Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaMiscModsCD3.iso/_PROGRAMME/TOOLS/SamPull.lha/SamPull/SP.doc

Text File | 1993-07-10 | 11.6 KB | 279 lines

                            SamPull Version 2.0

                           ©1993 GVG Productions
                               Public Domain

                            Date:  July 7, 1993

                                 Release 1





Brief Description

SamPull is a utility which will allow you to manipulate and save the samples
of a music module, (just Noise/Sound/Protracker MOD format for now), to disk
in a quick and user-friendly graphic environment.  As an added bonus, SamPull
features sub-programs which will scan for MODs in memory or on any format of
disk.  This program is for use with WorkBench 2.0 and up.  This documentation
assumes mediocre knowledge of Amiga terminology and general usage, as well
as the ability to comprehend disjointed sentences.  If you find yourself
using this utility often, please read the last section of these instructions.



How to start SamPull'ing

SamPull may be initiated by its icon from WorkBench or from the command line.
Because it detaches and runs on its own process, SamPull will free your CLI
for further use, without need for the 'RUN' command.  Currently, no arguments
or tool types are parsed for use.  A short module has been included to get
you started.



The SamPull screen

After running SamPull you will be greeted with the main-screen.  This screen
will expand itself to fit perfectly within your current overscan preferences.
On the right side of the screen is situated a massive list, which, when a
MOD is loaded, will display the names of the samples present in the music.
It is here that you will arrange your samples to be saved.  To its left
is a vertical bar on which the buttons to do the arranging are located.
Directly under the logo are two fields which will display information on a
loaded module.  Three buttons which activate sub-windows are situated below
the info-fields.  And lastly, the bottom left of the screen is home to the
gadgets which are related to the sample saving procedure.


SamPull menus

Note that menu keyboard equivalents are located to the right of the menu name.
[A] is ASCII for the right Amiga key.

Load...  [A] 'L'
This menu item will summon a file requester, (either ASL or ReqTools depending
on which is selected in the preferences section), prompting for a MOD to load.
Selecting an invalid MOD or not having enough memory will bring up an error
window.  Please note that a contiguous memory chunk the size of the MOD must
be  available.  If one is not available, your memory is too low, (in which
case you should shut down other tasks), or your memory is too fragmented and
you should reboot.  If all goes well, a progress window will appear and the
MOD will be loaded.  To cancel the loading progress, select 'Cancel' on the
progress window.

Save Prefs  [A] 'W'
To have your current preferences saved to disk, select this menu item.  The
states of all checkboxes in the preferences section, as well as the 'Save
samples to' directory will be recorded in the file 'S:SamPull.prefs'.  If
the prefs could not be saved, an error window will appear.

About...  [A] 'A'
Selecting this will open a window revealing SamPull's version number,
compilation date, and other program information.

Quit  [A]'Q'
To quit the program and deallocate all the memory and resources it used,
(hopefully all!), select this item.



SamPull gadgets


Gadget keyboard equivalents are found to the right of each gadget name.
In SamPull, the key equivalent to a button is denoted by an underline.
Using a system called KOBAL, (Keyboard Oriented Button Activation Link),
found in all GVG Productions, the keyboard equivalent acts as though
you are actually pressing the button.  IE, as long as you hold down the
appropriate key, the assigned button will be highlighted(pressed).  To
cancel an operation while you are still holding the key down, simply press
another key before releasing the original and the operation the button
would normally carry out is canceled.  Every element of SamPull may be
accessed by use of only the keyboard or only the mouse!

Mod Name  - (No keyboard equivalent)
This field simply displays the name of the currently loaded module.

Mod Type  - (No keyboard equivalent)
This field displays the type of the currently loaded module.  Because
SamPull only recognizes Sound/Noise/ProTracker MODs at the moment,
this field is quite useless.

The List - (Up and down cursor keys)
This list located at the screen's right contains the names of the samples
in the MOD which have sample data.  All sample names without accompanying
sample data will be filtered out.  Samples with prefixes such as 'st-00:'
will have their prefixes removed.  The two previous sentences hold untrue
if the 'Show All Samples' preferences option is selected.  To select a
sample in the list to be affected by the operations such as Delete or
Rename, simply click on an entry.  The small blue pointer on the list
denotes the active sample.  If you are using the keyboard, this pointer
may be moved by using the up and down cursor keys.  If you wish to move
the pointer to the extreme top or extreme bottom, hold down the shift
key in addition to the cursor key.

Delete  - 'D'
Pressing this button will delete the selected sample in the list.  This
sample will not be saved when you 'Save All'.  It is permanently removed
from the list, and the only way to get it back is to reload the MOD.

Rename  - 'R'
If a particular sample does not have a name that is appropriate, select
this button and a window will be opened prompting you for a new name.
The original name will still be displayed in the string gadget in case
only small modification is desired, but to delete the whole name, press
'Ctrl-X'.  Renaming is useful as it is in the sample names that many
composers put their greetings or personal messages, instead of the
instruments' names.

Hear  - 'H'
To hear the sample played through a free audio channel, press this button.
SamPull will play the sound through to its end, but will still enable you
to work while it is playing.  If the program could not allocate an audio
channel, you will be notified with an error window.

Size  - (No keyboard equivalent)
This field will display the number of bytes these samples will take up
when saved to disk.  If you have the 'Save Samples in IFF Format' option
selected, a little more space will be used as IFF headers will be prepended
to all the samples.

Free  - (No keyboard equivalent)
Here is displayed the number of free bytes of the destination drive, (the
drive whose directory is shown in the 'Save samples to' field).

Save Samples To  - 'V'
This string gadget contains the name of the directory to which the samples
will be saved.

<Drawer with question mark in it>  - '?'
Located to the right of the 'Save Samples To' gadget, this button will
bring up a dir-requester which will determine the destination directory
as well.

Save All  - 'S'
If you have enough free space on the destination drive, this button will
bring up a progress indicator and begin saving the samples to disk.  If
a sample has an invalid name or could not be saved, an error window will
appear.  If the problem is with the name, select the 'Rename' button of
the error window, and give the sample a valid name.  To skip the saving
of that particular sample, press 'Skip'.  To abort the entire operation,
press 'Abort'.  If all goes well, you will find more new samples for your
collection!

<The Inviso-Screen shuffle gadget>  - <Right Amiga> 'M'
At the top right of the screen is an invisible button to move this
screen to the back.

Edit Preferences  - 'P'
This will summon a window which is home to gadgets for configuring the
program.  The checked states of these gadgets will be recorded when you
'Save Prefs'.

    Save Samples in IFF Format  - 'I'
    Checking this tells SamPull to save each sample as an IFF sound,
    rather than as raw data.  In the IFF header will be saved the
    samples' volume, rate, looping information, and more.

    Append .SND to Filename - 'A'
    SamPull will save all samples with the IBM'esque '.SND' file
    extension if you have selected this box.  This makes samples
    easier to recognize.

    Use ReqTools.Library - 'R'
    If you prefer the ReqTools file-requester over Commodore's ASL,
    check this option.  ReqTools.library must be present in your
    LIBS: directory or else you will be greeted with the beloved
    error window when you use an option requiring a file-requester.

    Show All Samples  - 'S'
    This option will prevent the filtering process from taking place.
    All sample names will be displayed, regardless if there is
    accompanying data.  No sample names will be altered to be made
    legal.  This option was provided in case you just want to read
    the commonly found messages in many MODs without interruption.

Scan Memory  - 'M'

Selecting this will bring up the 'Chip Memory Scan' window.  Oftentimes
after running demos or executable songs, the music data remains in memory
even after a reboot.  If this is so, and the data is in MOD format, SamPull
will find it!

    Begin Memory Scan  - 'B'
    A progress window will be opened and memory will start being searched.
    Status text above the progress graph displays how many kilobytes of
    memory have been searched out of how many your system has.  To abort
    the scan, select the 'Cancel' button on the progress window.

    Continue Memory Scan  - 'C'
    This will continue scanning from the memory location you left off.

    Save MOD to Disk  - 'S'
    If a music module is found, selecting this button will open a file
    requester allowing you to select the location and name of the MOD.
    As with most disk operations, a progress window will be opened,
    and the MOD will be saved.

If a module is found, SamPull will try to secure it.  If it cannot be
secured, you will not be able to quit this section without the MOD being
lost.  In order for the MOD to be secured, you must have fast memory, or
the absolute memory location of the MOD must be allocable.  If SamPull
cannot secure the MOD, you still have the option of saving it to disk.
If the sample list or module name is composed of corrupt or garbled
characters, or the 'Size' field has an exceedingly large number, it
is likely the module is corrupt or was recognized in error and should
not be saved.

Scan Diskette  - 'K'

This button will open a window similar in operation to the 'Chip Memory
Scan' window.  However, all functions will be applied to an 880K disk
rather than memory.



Disabled Functions

In this version of SamPull, disk scanning and 'Show All Samples' have
been disabled.


To Be Implemented

· Sample scanner (disk and memory)
· Mod Scanner (disk)
· List using font which can fit all possible 31 samples





Money Request

This is Greg Grove typing, (sole member of GVG Productions), and this
is my request.  If you use this program often, or have no use for it but
are feeling particularly generous, please send me $20.  This money would
go towards the purchase of a new Amiga for programming work as a problematic
A500 is proving to be just unbearable.  I am 17 years old and have put
quite a bit of work into this product, as well as a LOT of time, (compilation
is painfully slow), and would like to see something come out of it.  Sooo,
if you send $20, you will receive my utmost gratitude.  In addition, you
will promptly receive the newest version of SamPull and some MOD's.  I will
also send the source if requested.  Please send your money to the following
address, along with a note relating what you would like:


                Groovy G
                PO Box 4361
                Sunriver, OR 97707-1361


Any bug reports, suggestions, comments, or chat should be sent to the above
addy as well...  Thanks for checking out this product!

GVG