Dec 092017
 
Automatic screen saving program - display of aquarium.
File AQUATSR.ZIP from The Programmer’s Corner in
Category Display Utilities
Automatic screen saving program – display of aquarium.
File Name File Size Zip Size Zip Type
AQUACP.EXE 76020 48758 deflated
AQUATSR.001 65228 17917 deflated
AQUATSR.002 12636 3438 deflated
AQUATSR.CFG 292 61 deflated
AQUATSR.DOC 18357 5877 deflated
AQUATSR.EXE 74610 42845 deflated
INSTALL.BAT 2059 797 deflated
REMOVTSR.EXE 294 261 deflated
TSRSITE.DOC 4467 1744 deflated

Download File AQUATSR.ZIP Here

Contents of the AQUATSR.DOC file


AquaTSR (c) 1992
by Ron, Chris and Kim Gray


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading the AQUATSR.DOC file with VIEW program:

o Use the UP/DOWN, PG UP/PG DOWN, HOME/END, LEFT/RIGHT keys to navigate
thru the document.

o Use the ESC key to exit out of VIEW back to DOS.

o VIEW.COM can be used to read any text document file.

o SYNTAX: VIEW [drive][path] textfile.doc
Where textfile.doc is any text based file to view.
Where path is optional if VIEW.COM resides in the same directory
the textfile exists. To read a text file that is not in
the same directory that VIEW.COM program is, just simply
include the entire path.
Where drive is the location of the textfile. If the textfile.doc
is on the current drive then the drive is not needed.

ex: VIEW A:\AQUATSR.DOC

The textfile AQUATSR.DOC is on the floppy in drive A:
in the root directory.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AquaTSR(c) 1992
Description:
Is an "automatic" screen saving program. You specify the period of
inactivity that AquaTSR(c) will wait prior to starting up. AquaTSR
features many of the fish swimming in the AQUARIUM(c) program such
as Seahorse, Divers Bell, Oscar, Angel and more. Not compatible with
WINDOWS. The AquaTSR Control Panel (AQUACP.EXE) lets you select fish,
create messages, unload and load AquaTSR etc. Further, you can load
or unload AquaTSR from a batch file.

Registration is $15.95.

AquaTSR minimum requirements:
XT IBM compatible turbo (10mhz)
EGA color monitor with 256K video memory
DOS 3.x or greater
190k DOS memory, 4.6k when resident.
Hard Drive with 840k available- this includes space for program swap
and video file save when AquaTSR is
activated.
Compatability:
In order to move large amounts of objects, while in high resolution
EGA screen mode 640 x 350, all the video routines were written in
assembly code. Further, direct writes to the video registers had
to be performed.
AquaTSR has been tested on NCR, ZENITH, MIT, GATEWAY, PACKARD BELL,
EVEREX, COMPAC, TECH486 and MAX machines succesfully.

Incompatability:
AquaTSR is strictly a DOS program and is not compatible with WINDOWS
environment. Use a batch file to unload AquaTSR prior to starting
WIN.

______________________________________________________________________________

INSTALLING AquaTSR ON YOUR HARD DISC
Note: If you already own the AQUARIUM(c) program, both the AquaTSR files and
AQUARIUM files can co-exist in the same directory. It is not necessary
to create a seperate directory for AquaTSRs files.

o Insert the AquaTSR diskette in drive A: and close the door.
Next, log onto drive A: by typing A: (press ENTER key)

o Start the installation by typing INSTALL C: (press ENTER key)

Syntax: INSTALL Drive:

Where 'Drive:' is the drive letter of the hard disk drive where you
wish to install this program.
Such as C: or D: ect.

o Here is a list of the file names and brief description.

AQUATSR.EXE Main TSR program
AQUATSR.001 Graphics Picture File
AQUATSR.002 Graphics Picture File
AQUATSR.DOC This Document
AQUATSR.CFG Last AquaTSR configuration saved here
INSTALL.BAT Batch file that will automatically install
the AquaTSR files on your hard drive.
AQUACP .EXE AquaTSR Control Panel used to select the
fish, period of inactivity, create
floating messages, and load or unload
AquaTSR program (optional).
VIEW .COM Program to view the AQUATSR.DOC text file.
----------- ------------------------------------------
* TSRSWAP.000 Files created by AquaTSR when swapping
* TSRSWAP.001 program memory out during pop up time.
** SCRSAV2.TSR File created by AquaTSR when saving the
video screen that AquaTSR popped up over.
AQGO .BAT Batch file created by AQUACP.EXE program
when the LOAD or UNLOAD buttons are
selected. This file is deleted when
AQUACP.EXE program is exited.

* These files will be created at start up time by AquaTSR.
** This file is created when AquaTSR pops up.

______________________________________________________________________________

LOADING AquaTSR

method 1:
Loading AquaTSR from the AquaTSR Control Panel program AQUACP.EXE
o Log on to your hard drive by typing C: (press ENTER key)
o Change to the AQUARIUM directory CD \AQUARIUM (press ENTER key)
o Start up AquaCP program AQUACP (press ENTER key)

While in the AquaCP program press the button "LOAD TSR" which will batch file
out to start up the AquaTSR program and return to AQUACP screen.


method 2:
Loading AquaTSR directly from DOS prompt:
o Log on to your hard drive by typing C: (press ENTER key)
o Change to the AQUARIUM directory CD \AQUARIUM (press ENTER key)
o Start up AquaTSR program AQUATSR (press ENTER key)

You will now see the line-
"AquaTSR will pop up after xx minutes of keyboard inactivity"


If you forgot that AquaTSR was already in memory and you tried to load a
second copy, AquaTSR will return the message-
"AquaTSR will pop up after xx minutes of keyboard inactivity"
"Aqua-TSR already loaded"

______________________________________________________________________________

POPPING AquaTSR DOWN

Once AquaTSR starts up the aquarium activity, a touch of your keyboard key
will cause AquaTSR to restore your video screen, swap back into CPU memory
approximately 172K bytes of program code, and pop back down. The program
or DOS that AquaTSR popped up over can now resume.
AquaTSR does not monitor the mouse during animation, so mouse clicks or
movement will not effect AquaTSR.

o ESC key pressed after AquaTSR pops up will cause AquaTSR to unload from
memory. If AquaTSR has popped up over another program, AquaTSR will
sense this and display a message that it is unable to unload at this
time.

o All keys except ESC key will cause AquaTSR to pop back down.

______________________________________________________________________________

UNLOADING AquaTSR
method 1:
Unloading AquaTSR from the AquaTSR Control Panel program AQUACP.EXE
o Log on to your hard drive by typing C: (press ENTER key)
o Change to the AQUARIUM directory CD \AQUARIUM (press ENTER key)
o Start up AquaCP program AQUACP (press ENTER key)

While in the AquaCP program press the button "UNLOAD TSR" which will batch
file out to remove the AquaTSR program and return to AQUACP screen.


method 2:
Unloading AquaTSR directly from DOS prompt:
o Log on to your hard drive by typing C: (press ENTER key)
o Change to the AQUARIUM directory CD \AQUARIUM (press ENTER key)
o Unload AquaTSR program REMOVTSR AQUATSR.EXE (press ENTER)

If AquaTSR was not loaded prior to trying to remove it you will see the
message-
"AquaTSR not in memory or was not the last program loaded"


______________________________________________________________________________

STARTING AquaTSR FROM A BATCH FILE

To run AquaTSR from a batch file include these three lines:
C:
CD \AQUARIUM
AQUATSR

Note:
Refer to DOs & DONT rules if you are loading more than AquaTSR in your batch.

CD = DOS command to Change Directory. This is very important because
AquaTSR will then use the current directory to locate the config
file and where to put new files for swaping out program and video
memory. If a different directory other than \AQUARIUM was used
then replace with the appropriate name.
C: = drive (replace with d: if using D drive etc.) May be omitted if
the current drive is to be used.
AQUATSR = The TSR program

______________________________________________________________________________

AquaTSR PROGRAM OPERATION

The phrase "Terminate and Stay Resident", or "TSR", comes from the DOS
service that provides the ability for a program to become memory-resident.
As the name implies, a TSR is a program that is loaded and takes up
residence in memory, waiting to perform its task. This task may require the
TSR to pop-up over another program or DOS. When the TSR pops up or becomes
active, it suspends any foreground process (program) while performing its task
such as screen saving.
TSR activation or pop-up always occur during the servicing of an interrupt.
AquaTSR when resident in memory, hooks the clock interrupt such that AquaTSR
code is called 18.2 times a second. AquaTSR keeps track of this to time the
duration period of keyboard or mouse (if present) inactivity. The keyboard
interrupt is also hooked such that each time a key is pressed, AquaTSR will
examine it to see if the AquaTSRs' hot keys (ALT key and '.' period key)
were pressed and also to reset the inactivity timer count to zero.
When the inactivity counter reaches the period (1 - 30 min) selected by you,
AquaTSR will then pop up, saving program memory and video screen prior to
starting up your aquarium. When AquaTSR is resident in memory only a small
kernel of approximately 4.6k remains resident in memory to monitor the
interrupt process. Upon popping up, AquaTSR will swap out 172K of DOS memory
to the file TSRSWAP.000 and swap in AquaTSR program from TSRSWAP.001 file.
During this process a blinking green box will appear in the upper left corner
of your video screen if you are in TEXT mode. Depending on your machine speed
will take a second or two. If during animation you reset or boot your machine,
the TSRSWAP.00x files will be present. Normally when AquaTSR is removed from
memory these files are deleted. An additional file called SCRSAV2.TSR will be
created to save the current video memory image.


______________________________________________________________________________

TSR RULES - DOs AND DONTs

DO unload TSR programs on a last in first out. If you wish to later remove
AquaTSR from memory, you must ensure that AquaTSR was the last TSR loaded.
Remember, the last TSR loaded would be the first to unload.

DONT try to unload AquaTSR, if you installed other TSR programs after AquaTSR.
However, during AquaTSR animation you may unload it by pressing the ESC
key. If AquaTSR detected it was popped up over another program, the
display "UNABLE TO TERMINATE AT THIS TIME, TRY LATER." will appear, simply
press a different key once to resume animation, and a second time to pop
down AquaTSR. In this case you must first quit the current program that
AquaTSR popped up over prior to using the ESC key to unload AquaTSR from
memory.


______________________________________________________________________________

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Q & A
o While in the AquaTSR Control Panel program, upon selecting either the LOAD
or UNLOAD TSR buttons the Control Panel program terminated and I was
was returned back to my DOS SHELL or MENU program. Why?
The AQUACP program creates a batch file called AQGO.BAT to allows AQUACP to
quit momentarily, start up AquaTSR program and return to AQUACP program. If you used a shell or batch program to origionally start up the
AQUACP.EXE program actually terminates prior to running the AQGO.BAT file,
DOS assumes that it finished, in which control now passes back to the
origional menu or DOS shell that started up AQUACP.EXE program.
If you are using a menu that calls other programs thru batch files, then
you must create two batch files for loading or unloading AquaTSR the same
way that AQUACP would do it.

example: UNLOAD.BAT (file)
CD \AQUARIUM (changes directory to AquaTSR location)
REMOVTSR AQUATSR.EXE (removes AquaTSR from memory)

example: LOAD.BAT (file)
CD \AQUARIUM (changes directory to AquaTSR location)
AQUATSR (installs AquaTSR into memory)

o When AquaTSRs hot keys (ALT and '.'period) are pressed, why does AquaTSR
sometimes fail to pop up? AquaTSR monitors the DOS busy flag to make sure
that something important is not in progress. If the DOS busy flag is set
AquaTSR waits a short time to see if the busy flag goes away.
If not then AquaTSR goes back to sleep. A second attempt to pop up AquaTSR
will then be needed.
Further, if AquaTSR refuses to pop up over a currently running program, it
is because the keyboard interrupt is being interrigated before AquaTSR has
a chance to. In this case you must first terminate (quit) the current
program and then you should be able to POP up AquaTSR.

o While working in GEM DRAW with the mouse, AquaTSR pops up anyway. Why
didn't AquaTSR know that the mouse was being used?
Because many CAD programs almost exclusively use the mouse, it is not
enough to only watch the keyboard for inactivity. AquaTSR watches both
mouse and keyboard for inactivity, however some programs ignore the mouse
software already present in memory and uses their own mouse routines.
When this happens AquaTSR can no longer monitor mouse activity.
You have two choices here, 1- Unload AquaTSR prior to starting a graphic
program that uses its own mouse code. 2 - Set the inactivity period to at
least 20- 30 minutes. This way if AquaTSR rudely visits you while you are
using the mouse, touch a key to pop AquaTSR back down for another 20-30
minutes and continue with your drawing.
AquaTSR works fine with many other CAD programs such as SCHEMA or AutoCAD.

o My graphic animation program screen was not restored properly when AquaTSR
popped back down, Why?
Most programs do not perform continuous screen updating, but simply wait
for a key or mouse input in order to carry out tasks. Other programs
involving "animation", will perform many thousands of video changes each
second. These programs are "video intensive", meaning most of the time
they continually perform some task with the video registers or video memory
(images). The chances are very high that when AquaTSR pops up over these
video intensive programs, it will interrupt setup calls to the video
registers (ie:map, mask, overscan, pan and pel etc). The results may not
be predictable. Further, the EGA palette registers that allow a program
to map 1 of 16 colors to 1 of 64 are "write only" and can not be read so
that they are restored properly. Given this, the results of popping
AquaTSR over such a program could be loss of origional screen images or
color, you have only one choice here, DONT.

______________________________________________________________________________

AquaTSR POSSIBLE ERROR CODES

1 = DOS Services are not available. AquaTSR should attempt to pop back
down when this is encountered. You should not see this one.
2 = Not enough memory to become resident. AquaTSR will report the
amount of memory detected in this case. If applicable you should
off-load other TSR programs to free up memory.
3 = Unable to become memory resident.
4 = System is running under DOS 2.x, so AquaTSR cannot become resident.
10 = Error initializing disk swapping files. This may occur if there is
insufficient room on your hard disk to create the files TSRSWAP.000
and TSRSWAP.001 when AquaTSR popped up.

DOS CRITICAL ERROR CODES
7 = Out of memory. Not enough memory to load AquaTSR to begin with.
______________________________________________________________________________

AQUARIUM(c) 1991, 1992 - fish tank

AQUARIUM(c) turns your monitor into a eye-catching fish tank.
Aquariums are a proven method of relaxing. This realistic aquarium lets
you control the number and type of fish, display floating messages in the
background, make the fish change direction, and more.
AQUARIUM features all objects shown in the AquaTSR Control Panel program
AQUACP, plus a bubbler that starts up when viewing your AQUARIUM.

AQUARIUM minimum requirements:

DOS 2.1 or higher
XT turbo machine (10mhz)
292K cpu memory
EGA or VGA color monitor, with 256K video memory
Single 360K floppy drive

Mouse is OPTIONAL

Registration is only $14.95.

Registered programs include the FILE feature, which allows you to save
up to 10 different AQUARIUM configurations.
Ask your local BBS or Shareware Distributor for a demo copy.


Regards
Ron Gray



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