Hi,

when working with many different programs like Netscape etc. for some
hours which consume a lot of memory, then sometimes it happens that
the screensaver, i.e. the system screensaver defined in win.ini /
system.ini, not an external application like "After Dark", will not be
startet after the time that has been set. This even occurs if those
programs have been closed and the memory (almost completely) has been
released.

The next effect I was wondering about is, that when a DOS session is
the topmost window then the system screensaver won't start. It is the
same wheter this is a full screen application or a DOS Box.

After that I wrote a little test application which automatically
invokes the system screensaver after a given time by sending a
"WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_SCREENSAVE" to the desktop.

I had to see that this obviously is a very much more reliable
solution, i.e. this works _ALWAYS_ and not only sometimes, see above,
and even more: When a DOS _BOX_ is open, this also works!

Does anyone know a reason for those effects?

Markus

"Markus R. Keßler" <dimke@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:3efc2bcc.57012@news.netsurf.de...
I don't use Win 3.x anymore (doesn't support the new hardware...) but IIRC
in the DOS window properties (or in the PIF file that starts it) you can
specify whether you want the screensaver to be allowed.

In newer versions of Windows the setting is under Properties | Misc

Windows sends WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_SCREENSAVE to the active window; the
application (WINOLDAP for DOS windows) may choose to ignore it.

BTW, why most media players don't disable the screen saver while playing?
Geesh!

--
Paul Chitescu
pchitescu@null.ro http://pchitescu.null.ro/ ICQ:22641673
Any spammers will be painfully squeezed into /dev/null

Markus R. Keßler wrote:
What happens under those circumstances if you go into Control Panel,
Desktop, ScreenSaver and do a Test? Does the screen saver run at all in
Test mode?

At least that part I know is normal. The "normal" windows screen saver
packaged with Win 3.x doesn't have the ability to save screen
information from a DOS session running in the forground - either in a
Window or in full screen mode. There was at least one commercial screen
saver that could do that - IIRC it was called Intermission. How they did
it, I don't know. And if it worked at all some times depended on the
given DOS application that was open at the time. But the standard
Windows screen saver isn't designed to do what you ask.

"Markus R. Keßler" wrote:

[snip]

Btw: I'm currently playing around nasm/alink for Win32s and Open Watcom.
There are still other "developers" for Windows 3.1x. ;-)

--
Robert Riebisch
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