           		WEYES2.TXT
           		==========

wEyes -- What is it?
--------------------

   "wEyes" is a Windows program that, although originally 
designed purely for amusement, might actually be of use to some 
computer users.  Inspired by the famous "xEyes" program run on 
many UNIX-based xWindows systems, this program draws two eyes 
in a window; the eyes then track the movement of the mouse.

   I gave the original version of this program (archived 
in "weyes.zip") to a friend of mine who owns a notebook-size 
computer with an LCD screen.  It seems that whenever he ran 
Microsoft Windows, he had problems keeping track of the 
location of his mouse pointer -- LCDs are notoriously slow, and 
if he happened to move the mouse suddenly, he would have to 
scan the entire LCD screen just to locate the pointer.  
wEyes helped.

   Since he seemed to benefit, I decided to upload the 
program to Compuserve and some other BBSs, to see if anyone 
else enjoyed it.  To my surprise, that first version was much 
more popular than I ever thought it would be.  Unfortunately, 
though, I had never put the original version through any kind 
of quality-control test.  In short, the program was less than 
flawless.

   Enter wEyes v. 1.1.  That version possessed substantial 
enhancements over the original version, including custom 
colorization, elimination of minor bugs, and an all-around 
better interface.  

   But a few months after I released version 1.1, 
Microsoft came out with Windows 3.1.  This bittersweet
event had two major ramifications for me.  First, Win 3.1 
revealed a hidden bug in wEyes v. 1.1.  It seemed that, when-
ever the Mission Command dialog box was invoked, some of the 
text within the 3-D area retained a white background, rather 
than the light gray background that I intended.  Second, Win 
3.1 provided a new capability for its windows:  the so-called
"topmost" feature.  This feature allows a window to be visible
at all times -- even when "covered" by another window.  

   So I rewrote wEyes yet again.  This latest version,
version 2.0, fixes the aforementioned bug and takes advantage
of Win 3.1's "topmost" feature.  In addition, users now have
the ability to change the main window's background color.  

   Basically, writing the program was a light exercise in 
trigonometry.  The program checks the position of the mouse 
pointer on a regular basis, and using slopes, arctangents, 
sines, and cosines, determines where the "pupils" of the eyes -- 
which are independent of each other -- should be.  


wEyes 2.0 Enhancements
----------------------

   - "Topmost" capabilities:  When the "wEyes Mission Control" 
dialog box is invoked, one of the controls in the dialog is a
check box labeled "wEyes always on top."  If you are running 
Win 3.1 and you wish to make wEyes visible at all times, click
the mouse on this check box.  If you are running Win 3.0, the
check box will be disabled and will appear grayed.

   - Background color:  Now, in addition to adjusting the color 
of wEyes's pupils and outer rims, you can adjust the background
color as well.  (Neophytes:  see "wEyes 1.1 Enhancements - 
Colors" below for more information.)

   - Bugs:  Hard to believe, but wEyes 1.1 had a hidden bug 
that was not visible in Win 3.0.  Some of the text in the
"Mission Control" dialog box appeared on a white background,
rather than on a light gray one.  Hence, these little text 
items stuck out like the proverbial irritated digits.  The 
problem has been rectified in wEyes v. 2.0.

   - Odds & ends:  I don't know if anyone will notice, but I
made some slight changes to the algorithm used in updating
the positions of wEyes's pupils.  It should make pupil movement
a little faster -- though perhaps the difference is imper-
ceptible.


wEyes 1.1 Enhancements
----------------------

   - Interface:  As of v. 1.1, wEyes sports two dialog boxes.  
The first is the traditional "About" dialog box, which displays 
version and other basic information.  The second is the "wEyes 
Mission Control" dialog box, explained in more detail below.  
This dialog box gives the user control over colors and "pupil 
update rates." In addition to being functional, these dialog 
boxes have a rather slick three-dimensional look.  No, I'm not 
bragging -- the 3-D effect is due in large part to a dynamic-
link library that I've incorporated into the program.  The file 
is "three_d.dll," and it was written by a guy named Ray Donahue.  
(If you are a programmer and like the look and feel of wEyes's 
dialog boxes, you have my recommendation to license Donahue's 
libraries.  They are flexible and incredibly easy to implement.  
Ray can be reached at the following address:  Ray Donahue, 
365 Mather Street Unit 125, Hamden, CT 06514; or on Compuserve: 
70324,1204.  I downloaded the DLL from the WINADV forum, 
on Compuserve.)  The only hitch here is that wEyes will only 
support VGA monitors -- as for other monitors, I cannot 
guarantee compatibility.

   - Colors:  wEyes now allows the user to define which 
colors he or she wants for the "rims" and "pupils" of the 
window's eyes.  To define customized colors, activate the 
"Mission Control" dialog box.  This is accomplished by clicking 
wEyes's control box (the little box in the top left-hand corner 
of the window).  The control menu will appear.  At the very 
bottom, you will notice two items: "About wEyes..." and "wEyes 
Mission Control...."  Click once on "Mission Control."  The 
Mission Control dialog box will appear.   
   Next, find the two group boxes named "Outer rim color" 
and "Pupil color," respectively.  Each box contains three 
horizontal scrollbars.  Each scrollbar controls the intensity of 
either the red, green, or blue color elements of your screen.  
Move the scrollbars, and the color appearing in the window beside 
the controls will change to reflect your handiwork.  When 
satisfied, press the "OK" button.  If you just can't get it right, 
that's alright -- just press the Cancel button and your wEyes will 
not have changed.
   Some of you probably own a notebook or laptop with a 
monochrome LCD screen.  This does NOT mean that you can't take 
advantage of the coloring capabilities included in this version.  
As you probably know, different people prefer different 
intensity settings when using LCD screens:  some prefer that 
the screen look darker, while others can only work with a 
lighter-shaded screen.  To the extent that your tastes differ 
from the next guy's, the red-and-black default colors may be 
difficult to see on your LCD screen.  If so, the Mission 
Control color features can help.

   - Timer interval:  wEyes checks the position of the 
mouse pointer at a predetermined time interval, and then 
readjusts the position of the pupils accordingly.  In the 
original version of wEyes, this "pupil update rate" was 100 
milliseconds by default.  That parameter could be changed, 
however, by including a command-line parameter.  The Mission 
Control dialog box has eliminated the need for such a mechanism.  
The interval can now be adjusted in much the same way as the 
colors of the eyes.  When the scrollbar in the "Timer interval" 
group box is adjusted, the number appearing in the edit box 
to the right of the scrollbar will be similarly adjusted.  If 
you want to enter a particular number in the edit box, however, 
you need not use the scrollbar -- just click your mouse on the 
edit box (or "tab over"), and type in the desired number.
   If you are running a number of large applications 
concurrently, you may want to slow the timer down a bit, so as 
not to burden the other programs.  On the other hand, unless 
you have a very fast machine, intervals of less than 50 
milliseconds will probably not produce any additional speed 
benefits; there will always be some lower limit for a given 
machine.

   - Initialization file:  The first time that you close 
wEyes (or end a Windows session without closing wEyes first), 
the program will create an initialization file in your WINDOWS 
directory.  The file is called, appropriately enough, 
"weyes.ini."  The next time that you run wEyes, the program 
will "remember" the colors that you last specified, and will 
automatically use them in your current session.  In addition, 
unlike the original version, wEyes will store the window's 
size and position.  So rather than having to move and stretch 
the window every time you start wEyes, the window will 
automatically pop up exactly where you want it.  

   - Minimization:  As with the original version of wEyes, 
wEyes v. 1.1 still works when minimized.  So if you need room 
on your display, wEyes won't take up any more room than, say, 
the Windows Clock program. 

   - Bugs:  Fallible?  Me?  I encountered one minor, 
although annoying, bug in the original version of wEyes.  It 
seems that, if I stretched the window far enough across the 
screen, I would get an unrecoverable application error.  That 
problem has since been put to bed.
   Also, the original version had no mechanism for 
aborting the program in the unlikely event that a timer could 
not be created.  Should Windows already have the maximum number 
of timers running, wEyes v. 1.1 will not run, but will display 
a message informing the user of the problem. This version 
appears to work pretty well.  Nonetheless, because I'm not 
charging money for this program, it's difficult to justify 
putting hours and hours into crash-testing the thing.  Thus, 
I'm relying on user input.  If you find any bugs in this 
version of wEyes, please drop me a line at the address below.  
Or you can send me e-mail at Compuserve.  My address there is 
70724,3347 (InterNet: "70724.3347@compuserve.com").

================================================================

                        DISCLAIMER

   No copyright is claimed in "weyes.exe," "weyes.ini," 
"weyes2.doc," "weyes2.wri," or "weyes2.txt" (collectively, 
the "Software") by its author, Rob Carty ("Author").  No rights 
related to the Software are granted by Author.  The user agrees 
to use the Software at his or her own risk, and agrees not to 
hold Author liable for any damages, direct, indirect, 
consequential, incidental or otherwise, in tort, in contract, 
or upon any other theory of law or equity, regardless of whether 
such damages are caused by Author's own negligence or gross 
negligence.

   The file named "three_d.dll" is copyrighted intellectual 
property, distributed under license.  The user, however, need 
not pay royalties for copying or using that file in conjunction 
with the Software, pursuant to the license granted Author.

================================================================

Loading instructions:
---------------------

   To load wEyes onto your Windows system, first copy 
"weyes.exe," "weyes.txt," and "three_d.dll" to the directory of 
your choice.  Next, enter Windows's Program Manager and select 
a program group.  Then select "File," "New," "Program Item" 
from the menu bar (in that order).  In the "Command Line" edit 
box, type: "<Drive>:\<Pathname>\WEYES.EXE", where <Drive> and 
<Pathname> are the drive and directory into which you have 
installed the above program files.  Choose "OK."  When you want 
to invoke the program, simply double-click the wEyes icon.  
   To auto-load the program upon starting a Windows 
session, do the following: 

   Win 3.1

   -------
      Install wEyes in the "Startup" program group.  To run the 
   program as an icon, check the "Run Minimized" check box.

   Win 3.0
   -------

      Open your "win.ini" file (located in your WINDOWS 
   directory) by using the Windows Notepad program.  Find the 
   line labeled "[windows]"; then look for the "load=" 
   statement.  Beside that statement, type 
   "<Drive>:\<Pathname>\WEYES.EXE", again where <Drive> and 
   <Pathname> are the drive and directory into which you have 
   installed the program files.  The next time that you invoke 
   windows, wEyes will appear as a minimized window at the 
   bottom of your screen.  To run wEyes as a regular (non-
   minimized) window, perform these same steps, except rather 
   than looking for the "load=" statement, look for the "run=" 
   statement.

================================================================

This program is written mostly for fun.  If you do enjoy it and 
would like to find out about other products and services 
provided by OutLook/PC Business System Design, drop us a line 
at:

      OutLook/PC Business System Design
      ATTN: M. Bradley, MSSI
      P.O. Box 684255          
      Austin, TX  78768-4255

      Compuserve:  70724,3347

We usually specialize in more serious undertakings, 
specifically management information systems.  Even more 
specifically, we are seeking out small- to mid-sized law firms
in South and Central Texas that require information systems
and solutions (I have a J. D. -- University of Texas School of 
Law, Class of 1991).  If you fit the above description (or if 
you know anyone who does), please let us know.  We specialize 
in building open, flexible information systems, and we can do 
it quickly and cheaply.  And when we're done, our clients do 
not become our slaves.

Thanks.

-- Rob Carty, President
   2 June 1992

      
  
