A PUVA ultraviolet lamp Assistant

This is a complete, working application intended to assist the exposure of human body to an ultraviolet lamp. In fact, the program can be configured for up to four timed phases (front, left, right, rear sides) and will speak messages at the start of each phase and at the end of sequence (exposure). The voice assistance (you need your speakers on) is basic, because during these exposures (that can last up to 60 minutes and more, depending on the lamp emitting power and nature), it is really possible to fall asleep!!! The assistant will awake you anyhow, avoiding to you a bad skin burning. Normally, a commercial PUVA lamp has only a timer (one hour), and in the case of multiple exposures (the various sides), each time the lamp has to be timed for the 'phase duration' (example 7 to 15 minutes, see the instruction booklet that comes with the lamp). PUVA lamp exposures has very benefic effects on your skin, and moreover gives that special look that someone likes so much. NOTE: I have a Philips 120w PUVA lamp, that mounts the same tubes (but smaller, 20 watt instead of 100 watt) than the ones mounted in the PUVA units (big like telephon cabs) used in the Hospitals. I attached the description of my lamp in the file LampDesc.doc (take a look at it). How I use the program with the lamp? I start a 'midi' player (so I can control the volume of music) as music background, then I launch the lamp assistant program (never forget to dress the special UV goggles that come with the lamp, or you will become blind in few exposures!!!). This is a better way to spend a long hour of your time. Furthermore, it is faster, because there are no stops between the phases, and can be considered equally safe, if you have no hearing problems. Now, let's go back to the program. See the screen shot. The few commands (the fewer possible) in the big screen (with the goggles you can't see much, really) allows to you to: -set the phases you want to run (from 1 to 4, even 0 is allowed), in the order you click over them -set the durations of the phases, in minutes -save the configuration -load a previously saved configuration -run a beautiful audio demo, lasting about 8 minutes (very original code structure) -start, pause, abort the sequence (pause is very useful, don't ask me why..., and the abort button is protected against accidental clicks, in fact it is timed, and needs to be reclicked to accept the command) -acknowledge the natural end of sequence or the user abortion of it To test the program run short phases durations (also 0 minutes, or 1). I recommend this code for any level, from beginners to superprofessional fellows who kindly read this popular web-living VB magazine written by us amateurs. I think this code is good for teachers too, who teach VB (or not) in the schools: the pupils play with it, and learn something new and useful. WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THIS APPLICATION: -how to approach the project of a sequencer -how to use relatively new controls (Office) for a better performance (CommanButton with ForeColor, SpinButton, Image with Picture Tiling property for the background of the form, CheckBox in the Graphical Style: all controls of Microsoft Forms 2.0 Object Library) -how to structure a living audio demo -how to use the TextToSpeech (VTEXT.DLL control) for vocal interfaces -how to build and let work the fancy phases indicators ADDITIONAL NOTES: -the background (very ultraviolet!) is a gradient of mine and is used in my web site too (visit it, is not a VB site) -the Image control used to show the background, can also zoom a picture, automatically and in a very fast way, id est you can make a fast image viewer with it, in a glance. -the phases progress indicators are a must for exigent programmers, remember the Picture box and the routine (UpdateProgress) used to build them A LAST VERY IMPORTANT POINT: If we have to expose a body for a certain advised maximum duration per day, e.g. 10 minutes, we have the following possibilities: -expose 10 minutes one side (e.g. rear) and 10 minutes the opposite one (e.g. front) -or expose 5 minutes all sides (id est rear, left, right, front in whatever order) Please remember always this, otherwise you may overexpose yourself seriously. So, if you decide to expose three sides, you have to expose them for 5 minutes, in order not to overexpose the side in the middle. As a rule, if the sides are one or two (opposite), just apply the maximum time, and in the cases of three or four sides or even two but adiacent, divide by 2 the maximum time, id est expose each one side for 5 minutes. THANKS FOR READING: I hope you enjoy this program. Should this be the case, please take few minutes to rate it. Best programming to you friends, Pietro Cecchi With the occasion, I wish you a really Happy New Year!