_ WWPSAVR.SCR Screen Saver Bootstrap Windows directory
WWPLUS.HL_ WWPLUS.HLP Help file WWPlus directory
SETUPWWP.EX_ SETUPWWP.EXE WWPlus Setup Windows directory
-- SETUP.EXE Setup Program, not transferred
-- SETUP.LST Used by Setup
IMK.DL_ IMK.DLL Library File, Windows\System directory
JPEGIO.DL_ JPEGIO.DLL Ditto
KNIFE.VB_ KNIFE.VBX Ditto
SETUPKIT.DL_ SETUPKIT.DLL Ditto
VER.DL_ VER.DLL Ditto
WWPLIBR.VB_ WWPLIBR.VBX Ditto
CALL32.DL_ CALL32.DLL Ditto
GAMMA.PC_ GAMMA.PCX Gamma calibration target, WWPlus directory
-- WWP_REG.KEY Registration key, WWPlus directory
***Note: WWP_REG.KEY included only with registered versions.
-- README.TXT This file WWPlus directory
HISTORY.TX_ HISTORY.TXT version history ditto
FORMATS.TX_ FORMATS.TXT explanation of graphics formats ditto
SCANNING.WR_ SCANNING.WRI details on scanning service ditto
-- FILE_ID.DIZ program description for BBS use
-- VENDOR.DOC program description for shareware vendors
VBRUN300.DL_ VBRUN300.DLL Library File, Windows\System directory
***note: VBRUN300.DLL may not be included if the program was obtained
from an online source. It will have to be obtained to run the program
and the setup program. From on-line sources, it is usually
VBRUN300.ZIP or VBRUN3.ZIP. If the program was obtained on disk then
the file should be included; if not, contact the source of the disk.
If the file is obtained separately, it must be installed in your
Windows\System directory BEFORE you run setup.
If the program is obtained on disk there may be images included,
usually in an \images directory. These are not installed by the
program. There may be a Rights.TXT file with the images to establish
their usage rights.
FILES CREATED BY WWPLUS:
The following are generally located in your WWPLUS directory:
*.QUE These data files hold lists of the images that you have
selected as wallpapers, as well as some of your program settings.
WWPLUS.BMP This is a "temporary" file that WWPlus uses to translate
non-standard images so that they can be used by Windows. It is
destroyed and recreated each time the wallpaper changes unless the new
image is a .BMP file.
*.TIF This is a multiple image file that is used to speed the display
of thumbnail images. The name will correspond to the queue name.
WWPlus also creates some other temporary files with .TMP extensions,
as well as a WWPLTEMP.TIF file. Under normal use, the program will
clean these up when it exits. If the program crashes, it will clean
them up the next time it is run and then exited normally.
FILES ALTERED BY WWPLUS:
CONTROL.INI WWPlus will add a section called [ScreenSaver.WWPSaver].
Global parameters for both the program and the screen saver module are
stored here.
VI. Troubleshooting.
If you receive a message which says something like "Unable to install
VBRUN300.DL_" during the program install, it means that you have a
version of WWPlus that originally included the VBRUN file but it is
not present. You can solve this two ways: copy VBRUN300.DLL to the
directory where the rest of the distribution files are and rename it
VBRUN300.DL_, or else use a text editor (such as Windows Notepad) to
edit the file SETUP.LST. Remove the listing for VBRUN300.DL_ and save
the file. The VBRUN file will still have to be located in your
Windows\System directory, but the setup won't try to reinstall it.
If WWPlus has been working fine, but suddenly will not load, the queue
file may have become corrupted. Try starting WWPlus from the command
line with a new queue selected (one that doesn't already exist).
Choose Run from the Program Manager file menu, and type
C:\WWPLUS\WWPLUS.EXE C:\WWPLUS\TEST1.QUE (if your wwplus directory has
a different name, use that instead, and if the test1.que exists, use a
different name). If the program starts, try changing the queue to the
one you were using before. If it crashes at that point, the best
solution is to delete that queue completely.
A related problem can occur if a file has become corrupted and the
Change Wallpaper at Startup preference is selected. If that is the
next file to be used, WWPlus may crash when trying to load a corrupt
wallpaper. The cure would be the same as shown above.
If you are using a display of more than 256 colors, and you have a
wallpaper loaded that is true color (16 million colors), if you then
change display drivers to a 256-color driver, Windows will hang during
its load. If this happens, you should run setup from the DOS prompt
within your Windows directory, change to a 16 color driver or a true
color driver, and reload Windows. Clear the wallpaper and then proceed
to change to the 256 color driver. You can also simply wait it out,
which could be many minutes. Windows will eventually usually load.
If you are using the Thumbnail option to look at all of your installed
files, and it does not appear to show them all in proper order, then
the thumbnail file has become corrupted. Simply choose the "Build new
display" option from the File menu on the thumbnail screen.
If you have an image that WWPlus will not display, it may be in a
format that cannot be used. There are some variations of .GIF and
.PCX that are known to make problems for WWPlus. There are many
non-standard versions of JPEG that will cause problems. If you can
load them into another image editing program you may be able to save
it in a usable format. It is possible for some corrupted JPEG files
to crash WWPlus completely, and WWPlus will sometimes crash with
grayscale JPEG files as well.
If WWPlus runs correctly, but will not read .GIF or .JPG files, you
may have a version of Image/Knife installed on your system that does
not support these formats. An example is the version of Knife that
comes with Borland's Visual Solution Pack. Since that file has a date
newer than the one supplied with WWPlus, the WWPlus SETUP program will
"respect" the newer version and not write over it. Solution: expand
the two files IMK.DL_ and KNIFE.VB_ that come with WWPlus to IMK.DLL
and KNIFE.VBX, and copy them to your WWPLUS directory. If you want to
use the development versions that remain in your Windows/System
directory you will need to exit WWPlus first.
WWPlus expects image file names to match their formats. If you have a
.BMP image but give it a .GIF name, the program will not be able to
read it.
Speed vs compression: Compressed files will take noticeably longer to
load than uncompressed (.BMP). .GIF files provide the greatest amount
of compression, and take the longest to change. .PCX files provide
moderate compression with faster change. During the change, there
will be a short few seconds when the computer will "hang" and you must
wait for the completion. If you are working on something critical,
you may wish to turn off the timer so that the wallpaper will not
change. Alternatively, Maximize the program that you are working on,
and the WWPlus timer will be suspended until the program is reduced to
less than full screen size.
Note for users of compressed disk programs (Stacker, DOS 6
DoubleSpace, etc): There is no space advantage to using compressed
file formats with compressed drives (other than JPEG - see the
FORMATS.TXT file). You will lose the speed without gaining space,
since your compression program cannot further compress a .GIF file.
Use .BMP in this case.
If you have chosen a wallpaper file with more colors than your display
can show there will be significant delay while the program changes the
color depth. If you intend to use the image regularly you should edit
the image to lower the color depth to match your display.
There is a small "memory leak" in the IMK.DLL module that occurs when
you set the auto resize option. Each wallpaper change that involves
resizing will use a few K of memory. This memory is fully recovered
when the program is exited and restarted. This is a known bug, and
the supplier of the module is working on fixing it.
VII. Uninstalling WWPlus
The following information is provided if you would like to remove
WWPlus from your computer.
If you have used WWPlus as a screen saver, the first thing to do is to
change your Windows screen saver to another program or to "None."
Open the Windows Control Panel in your Main Group, and open the
Desktop item. Look at the Screen Saver Name. If WWPlus is the screen
saver it will say "WWPSAVR." Use the drop-down selection to pick
another screen saver or (none). Close the dialog.
Most of the files used by WWPlus are located in your WWPlus
directory. This will be C:\WWPLUS unless you chose another directory
during installation. Delete this directory using File Manager. In
your Windows directory will be a file named WWPSAVR.SCR, which is the
screen saver startup. Delete it.
In your Windows\System directory, delete WWPLIBR.VBX. Three other
files are installed to this directory: CALL32.DLL, IMK.DLL and
KNIFE.VBX. These are files that may possibly be used by other
programs. If you delete them, make backup copies first so that they
can be reinstalled if another program complains about their absence.
Make a backup copy of the file CONTROL.INI in your Windows directory.
Open CONTROL.INI in NOTEPAD or another text-only editor. Look for a
section called [ScreenSaver.WWPSaver], which contains the global
variables for WWPlus. Delete the entire section and save the file.
Delete your WWPlus program group. If WWPlus is set to start when you
run Windows, open the Startup Group and delete the WWPlus icon. Make
sure that you have selected "Save Settings on Exit" in the Options
menu, and close Windows. WWPlus is now removed.
VIII. Obtaining wallpaper images.
Any image that can be displayed on your computer may be used as
wallpaper. If you regularly use Computer BBS systems or online
sources such as Compuserve, Genie, America Online, or the internet,
you will find a wealth of images that can be downloaded. These images
are usually in the .GIF or .JPG formats to reduce download time.
If you obtained this program on disk, there may be images included,
usually in an \images directory. A RIGHTS.TXT file may be included in
this directory describing the user's rights to the images included.
The author is maintaining a small collection of his scans of his own
photos and those of users where permission has been granted. It is
available by FTP from redshift.com/arcatpet/wwplus/images Files are in
.JPG format. Thumbnails are available at the website
http://www.redshift.com/~arcatpet
You may use Windows Paintbrush to create images, or other similar
programs.
By far the greatest enjoyment of WWPlus will come if you can use
photographs that you own or have taken. If you do not have access to
a scanner, there are a number of services which offer scanning,
including one run by the author of WWPlus. For details, including a
free scan offer for registrants of the program, see the file
"SCANNING.WRI."
IX. Getting future Upgrades.
When you register WWPlus with the author, you will receive a copy of
the latest version and a registration key that removes the startup
screen. That key file will work with future versions of the program,
so no upgrade fee will be required.
Current versions of WWPlus can always be found on Compuserve in
several forums, including WINAV, GRAPHSUP, PHOTOFORUM and EDRIVE.
Current versions are also posted to America OnLine. Use the keyword
"Windows" and search the software library for "WWPlus." At this
writing the program is found in Top Picks.
The author maintains a current copy available for internet FTP.
ftp://redshift.com/arcatpet/wwplus/wwpxxx.zip where xxx is the version
number. If you find this address to be inaccurate in the future,
E-Mail the author dbirdman@redshift.com or dbirdman@aol.com for a
current address. There is also a jump available from
http://www.redshift.com/~arcatpet
Current versions are also uploaded to two internet archival sites,
CICA and SimTel. Addresses respectively are
ftp://ftp.cica.indiana.edu/pub/pc/win3/desktop and
ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/win3/desktop. These two sites have many
mirror sites worldwide as well.
Registered users who do not have online access may get a disk copy
from the author for a fee of $5 ($7 non-US). Send a short note
indicating your registered status and requesting the latest copy.
Please use the same name under which you are registered.
X. Registration and Distribution.
WWPlus is shareware. Free use is extended to any user for a
reasonable evaluation period; typical idea of "reasonable" is 30
days. If use is continued, the program should be registered with the
author. Registration fee is $20. California registrants please add
$1.45 sales tax, and foreign registrants should include $1.00 for
airmail shipping. All funds should be drawn on a US Dollar account. A
convenient form for registration is included below and in the Help
file (and may be printed from there). Until you register, there will
be a startup screen asking you to register which you will have to
respond to. When you register, this annoyance will go away.
Otherwise, this version is complete and un-crippled in any way.
As a registration incentive, the author will provide on request two
free scanned images from your original prints or slides, when sent
with the registration. See the file "SCANNING.WRI" for details.
Commercial use: WWPlus may be used commercially, as long as there is
a registered copy for each computer/terminal that is using it. The
author is willing to discuss customization of the program for
commercial/large scale application, including use as presentation
software.
You may freely distribute WWPlus as long as no fees are charged for
the program, and all necessary files are included. If you are a
registered user, do not distribute the file WWP_REG.KEY, which
identifies you as the user (This identification shows up in the
"About" box).
WWPlus version 2.0
Registration Form
Thank you for registering. There are several registration methods
available:
With a credit card you may order by FAX: (707) 822-6570
or Phone: (707) 822-6350 10-6 PST, ask for Don.
By mail, with check, credit card, or money order in US Dollars
To: Don Bradner
Arcata Pet
600 F Street
Arcata, CA 95521-6301
Compuserve members may register on-line: GO SWREG, program
registration number is 2213.
Registration price is US$20.00, including postage within the US.
Number of registrations desired_______x 20.00 = $____________
California residents add $1.45/registration sales tax________
Non-US add $1.00 per registration for air mail ____________
Total $____________
Software will be sent on 1.44 meg 3-1/2 inch disk.
Registrants Name: __________________________________________
Mailing Address: __________________________________________
City/State/Zip/Country:_________________________________________
Phone number ( )________________E-Mail, if any______________
If paying with a credit card:
Card type: _VISA _MasterCard _AMEX _Discover
Card Number: _______________________________Exp Date: _________
Signature to authorize charge: _______________________________
(Optional) Where did you get WWPlus 2.0?
__BBS or on-line service Which one?___________________________
__Software/Shareware service Which one?________________________
__Shareware CD-ROM Which one?_________________________________
__Internet What Site?_______________________________________
__Friend
__Other ____________________________________
The author would be happy to hear your comments about WWPlus,
or your ideas for changes or improvements; thanks for registering.