146 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
146 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
LongPlay v2.0.1
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Copyright 1991
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by
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David Huang
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=================
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What is LongPlay?
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=================
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LongPlay is a program that plays digitized sound files. However,
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what makes this program different from the rest is its ability to play
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sound files of any size, even if they are larger than available RAM.
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===================
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How to use LongPlay
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===================
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LongPlay can be run from any GS/OS program launcher (Note:
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LongPlay requires System Software 5.0.2 or later). When the LongPlay
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icons are installed, it can also be run by double clicking on a .SND
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file from the Finder.
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After LongPlay has been launched, you will be presented with three
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menus: Apple, File, and Edit.
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The Apple menu contains "About LongPlay" and any New Desk
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Accessories you may have installed. "About LongPlay" gives general
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information on LongPlay.
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The File menu contains the items Open..., Close, Edit file
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attributes, Compress sound file..., Expand sound file..., and Quit.
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Open allows you to select a sound file to play. Normally, it will only
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show files with type BIN, but if you hold down the Option key while
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selecting it, all files will be available for selection. In addition
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to the list of files, there are two radio buttons and a editline type
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box. If the radio button labelled "Use default" is selected, the sound
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will be played at the speed stored in the auxtype of the file if it is
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a raw binary file. If the file is in the Applied Engineering sound
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format, the sound will be played at the speed stored in the file.
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However, if "Enter own speed" is selected, the sound will be played at
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the speed that is typed into the editline box. If the file is a Sonic
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Blaster stereo file, you will be asked which channel you want to play.
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After a file has been selected, the sound will be played. To stop the
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sound before it is finished playing, hold down the Open-Apple key and
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press "." (period). Since the sound is loaded from the disk while it
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is being played, you should not remove the disk from the drive. Also,
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the sound will not be played properly if the sound is being played
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faster than the drive can read it. The same problem will occur if the
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file contains any $00 bytes (normally, a GS sound file shouldn't have
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$00s in it).
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The Close item in the File menu is used only to close any NDA
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windows that may be open.
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The Edit file attributes item can be used to change the filetype,
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auxtype, or access bits of any file. Normally, invisible files will
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not be displayed, but they can be displayed by holding down the Option
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key while selecting the menu item. After a file has been selected, you
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are allowed to enter a new filetype or auxtype, or toggle the access
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bits. Filetypes may be entered by their three letter mnemonic or as a
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"$" followed by a two digit hexadecimal filetype. Auxtypes must be
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entered in hexadecimal. Clicking in the check boxes will toggle the
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access bit. However, the "Needs Backup" bit cannot be changed with
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this program, clicking on it will not change its state. Clicking the
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"OK" button will save the changes to the disk. Clicking "Cancel" will
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cancel the operation and the file will not be modified.
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Compress sound file allows you to compress a sound file so it
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takes less disk space. Note that LongPlay can't play compressed sound
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files, they must be expanded first. After selecting the compress menu
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item, you well be presented with a dialog box asking what format you
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want to store the compressed file as. Selecting the "Same as original"
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button will cause LongPlay to store the compressed file in the format
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equivalent to the original file. I.e. if the file was originally a raw
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binary file, it would be stored as a type $CD ACE file. If the file
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was orignally an AE file, it would be stored as a compressed AE file.
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The other two buttons are more or less self-explanatory. Another set
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of buttons let you select the compression ratio. 8:4 compresses a file
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to half its original size, while 8:3 compresses a file to 3/8ths its
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original size. The drawback to the higher compression ratio is that
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files usually come out with a little more static than with the 8:4
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compression. After clicking OK, pick the file you want to compress,
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then type in the name that you wish to store the compressed file as.
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LongPlay will then proceed to compress the file. If it can't find the
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correct volume, it will prompt you to insert the disk. At this point,
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you may either cancel the operation or insert the disk and continue.
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However, for some strange reason, clicking Cancel once usually doesn't
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work. Be persistent... click Cancel again and the box should go away.
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The Expand sound file item lets you expand a compressed sound file
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so it can be played by LongPlay. Again, you will be presented with a
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dialog box asking in which format you want to store the expanded file.
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Again, "Same as original" stores the expanded file in the original's
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equivalent. A $CD ACE file will be converted to a raw binary file,
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while a compressed AE file will be expanded into an uncompressed AE
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file. After clicking OK, select the file you want to expand and type
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the name that you want to store the expanded file as. After this,
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things are about the same as the compress sound file option.
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Of course, selecting the Quit item exits the program.
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The items in the Edit menu are not used by LongPlay. They are
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provided so they may be used by NDAs.
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Note about the icon file: you need to use an icon editor to set the
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pathname of LongPlay for double clicking on a .Snd file to work.
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This program is ShareWare. Please distribute it as widely as possible.
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Although this program is publicly distributable, the author retains
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all copyrights to it.
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If you like it, please send $5 to:
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Dave Huang
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3501 Lake Austin Blvd., Lot #64
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Austin, TX 78703
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If you have any questions, comments, or bug reports, please send them
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via electronic mail to one of these addresses:
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America Online: DrWho29
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Internet: daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
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UUCP: ...!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!daveh
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Special thanks to Drew Benson and Andy Kress for beta testing and info
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on Applied Engineering format files. Cool LongPlay icons by Andy Kress.
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Pitiful LongPlay small icons by me :-)
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================
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Revision History
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================
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Version 2.0.1 (20 Mar 91)
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Made "Needs Backup" checkbox dimmed.
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Version 2.0 (19 Mar 91)
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Added support for Sonic Blaster files, ACE compression and expansion, option
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to enter the playback speed, and the Edit file attributes item. Also included
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icon file and support for double clicking on a sound file.
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Version 1.0 (5 Feb 91??)
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Initial release.
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