                                 Watchers 1.0
                          (c) Chris Copenhaver 1999


Watchers is a classic Shareware program.
Pay for it only if you like it.
If you hate it, don't pay for it.  It is as simple as that.
To pay, send $5 cash or check to:

    Chris Copenhaver
    531 Crowne Woods Drive
    Birmingham, AL  35244


DESCRIPTION:
Watchers are sets of eyes that follow the mouse cursor wherever it moves on the screen.  They serve no useful purpose (except maybe to help you find the mouse cursor).  They can blink,  be moved to any position on the screen, and be resized to any desirable size.  You can have up to 100 Watchers on the screen at any time.  You may also close all of the screen Watchers and let the eyes in the tray icon follow your cursor around.


INSTALLATION:
To install Watchers, simply create a directory for the application (or you can use an existing one) and unzip the contents of the ZIP file into that directory.  You will have to create any shortcuts for running Watchers yourself.  If you would like Watchers to run every time you start your computer, add a shortcut to the Startup folder.  Hopefully, in later releases, Watchers will have an installation program to automate this for you.

FEATURES:
To run Watchers, all you need is the Watchers.exe file.

When Watchers is first started, it will generate several sets of eyes on your desktop.  They will be various sizes, shapes, and colors.  Each set of eyes will look at your cursor no matter where it goes.

To access and change the Watchers' options, right click on the Watchers icon in the task bar's icon tray.  A pop-up menu will appear.  Select the Options menu item.  This will bring up the "Watchers Options" dialog box.  The "Startup Options" are in the upper left portion of this dialog box.  If the "Load From File" options is selected, the settings of the current Watchers on the screen will be saved when the application is shutdown.  Those exact settings will be restored the next time the application is started.  If the "Generate" option is selected, there will be a user-defined number of Watchers randomly generated every time the application is started.  You can define the number of Watchers to be generated in the edit box directly to the right of the "Generate" radio button.

When Watchers starts up, a dialog box will be displayed showing the completion progress of the application's initialization.  You can toggle this feature on and off by using the "Show Progress" check box under the "Startup Options."

Watchers will also randomly blink.  You can toggle blinking on and off by using the "Watchers Blink" check box.

The Watchers have the option of always being on top of all windows.  To turn this feature on, use the "Always On Top" check box.  Checking the "Always On Bottom" check box will always make the Watcher windows below all other windows on the screen.  If neither one of these options is turned on, the Watcher windows will behave like normal windows.

The "Refresh Rate" slider control determines how often the Watchers are redrawn to look at the cursor.  The left side of the slider control is more often, and the right side is less often.

The "Blink Rate" slider control determines how often the Watchers will blink.  The left side of the slider control is more often, and the right side is less often.

Watchers can be resized by moving the cursor to the edge of one of the eyes until the cursor changes to a resize cursor.  Hold the left mouse button down and drag the mouse until the Watcher is the desired size.

Watchers can also be moved to any part of the screen.  To move a Watcher, drag and drop it anywhere on the desktop.

You can add new Watchers to the screen by right clicking on the Watchers tray icon and selecting the "Add Watcher" option from the pop-up menu. A new Watcher will appear in the middle of the screen.  Drag it to the desired position, and drop it into place.  You may also make a "copy" of a Watcher that is currently on the screen.  Do this by right clicking on the Watcher you wish to copy and selecting "Duplicate" from the pop-up menu.  A Watcher identical to the selected Watcher (the one which was clicked on) is created in the middle of the screen for you to drop where you desire.

To change the eye color of a Watcher, right click on the Watcher in question and select the "Color" option from the pop-up menu.  Then, select the desired color from the color selection dialog box.

To remove a single Watcher from the screen, right click on the Watcher in question and select the "Close" menu item from the pop-up menu.

To shutdown the Watchers application, right click on the tray icon and select the "Close" option from the pop-up menu.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Watchers should run on any machine with Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0.  As a general rule, the more Watchers you have on the screen, the faster you need your machine to be.  Watchers will use a significant amount of CPU time when the mouse cursor is moved.  If you find that Watchers is causing your machine to run slowly, close some of the Watcher windows.  Machines with Pentium 166 or higher processors should not have any problems with even 100 Watcher windows.


FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS:
Currently, I am waiting to see if there is any response to Watchers 1.0 before planning any future releases.  If the responses are encouraging, I will then try to continue to upgrade Watchers.  I have several ideas for upgrades and would like to make them realities.  Also, if you have any ideas for how Watchers can be improved, I would greatly appreciate you input.  If your idea makes it into future releases, I will be sure to give the appropriate credit either in the ReadMe file or in the "About" box of the application.


DISTRIBUTION:
You can distribute Watchers freely and share it with other people at no cost.  The one condition for distribution is that this ReadMe.txt file is distributed with the software.

You have permission to include Watchers in any commercial CDROM (or other media) which distributes Shareware.  I do ask that Watchers must NOT be the main selling argument for the software package.  Also, if Watchers is included in any such package, please keep me informed.

WARRANTY DISCLAIMER:
There is no warranty of any kind with this program.  The author takes no responsibility or liability for any damages to anyone physically or mentally.  The author also takes no responsibility or liability for any damage to computer hardware or software that this software is installed.  In short:  Use this program at your own risk.

CONTACTING THE AUTHOR & BUG REPORTS:
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. Also, if you should discover a bug or have an enhancement idea, please let me know by e-mailing me at wario@mindspring.com.

e-mail chris at wario@mindspring.com

