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                    RIPscrip Graphics Protocol Specification

                           "Remote Imaging Protocol"

                     Written by Jeff Reeder and Mark Hayton
                   Copyright (c) 1992-1993, TeleGrafix Corporation
                              All Rights Reserved

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     =====================================================================
     ==                           INTRODUCTION                          ==
     =====================================================================

     As system operators of many bulletin board systems, we've often
     wished for some form of Graphical User Interface for our boards. Like
     most Sysops, we've come across many solutions.  But they all seemed
     to fall short in one way or another:  inadequate for THIS system,
     incomplete, difficult to implement, too complex, or lacking in
     graphics development tools.  In short, we became frustrated.

     So, we decided to write our own Graphical Script Language.

     RIPscrip stands for "Remote Imaging Protocol Script" language.  This
     graphical language is our answer to the graphics needs of the BBS
     community and has serious tools for implementation and practical use.

     For more information on RIPaint, RIPterm or RIPscrip development
     tools, contact:

          TeleGrafix Corporation
          16458 Bolsa Chica, #15
          Huntington Beach, CA 92649

          VOICE: (714) 846-4179
          FAX  : (714) 846-4189
          DATA : (714) 840-3520 (ArenaBBS: The Major BBS...32 lines)



          ResNova Software
          16458 Bolsa Chica, #193
          Huntington Beach, CA 92649

          VOICE: (714) 840-6082
          FAX  : (714) 840-0488
          DATA : (714) 840-8641 (Nova Central: Nova Link Pro...4 lines)



          RIP Demo Midwest

          VOICE: (708) 820-8875
          DATA : (708) 978-2777 (RIP Demo Midwest BBS: TBBS...2 lines)
          FAX  : (708) 898-4994



     =====================================================================
     ==                            DEFINITION                           ==
     =====================================================================

     RIPscrip is a text based Script language for displaying online
     graphics.  The script language conforms to 7-bit ASCII, avoiding the
     use of Extended ASCII characters.  This allows transmission over X.25
     networks and other carriers that do not support full 8-bit binary
     transfers easily.  RIPscrip allows RIPscrip graphical statements to
     be mixed with printable ASCII text and [de facto standard]
     ANSI/VT-100 directives.  RIPscrip can dynamically determine what is
     graphics and what is text and display them appropriately in separate
     windows (a graphics window and a text window).  And if you must have
     your own proprietary commands, RIPscrip has room for that too.





     =====================================================================
     ==                     HOW DOES RIPscrip WORK?                     ==
     =====================================================================

     RIPscrip uses a flexible, and very efficient script language for its
     graphical statements.  Its efficiency stems from its compactness and
     developmental planning.  It is entirely Object Oriented instead of
     Raster Oriented for efficient transmission of data and powerful
     editing capabilities (using RIPaint for example).  The language is
     open ended enough so that literally trillions of different graphics
     commands can be implemented as needed.  RIPscrip is not a proprietary
     protocol standard and is open to suggestion from the rest of the
     world.

     Earlier Graphical Script Languages (Avatar and Skypix among others),
     utilize special command characters to indicate which graphics command
     is to be executed.  This precludes their use on systems that are
     limited to ASCII printable text.  Traditional script languages use
     English words to accomplish things (eg, "BOX 0,0 100,50").  This kind
     of thing is incredibly bulky, especially when you consider that
     pictures are usually not simple things, but comprised of hundreds or
     thousands of individual graphical operations (eg, line, circles,
     fills, text, etc.).  With this in mind, a human-readable script
     language was completely inappropriate for the relatively limited
     bandwidth of conventional modems.

     So, one of our main strategies for this language was to make it as
     efficient as possible without going completely binary.  This allows
     the immediate installation of the protocol onto any ASCII text-based
     host system -- because the language consists entirely of ASCII
     printable characters.  We justify the unreadability of the language
     by pointing out the limitations of today's modems and phone lines --
     the language must be compact.

 ==============================================================================
 This is an extract from the original documentation of RIPaint. It is our
 desire that you will check out this new GRAPHICS technique. This is the
 future of BBS graphics so get started with it now.
 =======================================================================EOF====