WINAMP CONTROL CENTRE
Version 1.2

Copyright  Owen Rudge 2001-2003
================================

Thank you for downloading my WinAmp Control Centre. This consists
of a collection of very small programs that you can use to control
WinAmp with in a variety of scenarios. Please note that WinAmp
Control Centre will only work with WinAmp 2.x (and possibly 1.x).

The following files are included:

README.TXT           You're reading it now.
HIDEWA.EXE           Run this program to hide WinAmp.
SHOWWA.EXE           Run this program to show WinAmp.
WA_NEXT.EXE          Run this program to play the next track.
WA_PAUSE.EXE         Run this program to pause/unpause WinAmp.
WA_PLAY.EXE          Run this program to start/restart playing.
WA_PREV.EXE          Run this program to play the previous track.
WA_STOP.EXE          Run this program to stop playing.
WINAMPCC.EXE         Win32 version that can do all of the above,
                     and is extendable.
WINAMPCC.INI         INI file for WINAMPCC.EXE

New in version 1.2 are several enhancements to WINAMPCC.EXE. You can
now have Winamp automatically load when you run WINAMPCC.EXE, and it
can be automatically hidden at load too.

New in version 1.1 was WINAMPCC.EXE. This is a 32-bit program that
lets you do everything the 16-bit programs could do, and more. It
will also be faster on Windows NT/2000/XP.

USING WINAMPCC.EXE
==================

If you just run WINAMPCC on it's own, nothing will happen (assuming
you have WinAmp running - if it's not running, you'll receive an
error message). To make it do something, you need to use command-line
arguments.

The following command-line arguments are available by default:

/SHOW          Shows WinAmp
/HIDE          Hides WinAmp
/PLAY          Starts/restarts playing
/PAUSE         Pauses/unpauses WinAmp
/STOP          Stops playing
/NEXT          Plays the next track
/PREV          Plays the previous track

However, WINAMPCC is customisable, in that you can add new actions.
This is what WINAMPCC.INI is for. If you look at it, you'll see the
following (by default):

   ; WinAmp Control Centre 1.2
   ; Configuration File
   ;
   ; See README.TXT for more information
   ;
   ; Overview of this file
   ; ---------------------
   ;
   ; [...]
   ;
   ; Please see README.TXT for information on the [Commands] section of this file.
   
   [Configuration]
   Class=Winamp v1.x
   Path=C:\Program Files\Winamp\Winamp.exe
   Autoload=1
   WaitLength=150
   HideOnLoad=1
   
   [Commands]
   PLAY=40045
   PAUSE=40046
   STOP=40047
   NEXT=40048
   PREV=40044
   ...etc...

If you type "WINAMPCC PAUSE" (without the quotation marks), you will
find that the music is paused/unpaused. Try commenting out the
PAUSE=40046 line (place a ';' before it) and save the file. Then
type "WINAMPCC PAUSE". It won't do anything. This is a custom
action. By the way, it doesn't matter if you type "WINAMPCC PAUSE",
"WINAMPCC pause" or "WINAMPCC pAuSE" - WinAmpCC is case-insensitive.

=================================================================
PLEASE NOTE: Removing these lines will *NOT* stop the /PLAY, etc,
command line parameters from working. These are built in.
=================================================================

How does 40046 refer to Pause? Well, each button WinAmp has has an
internal ID which Windows sends to WinAmp when you click it. 40046
is the ID for Pause. Try adding the following line to the file:

/MAKE-SOME-MUSIC=40045

Then run "WINAMPCC /MAKE-SOME-MUSIC". WinAmp will (re-)start playing.
For the full list of IDs, see the Nullsoft Developer Network at
www.winamp.com/nsdn/.

Adding a Default Action
-----------------------

If you want something to happen when you run WINAMPCC without any
command-line parameters, add a line like:

=40046

to WINAMPCC.INI. If you enter nothing on the command line, the music
will pause. You can change the value after the '=' obviously, but
there must be NOTHING (not even a space) before the '='.

THE CONFIGURATION SECTION OF WINAMPCC.INI
=========================================

The [Configuration] section of WINAMPCC.INI is new in Winamp Control
Centre 1.2. It is optional, and lets you control several enhanced
features that are new in this release.

Class
-----

This is the window class of the Winamp window. Usually "Winamp v1.x",
but can be set via Winamp command line parameters.

Path
----

Path to Winamp. Required if Autoload is set to 1.

Autoload 
--------

If set to 1, Winamp automatically loads when you call Winamp Control
Centre.

WaitLength
----------

The length of time to wait, in milliseconds, between starting Winamp and
sending a command. Slower computers will require a longer wait. If you
set this value too low, Winamp may load but the command you asked for may
not happen.

HideOnLoad
----------

If set to 1, Winamp will be hidden after it loads.

CREATING A WINAMP TOOLBAR
=========================

If you have IE4 or higher, you can create a toolbar in the task bar
with these commands. To do this:

1. Create a folder somewhere and name it "WinAmp".

2. Create a shortcut to WA_PLAY.EXE in here and name it "Play".

3. Repeat step 2 for WA_STOP.EXE, WA_PAUSE.EXE, WA_PREV.EXE and
   WA_NEXT.EXE. Alternatively, you can use WINAMPCC.EXE with
   the appropriate command-line parameters (see above). If you
   do it this way, you will have to right-click on the shortcuts
   and choose Change Icon... to set them to the appropriate icon
   (otherwise they'll all be Play icons!)

4. Right-click on the taskbar, point to Toolbars and choose New
   Toolbar...

5. Browse to the place you created the folder of shortcuts in and
   click OK.

6. You should now have a WinAmp toolbar in your taskbar. By default,
   you have a "WinAmp" title and a caption for each button. To save
   space, you can turn these off by right-clicking an empty space on
   the WinAmp toolbar or right-clicking the little "movable band" and
   uncheck Show Text and Show Title.

7. Launch WinAmp (if you have not enabled Autoload in WINAMPCC.INI) and
   click the Play button in the taskbar. Your music should start playing.
   Test the other buttons, and enjoy!

If you have any problems, comments or queries about this software, e-mail
me at winampcc@owenrudge.net. Source code is available on request.

Owen Rudge, 7th March 2003
http://www.owenrudge.co,uk/

This software was built listening to WinAmp. It was created in Open Watcom
1.0, as this generates *very* small code. The same code in Borland C++ 4.51
was about 20-30kb. In Watcom, it (the 16-bit version) is about 1.2-1.9kb. For
information on the WinAmp API, please see www.winamp.com/nsdn/. Download Open
Watcom C/C++ 1.0 from www.openwatcom.org.

These programs will run under Windows 3.1 or higher. However, it'd be pretty
pointless running them under Windows 3.1 as WinAmp doesn't run on it. Winamp
does run on Windows NT 3.51 however, as does Winamp Control Centre.