Thank you for downloading and trying DP Autochanger.
DP Autochanger is a shareware product that changes your desktop picture automatically. You set the time between changes. The new picture is chosen at random from a folder you choose. DP Autochanger keeps track of which pictures have been shown so that all the pictures in your folder are shown, unlike many randomizers.
DP Autochanger requires Mac OS 8 or later.
Please share this with others. I would appreciate it if you would pass on the complete package. The easiest way to make sure of that is to give the stuffed package, or the folder you get when you unstuff the package. Please don’t pass on your preferences file, as that may cause confusion.
If you would like to see graphics of the dialogs discussed here, please refer to the HTML docs. To read them, open either the “Start Here for Netscape” or the “Start Here for MSIE”, depending on the browser you prefer.
What’s new in DP Autochanger 1.4
• Gets and displays pictures from webcams under 8.6
• Displays pictures kept in enclosed folders
• Changes made in DP Editor appear immediately
• Runs better on Non-US systems
Caveats
Opening and quitting the Appearance Control Panel too many times under 8.5 or 8.6 will cause strange effects and may lead to a crash. This appears to be a flaw in the Appearance Control Panel. It is best to let DP Autochanger leave the Control Panel open.
Under 8.6, DP Autochanger can download pictures from the network. If you do not have a persistent connection to the ’net, that is, if you have to dial up to get to the Internet, I don’t recommend that you use this feature. If you do, you will either be connected to the net and stay connected until you explicitly disconnect (if you have your PPP Set up to connect when TCP/IP applications start up), or DP Autochanger will not display a new picture (if your PPP Set up does not connect automatically).
If you do choose to download pictures from the net, make sure that you have chosen a URL that points to a picture. The Appearance Control Panel tries awfully hard to display just about anything, and if you give it a non-picture file that QuickTime can handle, it will slow down everything it order to try to display it. This can also happen with an incomplete download, which, given the nature of the net, can happen from time to time.
If you find your system dropping to a crawl when using DP Autochanger in this way, bring Appearance to the front and click on the “Remove Picture” button. You must also click the “Set Desktop” button. This will speed your machine back up. You can then hide Appearance again. If it happens again at the next iteration, follow the same steps, and use DP Editor to change the URL to another one, or go back to using local pictures.
Installation
If you are installing DP Autochanger for the first time, you can place the folder anywhere you like. I recommend the Utilities folder. If you are upgrading DP Autochanger, and you have DP Autochanger starting when you start the computer, you should replace the contents of your old DP Autochanger folder with the contents of the new folder.
In any case, you need to keep at least DP Autochanger, DP Editor and URLs.txt in the same folder (the latter only if you are going to use the new webcam feature of DP Autochanger).
Upgrading
If you are upgrading from DP Autochanger 1.3, you will be asked a few questions. When you first start the new version of DP Autochanger, there will be a pause as it reads the preferences. Next it will display a dialog to ask you about one of the new features.
If you want to keep your pictures in separate folders and still have DP Autochanger display them all, this feature will let you do that. Just put your pictures in folders in the same folder. If you are running 8.5 or later, the Desktop Pictures folder in the Appearance folder in the System folder is a good place to place all your subfolders. If you select “Yes”, DP Autochanger will search all nested folders for pictures.
If you are running Mac OS 8.6, you will be prompted for the other major new feature. With DP Autochanger 1.4 and Mac OS 8.6 you can actually download any picture URL from the web on a timed basis. This doesn’t make a lot of sense for most pictures, but if there is a URL that points at a picture that changes, it can be interesting. As the dialog implies, this is usually a webcam, that is, a camera that feeds a live image to a web page. It is not limited to that. Other examples are traffic and weather conditions.
If you click “No” for this dialog, then DP Autochanger will begin normal operations. If you click “Yes”, you will see a dialog that allows you to choose a URL from a list.
If you have more than one monitor, and you had configured DP Autochanger to display a different picture on each monitor, this list will be displayed for each monitor.
You are not limited to items from this list. You can either extend this list, or you can enter your own choice. If you want to extend the list, you can edit the “URLs.txt” file, which should be kept in the same folder as DP Autochanger and DP Editor. You can add items by adding new lines in the form “Description•URL”. (The “•” is made by typing Option-8).
If you select the first item, you will get a dialog that allows you to enter a URL. After you enter a valid URL for a picture, DP Autochanger will begin operations.
Using DP Autochanger
It’s not hard to use DP Autochanger. The first time you run DP Autochanger, you will be asked to find the folder that contains the pictures you would like to use. Just use the standard file dialog to navigate to the folder you would like to use, and click on the choose button at the bottom.
Next, DP Autochanger will ask you how you want to deal with the contents of any folders in the chosen pictures folder. If you want to keep your pictures in separate folders and still have DP Autochanger display them all, this feature will let you do that. Just put your pictures in folders in the same folder. If you are running 8.5 or later, the Desktop Pictures folder in the Appearance folder in the System folder is a good place to place all
your subfolders. If you select “Yes” in the above dialog, DP Autochanger will search all nested folders for pictures.
You will then be asked for the interval, in minutes, that you would like to pass before the picture is changed. Type in the minutes (in numerals), and click the “OK” button. You can enter a number less than one.
Next you will be asked to select the alignment you would like to use. If you are running a System prior to 8.5, you will see the following choices: you can choose to have Desktop Pictures do it automatically, to have the pictures tiled on your screen, or you can choose one of three other options: Center, Scale or Fill. With Mac OS 8.5 and later, you will be able to make your alignment selection from one dialog.
Once you choose an alignment, the same one will be used for all pictures in the folder. All of these preferences will be saved for you, so you will not be asked the next time that you run DP Autochanger. You can change them using the DP Autochanger Editor.
You have the option to have DP Autochanger change the desktop picture as soon as it starts running, or you can have it wait until the first iteration.
You can choose to have DP Autochanger leave the Control Panel open at all times. Under Mac OS 8 and 8.1, this is an option that allows the pictures to change more quickly, so you will see a dialog offering you this choice.
Under 8.5 and 8.6, not leaving the Appearance Control Panel open can lead to a crash (see the caveat above), so a dialog discussing this is shown.
I strongly recommend that you take the default, and leave the Appearance Control Panel open.
If you are running under 8.5 or 8.6, and you have more than one monitor, you can choose to display a different picture on each monitor. DP Autochanger will check to see if you have more than one monitor, and if you do, you will see a dialog. If you select “Yes”, DP Autochanger will select a different picture of each monitor. If you select “No”, the same picture will be displayed on every monitor.
If you are running Mac OS 8.6, you will be asked if you want to download pictures from the web. With DP Autochanger 1.4 and Mac OS 8.6 you can actually download any picture URL from the web on a timed basis. This doesn’t make a lot of sense for most pictures, but if there is a URL that points at a picture that changes, it can be interesting. As the dialog implies, this is usually a webcam, that is, a camera that feeds a live image to a web page. It is not limited to that. Other examples are traffic and weather conditions.
If you click “No” for this dialog, then DP Autochanger will begin normal operations. If you click “Yes”, you will see a dialog that allows you to choose a URL from a list.
If you have more than one monitor, and you had configured DP Autochanger to display a different picture on each monitor, this list will be displayed for each monitor. You are not limited to items from this list. You can either extend this list, or you can enter your own choice. If you want to extend the list, you can edit the “URLs.txt” file, which should be kept in the same folder as DP Autochanger and DP Editor. You can add items by adding new lines in the form “Description•URL”. (The “•” is made by typing Option-8). If you select the first item, you will get a dialog that allows you to enter a URL.
You will be asked to decide whether you want DP Autochanger to start each time you start your computer.
If you select “Yes”, an alias to DP Autochanger will be created in your startup items folder, and you will not be asked again. If you select “No” you will be asked this question each time you run DP Autochanger. If you choose “Don’t Ask Again”, the alias will not be made, and you will not be asked. If you change your mind later, and decide that you do want to have DP Autochanger start automatically, you can reset this in DP Editor.
The first time you start the program, you will a message stating that DP Autochanger is shareware. DP Autochanger will not bother you again for 30 days, and then a request for the registration key will appear each time you start DP Autochanger. See below for registration information.
Drag & Drop Operation
DP Autochanger will accept files and folders dropped on it. You can drop whether DP Autochanger is running or not. If you drop a picture file on DP Autochanger, it will immediately display the picture as the desktop picture. At the next interval, a picture from the currently selected folder will replace it. If you drop a non-picture file on DP Autochanger, it will advise you that it cannot display that file.
If you drop a folder on DP Autochanger, you will then be asked for the interval, in minutes, that you would like to pass before the picture is changed. Type in the minutes (in numerals), and click the “OK” button. You can enter a number less than one.
Next you will be asked to select the alignment you would like to use. If you are running a System prior to 8.5, you will see several dialogs to set the alignment. You can choose to have Desktop Pictures do it automatically, to have the pictures tiled on your screen, or you can choose one of three other options: Center, Scale or Fill. With Mac OS 8.5 and later, you will be able to make your alignment selection from one dialog.
Once you choose an alignment, the same one will be used for all pictures in the folder. All of these preferences will be saved for you, so you will not be asked the next time that you run DP Autochanger. You can change them using the DP Editor.
If DP Autochanger was not running, you will be asked about leaving the control panel open.
If you are running under 8.5 or later, and you have more than one monitor, you can choose to display a different picture on each monitor. DP Autochanger will check to see if you have more than one monitor, and if you do, you will see the dialog. If you select “Yes”, DP Autochanger will select a different picture of each monitor.If you select “No”, the same picture will be displayed on each monitor.
If DP Autochanger is running, it will wait until the previous interval has passed before making your folder drop changes.
Changing Your Preferences
Use the DP Editor to change your preferences. The Editor has a different interface under System 8.5 and later.
DP Editor under 8 and 8.1
When you run the editor, you will first be asked about your choice regarding the open state of the control panel.
Next, you can choose a different startup option. The current option will be the default.
You can also choose whether or not you want DP Autochanger to look into folders enclosed by the desktop pictures folder for pictures. If you want to keep your pictures in separate folders and still have DP Autochanger display them all, this feature will let you do that. Just put your pictures in
folders in the same folder. If you are running 8.5 or later, the Desktop Pictures folder in the Appearance folder in the System folder is a good place to place all your subfolders. If you select “Yes” in the above dialog, DP Autochanger will search all nested folders for pictures.
Next,you will see the display of your preferences. Here you can choose to use the current preferences, change one of the three displayed preferences, or change one of the undisplayed preferences, which are registration and automatic launch. If you have registered, and if you did not choose “Don’t Ask Again” when asked about launching every time you start your computer, the “Change Other” option will not be presented.
Selecting “Change Other” will lead to one or two other questions, depending on your situation. If you have not yet entered your registration key (see below), you will be asked for it.
When you register and enter the correct key, DP Autochanger will not bother you nor will you be asked in the Editor.
If you chose not to have DP Autochanger automatically launch, and you chose “Don’t Ask Again”, you will have an opportunity to change that. If you would like the opportunity to have DP Autochanger ask you about starting automatically, click on “Please ask”.
When you have answered the questions that appear you will be returned to the opening dialog for the Editor. If you choose “Change”, you will see the next dialog, which asks you to choose the Folder Location, the Interval or the Alignment.
You can choose one of the three items to change. They each lead to the same questions which you answered when you first started DP Autochanger (see above). No matter which you choose, when you are done making your change, you will return to the opening, and be allowed to change something else.
When you choose “Use These”, you will end your editing session. The preferences will be written out. If DP Autochanger is running, you will see a dialog. As soon as you click “OK”, the changes will take place in DP Autochanger, and the desktop picture will most likely change. If DP Autochanger is not running, you will see a different dialog, and you will need to run DP Autochanger to see the changes.
DP Editor under 8.5 and later
DP Editor under 8.5 and later has a quite different user interface. All of the preferences are displayed and can be selected to change from the same dialog. When you start DP Editor you will see a list dialog.
All of the preferences and their settings are displayed. You can choose to change a preference by clicking on it and clicking on “OK”. (You can also double click on the item.) Another dialog will appear to let you change that parameter, with the exception of “Quit”, which will of course quit the editor (Under 8.6, you will most likely need to scroll down the list to be able to find the “Quit” option). At that point, the preferences will be written out.
If DP Autochanger is running, you will see a dialog. As soon as you click “OK”, the changes will take place in DP Autochanger, and the desktop picture will most likely change. If DP Autochanger is not running, you will see a different dialog, and you will need to run DP Autochanger to see the changes.
DP Autochanger Hints and Tips
DP Autochanger uses the Desktop Pictures Control Panel under 8 and 8.1, and the Appearance Control panel under 8.5 and later to display the pictures.
Some pictures may not fill the screen. This will particularly be the case if you have chosen center alignment. In this case, the selected desktop pattern will be displayed in those areas of the screen where the picture is not. You might want to choose a neutral pattern in case of this.
Apple’s Desktop Pictures (and Appearance) Control Panel uses QuickTime to translate the picture formats. QuickTime 2.5 can read the following formats:
GIF
JFIF/JPEG
MacPaint
Photoshop
QuickDraw Picture (PICT)
QuickTime 3.0 supports a wide range of industry-standard digital media file formats, including the following still image formats:
BMP (Windows Bitmap)
GIF
JFIF/JPEG
MacPaint
Photoshop
PNG
QuickDraw Picture (PICT)
QuickDraw GX Picture
QuickTime Image File
Silicon Graphics Image File
Targa Image File
TIFF
QuickTime 4.0 supports even more file formats, including these still image formats:
BMP
FlashPix
GIF
JPEG/JFIF
MacPaint
Photoshop
PICT
Pictures
PNG
QuickTime Image File
SGI
Targa
TIFF
Paying for DP Autochanger
DP Autochanger has the following pricing. Single user licenses, $5 per user. A Site License costs $250 (equal to 50 users) and covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius of your site (100 miles). One big advantage of a Site License is that you do not need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software. A World-Wide License costs $1000 and it covers all locations for your organization on the planet earth.
Paying for DP Autochanger is fairly simple. You can either the Register program that you downloaded with the program, or you can register online at http://order.kagi.com/?DC .
If you choose not to register online, open the Register program that accompanies DP Autochanger. Enter your name, your email address, and the number of single user licenses you desire for each program you wish to purchase (or Site or Word-Wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi. Kagi handles my payment processing.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi. Their email address is sales@kagi.com, and their fax number is 1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an email message, or you can Save the data to a file and attach that file to an email message. There is no need to compress the data file; it’s already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days, and if you provide a correct Internet email address you will receive an email acknowledgement.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-DC
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries, but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies. (The conversion rate for non-USD checks is around USD 15 per check and that is just not practical.) If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable department. They must include a copy of the form with the payment. Kagi can not invoice your company, so you need to generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi when the form is processed.
If you do not have an email address, please enter your complete postal address. Please remember we do not know what country you live in, so please enter that into the postal address also. If you do not have an email address, you should consider selecting the Postcard Receipt so that Kagi can inform you of your registration key. Kagi transmits the registration keys via email and paid postcard receipt only.
As noted above, after 30 days DP Autochanger will remind you about paying the shareware on each startup until you enter the registration key. When you pay, Kagi will send you the key. You can either enter the key in DP Autochanger when it asks, or you can run the Editor and enter it there.
Credits and Acknowledgements
“Cancun Sunset”, the picture on the right of the DP Autochanger icon, is Copyright 1997 Laura Garnel. It is used with permission. “Midsummer Night”, the picture on the left of the DP Autochanger icon, is Copyright 1997 Eric Joustra.
Thanks to Keith Carlile, John Carlile, Ken Carlile, and Mike Weasner for testing and suggestions. They are my father, brother, son, and friend respectively.
