Picture Packer is a utility to convert Super Hi-res Screen image picture files (FileType $C1) to Apple Preferred Format (APF) picture files (FileType $C0, AuxType $02). The advantage in converting the pictures is a savings of disk space.
Until Picture Packer, The normal way to convert was to either load the screens into a paint program, or to use a program like SHRConvert. Both Methods are cumbersome and time consuming, Taking perhaps up to a minute or more for the procedure, and requiring a lot of user intervention. Picture Packer will convert all $C1 files in a directory to APF files, either automatically, or by prompting the user for a 'y' or 'n' to convert the file. What could have taken hours will take much less time, expecially in the auto mode.
USING PICTURE PACKER
When you run Picture Packer, you will get a title / option screen. You will have three options:
1) Convert One Picture - Will convert only the picture selected instead of all the pictures in the directory.
2) Approve First - makes the program ask you first for approval to convert the picture before it does so.
3) Safe Save - Makes the program do a 'safe save'. The program will make a
temporary file before it deletes the original. With Safe save
off, the original picture will be lost if there is an error
while saving the new file.
All these options are activated if there is an x in the box. The Approve and safe save options are on by default.
The 'Quit' Button will quit the program and return to the starting application(like Finder). The 'Ok' Button will present a StandardFiles window to select the file(s) to convert.
If the Convert One Picture option is enabled, just choose the picture you wish to convert and the program will display the picture as it converts it.
If the option is disabled, mearly select any picture in the folder (directory) which contains the pictures you wish to convert. The program will display the pictures as it converts them.
The Approve option will cause the Picture Packer to pause after loading the picture and ask if you wish to convert it. A 'Y' will make the program convert it. A 'Q' will cause the program to quit back to the StandardFiles window. Any other key will not convert the picture and the program will continue on to the next picture.
In auto mode (approve and convert 1 pic off), pressing the mouse button will cause the program to stop (If the program has started to save then it will stop after the next picture is loaded) and ask you if you wish to proceed or quit. By choosing 'Ok' the program will continue. 'Cancel' will quit back to the StandardFiles menu.
ERRORS AND PROBLEMS
If the program encounter an error, the program will stop and show you the error # and place, pressing the 'Cancel' button will return you to the StandardFiles menu. 'OK' will make the program go on to the next picture. Some common errors you may encounter:
0039 : I/O Error - your disk may be damaged or the file is corrupted.
0043 : Disk is Write Protected.
0072 : Disk Full - Usually happens only when safe save is on. Turn it off and try again.
0076 : End of File - The $C1 file is either Damaged or incomplete.
0078 : File Locked
0201 : Not Enough memory - May happen on 512k Machines running system 5.0. Use system 4.0 instead.
You may encounter other errors but very rarely (hopefully!). The place code was originally for debugging. The exact number is not important, but it will inform you of what was happening when the error ocurred. Location #1 and #2 means the problem was in allocating memory for the program. Both are fatal error locations. #10-19 means a problem loading in the original picture. #20-29 indicate the error was in saving the APF file. And #30-39 is a problem in reading the directory.
NOTES:
Some Notes on Picture Packer. This program may slightly alter the order of the files in the directory, expecially if Safe Save is on. Also, if Safe Save is on when an error occured, a temporary file, 'TempFile.SHR', may be left on the disk. This file will not be good so you should delete it. The amount of disk space saved varies from graphic to graphic. A standard $C1 pic is 32kilobytes long. A simple graphic may pack very tightly, maybe 6-7kbytes, while a digitized graphic may barely compress at all. On average, you can expect to get between 150k to 300k back on 800k disks full of $C1 graphics. That becomes significant when you have a lot of graphics. If you need a program to easily view your new APF (as well as $C1 pics) pictures, obtain a copy of one of my other programs, "SlideShow GS", also known as "SlideShow Viewer".
Finally a few words of caution. Do not run this program on every $C1 graphic you have. Most programs that load in $C1 graphics that are part of the that program expect to find the graphic in $C1 format. They will not work right if the graphic is converted to APF. Second, use safe save when ever possible. Without safe save, the first thing Picture packer does after loading in the graphic is to delete it on the disk, then creates a new file with the same name. At that point, --> NO <-- Undelete program utility will bring your old graphic back. The best thing to do is to run Picture Packer on a backup of your graphics.
REGISTRATION:
This Program is Shareware. If you find this program useful, Please send Five ($5) dollars to:
Antonio Pereira
3821 Wingward Ave.
Orlando, Fl 32822
It will entitle you to Technical support should you need it, and any updates and bug fixes when they come out. This program involved many hours of work over several weeks in programming and expecially testing and debugging so that you might get a relatively bugfree program. Please register if you use the program so that I may continue to distribute programs in this same low-cost fashion. If you encounter problems, write to me at the above address or online at:
GEnie: J.PEREIRA2
America Online:SherlockHM
SE Connection (407) 898-5649: CPU (#199)
ToolBox Online (407) 380-0849: CPU
COPYRIGHTS:
This program in written in TML Pascal. (c) 1987 TML systems Inc. Certain portions of this software are copyrighted by TML systems, Inc.
(c) 1990 Antonio Pereira.
CPU Software is a trademark of Antonio Pereira
PS: Two Icon files are included as part of this package. Place the one you like in the Icon folder so you can see it on from the finder. To see the icons, either use an icon editor, or place one icon in the folder and reboot and find the program on your disk, then place the other icon in and reboot. Remove the icon you least liked from the Icon folder. Icons Drawn by my brother Jaime Pereira, AKA Sherlock!
