Amiga Format CD 8/amigaformatcd08.iso/readerstuff/james_caygill/howtowriteamigaguide/howtowriteamigaguide.doc

Text File | 1996-10-22 | 12KB | 422 lines

                       ChunKi WalrUs ProductioNs
                        --------PreseNt--------


                  How to Write an AmigaGuide Document


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+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                   What's an AmigaGuide document?                        +
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+



 An AmigaGuide document is, basically, a text file that is split up into

 pages or screens.  An AmigaGuide text file will have certain key words

 which can be clicked on to display more information on that subject.

   It works in a similar way to that of a HTML page which can be found

 on the InterNet.

 For more information, see the AmigaGuide file in this directory, and have

 a play around with it.  Just click on the words in blue boxes to go to

 other pages, click on the HELP button on the bar at the top if you get

 lost.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                            How to start                                 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

  First of all, you need to define the file as an AmigaGuide file:

 Start with something like this:



@datebase TestAmigaGuide
@author "James Caygill"
@(c) "1996 James Caygill"

## $VER: My first AmigaGuide Document



+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   ---Now we need to define the start of the main page or index---       |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


First start with:


@node "Main" "My First AmigaGuide"


  The <@node> tells your Amiga that it is the start of a page,

 The <Main> tells it that this is the main page/index.

The <"My First AmigaGuide"> tells it what to use as the title for the

 window.



   Now we can put some text onto this page.

  First type:

                  This is the standard text


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                              Bold Text                                  |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Now we can try some bold text (Thicker, more dense so that it stands out)

  Type:

           @{b} This text is bold @{ub}

  The < @{b} > tells your Amiga that the text after the < @{B} > is to

  be show in bold text.


  The < @{ub} > tells your Amiga to stop showing bold text, and to revert

  back to normal.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                             Italic Text                                 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Right, now lets try some Italic (Slanted) text.


   Type:

               @{i} This text is in Italic @{ui}


   The rules for this are the same as for bold, < @{I} starts italic text,

   and < @{ui} > stops it.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                             Making links                                |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Now lets try a simple link ( A piece of text that, when clicked on will

  take us to another page).

     Start with:

            @{" This is a simple link " link Testlink}


  The < @{" > tells your Amiga that this the start of a link.

  The <This is a simple link> is the text which, when clicked on, will

  take you to another page.

  The < " link testlink} > tells it to take you to a page named Testlink

  When clicked on, this is not case sensitive, so it doesn't matter if it's

 in capitals or lower case.

  Next we will need to make a page named Testlink, but first we must tell

 your Amiga that we have ended the first page.

  So type:

@endnode    <<-- Any text that is used to define a page beginning or end
                 should be placed right at the start of a line.



+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         Making another page                             |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  First you need to start with:

@node    <<-- This tells your Amiga that a new page is being started.
              Again, it must be at the start of a line to be recognised.

  You also need to put the name of the page, in this case it is Testlink,

  so should have:

@node testlink


  Next we put the name we want to appear as the title of the page (in the

  blue bar at the top, above the control buttons).

  We put this in quotes, thus:  "This is a simple link page"

 The full line should now read:


@node testlink "This is a simple link page"


  This page can now be treated just like the index, you can put more

  links in it, you can have bold, italic text etc..


  For now, lets just put:



            This is a simple link page



  But remeber to put the:

@endnode

               at the end of the page.

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          Viewing your file                              |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Now save what you have done as a project, with a default tool as

                             Multiview.

   To do this, save your FirstGuide, and then, using Icon Editor

  (See Workbench manual) Save PROJECT icon in the same directory, as the

  same name as your file, but with the suffix   .info

  For example, if your file was called    MyFirstGuide

         You would save the icon as:      MyFirstGuide.info


   Now, in Workbench, select your file (click once on it), hold the Right

  mouse button, and select the:

           Icon>Information

  from the Workbench menu.


   A window should pop-up, showing information about the icon, click in

  the window called Default tool.

    Now type:

                Multiview

      Make sure you press <return>, and click on save.


  Now double-click on the icon.  Your file should now open up, showing

  some bold text, italic text, and a simple link.


      Click on the link (The text surrounded with a blue box)


  You should now be taken to your other page.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                           Showing Picures                               |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   To show a picture:

    You basically set up a link, but type:

     @{"Clickme for a picture" link picturename/main}

  Just make sure that the picture is in the same drawer as your guide.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                           Changing the font                             |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

  If you want the text to be displayed with a certain font, add the

  following at the start of the file, before the start of the first page:

@font Markerfeltthin.font 15

Replace <Markerfeltthin> with whatever you prefere, but remember the

 .font suffix, the <15> referes to the font size

***************************************************************************

+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                              Problems                                   |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

    If you can't view the file at all, check the following:


        You have set the default tool correctly (As Multiview)

        You have spelled everything correctly, if links aren't correct,

  your Amiga won't be able to recognise them.

     Also make sure you have put the @node & @endnode at the start of the

     line, not in the middle.

       Make sure you have spaces in the right places.




 I have included an example of what your testguide should look like,

 just click on the TestGuide icon to view it.


   If you get a window with:



               Not enough data
               Multiview failed return code 20


   This simply means that you haven't put enough links or text in your file,

   That's why my demo.guide has a few more links in it.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         A summary of commands                           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Command                   Action

  @node <linkname> "<TitleBarName>"


     defines the start of a page, must be at the start of a line

  @endnode

     defines the end of a page

  @{b}
      Starts bold text

  @{ub}
       Stops bold text

  @{i}
      Starts italic text

  @{ui}
       Stops italic text

  @{u}
      Starts underlined text

  @{uu}
       Stops underlined text

  @{" <Name of button>  " link <nameofLink}

       Shows text which, when clicked on will take user to another page.

  @{fg shine}

       Makes text white

  @{fg text}

       Returns text to black







+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                          Well, that's it then                           |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+


  Well, after all that you should be able to write your own Guides now,

  if you ever see a Guide that has some sort of text that you don't know

   how to do, just load it into a text editor to see what's been used.


  Meanwhile, look out for other ChunKi Stuff.


     WORMS CUSTOM LEVELS VOLUME ONE
     WORMS CUSTOM LEVELS VOLUME TWO
     WORMS CUSTOM LEVELS VOLUME THREE

     THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE HITCH-HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

     THE ULTIMATE SELECTION OF SANDWICHES


   So, that's all, you can go now.




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                            ©JamesCaygill1996                    O[____o\.
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