		WarpGLOBE

WarpGLOBE is a program that puts an earthglobe on the desktop and paints cities with OS/2 users. It also paints the light and dark zones produced by the sun's rotation. Of course, the user can select which part of the earth to see. The image is refreshed at an interval chosen by the user. This program is similar to one for Linux, but this is more pretty :-)

DISCLAIMER

This program is FreeWare, anc it is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY of any kind. Use it at your own risk :-)


HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM

In order to execute WarpGLOBE You need the EMX runtime, version 0.9c, which is distributed in the file EMXRT.ZIP, available from multiple FTP sites.

There's a file, GLOBEUSR.ZIP, which is available only in the author's web page, and is updated each time I receive new cities. It's a good practice to watch the page each one or two week, and unzip the file in WarpGLOBE's directory. Doing this, the new cities will be added to your globe. The file USERS.NFO included in GLOBE.ZIP could be old when you download it.

Author's home page:

	http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globe.htm

And in English:

	http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globeeng.htm

	Unzip GLOBE.ZIP into a single directory, then unzip GLOBE11.ZIP in the same directory, telling YES when it quest about overwriting files. Then you can run GLOBE.EXE. The first time it shows a message: 'Config file old, not found or incorrect. Creating one'. All is right. Press any key and the menu will be shown. If you want that WarpGLOBE will autorun each time that OS/2 boot, just execute ADDWPS (included with WarpGLOBE). This program will create an icon in the Startup Folder.

	WARNING! Don't use DETACH to launch WarpGLOBE. It could not run right. If you don't want see the window, you can activate the 'Start minimized' option in the 'Properties' section of the program icon.

	ADDWPS is a program with his own license, which I reproduce here:

AddWPS was written by Michael Douglass to be used for any program which would like to support OS/2's Workplace Shell.  AddWPS will instantly add folders and programs to your OS/2 WPS for you to use WarpGLOBE under OS/2.  You should have no problems using AddWPS as long as it was configured correctly by the author of WarpGLOBE  Note:  Any and all damage caused by AddWPS is not the fault of Michael Douglass. -Use at your own risk-

AddWPS v1.0 Copyright 1994 Michael Douglass

	Here you can see and modify the program's parameters, which are:

	GMT: is the number of hours local time leads or trails Greenwich time. You have to write the negative of the value. This is, if your city has GMT+5, the value is -5. If it has GMT-3, the value is 3. I don't use the TZ variable because, even with it, is needed the hability of a manual adjust.

	Earth angle (or Sun angle if 'static sun' is active): contains a number betwen 0 and 359. This is the number of degress that the globe will be rotated. If you put 0, Greenwich meridian will be centered. If you put 90, North and South America will be centered... If the 'Static sun' option is active, then this value represent the number of degress that the sun will be rotated.

	Cities diameter: is the height of the red points that represent the cities. If you put 0, the program will not paint any city.

	Globe diameter: contains the earth globe's diameter, so it can be greater or smaller.

	Startup delay: delay (in seconds) when the program starts every time it is runned from a command line or its icon. This is because if WarpGLOBE is started with the operating system (because it is in the Startup folder), and the computer is fast, it can try to change the background BEFORE WPShell had started completely, so the program will crash.

	Refresh every: is the refresh time in minutes. Every n minutes the background will be repainted.

	Static sun: if this is active (yes), causes the earth globe to rotate to follow the sun.

	Paint stars: if this is active (yes), causes WarpGLOBE to paint stars in the space around the earth.

	Ambient light: sets the ambient light, from 0 to 99,to add to the dark zones of the planet, so it will not be painted black.

	Idle mode: if this parameter is 'Yes', the program's priority will be changed to 'idle', so the CPU use will be reduced to 0%. If it's 'No', the program's priority will be 'Normal'.

	Stars density: is the number of stars that the program will paint. It must be bettwen 1 and 10000.

	Exit mode: if it is 'save background', the background will be renamed to ZGLOBE.BMP and will be maintained when you quit WarpGLOBE. This is useful when you want to get a picture, but not to have WarpGLOBE running all the time. If it is 'clear background', when you quit WarpGLOBE, the background will be cleared and all bitmaps will be deleted. This is the normal mode, when you start WarpGLOBE with the Startup Folder, and quits only when shutdown OS/2.

	Light intensity: contains the sun intensity, so you can select how bright or dark is the light side of the globe.

	Stars intensity: contains the stars intensity, so they could be brighter or darkness in the sky.

	Status: shows the status of the program: 'Sleeping', when it's waiting for the next moment to refresh background, and 'Creating image', when it's recalculating the background and painting it. During this state, you can't change the options of the program.

There are four more options in the menu:

	Change background color: allows to change the color behind the globe, so it can be other than black.

	Change city coordinates: allows to specify the coordinates of your own city, so that point will be painted in other colour. You can find the values in the file cities.txt.

	Refresh background: repaints the image, so you don't need wait to the end of the refresh interval to see the efFect of your changes. Remember that the program needs some seconds to repaint the background, so be patient.

	End WarpGLOBE: ends the program and returns to the command line.

WarpGLOBE reads the users data each time it makes a new image, so you can change this in every moment without stopping and relaunching the program.

By default, WarpGLOBE saves the bitmaps in the same directory than the executable. But you can tell another place by simply adding in the CONFIG.SYS the line:

	SET GLOBETMP=x:\mydir

and restarting your computer. X is the unit letter where you want to save the bitmaps, and mydir is the directory.

Example:	SET GLOBETMP=c:\tcpip\tmp

I strongly recommend a mode with 32768, 65536 or 16 million colors, because with 256 colors, the image is a little poor (unless you specify the 'PM palette aware' option in OS/2 settings). It's a problem of the Presentation Manager :-(

There's another problem: Presentation Manager has a 'cache' where it saves the bitmaps, so if we change the image into a bitmap file, but not the name of this file, the PM will not change the background. To fix this, WarpGLOBE saves each image with a new name, and deletes the old
bitmap from the hard disk. This explain why if you stop and relaunch WarpGLOBE, is possible that will show an old image. Refreshing the background twice (with the menu's R option) will correct this.


WHAT ABOUT OTHER PLANETS?

If you have an image of another planet and you want to use it instead the earth image, you only need to convert it to a PCX file and save it in the same directory of the program, naming it as MUNDO.PCX (first back up the old MUNDO.PCX, of course). The PCX file could be 8 or 24 bit per pixel, and can have any size.


I HAVE PROBLEMS

If WarpGLOBE doesn't work right, try this steps before writing me:

	-Test the EMX version you have. Just type EMXREV in an OS/2 text sesion. The numbers must be equal or higher than 50 (EMX 0.9c). If someone is incorrect, delete ALL the EMX DLLs in your hard disk (it's possible that you have more than one) and reinstall it.

	-Delete the GLOBE.CFG file and start again WarpGLOBE. There were some problems with files from older versions.

	-Don't use DETACH to launch the program.

If after trying these steps the program didn't still work, then write me to try to fix the problem.


HOW TO COLLABORATE

If you want your city to be included in the map, first see if it is already in the list of cities (in my home page). If not, follow these steps:

	*Load MUNDO.PCX with the OS/2 image viewer (simply open your C: folder and double click over its icon).

	*Put the mouse pointer over your city, and write the X-Y coordinates that gives the program. Don't worry if the picture is up-side down. I'll calculate the right coordinates.

	*Then, send me an e-mail with your city's name, country, and the X-Y coordinates. It will be included in the next file GLOBEUSR.ZIP.


HISTORY

Beta 1: first public release

Beta 2: WarpGLOBE locks the users file, so it wasn't possible to change the list of cities without stopping the program. Fixed.

Beta 3: Usage of dynamic memory, so it uses less memory.

	Pointer optimization, so it uses less CPU.

	Memory array containing the bitmap is cleared every time, so it fixes random points in the image.

	Control and configuration with easy-to-use menus.

	User can select the height of the cities' points, the refresh period and the ambient light level for the dark zone of the earth.

	Now it can paint stars (optional).

	Sun can be static, so the earth will rotate to follow the light (optional).

Beta 4: Last image is deleted after the refresh interval, so it would be repainted right.

Beta 5: Close aplication signal is captured, so WarpGLOBE deletes all temporary files when its window is closed.

Beta 6: In systems without 4OS2, WarpGLOBE can't get the path with the standar C calls. Fixed, using OS/2 API calls (DosQueryCurrentDisk and DosQueryCurrentDir).

Beta 7: Smaller executable file.

	Better close application signal capture, so the program exits cleaner.

	Allows to be executed in Idle Time priority, so the CPU usage will descend to 0%.

	Allows to change the number of stars to be painted.

Beta 8: Allows to use an alternative image with 8 or 24 bits per pixel, and without any limit in its size.

	Allows to change the earth angle even when the option 'Static sun' is active, so the sun mustn't be placed in front of the user.

	Allows to maintain the background even when the user exits, or delete it, changing with the base color.

	Has an install program that creates an icon in the Startup Folder, so WarpGLOBE will start automatically each time that OS/2 boot.

Version 1.0: is the same beta 8, but in a new ZIP package.

Version 1.1: Autodetects the screen resolution.

	Allows to change the globe's diameter.

	Allows to wait an initial delay to avoid some problems with PM.

	Doesn't paint the cursor.

	Allows to change the light intensity from the sun and the stars.

	Allows to use another directory to save the bitmaps.

Version 1.2: Allows to change the background color.

	Allows to specify your own city, so it would be painted in other colour.


SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Pablo Costas, who gave me the earth image.

The people who made that image (unfortunately, I don't know who they are).

Johannes Martin, author of a sample code to change the desktop background.

Craig Colby, who rewriten the english instructions.

MaQui, who made the excellent icon for WarpGLOBE.

And all people that helped by sending cities, countries and suggestions.


Sergio Costas Rodriguez (RASTER)

scostas@arrakis.es
http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas
