Speed Reader : Quick Reference Guide ...
Version 2.0 : March 2004
About The Software : If you have lots of plain text files on your hard drive then you will know how frustrating it can be sometimes to open them all individually to find the info you are looking for. This handy utility will help you to quickly browse through your drives and folders and display the text files with just a few clicks. Simple but effective. Although originally made for text-only use, this updated version now adds a basic image viewing feature. It's not meant to be an all-in-one media browser but it will provide you with fast access to some of the most commonly used image formats.

License Agreement : This program is FREEWARE. You may install it on as many computers as you want! You may use it without any charge for both personal and commercial work. While every effort has been made to ensure the compatibility and stability of this application, no warranty is given on it's use. Cybia is NOT liable for any damage or loss of data resulting from the use of this software. All resources are Copyright © S.W.Upham 2004. This agreement does NOT grant you any intellectual property rights.

Distribution : If you wish to host this utility on a website or include it on a CD compilation (i.e. magazine cover CD), then please contact me first for permission. All zip file contents MUST remain intact and unmodified for distribution purposes. E-mail : steve@cybia.co.uk with your requests, thank you.

System Requirements : Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP

Installation : Unzip all the files to a suitable folder on your hard drive, for example C:\Cybia\SReader. Create a shortcut to the SReader.exe file and run it To uninstall just delete the folder where you installed the program files to. Also delete the SReader.ini file that has been automatically created in your Windows folder (this is where your settings are stored, so keep a backup if you want to reuse it at a later time). Finally, remove any shortcuts that you have created manually for the program.

Additional Credits : Speed Reader was programmed using Borland Delphi with additional components LsFileExplorer by Leo D. Shih and GraphicEx library by Mike Lischke. This user guide was created using Macromedia Dreamweaver. Screenshots taken with IrfanView and edited in Adobe Photoshop. Zip file created using Enzip. Many thanks also to all my beta testers who helped along the way!
Getting Started ...  
Main Program : This screenshot (right) shows the basic program layout. The left-hand side consists of two controls as follows ...

1. Drive/folder drop-down browser
2. Directory contents filelist window

The right-hand side shows the preview area for viewing text and image files selected from the filelist. The window switches between text and image mode via settings in the popup menu.

Using The Browser : Move the mouse cursor over the box that contains the yellow folder and green arrow graphic. Click on this to display the drop-down browser. You will now be able to select a drive and folder of your choice ...
Browsing (Continued) : The browsing window will automatically resize to fit the current height of the application.

Select a drive by clicking on the ICON and not the text next to it. Then browse through the folders contained on that drive until you find your required location.

It works in a similar way to Windows Explorer so most users should be familiar with this method.

Click on the plus (+) and minus (-) boxes in order to expand and contract the directory trees.

When you have found the location you are looking for make sure you click on the folder ICON and not the text next to it.

As soon as you click on your chosen folder icon then the browsing window will disappear and show the filelist box containing the directory contents.

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Filelist Popup Menu : If you right-click anywhere in the filelist window area then you will see a popup menu containing various options ...

The first 2 items toggle between text and image mode. You can choose to show the folder option in the filelist window, plus change the display font settings if you wish. You can revert to the default settings at any time

Text Mode : When the "Browse Text Files" option is selected, the filelist mask is set to display only files that are labelled with known plain text format extensions.

For example : *.txt, *.ini, *.sys, *.bat, *.htm, etc

Click ONCE on a file to preview the contents in the text pane area. If you click TWICE then the file will be automatically opened using the default program you have associated with that particular extension.

Text Popup Menu : If you right-click anywhere in the text window then you will be able to copy selected text to the Windows clipboard, show/hide the browsing pane, and change the word wrap and font settings.

"Text AutoFocus" will automatically focus on the text pane after selecting a file, for faster reading.
Switching Modes : Right-click in the filelist window to show the popup menu and select the "Browse Image Files" option. Click on "Browse Text Files" to switch back to text mode.

Image Mode : When the "Browse Image Files" option is selected, the filelist mask is set to display only files that are labelled with known graphic format extensions.

For example : *.jpg, *.png, *.bmp, *.psd, *.tga, etc

Click ONCE on a file to preview the contents in the text pane area. If you click TWICE then the file will be automatically opened using the default program you have associated with that particular extension.
Image Popup Menu : If you right-click anywhere in the image window then you will be able to copy the selected graphic to the Windows clipboard, show/hide the browsing pane, switch between "Full" or "Tile" views, and also change the default colour of the background in the image window.

Image Mode (Full View) : The default setting will show selected images at their full size in the preview window.

(This screenshot shows the browser hidden)

If the image is smaller than the preview pane then it will be displayed in the top left-hand corner. If the image is larger than the preview area then scrollbars will be automatically displayed to enable you to view the entire graphic.

Image Mode (Tile View) : If you select the "Tile View" option from the image popup menu then the preview window will automatically repeat the graphic to fill the whole area. The image must be smaller than the preview in order for you to notice this effect.

This feature will come in handy if you want to check how small seamless tiles will look when displayed on web page backgrounds, or any other situation where you will need to use seamless images in your work.

Windows Dialog (Font) : You can call the standard font dialog in Windows in order to change the text settings for the browsing display and text preview area. Modify the text size, colour and typeface to suit your preferences.

Choose the "Browser Font" and "Reader Font" options found in the right-click popup menus.

Windows Dialog (Colour) : If you would like to change the default colour of the background area for the image preview, then select the "Background" option from the image popup menu and this will call the standard colour dialog in Windows.

Select a colour from the basic range shown or define your own custom colour by extending the dialog options. When you are done click "OK" to return to the program.
Visit The Website ...
More Freebies! : If you have enjoyed using Speed Reader then be sure to visit the Cybia website and download some of the other resources available. Visit online at : www.cybia.co.uk