How to make your own Ugly CD Player Appearances
With version 2.1 of Ugly CD Player, you are able to change the appearance of your CD controls. Ugly CD Player comes with 6 different appearances to choose from. The idea behind allowing appearance choices was not only to give some variety, but also to allow you, the user, to make your own appearances if you are so inclined.
The following instructions are given as-is, with no detailed technical support available for it's contents. If you find some incorrect information, a bug, or have a suggestion for improving this document, please e-mail appearances@buzzardsoft.com.
If there is enough interest, we will distribute free packages of appearances created by our users from our web site. If you create an appearance that you would like us to distribute, please e-mail it to us at appearances@buzzardsoft.com. As Buzzard Software is unable to compensate you for your efforts, please only send us your appearance files if you give us full rights to distribute your work for free. We will not change your appearance files in any way without your permission. Your appearance files will not be distributed as part of the main Ugly CD Player package. They will, instead, be distributed as seperate downloads from our web site at our sole discretion.
What you will need:
Overview:
An Ugly CD Player appearance file contains: a bunch of 'PICT' resources (the graphics) and a 'STR#' (string) resource which contains the descriptive text for the appearance file. Your job is to modify/replace all the graphics and change the string to describe your creation. You may find it useful to use one of the appearance files provided in the Ugly CD Player package as a template for your work. Appearance files go into the "Appearances Folder" in the same folder as Ugly CD Player itself.
Pictures to modify:
There are 36 pictures required for an Ugly CD Player appearance, each of which resides in it's own 'PICT' resource in your appearance file. There is a table below which enumerates them. You must make sure that the 'PICT' resources you create match exactly the ID numbers and pixel sizes given, or your appearance may behave unpredictably within Ugly CD Player. You can use Copy and Paste to copy an image from your drawing program and place it into your appearance file with your resource editor.
| 'PICT' ID | Picture | Description | Width | Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 | 
| Window title bar | 117 | 5 |
| 129 | 
| background for controls | 117 | 24 |
| 130 | 
| play/pause button | 28 | 9 |
| 131 | 
| play/pause button hilighted | 28 | 9 |
| 132 | 
| eject button | 13 | 9 |
| 133 | 
| eject button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 134 | 
| stop button | 13 | 9 |
| 135 | 
| stop button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 136 | 
| rewind button | 13 | 9 |
| 137 | 
| rewind button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 138 | 
| fast forward button | 13 | 9 |
| 139 | 
| fast forward button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 140 | 
| go to previous track button | 13 | 9 |
| 141 | 
| go to previous track button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 142 | 
| go to next track button | 13 | 9 |
| 143 | 
| go to next track button hilighted | 13 | 9 |
| 200 | 
| track label | 15 | 9 |
| 201 | 
| track time count up label | 15 | 9 |
| 202 | 
| track time count down label | 15 | 9 |
| 203 | 
| disc time count up label | 15 | 9 |
| 204 | 
| disc time count down label | 15 | 9 |
| 300 | 
| number 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 301 | 
| number 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 302 | 
| number 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 303 | 
| number 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 304 | 
| number 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 305 | 
| number 5 | 5 | 9 |
| 306 | 
| number 6 | 5 | 9 |
| 307 | 
| number 7 | 5 | 9 |
| 308 | 
| number 8 | 5 | 9 |
| 309 | 
| number 9 | 5 | 9 |
| 310 | 
| colon/seperator | 5 | 9 |
| 311 | 
| blank space | 5 | 9 |
| 500 | 
| volume rail | 5 | 17 |
| 501 | 
| volume slider control | 5 | 5 |
| 1000 | 
| appearance preview* | 119 | 31 |
* The appearance preview should include a one pixel black box around it as that is how it is drawn on screen.
Descriptive text:
The descriptive text in your appearance is stored in a 'STR#' resource with ID=1000. The maximum length of this text is 255 characters, though the amount that will be visible in the appearance selection dialog of Ugly CD Player is likely much less than this. Make sure that your text appears as desired in said dialog box. This text will be centered automatically, if you want to take that into consideration.
Appearance file type and creator:
Ugly CD Player appearances need to have the proper file type and creator. In ResEdit use "Get Info for This File" (if the appearance file is open) or "Get File/Folder Info..." (to choose the file) under the "File" menu. In Resorcerer, open the appearance file and select "File Info" under the "File" menu. For "Type", enter "CDma" (without the quotes), and for "Creator", enter "CDmp" (again, without the quotes). Then save your file.
Testing your appearance file:
Simply make sure that you place your new file in the folder called "Appearances Folder" in the same directory as the Ugly CD Player application. Launch Ugly CD Player, then choose "Select Appearance..." under the "Edit" menu. If you've done everything correctly, your appearance file should be selectable from the list. You should see your preview and descriptive text. If you click "OK", your CD player controls should match your masterpiece. Be sure to select all the buttons to make sure that the hilight states work correctly.
Congratulations! You've now made an Ugly CD Player appearance!