• [1.1] What is AutoPlay and an AutoPlay "teaser" application?
• [1.2] How do I create an AutoPlay "teaser" application for my CD-based product?
• [1.3] How do I play a sound when my AutoPlay "teaser" launches?
• [1.4] How do I add animated hotspots?
• [1.5] How do I add sounds to animated hotspots?
• [1.6] How do I open a document from a hotspot?
• [1.7] How do I link to a web site from a hotspot?
• [1.8] Are there any royalties or hidden fees?

GENERAL

[1.1] What is AutoPlay and an AutoPlay "teaser" application?

AutoPlay is a technology present in Windows® that causes an application on a CD to automatically launch when the disc is inserted into the drive. Microsoft® recommends that the application launched be an AutoPlay "teaser" application. AutoPlay Engine from Stardust Software enables you to easily create AutoPlay "teaser" applications which look and behave similarly to the AutoPlay "teasers" that Microsoft uses with its own products – with no programming required.

[1.2] How do I create an AutoPlay "teaser" application for my CD-based product?

To create an AutoPlay "teaser" for your product, you determine the functionality, design the interface, create the background bitmap file, determine the hotspot coordinates, create a configuration file, create an AUTORUN.INF file, and finally copy these files and our AutoPlay Runtime to your CD.

STEP 1: Determine the functionality of your AutoPlay “teaser”. Make a list of hotspots and the command that will be executed for each.

Hotspot	Description	Command
Install Product	Runs the setup program.	\install\disk1\setup.exe
Interactive Tutorial	Runs the tutorial.	\tutor\tutor.exe
Browse Catalog	Runs the multimedia catalog.	\catalog\catalog.exe
View Readme	Lets the user read the Readme.txt file.	notepad.exe \readme.txt

Figure 1. Sample list of hotspots and commands

Remember, don’t hardcode drive letters in the commands because you don't know what the drive letter will be. The commands should contain absolute paths, in other words complete paths relative to root of the CD. In our example, tutor, install, and catalog are directories off the root directory of the CD, and readme.txt is a text file in the root directory of the CD.

STEP 2: Do a rough design of the look-and-feel for your AutoPlay “teaser”. Pencil and paper work as well as anything. Indicate where the hotspots will be.

Figure 2. Sample AutoPlay "teaser" design

STEP 3: Create the AUTORUN.BMP background bitmap. You can use any paint or graphic program that will save an image as a Windows BMP. A paint program that supports “layers” makes it really easy to create cool graphics.

Figure 3. Sample Autoplay "teaser" AUTORUN.BMP

The bitmap for this example was created using Adobe® Photoshop. The Photoshop image contained several layers. Photoshop rendered the clouds on the background layer, then a CD was placed on a flatbed scanner and scanned. The image of the CD was resized and placed on a layer above the clouds. The CD layer was desaturated and made slightly transparent. Icons for the program were grabbed, using the Print Screen key, while using Windows® Explorer to browse the directory containing them. They were cut and pasted onto a layer above the clouds. This layer of icons was copied to a new layer and placed underneath the icons, then converted to black (retaining transparent portions), blurred, and made slightly transparent, so as to appear like a shadow behind the icons. A layer was created for the 3D effects behind the icons, and the paint tool was used to draw them. Finally a topmost layer was added with type, and made slightly transparent. The finished image was flattened into one layer and saved as a 256-color Windows BMP file with an optimized palette, with the name AUTORUN.BMP.

STEP 4: Determine the coordinates of hotspot rectangles. There are many ways to do this. One way is to use the Paint accessory program included with Windows®. Load the AUTORUN.BMP and use the selection tool to highlight a rectangle around each hotspot. The status bar will show you the coordinates of the hotspot rectangle. Create a list of these coordinates like the following table.

Hotspot	Left (X)	Top (Y)	Width (W)	Height (H)
Install Product	500	21	64	90
Interactive Tutorial	500	121	64	90
Browse Catalog	500	221	64	90
View Readme	500	321	64	90

Figure 4. Sample "AutoPlay teaser" hotspot rectangles

STEP 5: Create the AUTORUN.INI configuration file. Using all the information that you've gathered, use a text editor, such as Notepad, to create the AUTORUN.INI file.

[Options] WindowTitle=Sample AutoPlay Teaser #3 [Hotspots] ;#=x,y,w,h,exec_cmd,close_flag,hilite_bmp,mouse_over_wav,mouse_click_wav 1=500,21,64,90,\install\disk1\setup.exe,0,(none),(none),(none) 2=500,121,64,90,\tutor\tutor.exe,0,0,(none),(none),(none) 3=500,221,64,90,\catalog\catalog.exe,0,(none),(none),(none) 4=500,321,64,90,notepad.exe \readme.txt,0,(none),(none),(none)

Figure 5. Sample "AutoPlay teaser" AUTORUN.INI

STEP 6: Create the AUTORUN.INF file. AUTORUN.INF is a file located on the root of your CD that tells Windows® 95 how to run your AutoPlay “teaser” when the user inserts the CD. You can use Notepad to create a simple file like the following:

[autorun] open=autorun.exe icon=autorun.exe

Figure 6. Sample AutoPlay AUTORUN.INF

STEP 7: Copy all of the files to your CD. In this example, we are going to place all of the following files into the root directory of the CD, which we assume is drive R).
  

copy AUTORUN.INF r:\ copy AUTORUN.EXE r:\ copy AUTORUN.INI r:\ copy AUTORUN.BMP r:\

Figure 7. Example of copying the files to the CD

You would also need to copy all of your other files onto the CD.

That's it. The CD will now automatically launch your AutoPlay “teaser” when it's inserted into the drive.

Figure 8. Final sample "AutoPlay teaser" application

[1.3] How do I play a sound when my AutoPlay "teaser" launches?

Create a file named AUTORUN.WAV, and include it in the same directory as AUTORUN.EXE on your CD.

[1.4] How do I add animated hotspots?

Create a bitmap the size of a particular hotspot rectangle (using our previous examples, we would create a bitmap 64 pixels wide by 90 pixels high). Then modify it to how you want it too look when the mouse is over the hotspot. In this example, we added a halo around the icon.

Figure 9. Sample hotspot BMP with "halo" added.

Then save this image as a Windows BMP. In in this example we called it HILITE1.BMP.

Note: If you are using 256-color BMP graphic files, the hotspot bitmaps MUST have the same palette as the AUTORUN.BMP. Most paint programs will allow you to easily do this. Remember, this is very important if you are using 256 color graphics! All of the BMP files in your AutoPlay “teaser” MUST have the same palette. 

Then, modify AUTORUN.INI to specify the bitmap file to be displayed while the mouse is over the hotspot.
   

[Options] WindowTitle=Sample AutoPlay Teaser #3 [Hotspots] ;#=x,y,w,h,exec_cmd,close_flag,hilite_bmp,mouse_over_wav,mouse_click_wav 1=500,21,64,90,\install\disk1\setup.exe,0,hilite1.bmp,(none),(none) 2=500,121,64,90,\tutor\tutor.exe,0,0,(none),(none),(none) 3=500,221,64,90,\catalog\catalog.exe,0,(none),(none),(none) 4=500,321,64,90,notepad.exe \readme.txt,0,(none),(none),(none)

Figure 10. Sample AUTORUN.INI with animated hotspot for hotspot #1

See how hilite1.bmp was added to the definition for hotspot #1?

[1.5] How do I add sounds to animated hotspots?

If you want, you can add a sound that occurs when the mouse enters a hotspot, and another sound that occurs when the mouse clicks on a hotspot.

Create the WAV files, then add references to them in the AUTORUN.INI. The following example shows hot to add both types of sounds to a hotspot. It assumes that the sound that plays when the mouse enters the hotspot is called MOUSENTR.WAV, and the sound that plays when the mouse clicks on the hotspot is called MOUSCLIK.WAV.
   

[Options] WindowTitle=Sample AutoPlay Teaser #3 [Hotspots] ;#=x,y,w,h,exec_cmd,close_flag,hilite_bmp,mouse_over_wav,mouse_click_wav 1=500,21,64,90,\install\disk1\setup.exe,0,(none),mousentr.wav,mousclik.wav 2=500,121,64,90,\tutor\tutor.exe,0,0,(none),(none),(none) 3=500,221,64,90,\catalog\catalog.exe,0,(none),(none),(none) 4=500,321,64,90,notepad.exe \readme.txt,0,(none),(none),(none)

Figure 11. Sample AUTORUN.INI with hotspot sounds for hotspot #1

[1.6] How do I open a document from a hotspot?

The SE32.EXE shell execution utility provided with AutoPlay Engine 1.4 will allow you to execute document files without specifying an executable.

To use SE32.EXE with your AutoPlay teaser, just reference SE32.EXE and the document as the fifth hotspot parameter.

For example, if you want to open Readme.doc when the user clicks your first hotspot, then you could use the following command as the hotspot command: "se32.exe open,readme.doc".

Here is a complete example of what might appear in an AUTORUN.INI:
 

[Hotspots] 1=80,394,0,0,"se32.exe open,readme.doc",0,hotico1.bmp,hotover.wav,hotclik.wav 2=237,233,63,64,"\Excel\se32.exe open,Test.xls",0,xl.bmp,(none),(none)

Figure 12. Sample AUTORUN.INI with SE32.EXE document opening

Note: SE32 needs to be in the same directory as the document file. Put the path on SE32.EXE, not on the document file. It has to be done that way because of the way Windows manages the current drive and directory. You will need to put a copy of SE32.exe in each directory that contains a document that you wish to associate with a hotspot.

To open a document from a hotspot in a full-screen window, use SE32F.EXE. The usage is exactly the same as for SE32.EXE.

[1.7] How do I link to a web site from a hotspot?

The WebJump.exe utility provided with AutoPlay Engine 1.4 will allow you link a website to a hotspot. When the user clicks on that hotspot, he will be taken to that URL.

To use WebJump with your AutoPlay teaser, just reference WebJump.exe and the URL as the fifth hotspot parameter.

For example, if you want to go to the Stardust Software web site when the user clicks your first hotspot, then you could use the following command as the hotspot command: "\AUTORUN\WEBJUMP.EXE http://www.stardustsoftware.com/".

Here is a complete example of what might appear in an AUTORUN.INI:
 

[Hotspots] 1=311,216,0,0,"\AUTORUN\WEBJUMP.EXE http://www.stardustsoftware.com/",0,web1.bmp,(none),(none)

Figure 13. Sample AUTORUN.INI with WebJump.exe web site linking