Windows 95 - September 20: Version 2.0 ToolVox™ Player ReadMe Introduction ToolVox is a set a tools for creating and playing sound files on the Internet. ToolVox has two components - the Player and the Encoder. The Player lets you listen to Web sites that include VOX files (which are highly compressed, low bandwidth audio data created with the Encoder.) It also supports playing MIDI files as background music to speech. No special server software is required to use ToolVox. System Requirements Minimum 486DX-66 MHz PC Windows 95, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 or Windows NT (Workstation 3.51) 4 MB RAM (16 MB RAM for NT) 2 MB disk space 8 bit sound card & speakers Plug-in capable Web browser (Netscape Navigator 3.0 preferred) Recommended Pentium PC Windows 95, Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 or Windows NT (Workstation 3.51) 8 MB RAM (16 MB RAM for NT) 2 MB disk space 16 bit sound card & speakers Plug-in capable Web browser (Netscape Navigator 3.0 preferred) What’s New in this Release Hear Background Music on Web Pages You can now hear background music with VOX files on Web pages. The Player supports playing Level 0 MIDI files and VOX files simultaneously. Control Playback of a VOX File You can change the part of the VOX file that is playing by dragging the yellow slider bar in the ToolVox Player. Overview ToolVox Player If you use Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher, the installation program will set up the ToolVox Player as a plug-in, which enables audio streaming (i.e., VOX files start to play while they are being downloaded). If you use a Web browser that does not suppor t plug-ins, you must set up the ToolVox Player as a helper application. When you access Web sites with VOX files, you may see a Voxware icon or the Player (pictured below). When the Player is displayed, you can slow down or speed up playback by moving the slider bar with your mouse. Changing the speed of playback will not change the pitch of the voice. You can also start and pause playback by clicking on the Play/Pause butto n. You can control the playback of the VOX file by dragging the yellow slider bar in the data buffer above the timer. If you see the Voxware icon on a Web page, click on it to start and stop playback. Testing Your ToolVox Player Installation To test if the ToolVox Player was set up properly, start your Web browser and access a site with a VOX file (try Voxware’s Web site at http://www.voxware.com). You may also wish to access “Cool Sites Using ToolVox” (http://www.voxware.com/coolsite.htm) to go to other Web sites with VOX files. Known Issues & Notes ToolVox Player · If you use Netscape Navigator Gold and/or Windows NT, you must set up the ToolVox Player as a plug-in manually. To manually set up the ToolVox Player as a Netscape plug-in: 1. In the Explorer or File Manager, go to the directory where the ToolVox files were installed. 2. Find the file named NPnnVOX.DLL (where nn is 32 or 16, depending on your version of Windows). Copy this file into the plug-ins subdirectory of Netscape, for example, C:\NAVGOLD\PROGRAM\PLUGINS. 3. Copy all of the other DLLs (except NPnnVOX.DLL) into your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. 4. If you use Windows 3.1, copy RT32VOX.VXD into the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory also. To check if the ToolVox Player is set up as a plug-in correctly: 1. Start Netscape. 2. In the Location field (where you usually see URLs), type about:plugins. 3. Verify that audio/voxware is displayed. To test if the plug-in was set up properly, start Netscape and access a site with a VOX file (try Voxware’s Web site at http://www.voxware.com). · You must manually set up the ToolVox Player as a helper application in your Web browser. This is required if you are using a browser other than Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher. (Even if you are using Netscape Navigator 2.0 or higher, you should set up the ToolVox Player as a helper application, in case you access Web pages that are not optimized for Netscape.) Setting up ToolVox as a helper application enables your browser to launch the Player when you access a Web page that includes a VOX file. This procedure varies, depending on your Web browser. Generally, you will need to specify the following: MIME Type: audio MIME Subtype: voxware Application: WPnnVOX.EXE, where nn is 32 or 16, depending on your operating system. This file is in the directory where ToolVox was installed. File Extension: vox Refer to your browser's online Help or Web site for more information. NOTE: Check the setup of the helper application periodically. Select Options...General Preferences, then click on the Helpers tab. Review the information next to “audio/voxware” and confirm that “wp32vox” or “wp16vox” is on this line. If it is not, browse your system to find and select the application and click on OK. Select Options...Save Options. · Short VOX files may not pause immediately. · Pausing and restarting a VOX file will replay some data. · ALT+F4 will close a Player when visualmode=float, but the VOX file will continue to play. · If you go to a Web site with a Java applet that plays sound, then go to a page with a VOX file, you may get a “Sound device is busy” message. To stop this message from being displayed, exit and restart your Web browser. This problem may occur in Netscap e Navigator 2.0. · If height and width are not specified when visualmode is set to player or icon, a syntax error message will be displayed and the audio will not play when the Web page is accessed. The Web page author should add these parameters to the EMBED tag. This sy ntax error does NOT indicate a problem with the Player. · If you decide to uninstall the Player, one file may not be deleted that you can safely remove: NP32VOX.DLL. There may be two copies of this file: in the Netscape plug-in directory (normally this copy is removed by the uninstall process), and in the inst all directory where you placed the other Voxware files. · (Windows 3.1 users only) The Player has a small memory leak. After playing many VOX files, you may find it necessary to restart Windows. · (Windows 3.1 users only) MIDI may not play on some systems. Netscape · (Windows NT users only) After playing many VOX files, Netscape may refuse to load the ToolVox Player plug-in, or the user interface may respond very slowly, requiring a system restart. · Netscape can crash if background mode is used (no window displayed), and you click on the area of the Web page where the window might have been. · Netscape sometimes positions the icon or the player incorrectly. This can cause the icon or player to disappear altogether. Contact Information You can contact Voxware and receive technical support via email by filling out the form on our Web site at http://www.voxware.com. Voxware, Inc. 305 College Road East Princeton, NJ 08540 Phone: (609) 514-4100 Fax: (609) 514-4101 ToolVox Player V2.0 ========================== End of ToolVox Player ReadMe