You should have uncompressed the files into a temporary directory and
simply run the setup program. The program will then be installed and
essentially consists of the main program (moodring.exe) and the
document (moodring.rtf). The docuemnt is presented here is standard
text form.
MoodRing version 1.1 February 1997. This program is freeware.
By Patrick Dugan (patrickd@usti.com)
New Items since V1.0:
1. Added a tray icon of the ring so you can place the ring in the system tray instead of the desktop.
2. Added parameter AUTO so program can be started immediately in startup menu.
3. Added delay parameter in program so you can set how often program checks for input.
4. Desktop ring now remembers where you left it so next time the program starts the ring will appear where you last closed it.
About MoodRing
This program created using Delphi 2.0. The program inspired by a similar program written for Windows 3.11 some time ago. I wanted to carry the same idea over to Win95 and hopefully design a "cute" 32 bit program. MoodRing is simply designed to gather information from mouse and/or keyboard input to the computer from the user. The color changes that occur will be somewhat slow so if the user is not inputting anything the ring will "cool down" and after several minutes will eventually drop to black. The color changes are: Black to brown to green to turquoise to blue. The accuracy of the color changes corresponding to your moods in highly questionable. Normally a mood ring depends on your body temperature to alter crystals into certain colours . The colours indicate the finger's temperature and (in theory) your mood. (The color black being a bad mood or very stressed, green is fair and deep blue being great mood and no stress.) The computer does not have any temperature probes so I can rely only on the sparse input available through mouse. By monitoring the input I can determine the speed and consistency of your interaction. I simply use input activity as the deciding factor of altering the color. I am still looking into adding keyboard input but have not successfully created the code to do so. I will release a new version when I figure it out.
Using MoodRing
When you first start the program you have four choices. First when you click the left mouse button in the window the ring will appear and the main window disappears. The ring can be moved about by dragging with the mouse. The window can be brought back into view by double-clicking the ring. The second button is the ? button that displays the text file you are reading now. The file is in RTF (rich Text Format) and can be printed by any Win95 word processor that supports the RTF format. The last selection occurs when right clicking the main window. A small window will appear allowing you to choose the ring style (Gold or Silver) and the Input (Random or Mouse). The Random Mode simply uses random numbers to decide how to adjust the color and the Mouse looks for mouse activity. Next the Location determines whether the ring will appear on the desktop or in the system tray. The last item is the Millisecond delay value. This value determines how often the program looks at the input to change color. By default it looks 20 times a second or 50 milliseconds. You can increase the value to lower the program's usage of your CPU time. The lowest value is 50 (default - 20 times a second) up to 60000 (once a minute) Finally you can click the button in the upper right hand corner of the main window that closes the program completely.
Once the ring is started the main window will disappear and simply leave the ring on the screen or in the system tray. Over time it will change color according to the activity it perceives on the computer. You can right-click the mouse to cause it to run through a full color change from cold-hot-cold and that can be "frozen" by clicking the left mouse button. This approach can be used to "warm up" the ring early. If you right click on the tray version it will immediately change to a medium green.
A parameter can be passed to the program to cause it to start up immediately in ring mode and bypass the menu totally. The program could then be placed in your start up folder and started automatically each time. The parameter is AUTO and can be set by using the properties for the program and at the end of the target name you can add a space and the parameter AUTO. If you are not sure how to add parameters to programs please consult your Windows 95 help guides.
Obviously the program could use some improvement especially in determining the input and using some algorithm to actually decide the "mood" of the user. I welcome any input and I will gladly incorporate any suggestions that prove accurate. (Speed is NOT such a factor it can depend on the experience not just mood of the user.) I am considering using a table and keeping track of the user's input and monitoring any change but it might require the program to "learn" the behavior of the user before being somewhat usable. Also if anyone knows how to grab system wide keyboard activity please let me know (probably KeyboardProc for those technically minded). Anyway please send any suggestions to me through email.
The program was written purely for fun and to learn a little about programming in Delphi 2. I am willing to also explain any "tricks" to any Delphi programmers that wish to know how to set tray icons, animate tray icons, create odd-shaped forms, hiding forms on start up, etc. If you have any comments or suggestions you can contact me at patrickd@usti.com. I assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of this program. This program is offered "as is" and the user accepts full responsibly for its use.
