** Function key usage ** Mouse F1 - Display this help information. [Help] F3 - Exit program. [Exit] F4 - Save configuration information to disk. [Save] F5 - Rewind to beginning (00:00). [Rewind] F6 - Fast forward (advances 10 seconds at a time). [Fast Fwd] F7 - Toggles between play and pause. [Play/Pause] F9 - Decrease value of current field. F10 - Increase value of current field. Home - Move to first screen cell (File). Alt-F1 - Toggle channel activity indicators off/on. Alt-F2 - Toggle MIDI thru mode off/on (default is on). [Thru] Alt-F3 - Push to DOS (suspends playing). [Push] ** Editing ** Use the arrow keys to move the large block cursor around the screen to select the available data fields or "cells". On a color monitor, the data in cells which can be changed will appear yellow. Note the input area near the bottom of the screen, indicated by ">" and the small blinking cursor. To enter or change a selected cell, type into the input area and press return. The value entered will then appear in the cell (if the input was valid). A description of the valid input for the current cell will always appear on the line above the input area. Use the following keys for editing: Return - Retrieves the current contents of a cell and places it in the input area for modification (if the input area is empty). Insert - Toggles between character insert and overwrite modes. Delete - Deletes the character at the cursor. BackSpace - Deletes the character before the cursor. End - Moves to the end of the character string. Home - Moves to the beginning of the character string. Escape - Erases the input area. ** Operation ** To load a MIDI file, move to the "File:" cell (press Home). Then type the name of the file and press return. If no extension is given, ".MFF" is assumed. After the file has been loaded, it will be scanned for the various types of data described below. This will take some time, unless the data has been previously saved for this file using the F4 function. Press F7 to begin playing. Note that any operation may be performed while a song is playing. Data cells: - Tempo or Speed: For metrically specified time bases, this cell controls the overall, or "master", tempo in beats per minute. The first tempo value encountered in the file is used as the reference for subsequent manual changes. If the file does not specify tempo, 120 is assumed. The speed of play at any given point is determined by the ratio of the current setting to the original value (regardless of tempo changes in the file). For example, if the original value is 120, play will occur at half speed whenever the master tempo is changed to 60. For files having a time base specified in SMPTE or MIDI time code units, this cell is indicated as speed, rather than tempo, and is given as a percentage of the initial speed (100%). Half speed is 50%, double speed is 200%, etc. - Lt (Length): Duration of the song in minutes and seconds. Note that when the master tempo is changed, the duration is adjusted accordingly. - Pos (Position): The current song position in minutes and seconds. This cell is updated every second while playing is in progress (actually, for every second in which an event occurs). It may be selected and changed at any time. It may take a few seconds to skip to a new position, depending on how far away it is. Selecting an earlier location requires scanning from the beginning. The F6 (fast forward) function advances the position 10 seconds at a time. F10 may also be used when this cell is selected to advance 1 second. F9 (decrease) is not recommended. Note: This cell represents elapsed time since the start of play - if the master tempo is changed while playing, counting continues in one second intervals and the ending time may not match the song duration for that play. The numbered rows show channel data as follows: - Chan: MIDI channel number (1-16). - Notes: Maximum number of notes played concurrently on the channel (as determined by note on/off messages). - Lo/Hi: Lowest and highest note pitches used on the channel. - Vol: Maximum volume of notes played on the channel, from 0 to 100 percent (determined by note velocities). If this value is changed, subsequent note volumes will be adjusted *relative* to the original maximum value. - Map: Channel to which the original output for this channel is to be redirected (1 to 16). Default is the same channel. - Chg: Determines whether program changes are allowed for the channel. "On" indicates changes enabled. - Xpos: The number of half steps that notes on the channel are to be transposed. From -127 to +127. Notes transposed below 0 or above 127 will not be played. - Tracks: Lists the MIDI file track numbers which contain messages for the channel. (There may be more than can be displayed - use the program in line mode to get full track information.) Note that track 1 typically contains only tempo information and will probably not appear. - Info: Originally contains textual information found while scanning the track(s) corresponding to the channel. This information may be changed as desired to record information about the file for future reference. It can be saved along with the rest of the screen data by using the F4 function. ** Saving ** When the F4 (save) function key is pressed, the current data on the screen will be saved to a file. The same name as the current file is used, but with the extension ".PLA". If a .PLA file corresponding to the MIDI file being loaded is found, that data will be used and the (sometimes slow) initial scan step is eliminated. F4 will replace the existing .PLA file whenever it is pressed. ** Mouse usage ** When a Microsoft-compatible mouse is available and the mouse driver software properly loaded, operations using the mouse will be enabled. The mouse may be used to select an input cell on the screen by positioning the small mouse cursor on the cell and single clicking either button. The cell will be highlighted, just as if the cell had been selected using the arrow keys. Any cell which can be changed using the F10/F9 keys to increment/decrement, may be changed in a similar manner using the mouse. Once a cell is selected by clicking on it, subsequent clicking of the left button will decrement the cell value, and clicking of the right button will increment it. In mouse mode, the function key designations normally displayed at the bottom of the screen are changed to selector blocks for each available function. Clicking on a block will perform the indicated function. All functions may still be invoked via the normal keyboard equivalents. If mouse operations are not desired, add the -k option on the command line when the program is run to force keyboard mode. ** Command line usage ** PLAY If is specified, PLAY is run non-interactively (i.e., the file is just played, without the full-screen editing display). Interactive mode is selected simply by leaving off the file name. may only be specified if a file name is given. If is a number from 1 to 16, it indicates the channel to which all channel messages will be redirected. This is useful for quick "auditioning" of a file when the actual channels are unknown, or when they do not match the equipment settings. For more control, run PLAY interactively. If is the letter "S" (for Scan), no playing is done, but the file is scanned and pertinent channel and track information is listed (similar to that displayed in interactive mode). To capture scan output to a file, use standard DOS output redirection: play midifile s >outfile if is the letter "D" (for Debug), the events in the MIDI file are listed on the screen as they are played, along with the corresponding track times in microseconds. Playing may be choppy in this mode due to time delays as information is displayed on the screen. If "X" is specified instead of "D", no playing occurs - only events are listed. Output may be captured to a file as mentioned above. may be any of the following: -r indicates that the Roland MPU compatible interface is to be used if an IBM Music Feature card is also present. -p followed by a hexidecimal number defines the base I/O address to be used for the MPU interface. Note that MIDI hardware interrupts are not used, so the IRQ setting of the interface is not relevant. -k forces keyboard mode if a mouse is present. -m forces monochrome mode (mono mode is automatically detected). Separate all options with at least one space. Examples: play (Runs the program interactively) play test.mff (Plays the file non-interactively) play test.mff s (Just scans the file and lists data) play test.mff 3 (Maps all channels to channel 3) play -p336 (Runs interactively; forces MPU I/O address 336) play test.mff -r (Plays file, forcing MPU mode) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------