QMamecat FAQ
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v0.44, 21-FEB-2003

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Questions:

Q1: QMamecat needs cutting-edge Qt versions. Can I have two Qt 3 releases
    installed at the same time ? If so, how ?
Q2: How can I search for games in the gamelist ?
Q3: How can I store snapshots so that they are available to QMamecat right away ?
Q4: QMamecat won't display any snapshot. What's wrong ?
Q5: Where can I get more preview images ? I like the idea, but it's simply
    too much work for me to create them all...
Q6: How can I store my current layout (window and column positions) ?
Q7: Why isn't there a KDE version (KMamecat) ?
Q8: When the ROM status cache is refreshed it eats all my CPU time ! Is that a
    bug ?
Q9: I accidentially removed my catalog and QMamecat doesn't recreate it ! I even
    tried the -r switch, but it doesn't work. I'm lost, please help !
Q10: Are there any plans for a Windows (TM) port of QMamecat ?
Q11: What the hell are all these binaries for ? Do I need to call any of these
     or just QMamecat ?

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Answers:

Q1: QMamecat needs cutting-edge Qt versions. Can I have two Qt 3 releases
    installed at the same time ? If so, how ?

A1: Yes, you can !

    Simply create a script or alias for all of your installed Qt versions and
    set QTDIR and LD_LIBRARY_PATH accordingly:

    export QTDIR=/your/path/to/qt-x.x.x
    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/your/path/to/qt-x.x.x/lib

    Note that the current minimum required version is Qt 3.1.0 !


Q2: How can I search for games in the gamelist ?

A2: Just press an alphanumeric key while in the gamelist !

    A search-widget (a combo box) will be opened below the gamelist and while
    you enter the search string the string will automatically be substituted if
    matching gamenames are found... the combo box' popup list will show the
    current matches.

    Note that this also works reversely when you press the backspace-key !

    The ESC key (or a timeout of 4 seconds) will close the search-widget.


Q3: How can I store snapshots so that they are available to QMamecat right away ?

A3: Add the xmame command line option "-screenshotdir" (see "xmame -h") to 
    Options -> Files and previews -> General M.A.M.E. options (or edit
    <mame_options> in qmamecatrc) and specify the directory used in Options ->
    Files and previews -> Preview directory (or <preview_dir> in qmamecatrc) !

    While playing a game within xmame, press the F12 key to store the snapshot.

    When you are back in QMamecat, move the gamelist cursor up and down (one
    game) and the snapshot should be available !

    Note that you cannot use zip-compressed previews if you want to be able to
    use the new snapshots directly (you have to put them in the archive
    manually !).

    Also note that you need at least xmame-0.36b1.1 as this command line option
    ("-screenshotdir") was first implemented in this release.

    Furthermore, you obviously need write permission for the preview directory
    to be able to do this !


Q4: QMamecat won't display any snapshot. What's wrong ?

A4: First of all, check if Options -> Files and previews -> Show previews is
    checked (or <show_preview> is set to true in qmamecatrc).

    If so, check if Options -> Files and previews -> Preview directory is
    correctly setup (<preview_dir> in qmamecatrc). Note that it needs a trailing
    "/" !

    If you are using ZIP-compressed previews, do the same for Options -> Files
    and previews -> Use ZIP-compressed previews (or <use_compressed_previews> in
    qmamecatrc) and Options -> Files and previews -> ZIP-compressed preview file
    (or <compressed_preview_file> in qmamecatrc).

    If everything appears ok but still no previews are shown, please check the 
    read permission to the <preview_dir> or <compressed_preview_file> !


Q5: Where can I get more preview images ? I like the idea, but it's simply
    too much work for me to create them all...

A5: Well, it's much work for us as well :).

    A copy of our self-made preview collection is available at 
    http://www.mameworld.net/mamecat/ (section "Previews") !

    Thanks to Robert Hamberger (rh474@bingo-ev.de), we regularly update the
    collection.

    The previews may be compatible with other (X-)Mame frontends as well - at
    least gRustibus (http://grustibus.sourceforge.net/) supports them as far as
    we know. Otherwise an image-converter should help... we publish PNG images
    only.


Q6: How can I store my current layout (window and column positions) ?

    Simply select Options -> Save options (or use its accelerator ALT-S) from
    the menu or click Save in the options dialog !

    If <auto_save_options> is enabled, the layout will be saved automatically.

    Note that QMamecat will recognize ANY changes to the window layout and will
    ask you to save it if applicable.


Q7: Why isn't there a KDE version (KMamecat) ?

A7: Although some of us use KDE and are convinced that it is a cool and modern
    desktop environment, we will probably never create a KDE port of QMamecat
    (aka KMamecat :) !

    The main reason is that we want QMamecat to work on _any_ UNIX/X11 platform
    without an additional requirement. You need Qt, that's all - it should work
    with any window manager.

    There are no restrictions resulting from this.


Q8: When the ROM status cache is refreshed it eats all my CPU time ! Is this a
    bug ?

A8: No, it's not a bug. This happens because xmame and QMamecat are running in
    parallel: xmame verifies the ROM status, QMamecat analyses the output. There
    is no way to circumvent this.

    The code for the analysis has been greatly improved since version 0.44.bxx !


Q9: I accidentially removed my catalog and QMamecat doesn't recreate it ! I even
    tried the -r switch, but it doesn't work. I'm lost, please help !

A9: Don't panic :) !

    Your catalog may be lost, but you can create a new one with these commands: 

    cd <path_where_your_old_catalog_was_stored> (normally $HOME/.xmame)
    catgen

    (this requires catgen to be in your path, of course, but this is required
    anyway)

    If you renamed the catalog file before (default is mamecat.cat), mv the new
    catalog:

    mv mamecat.cat <your_old_catalog_file_name>

    (alternatively, you can change its name back to the default - mamecat.cat -
    in qmamecatrc - see option <catalog>)

    If you removed the ROM status cache (normally $HOME/.xmame/mamecat.rsc) as
    well, you can use the -r switch to recreate it:

    qmamecat -r

    But this should not be neccessary, because QMamecat will generate a new one
    automatically if it can't find a valid ROM status cache file.


Q10: Are there any plans for a Windows (TM) port of QMamecat ?

    We are not yet actively porting anything to Windows, mostly because Qt 3 is
    currently not free for the Windows platform. But we would like to do so, if
    the situation changes. That's a promise !

    Meanwhile we just try to make QMamecat as platform-independent as possible
    to minimize the porting effort later. Porting to other UNIX(-like) platforms
    should be fairly straight-forward, though.


Q11: What the hell are all these binaries for ? Do I need to call any of these
     or just QMamecat ?

    Normally, you only need to start QMamecat and it will call the rest by
    itself when needed. You only need to make sure that ALL binaries are
    installed somewhere in your PATH - this is really important !

    However, as mentioned in Q9, there might be rare exceptions of this rule in
    case of a disaster :).
