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CommunityTSC
Screensaver
Note: The screensaver is an ADD-ON to the existing
client, it is not stand alone.
Please follow
these installation instructions:
1. Unzip the file "D2OLScreenSaver.zip" to a
temporary directory.
2. Copy or move the file "D2OL Screen Saver.scr"
into your Windows Directory.
Note: This directory may be called WinNT on some
windows platforms.
3. Bring up the "Display Properties", click on the
"Screen Saver" tab, and select the "D2OL Screen Saver" from the drop
down list.
4. Click on the "Settings..." button and verify
that the path displayed is the desired path to your Node Agent. If
you have more than one Node installed, you must choose the one that
you want the screen saver to launch (or communicate with).
5. Select the desired screen saver Mode. If you
select "Full GUI", the screen saver will run the node with a
graphical display of the currently docking candidate (see the
section "Known Issues" for know issues on the "Full GUI" mode). If
you select "Blank Screen", the screen saver will simply show a blank
screen while running the node in the background.
Note: Running in the "Full GUI" mode may be
processor intensive and will most likely slow down the Candidate
Processing Engine. To avoid this slowdown, run in the "Blank Screen"
mode. 
Some Known Issues
1. Due to the fact that the D2OL Screen Saver is a
hybrid (a combination of a true Windows screen saver and the Node
Agent), it is not very responsive on slower machine or machines with
limited available memory. This means that it might take a few
seconds both to launch and to shutdown (especially when running in
the "Full GUI" screen saver mode).
2. On older Windows Operating Systems (Windows 95,
Windows 98, and Windows Millennium), using the "Password protected"
option does not seem to work properly. If you are concerned with
restricting access to your computer while it is in Screen Saver
mode, and you are running on one of the above Operating Systems, we
highly suggest to NOT use the D2OL Screen Saver.
Note: While Password Protection seems to work fine
on Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, we suggest testing this
if you are concerned with restricting access to your computer while
it is in Screen Saver mode. However, it should work fine.
3. When running with the "Password protected"
option on, AND if the Node is already running when the D2OL Screen
Saver launches, AND if the desired screen saver mode is "Full GUI",
the Node's GUI window may not be displayed on some version of
Windows. This is due to the fact that some versions of Windows seem
to prevent already running processes from displaying themselves when
in "Password protected" mode. However, even though the GUI window
cannot be seen, it is still running and potentially slowing down the
Candidate Processing Engine (as noted above, the "Full GUI" Screen
Saver mode can slow down the Candidate Processing Engine). Thus, if
this is the case for you, you can either 1) Run using the "Blank
Screen" Screen Saver Mode, 2) Turn the "Password protected" option
off, 3) Only run the Node with the Screen Saver (i.e. do not have it
running all the time), or 4) Choose not to use the D2OL Screen Saver
at all.
4. In some rare cases, it is possible to shut the
D2OL Screen Saver down before in can successfully communicate with
the running Node Agent. In this case, the Node can be left running
when it should shut down. If this happens, you can shut the Node
Agent down manually from the System Tray icon. It is also possible,
in these cases, for the full screen GUI window to stay up and not go
away on its own (if running in "Full GUI" Mode). If this happens,
simply mouse click on the black background of the window and the
main GUI will be restored to its normal state. You can then shut the
Node down manually from the System Tray icon or leave it running if
you choose.
Note: This seems to mostly happen when running on
newer versions of Windows (Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP)
with the "Password protected" option on and when stopping the screen
saver by directly pressing <CTRL>-<ALT>-<DEL>. If,
however, you press another key or use the mouse to turn off the
screen saver before pressing <CTRL>-<ALT>-<DEL>
(and allowing time for the Screen Saver to shutdown fully before
pressing <CTRL>-<ALT>-<DEL> or entering your
password), then this problem may not occur.
5. If the Node Agent is not running when the D2OL
Screen Saver launches, the Screen Saver will launch the Node using
its default Windows Controller (with the System Tray Icon). Other
controllers (Pure Java, CLI, or File Based) are not currently
supported.
6. If you are using large fonts, or a font scaling
other than the default of small fonts (defined in the Display
Properties), and you run in "Full GUI" Screen Saver mode, the
full-screen GUI window might be sized slightly incorrectly. The
result is that the right and bottom edges of the window might not
cover the entire screen.
The D2OL Screen Saver is meant to be an example
implementation. It is possible for interested users to write their
own screen savers if they choose. For Development Details please
refer to the readme file which comes with D2OLScreenSaver.zip
downloadable package.  |