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1994-11-28
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────────────────────────────────────────────────
Copyright (c) 1994 Mike Laszko
COLOR COMMANDER SHAREWARE SOFTWARE LICENSE
──────────────────────────────────────────
This version of Color Commander is NOT public domain or free
software, but is being distributed as "SHAREWARE" for EVALUATION
PURPOSES ONLY. Your use of this software indicates your agreement
to the terms and conditions of this License.
USAGE RESTRICTIONS
──────────────────
The author and Data Management Systems grants a limited license to
individuals to use this shareware software for a 30-day evaluation
period on a private, non-commercial basis, for the express purpose
of determining whether Color Commander is suitable for their needs.
At the end of this 30-day evaluation period, the individual must
register the program or discontinue use.
You may freely distribute the ShareWare version of Color Commander
and are encouraged to do so provided it is in its original,
unmodified form.
This software and documentation is protected under the United States
Copyright Laws and International Treaty Provisions. Your support of
Shareware is appreciated.
LIABILITY WAIVER
────────────────
COLOR COMMANDER IS LICENSED "AS-IS." THE AUTHOR OR HIS AGENTS
MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT
TO THIS PROGRAM, ITS QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR
FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN PARTICULAR, IT IS NOT
GUARANTEED TO PREVENT OR DETECT DAMAGE TO YOUR DATA OR PROGRAMS.
IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR HIS AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY
CLAIMS FOR LOST PROFITS OR ANY DAMAGE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGE. SOME
STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY
NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO CASE SHALL THE AUTHOR OR HIS AGENTS'
LIABILITY EXCEED THE LICENSE FEES PAID FOR THE RIGHT TO USE THE
LICENSED SOFTWARE.
DISCLAIMER
──────────
Color Commander is a DOS "TEXT" mode VGA/SVGA utility. It is not
intended for use under windows or any other graphical user interface
(GUI). It was written and tested on an SVGA system. Use of Color
Commander on a MONOCHROME, EGA or other NON VGA/SVGA compatible
system is not supported.
-1-
What is Color Commander?
Color Commander is a DOS TEXT mode (non-graphics) utility that will
enable you to change any or all of the 16 DOS colors to any one of
262,144 colors. Color Commander accesses the VGA DAC registers
directly, bypassing normal color selecting conventions.
Color Commander will allow you to edit existing palettes or create
new ones. You can save the new palettes to disk as a .PAL file
which can be loaded into Color Commander later on, or as a .COM
file which when called will set the VGA palette directly, without
having to run Color Commander first. The .COM file can be called
from the DOS prompt or from a batch file. Choosing softer, less
glaring colors for your VGA palette will reduce eye strain and
create a more aesthetically pleasing computing environment.
Color Commander should never permanently change or damage your VGA
hardware. It simply temporarily reprograms the color registers in
your VGA card. When your system is rebooted DOS sets the color
registers in your VGA adapter to the DOS default colors.
Text mode color under DOS:
Under DOS each of the 16 colors that are available to your programs
are assigned a number of 0-15. Color 0 is black, color 1 is blue,
color 15 is white etc. When a program is running under DOS and it
wants to display a color, say blue for example, it selects color 1.
If you change blue to orange using Color Commander and then run your
program again, when it selects blue this time, it will display
orange instead. Your program never knows it is not displaying blue
because you have changed blue to orange at the hardware level.
Every instance of blue now becomes orange.
A graphics program like MS Windows will reset the VGA palette when
it is run. If a custom palette is active at this time it will be
reset. When the graphics program exits to DOS it sets the palette to
the DOS default colors. Some text mode (non-graphics) programs also
reset the VGA palette. These programs will also reset your custom
palette and set DOS default colors when they exit. When you run any
of these types of programs you can re-establish your custom palette
(If you have saved it as a COM file) by typing its name at the DOS
command line or by creating a batch file, or start up Color Commander
and load the palette using the F4 function key.
Most text mode programs do not reset the color palette when they
run so your custom palette will not be zapped. For example the
Norton Utilities and Norton Commander are well behaved programs
that do not reset the palette when they run or exit. A custom
palette should work just fine for these programs.
-2-
COLOR COMMANDER:
To run Color Commander, type:
CCMDR <enter>
A colorful screen will then pop up informing you that you are using
the UNREGISTERED version of Color Commander and that you are required
to register it if you continue to use it. Press the escape key to exit
this screen and start Color Commander.
Pressing the <ESC> key while in a window or pick list will abort
the function and return you to the main display screen. If in doubt
hit <ESC>.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
DEFINITIONS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
PALETTE : The 16 colors that DOS and your programs use.
DEFAULT PALETTE : The DOS default colors that are active when your
computer first boots up. Color Commander knows
what the default DOS colors are so you can reset
the palette to default at any time.
ACTIVE PALETTE : The palette that is displayed at the top part of
the screen while in Color Commander.
CURRENT PALETTE : The palette that was active when Color Commander
was run. The current palette is saved internally
by Color Commander at start up.
CUSTOM PALETTE : A palette that you create using Color Commander.
LOAD : When you load a palette using <F4> or <F8> it
becomes the ACTIVE palette. You can return to the
CURRENT palette by pressing the <F6> function key
or the DEFAULT palette by pressing <F7>.
SAVE : When you save a palette using <F2>,<F3> or ALT<S>
the active palette is saved.
-3-
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
KEY FUNCTIONS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
<F1> Help - display summary of commands. Press <ESC>
to return to Color Commander.
<F2> Save palette to disk as <filename>.pal. Can
be loaded from disk later and becomes the ACTIVE
palette. Press <ESC> to cancel.
<F3> Save palette to disk as <filename>.com. Cannot be
loaded into Color Commander, but can be executed
from the DOS command line. Use this feature to save
custom palettes that can be called from batch files.
Press <ESC> to cancel.
For example if you create a custom palette for use
with the Norton Commander called NCPAL.COM and a DOS
default palette called DEFAULT.COM., the batch file
might look like this:
@ECHO OFF rem Don't echo
NCPAL rem Set the custom palette colors
NC rem Call the norton commander
DEFAULT rem reset colors to DOS defaults
<F4> Pop up a pick window showing all the .PAL custom
palettes. Using the Up/Down arrow keys you can
scroll the window. Press enter to load a palette
or <ESC> to cancel. The loaded palette becomes the
active palette.
<F5> Reset the color selected by the cursor to the CURRENT
palette color.
<F6> Reset all palette colors (0-15) to the CURRENT palette
colors. The ACTIVE palette becomes the CURRENT palette.
<F7> Reset all palette colors (0-15) to the DOS DEFAULT
colors. The ACTIVE palette becomes the DEFAULT
palette.
<F8> Pop up a pick window showing the internal Color
Commander palettes. These palettes are provided to give
you a reference or starting point for creating your own
custom palettes. Using the Up/Down arrow keys you can
scroll the window. Press enter to load a palette or
<ESC> to cancel. The loaded palette becomes the
active palette.
-4-
<F9> Display an ASCII character chart. I used this chart
while developing Color Commander so I just left it
in. Pressing any key will bring up the next screen.
Press <ESC> to return to Color Commander.
<F10> Quit Color Commander and return to DOS. The Active
palette remains in effect
ALT<C> Display a color chart with decimal and hexadecimal
values for each color. May be helpful to programmers,
or if you just want to see what the new palette will
look like in the real world.
ALT<S> Save the ACTIVE palette as a PASCAL Constant statement.
This function will be useful to programmers that want
to manipulate the VGA palette and create their own
colors and special effects. A TURBO PASCAL UNIT is
available that allows you to save,load and change
palettes from within your programs and create many
special effects.
ALT<U> Display the Color Commander registration screen.
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SPECIAL KEYS
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LEFT-ARROW - Increase Red/Green/Blue color value.
RIGHT-ARROW - Decrease Red/Green/Blue color value.
UP/DN-ARROW - Select Red/Green/Blue color component.
INS
or
CONTROL-LEFT-ARROW - Select 1 of 16 palette colors.
DEL
or
CONTROL-RIGHT-ARROW - Select 1 of 16 palette colors
PAGE-UP/PAGE-DOWN - Intensity, increases or decreases
all 3 color values.
-5-
UTILITIES AND PALETTE FILES:
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
I have included several PAL and COM files to give you a better idea
of what you can do with Color Commander. DEFAULT.COM is the DOS
standard (default) color palette. These are the colors that DOS sets
when your system boots up.
Also included is a small utility called SHOPAL.EXE. It will show you
the colors of the active palette from the DOS command line.
NOTE:
────
When creating a custom palette for a program it is best to start
out with a gray palette. Change one or two colors, then run your
program to see the changes. Too much color is confusing. You will
be surprised at how good many programs look with a lot of grays and
just a few colors.
IN THE WORKS:
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
An interactive version of COLOR COMMANDER is in the works. It will
allow you to change colors and create custom palettes from within
your favorite programs. No more guessing or trying to remember
which colors you want to change.
A Turbo PASCAL Unit for programmers that will allow you to
manipulate the VGA palette from within your program. Your program
will have access to 262,144 colors and special effects such as
fade, swap, rotate and random to name just a few.
Author: Mike Laszko
Modem : 1-619-728-7307
Fax : 1-619-728-0264
Mail : Data Management Systems
P.O. Box 2828
Fallbrook, Ca. 92088-2828
The current version of Color Commander is available for
download from:
THE FILE BANK BBS
1-619-728-7307
1200-115,200 baud
USR 28.8 HST DS v.34
Note from the author:
Comments and suggestions are always welcome. I can be reached
on the File Bank BBS. Thank you for trying Color Commander.
-6-