melaxis.com DeskCam 2.0 README
==============================

NOTE: DeskCam is now called DeskStreamer. Please use version 3.

DeskCam 2.0
Copyright 2002 Pablo Hoch, mel@melaxis.com, www.melaxis.com.


1. What is DeskCam?
-------------------

In one sentence: DeskCam turns your desktop into a webcam ;) That means that instead of a
picture captured from a real webcam, DeskCam captures your desktop. Since DeskCam is
open-source, you can easilly adjust it to fit your needs. Some general configurations like
the interval or the filenames can and must be changed in deskcam.ini, but if you want to
remove the cursor from the image (which btw is a nice feature) you have to change the
source. DeskCam writes a new image in an interval you can define - it can for example copy
it to a local directory which is accessible via a webserver. DeskCam also includes a nice
applet which automaticly 'streams' the pictures.


2. What do i need to run DeskCam?
---------------------------------

You don't need very much. You need a pc, not too slow (or it will hang) with Windows 95,
98, ME, NT 3.1, 2000 or XP (or newer). You also need a 24-bit resolution (or higher).
DeskCam is optimized for 1024x768, but you should be able to change that piece of code to
fit your resultion. DeskCam also works with other resultions, but your system might hang
for a second.


3. Well, how do i setup DeskCam?
--------------------------------

First of all adjust the values in deskcam.ini. Copy deskcam.exe, cjpeg.exe and deskcam.ini
into a directory on your harddrive. Copy DeskCam.class, off.jpg (or however its called)
into another directory which is shared/accessible via a webserver. Start DeskCam by
launching deskcam.exe. If nothing happens that's just fine - DeskCam is designed to run in
the background. It should now automaticly update the screenshot. To stop DeskCam, simply
press the SCROLL LOCK-key. You can also check the params in the index.html file.


4. Can i change the size of the image?
--------------------------------------

No, I'm sorry - ATM you can't. DeskCam's optimization wouldn't work for other sizes. You
can get DeskCam 1.0b which supports different sizes, but the old version is much slower
and only supports FTP-upload (and it's not open-source).


5. How can i recompile the whole thing?
---------------------------------------

deskcam.exe:
 MASM6+:
  ml /c /coff deskcam.asm
  rc rsrc.rc
  link /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS deskcam.obj rsrc.res
DeskCam.class:
 JDK1.1.8:
  javac DeskCam.java
Please don't ask me where to get a compiler, how to change the code or anything like that.
I won't help you with modifing the source.


6. I have a problem, can you help me?
-------------------------------------

I'm not sure. Please check the ini-file, then contact me: mel@melaxis.com. Please note that
i cannot provide support if you have changed the sourcecode!