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Showtime 1
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Showtime - Issue 01 (1996-02)(Ram Jam)(AGA).adf
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STread.lha
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STread.doc
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1996-02-17
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10KB
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250 lines
_____________________ _____ _____________ __________ _____ ____
\______ \______ \\_ \ / /\____. \\______ \\_ \ / /
/ _/ _/ _ \/ _ \/ _ \_____| \/ _ \/ _ \/ _ \
/ \ \ Y \ \ / \ ! \ Y \ \ / \
\_____\ \_________/____\/_____/__________/__________/____\/_____/
sct\______/
PRESENTS:
SHOWTIME article/adverts reader 1.3 by Randy/Ram Jam
What is & distribution notice:
ShowTime is a diskmagazine published by Ram Jam group, with the demo scene as
subject, and it has also the only CHART alive.
This utility is able to display showtime articles to test them, but you have
to edit articles manually with a text editor like cynus ed.
In the current version it is not possible to place any cliparts within
the articles, but this will be done by the coder himself, as it isnt that
hard to include afterwards.
Cliparts must have the max size of 320x180 in Hires and can use 15 colours.
Mark the place, where the cliparts should be included. In this case, consider
that the 15 text colours available will be the ones of clipart, and not the
default ones!!!!
The text print system is based on the original one by MASE/Ram Jam, but is
recoded and enhanced. The "official" suffix for ShowTime files is ".st".
STread is an utility coded especially for Ram Jam members that wants to adjust
the design of articles directly, freeing much time to poor Ram Jam coders that
receive only plain ascii texts to adjust.
But, since many article writers like to design their own articles directly,
I decided to release it also to not RamJammers, but the only use of this
utility must be the design of articles for SHOWTIME.
You can send articles, adverts, clip arts to:
rAM jAM wHQ vEGA / rAM jAM
P.O. bOX 23 gIUSEPPE gALLUZZO
I-07040 fERTILIA ( SS ) vIA dEI fRASSINI 6
I T A L Y I-92019 sCIACCA ( aG )
I T A L Y
Or contact me for bug report:
Randy/Ram Jam
Fabio Ciucci
Via S.Leonardo, 13
55100 LUCCA
ITALY
Requirements:
This utility needs a 68020+ and AGA chipset, like ShowTime, and also the
reqtools.library in libs:
How to start:
Run this utility from cli/shell, and will appear the file requester to select
a showtime (.st) article. If the st format is wrong, the article will be not
load, and error message(s) will be written in the shell window: look at them!
If you quit, you can choose another file to load (or the same updated in
multitasking with an editor), or quit definitely selecting "Cancel" in the
requester.
Instructions:
Ok, now you have read about the Viewer, but how do I write articles or
adverts for Showtime ?
To edit a ShowTime article you must start from a normal ascii text, without
TABS (use spaces instead), and you can choose between two columns of text
or fullpage, I will explain later how to do that.
You can use all characters, including the special ALT+xx ones, like ²³¢¼½°©ð,
except for 16x16 and 24x24 fonts, that have only normal characters.
You can select the colour and the font type/size, but not load the cliparts,
that is easy for me to apply manually, just reserve the space and give me the
clipart (15 colours hires, max 320x180, when colour0 is "transparent").
Also adverts can be tested, the routine is the same, only consider that in
this part (DIARY) the background is blue and the color 02 will FLASH: to
simulate this, press the MAG<->DIARY swap button in the panel.
I added also the option to convert the article to ASCII only and save it.
Keys: Q to Quit, -> and <- to swap pages.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Well, the commands are:
{ -> To change font and color
} -> To end text
-The } command don't need comments.
-The { command has a special syntax, which must be used to get a pleasant
result.
{Ncc -> N=font number, cc=colour 00-07
Examples:
{100 Font number 1, color 00
{005 Font number 0, color 05
These fonts are available:
{000 Font num. 0. 8x8 normal
{100 Font num. 1. 8x8 Bold (bold)
{200 Font num. 2. 8x8 fine (fine)
{300 Font num. 3. 16x16 fine (an 8x16 spaced)
{400 Font num. 4. 16x16 full
{500 Font num. 5. 8x8 fine n.2
{600 Font num. 6. 24x24 normal style
{700 Font num. 7. 24x24 style "cowboy"
{800 Font num. 8. 24x24 style "modern"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
About colors, there are 15 available (range 00-14):
{000 Colour 00 White (use this for the main text..)
{001 Colour 01 lighter blu
{002 Colour 02 lighter green (will flash in diary-adverts part)
{003 Colour 03 yellow
{004 Colour 04 green
{005 Colour 05 blu
{006 Colour 06 gray
{007 Colour 07 pink
{008 Colour 08 lighter white
{009 Colour 09 red
{010 Colour 10 orange
{011 Colour 11 violet
{012 Colour 12 brown
{013 Colour 13 dark pink
{014 Colour 14 red/blu
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Now you know how to use fonts and colours for your text, but
if you still need an example, here is one small text:
<- This indicates 38 chars per
------------------------------------- line, including the "return" !
{304How to paint with {303DPaint {304...
{000Ever tried to paint with {003DPaint {000?
Its so easy, just start the progam
and use a brush of your own.... }
--------------------------------------
The text will start with a 16x16 charset and a green colour, the
"DPAINT" is highlighted in yellow. Afterwards I changed to the
normal charset (8x8 with colour white) and write most of the text,
just highlighting the "DPaint" again (the questionmark is white
again!!!). The last thing is the closing waved bracket, which indicates
the end of the article.
Showtime offers you two modes for your articles/adverts, one or two
columns to be used. If you write articles with 38 chars or less per
line, you will get two columns, but remember that a RETURN on an
editor will also be a character and used in the display, so dont wonder,
if you will get a messy article, if you forget that!
Each column is 38x21, you might check the "design" in order to make the
article more readable and dont cut half of a schedule to another page.
The second mode works with 78 chars per line (full page), if you want this
mode in your articles, you must extend the last line of each page
(line 21) with more than 38 chars (if your line does not have that many
chars in there, use SPACEs to make it larger !!!!!!!). You have to repeat
this for every new page.... This sounds annoying, but gives us the
opportunity to mix both styles in one article (for example, you might
use a plain text with 38 chars per line and use a schedule with 78
lines then. Afterwards you continue with the 38 mode and write the rest
of the article.
Anyway, if you write an article for SHOWTIME, first write it with your
editor and check, if it does fit into the restrictions and re-edit it
(if it doesnt look good).
The last thing you should do is adding the colours, although that will
virtually scrap the design with the 38 or 78 lines it will work, as the
colour-changing chars wont affect the normal text design at all !!!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here is an example of 38/78 columns mode:
If you write max 38 columns the text
will be draw in 2 columns, like now!
Well, but is also possible to write a max of 78 columns, in full page: to
hevitate the 2 columns routine you have to exceed the 38th column at the end
of the page, so ShowTime will understand that is not the case to draw another
column:
This is the last line, so EXCEED the 38th column to hevitate the 2nd column!
Ok, is all for now! But remember that
spaces placed over the 38th line in a
2 column article can cause BUGS!! So
check every time if there are spaces
over the 38th column!!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
IMPORTANT: There are no ckeckings about overwriting texts, especially for
16x16 and 24x24 fonts, so BE SURE YOU ARE NOT WRITING OVER THE SCREEN BOTTOM,
or probably Streader will cause a guru meditation.
NOTE: There is a bug that I was lazy to fix in time: if you read through the
text until the last page, everything seems to be fine, but if you then
switch back pages, sometime the colour of the first lines is
different to its normal state. This is because the last colour from
the previous read page is applied to the start of actual page...
To fix it place a color command {xXX in the first line of every page.
I think this is not a "bug", if you remember to redefine txt colour
every start of page, when it is required.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
History:
News from 1.0 to 1.1: Now is possible to use all the 15 colours, instead
of only 8. The range is 00 - 14.
On the 8x8 fonts now all the ¹²³¢¼½¾·«»-å°©®þ¤µ¡ø
characters are usable, so you can use ansi logos
(especially adverts) with alt+xx characters.
NOTE: you can't use { } § , because are commands.
{ and } are for text, § is used for cliparts, don't
insert any § in your texts!!!
News from 1.1 to 1.2: Added a filerequester using reqtools.library.
So is needed reqtools.library in libs: dir...
News from 1.2 to 1.3: Now there is a font n.5, added a st format checker
that display errors like "out of color", "out of
font", "you forgot } at the end"... added the
mag<->diary background palette swapping, added
an st->ascii converter.
Signed: Fashion & Randy/Ram Jam
}