VmANSI UTILITY -ver 4.1 (C)P. Mihok - VMV Ltd. - 5694-4 Hwy.7 E.,Unit 193, Markham, Ontario Canada L3P 1B4 Jan 28 1995 --------------------------------------------------------- :DESCRIPTION: This little utility lets you draw a colour screen of IBM extended graphic characters with the mouse, to create ANSI graphics. To run it, type GO-V at the prompt, and the batch file will run, giving a demo. --------------------------------------------------------- :GENERAL REMARKS: I wrote it because Alan Thwaits, of Praxis BBS, Mississauga Ontario, remarked that my little VMASC utility which was to draw a single character graphic screen, might be of more general interest if it wrote ANSI screens. I also hoped I might sell a few registered copies to justify adding features, as I could really, really use the money . The package, of course, doesn't have all the features of ANSI - for example, it doesn't have fast or slow blink nor detailed control of foreground and background blink. (These are described in one of my ANSI spec documents, though I have never actually seen them in practice and couldn't make them happen on my IBM compatible... but they must exist?) VMANSI just uses the basic attributes available in EGA 16 colour character mode. For the shareware release I'm not distributing the version that writes to a pure ASCII file and lets you read or rename files from the software. I'm adding such bells and whistles to the version you'll get if you register...if you would like that version, send me a little folding green! (Well, in Canada it's not green, but who's gonna complain about the colour of money!? ) Anyway - I hope people start sending their registration fees in so I can justify adding all the toys to it I was planning! --------------------------------------------------------- :TO USE: --------------------------------------------------------- :LOADING: You can load a file from the command line by typing its name as follows: VMANSI FILENAME.EXT on the command line. It will try to load the file. However, you should only load capture files from VMANSI itself, of 4k in length. The utility writes storage files named ANSIBAK.@V@, so you'd type VMANSI ANSIBAK.@V@ to load the last file you saved, (unless you renamed it.) You can type VMANSIVU to view the storage file directly. I haven't decided yet whether to give it the capabilities to load existing ANSI files and edit them, or load ASCII files so you can add ANSI colours to them. It all depends on the demand, really. VMANSI won't load VMASC's storage files nor vice versa. --------------------------------------------------------- :RUNNING: The software requires a DOS mouse driver to run, so be sure to have a mouse driver loaded. (It detects if there is no driver loaded.) It also requires a minimum of EGA to run, but will run with a CGA or mono monitor. (However, you won't be able to see the colours on a mono monitor, of course.) I no longer have a CGA monitor to test things on, so I don't know how it looks on one, but it works OK on a TTL monitor. (Of course a VGA and super VGA monitor will work, running in EGA mode, which happens automatically when you start the software.) At the first screen (a HELP screen) push the mouse button to start a screen. (Hitting a key returns you to DOS.) You'll find the mouse button has different repeat rates depending on what you are doing, but basically it works slower in menus and fastest when you are drawing, so you don't leave artifacts on the screen coming out of a menu. (If you do, you can hit the DELETE key. If something else is in the last-button memory and nothing happens, you can press the mouse button with the mouse cursor atop the unwanted character to show DELETE what you want to delete!) --------------------------------------------------------- :MENUS: There are two function menus and a HELP screen (F1). --------------------------------------------------------- :MENU 1:PICK A CHARACTER AND COLOUR: The first function menu appears when you hit the right mouse button. It lets you select a character and foreground and background colour attributes. It redraws every time you pick a character or colour (with the left mouse button) so you can see how it will look. When you have the character and colour you want, hit the right mouse button to exit this menu. --------------------------------------------------------- :MENU 2:FILL OPERATIONS: This menu appears when you hit both mouse buttons at the same time. (This can be a little tricky to get the hang of - I keep ending up in the character/colour menu, myself.) The selections let you fill the background, fill or clear the whole screen, fill upper,lower,right or left halves of the screen, or mark block areas of the screen to capture and copy, fill, change the attributes of, or clear. The left mouse button activates and the right mouse button escapes. There isn't a floating highlight bar since I thought it would add needless complexity to the code, but if people want it I can add it. Fill works only on areas that don't already have something in them (cleared areas) except block fill, which overwrites. I felt that it was better to have them each work differently so you have more flexibility. The menu contains a Global Character Replace feature which lets you replace all examples of a selected character, across the screen, with the current character and attribute. I may have added block character replace by the time of release. This menu also has an "UNDO" feature that undoes the last operation that you performed which left something on the screen. It has only a one button-deep memory, though. A friend suggested adding REDO and Area Fill, but I think I'll wait and see what the demand is... I also thought of doing automatic box frames... we'll see. --------------------------------------------------------- :DRAWING AND WRITING OPERATIONS: When you are on the main screen, you can press the left mouse button to paste the character and attribute where you want it. If you want to delete the last character you pasted, try hitting the DELETE key. You can put the mouse cursor atop any example of the current character with attribute which you want to delete, and press the mouse button then press DELETE. To delete a character to the background value, hit the white background, the black foreground and the zeroth character (which looks like a blank, at the upper Left Hand corner) in the char/colour menu. You can hit the INSERT key to insert typed text, using the keyboard. The DOS cursor appears on the screen and can be moved around using the arrow keys. Text appears where you type it. When you hit the backspace key, it stores the character it found in the previous location, in its restore memory, so you can hold the key down to repeat that character backwards across the screen. You can also move the cursor somewhere else and hit BACKSPACE to keep on repeating. When you're done using the text insert mode, hit ESC to return to the mouse cursor (which is usually still where you left it.) The text insert mode uses the current colour attributes, chosen from the first menu. Note this is not a word processor, so it lacks many edit features. They could be added, but I don't really see any point. --------------------------------------------------------- :SAVING AND VIEWING: When you leave (hitting ESC) you will be in an exit screen that asks if you want to save. Hit Y or y and it will write a file called ANSIPIX.@V@ and a file called ANSIBAK.@v@. (If there are already files with that name it will overwrite them. So, if you want to save previous efforts, you have to rename them from outside the software. The registered version lets you do file operations from inside the software.) ANSIPIX.@V@ is the ANSI output file. Try typing TYPE ANSIPIX.@V@ at the command line, with ANSI.SYS loaded (in your config.sys file at startup, there should be a line: device=ANSI.SYS) You can reload this file by typing its name after VMANSI on the command line when starting the software, as previously discussed. (The registered version gives you a menu to select a file.) It doesn't check whether you are loading the correct type of file, so there is no telling what will happen if you fool around with that! A utility is also included, VMANSIVU, which will load a file called ANSIBAK.@V@ if there is one in the current directory, and then it will display it. (The demo uses it.) VMANSIVU has no options, it merely displays ANSIBAK.@V@ and nothing else. (I was considering providing the ability to make a self displaying file out of your drawings, but will wait and see how many people pay for registration before I waste my time with that.) --------------------------------------------------------- :DISCLAIMER: - VMV Ltd. assumes no responsibility for the consequences of any application of any software product. Although all software has been carefully and thoroughly tested before release, VMV Ltd. assumes no liability for any software or hardware incompatibilities, for loss of data, disc damage, nor for any other consequences resulting or claimed to result from the use in any manner of their software. Use of the software is entirely by the user's choice and at the user's risk. Resale, redistribution and copying of this software at cost only, is freely permitted, if the shareware package is entirely unaltered. ----------------------------------------------------------- History: Jan 22 1995 - first beta test release of VMASC (the non ANSI version) Jan 23 1995 - first real release, fixed a number of irritating little quirks with the way the mouse worked. Added extra button memory processing to make DELETE work better. Added global char. replace feature. Fixed errors in documentation. Ver 1b. of VMASC Jan 28 1995 - first beta release of VMANSI - I need some feedback from others on how it works for them. Version 4.0 29 January 1995 - I found that the previous beta release would screw up on complicated blank areas. Rewrote the ANSI file writing section to fix it. You can reload your work from the previous release version and write a new ANSIPIX.@v@ which will not have the problem. Ver.4.1 --------------------------------------------------------- :REGISTRATION ETC.: VmANSI can be registered for $18, paid by cheque/check or money order to VMV LTD. - 5694-4 Hwy 7 E., Unit 193, Markham Ont., Can.,L3P 1B4 Give your E-Mail address so I can post you an upgrade copy. (Or if necessary I'll use snail mail, 3.5" disc preferred on my part, but please specify. Give your name and address etc!) You can reach me by fax, 905-471-5440, or by E-Mail c/o NEIL 70107,3050@COMPUSERVE.COM Starting in Feb '95, I will be on Compuserve and will release an upgrade version with my COMPUSERVE account, so the software I've been releasing there can be registered online and I can be contacted directly on the Internet. ---------------------------------------------------------