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GRABBER/AI(tm) 8514/A Adapter Interface Version Release 2.00S Shareware Issue -------------------------------- The Screen Capture Program for MS-DOS and 8514/A-Compatible Video Graphics DOCUMENTATION AND TECHNICAL NOTES May 14, 1994 Copyright 1987-1994 by Gerald A. Monroe All rights reserved. +-------------------------------------------------+ | Although they are shareware, GR4AI and this | | documentation file are copyrighted. They are | | not in the public domain and they are not | | "freeware." Please consult page 6 of the | | REGISTER.DOC file for important copyright | | information and license provisions. | +-------------------------------------------------+ Thank you for your interest in the GRABBER(tm) screen capture system! The GRABBER package is being marketed in this special form as shareware. This means you have the opportunity to use and evaluate it for 30 days before you decide whether to buy. If you continue to use GRPCX.EXE, GRABBER.EXE, any of its "offspring" programs, or any of the other programs in the GRABBER package beyond such 30-day period, then you are required to send your registration fee to the publisher according to the instructions in the REGISTER.DOC file. When you regis- ter, you will receive a copy of the latest release of the registered GRABBER package that you order. You may not continue using GRABBER beyond such 30-day period without registering. For registration instructions and a complete statement of your license to use this soft- ware, please consult the REGISTER.DOC file. Gerald A. Monroe P.O. Box 770906 Cleveland, Ohio 44107, U.S.A. CompuServe Mail: 72321,1257 Fax: (216) 521-6060 IBM and PC are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Table of Contents Shareware Registration and License Information ..... 1 Overview of GR4AI.EXE .............................. 3 About this documentation ........................... 4 Using GRABBER and GR4AI simultaneously ............. 4 Modifying the GR4AI hotkey ......................... 4 GR4AI's audible error indicators ................... 5 GR4AI installation options, including the following: * DEFAULTDRIVE * MOUSE and NOMOUSE * UNLOAD * SOUND and NOSOUND * PROMPT and NOPROMPT * NOSWAP * NOEMS * NOUMB * INT=nn * INT=OFF * BATCHCAPTURE * BATCHCAPTURE:filename ......................... 5 Offspring file compatibility with other systems .... 6 Offspring file command-line options ................ 6 Converting GR4AI offspring to PCX and GIF formats .. 7 Calling GR4AI from your own programs ............... 8 GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 3 of 8 OVERVIEW OF GR4AI.EXE ---------------------- GR4AI(tm) is an alternative version of the GRABBER screen capture program. It is designed exclusively for capturing high-resolu- tion 640 x 480 and 1024 x 768 graphic images from PC systems that are compatible with the IBM 8514/A Adapter Interface, and which are running in "real mode" under MS-DOS. (GR4AI does not capture screens from Microsoft Windows or Windows applications.) The Adapter Interface, or "AI," is a programming interface that lets application programs work with your high-resolution video adapter. Usually, the AI is loaded as a memory-resident (TSR) program in your computer's memory. When it is present, it allows GR4AI to capture certain types of high-resolution graphics. GR4AI can only capture a screen if the foreground program that is generating the image is actually using the AI to do its screen work. Note that this is not always the case. For example, if you have an IBM 8514/A adapter, or another manufacturer's card that is compatible with IBM's 8514/A at the register level (such as an ATI 8514/Ultra, Graphics Ultra or Graphics Vantage card), then it is possible for some application programs to work with the screen by writing directly to the adapter's hardware regis- ters and ignoring the AI completely. GR4AI cannot capture any screens from such applications, because unless the AI is being used for screen output, GR4AI has no way of knowing that the adapter is in use at all. Therefore, if you have an application from which you want to capture screens, and the application's installation or setup allows you to choose between AI-compatible and 8514/A register- level compatible video, then you should choose the AI-compatible option. Whatever kind of video hardware is installed, GR4AI expects to find an AI driver resident in memory when you ask it to capture a screen. If an AI driver is not present, GR4AI will not capture the screen. (With the IBM 8514/A and the ATI 8514/A-compatibles mentioned above, the AI driver is called HDILOAD.EXE. If you have a different brand of adapter, the driver file may be called by a different name.) Note that you do not have to have an adapter that is register- level compatible with the 8514/A in order to use GR4AI. All you need is an adapter that comes supplied with an AI driver, and an application program that uses the AI for its screen output. GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 4 of 8 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENTATION ------------------------- GR4AI can be installed in memory and operated in much the same way as GRABBER.EXE, and the two programs have a very similar look and feel. For the most part, this documentation for GR4AI covers only the aspects of GR4AI which differ from GRABBER.EXE. To use GR4AI effectively, you should read the GRABBER program documenta- tion and become familiar with GRABBER's operation. USING GRABBER and GR4AI SIMULTANEOUSLY --------------------------------------- GR4AI is designed to be compatible with GRABBER. Both programs can be installed in memory and used at the same time, but only if you specify the "INT=OFF" command-line switch when you initially load GR4AI.EXE in memory. The default "hotkey" sequence for GR4AI is [Ctrl Alt F10]. That is, you hold down the [Ctrl] key and the [Alt] key at the same time, then press the [F10] key, then release all three keys. As in GRABBER, the MOUSE command-line option in GR4AI allows you to capture the screen by holding down the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously for one or two seconds. If you have installed both GRABBER.EXE and GR4AI.EXE in memory simultaneous- ly, you should not use the MOUSE switch to enable the mouse hotkey with both programs. Strange results are almost guaranteed to occur, and it may even lock up your computer when you use the mouse hotkey. It is acceptable to use the MOUSE switch with either GR4AI or GRABBER, but not both. MODIFYING THE GR4AI HOTKEY --------------------------- GR4AI allows you to modify your hotkey sequence from the default [Ctrl Alt F10] to practically any other key sequence you choose. In this respect, GR4AI is exactly like GRABBER. There is no separate documentation here which covers the procedure for changing your GR4AI hotkey. GR4AI uses the exact same hotkey procedures as GRABBER. You can read about these in the GRAB- BER.DOC manual, at page 33 and at Appendices A and B. (To view a list of valid KEY= codes for GR4AI, use the command GR4AI KEY=?. To view a list of valid SHIFT= codes, enter GR4AI SHIFT=?.) GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 5 of 8 GR4AI's AUDIBLE ERROR INDICATORS --------------------------------- If you press GR4AI's hotkey and hear one or two short, low- pitched tones from your PC speaker, it means that GR4AI is unable to capture the screen because an error condition exists. One low-pitched tone indicates that no AI driver is currently loaded in memory. Two low-pitched tones indicate that an AI driver is loaded in memory, but that it is not presently in use by a foreground application, or that the adapter is presently operating in a video mode that exceeds GR4AI's capabilities. GR4AI is able to capture these AI modes: * 640 x 480, 16 colors * 640 x 480, 256 colors * 1024 x 768, 16 colors * 1024 x 768, 256 colors * 1280 x 1024, 16 colors * 1280 x 1024, 256 colors (Three low-pitched tones indicate a probable disk error during the screen capture process. See "Errors During the Screen Capture" in the GRABBER program documentation.) GR4AI INSTALLATION OPTIONS --------------------------- GR4AI accepts the following command-line configuration options. Each of these optional switches can be added to the GR4AI command line to alter GR4AI's default mode of operation. All of these switches are also available in the GRABBER.EXE program, and none is separately described here. For complete details concerning the purpose of these options and how they work, consult the section "Grabber Installation Options" beginning on page 14 in the GRABBER program documentation. * DEFAULTDRIVE (specifies capture destination) * MOUSE and NOMOUSE (enables/disables mouse hotkey) * UNLOAD (removes GR4AI from memory) * SOUND and NOSOUND (enables/disables sounds) * PROMPT and NOPROMPT (enables/disables screen prompts) * NOSWAP (disables swapping of DOS kernel) * NOEMS (disables GR4AI's EMS memory usage) * NOUMB (disables GR4AI'S UMB memory usage) * INT=nn (specifies block of interrupt vectors for redirecting IRQ0-IRQ7) * INT=OFF (disables redirection of IRQ0-IRQ7) * BATCHCAPTURE (causes immediate screen capture) * BATCHCAPTURE:filename (causes immediate screen capture to file specified as "filename") GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 6 of 8 OFFSPRING FILE COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER SYSTEMS ------------------------------------------------ As mentioned above on page 4, GR4AI can capture six different types of images from AI-compatible video adapters. The six types are: * 640 x 480, 16 colors * 640 x 480, 256 colors * 1024 x 768, 16 colors * 1024 x 768, 256 colors * 1280 x 1024, 16 colors * 1280 x 1024, 256 colors Each type of image can be displayed on a different system than the one from which it was originally captured, if the destination system has an AI driver (such as IBM's or ATI's HDILOAD.EXE) resident in memory (and assuming that the destination system has enough video memory and a monitor that is capable enough to display the particular graphics mode). In addition, each type of image can be displayed on a system which is compatible with the VESA video BIOS extension, even if no AI driver is loaded (and assuming that the destination system has enough video memory and a monitor that is capable enough to display the particular graphics mode). A 16-color, 640 x 480 offspring image can be ported to any VGA- compatible system -- even one which does not have an AI driver loaded and is not VESA-compatible. Some types of screens have special video memory requirements: * 1280 x 1024 x 256 images require at least 2 Mb of video memory * 1280 x 1024 x 16 images require at least 1 Mb of video memory * 1024 x 768 x 256 images require at least 1 Mb of video memory * 1024 x 768 x 16 images require at least 512 Kb of video memory * 640 x 480 x 256 images require at least 512 Kb of video memory OFFSPRING FILE COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS ------------------------------------ GR4AI offspring files support the same command-line options as are supported by GRABBER.EXE offspring files. This includes the "FADEIN" and "FADEOUT" options, the /Tn option for timed execu- tion, the /F and /N options for exiting without erasing, and the /K keylist option. Each of these options is fully explained in the GRABBER program documentation, starting at page 22. However, you should note that for technical reasons it is not always safe to use the /F and /N command-line options with GR4AI offspring files. These two options can cause a system crash when you are executing a GR4AI offspring at the DOS prompt or within a batch file, and should not be used in those situations. You may GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 7 of 8 use these two options when executing a GR4AI offspring from inside another program by way of a SHELL or EXEC-type function, but only if the parent program re-initializes the AI (with the AI's HINIT or HSYNC functions) or closes the AI (with the HCLOSE function) immediately upon return from the child program. CONVERTING GR4AI OFFSPRING TO .PCX and .GIF -------------------------------------------- GR4AI is supplied along with two companion utilities which convert captured AI screens to the PCX and GIF file formats. The utilities are called GRAI2PCX and GRAI2GIF. These utilities function in exactly the same way as the GR2PCX and GR2GIF pro- grams which are also included in this GRABBER package. However, here is the difference: GRAI2PCX and GRAI2GIF are designed to convert only offspring screens created by GR4AI.EXE, while GR2PCX and GR2GIF are designed to convert only screens created by GRABBER.EXE. For instructions on using GRAI2PCX and GRAI2GIF, consult the CONVERT.DOC documentation file. GR4AI(tm) Documentation & Technical Notes Page 8 of 8 PROGRAMMERS NOTE: CALLING GR4AI FROM YOUR OWN PROGRAMS ------------------------------------- If you are a programmer developing your own software, you can invoke GR4AI to capture the screen from within your own program, assuming that GR4AI is already resident in memory. This is accomplished by using GR4AI's external programming hook, which is really a customized call to Interrupt 16h, described below. You can write a routine to implement this hook in 80x86 assembly language or in any high-level programming language which supports BIOS-level interrupt calls. CUSTOMIZED INTERRUPT 16H TO INVOKE GR4AI, SERVICE 4741H -------------------------------------------------------- On entry: AX = 4741h DL = 0 (to check only if GR4AI is resident) DL = 1 (to capture the current screen) On return: AX = 4147h (if GR4AI is installed in memory) For DL=0 or DL=1: BL contains the logical drive to which the capture would be attempted (DL=0) or was attempted (DL=1). 0=default drive, 1=drive A, 2=drive B, and so forth. For DL=1: No --> Capture successful. ES:DX points to Carry an ASCIIZ string which contains the Flag [drive:][\path\]filename of the newly created offspring (drive also coded in BL). Carry --> If DX = FFFFh, then a capture attempt Flag failed due to a critical disk error or Set disk-full error on the logical drive encoded in BL. (Speaker beeped in either case.) If DX does not equal FFFFh, capture was not attempted. GR4AI was busy servicing a prior capture request, or some other disk I/O was occurring, or DOS was not in a re- enterable state. Try again momentarily. * * * End of GR4AI.DOC * * *