****************************************************************************
* IF YOU STILL REQUIRE OS2.x SUPPORT, V1.1 IS AVAILABLE FROM OUR WWW SITE! *
****************************************************************************
Why was it written?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because the screen blanker we were using would eat up too much CPU time when
we were trying to burn CDRs thus ruining them, and we kept forgetting to
disable it beforehand, so we thought we would get our Amiga to do it for us.
How do I run AntiBlanker from Workbench?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just double click on the AntiBlanker icon. In order to tell AntiBlanker
what tasks to look out for you must setup it's tool types as follows:
DELAY=<the delay between checks (in 1/50ths of a second)>
BLANKCODE=<the blank key code, see below>
BLANKQUALIFIER=<the blank qualifier, see below>
TASK=<the task name you would like to disable your screen blanker for>
e.g.:
DELAY=6000
BLANKCODE=0x0062
BLANKQUALIFIER=0x0004
TASK=MakeCD
TASK=PalomaTV
The above would disable your screen blanker when ever MakeCD or PalomaTV are
running, and it will check to see if they are running every 2 minutes
(6000/50/60 = 2 minutes), but
How do I run AntiBlanker from the CLI?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Type the following at a CLI prompt:
<Path>AntiBlanker <Config #1> <Config #2> ... <Config #n>
Where <Config #n> are any number of configuration files, AntiBlanker will
automatically append them all together. The format of the configuration
files are as follows:
Line1 the delay between check (in 1/50ths of a second)
same as DELAY tooltype
Line2 the blank key code (see below)
same as BLANKCODE tooltype
Line3 the blank qualifier (see below)
same as BLANKQUALIFIER tooltype
Line4 .. x the task name you would like to disable your screen blanker for
same as TASK tooltype
nb. when using multiple configuration files, AntiBlanker uses the DELAY,
BLANKCODE and BLANKQUALIFIER from the last configuration file specified.
What are the blank code and blank qualifier?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AntiBlanker works by putting 'fake' input events onto the input chain, thus
fooling your screen blanker into thinking you've pressed a key when you
haven't. Versions before 0.4 used the 'Control' <Ctrl> key for this purpose
as we thought it was least likely to cause any conflicts, unfortunately we
did not fill in the input event with a single <Ctrl>, but instead we
accidentally set it to <Ctrl> + <'> and this would produce 'trash' in a
shell window and in some software.
As of version 0.5 you can specify the blank code and blank qualifier (see
above), this allows you to program AntiBlanker to 'fool' the system with any
key you like. You can specify the codes as hex or decimal by copying them
exactly from the tables below (the tables are not complete, but should get
you started).
Blank codes
~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Hex Code Decimal Code
--- -------- ------------
Left Shift 0x0060 96
Right Shift 0x0061 97
Caps Lock 0x0062 98
Control 0x0063 99
Left Alt 0x0064 100
Right Alt 0x0065 101
Left Amiga 0x0066 102
Right Amiga 0x0067 103
nb. the above blank codes work on our A1200, although they may be slightly
different for other Amigas (and possibly foreign keyboards), if you get
'trash' in a shell window while using AntiBlanker try a different code.
Blank qualifiers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Key Hex Code Decimal Code
--- -------- ------------
Left Shift 0x0001 1
Right Shift 0x0002 2
Caps Lock 0x0004 4
Control 0x0008 8
Left Alt 0x0010 16
Right Alt 0x0020 32
Left Amiga 0x0040 64
Right Amiga 0x0080 128
If you find one of the above keys conflicts with your software try another.
nb. the Caps Lock codes do not appear to actually affect the status of
Caps Lock itself.
Which blankers work with AntiBlanker?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AntiBlanker has been tested and proven to work with the following screen
blankers, although it should work with almost any screen blanker. If you
have tested it with a blanker not listed, please let us know the results so
that we can update the list.
Blanker AntiBlanker version Comments
------- ------------------- --------
extras:tools/commodities/Blanker 0.1+
util/cdity/mcx280.lha 0.1+
util/blank/ASwarmII2_0.lha 0.2+
util/blank/Auror15a.lha 0.2+
util/blank/BeyondTheDark.lha 0.2+
util/blank/Blanker2.6.lha 0.2+
util/blank/DesktopMAGIC.lha 0.2+
util/blank/DPMSManager.lha 0.2+
util/blank/GBlanker36.lha 0.2, 0.3, 0.5+
util/blank/GBlanker36_020.lha 0.2, 0.3, 0.5+
util/blank/FlyingToasters.lha 0.2+
util/blank/MTX.lha 0.2+ MTX 1.5+ required
util/blank/ShadowMaster.lha 0.2+
util/blank/StarBlanker.lha 0.2+
util/blank/SwazBlanker240.lha 0.2+
Miscellaneous notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Task names are CASE SENSITIVE, you can find out the name of task via a tool
such as Scout.
To stop AntiBlanker, send it a CTRL-C signal either via the Break/BreakName
programs or by a tool such as Scout. Please note that AntiBlanker will not
end immediately but after it's next loop.
To get the best performance out of AntiBlanker (so that it uses the least
CPU time), put the tasks that you use most at the bottom of the tool type
list (or configuration files). Due to the way AntiBlanker stores the task
names internally it actually checks for the tasks in the reverse order to
the how you specify them.
Registration and contacting us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AntiBlanker is 'email ware', this means that if you use it then you must
send us an email. As you can see this is a very small cost to pay.
Also feel free to visit our website at http://www.cremlinsoftware.org/ it
hosts all the latest versions of our software (including BETA releases).
History
~~~~~~~
Version Date Comments
0.1 15.06.1998 · First public release.
0.2 15.06.1998 · Fixed AntiBlanker so that it works with
Garshneblanker.
[Luca 'Hexaae' Longone]
0.3 05.09.1998 · Fixed an Enforcer hit that was caused by our linked
list class.
[Luca 'Hexaae' Longone]
0.4 14.09.1998 · Added user definable blank key.
· Altered the code so it sends a KEY_UP event instead
of a KEY_DOWN. This should reduce the amount of
conflicts with existing software.
0.5 BETA 15.09.1998 · Added the BlankCodeFinder program to the AntiBlanker
package.
· Changed user definable blank key so that it is
specified as a CODE and QUALIFIER, instead of just a
QUALIFIER.
· Altered the code so it sends a KEY_DOWN event like
0.3 did, as we had forgotten this was necessary for
Garshneblanker compatibility (oops).
1.0 15.02.2000 · Finally fixed the Enforcer hit on startup (that only
took 1½ years).
[Luca 'Hexaae' Longone]
· Configuration file(s) are now closed properly.
· Added CTRL-C support.
· A number of internal optimisations and recompiled
with the new OS3.5 includes.
1.1 05.03.2000 · Our linked list class has been enhanced and cleaned
up for one of our other projects, so we have
recompiled AntiBlanker to accomodate the new class.
nb. no real changes have been made to the program
itself.
1.2 04.06.2000 · General cleanup of the code which has reduced the
executable size slightly and AntiBlanker should use
ever so slightly less memory.
· AntiBlanker does now work with MTX, thanks to it's
author for rewritting the checking code :-)
· We have moved from HiSOFT C++ to StormC, basically
because StormC is still being developed.
1.3 10.09.2000 · A few minor optimisations generated by work on our
other projects.
1.4 20.12.2000 · Recompiled with StormC v4; saved a few bytes.
1.5 05.03.2001 · Version string is also handled correctly by DOpus 5.
· Configuration file(s) are handled the same as tool
types (keeps things standardised).
· Recompiled with stormamiga.lib v45 beta 5; the
executable is a few bytes bigger but it is a lot
neater infact this will more than likely be the last
release.
|
aminet net>