$VER: PSMP 1.00 (Tue 21-Jan-97)
News
----
This is meant to be something like a "final version".
I've been persuaded to add a mini-GUI to the program. And, in the previous
versions one could incidentally hold up the sample loader by dragging some
window (and thus delaying the graphical output) - this is fixed now.
Future
------
Undoubted there are lots of things the program could have (only think of
all these "CD-player features") but I never wanted PSMP to be *the* player
to fulfill *all* needs. Why should I try to re-invent the wheel? I mean,
there are some sound players that are really big, so wouldn't it make more
sense to write a Delitracker-player-modul with PSMP's features for all those
people who want the most comfortable GUI? But since I won't do this (because
I simply don't need it:) somebody else would have to do it.
PSMP will not grow any further, however, if there are any bugs to be fixed
I'm going to do it, of course.
Introduction
------------
After I bought a large hard disk a few months ago I thought that I would
need something to fill it so I sampled some CDs borrowed from friends.
And, as I'm a hobby programmer, I also had to code my own player program
which was very small and simple and not to be released to the pulic. But
when I found a program called 'wavepak' which compresses samples using the
4Bit-Delta algorithm (Fibonacci coding) and also introduces the new
Exponential coding, I implemented some code in my player to support these
compressed samples. And, while we are talking about compression, I thought
it could be nice to play XPK-compressed files because these special
8Bit-sample packers (SQSH, CRMS) achieve quite good compression ratios
without the quality loss of 4Bit-Delta.
After the first release of PSMP on Aminet several people have sent me letters
giving me suggestions for new features (hi Lamar!). Most of the requested
things appeared quite useful to me so I implemented them (Workbench startup,
stereo sample support, LOADALL). And after all the program is still quite
small in size, even with the new progress indicator and the gadgets.
Features
--------
-plays large samples (>64K) while loading (unless forced to LOADALL)
-supports compression (type 1: Fibonacci Delta, type 2: Exponential Delta,
the latter one was introduced by Wilhelm Noeker in his program 'wavepak')
-files may be compressed with XPK (they are loaded and decompressed
partially using xpkmaster.library's function XpkRead())
-no MUI (yes, it's one of the main features!)
-source code included (also contains the program's history)
Requirements
------------
PSMP should work on all Amigas equipped with OS V37+.
Usage
-----
PSMP can be started from shell with these options:
FILE................file name of an IFF-8SVX sample,
if omitted a reqtools filerequester appears
P=PLAYBACKRATE/K/N..set sampling rate for playing (in Hz=1/sec),
overrides the value stored in the file
F=FILTER/S..........enable hardware-lowpass-filter
R=REPEAT/S..........restart sample after EOF (loop forever)
I=INFO/S............don't play, just print some information about the file
L=LOADALL/S.........the complete file is loaded to memory before playing,
useful when playing samples from floppy disk
NP=NOPROGRESS/S.....don't open progress indicator window
NI=NOINFO/S.........don't output anything to shell or CON: window
PS=PUBSCREEN/K......name of the public screen on which the progress indicator
will open (note that the name is case-sensitive!)
It is also possible to start PSMP from Workbench, either directly via its
own icon or via the 'Default Tool'-field of a sample's icon.
All shell options (except FILE of course) can also be used as tooltypes.
While PSMP is running it can be controlled via these break signals:
Ctrl-F...toggle hardware-lowpass-filter on/off
Ctrl-E...repeat mode off (exit when the sample's end is reached next time)
Ctrl-D...repeat mode on
Ctrl-C...exit immediately
The progress indicator is updated when PSMP needs to load the next 32KB-part
of the sample, so the update time depends on the sampling rate. (sorry, but
updating exactly each second would require much more effort and I think
it's not really necessary, is it?)
Author
------
PSMP is Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 by Michael Henke. It is released as FREEWARE,
which means it may be distributed and used for free, but no profit may be
made with it (neither by selling the program nor by using it commercially).
The program and the information within this text are provided 'AS-IS'.
The entire risk as to its quality and performance is with the user.
In no event will the author be liable for direct, indirect, incidental or
consequential damages resulting from any defect in the program.
Michael Henke (Smack/Infect)
Praetoriusstr. 1/205
06124 Halle
Germany
EMail: epgbd@cluster.urz.uni-halle.de
Don't eat the bad fish :-)
Infect rulez.
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