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===================================================================== == RIPscrip PROTOCOL - GENERAL STRUCTURE == ===================================================================== This document describes RIPscrip commands up through version 1.53.00 of the RIPscrip Protocol Specification. RIPscrip is organized into 10 levels of graphical commands (low Level-0 to high Level-9). Level-0 commands are the building blocks of RIPscrip. The basic graphics primitives of the system are all Level-0, including the commands Line, Rectangle, Circle, Color, Font, etc. Each level of RIPscrip gets progressively higher-level in concept. For example, Level-1 commands use Mouse Regions, Icons, and Formatted Text Regions. The basic syntax rules are as follows: 1. A RIPscrip command line starts at the beginning of a line of text. A RIPscrip command line moved to the middle of a line of text is treated as literal text. This prevents people inserting mischievous things in teleconference messages, or similar pranks. The only exceptions to this rule is stated below under item 6, "continuation of long lines", and item 12 "alternate RIPscrip starting sequences". 2. A RIPscrip command line begins with an exclamation mark (!). 3. Every RIPscrip command is preceded by the universal RIPscrip delimiter, vertical-bar (|) 4. Individual RIPscrip commands may be combined on the same line providing they are separated by the vertical bar delimiter. 5. RIPscrip commands or command lines may be split across multiple lines with a backslash (\) just before each split. This helps RIPscrip commands conform to right margins and escape word wrapping. An example: !|c02|L02030405|P0901020102010201020102\ 0102010201020102 6. RIPscrip must allow for normal text to be intermixed with RIPscrip commands. If unrecognized text appears after a RIPscrip command, on the same line, the text is ignored (the command is not ignored). A line that does not begin with "!|" is considered raw text and is routed to the TTY text window (see "8" below). 7. RIPscrip makes provisions for a Graphical Window and a Text Window. The Graphical Window is where all RIPscrip graphics appear. The Text Window is where raw text appears. Raw Text includes ANSI color and cursor movement codes (a subset of VT-100 terminal emulation). 8. The vertical bar (|) of a RIPscrip command can be followed by a level number. If the 1st character after (|) is a numeric digit (1-9), then that's the RIPscrip Command Level. If the very 1st character is NOT a digit 1-9, then it is the command type character and the command is a Level-0 command. If the 1st character is a digit 1-9, and the second character is also a digit, then that defines a sub-level of a RIPscrip level. For example: !|L RIPscrip Level-0 Command "L" !|1L RIPscrip Level-1 Command "L" !|15L RIPscrip Level-1, sub-level 5 Command "L" Each of the above examples are unique commands not to be confused with each other. You may continue the sub-levels up to a maximum level of 9 (e.g., !|123456789<cmd>"). 9. Every RIPscrip command includes a command type character. In Level-0 commands, this character immediately follows the vertical bar. At all other levels, it follows the level digits. The command type character may be any printable non-decimal-digit character. 10. Following the command type character are 0 or more parameters. If the command requires a text-string, it is always the LAST parameter. Numeric parameters DO NOT have any delimiters (commas, dashes, spaces, etc.). A variable width numeric parameter may be used as the last parameter. This allows for maximum efficiency. Numbers are represented in base-36. This compacts numbers down to roughly 3/5 of their decimal form. This numbering system, technically called "Hexa-Tri-Decimal", has affectionately been dubbed "MegaNums". Unlike Hexadecimal which uses 0-9, A-F, MegaNums take advantage of the entire alphabet, using characters 0-9 and A-Z. 11. An exclamation mark (!) or vertical bar (|) character can appear in a RIPscrip text parameter by preceding it with a backslash(\). A literal backslash is represented with a double-backslash (\\). 12. A RIPscrip sequence CAN begin in a column other than column #0, if the exclamation mark prefix is replaced with a Ctrl-A (Start Of Header [SOH]) character, or Ctrl-B (STX) character. Since 99.9% of all BBS' do not allow users to enter most control characters, users will be unable to begin RIPscrip sequences in the middle of a command line. Only the host should be able to do this. This prevents people from cluttering teleconference, or other areas of a host with spurious RIPscrip sequences. ANSI SEQUENCES -------------- RIPscrip predominantly uses non-ANSI command sequences. In a couple of situations though, an ANSI sequence is allowed to perform a specific function. There are currently three separate ANSI sequences defined in the RIPscrip protocol to perform various actions. They are as follows: ESC[! Query RIPscrip version number. RIPterm will respond with RIPSCRIPxxyyzz where xx is equal to the major version number (zero padded), yy is equal to the minor version number (zero padded), and zz equals the revision code (also zero padded). For v1.53.00, the returned sequence would be RIPSCRIP015300. Another example, v1.23.45 would return RIPSCRIP012345. ESC[0! Same as ESC [ ! (see above) ESC[1! Disables all RIPscrip processing. Any RIPscrip sequences are interpreted as raw text. ESC[2! Enabled RIPscrip processing. Any RIPscrip sequences will be parsed and processed. ===================================================================== == RIPscrip COMMAND REFERENCE == ===================================================================== The remainder of this document details the RIPscrip command set. Each command has these aspects: SYMBOL - the symbolic constant that is referenced in the RIPscrip API Library code. This is the universal name for the command. LEVEL - The Command Level. Sub-levels are represented with decimal points (eg, 1.3.5 for Level-1, Sub-level 3, Sub-Sub-level 5). This is for discussion purposes only. The decimal points are never part of the actual command. COMMAND - The command type character identifying the command ARGUMENTS - The arguments or parameters for the command. Commands that do not require any arguments after the command type character are shown here as "<none>". Each argument is shown in the order it appears in the command, and is represented by a name. If an argument is numeric, it is followed by a width specifier indicating how many MegaNum digits the argument consists of. (eg, ":2" means a 2-digit MegaNum, or a value between 0 and 1295). If an argument does not have a width specifier, it is by default a text argument, and should be the last argument on the line. If a command is variable length (see POLYGON), then it will appear with ellipses (...) FORMAT - This represents the format of the command, with the starting "!|", the level digits, the command type character, and the argument list, with the argument names in angle brackets. (These arguments are spaced apart, but these spaces never appear in the physical commands.) EXAMPLE - An actual example of the RIPscrip command. DRAW COLOR - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Drawing Color. LINE PATRN - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Line Style Pattern. LINE THICK - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Line Style Thickness FILL COLOR - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Fill Color. FILL PATRN - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Fill Pattern. WRITE MODE - If YES, then this command will take advantage of the current Write Mode (eg, COPY, or XOR). FONT SIZES - If YES, then this command uses or affects the current Font Size. RIP_TEXT_WINDOW --------------- Function: Define the size and location of the Text Window Level: 0 Command: w Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2, wrap:1, size:1 Format: !|w <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> <wrap> <size> Example: !|w00001B0M10 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command specifies the dimensions of the virtual TTY window that will display all ASCII/ANSI (non-RIPscrip) data coming across the connection. (x0,y0) defines the upper-left corner of the window in text-based character- cell coordinates. (x1,y1) defines the lower-right corner of the window (inclusive). There may be two simultaneous windows on the screen, one for TTY text, and one for the display of RIPscrip graphics (a viewport), and they may overlap. Bytes received over the modem are first checked for RIPscrip commands. All bytes that don't conform to the RIPscrip syntax are treated as ANSI/ASCII and displayed in the TTY window (if defined). User keystrokes that are echoed by the BBS would also appear in the text window by this scheme. The text window may be made invisible, ignoring all non-RIPscrip bytes, by setting all RIP_TEXT_WINDOW parameters to zero (0). The X and Y parameters ranges vary depending on the setting of the <size> parameter which governs the font size used for the output text. Valid settings for the <size> parameter and the ranges for X/Y values are as follows: Size Font Size X Range Y Range ------------------------------------------ 0 8x8 0-79 0-42 1 7x8 0-90 0-42 2 8x14 0-79 0-24 3 7x14 0-90 0-24 4 16x14 0-39 0-24 The <wrap> parameter applies to both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. If <wrap> is set to 1, then any text that extends beyond the right margin of the window will wrap to the next line of the window, scrolling the window up if necessary. If <wrap> is 0, then any text going beyond the right margin is truncated and no scrolling is performed; the cursor remains at the right margin. NOTE: If the text window currently being defined is identical to the currently defined text window, the cursor will not be relocated to the upper-left corner of the window. The only aspect of the text window that can be different and still be deemed "identical" is the <wrap> parameter. For the current and new text windows to be considered identical, the parameters <x0>, <y0>, <x1>, <y1> and <size> must be the same. RIP_VIEWPORT ------------ Function: Define the size and location of the Graphics Window Level: 0 Command: v Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2 Format: !|v <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> Example: !|v00002E1M Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command defines the (X,Y) pixel boundaries of the RIPscrip graphics window, which will contain all RIPscrip graphics output. ASCII/ANSI text will be displayed in the virtual TTY window defined by the RIP_TEXT_WINDOW command above. (x0,y0) defines the upper-left corner of the graphics viewport, and (x1,y1) defines the lower-right corner (inclusive). The viewport may be disabled, so RIPscrip graphics commands are ignored, by setting all parameters to zero (0). Graphics displayed in the viewport is "truncated" at this rectangular border, meaning if a circle would normally extend outside one of the borders, it will be chopped, only displaying the portion of the circle that is contained inside the viewport boundaries. Coordinates are specified based on a 640x350 pixel resolution, meaning X can be anywhere from 0 - 639, and Y can be anywhere from 0 - 349. x0 must be less than x1 and y0 must be less than y1 unless all parameters are set to zero, indicating that the graphics window is disabled. RIP_RESET_WINDOWS ----------------- Function: Clear Graphics & Text Windows and reset to full screen Level: 0 Command: * Arguments: <none> Format: !|* Example: !|* Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will set the Text Window to a full 80x43 EGA hi-res text mode, place the cursor in the upper left corner, clear the screen, and zoom the Graphics Window to full 640x350 EGA screen. Both windows are filled with the current graphics background color. Also, all Mouse Regions are deleted and the Clipboard is erased. A system might use this function before entering a text only mode that does not support RIP commands. This command will also restore the default 16-color RIP palette (see RIP_SET_PALETTE below). RIP_ERASE_WINDOW ---------------- Function: Clears the Text Window to the current background color Level: 0 Command: e Arguments: <none> Format: !|e Example: !|e Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This clears the TTY text window to the current graphics background color and positions the cursor in the upper-left corner of the window. If the text window is inactive, then this command is ignored. If the text and graphics windows overlap, then this command will clear the overlapping portion also. RIP_ERASE_VIEW -------------- Function: Clear Graphics Window to current background color Level: 0 Command: E Arguments: <none> Format: !|E Example: !|E Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command clears the Graphics Viewport to the current graphics background color. If the graphics viewport is not active (if the boundaries are 0,0,0,0), then this command is ignored. If the text and graphics windows overlap, then this command will clear the overlapping portion also. RIP_GOTOXY ---------- Function: Move text cursor to row & column in Text Window Level: 0 Command: g Arguments: x:2, y:2 Format: !|g <x> <y> Example: !|g0509 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command sets the position of the text cursor in the TTY Text window, if it is active. If inactive (if the dimensions are 0,0,0,0), then this command is ignored. This command is equivalent to the ANSI/VT-100 command goto x/y, <Esc>[x;yH, except that the coordinates of that ANSI command are 1-based and the coordinates of this RIPscrip command are 0-based. RIP_HOME -------- Function: Move cursor to upper-left corner of Text Window Level: 0 Command: H Arguments: <none> Format: !|H Example: !|H Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command positions the text cursor to the upper-left corner in the TTY Text Window, if it is active. RIP_ERASE_EOL ------------- Function: Erase current text line from the cursor to end of line Level: 0 Command: > Arguments: <none> Format: !|> Example: !|> Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will erase the current text line in the TTY text window from the current cursor location (inclusive) to the end of the line. The erased region is filled with the current graphics background color. This differs from the ANSI command ESC[K which clears the area with the current ANSI background color. RIP_COLOR --------- Function: Set the current Drawing Color for graphics primitives Level: 0 Command: c Arguments: color:2 Format: !|c <color> Example: !|cA Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command sets the color for drawing lines, circles, arcs, rectangles, and other graphics primitives, as well as the color for drawing graphics-text from the RIP_TEXT class of commands (not from ASCII/ANSI text). This command does not affect Fill colors or Fill Patterns (see below). It does affect the borders of graphic objects, for example the border of an ellipse drawn with the RIP_FILLED_OVAL command. (The interior of the ellipse would be drawn according to the most recent RIP_FILL_STYLE command.) This command chooses one of the colors of the 16-color RIP palette defined by the RIP_SET_PALETTE. Here is the default 16-color RIP palette: Value Color ------------------------------------------------------- 00 Black (00 is always the background color) 01 Blue 02 Green 03 Cyan 04 Red 05 Magenta 06 Brown 07 Light Gray 08 Dark Gray 09 Light Blue 0A Light Green 0B Light Cyan 0C Light Red 0D Light Magenta 0E Yellow 0F White RIP_SET_PALETTE --------------- Function: Set 16-color RIP Palette from master 64-color palette Level: 0 Command: Q Arguments: c1:2, c2:2, ... c16:2 Format: !|Q <c1> <c2> ... <c16> Example: !|Q000102030405060708090A0B0C0D0E0F Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command modifies the 16-color RIP palette by choosing from the 64 colors in the master palette. This allows you to alter the colors in your RIPscrip graphics scenes. Once a Set Palette command is processed, any colors on the screen that had their corresponding palette entries changed will instantly switch to the new color set. You may obtain color cycling effects by using this command. The default 16-color RIP palette is restored by the RIP_RESET_WINDOWS command. The default 16-color RIP palette is: 16-Color RIP Palette Master 64-Color EGA Color Code Palette Color Code Color --------------------------------------------------------------- 00 0 (00) Black 01 1 (01) Blue 02 2 (02) Green 03 3 (03) Cyan 04 4 (04) Red 05 5 (05) Magenta 06 7 (06) Brown 07 20 (0K) Light Gray 08 56 (1K) Dark Gray 09 57 (1L) Light Blue 0A 58 (1M) Light Green 0B 59 (1N) Light Cyan 0C 60 (1O) Light Red 0D 61 (1P) Light Magenta 0E 62 (1Q) Yellow 0F 63 (1R) White Color 00 of the 16-color RIP palette is always the background color (which is typically Black, or color 00 of the 64-color EGA palette). RIP_ONE_PALETTE --------------- Function: Set color of 16-color RIP Palette from Master Palette Level: 0 Command: a Arguments: color:2 value:2 Format: !|a <color> <value> Example: !|a051B Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command changes one color in the 16-color palette. The color number is sent along with the new color value from the Master Color Palette. The color <value> must be in the range of 0-63. Once a Set One Palette command is processed, any colors on the screen that correspond to the <color> number will be changed instantly to the new color value. You may obtain color cycling effects by using this command. The default RIP palette is restored when by RIP_RESET_WINDOWS. 16-Color RIP Palette Master 64-Color EGA Color Code Palette Color Code Color --------------------------------------------------------------- 00 0 (00) Black 01 1 (01) Blue 02 2 (02) Green 03 3 (03) Cyan 04 4 (04) Red 05 5 (05) Magenta 06 7 (06) Brown 07 20 (0K) Light Gray 08 56 (1K) Dark Gray 09 57 (1L) Light Blue 0A 58 (1M) Light Green 0B 59 (1N) Light Cyan 0C 60 (1O) Light Red 0D 61 (1P) Light Magenta 0E 62 (1Q) Yellow 0F 63 (1R) White Color 00 of the 16-color RIP palette is always the background color (which is typically Black, or color 00 of the 64-color EGA palette). RIP_WRITE_MODE -------------- Function: Set drawing mode for graphics primitives Level: 0 Command: W Arguments: mode:2 Format: !|W <mode> Example: !|W00 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command sets the current drawing mode for most of the graphics primitives: Mode Description ------------------------------------------ 00 Normal drawing mode (overwrite) 01 XOR (complimentary) mode In normal mode, things are drawn in the current drawing color over top of whatever is in the graphics viewport. This is the typical mode of operation in a GUI environment. In the XOR mode, instead of changing each pixel to the current drawing color, the pixel is inverted (black changes to white, red to green, etc.). Drawing the same item a second time erases it completely. This mode is useful for drawing something temporarily, or for animation. The Rubber Band mode of most paint programs uses a mode like this. RIP_MOVE -------- Function: Move the current drawing position to (X,Y) Level: 0 Command: m Arguments: x:2, y:2 Format: !|m <x> <y> Example: !|m0509 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command moves the current graphics drawing cursor to (x,y). You could use this to draw text at a certain point, but you'd probably use RIP_TEXT_XY instead. This command is primarily provided for future development which will make use of its ability to relocate the current drawing position without physically drawing anything. RIP_TEXT -------- Function: Draw text in current font/color at current location Level: 0 Command: T Arguments: text-string Format: !|T <text-string> Example: !|Thello world Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: YES This command displays text at the current location in the graphics window, as set with the RIP_MOVE command. The text is also affected by the most recent settings of these commands: Command Description of Command ----------------------------------------------------------------- RIP_FONT_STYLE font style (character set, direction, size) RIP_WRITE_MODE drawing mode (normal or XOR) RIP_COLOR drawing color (from the 16-color RIP palette) The drawing position is placed at the end of the last character drawn. The current drawing position is set immediately to the right of the drawn text. Subsequent Line, Circle or other such commands will not affect this position. This provides a means so that you can quickly do another RIP_TEXT command (presumably in another color) at a later time and have the text show up immediately after the previous text. RIP_TEXT_XY ----------- Function: Draw text in current font/color at specific location Level: 0 Command: @ Arguments: x:2, y:2 and text-string Format: !|@ <x> <y> <text-string> Example: !|@0011hello world Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: YES This command is an efficient combination of RIP_MOVE and RIP_TEXT. The text is drawn at the specified location according to the same settings as apply to RIP_TEXT (see above). The current drawing position is set immediately to the right of the drawn text. Subsequent Line, Circle or other such commands will not affect this position. This provides a means so that you can quickly do another RIP_TEXT command (presumably in another color) at a later time and have the text show up immediately after the previous text. RIP_FONT_STYLE -------------- Function: Select the current font style, orientation and size Level: 0 Command: Y Arguments: font:2, direction:2, size:2, res:2 Format: !|Y <font> <direction> <size> <res> Example: !|Y01000400 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: YES This command sets the font, direction and size for RIP_TEXT commands. Font Description of Font --------------------------------------------- 00 Default 8x8 font Bit-Mapped 01 Triplex Font Scalable 02 Small Font Scalable 03 Sans Serif Font Scalable 04 Gothic [Old English] Font Scalable 05 Script Font Scalable 06 Simplex Font Scalable 07 Triplex Script Font Scalable 08 Complex Font Scalable 09 European Font Scalable 0A Bold Font Scalable For the Direction parameter, use 00 to indicate horizontal and 01 for vertical. For the Size parameter, use 01 for the normal default size, 02 for x2 magnification, 03 for x3 magnification, ... , and 0A for x10 magnification. NOTE: The Default font is bit-mapped and looks best when drawn in size 1. In sizes greater than one, the individual pixels are enlarged, giving a jagged look. This may not be the desired effect. The fonts 1 - 4 are smooth scalable vector fonts. RIP_PIXEL --------- Function: Draws a one pixel using current drawing color Level: 0 Command: X Arguments: x:2, y:2 Format: !|X <x> <y> Example: !|X1122 Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will draw a single pixel in the current drawing color at the given (x,y) graphics position. This command is included for completeness, but in practice it would be extremely inefficient to make much use of it. RIP_LINE -------- Function: Draw a line in the current color/line style Level: 0 Command: L Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2 Format: !|L <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> Example: !|L00010A0E Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will draw a line in the current drawing color, using the current line style, pattern and thickness. The line is drawn from (x0,y0) to (x1,y1) in the graphics viewport. RIP_RECTANGLE ------------- Function: Draw a rectangle in current color/line style Level: 0 Command: R Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2 Format: !|R <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> Example: !|R00010A0E Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws a rectangle in the current drawing color, using the current line style, pattern and thickness. (x0,y0) and (x1,y1) are any two opposing corners of the rectangle. If x0=x1 or y0=y1 then the command will draw a single vertical or horizontal line. The rectangle interior is not filled by RIP_RECTANGLE. RIP_BAR ------- Function: Draw solid, filled rectangle with fill color/pattern Level: 0 Command: B Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2 Format: !|B <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> Example: !|B00010A0E Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command fills a rectangular region with the current fill color and pattern. No border is drawn. RIP_CIRCLE ---------- Function: Draw a circle in the current color and line thickness Level: 0 Command: C Arguments: x_center:2, y_center:2, radius:2 Format: !|C <x_center> <y_center> <radius> Example: !|C1E180M Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws a circle in the current drawing color and line thickness. The <radius> is in pixel units. This command understands aspect ratios and will draw a truly circular circle instead of an oblong circle (ellipse) like on other graphics systems. The aspect ratio is currently based on the EGA 640x350 resolution and is understood by both the GUI designer and the Terminal Program. NOTE: This command uses the line thickness setting, but not the line patterns. In other words, you can draw a circle with a thick or a thin border, but not a dashed or dotted border. RIP_OVAL -------- Function: Draw elliptical arc in the current color/line style Level: 0 Command: O Arguments: x:2, y:2, st_ang:2, end_ang:2, x_rad:2, y_rad:2 Format: !|O <x> <y> <st_ang> <end_ang> <x_rad> <y_rad> Example: 1E1A18003G150Z Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws an elliptical arc similar to the circular RIP_ARC command. The center of the ellipse is (x,y) and the arc is drawn starting from <st_ang> and proceeding counterclockwise to <end_ang> (see RIP_ARC above for details). The X radius is half the full width of the ellipse, the Y radius is half the full height. The ellipse is drawn according to the current line thickness, but the current line pattern has no effect. RIP_FILLED_OVAL --------------- Function: Draw filled ellipse using current color/fill pattern Level: 0 Command: o Arguments: x_center:2, y_center:2, x_rad:2, y_rad:2 Format: !|o <x_center> <y_center> <x_rad> <y_rad> Example: !|o1G2B0M0G Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws a complete filled ellipse on the screen. The interior of the ellipse is drawn using the current fill pattern and fill color. The outline of the ellipse is drawn using the current drawing color and line thickness. RIP_ARC ------- Function: Draw circular arc in current color/line thickness Level: 0 Command: A Arguments: x:2, y:2, start_ang:2, end_ang:2, radius:2 Format: !|A <x> <y> <start_ang> <end_ang> <radius> Example: !|A1E18003G15 Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws a circular arc, or a segment of a circle. Drawing begins at <start_ang> and terminates at <end_ang>. The angles are represented starting at zero for the 3 o'clock position and increasing counterclockwise through a full circle to 360: The arc drawing begins at the <start_angle> and continues counter- clockwise to the <end_angle>. A full circle will be displayed if <start_ang>=0 and <end_ang>=360. This command recognizes aspect ratios like the circle command does. It does not take advantage of line patterns but does comply with line thickness. If both angles are equal, nothing is drawn. RIP_OVAL_ARC ------------ Function: Draw an elliptical arc Level: 0 Command: V Arguments: x:2, y:2, st_ang:2, e_ang:2, radx:2 rady:2 Format: !|V <x> <y> <st_ang> <e_ang> <radx> <rady> Example: !|V1E18003G151Q Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws an elliptical arc, or a segment of an ellipse. Drawing begins at <st_ang> and terminates at <e_ang>. The angles are represented starting at zero for 3 o'clock position and increasing counterclockwise through a full ellipse at 360 degrees: The arc drawing begins at the <st_ang> and continues counterclockwise to the <e_ang>. A complete ellipse will be displayed if <st_ang>=0 and <e_ang>=360. This command does not utilize "aspect ratios" because of the nature of an Ellipse. It does not take advantage of line patterns but does comply with line thickness. RIP_PIE_SLICE ------------- Function: Draws a circular pie slice Level: 0 Command: I Arguments: x:2, y:2, start_ang:2, end_ang:2, radius:2 Format: !|I <x> <y> <start_ang> <end_ang> <radius> Example: !|I1E18003G15 Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws a "pie slice". The slice is circular. It obeys all of the same commands as the Arc command described above. The ends of the arc are connected to the Center-Point of the Arc with two straight lines. These two lines converge at the Center-Point. The interior of the Slice is filled with the current Fill Color and Pattern. The exterior (outline) of the Slice is drawn using the current drawing color and line thickness. The Line Pattern feature does not apply to this command. RIP_OVAL_PIE_SLICE ------------------ Function: Draws an elliptical pie slice Level: 0 Command: i Arguments: x:2, y:2, st_ang:2, e_ang:2, radx:2 rady:2 Format: !|i <x> <y> <st_ang> <e_ang> <radx> <rady> Example: !|i1E18003G151Q Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command draws an "elliptical pie slice". It obeys all of the same commands as the Elliptical Arc command described above. The ends of the arc are connected to the Center-Point of the Arc with two straight lines. These two lines converge at the Center-Point. The interior of the Slice is filled with the current Fill Color and Pattern. The exterior (outline) of the Slice is drawn using the current drawing color and line thickness. The Line Pattern feature does not apply to this command. RIP_BEZIER ---------- Function: Draw a bezier curve Level: 0 Command: Z Arguments: x1:2 y1:2 x2:2 y2:2 x3:2 y3:2 x4:2 y4:2 cnt:2 Format: !|Z <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> <x3> <y3> <x4> <y4> <cnt> Example: !|Z0A0B0C0D0E0F0G0H1G Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command provides customizable curves. Four control points are used to create the shape of the curve. The curves beginning point is at point (x1,y1) and it ends at (x4,y4). Points (x2,y2) and (x3,y3) are not necessarily on the curve, but are used to pull the curve in their direction. The diagram below indicates how points 2 and 3 can be utilized to form the desired curve. Note that points 2 and 3 are not actually on the curve, but points 1 and 4 are. NOTE: Points 2 and 3 are not actually on the curve - points 1 and 4 are. The last parameter of this command is the <cnt> parameter. This determines how many "segments" the curve should be drawn in. Each segment is in fact, a straight line. The more segments you allow, the smoother the curve may be. If a curve does not have a significant amount of "curviness" then a low "count" can improve performance of the curve drawing. Bezier Curves use "floating point" math internally for its processing. All parameters specified for this command are simple integers however. RIP_POLYGON ----------- Function: Draw a polygon in the current color, line style, thickness Level: 0 Command: P Arguments: npoints:2, x1:2, y1:2, ... xn:2, yn:2 Format: !|P <npoints> <x1> <y1> ... <xn> <yn> Example: !|P03010105090905 Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will draw a multi-sided closed polygon. The polygon is drawn using the current drawing color, line pattern and thickness. The <npoints> parameter is between 2 and 512 and indicates how many (x,y) coordinate pairs will follow, which is also the number of sides of the polygon. The polygon interior is not filled by RIP_POLYGON. The polygon is enclosed by the last vertex between xn,yn and x1,y1. In other words, you do not have to connect the end to the beginning - it is automatically done for you. RIP_FILL_POLYGON ---------------- Function: Draw a filled polygon using drawing color & fill settings Level: 0 Command: p Arguments: npoints:2, x1:2, y1:2, ... xn:2, yn:2 Format: !|p <npoints> <x1> <y1> ... <xn> <yn> Example: !|p03010105050909 Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: NO This command is identical to RIP_POLYGON, except that the interior of the polygon is filled with the current fill color and fill pattern. The actual outline of the polygon is drawn using the current drawing color, line pattern and thickness. NOTE: You will get unusual effects if the lines of the polygon overlap, creating a polygon with internal "gaps". (The rule is this: regions that are "inside" the polygon an even number of times due to overlap are NOT filled.) The interior fill does not utilize Write Mode, but the outline of the polygon does. RIP_FILL -------- Function: Flood fill screen area with the current fill settings Level: 0 Command: F Arguments: x:2, y:2, border:2 Format: !|F <x> <y> <border> Example: !|F25090F Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command performs a "flood fill" emanating from the given <x,y> point. The fill "oozes" in all directions up to <border> color, but the border itself is not changed. Whatever is inside the border that's not the border color gets changed to the current fill color and fill pattern. If the border color does not completely enclose the <x,y> point, the fill will continue to the edges of the viewport. RIP_LINE_STYLE -------------- Function: Defines a line style and thickness Level: 0 Command: = Arguments: style:2, user_pat:4, thick:2 Format: !|= <style> <user_pat> <thick> Example: !|=01000001 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command establishes the current line pattern and thickness for many subsequent graphics primitive commands. There are four built-in line styles plus provisions for custom line patterns. Style Description -------------------------------------------------------- 00 Normal, Solid Line 01 Dotted Line 02 Centered Line 03 Dashed Line 04 Custom Defined line (see about <user_pat> below) Thick Description ------------------------------- 01 Lines are 1 pixel wide 03 Lines are 3 pixels wide If the <style> is set to a value of 4 (custom pattern), then the <user_pat> parameter is used as a 16-bit representation of the pixels in the line pattern. For example: Repeating Pattern Binary Coding Hex Decimal MegaNum ------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - 1010101010101010 AAAA 43690 0XPM ---- ---- 1111000011110000 F0F0 61680 1BLC So, the most-significant-bit of <user_pat> is toward the starting point of the line or border that uses this fill pattern. If the <style> parameter is not 4, then the <user_pat> parameter is ignored. RIP_FILL_STYLE -------------- Function: Set current fill style (predefined) and fill color Level: 0 Command: S Arguments: pattern:2, color:2 Format: !|S <pattern> <color> Example: !|S050F Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command defines the current fill pattern and fill color for use in subsequent graphics fill operations. There are twelve (12) predefined fill patterns. They are: Pattern Description Example Misc ----------------------------------------------------------------- 00 Fill with background color (color #0) 01 Solid Fill (fill color) 02 Line Fill ----------- (thick lines) 03 Light Slash Fill / / / / (thin lines) 04 Normal Slash Fill // // // // (thick lines) 05 Normal Backslash Fill \\ \\ \\ \\ (thick lines) 06 Light Backslash Fill \ \ \ \ (thin lines) 07 Light Hatch Fill ########### (thin lines) 08 Heavy Cross Hatch Fill XXXXXXXXXXX (thin lines) 09 Interleaving Line Fill +-+-+-+-+-+ (thin lines) 0A Widely spaced dot fill . : . : . : (pixels only) 0B Closely spaced dot fill ::::::::::: (pixels only) The <color> parameter is the fill color for subsequent fill commands. The "active" pixels of the pattern become this color. The "inactive" pixels become the current background color (color 00, typically black). Fill pattern 00 will set the entire fill area to the background color. (In this special case, the fill color doesn't matter.) RIP_FILL_PATTERN ---------------- Function: Set user-definable (custom) fill pattern/color Level: 0 Command: s Arguments: c1:2 c2:2 c3:2 c4:2 c5:2 c6:2 c7:2 c8:2 color:2 Format: !|s <c1> <c2> <c3> <c4> <c5> <c6> <c7> <c8> <color> Example: !|s11223344556677880F Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command allows you to specify a user-defined, custom Fill Pattern. This pattern supersedes the predefined patterns of RIP_FILL_STYLE. A custom fill pattern is an 8x8 pixel array defining which pixels should be drawn in the current fill color (as set by the <color> parameter here). The other pixels in the fill area are set to the current background color (color 00, typically black). Each of the eight parameters of this command, <c1> through <c8> represent bit-patterns for a line of the 8x8 pixel array. Each line is comprised of 8 pixels. The value of each parameter is the binary representation of these 8 pixels as follows: Bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ---------------------------------------------- c1 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c2 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c3 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c4 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c5 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c6 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c7 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 c8 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 So, c1 is the top, and the most-significant bit is to the left. NOTE: The RIP_FILL_STYLE (predefined fill patterns) and this RIP_FILL_PATTERN (custom fill patterns) completely override each other's effects. RIP_MOUSE --------- Function: Defines a rectangular hot mouse region Level: 1 Command: M Arguments: num:2 x0:2 y0:2 x1:2 y1:2 clk:1 clr:1 res:5 text Format: !|1M <num> <x0><y0> <x1><y1> <clk><clr><res> <text> Example: !|1M00001122331100000host command^M Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command ties together three things: A region on the screen A mouse-click event A string of text to be transmitted by the terminal. This command defines a rectangular region on the screen that functions as a "hot" mouse area. If the user clicks the [left] mouse button while pointing inside the region, then the terminal must transmit the <text> string to the Host. The (x0,y0) parameter MUST be the upper-left corner, and (x1,y1) MUST be the lower-right corner of the region. The <clk> parameter, if 1, indicates that the region should be visibly inverted while the mouse button is down. This offers visual feedback. If <clk> is 0, the region will not be inverted while clicked. The <clr> parameter, if 1, will physically zoom the text window to full screen size and clear the screen. This is useful if the <text> parameter instructs the host to enter an area of the System that doesn't support RIPscrip graphics. The <text> parameter is a Host command that gets sent when the field is clicked. You may use a caret (^) to represent control characters, (e.g., ^M for carriage return, ^G, ^C, etc.). NOTE: You are limited to a maximum of 128 Mouse Regions. In addition, the 5-byte <res> parameter is RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE, and should be set to zeros (00000). RIP_KILL_MOUSE_FIELDS --------------------- Function: Destroys all previously defined hot mouse regions Level: 1 Command: K Arguments: <none> Format: !|1K Example: !|1K Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command will "forget" all Mouse Regions. Use it at the beginning of each Scene, so that one scene's Mouse Regions don't get used in another. RIP_BEGIN_TEXT -------------- Function: Define a rectangular text region Level: 1 Command: T Arguments: x1:2, y1:2, x2:2, y2:2, res:2 Format: !|1T <x1> <y1> <x2> <y2> <res> Example: !|1T00110011 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command defines a rectangular portion of the graphics viewport that is to display text, usually a long stream of text. Following this command should be a number of RIP_REGION_TEXT commands with the text to be displayed. The RIP_END_TEXT terminates this stream of text, something like this: RIP_BEGIN_TEXT RIP_REGION_TEXT RIP_REGION_TEXT RIP_REGION_TEXT : RIP_REGION_TEXT RIP_END_TEXT There must be at least one RIP_REGION_TEXT command in between the header and the footer. There may be as many as needed. These commands ignore the current font "direction"; all text is always displayed horizontally. NOTE: The "res" parameter is two bytes wide and is RESERVED for future use. RIP_REGION_TEXT --------------- Function: Display a line of text in the rectangular text region Level: 1 Command: t Arguments: justify:1 and text-string Format: !|1t <justify> <text-string> Example: !|1t1This is a text line to be justified Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: YES A number of these commands may come sandwiched between the RIP_BEGIN_TEXT and RIP_END_TEXT commands. The <text-string> is already word-wrapped in such a way that it will fit inside the rectangular region based on the current font, font size, and drawing color. There are two possible settings for the <justify> parameter: Justify Description -------------------------------------------------------------------- 0 Don't right/left justify. Left-justify only 1 Perform right/left margin justification of this line of text except for the last line of a paragraph and sets of indented lines. If a text line falls off the bottom of the region, it is discarded -- the rectangular Text Region does not scroll. RIP_END_TEXT ------------ Function: End a rectangular text region Level: 1 Command: E Arguments: <none> Format: !|1E Example: !|1E Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command indicates the end of a formatted text block. Only one of these "end" commands is necessary for each block. RIP_GET_IMAGE ------------- Function: Copy rectangular screen image to clipboard (as icon) Level: 1 Command: C Arguments: x0:2, y0:2, x1:2, y1:2, res:1 Format: !|1C <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> <res> Example: !|1C001122330 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command instructs the terminal program to copy the rectangular region defined by (x0,y0) to (x1,y1) onto an internal Clipboard for future use. This combined with the Paste Clipboard command can provide an extremely powerful and efficient mechanism to avoid baud-rate bandwidth limitations. The (x0,y0) parameter MUST specify the upper-left corner of the region and the (x1,y1) parameter MUST specify the lower-right corner. If the indicated coordinates are in anyway invalid, the command is ignored. The Clipboard is completely overwritten by this command (the previous contents are lost). NOTE: The <res> parameter is RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE and should be set to zero. RIP_PUT_IMAGE ------------- Function: Pastes the clipboard (icon) contents onto the screen Level: 1 Command: P Arguments: x:2, y:2, mode:2, res:1 Format: !|1P <x> <y> <mode> <res> Example: !|1P0011010 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command takes the contents of the Clipboard (if any) and pastes the image onto the screen starting at the upper-left corner of the image of (x,y). If the right edge of the image would go off-screen, the paste command is ignored. The Height and Width of the clipboard image is recorded on the Clipboard, so this command doesn't need to supply it. The <mode> parameter defines "how" the image will be pasted on the screen: Mode Description Logical ------------------------------------------------------------------- 00 Paste the image on-screen normally (COPY) 01 Exclusive-OR image with the one already on screen (XOR) 02 Logically OR image with the one already on screen (OR) 03 Logically AND image with the one already on screen (AND) 04 Paste the inverse of the image on the screen (NOT) NOTE: The 1-byte <res> parameter is RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE and should be set to zero. RIP_WRITE_ICON -------------- Function: Write contents of the clipboard (icon) to disk Level: 1 Command: W Arguments: res:1, filename Format: !|1W <res> <filename> Example: !|1W0filename.icn Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command takes the contents of the Clipboard and writes it to a disk file. This Icon file can be loaded later with a RIP_LOAD_ICON command and stamped on the screen. The command instructs the terminal to store an Icon on the terminal's disk drive, or on some appropriate storage media. Path or sub-directory information is not allowed in the filename portion of the command. If the clipboard is nonexistent (i.e., at the beginning of a scene), this command is ignored. If an Icon by the same name already exists on disk, it is overwritten. NOTE: The <res> parameter is RESERVED FOR FUTURE USE and should be set to zero. RIP_LOAD_ICON ------------- Function: Loads and displays a disk-based icon to the screen Level: 1 Command: I Arguments: x:2, y:2, mode:2, clipboard:1, res:2, filename Format: !|1I <x> <y> <mode> <clipboard> <res> <filename> Example: !|1I001101010button.icn Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command instructs the terminal to read an Icon from disk and display it at the given upper-left (x,y) location. If the width or height of the Icon would make it go off the right or left edge of the screen, the Icon will not be displayed. The <mode> parameter defines the modes in which the Icon will be displayed on the screen. The modes are identical to the RIP_PUT_IMAGE command, and are as follows: The .ICN file extension does not need to be included as part of the filename. If omitted, it will automatically be appended to the filename. If an extension is provided, it will be used verbatim. Mode Description Logical ------------------------------------------------------------------ 00 Paste the image on-screen normally (COPY) 01 Exclusive-OR image with the one already on screen (XOR) 02 Logically OR image with the one already on screen (OR) 03 Logically AND image with the one already on screen (AND) 04 Paste the inverse of the image on the screen (NOT) If the <clipboard> parameter is 1, then the image pasted on screen AND also copied onto the Clipboard. If 0, it is simply pasted on the screen. The <filename> parameter must not contain any sub-directory or path information and must specify a valid Icon file name. If the Icon cannot be located or an error occurs on the disk, then a box should be displayed on screen indicating that the given Icon File could not be loaded. This visual prompt indicates that something is amiss to the end-user. NOTE: The 2-byte <res> parameter is RESERVED FOR THE FUTURE and unlike many other previously mentioned reserved parameters, should be set to "10". RIP_BUTTON_STYLE ---------------- Function: Button style definition Level: 1 Command: B Arguments: wid:2 hgt:2 orient:2 flags:4 size:2 dfore:2 dback:2 bright:2 dark:2 surface:2 grp_no:2 flags2:2 uline_col:2 corner_col:2 res:6 Format: !|1B <wid> <hgt> <orient> <flags> <bevsize> <dfore> <dback> <bright> <dark> <surface> <grp_no> <flags2> <uline_col> <corner_col> <res> Example: !|1B0A0A010274030F080F080700010E07000000 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This RIPscrip command is probably one of the most complex in the entire protocol. It defines how subsequent RIP_BUTTON commands will be interpreted. The purpose of this command is to define what a Button is and how they operate. Buttons can have many different configurations, flags, and styles. With the diversity of modes that the Button can take on, complexity is a necessary evil. This command does not actually do anything visibly on the screen. Simply put, this creates an internal definition for the Button mode which will be used with RIP_BUTTON commands after the definition is created. Every Button can have an optional text label. It can appear in several different locations compared to the Button itself. This is specified in the <orient> parameter. The actual text of the label is not specified with this command, it is specified when you actually create a Button (see RIP_BUTTON below). The value that <orient> can be is as follows: Value Description of Orientation ------------------------------------------------- 00 Display label above button 01 Display label to the left of button 02 Display label in the center of the button 03 Display label to the right of button 04 Display label beneath the button The <hgt> and <wid> parameters represent the fixed height and width of the Button (applies only to Plain Buttons). If both values are greater than zero, then this will represent the actual size of the Button (its dimensions are not specified by the RIP_BUTTON command). If both of these are set to zero, then the actual RIP_BUTTON command will specify the size of the particular Button (dynamic sizing). The <bevsize> parameter is only used if the Bevel flag is specified. When active, this parameter will determine how many pixels thick the bevel should be. This may be any value greater or equal to zero. There are a large number of flag values that can be combined to achieve a great many effects. There are two flag parameters for the RIP_BUTTON_STYLE command, <flags> and <flags2>. They are detailed in the two tables that follow in this Section. You may combine any of the flags in the first table together simply by adding the "Value" of each one together and representing that number as a MegaNum. See the Section in this manual for a "Table of MegaNums". The <dfore> and <dback> parameters are used with the text label. The <dfore> parameter is the foreground color for the text. It is always used to determine the color of the text label. The <dback> color is the color of the dropshadow (if any). This parameter is only used when you have specified the "Dropshadow" flag in the <flags> parameter (see below). The <bright>, <dark> and <surface> parameters are used with Plain Buttons and with the Special Effects styles (see <flags> below). These colors represent the highlighted color, the shadowed color, and the regular surface color that is used in Special Effects. Typical color combinations for these colors might be White, Dark-Gray and Light-Gray respectively for a "chiseled steel" appearance. Each of these values can contain a two-digit value representing any valid color code that may be used in the RIP_COLOR command. In addition to the special effects colors, are two additional colors that can be used, <uline_color> which is used for the color of the underline (in the text label), and <corner_color> which is used to display the colors of corners for things like the Bevel, Recess, etc. The <grp_no> parameter determines which Button Group subsequent RIP_BUTTON commands will be associated with. Button Groups are used to maintain groups of Buttons for things like Radio Buttons and/or Checkbox Buttons. See the section on the BUTTON COMMAND for more information on these modes, and what Button Groups can offer. This value can range anywhere from 0-Z (i.e., 0-35). You should not mix Checkbox and Radio buttons in the same group. -- unpredictable things may happen if you do. Some <flags> are mutually exclusive. For example, you can only have one of the "Plain", "Icon", or "Clipboard" flags chosen at once. To better assist you in determining which values can be combined with each other, the right-most five columns in the next two tables explain if the specific flag can be used under a specific condition. For example, you cannot choose the "Hot Icon" flag if you are dealing with a Clipboard Button. Another example is that you cannot underline the hotkey character in the label if it is not a Mouse Button. The following table contains the possible flag values for the <flags> parameter. Each of these values may be combined to achieve a "composite" group of flags. See the preceding paragraphs for a more detailed explanation of this method. Value Description of Flags Field #1 Icon Clip Plain Mouse No-Mouse ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 Button is a "Clipboard Button" N Y N Y Y 2 Button is "Invertable" Y Y Y Y N 4 Reset screen after button click Y Y Y Y N 8 Display Chisel special effect Y Y Y Y Y 16 Display Recessed special effect Y Y Y Y Y 32 Dropshadow the label (if any) Y Y Y Y Y 64 Auto-stamp image onto Clipboard Y Y Y Y Y 128 Button is an "Icon Button" Y N N Y Y 256 Button is a "Plain Button" N N Y Y Y 512 Display Bevel special effect Y Y Y Y Y 1024 Button is a Mouse Button Y Y Y Y N 2048 Underline hot-key in label Y Y Y Y N 4096 Make Icon Button use Hot Icons Y N N Y N 8192 Adjust vertical centering of label Y Y Y Y Y 16384 Button belongs to a Radio Group Y Y Y Y N 32768 Display Sunken special effect Y Y Y Y Y This array defines which characters have descenders (portions of their font that go below the baseline). This information is used in the vertical centering of button text labels. char low_char[256] = { 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0, 1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1, 0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0 }; struct METRIC { unsigned char top; // Scan lines from TOP OF CELL to top of char unsigned char bow; // Scan lines from TOC to crest of char unsigned char base; // Scan lines from TOC to baseline unsigned char drop; // Scan lines from TOC to lowermost pixel }; The METRIC structure can be described visually as follows: 0 --+----------+----------+ | | | TOP__|__________|__________| | # | | | # | | | # | | BOW__|_#________|___ _ __| | # ### | ### # | | ## # | # ## | | # # | # # | | # # | # # | | # # | # # | | # # | # ## | BASE__|_#_____#__|___###_#__| | | # | | | # | | | # | | | # # | DROP__|__________|___###____| | | | END --+----------+----------+ Notice that the topmost scan line of a font cell is not necessarily the top of the character. The top field of the structure contains the vertical offset from the top of the cell for all fonts in that set. Default Font (Font 0) Triplex Font (Font 1) Size Top Bow Base Drop Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ -------------------------------- 1 0 2 6 7 1 6 10 18 22 2 0 4 13 15 2 6 11 20 24 3 0 6 20 23 3 8 13 23 28 4 0 8 27 31 4 10 17 31 38 5 0 10 34 39 5 13 23 41 50 6 0 12 41 47 6 16 28 51 62 7 0 14 48 55 7 20 34 62 76 8 0 16 55 63 8 25 42 77 94 9 0 18 62 71 9 30 51 93 114 10 0 20 69 79 10 40 67 124 152 Small Font (Font 2) Sans Serif Font (Font 3) Size Top Bow Base Drop Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ -------------------------------- 1 2 3 5 6 1 7 11 19 23 2 2 4 6 7 2 7 12 21 25 3 2 3 6 7 3 9 14 24 29 4 3 5 9 11 4 11 18 32 39 5 4 7 12 14 5 14 24 42 51 6 5 9 15 18 6 18 30 53 64 7 6 10 13 22 7 22 36 64 78 8 7 12 22 27 8 28 45 80 97 9 9 15 27 33 9 33 54 96 117 10 12 20 36 44 10 74 102 158 186 Gothic Font (Font 4) Script Font (Font 5) Size Top Bow Base Drop Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ -------------------------------- 1 7 11 19 23 1 10 17 22 29 2 7 12 21 25 2 10 18 24 32 3 9 14 24 29 3 12 21 27 36 4 11 18 32 39 4 16 28 37 49 5 14 24 42 51 5 21 37 49 65 6 18 30 53 64 6 26 46 61 80 7 22 36 64 78 7 32 56 74 98 8 28 45 80 97 8 40 70 92 122 9 33 54 96 117 9 48 84 111 147 10 44 72 128 156 10 63 111 147 195 Simplex Font (Font 6) Triplex Script Font (Font 7) Size Top Bow Base Drop Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ -------------------------------- 1 9 13 21 25 1 5 9 17 21 2 9 14 23 27 2 5 10 19 23 3 11 16 26 31 3 7 12 22 27 4 14 21 35 42 4 9 16 30 37 5 18 28 46 56 5 12 22 40 49 6 23 35 58 69 6 15 27 50 61 7 28 42 70 84 7 19 33 61 75 8 35 52 87 104 8 24 41 77 93 9 42 63 105 126 9 29 50 92 113 10 56 84 140 168 10 39 67 123 151 Complex Font (Font 8) European Font (Font 9) Size Top Bow Base Drop Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ -------------------------------- 1 8 12 20 24 1 7 14 32 38 2 8 13 22 26 2 7 15 35 41 3 10 15 25 30 3 9 18 40 47 4 13 20 34 41 4 12 24 54 64 5 17 27 45 54 5 16 32 72 85 6 22 34 57 68 6 20 40 96 106 7 27 41 69 83 7 25 49 109 129 8 34 51 86 103 8 31 61 136 161 9 41 62 104 125 9 38 74 164 194 10 54 83 139 167 10 51 99 219 259 Bold Font (Font 10) Size Top Bow Base Drop ------------------------------ 1 11 17 35 39 2 13 19 39 43 3 14 22 44 49 4 19 29 59 66 5 27 39 79 88 6 33 49 99 110 7 39 59 119 133 8 49 74 149 166 9 59 89 179 200 10 79 199 239 267 The Chisel effect draws a dropshadowed line around the inside of the button. How far from the borders of the button are determined by this table: Height of Button X inset Y inset ---------------------------------------- 0 - 11 1 1 12 - 24 3 2 25 - 39 4 3 40 - 74 6 5 75 - 149 7 5 150 - 199 8 6 200 - 249 10 7 250 - 299 11 8 300 - 13 9 This table describes the possible flag settings for the <flags2> parameter: Value Description of Flags Field #2 Icon Clip Plain Mouse No-Mouse --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Button is in a check box group Y Y Y Y N 2 Highlight hotkey character Y Y Y Y N 4 Explode (zoom out when clicked) Y Y Y Y N 8 Left Justify Label (top/center/bottom) Y Y Y Y Y 16 Right Justify Label (top/center/bottom) Y Y Y Y Y RIP_BUTTON ---------- Function: Define a Mouse Button Level: 1 Command: U Arguments: x0:2 y0:2 x1:2 y1:2 hotkey:2 flags:1 res:1 ...text Format: !|1U <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> <hotkey> <flags> <res> <text> Example: !|1U010100003200iconfile<>Label<>HostCmd^m Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: YES This command physically creates a new Button using the previously described RIP_BUTTON_STYLE command. You may have at most 128 different Mouse Buttons (you may have any number of non-Mouse Buttons). The <x0> and <y0> parameters for this command designate the upper-left corner of the Button. This (X,Y) location may not be the actual "absolute" corner position of the Button, as it may be adjusted via the Special Effects functions that are part of the RIP_BUTTON_STYLE command (see above). The <x1> and <y1> parameters are only used for Plain Buttons when you have not specified a specific Height and Width in the RIP_BUTTON_STYLE command. These parameters are used in Dynamically Sized Buttons. If the Height and Width in the RIP_BUTTON_STYLE are non-zero, then these two parameters are set to zero. The (x0,y0) and (x1,y1) parameters will be modified by the following values for the different special effects: Effect Type X0 Modifier Y0 Modifier X1 Modifier Y1 Modifier ------------------------------------------------------------------- Bevel -bevel size -bevel size +bevel size +bevel size Recess -2 -2 +2 +2 Sunken 0 0 0 0 Chisel 0 0 0 0 The <hotkey> parameter is only used with Mouse Buttons. It is the ASCII code for the keystroke that will activate this Button. It is represented as a two-digit MegaNum. If this character exists in the text label, and the Underline flag is enabled in the RIP_BUTTON_STYLE, then the character will be underlined in the label. Control codes are allowable, and a value of 255 (decimal) corresponds to "any" key. The <flags> parameter provides several different functions for each button. The possible "combinatorial" flags for this parameter are listed in the following table. Note that these values may be combined together (by adding their values) to arrive at the final flag parameter's value. Value Description -------------------------------------------------- 1 Draw button as already selected 2 Button is "default" when <ENTER> is pressed Using a flag of 1 means that the Button is already "selected". By selected, we mean that it is already clicked and should be initially drawn as clicked. This is typically used for Radio Buttons and/or Check Boxes. This only affects the image. The Host Command WILL NOT be automatically sent to the host when a selected Button is drawn. If this parameter is set to 0, then the Button will be drawn in normal, unselected mode. The <text> parameter for this command is somewhat different than those found in previously described RIPscrip commands. All other RIPscrip commands only have one text parameter. This command requires anywhere from 0-3 text parameters. The way RIPscrip accomplishes this is by separating each block in the <text> parameter with the delimiter "<>". This text parameter delimiter is not needed before the first text block, but is necessary between the 1st and 2nd blocks, and the 2nd and 3rd blocks. Here is an example of a typical text parameter for this command: ICONFILE.ICN<>TEXT LABEL<>HOST COMMAND The actual syntax of this text parameter is as follows: [icon-file][[<>text-label][<>host-command]] The block described as ICONFILE.ICN is actually the Icon Filename that will be used for the Button if it is an Icon Button. If it is not an Icon Button, then this block will read "<>" all by itself (a "null" block). The .ICN file extension does not need to be included as part of the filename. If omitted, it will automatically be appended to the filename. If an extension is provided, it will be used verbatim. The "TEXT LABEL" block is actually the text that will be used to descriptively label the Button. You may also specify a "null" block for no label (i.e., "<>"). The final block of the <text> parameter is the Host Command. This block contains any text that should be sent to the Host after this Button is clicked. This may contain any Control Characters, Pick-List definitions, Text Variables or Template Definitions. This block might be "segmented" into multiple Host Command segments. See the section entitled HOST COMMANDS in this Manual for additional information on these Host Command features. Not all of the blocks in the <text> parameter need to be specified. Here are examples of the valid combinations of text blocks: Parameter Example Description of the Text Parameter --------------------------------------------------------------------- icon<>label<>host_cmd Specify all three blocks <>label<>host_cmd 2 blocks specified; no icon icon<>label<> 2 blocks specified; no host command icon<>label 2 blocks specified; no host command <><>host_cmd 1 block specified; no icon or label <>label<> 1 block specified; no icon or host command <>label 1 bloc specified; no icon or host command icon<><> 1 block specified; no label or host command icon<> 1 block specified; no label or host command icon 1 block specified; no label or host command <><><> A blank text parameter; all blocks omitted <><> A blank text parameter; all blocks omitted <> A blank text parameter; all blocks omitted NOTE: The <res> parameter is reserved for future use by TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.. It should be set to 0 for compatibility with future releases. RIP_DEFINE ---------- Function: Define a text variable Level: 1 Command: D Arguments: flags:3 res:2 ...text Format: !|1D <flags> <res> <text> Example: !|1D00700text_var,60:?question?default data Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command is used to create a text variable on the Client system (i.e., the Terminal system). A text variable is more fully covered in the HOST COMMANDS section. Simply put, a text variable is a piece of information assigned to a 1-12 character identifier that can either be saved to a local database file (static variables), or to memory (dynamic variables). Variable Identifiers can be 1-12 characters in length. You may use any alphanumeric character and underscores (_) in the identifier. An underscore cannot be the first character, nor can the first character of an identifier be a number. The <flags> parameter of this command combines three separate values into one MegaNum flag that determines how the variable definition will operate. Here are the possible flag values: Value Description of Flag --------------------------------------- 001 Save Variable to database 002 Cannot specify a blank response 004 Non-interactive query When a variable is flagged as "Save to Database", it becomes a part of the Client system's actual configuration. The value is saved indefinitely until either changed, or manually erased. You may choose not to allow the user to enter a blank response. This basically requires them to enter some piece of information for the variable. The last flag determines whether the definition is interactive or not. An interactive definition will attempt to define the variable. If it does exist, it pops the value up on the screen asking the user to confirm if the value is correct. If it does not exist, a similar pop-up box will appear asking the user to enter some data for the given variable. In a non-interactive situation, the Client system will check to see if the variable exists. If it does, then nothing happens (unless a default response is specified in this command, whereby the Client's variable is updated with the new information). If the value is not defined, then this definition becomes interactive by default, since the user actually has to enter something anyway. The <text> parameter for this command is also segmented in nature, much like the RIP_BUTTON command is. An example of a segmented <text> parameter for the RIP_DEFINE command might be as follows: FULL_NAME,30:?What is your full name?John Doe The actual syntax of the Variable Define text parameter is as follows: variable-identifier[,field-width]:[?question-text?][default-value] There are several different segments in this parameter as you can see. The first section is the variable- identifier. Immediately after it is an optional field-width. If the field width is omitted, it will default to a value of 60. You should limit the values of this width from 1-60. Immediately following the identifier field-width parameter is a colon (:). The colon indicates that the variable identifier field is completed and that the remainder of the text parameter is to contain the question and/or the default response (if any). If no question or default response is provided, the text parameter would read "TEXT_VAR,width:" with no additional data. The question-text is specified by a question mark (?) followed by the actual text of the question, followed by a trailing question mark. The basic format of the question segment is as follows: ?this is a question? The remainder of the text parameter consists of a default-value for the variable's contents. It may be omitted if you wish, to make it so that the user must enter his/her own value instead of some "canned response". NOTE: The <res> parameter is reserved for future use by TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.. It should be set to 00 for compatibility with future releases. RIP_QUERY --------- Function: Query the contents of a text variable Level: 1 Command: <escape> Arguments: mode:1 res:3 ...text Format: !|1<escape> <mode> <res> <text> Example: !|1<escape>0000this is a query $COMMAND$^m Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO NOTE: <escape> is used to indicate the Escape character (ASCII 27 or ESC). The Query Text Variable RIPscrip command instructs the terminal to immediately respond with some piece of information, whether statically stored (i.e., in a database), stored internally in RAM (dynamic information), or pre-defined Text Variables. This command is unique in RIPscrip in the fact that the command character that is used is NOT a printable character. We use the escape character (ASCII 27) to introduce this command as a measure of security. Since the query command can query the terminal for some critical (potentially private) information, you would not want a user to be able to query another user's terminal for something like his address information, or something that he wouldn't want to otherwise divulge to unauthorized people. Since most hosts do not allow the user to enter an escape character, this character is ideal for this purpose. Using escape allows only the Host (under most circumstances) to be in control of any queries. NOTE: This command is very flexible in that you can specify control characters, pick-list definitions, Text Variables, and Host Command template definitions. See the section entitled HOST COMMANDS for a more detailed explanation of these features. Whether the information is transmitted instantly or not is dependent on the <mode> parameter. The <mode> parameter determines when data queries are processed. The possible settings for the <mode> parameter are as follows: Mode Description ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0 Process the query command NOW (upon receipt) 1 Process when mouse clicked in Graphics Window 2 Process when mouse clicked in Text Window (any text variables that return X or Y mouse coordinates return TEXT coordinates, not graphics coordinates in this mode. These coordinates are two-digit values instead of the graphical values that are four digits). Note that modes 1-2 do not return the results of the Query instantly. They query commands are processed when the user clicks the mouse either in the text window, or in the graphics window respectively. These "queries after mouse clicks" are only acted upon if the user is clicking on something other than a Button or a Mouse Field. To disable these two special "deferred" query modes, issue the same command with the query string of $OFF$. This will disable this mode. Providing a <text> parameter of anything other than $OFF$ will produce a revised query command (active). Basically put, a Query command will be immediately acted upon by the Terminal program when received. The Query command's <text> parameter can contain any number of Host Command "segments", which can instruct the terminal "how to" send data to the host, and more specifically, what data to send to the host. Some examples of query statements might be any of the following: ^m Send a carriage return to the BBS now! My name is $FULL_NAME$^m Send text "My name is <insert-name-here>" followed by a carriage return to the BBS. The <insert-name-here> will be replaced with whatever the variable $FULL_NAME$ contains. See the section entitled HOST COMMANDS for a detailed explanation of Host Commands, and what you can do with the Query command. NOTE: The <res> parameter is reserved for future use by TeleGrafix Communications, Inc.. It should be set to 000 for compatibility with future releases. RIP_COPY_REGION --------------- Function: Copy screen region up/down Level: 1 Command: G Arguments: x0:2 y0:2 x1:2 y1:2 res:2 dest_line:2 Format: !|1G <x0> <y0> <x1> <y1> <res> <dest_line> Example: !|1G080G140M0005 Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command physically "copies" a rectangular region of the graphics screen up or down. The <dest_line> parameter is the Y position that is the destination scan line to receive the region. The Destination of the copy can overlap the original region, but cannot be on the same line. You cannot move the image area left or right at all. This command is designated for vertical scrolling of graphical data either up or down. Due to hardware restrictions, the X0 and X1 parameters must be evenly divisible by eight (8) (e.g., 0, 8, 16, etc.). If the X0 and X1 parameters are NOT evenly divisible by eight, then the X0 parameter will be reduced to the next most eight-pixel boundary, and the X1 parameter will be increased to the next eight-pixel boundary. For example, if X0=14, and X1=38, then X0 would be adjusted DOWN to 8, and X1 would be adjusted UP to 40. This is to ensure that the desired graphical region is scrolled. The original image area is left on the screen (is not cleared). So if you wish to perform some kind of scrolling effect, you will have to clear the original area yourself. If the destination region would place the image partially off-screen, then the entire command is ignored! NOTE: The <res> parameter is reserved for future development by TeleGrafix. RIP_READ_SCENE -------------- Function: Playback local .RIP file Level: 1 Command: R Arguments: res:8 filename... Format: !|1R <res> <filename> Example: !|1R00000000testfile.rip Uses Draw Color: YES Uses Line Pattern: YES Uses Line Thick: YES Uses Fill Color: YES Uses Fill Pattern: YES Uses Write Mode: YES Uses Font Sizes: YES This command instructs the remote terminal to playback a local .RIP file. The current execution of RIPscrip commands will be temporarily suspended and the contents of the designated RIP file will begin executing. Regardless of whether or not the current RIPscrip code coming across the modem is in the middle of a line or not, the RIP playback file will be assumed to start at the beginning of a line. Therefore, if a RIP_READ_SCENE command is located in a .RIP file, it must be the very last command on the line, followed by a carriage return instead of a command delimiter (|). This ensures that the loaded .RIP file will begin executing properly with the correct delimiters found in the correct places. The RIP playback file can alter colors, fonts, or whatever. Once the playback of the file is complete, the remaining RIPscrip code that was temporarily suspended will be resume execution. Any changes that appeared in the loaded playback file will remain in effect when the resumed code is processed. In other words, if you change a color or a font in the playback file and leave them changed, they will remain in effect during the resumed execution. NOTE: The <res> parameter is reserved for future development by TeleGrafix. It should be set to "00000000" for compatibility with future releases. RIP_FILE_QUERY -------------- Function: Query existing information on a particular file Level: 1 Command: F Arguments: mode:2 res:4 filename... Format: !|1F <mode> <res> <filename> Example: !|1F010000testfile.icn Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command queries the existence of a particular file, regardless of type. It is intended for host systems to determine if a particular Icon or RIP file exists on the terminal;s hard disk. There are a variety of ways you can query for filenames. The <mode> parameter determines the command's response. This command instructs the terminal to send a response to the host immediately upon execution. The following table is a listing of the possible values for <mode>: Mode Description ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 00 Simply query the existence of the file. If it exists, a "1" is returned. Otherwise a "0" is returned to the Host (without a carriage return). 01 Same as 0, except a carriage return is added after the response. 02 Queries the existence of a file. If it does not exist, a "0" is returned to the Host followed by a carriage return. If it does exist, the returned text is a "1." followed by the file size (in decimal). The return sequence is terminated by a carriage return. An example of the returned text could be "1.20345". 03 Queries extended return information. If the file does not exist, a "0" is returned followed by a carriage return. If it does exist, the text returned to the Host is in the Format: 1.size.date.time <cr>. An example of a return statement could be "1.20345.01/02/93.03:04:30<cr>" 04 Queries extended return information. If the file does not exist, a "0" is returned followed by a carriage return. If it does exist, the text returned to the Host is in the Format: 1.filename.size.date.time <cr>. An example of a return statement could be "1.MYFILE.RIP.20345.01/02/93.03:04:30 <cr>". Note that the file extension adds another period into the return text. RIP_ENTER_BLOCK_MODE -------------------- Function: Enter block transfer mode with host Level: 9 (system command) Command: <escape> Arguments: mode:1 proto:1 file_type:2 res:4 [filename:2] <> Format: !|9<escape> <proto> <file_type> <res> [filename] <> Example: !|9<escape>00010000ICONFILE.ICN<> Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO NOTE: <escape> is used to indicate the Escape character (ASCII 27 or ESC). This command is used to auto-initiate any desired File Transfer Protocol. The <filename> parameter is optional on downloads, required for uploads, and if omitted must be replaced with a <> parameter (end of string). The <mode> parameter is to specify upload or download. Use "1" for upload mode, or "0" (zero) for download mode. A filename is required for uploads. If the user has Data Security enabled on the terminal, they are prompted to OK the upload before it proceeds. If the user does not authorize the upload, ten <Ctrl-X>'s (ASCII 24 or CAN) are sent at one-tenth second intervals. The <filetype> parameter is ignored for uploads. The <proto> parameter is the file transfer protocol specifier. Possible values, and the protocols they refer to are: Value Protocol Filename Required? ---------------------------------------------- 0 Xmodem (checksum) Yes 1 Xmodem (CRC) Yes 2 Xmodem-1K Yes 3 Xmodem-1K (G) Yes 4 Kermit Yes 5 Ymodem (batch) No 6 Ymodem-G No 7 Zmodem (crash recovery) No The <file_type> parameter determines what type of files are to be received during the block transfer. These are the valid parameters: Value Description of Block Transfer Contents --------------------------------------------------------------- 0 RIP file sequence (display it) 1 RIP file sequence (store them) 2 ICN file sequence (store them in proper directories) 3 HLP file sequence (store it, and auto-load if needed) 4 COMPOSITE DYNAMIC file sequence (batch protocols only) 5 ACTIVE DYNAMIC file sequence (batch protocols only) Whether the <filename> is specified or not, this command must have a "<>" sequence after the filename (even if there is none). Here are examples of how it would look with and without a filename: With a filename, using X-Modem/CRC: !|9<escape>01010000filename.icn<> Without a filename, using Z-Modem !|9<escape>06040000<> The special <file_type> of 4 & 5 (COMPOSITE DYNAMIC file sequences) is somewhat different than the non-batch transfer methods. This allows each file uploaded to be individually processed based on their file extensions. If you use extensions other than .RIP or .ICN, then this mode is not available to you as the necessary files will not be able to be processed. Any files that are "downloaded" from the Host in DYNAMIC mode are placed into the appropriate sub-directories and no further processing is performed. .RIP files that are received are "stored" and are not played back in COMPOSITE DYNAMIC mode. In ACTIVE DYNAMIC mode, they are stored and played back simultaneously. NOTE: This command must be terminated with a carriage return. A vertical bar (|) command delimiter cannot be used to separate this command from a subsequent one on the same line. In other words, this command must be the last command on a line of text. The protocol must begin on the very next line. RIP_NO_MORE ----------- Function: End of RIPscrip Scene Level: 0 Command: # Arguments: <none> Format: !|# Example: !|# Uses Draw Color: NO Uses Line Pattern: NO Uses Line Thick: NO Uses Fill Color: NO Uses Fill Pattern: NO Uses Write Mode: NO Uses Font Sizes: NO This command indicates that RIPscrip commands are complete. This allows the terminal program to activate Mouse Regions, or respond to queued up Mouse Clicks without disturbing the natural flow of the script transmission. For noise-immunity, the Host should transmit three or more RIP_NO_MORE command consecutively to make sure the message gets to the terminal. The terminal should also time-out if no data is received for a while, and assume RIP_NO_MORE. ===================================================================== == HOST COMMANDS - A TUTORIAL & REFERENCE SECTION == ===================================================================== With Mouse regions, Buttons and Text Variable Query ability, you can control the Terminal/Paint programs and how they react with the BBS in many ways. To accomplish this, there are several features of RIPscrip that permit you to do special actions based on different circumstances. In effect, an "action language" of sorts. The following sections go into the available "action language" features in more detail. Among the various abilities are: 1. Control-Character specification 2. Pre-defined Text Variables & User-defined text variables 3. Pop-up pick-lists 4. A Host Command "Template" system for added intelligence. 5. Query text variable contents (pre-defined & user variables) ===================================================================== == CONTROL CHARACTERS == ===================================================================== Not all BBS'es will allow you to use control characters on their Service. Regardless of that, the capability to send any Control Character exists for your Host Commands. The most commonly used Control Characters are: INDIVIDUAL CONTROL CHARACTERS SPECIAL KEYSTROKES =========================================================== ^G ... Beep ^[[A ... Up Arrow ^L ... Clear Screen (Top of Form) ^[[B ... Down Arrow ^M ... Carriage Return ^[[C ... Right Arrow ^C ... Break (sometimes) ^[[D ... Left Arrow ^H ... Backspace ^[[H ... Home Key ^[ ... Escape character ^[[K ... End Key ^S ... Pause data transmission ^[[L ... Control Home ^Q ... Resume data transmission Some hosts use the ^ (caret) for their own purposes. In these cases, you can use the ` (backquote) character instead of the caret. Some systems allow you to specify the caret symbol as two carets (^^). Consult your Host Software documentation to determine the best method for your needs. NOTE: RIPterm uses ^ or ` and a character to represent a control character. IT IS NOT A CONTROL CHARACTER BY ITSELF, IT IS TRANSLATED BY RIPterm. In other words, ^M does not send a ^ and then an M, it sends a carriage return (ASCII 13). Likewise, RIPscrip commands like Query do not use an ^[, an actual escape character (ASCII 27) is used. ===================================================================== == TEXT VARIABLES == ===================================================================== A special feature of RIPterm allows it to understand what a Text Variable is. A text variable is a piece of text that both RIPaint and RIPterm know something about. For example, the Text Variable $DATE$ is known to represent the current Date on your PC. The host may ask your system what the values of one or more of these variables are, and if your terminal knows these particular Text Variables, it will tell the host. There are three types of Text Variables. -- Built-In Text Variables that RIPscrip products will ALWAYS know about. These include Text Variables like date and time that return a value -- Another type of built-in Text Variable are Active Text Variables, which perform an action, but return nothing to the host. These include turning the status bar on/off, clearing the graphics screen, and playing some simple sounds. -- Then there are also User Text Variables that can contain a variety of information depending on what the user entered at the time the variable was created. For example, the host might ask you what the contents of the $FULL_NAME$ variable is, and if RIPterm doesn't know, it could pop-up a field on the screen and ask you about it. From then on, RIPterm will remember that piece of information for the next time it is needed by a host. You may use either the pre-defined Text Variables, or the User Text Variables at any place that allows Text Variables. The following is a reference of all Built-In and Active Text Variables. The following is a Listing of the Pre-Defined Text Variables: ============================================================= $RIPVER$ ... RIPscrip version (e.g., "RIPSCRIP015300") ------------------------------------------------------ This Text Variable returns a phrase which will identify a RIPscrip-compatible software package. It is designed to be used by a host to detect what version of RIPscrip graphics your terminal can support. When this Text Variable is used, it will respond back with "RIPSCRIP" followed by the full Version Number (e.g., 01.53.00), without the periods. Example: $RIPVER$ Returns: RIPSCRIP015300 $DATE$ ... Date in short format ------------------------------- This Text Variable returns the current date. in the format MM/DD/YY. Example: $DATE$ Returns: 12/19/93 $MONTH$ ... Month Name ---------------------- This Text Variable returns the full name of the current month. It is not abbreviated (e.g., "November" instead of "Nov") Example: $MONTH$ Returns: December $MONTHNUM$ ... Month Number --------------------------- This Text Variable returns the number of the current month. January=01 and December=12. Example: $MONTHNUM$ Returns: 12 $DAY$ ... Day of Month Number ----------------------------- This Text Variable returns the current day of the month. Possible values for this Variable are from 01-31. Example: $DAY$ Returns: 05 $DOY$ ... Day of year --------------------- This Text Variable returns the number of days so far in the year. A year has 365 days (except leap years which have 366). $DOY$ can return 001 - 366. Example: $DOY$ Returns: 214 $YEAR$ ... 2 digit year ----------------------- This Text Variable returns the two-digit number of the current year. Example: $YEAR$ Returns: 93 $FYEAR$ ... 4 digit year ------------------------ This Text Variable returns the four-digit number of the current year. Example: $FYEAR$ Returns: 1993 $TIME$ ... Time in standard format ---------------------------------- This Text Variable returns the time in military format (hours from 00 - 23). The format is hours, minutes, and seconds separated by colons. HH:MM:SS Example: $TIME$ Returns: 18:09:33 $HOUR$ ... Hour (format HH) - normal style ------------------------------------------ This Text Variable returns the two digit number of the current hour. This variable range from 01 - 12. This does not use military format. Example: $HOUR$ Returns: 11 $MHOUR$ ... Hour (format HH) - military style --------------------------------------------- This Text Variable returns a two-digit number of the current hour in military format. This variable may range from 00 - 23. Example: $MHOUR$ Returns: 17 $MIN$ ... Minutes ----------------- This Text Variable returns the two-digit number representing the current minutes in the hour. Possible values for this variable are 00-59. Example: $MIN$ Returns: 45 $SEC$ ... Seconds ----------------- This Text Variable returns a two-digit number representing the current seconds of the minute. Possible values for this variable are 00-59. Example: $SEC$ Returns: 59 $AMPM$ ... Returns AM or PM depending on time --------------------------------------------- This Text Variable returns a two-character value of either "AM" or "PM" depending on what time it is. Example: $AMPM$ Returns: PM $DATETIME$ ... Date and Time ---------------------------- This Text Variable returns a combination date and time. The format is somewhat different than standard time/date notation. It is: DAY-OF-WEEK MONTH DAY-OF-MONTH HH:MM:SS YEAR Example: $DATETIME$ Returns: Sat Dec 19 14:38:50 1993 NOTE: This is the standard Unix date/time notation. $TIMEZONE$ ... Time Zone or "NONE" if unknown --------------------------------------------- This Text Variable returns a word/phrase that describes the time-zone the terminal is in. This may be returned as anything like "PST" for Pacific Standard Time, "EST" for Eastern Standard Time, etc. If the time zone is not set on your PC, this variable will respond with "NONE". Example: $TIMEZONE$ Returns: PST $DOW$ ... Day of week fully spelled out --------------------------------------- This Text Variable returns the current day of the week. The name is fully spelled out. Possible values are: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Example: $DOW$ Returns: Saturday $ADOW$ ... Abbreviated Day of Week ---------------------------------- This Text Variable returns the current day of the week in abbreviated form. Possible values are: Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri and Sat. Example: $ADOW$ Returns: Mon $WDAY$ ... Day of Week ---------------------- This Text Variable returns a one-digit number representing the day of the week. Possible values are 0-6, where 0=Sunday (the first day in the week). Example: $WDAY$ Returns: 2 $WOY$ ... Week of current year 00-53; Sunday=1st Day of Week ------------------------------------------------------------ This Text Variable returns a number from 00-53, representing the week in the year. Even though there are 52 weeks in a year, a week might not begin exactly on the first day of the year, so a maximum value for this variable can be 53 under these circumstances. For this variable, Sunday is considered to be the first day of the week. Example: $WOY$ Returns: 32 $WOYM$ ... Week of current year 00-53; Monday=1st Day of Week ------------------------------------------------------------- This Text Variable returns a number from 00-53, representing the week in the current year. Even though there are 52 weeks in a year, a week might not begin exactly on the first day of the year, so a maximum value for this variable can be 53 under these circumstances. For this variable, Monday is considered to be the first day of the week. Example: $WOYM$ Returns: 32 $BEEP$ ... Beep Sound (ala Ctrl-G) ---------------------------------- This Active Text Variable beeps the terminal, producing a Ctrl-G sound. The C source code to play this sound is: sound(1000); // the Hertz frequency to play delay(75); // millisecond delay nosound(); // turn the sound off delay(75); // millisecond delay Example: $BEEP$ Returns: nothing $BLIP$ ... Blipping Sound (like a hitting a barrier) ---------------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable is like $BEEP$, except the sound is different. It produces a barrier sound; like you're running into a wall. The C source code to play this sound is: sound(50); // the Hertz frequency to play delay(25); // millisecond delay nosound(); // turn the sound off delay(10); Example: $BLIP$ Returns: nothing $MUSIC$ ... Musical (cheerful) sound ------------------------------------ This Active Text Variable produces a cheerful sound, indicating success of an action. This sound is used for successful downloads and dialed connections. The C source code to play this sound is: for ( i = 0 ; i < 4 ; i += 1 ) { sound(1300); delay(10); // the Hertz frequency to play sound(1200); delay(10); // millisecond delay sound(1100); delay(10); sound(1000); delay(10); sound(900); delay(10); sound(800); delay(10); sound(700); delay(10); sound(850); delay(10); sound(950); delay(10); } nosound(); // turn the sound off Example: $MUSIC$ Returns: nothing $ALARM$ ... Warning! This sound indicates failure! --------------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable produces a warning sound, indicating failure of an action. This sound is used for aborted downloads. The C source code to play this sound is: for ( i = 0 ; i < 3 ; i += 1 ) { sound(320); delay(200); // the Hertz frequency to play sound(160); delay(425); // millisecond delay } nosound(); // turn the sound off Example: $ALARM$ Returns: nothing $PHASER$ ... Fire phasers! -------------------------- This Active Text Variable produces a sound like firing your energy weapons in a game. Now you too blast away with the bset of them. Trivia question: What is phaser stand for? See $REVPHASERS$ for the answers. The C source code to play this sound is: for ( i = 2500 ; i >= 50 ; i -= 20 ) { sound(i); // the Hertz frequency to play delay(2); // millisecond delay } nosound(); // turn the sound off Example: $PHASER$ Returns: nothing $REVPHASER$ ... Fire phasers! ----------------------------- This Active Text Variable produces a sound like firing your energy weapons in a game. Like $PHASER$ makes an ascending tone, $REVPHASER$ makes a descending tone. Answer to trivia question in $PHASER$: Phaser stands for PHoton Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Sound familiar? Laser is Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, and Maser is Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The C source code to play this sound is: for ( i = 50 ; i <= 2500 ; i += 20 ) { sound(i); // the Hertz frequency to play delay(2); // millisecond delay } nosound(); // turn the sound off Example: $REVPHASER$ Returns: nothing $X$ ... X Mouse location ------------------------ This Text Variable returns the current X coordinate of the mouse pointer. This can be used interactively (for example, by on-line games) to determine the location of the mouse pointer. Only the X value of the mouse (X,Y) is returned. The value is 0000-9999 depending on what the current position is. Example: $X$ Returns: 0523 $Y$ ... Y Mouse location ------------------------ This Text Variable returns the current Y coordinate of the mouse pointer. This can be used interactively (for example, by on-line games) to determine the location of the mouse pointer. Only the Y value of the Mouse (X,Y) is returned. The value is 0000-9999 depending on what the current position is. Example: $Y$ Returns: 0244 $XY$ ... X/Y Mouse Location --------------------------- This Text Variable returns both the X and Y coordinates of the mouse pointer. A colon (:) separates the two values. The X and Y values may range from 0000-9999. The format that this value uses is: XXXX:YYYY Example: $XY$ Returns: 0297:0321 $XYM$ ... X, Y & button status ------------------------------ This Text Variable returns the X and Y coordinates of the mouse pointer, and which mouse buttons are pressed (if any). A colon (:) separates the three values. The X and Y values may range from 0000-9999. LMR stands for Left/Middle/Right. If any of these buttons are depressed (clicked), then the corresponding position will contain a 1. If a button is NOT depressed, then it will contain a 0. The format that this value uses is: XXXX:YYYY:LMR This means that the (X,Y) location of the cursor is (0123,0297), and that the Left and Middle buttons are depressed, but that the Right Mouse Button is not depressed. Example: $XYM$ Returns: 0123:0297:110 $M$ ... Mouse Button Status: LMR -------------------------------- This Text Variable returns a 3-character code representing the status of each mouse button. This variable works with two button and three button mice. The format of the code is LMR where L=Left, M=Middle (if any), and R=Right. If any button is clicked, the code for that button is "1". If the button is not depressed, it is "0". "100" would mean the left mouse button is depressed, but none of the others are. Example: $M$ Returns: 001 $MSTAT$ ... Mouse Status ------------------------ This Text Variable returns a "YES" if there is a mouse installed on the RIPterm computer. If no mouse is installed, this variable returns "NO". Example: $MSTAT$ Returns: YES $RESET$ ... Performs RIP_RESET_WINDOWS (Identical to !|*) --------------------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable resets and clears the graphics screen, resets the text window to full screen and clears it, resets the color palette, deletes all mouse fields, and clears the clipboard. Example: $RESET$ Returns: nothing $SAVEALL$ ... Save all screen attributes ---------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable saves the Text Windows coordinates, save the contents of the clipboard, saves all mouse fields, and saves the contents of the entire screen. It is the same as doing a "$STW$ $SCB$ $SMF$ $SAVE$". Example: $SAVEALL$ Returns: nothing $RESTOREALL$ ... Restore all screen attributes ---------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable restores the Text Windows coordinates, restores the contents of the clipboard, restores all mouse fields, and restores the contents of the screen. It is equal to "$RTW$ $RCB$ $RMF$ $RESTORE$". Example: $RESTOREALL$ Returns: nothing $EGW$ ... Erase Graphics Window ------------------------------- This Active Text Variable erases the graphics window (much like a Reset Windows command does). This command is useful in Host Commands. When you click on a Mouse Field, it could erase the graphics window THEN transmit the remainder of the return string (if any) to the host. Example: $EGW$ Returns: nothing $SAVE$ and $SAVEx$ ... Save graphics screen ------------------------------------------- The Active Text Variable $SAVE$ saves the contents of the entire graphics screen to a disk file called RIPTERM.SAV. No Mouse Fields, Text Window locations or Clipboard data are saved - just the graphics screen. The entire 640x350 region is saved to disk. If you choose the SAVE0 through SAVE9 variations, the filename that is saved to files RIPTERM0.SAV through RIPTERM9.SAV, allowing you to have multiple screens saved simultaneously. If you wish to save the entire state of the RIPterm system, use $SAVEALL$. Example: $SAVE7$ Returns: nothing $RESTORE$ and $RESTOREx$ ... Restore graphics screen ---------------------------------------------------- The Active Text Variable $RESTORE$ reads the saved file RIPTERM.SAV in from disk and restores the graphics as they were originally saved with the $SAVE$ command. Only the graphics screen is restored, not the Clipboard, Mouse Fields or Text Window settings. If you choose the RESTORE0 through RESTORE9 variations, the filename that is restored are RIPTERM0.SAV through RIPTERM9.SAV, allowing you to restore from up to ten different saved files. A slight difference from $RESTORE$ is that $RESTORE0$ - $RESTORE9$ delete the file after the graphics screen is restored. To restore the entire context of the graphics environment $RESTALL$. Example: $RESTORE3$ Returns: nothing $SMF$ ... Save Mouse Fields --------------------------- This Active Text Variable saves all defined Mouse Fields and Mouse Buttons to a temporary file for later retrieval. This is designed especially for the graphical designer who wishes to pop-up a dialog box on the screen with one or more mouse fields, and when finished, to restore the screen and original mouse fields. This command is intended to be used with the Restore Mouse Fields text variable $RMF$. Example: $SMF$ Returns: nothing $RMF$ ... Restore Mouse Fields ------------------------------ This Active Text Variable restores any Mouse Fields saved with $SMF$. You may have only one set of mouse fields saved at once. If no mouse fields were saved, or if the number of fields saved is 0, then no mouse fields are active. NOTE: You may restore Mouse Fields more than once is you wish. In other words, if you do a $SMF$ command, you may execute $RMF$ one or more times. Example: $RMF$ Returns: nothing $MKILL$ ... Kill Mouse Fields ----------------------------- This Active Text Variable deletes all defined Mouse Fields exactly like RIP_KILL_MOUSE_FIELDS does. The benefit is when the user clicks on a Mouse Fields or Button, the Mouse Fields are removed, but the graphics remain on the screen. The fields could be subsequently re-defined quickly and easily without having to re-transmit an identical menu over again. Example: $MKILL$ Returns: nothing $ETW$ ... Erase Text Window --------------------------- This Active Text Variable erases the Text Window (like a clear screen code does). This command is useful in Host Commands when you click on a Mouse Field, it could erase the text window THEN transmit the remainder of the Host Command (if any). Example: $ETW$ Returns: nothing $DTW$ ... Disable Text Window ----------------------------- This Active Text Variable disables the Text Window (preventing any received text from showing up on screen). This command is useful in Host Commands when you click on a Mouse Field, it would halt any further output to the text window. Example: $DTW$ Returns: nothing $STW$ ... Save Text Window information -------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable stores all of the text window settings. The window's X/Y dimensions are preserved, as is the current cursor location, ANSI attributes, cursor ON/OFF status and the vertical scrolling margins. Even the current System Font is saved (if necessary). NOTE: The contents of the Text Window are NOT saved. Example: $STW$ Returns: nothing $RTW$ ... Restore Text Window information ----------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable restores the Text Window to the settings active when $STW$ (Save Text Window) was executed. The current cursor location, ANSI attributes, cursor ON/OFF status, vertical scrolling margins, and the System Font are restored. NOTE: The text contents of the window are not restored. Example: $RTW$ Returns: nothing $TWIN$ ... Text Window Status ------------------------------ This Text Variable checks to see if a Text Window exists, and returns YES if there is a Text Window, or returns NO if there is no Text Window or the Text Window has been disabled (with $DTW$). Example: $TWIN$ Returns: YES $TWFONT$ ... Active Text Font ----------------------------- This Text Variable returns which of the five Text Window Fonts is active, or 0 (zero) if there is no Text Window. 0 ... No Text Window 3 ... 80x25 font 1 ... 80x43 font 4 ... 91x25 MicroANSI font 2 ... 91x43 MicroANSI font 5 ... 40x25 font Example: $TWFONT$ Returns: 1 $TWH$ ... Text Window Height ---------------------------- This Text Variable returns the height of the Text Window, or 0 (zero) if there is no Text Window. If a text window exists, the minimum value is 1 and the maximum value is 43. This may increase in the future. Example: $TWH$ Returns: 25 $TWW$ ... Text Window Width --------------------------- This Text Variable returns the width of the Text Window, or 0 (zero) if there is no Text Window. If a text window exists, the minimum value is 1 and the maximum value is 91. This may increase in the future. Example: $TWW$ Returns: 80 $TWX0$ ... Text Window Upper Left X Coordinate ---------------------------------------------- This Text Variable is the X coordinate of the upper left corner of the Text Window. The coordinates given are relative to the upper left of the screen. The values are given in cells, which is a block the size of one character in the currently selected font. A good analogy is that a cell is equivalent to a square on a sheet of graph paper. The cell size may change depending on the font used, but the relative position for that font remains constant. If there is no Text Window, this returns 0 (zero). However, note that 0 (zero) is also a valid coordinate. Use $TWIN$ to determine if there is a Text Window. Example: $TWX0$ Returns: 0 $TWY0$ ... Text Window Upper Left Y Coordinate ---------------------------------------------- This Text Variable is the Y coordinate of the upper left corner of the Text Window. See $TWX0$ for an explanation of the coordinate system. Example: $TWY0$ Returns: 40 $TWX1$ ... Text Window Lower Right X Coordinate ----------------------------------------------- This Text Variable is the X coordinate of the lower right corner of the Text Window. See $TWX0$ for an explanation of the coordinate system. Example: $TWX1$ Returns: 80 $TWY1$ ... Text Window Lower Right Y Coordinate ----------------------------------------------- This Text Variable is the Y coordinate of the lower right corner of the Text Window. See $TWX0$ for an explanation of the coordinate system. Example: $TWY1$ Returns: 43 $CURX$ ... Text Cursor X Coordinate ----------------------------------- This Text Variable is the X coordinate of the text cursor in the Text Window, relative to the upper left of the Text Window. See $TWX0$ for an explanation of the coordinate system. Example: $CURX$ Returns: 2 $CURY$ ... Text Cursor Y Coordinate ----------------------------------- This Text Variable is the Y coordinate of the text cursor in the Text Window, relative to the upper left of the Text Window. See $TWX0$ for an explanation of the coordinate system. Example: $CURY$ Returns: 5 $CON$ ... Enable the Text Cursor -------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns on the text cursor. Example: $CON$ Returns: nothing $COFF$ ... Disable the Text Cursor ---------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns off the text cursor. This is automatically reset when a Reset Windows command is received. Example: $COFF$ Returns: nothing $CURSOR$ ... Text Cursor Status ------------------------------- This Text Variable returns YES if the Text Cursor is enabled, and NO if the Text Cursor is disabled. If there no Text Window, it returns NO. Example: $CURSOR$ Returns: YES $SCB$ ... Save Clipboard ------------------------ This Active Text Variable saves the Clipboard to disk for later retrieval by a Query or Host Command. If the clipboard is empty, the temporary file is deleted so Restore Clipboard knows there shouldn't be a clipboard active. Example: $SCB$ Returns: nothing $RCB$ ... Restore Clipboard --------------------------- This Active Text Variable restores the Clipboard from the temporary disk file called RIPCLIB.BRD. This file is created by $SCB$ (Save Clipboard). Not only are the clipboard contents saved, but so is the last clipboard location, so Paste Clipboard ($PCB$) restores the clipboard's contents AND location. Example: $RCB$ Returns: nothing $PCB$ ... Paste Clipboard at last location ------------------------------------------ This Active Text Variable pastes the clipboard at the last location it was clipped from. This also works with icons. The last location taken used is the location the icon was stamped when it was first loaded. This text variable is useful if you want to pop up a dialog box (saving the previous area behind the dialog onto the clipboard), and when the user clicks on the "OK" button, restoring the screen contents (by using a $PCB$ in the host command string). Example: $PCB$ Returns: nothing $STATBAR$ ... Status Bar Status ------------------------------- This Text Variable returns YES if the Status Bar is visible in the terminal. If the Status Bar is not visible, then NO is returned. Example: $STATBAR$ Returns: YES $SBARON$ ... Turn ON the Status Bar ----------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns ON the Status Bar in the terminal. Example: $SBARON$ Returns: nothing $SBAROFF$ ... Turn OFF the Status Bar ------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns OFF the Status Bar in the terminal. Example: $SBAROFF$ Returns: nothing $VT102ON$ ... Turn VT-102 keyboard mode ON ------------------------------------------ This Active Text Variable enables the VT-102 keystrokes ability. This makes the following keystrokes send something to the host: F1 - ESC [ M F2 - ESC [ N F3 - ESC [ O F4 - ESC [ P F5 - ESC [ Q F6 - ESC [ R F7 - ESC [ S F8 - ESC [ T F9 - ESC [ U F10 - ESC [ V PGUP - ESC [ I PGDN - ESC [ G HOME - ESC [ H END - ESC [ F INSERT - ESC [ L CURSOR UP - ESC [ A CURSOR DN - ESC [ B CURSOR LEFT - ESC [ C CURSOR RIGHT - ESC [ D This text variable puts the terminal in VT-102 mode automatically, making it simpler for the user. Example: $VT102ON$ Returns: nothing $VT102OFF$ ... Turn VT-102 keyboard mode OFF -------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable disables the VT-102 keystrokes mode, returning your keyboard to the standard keyboard operation. Example: $VT102OFF$ Returns: nothing $DWAYON$ ... Turn Doorway Mode ON --------------------------------- This Active Text Variable enables Doorway Mode. This is intended to be used by a Host system that wishes to take advantage of the Doorway mode available in Marshall Dudley's Doorway (tm) software package. Example: $DWAYON$ Returns: nothing $DWAYOFF$ ... Turn Doorway Mode OFF ----------------------------------- This Active Text Variable disables the Doorway keyboard mode. This will return the keyboard to normal operation. Example: $DWAYOFF$ Returns: nothing $HKEYON$ ... Enable Button Hotkeys ---------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns on use of Button Hotkeys. When enabled, if the user presses a key associated with a button, it is selected just as if it were clicked. The Scroll Lock light on the keyboard is turned on. Example: $HKEYON$ Returns: nothing $HKEYOFF$ ... Disable Button Hotkeys ------------------------------------ This Active Text Variable turns off Button Hotkeys. This should be done when entering a full-screen editor, or any part of the system where the user is entering a string of text. This is to prevent the user from accidentally selecting a button when typing in text. Example: $HKEYOFF$ Returns: nothing $TABON$ ... Enable TAB key Mouse Field select --------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns on the use of the TAB key to jump from one defined Mouse or Button Field to another. Example: $TABON$ Returns: nothing $TABOFF$ ... Disable TAB key Mouse Field select ----------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable turns off the use of the TAB key to jump from one defined Mouse or Button Field to another. If this command is received when a field is highlighted, it is deselected. This should be done when entering a full-screen editor so that the user can use the TAB key as a TAB, not a Mouse Field selector. Example: $TABOFF$ Returns: nothing $APP0$ - $APP9$ ... External Application Call ----------------------------------------------- This Active Text Variable instructs the terminal to execute an external application. By recommendation, $APP0$ is the user's text editor. There are ten external application slots available, numbered 0 - 9. These are defined in the External menu in RIPterm. Example: $APP1$ Returns: nothing ===================================================================== == LOCAL RIPscrip FILE PLAYBACK == ===================================================================== You can re-play a .RIP file that you have locally on your hard disk from anyplace that allows text variables. The format of the variable is somewhat different than user variables, or pre-defined text variables. After the initial dollar sign ($), enter the greater-than symbol (>) followed by the filename (with or without the .RIP extension), then ending in another dollar sign ($). Several examples of this are as follows: $>MYFILE.RIP$ $>FILE1$ $>FILE1.RIP$$>FILE2.RIP$$>FILE3$ Note in the last example, a file extension other than .RIP was used. You are not limited to playing back local .RIP files. In fact, you can play-back any file you want. You could load any simple text file, ANSI picture image, or other such thing. When loaded, the data is not sent to the host; it is strictly echoed on your local screen. If the file is a .RIP file, it will replay any graphics that were in the file and if any Mouse Regions are defined, it will create those fields for you as well, thus allowing you to pop-up dialog screens or other such things that are not built-in to RIPterm normally. Each "local RIP playback" variable you enter will search for the .RIP file in the current host's icon directory. If it cannot find the file in that directory, it will check the ICONS\ directory. ===================================================================== == POP-UP LISTS == ===================================================================== Any place that you can use a Text Variable (Queries, Button and Mouse Field return strings, and Keystroke Macros), you can take advantage of a unique feature of RIPscrip - Pop-Up Pick Lists. A Pop-Up Pick List is simply a list that pops up allowing you to choose from one of several available values. Whichever entry in the list you choose will insert it's associated command in the Host Command returned back to your host. A list is created by putting the special list instructions inside two sets of parenthesis like this: (( and )). The list consists of an optional question followed by two colons (::), followed by one or more list entries. For example, ((Send Email to?::Sysop,Cosysop,Joe)) says to pop-up a list asking you "Send Email to?", giving you the choices of "Sysop", "Cosysop", and "Joe". By default, if you press ESC instead of picking an entry in the list, then nothing will be inserted into the text of your Command. You can indicate that the user must pick an entry by putting an asterisk (*) at the beginning of the question. For example, ((*Send Mail to?::Sysop,Joe)). This would make it so that the user must choose either Sysop or Joe. In the previous examples, Sysop and Joe are the text responses that are inserted into your Host Command. These commands are also the same things that are displayed in the listing. If you want to use something else in the listing instead of the return text, you can. When you make the list entry, add an @description to the end of it. For example: ((Send Mail To?::Sysop@Head Honcho,Cosysop,Joe)) ...would display a pop-up pick list of Head Honcho, Cosysop, and Joe. One final feature of Pop-Up Pick Lists allows you to specify a hotkey for each entry in the list. For example, if you wanted the first character of each entry to be highlighted (thus allowing you to select that character to activate the entry), simply put a tilde (~) or an underline (_) before and after the keystroke. For example "_S_ysop" would highlight the "S" in "Sysop" appearing like this: Sysop You can highlight more than one character, but only the first one will be the active hotkey. If you omit the second tilde or underline, then the remainder of the description will be highlighted. NOTE: If you use a tilde or an underline in the Text Response (not the description), then those characters are inserted into your Host Command when it is transmitted to the host. You probably don't want to do this. Recommendation: only use hotkey features on list entries where you specify a description! If you do not specify a question, then the list default to the question: Choose one of the following: You may specify up to twenty entries for any one list. In RIPterm version 1.52 and earlier, the total length of a pick list was 256 bytes. In version 1.53 and later, this limit has been increased to 1024 bytes. Some characters have special significance in the RIPscrip language. These characters are ! (exclamation mark, or for you Unix-heads, bang), \ (backslash), and | (vertical bar). To use these characters in a Text Response, they must be preceded by a backslash (! becomes \!, \ becomes \\, and | becomes \|). RIPaint automatically adds these when creating Text Responses. You need to be aware of this only if you are editing RIPscrip files with a text editor. The _ (underline) and ~ (tilde) characters used to indicate the hotkey in a Text Response are not able to be preceded by a backslash to be used by themselves. They will be returned to the host if they exist in a Text Response (not in the description), however everything after the underline or tilde will be underlined, and the first character will be considered the hotkey. Examples: ((Send E-Mail to?::Sysop,Joe,Mike)) ((*Send E-Mail to?::Sysop@The Head Honcho,Joe,Mike@My Brother)) ((::Sysop@_T_he Head Honcho,Joe,Mike@My _B_rother)) ===================================================================== == HOST COMMAND "TEMPLATES" == ===================================================================== Often you might want a button on your screen to do one thing in one situation, but to do something completely different in another situation. In the past, this required having a separate menu file for each different function that this Button needs. This cumbersome method is history with Command Templates. Command Templates are probably best described with a brief example. Lets say that you have a menu screen for reading and writing messages in your public message forums. On this menu, you can have buttons for each forum on your host, and at the same time have buttons for Read, Write, Erase, Modify, etc. Now, how can you make the Read/Write/etc. buttons work differently for each forum button clicked? Templates! To further refine our example, lets say that you click on the button for Forum #1, it should send the command "S FORUM1" to the host to select that forum. After that, simply clicking on the Read or Write buttons will read through the current section. But, what if you want to interactively move about on the menu? Make each of the forum selection buttons define a template. Each template instructs RIPscrip how to process the other buttons. In the example above, the Forum #1 button would define this template: S FORUM1 $?$^m This template will return "S FORUM1" followed by the Host Command for whichever button is clicked, followed by a carriage return. The special text variable $?$ is only used in Command Templates, and is used to indicate "insert the text into the template here". It references the text of some other button that was clicked that is stuffing its data INTO this template. CHARACTERISTICS OF TEMPLATES ---------------------------- Before you can go about defining templates, you need to know how they work, interact and how other functions interact with templates. You are allowed up to 36 different templates, each of which can be different and active at the same time. Each template corresponds to a Button Group (see MOUSE FIELDS AND BUTTONS for more detail). Templates can be defined and/or activated in any order. In other words, you can have a template #1, 5, 13 and 32, but none of the others defined. Templates remain defined until re-defined by another template. DEFINING A TEMPLATE ------------------- To create a template, when asked for a Host Command, simply type in the Template similar to the following: [5:]S FORUM1 $?$^m The [5:] at the beginning of the command indicates that you wish to create template #5 with the following text as the template. Remember, a $?$ is considered a "macro" that will insert some text into this template from another source. Valid template numbers are 0-9, A-Z. So, with this in mind, all of the following template definitions are valid: [0:]S FORUM1 $?$^m [9:]S FORUM2 $?$^m [G:]S FORUM3 $?$^m USING TEMPLATES --------------- When you want to make a button "feed its command" into a template, you do so in a format similar to defining a Template, but with a subtle difference. Don't include the colon (:) in the template reference. An example of this would be the following: [0]HELLO This says, take the text "HELLO" and feed it into template number 0, and send the final result to the host. Note how simple it is to create and reference templates by either using a colon or omitting it. If you do not specify a Template reference in the format [#] at the beginning of your Host Command, it will be considered to be a Normal Host Command that does not get stuffed into any templates. For completeness, you may specify []HELLO to send the word "HELLO" to the host without going through any templates (a "null" template). So in other words, using a [] or using nothing at all is the same thing, don't use any templates for this host command. CHAINING TEMPLATE RESPONSES --------------------------- In the preceding examples we showed how you can feed the Host Command of one button through a single Template definition. This is the simplest case of template processing. As part of the big picture of templates, you can chain the input of one template into another template, into another, so on and so forth and then transmit the result of all composite template stuffing to the Host as one big command. After all is said and done with template processing, the text buffer sent to the host can be anywhere from 0-4095 characters in length. To chain one template into another, use a format similar to the following: [0372]HELLO This feeds the word "HELLO" into template #0, then that result into template #3, then that result into template #7, then finally the result will be stuffed into Template #2. The output from Template #2 will then be transmitted to the host. You may specify from 0-36 different templates in any one chaining operations. You MAY use the same template more than once in the same chain, like the following: [0370]HELLO Note, that template #0 is used twice, both at the beginning and the end of the processing. This feature, potentially dangerous, is provided for completeness and flexibility. EMBEDDED TEMPLATES ------------------ You can embed the contents of one template into another template (or into a Host Command) by using the special Text Variable $?x$ where "x" is the Template number to insert. This command functions much like the insert-text variable $?$ does, but gives you a great deal more power and flexibility. If you specify to embed one template inside another, the embedded template can contain text variables, pick-lists and other such things. It can even have another embedded template in it as well, but that sub- embedded template cannot have ANY text variables, or any special commands, not even control characters! To sum it up, an embedded template can have anything you want in it, including other embedded templates. All text variables in an embedded template are expanded, as are pick lists, control characters and the like. If you have an embedded template INSIDE an embedded template, the deepest embedded template will have NO text variable processing done on it (i.e., the text is sent to the host verbatim, exactly as it appears in the template). If a template that is referenced is not yet defined, the template embed command will be skipped (i.e., blank) providing that the embedded template doesn't refer to a Radio Group. Radio Groups are "dependencies" in this manner. Anything that tries to embed a Template from a Radio Group will not be processed if a template in that area hasn't been defined yet. Embedded templates from Check Box Groups can be skipped if none of the check-boxes are active. LISTS, VARIABLES AND CONTROL CHARACTERS --------------------------------------- You may use Text Variables, Pop-Up Pick Lists and Control Characters anywhere in any template definition or reference. You are limited such that, a text variable is translated to its real value when the template is being processed, not after all templates are processed. The net result of this is, you cannot use one template to construct another template's pick- list, text variables, or the such. In other words, you cannot nest Text Variable definitions, Pop-Up Pick Lists , or Control Characters. You can have these commands in any or all templates used in a template chain, but they are independent. TEMPLATE CHAIN EXAMPLES ----------------------- Below are several examples of different template setups. These are intended to give you ideas on how templates may be used: Example #1: [0:]D $?$ Z^m ... Used to download a file with Zmodem [1:]D $?$ X^m ... Used to download a file with Xmodem [0]FILENAME.ZIP ... Use this with #0 to download Zmodem [1]FILENAME.ZIP ... Use this with #1 to download Xmodem In this example, template #0 is used for downloading with Zmodem. Template #1 is for downloading with Xmodem. Depending on which FILENAME.ZIP button you click on, you might download it with one protocol or with another. It all lies on which template you reference. The text transmitted to the host if you clicked on the buttons could be either: D FILENAME.ZIP Z^m - or - D FILENAME.ZIP X^m Example #2: D $?2$ $?1$^m ... Make this the "Download Now" button [1:]X ... Radio Button #1 (X-Modem) [1:]Y ... Radio Button #2 (Y-Modem) [1:]B ... Radio Button #3 (Y-Modem Batch) [1:]Z ... Radio Button #4 (Z-Modem) [2:]FILENUM1.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #1 [2:]FILENUM2.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #2 [2:]FILENUM3.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #3 This example is a bit more involved. It brings the concept of Radio Buttons into the picture, which is part of the Button command. A Radio Button is like having a list of options on your screen, only one of which can be selected at any one time. When using ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ templates with Radio ║ Protocols Download which file? ║ Buttons, you can quickly ║ ───────── ──────────────────── ║ and elegantly define a ║ X X-Modem ■ File #1 ║ menu that can do one ║ ■ Y-Modem X File #2 ║ thing in one mode, or ║ ■ Y-Modem Batch ■ File #3 ║ something totally ║ ■ Z-Modem ║ different in another ║ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ mode. An example of ║ │ Begin Download Now! │ ║ the above menu might be ║ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ as follows: ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ In the preceding example #2, a group of Radio Buttons were used on the right side of the screen to determine which file should be downloaded. In that example, there was no ability to specify an arbitrary filename to download. You were only allowed to download one of three given files. What would be perfect, would be to have the ability to pop-up a question to the user asking what filename they wanted. The solution is easy, insert a text-variable that hasn't been defined yet! To illustrate, the above example could be modified to accommodate this as follows: D $?2$ $?1$^m ... Make this the "Download Now" button [1:]X ... Radio Button #1 (X-Modem) [1:]Y ... Radio Button #2 (Y-Modem) [1:]B ... Radio Button #3 (Y-Modem Batch) [1:]Z ... Radio Button #4 (Z-Modem) [2:]FILENUM1.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #1 [2:]FILENUM2.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #2 [2:]FILENUM3.ZIP ... Radio Button to download file #3 [2:]$FILENAME$ ... Radio Button to download ANY file The screen might appear something like this: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Protocols Download which file? ║ ║ ───────── ──────────────────── ║ ║ X X-Modem ■ File #1 ║ ║ ■ Y-Modem X File #2 ║ ║ ■ Y-Modem Batch ■ File #3 ║ ║ ■ Z-Modem ┌──────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ Enter Filename │ ║ ║ └──────────────────────┘ ║ ║ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ Begin Download Now! │ ║ ║ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ NOTE: To get the radio button graphic show above, an Icon Button must be used. The empty circle is an icon, and the filled in circle is a hot icon. Refer to Section 5.3.7. Note the addition of the Enter Filename button. If the user clicked on that button, it would first try to replace $FILENAME$ with a text variable. It will find that such a variable does not exist, and will then pop-up the following question on the screen: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Enter "FILENAME" ║ ║ ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ █ │ ║ ║ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ If the user typed in DEMOFILE.TXT, then that filename is inserted where $FILENAME$ was, resulting in (for example): D DEMOFILE.TXT Z^m This is only an example, your mileage may vary. MORE ABOUT TEMPLATES -------------------- When you use the $?$ text variable inside a template definition, you are not limited to using it only once. In fact, you can use it as many times in your template definition as you wish. This can be useful under many circumstances where the user might have to enter the same thing twice. ===================================================================== == TEXT VARIABLE CREATION, AND QUERY == ===================================================================== As mentioned in preceding sections, Text Variables were described as either pre-defined variables, or as User Variables. Pre-defined variables are variables that RIPscrip products know things about "out of the box". They will always know what the variables mean, from the day you install the software. User Variables are variables that the user of RIPscrip products defines, and teach it new things it doesn't already know. WHAT ARE USER VARIABLES? ------------------------ A User Variable is a Text Variable that RIPscrip doesn't know exists. They are custom-defined text variables that contain information that the terminal user will fill in. If a variable already contains information, a host will be automatically told (if told to do so) what that variable contains without the user having to intervene (i.e., transparent information exchange). Examples of Text Variables might be: $FULL_NAME$ ... What is your full name? $COMPANY_NAME$ ... What company do you work for? $AGE$ ... How old are you? $DATEOFBIRTH$ ... What is your Date of Birth? $PHONENUMBER$ ... What is your Day-time phone number? User Variables will "keep track" of these responses for you, in the terminal program database. You can tell the terminal to store these values permanently, or they may be active only during the current session, or they may be defined as temporary where they are not stored for more than a brief moment. NOTE: This ability is configurable so that information exchange can be either interactive, or automatic. Automatic transfer of information does NOT prompt the user with the information unless the variable has not yet been defined. If it has not been defined, a pop-up question will appear asking the user a particular question, thus defining the text variable. If the exchange is interactive, the data is displayed in a pop-up editor box, asking you if the information is correct. If it is, press ENTER and the retrieved information is sent to the host for you. If it is not correct, or it has not been created yet, just type it in and press ENTER and it will be saved automatically, and sent to the host all at once. HOW CAN USER VARIABLES BE IMPORTANT? ------------------------------------ Lets take an example. You are the system operator of a large RIPscrip host. As you have read, RIPscrip can take advantage of database-like ability on the terminal end. If you can alter your host to ask questions with RIPscrip Text Variables built in, you can have the terminal calling your host automatically fill in questionnaires. Imagine if a user could sign-up on your host without having to type more than a single keystroke (i.e., "YES, this information is correct"). With User Text Variables, you can do this very thing. CREATING USER VARIABLES ----------------------- There are two ways of defining User Text Variables in RIPaint. You can use either the Define Text Variable command, or you can use Text Variable Queries, as described in the next section. DEFINING TEXT VARIABLES ----------------------- The RIPscrip command Define Text Variable is by definition, an interactive command with the user. The RIPscrip command will attempt to define a User Variable. This variable is some piece of information that the system operator deems important. You may specify a question, a default response, and how many characters long the response may be. Once the terminal has received a define command, the terminal pops up an appropriate question box on the user's screen, asking him the desired question that should be saved to a particular Text Variable. If you did not specify a question, a default question is used (i.e., "Enter <name of text variable>"). Once the user has entered his response, it is recorded and saved. How long it is stored depends on what the host told the terminal. The host can tell the terminal "save this on your hard disk forever". The host may also tell the terminal "don't save this to disk, but remember this value until you exit RIPterm". You also have the option of saying "don't remember this value at all, just pop up a question, and send the value to me NOW" - i.e., don't save it at all, just enter it and send it to the host). QUERYING TEXT VARIABLES ----------------------- Now that you know how to define information on the terminal, you need to know the last method of asking the terminal about text variables. This feature is called "Data Query". Data Query is a generic query command that can ask the terminal one or more questions, and tell it how to transmit the information back to the host. This command is for use in non-button situations where you do not want to wait until the user clicks on a button to get your data back. Data Query is a special RIPscrip command that can be used to ask the contents of one or more Text Variables. EXAMPLES OF TEXT VARIABLE QUERY ------------------------------- Lets take a simple example. You wanted to ask the terminal program some address information. You could do this with the following query (remember, the query also tells the terminal HOW to send the data back to the host): $FULL_NAME$^m$COMPANY$^m$ST_ADDR$^m$CITY$, $STATE$ $ZIP^m This would query the terminal the contents of 6 text variables, and format them in a manner similar to any normal address on an envelope. The results of this query might send the following back to the host : Joe Sixpack ACME Corporation 13631 Palindrome Parkway Surf City, CA 92649 If a text variable is queried, and it has not been defined yet, a pop-up question will appear asking the user to fill in the information.