readme.txt

VU meter component source code for Delphi 2 and 3

           Vumeter v1.0 - Delphi 2.0 and 3.0 Source Code
              By Viorel Dehelean - [e-mail]


1. Introduction

   After receiving enough messages from people that liked and used my
component , i decided to release the source code.This decision was also
taken for several reasons like , email account changes , ISP changes
several requests for D3 versions , Windows reinstalls , HDD formatting ,
and probably for the fact that i am so bored to answer so many emails :))
(just kidding) !

2. What it does.

  The ideea is simple , i first was inspired after my old sound card drivers
, Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 that will be , which has a verry neat
realtime Vumeter application which i think it was verry cool at that time.
After my tests i can't say that this is a REAL TIME component because it has
some verry small delays on getting the peak ... well at least when i play some
64 channels XM or a huge instrumental MP3 ...

Anyway , if your sound card driver supports the peak functions used by
Micro$oft in their API , you can get the peak level that goes out to your
speakers.It can be used for digital or analogic style peak level meters.
I first used this component for building a DJ Helper program for radio
stations and discos , and then i found out that a net-friend of mine , that
will be Cumerlato Sando aka QME , used it for a similar application.

3. How to use

   Again verry simple ... all what you need is first to start the vumeter like

   ...
   Vumeter1.Start;
   ...

and then periodicaly o update the peak level with :

   ...
   Vumeter1.Update:boolean;
   ...

If the function succedes , you will get a TRUE return value , else you will
   FALSE.

Check the code for error reference.
After you are done , just call

  ...
  Vumeter1.stop;
  ...

that will close down the mixer connections ...

Simple , right ?
At least i think so ... :)

4. How not to use

   This is kinda complicated question ...
This is what you can't do to and with Vumeter :

   1 - Sell it
   2 - Dump it
   3 - Wash it
   4 - Pet it
   5 - Rush it (Windows is slow enough)
   6 - Blah , blah , blah

Also i am not responsable of any software or hardware damage produced by
the missuse of this component.
Anyway i am not responsable of anything :)))

5. Troubleshooting

   If the vumeter is not working there can be one of the following :

   1 - Your sound card driver does not support the required functions
   2 - There are no mixer devices available in the system.

How to fix :
   Problem 1 : - Get a real sound card !
   Problem 2 : - Go to Micro$oft Windows Out of Control Panel
               - Go to Multimedia
               - Go to Advanced tab and check if there are any mixer devices
                 available
               - If there are , i don't know what can be the problem , and you
                 may wanna check Problem 1
               - If there are , try updating the driver for your sound card

I am not really sure but this think MIGHT work with D1 , i haven't worked
in D1 for a long , long time :)
Also i am not sure if this complies with the new Micro$oft Win32 Driver Model
that can be found in Windows98 aka Memphis.
I have tested on Memphis build 1614 with WDM drivers and is not working at
all.But this gives me another thing to work on ...

6. Credits and Contact Info

The first i want to thanx to Miladin Pavlicic , that i unfortunately lost
this email address , for portions of code.

Thanx for trusting my component to :
      Cumerlato Sandro <Qme>
      Home Page = http://www.dic.unipd.it/qme/
      Mirror = http://www.geocities.com/vienna/2274/
      E-Mail = [e-mail]

Also thanx to all people who writted me , sended me post cards , and also
we can't forget the ones that downloaded my component just to see if it works
and never used it or emailed to me !

And now here i am :

Full Name : Viorel Dehelean
Nickname : KiCk
E-Mail : [e-mail]
ICQ UIN : 2108048
Linux Talk address : Viorel Dehe@193.226.117.175 (hehe i have perm. connection)
Phone : Home - 40-39-615151
        Work/Fax - 40-39-617000
Home address :
     Viorel Dehelean
     Str. Ipotesti nr.4 Bl.C2 Sc.2 Ap.22
     Braila 6100
     Romania

Cheers !