2. Plant Base
  3. installation
  4. Plant Base 2 Screensaver

Plant Base 2 Screensaver

There is a companion screensaver module for Plant Base 2, very similar to the screensaver supplied with previous versions but rewritten for the new database format. It randomly shows plant pictures from the database. At over 6,000 images, plus any added yourself, it could well be the most extensive plant screensaver available anywhere!

Like the original screensaver module, it is free and unrestricted - it will continue to work even if the main program is not licensed and the trial period has expired. There are no nag screens, adverts or any registration requirement. Obviously you must leave the Plant Base database files on your disk, which contain the images.

 

Installation is easy, though unlike previous versions it is now an optional separate install. It assumes that you have already installed PB2, so the database files exist and only the screensaver module is added to your system.

Simply download and run the small setup file - DPB_screensaver2_setup.exe or alternatively DPB_screensaver2_setup_x64.exe (for Windows x64 only)

At some future time we may supply a complete 'screensaver only' install file, for those people who are not interested in trying the main Plant Base product.

Enable the screensaver in the normal way - go to the Control Panel option or Personalize property screen for screensavers and select "PlantBase2-SS" from the drop-down list.

The "Settings" button allows configuration. In many cases the install process will pre-set the correct location of the database files, but sometimes this does not work so you may need to specify them. They are normally the same as in the main program (see About) but do not need to be. The three picture libraries are usually automatically found when you select the main database file, but they can also be individually set or left blank to omit.

The Settings window offers several other options:

  • Show plant names
  • Use transition effect between images
  • Set an activity timeout - the screensaver will go dormant after this time, minimizing use of system resources. It is a good idea to set this about the same as the 'turn off monitor' time in Power options.
  • Slider control for changeover speed of the pictures
  • Language selection for this Settings window - currently only English. Additional languages can easily be added by creating a text format translation file, exactly the same method as in the Plant Base program. A template file is provided.

 

NOTE: Nowadays modern display screens are not really "saved" by any screen saver programs, they just show something attractive while not in use. If your computer is idle for a long time we recommend that the Windows Power Options are used to save energy.


Files used by the screensaver:

in the Windows System Folder :

PlantBase2-SS.scr ( normally in C:\Windows\system32 - this is the screensaver program )

in the User Profile Application Data folder (folder name varies with different Windows versions) :

Deeproot\PlantBase2\PlantBase2SS.prefs (this is where the settings are saved)

If this doesn't exist first time the Settings windows is opened, it will be created.

in the Program Files folder :

only the language sub-folder is used - Deeproot\PlantBase2\languageSS
it contains template.lang plus any additional language files (*.lang)

This folder and files are optional - defaults to English

Data files, normally located in the All Users or user's profile Application Data folder, but can be any folder. Usually these are the same as provided for the main Plant Base product. They can be freely named, but the normal supplied files are:-

PlantBase.dpb2
PicLib1.dpb2
PicLib2.dpb2
PicLib3.dpb2