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1987-07-02
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TheDraw Version 2.21
Color Screen Image Text Editor
COPYRIGHT (C) 1986,87
TheSoft Programming Services and Ian E. Davis
All rights are reserved by TheSoft Programming Services
Written in Turbo Pascal on a Tandy 1000.
I N D E X:
Introduction ................................................. 1
Cursor Control ............................................... 2
Command Summary .............................................. 3
New Features in Version 2.0 .................................. 4
New Features in Version 2.1 .................................. 6
New Features in Version 2.2 .................................. 6
Command Descriptions:
Alt-A: Change Text Color Attributes ........................ 8
Alt-B: Block Action Commands ............................... 9
Alt-C: Clear Current Screen ............................... 11
Alt-D: Set Default Clear Screen Color ..................... 11
Alt-E: Exchange Edit Screens .............................. 11
Alt-F: View Function Key Sets ............................. 11
Alt-G: Global Commands .................................... 12
Alt-H: Display Help Information ........................... 13
Alt-I: Insert a Line ...................................... 13
Alt-J: Select Animator Mode (toggle) ...................... 14
Alt-K: Delete a File ...................................... 15
Alt-L: Load Screen from Disk .............................. 16
Alt-M: Select Draw Mode (toggle) .......................... 17
Alt-N: Ruler .............................................. 17
Alt-O: Change Drive/Sub Directory ......................... 17
Alt-P: Paint/Fill Commands ................................ 18
Alt-Q: Redraw Screen (animator mode only) ................. 18
Alt-R: Restore Current Line ............................... 18
Alt-S: Save Screen to Disk ................................ 19
Alt-T: Tab Setup .......................................... 21
Alt-U: Use Color under Cursor ............................. 21
Alt-V: View a Screen (not load) ........................... 21
Alt-W: Edit Character (animator mode only) ................ 22
Alt-X: Exit TheDraw ....................................... 22
Alt-Y: Delete Current Line ................................ 22
Alt-Z: Erase Cursor Character (animator mode only) ........ 22
Alt-=: Toggle Macro Learning Mode ......................... 23
Alternate Color Change Options:
Foreground Color Change ................................... 23
Background Color Change ................................... 23
The Solid Space ............................................. 23
Full Screen Operation ....................................... 24
Programmers Programming Tips ................................ 25
Revision History ............................................ 27
The Future .................................................. 30
Registration ................................................ 31
TheDraw Upgrade Service ..................................... 31
Warranty .................................................... 32
License ..................................................... 32
Comments .................................................... 33
I N T R O D U C T I O N:
TheDraw was originally written as an improvement to AnsiDraw by
Amrich Enterprises. Both programs provide similar operation,
with TheDraw giving a much enhanced user interface. In addition,
TheDraw does not utilize hardware blanking as AnsiDraw does (You
can verify this by pressing CTRL-C before AnsiDraw displays its
opening screen, and then doing a Dos directory). There have been
reports that hardware blanking on a system using a Hercules
compatible graphics interface can cause physical damage. This
makes TheDraw safe for such computer setups. Lastly, AnsiDraw
apparently fails to operate on newer Tandy 1000's; TheDraw works
fine. The latest version of AnsiDraw (v3.0) no longer uses
hardware blanking, but I have no information on its ability to
work on the newer Tandy machines.
TheDraw is designed to create, store, and retrieve screens of
ASCII text, ANSI compatible color images, ANSI compatible
ANIMATION sequences, BINARY files, and Basic BSAVE files. In
addition it can produce source code compatible files for
ASSEMBLER, PASCAL, and now C languages. For example, the Ansi
and Ascii images can be used in batch files or with the RBBS
Bulletin Board System.
For any given application, if one screen of text is insufficient
(the program can only handle a single screen image) then multiple
screens can be linked together with the DOS copy append function
(ie: COPY FILE1.EXT+FILE2.EXT FILE3.EXT).
I have learned that someone is spreading a rumor that TheDraw can
cause physical damage. This is either some immature person or
someone who ran the program CHK4BOMB on TheDraw. Chk4Bomb
reports that Bios level disk I/O is done. First of all, Chk4Bomb
will say that about ANY program written in Turbo Pascal (MsDos
v3.01). This is only a fluke in the scanning algorithm of
Chk4Bomb seeing some sort of harmless text string.
TheDraw Page 1
C U R S O R C O N T R O L:
The cursor can be moved by using the following keys:
Up Arrow : Up one line.
Down Arrow : Down one line.
Left Arrow : Left one position.
Right Arrow : Right one position.
Home : First column of current line.
End : Last column of current line.
PgUp : First line in current column.
PgDn : Last line in current column.
Ctrl-Home : First Character of current line.
Ctrl-End : Last Character of current line (plus 1).
Ctrl-PgUp : Upper-left position of screen.
Ctrl-PgDn : Lower-right position of screen.
Tab : Next set Tab position (see Alt-T).
Shift-Tab : Previous set Tab position (see Alt-T).
Enter : First column of following line.
Naturally, if you are at a border no action will be taken. If no
tab position follows the current location, pressing [TAB] will
return you to column one of the current line.
TheDraw Page 2
C O M M A N D S:
TheDraw provides the following 28 command functions, available
through ALT-Letter or CTRL-Letter key sequences:
Alt-A Change Text Color Attributes
Alt-B Block Action Commands
Alt-C Clear Current Screen
Alt-D Set Default Clear Screen Color
Alt-E Exchange Edit Screens
Alt-F View Function Key Sets
Alt-G Global Commands
Alt-H Display Help Information
Alt-I Insert a Line
Alt-J Select Animator Mode (toggle)
Alt-K Delete a File
Alt-L Load Screen from Disk
Alt-M Select Draw Mode (toggle)
Alt-N Ruler
Alt-O Change Drive/Sub Directory
Alt-P Paint/Fill Commands
Alt-Q Redraw Screen (animator)
Alt-R Restore Current Line
Alt-S Save Screen to Disk
Alt-T Tab Setup
Alt-U Use Colors under Cursor
Alt-V View a Screen (not load)
Alt-W Edit Character (animator)
Alt-X Exit TheDraw
Alt-Y Delete Current Line
Alt-Z Erase Cursor Character (animator)
Alt-= Toggle Macro Learning Mode
(registered version only).
Ctrl-PrtSc Toggle Full Screen Editing mode.
Additional commands are:
Ctrl-Up Arrow Increment Foreground Color
Ctrl-Down Arrow Decrement Foreground Color
Ctrl-Left Arrow Increment Background Color
Ctrl-Right Arrow Decrement Background Color
Shift-Space Put a "Solid" space on the Screen.
On the following pages are explanations of each of the above.
TheDraw Page 3
N E W F E A T U R E S
If you didn't notice up above, TheDraw has received a major new
ability. The ability to animate those wonderful ANSI drawings
you devised, to add a little more "color" to them. Animation
basically is the apparent movement of objects on the screen from
one spot to another.
I say apparent since no actual movement takes place, only the
overwriting of a new location with a duplicate of another. For
instance, suppose you put a smiley face on the screen. To make
it "move" to the right, first you would put a space (or something
else) over the smiley face character then put a new smiley face
to the right of the old spot. Repeat that over and over, and the
smiley face will appear to move across the screen. Fun stuff!
To support this new function TheDraw operates in two modes;
Normal and Animator. Normal mode operates like TheDraw always
has, with a few enhancements (such as line drawing).
Animator mode supports the "sequencing" of characters.
Sequencing simply means storing each character you type as an
entry in a list. Each entry stores the character, and the
location it appears on the screen. You can have up to 5000
characters in the list, which is enough to completely redraw the
screen almost three times.
Sequencing also allows you to put multiple characters at the same
spot on the screen (since each character is a simple addition to
the list). There is no direct overwrite of characters in
Animator mode as there is in Normal mode. You must use a special
command to edit characters (Alt-W) since anything you put over
another character adds to the list, not replacing whats there.
That is the major difference between the two modes. Normal is
simply a piece of paper, which you can draw on, and easily change
(akin to a limited word processor). Animator mode stores
EVERYTHING you type, and special commands must be used to delete
and overwrite characters.
Because of the nature of the animation sequence, differences
occur between how certain commands work in Normal mode and
Animator mode. All command descriptions in this text are written
with Normal mode in mind. Where there are differences, a note at
the bottom of the command describes the changes in Animator mode.
Animation isn't the only new feature added to TheDraw. Another
is the ability to "draw" lines using the keys found in function
key sets 1 through 4. When in draw mode (indicated by the word
Draw at the bottom of the screen), moving the cursor via the
TheDraw Page 4
N E W F E A T U R E S (cont):
four arrow keys will produce a line in that direction. The
program can handle any situation, even if you mix line types.
See Alt-M for more details.
Another interesting addition in the ability to copy/move a block
of text UNDER other text. Previously, TheDraw could only move a
block over other things. A file called DEMO.BIN should be
present to better show this new facility. When moving the block
under something else, it will show through any space character.
To complement this new option, a "solid" non-transparent space
character was added (available using Shift-Space).
Looking at the extension to DEMO.BIN, you may be wondering what
the BIN stand for. It stands for a Binary file, which is a
simple memory dump of the TheDraw edit screen. Binary files are
VERY useful for files edited often since they load and save very
quickly. In addition to binary files, TheDraw now supports
Assembler, BSave (for users of Basic), and Pascal (for users
of...). Of course, the original two save methods are still
available and TheDraw is upwardly compatible with any file made
by earlier versions.
Available in the registered version of TheDraw is a Macro Key
ability. TheDraw now supports ten 255 character macro sequences.
To teach TheDraw a sequence you merely type Alt-=, the macro key
you wish to program, and start typing. When you are done, typing
Alt-= will save the creation. Also, attempting to use another
macro will save it. The second macro you specified will be in
effect chained to the end of the original one.
ie: Lets say you are programming sequence 5, and type Alt-6
(for sequence 6). From now on, whenever you type Alt-5, its
contents will be output then TheDraw will automatically
output what is in Alt-6. You can also have a macro call
itself, creating an endless loop situation. Typing [ESC]
will break out of it however. You might use an endless loop
to fill a block with something, although the new additions
to the block commands will do it much faster.
Registered users will find TheDraw much easier to learn also,
since it now includes pop-up help screens. The help information
is specific to the area of the program you're in and is brought
up by simply pressing Alt-H anywhere.
TheDraw Page 5
N E W F E A T U R E S (cont):
A couple of other new options are worth mentioning. TheDraw now
supports Global operations on the screen (global color changes,
screen moving, etc...), and screen Painting. Painting can be of
either just color attributes, characters, or both (never say
TheDraw doesn't give a choice).
NEW IN VERSION 2.10...
TheDraw v2.10 has received some new features. Monochrome screens
are now supported, and a incompatibility problem with the Ctrl-Up
and Ctrl-Down foreground color change keys is fixed. IBM PC's
and certain "exact" clones have Bios errors that prevent those
keys being recognized. TheDraw has a new pre-Bios keyboard
driver that cures the problem.
A setup program is included that allows users to "program" those
two keys to TheDraw. TheDraw comes configured for both a IBM PC
and Tandy 1000. To see if you need the setup utility, run
TheDraw. Next try to use the Ctrl-Up/Down keys. If they don't
appear to work then run the Setup utility and follow the simple
on-screen directions.
Other new features are text operations (box drawing, outlining,
left/center/right justification, etc...) and Ansi file slowdown.
Ansi file slowdown basically makes Ansi files that display veerry
slowly (see Alt-S).
Lastly, most prompts in TheDraw have been revamped to be clearer,
and the fill screen operations are now consistent.
NEW IN VERSION 2.20...
Full Screen (25 line) editing has finally been added. This will
be immensely useful for programmers and the like. TheDraw
supports the full-screen mode everywhere except in the creation
of Ansi/Animator files. They are limited to 24 lines because of
linefeed problems making the screen scroll. Can't have your cake
and eat it too I guess... To toggle full screen editing mode
type CTRL-PRTSC (or CTRL-PRINT on Tandy keyboards). The one
drawback of Full-Screen editing is YOU must remember where you
are. TheDraw doesn't have anywhere to display prompts anymore,
to it'll display them, wait for you to type something, then
remove them from the screen.
Another new feature is multiple output modes for Pascal, Asm and
now C language (-new-) screen save operations. TheDraw can
produce Crunched, Ascii-only, or the old Normal type files. See
the ALT-S section on these new modes.
TheDraw Page 6
N E W F E A T U R E S (cont):
You may have noticed TheDraw also supports C in the above. The
structure format used is that of modern C, whereby a array is
declared using double quotes (") on multiple lines to contain all
the array elements. Where control codes must be output, TheDraw
uses the hexadecimal format of "\xhhh" where hhh is a three digit
hexadecimal notation. I could have used octal, but that would
have been inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.
Last on my list, is the support of command line filespecs. You
can specify a file for TheDraw to load upon running. This is a
convenience for heavy users. The syntax is simply:
THEDRAW <filename>
<filename> is any filespec you would enter from TheDraw. If no
extension is included, TheDraw assumes ".ANS". TheDraw displays
its normal title screen, then immediately loads the file.
Enjoy!!!
TheDraw Page 7
Alt-A: Change Text Color Attributes
This function allows you to change the colors text will be
displayed with. The current settings are represented in the
status line with the word "Color". You can select from the
following foreground colors:
0 Black 8 Dark Gray
1 Blue 9 Light Blue
2 Green 10 Light Green
3 Cyan 11 Light Cyan
4 Red 12 Light Red
5 Magenta 13 Light Magenta
6 Brown 14 Yellow
7 Light Gray 15 White
Characters can be made to blink by selecting colors from the
range 16 through 31. These match the above listed colors exactly,
except they blink.
Background colors can be any of the first eight (0 through 7)
colors listed. There are no background colors available that
allow blinking.
A current setting for either foreground or background can be
maintained by simply pressing <ENTER> at the appropriate prompt
without any number entry.
You can also change the colors by using the arrow keys. The Up
and Right arrow keys increase the color with the Down and Left
decreasing the color. Using the arrows also updates the color
example in the middle of the screen, so you can see what you'll
get before exiting.
Note: It is possible to change the colors without using this
option. See Ctrl-Arrow Key commands below. Monochrome screen
users will find background colors useless except for a background
color of 7 and a foreground color of 0 or 16 (black).
TheDraw Page 8
Alt-B: Block Action Commands
The block action commands are one of the more useful utilities
TheDraw offers. It allows you to change a block (from 1
character to the entire screen) to the current color attributes,
copy or move a block to another position, erase a block, delete a
block, save a block as a mini-image, or load/merge part of
another image into the current one.
To use any of the above commands, first the block must be
defined. This is done immediately after typing Alt-B. Go to the
upper-left corner of the wanted block and press [SPACE]. Then
move to the lower-right corner and press [SPACE] again. The
current block will have all attributes reversed to make it
obvious. If you move above or left of the upper-left block
corner (once defined), no block will be shown inverted.
Upon pressing [SPACE] the second time you will be presented with
the available options:
[C]opy allows you to copy the defined block to another
position. Use the arrow keys to move the block. You can
[S]tamp extra copies, [E]xchange the screens (thus copying
an area of one screen into the other), and toggle movement
[U]nder all characters (only seeing the block through
spaces). Press [ENTER] once satisfied with the new
position.
[M]ove operates identically to [C]opy except the original
position is erased (see following option).
[F]ill gives you several additional options. All are
related to filling the block with something.
[A]ttribute Change all attributes in the block to the
current ones.
[F]ore Change only the foreground attributes to
the current setting.
[B]ack Similar to [F]ore except changes the
background attributes instead.
[U]se Similar to [A]ttribute except it uses
the attributes under the cursor when you
first pressed Alt-B.
[C]haracter Prompts for a symbol, and then fills the
block with that symbol, leaving the
attributes unchanged.
[B]oth Combines [A]ttribute and [C]haracter.
These changes to the fill option hopefully are clearer and
more usable than those in previous versions of TheDraw.
TheDraw Page 9
Alt-B: Block Action Commands (cont):
[T]ext allows simple operations to be done on text within
the block.
[B]ox Draws a box around the edges of the
defined block area.
[O]utline Similar to Box, except this command
examines the text within the block. The
block will be expanded to accommodate any
words not fully contained by the original
block.
[C]enter Text contained in the original block will
be centered within the block area.
[L]eft Text contained in the original block is
left justified.
[R]ight Any text in the block is right justified.
These additions should be helpful in making menu displays
or short letters etc...
[D]elete does what is implied. All characters to the right
of the block are shifted over, with the area they occupied
changed to spaces and the attributes set to the current
default background and currently defined foreground color.
[E]rase is similar to Delete, except the area to the right
of the block is not shifted. The block itself is cleared
(as described above).
[S]ave operates identically to the save screen command
except only the defined block is output (see Alt-S).
[L]oad allows you to import data from another image (saved
on disk). The current image is stored, and you are prompted
for the import filename (this operates just like Alt-L).
The new image is loaded onto the screen and a inverted
block of the size defined appears in the upper-left corner
of the screen. Move this block (using the arrows) over the
wanted part of the screen and press [ENTER]. That portion
will then appear in the position of the original block.
[R]escan is available in animator mode only. It operates
just like the ALT-J animator rescan option, except only the
screen in the block is rescaned. The defined block is
first erased from the animation sequence, then the contents
of the screen are scanned and added onto the sequence.
Animation Notes: The [L]oad and [S]ave options are not
available. The screen [E]xchange option is not available under
the move/copy block commands.
TheDraw Page 10
Alt-C: Clear Current Screen
This should be a fairly obvious option. You are first prompted
to verify the command. If changes have been made to the current
image, you are then asked if you want to save the current image.
After that, the screen is cleared with the color specified in the
following ALT-D command.
Animation Notes: All sequences are erased. The default color
is NOT used to clear the screen, it is cleared with a black
background using the currently defined foreground color.
Alt-D: Set Default Background Color
The default background is used to 'paint' the entire screen a
given color upon invoking the ALT-C command. This color is also
used in various block action commands. Any block command which
moves or erases text will paint the area cleared with this color.
Some commands are: Move, Delete, Erase, Text operations, etc...
The same restrictions of colors apply here as to the background
colors available in Alt-A.
Alt-E: Exchange Edit Screens
TheDraw supports the use of two edit screens instead of one.
This allows you to load two screens simultaneously and
copy/exchange different parts from one to the other (using the
block action commands). When you are in the exchange screen, a
'Ex' will appear approximately in the center of the bottom line.
Animation Notes: This command is not available.
Alt-F: View Function Key Sets
This displays on the screen all 10 sets of available special
characters. These character sets can be selected in the editor
mode by using ALT and pressing a function key 1 to 10. ie:
ALT-F1 Selects set #1.
ALT-F10 Selects set #10.
(The Ctrl and Shift keys used in older versions are no longer
supported by TheDraw).
TheDraw Page 11
Alt-G: Global Commands
Global commands allow quick and dirty changes to the attributes
of all characters on the screen. Also, you can copy the current
screen into the exchange screen and can "move" the screen around.
Upon pressing Alt-G you are shown the following options:
[C]opy simply copies the current screen into the exchange
screen, or if you're already in the exchange screen into
the normal screen.
[M]ove allows you to move the screen around. You could
duplicate this using the block commands, but this is a
faster method. Use the arrows to rotate the screen around
and press [ENTER] when you like where it is.
[F]ill gives you several additional options. All are
related to filling the entire screen with something.
[A]ttribute Changes all attributes on the screen to
the current ones.
[F]ore Changes only the foreground attributes to
the current setting.
[B]ack Similar to [F]ore except changes the
background attributes instead.
[U]se Similar to [A]ttribute except it uses
the attributes under the cursor when you
first pressed ALT-G.
[C]haracter Prompts for a symbol, and then fills the
screen with that symbol, leaving the
attributes unchanged.
[B]oth Combines [A]ttribute and [C]haracter.
These changes to the global fill attributes options make
them compatible with the block action fill commands. This
will hopefully make TheDraw easier to learn.
TheDraw Page 12
Alt-G: Global Commands (cont):
[T]ext allows various operations to be done upon the entire
screen. The options are identical to those in the block
action Text commands.
[B]ox Draws a box around the border of the
screen.
[O]utline Similar to Box, except this command looks
at the text on the screen. Any text on
a screen border will prevent a line from
being drawn.
[C]enter Any text on the screen will be centered.
[L]eft Any text on the screen is left justified.
[R]ight Similar to above, but right justifies.
Animation Notes: The [C]opy and [M]ove commands aren't available.
All other commands operate normally, except they only change
those characters that are in the animation sequence.
Alt-H: Display Help Information
This displays a couple of short help screens briefly describing
these command options.
Note: The registered version of TheDraw supports pop-up help
in the ENTIRE program. By typing Alt-H wherever you are
stuck, you will be displayed function specific help. Try
it, you'll like it!
Alt-I: Insert a Line
Inserts a line at the current position. The current line and
everything below it is shifted down. The bottom line is lost.
This command is not reversible, so use it carefully.
(Used to be Alt-N in previous versions of TheDraw).
TheDraw Page 13
Alt-J: Select Animator Mode
This is in effect two functions. When toggling from normal to
animator modes, you are prompted as to how TheDraw should enter
the screen into the animation sequence. You can control the
method of scanning with the following options:
[T]op. Scans from the upper-left to lower-right corners of
the screen, going across the screen.
[B]ottom. Does exactly the opposite to [T]op by scanning
from the lower-right corner to the upper-left corners.
[L]eft. Similar to the [T]op option, except it scans going
down the screen (in vertical line). This option can
produce a really interesting effect.
[R]ight. Exact opposite of [L]eft, scanning from the
lower-right corner to the upper-left, going Up the screen.
This option produces even odder effects.
[S]cramble. This is definitely a unique feature you won't
find anywhere else. This command scans in a completely
random order. Makes for either impressive or real funky
displays.
Animation mode is indicated by the letters 'An' appearing in the
middle of the bottom line, and a [0000,5000] structure appearing
on the line above. The first number tells you how many
characters are entered, and the second how much space is left.
If you select the ALT-J function FROM animation mode, you are
given these three options instead:
[N]ormal will prompt you to verify the command, and then
converts the screen into normal Ansi. All animation is lost.
[R]escan will simply rescan the screen as specified above.
Once you use this command, any previous sequence is lost.
[M]ovement toggles whether or not TheDraw stores the
movements of the cursor in addition to simply what you type.
TheDraw will remember ANYTHING you type or anywhere you move
if this option is on. You can tell you are in movement store
mode if the 'An' indicator is flashing. Also, of course, the
animation entry count will change every time you move.
Remember, these options will only appear when you are ALREADY in
the animator mode.
TheDraw Page 14
Alt-K: Delete a File
This option allows you to free up some disk space if the need
arises. It displays the current directory so you can easily
identify those files which you don't want. Simply type in the
appropriate filename and press <enter>. TheDraw then checks to
see if the file exists. If it does, you are asked if you really
want to delete the file. This is your last chance before you
delete something you might regret later.
TheDraw Page 15
Alt-L: Load Screen from Disk
This allows you to load any ANSI color compatible, ANSI Animation
compatible, ASCII text, Binary, or BSave file. The ANSI.SYS
driver must be installed to load a ANSI color image. This can be
done by adding a 'DEVICE=ANSI.SYS' statement to your CONFIG.SYS
file. If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file, you can create one by
typing the following in your root directory:
COPY CON CONFIG.SYS<enter>
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS<enter>
^Z<enter>
If you have a CONFIG.SYS file, append the sequence with:
EDLIN CONFIG.SYS<enter>
#I<enter>
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS<enter>
^Z<enter>
E<enter>
If the current screen image has not been saved, you are prompted
before the load continues. The current directory is displayed
for convenience. Simply type in the appropriate filename and
press [ENTER]. The file extension ".ANS" is assumed if none is
specified. Binary files can only be loaded if they have ".BIN"
as a file extension. Similarly, a BSave file must have a ".BSV"
extension. You may specify a file without an extension by
placing a period as the last character of the filename (ie:
TESTFILE. ). Assembler, Pascal, and C files can not be reloaded,
except as Ascii text, so keep a binary copy of those screens
safely somewhere.
Binary and BSave files are loaded as full 25 line images. If you
are in normal (23 line) mode the extra lines are stored until you
toggle into full screen operation. Only the first 24 lines of
Ansi and Ascii files are loaded. Any extra are discarded.
TheDraw automatically determines if a Ansi screen is an animator
sequence by the following process: If the cursor suddenly moves
to a place it normally would never go, it is an animator file.
Extremely complex algorithm huh?
TheDraw Page 16
Alt-M: Select Draw Mode
TheDraw allows the "drawing" of lines very easily, using the
characters normally available with the function keys. TheDraw
"draws" using the current function-key set of lines. If you do
not have a function-key set with lines selected, the first set
(single lines) is used. Draw mode is indicated by the word
"Draw" at the bottom of the screen.
All commands operate normally, and typed characters still appear.
The only change is that using the arrow keys makes a line appear
in the direction moved. Fun stuff!
Note: This command used to be block action commands in earlier
versions of TheDraw (see Alt-B).
Alt-N: Ruler
Guess what this one does. In case you have no idea, cross bars
appear intersecting where the cursor currently is located. Move
the ruler using the arrow keys. Pressing [ENTER] locks the new
location in place. Pressing [ESC] returns you to where you were.
Use this command for lining up various lines of text or figures.
Alt-O: Change Drive/Sub Directory
This command requires the use of DOS 2.0 or higher to operate,
and should be appealing to those hard drive users out there.
This option allows you to change to a different directory if your
need requires it. This is the only way you can change the
directory displayed in the Load or View Screen commands. All
sub-dirs in the current directory are displayed for you, but you
are in no way restricted to using just those. You may enter any
valid CHDIR (or CD) command (I am not going to explain the
details of sub-directories. Refer to your Dos manual for that).
This command, unlike the CHDIR of Dos, allows you to change the
current drive. For example, if you were on drive C: in a sub-dir
called 'GAMES', you could switch to drive D: sub-dir 'UTILITY' by
entering "D:\UTILITY". You could then get back to the 'GAMES'
directory by simply entering "C:" (no backslash).
TheDraw Page 17
Alt-P: Paint/Fill Commands
Never say a computers job is never done. TheDraw allows you to
fill boxes and objects with just the attributes, just the
character, or both attributes and character that are under the
cursor. Objects are defined as any shape made using the function
key line sets, or the draw mode.
[A]ttribute changes the all attributes (not characters) in
the object to the current attributes.
[C]haracter first prompts for a character to use. Next it
changes all the characters (not attributes) in the object
to the one that you specified.
[B]oth does both of the above. First it prompts for a
character, then paints the area with that character using
the current attributes.
Painting has been made significantly faster, and the algorithm
now works in a more logical fashion.
Animation Notes: If using the Character, or Both option then ANY
character painted is added to the animation sequence. Any
previous characters in the object are not changed. The Attribute
function only changes the attributes of characters currently in
the animation sequence, with no new characters added.
Alt-Q: Redraw Screen
This is an animator mode ONLY command. It simply redraws the
animation sequence on the screen. You can adjust the speed from
0 (fastest) to 255 (crawl). A value of about 50 is generally a
good speed to view at. Be warned that 255 literally is a crawl
speed, displaying only about two characters per second.
Alt-R: Restore Current Line
This allows you to erase any changes made to the current line.
If you type something and realize it was in the wrong position,
pressing Alt-R will restore the line to its original contents.
All changes are permanent once you move to another line however.
The command works equally well in either Normal or Animator mode.
TheDraw Page 18
Alt-S: Save Screen to Disk
This command will save the entire screen to disk in ANSI, ASCII,
ASM, Binary, Bsave, Pascal, or C formats. Please note that all
color attributes are lost in an ASCII file.
ASM produces a list of DB statements for use by assembly language
programmers. Binary is simply a straight dump of the screen.
Bsave is the same as binary except loading codes for Basic are
added at the front. A Pascal file is similar to the ASM output,
except it is in a Turbo Pascal compatible 'const' statement (see
notes below for programming examples). A C file is again similar
to the ASM output, except it uses a modern C compatible variable
structure.
You are first prompted for which storage format to use. If you
select ASCII, you are prompted if you really want a non-color
image made before continuing.
Selecting ANSI gives you a few more options (all of which will
use defaults by pressing [Enter]).
If you are in full screen mode, TheDraw first warns you
saying line 25 will not be saved. Answer Yes if you wish to
continue with the save or No if not.
You are next asked how you want the video initially prepared.
You can have the screen cleared, the cursor simply homed
(returned to upper-left corner of screen), or leave the
screen as is.
Secondly, you are prompted for the maximum output line
length. It is conceivable that TheDraw could generate over
1300 characters for just one line of text (if every character
had a differing color combination). If for some reason an
external program is to be used, it's doubtful so many
characters could be handled (ie: the message entry routine in
the RBBS Bulletin board). This option tells TheDraw to limit
the output line length, sacrificing display time (because of
all the extra codes which must be included). If length is no
problem, specify [N]one to make the most efficient file.
Lastly, you are prompted for the Ansi display speed. This is
a number from 0 to 50, and operates similar to the ALT-Q
animator function. This works by adding harmless codes after
everything that is displayed. A value of 50 is equivalent to
a ALT-Q speed of 255 (extremely slow).
A lot of parameters, but it does allow a lot of flexibility in
the files you create.
TheDraw Page 19
Alt-S: Save Screen to Disk (cont):
Selecting Asm, Pascal, or C (abbreviated by APC) gives you some
options also. You can specify to Crunch, output only Ascii
characters, or dump a normal APC file. Crunching uses a custom
method of compressing color changes and strings of identical
characters to make the smallest possible file. To display a
crunched file you must use the uncruncher routine included
separately with TheDraw. The routine includes comments on how to
use it. A APC Ascii file is similar to the normal dump except
color attributes are not output. Only the characters themselves.
The normal file is simply a 4000 byte binary dump of the screen,
converted to a assembler/compiler compatible format.
Following the above preliminary prompts, you are prompted for a
filename. If the file already exists, you are prompted to
verify the save. The program assumes the file extensions ".ANS"
for ANSI compatible files, ".ASC" for ASCII text files, ".ASM"
for assembler files, ".BIN" for binary dumps, ".BSV" for Bsave
files, ".PAS" for Pascal files, and ".H" for C files. A file
without an extension can be specified by placing a period as the
last character of the filename (ie: TESTFILE. ).
The screen is then output to disk (assuming a valid filename was
entered).
Notes: Many people may find their need only requires, say,
three or four lines of text or only half the screen. You can
have TheDraw output a mini-screen by using the block action
save screen command (see Alt-B) instead of this option.
Block action commands allow a screen of any dimension from
any position on the screen to be saved. BSave files have a
restriction however, in that they must be the screen width.
This is restriction of Basic, not TheDraw.
For suggestions on using the screen files created by TheDraw
see the section "Programmers Programming Tips" below.
Animation Notes: Animation mode forces the use of ANSI
output. TheDraw simply bypasses the first prompt. If you
wish to output just copies of what is currently on the
screen, you must convert the screen to a normal file using
the Alt-J command.
TheDraw Page 20
Alt-T: Tab Setup
This command allows you to specify at what positions you want the
[TAB] key to stop at. Initially the positions are at every tenth
column. You can [S]et additional ones, [C]lear a setting,
[R]eset the tab line to the initial settings, [E]rase all tab
settings, or set tab points at every [I]ncremented position.
With the incremented option, you are prompted for a step size.
From the current position, every nth location is set. This
allows you to quickly specify, say every fourth position if your
need requires it. Press [ESC] to exit this mode.
Alt-U: Use Colors under Cursor
This commands provides a convenient way of changing the current
color attributes to those under the cursor.
Alt-V: View a Screen
This command allows you to look at another image from disk
without erasing the current one. You might use this in
conjunction with the data import function in the block action
commands. It works similar to the load screen command (Alt-L)
except the image is not stored. Once the image is displayed you
must press <Enter> to return. Otherwise the prompt disappears so
you can view the entire image. After about 30 secs, the prompt
reappears to remind you that you are still viewing a file.
This command can also use this to verify that a save was done
properly. Simply view the file after saving it. If you EVER
discover TheDraw did not do it right, please send a little card
describing the problem in detail. If you're the first to report
a particular error, you'll be credited in the revision history
below. Thanks!
TheDraw Page 21
Alt-W: Edit Character
This is an animator ONLY function. Since overwrite doesn't exist
in Animator mode (because anything typed over a character is
simply added onto the sequence), a command for overwriting had to
be added. After pressing Alt-W you are prompted to type a new
character. ALL commands including arrow keys, are deactivated
except for the color attribute function (Alt-A) and Ctrl-Arrow
keys.
Alt-X: Exit TheDraw
This should be obvious. You are prompted to verify before
leaving the program.
Alt-Y: Delete Current Line
Should be an obvious command. Everything below the current line
is shifted up one position. The bottom line is left cleared. This
command is not reversible, so use it carefully.
Alt-Z: Erase Cursor Character
This is akin to typing a space in normal mode over something you
don't want. Alt-Z erases the top-most character from the
animation sequence at the current cursor position.
TheDraw Page 22
Alt-= Toggle Macro Learn Mode
(available in registered version only)
This function allows you to teach TheDraw a new macro sequence.
You are prompted for which key to program (0-9), and that's it.
From this point on, anything you type will be stored. When you
are satisfied with what you've typed, using Alt-= again will save
the macro. To use the macros just type Alt followed by a number
key 0 through 9 (NOT the ones on the keypad). That's all there
is to macros. Enjoy!
Ctrl-Up and Ctrl-Down Arrow: Foreground Color Change
This command is a convenient way of adjusting the current
foreground color. By pressing Ctrl-Up (increment color) or Ctrl-
Down (decrement color) and watching the word "color" at the
bottom of the screen, you can select the color you want. You
might find this more useful than the Alt-A command.
Notes: TheDraw has a special keyboard driver program installed
to handle these keys. If they aren't working on your machine run
the SETUP.COM utility and configure TheDraw to your keyboard.
Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right Arrow: Background Color Change
This command works identically to the above option except it
changes the background color instead of the foreground. Use
Ctrl-Right to increment the color and Ctrl-Left to decrement it.
Shift-Space: Solid Space Character
With the addition of moving blocks UNDER other objects, the need
for a non-transparent space became apparent. This command fills
the need. When you move the cursor onto a Solid space, the
current background color will flicker as an indicator. A Solid
space is nothing more than the code #255 (which is a blank
IBM graphics character).
TheDraw Page 23
Ctrl-PrtSc: Full Screen Mode Toggle
This key sequence toggles the screen mode TheDraw operates in.
Either 23 line (normal) or 25 line (full-screen) mode. Normal
mode is simply what TheDraw always has been up until now. Full-
Screen mode makes heavy use of pop up windows for prompts and
messages. While useful, it can be awkward since YOU must
remember where you are at all times. For instance, block marking
and etc... It is easy to become confused unless you are careful.
If all else fails, hit ESC a few times to abort the current
command. Some people may prefer this mode which is fine.
Nothing forces you to use either mode for anything.
Ctrl-PrtSc only operates from command mode. It is not available
under any sub commands (such as Block, Global, etc...). There
are no restrictions on full screen use in animation modes.
TheDraw Page 24
Programmers Programming Tips:
This section is for those people interested in using TheDraw for
their programs. Effort was put into TheDraw to make it a
convenient utility.
Assembler programmers will find the file in standard data byte
format, using the DB operator. Asm files can have varying sizes
depending upon the APC save mode used. Dimensions and length of
the save are displayed at the top of all assembler dumps. If you
Crunched the screen, you will have to use the uncruncher routine
provided in ASM source code. Register requirements are
documented in the file. APC Ascii files must be read as bytes
and saved on the screen as words. This can be achieved using
LODSB and STOSW instructions. LODSB loads into AL the character.
You store into AH the attributes to display with. STOSW then
writes the two bytes onto the screen. A normal 4000 byte dump
is the easiest to display, using the REP MOVSB instruction. To
display the image, point the ES:DI pair to B800:0000 (for color
screens) and DS:SI to the screen in your program. Also load CX
with the number of bytes to display (4000). Monochrome screens
are based at segment B000. Direct display onto the screen will
cause snow on some color videos, so you may want to move the
screen a word at a time only when the video is in a vertical
retrace. Vertical retrace can be detected at I/O address 3DA by
testing bit 3 of that location.
Pascal programmers have similar ease with bringing in a screen
normal screen. You can also flash the image in a similar fashion
to the Asm program using the Move procedure. Define a variable
at the absolute address of the screen. ie:
type ScreenType = array [0..3999] of Byte;
var Screen : ScreenType absolute $B800:0000;
The importance of defining such an array will become obvious
below. Next do a move similar to:
Move (ScreenImage,Screen,4000);
Assuming ScreenImage is the name of the pascal image dump. This
is only for a full screen. To display a screen block is slightly
more difficult. We must use a loop and move a line at a time in
this case. ie:
for X := 1 to Depth do
Move (ScreenImage[(X-1)*Width*2],Screen[X*160+Offset],Width*2);
TheDraw Page 25
Programmers Programming Tips (cont):
Depth is the number of lines in the block, and width is the
number of characters across the block. This moves a line from
ScreenImage to the video at a given Offset one line at a time.
The address in ScreenImage is advanced to the location of the
next line in each loop, with the video address advance 160
characters each time (the true width of the video).
Turbo Pascal users also have another interesting option. You can
include a .BIN file into a turbo program and then display it
using the above techniques. Define a dummy external procedure
using the name of the .BIN file. ie:
procedure DummyProc; external 'DEMO.BIN'; begin end;
This makes the binary file part of your pascal program. Next,
you must set a pointer variable to the address of that procedure.
ie: (assuming DummyPtr : ^ScreenType);
DummyPtr := Ptr(CSeg,Ofs(DummyProc));
The last part is simple. All we have to do now is replace all
references in the above examples to ScreenImage with DummyPtr^.
Don't forget the up arrow symbol at the end (otherwise you'll get
some interesting results). ie: Move (DummyPtr^,Screen,4000);
It can be fun to play around with this concept, all you have to
do is be careful with the pointers.
Use of crunched files requires use of the UNCRUNCH procedure
included with TheDraw. See the file for details on its use. APC
Ascii files can be displayed similar to strings and the like.
Basic programmers are a little more limited, not because of lack
of commands, but lack of speed. Therefore TheDraw creates the
BSave files with all addressing information already programmed.
All you have to do is type BLOAD "filename.BSV". The screen
segment is automatically set, so you don't have to bother with
DEF SEG=etc... TheDraw allows partial block saves for basic
meaning the blocks must be 80 characters wide. This is a
limitation of BLOAD which we all must live with. They can start
and end at any line however, so you could load a full screen then
just load small block images to update those parts of the screen
needing it. Make sure you build the partial-block images in
TheDraw in the exact screen location you want them to finally
appear. If you save a block starting on line 5, and ending on
line 8 that's where it appears in Basic.
If you figure out any more ideas for this section, or have
suggestions for me to work on I'd be glad to hear about them!
TheDraw Page 26
R E V I S I O N H I S T O R Y
05/01/86 - Version 1.00
Program completed.
05/05/86 - Version 1.01
Carl Ehmann noticed a glitch in text creation that
caused highlighting and blinking attributes changes
to go unnoticed. This has been corrected.
06/05/86 - Version 1.02
Steven Mills discovered a bug in the file loading
routine that caused TheDraw to flag valid filenames
as invalid. It has been squashed.
Changed the program to not allow the user to enter a
code #26 or code #27 into a text screen. A code #26
is the Dos end of file marker, and entering it means
loss of all following text upon displaying the file
or reloading it back into TheDraw. A code #27 is
the ANSI driver signal character. Supposedly ANSI
ignores invalid sequences, but allowing the code
created "false" ANSI codes which caused loading
problems.
07/31/86 - Version 1.03
Upon prompting from Carl Ehmann, output line length
limiting has been added. This will facilitate other
programs which cannot load lines conceivably going
over 1300 characters (such as RBBS).
Color changes can now be accomplished using the
Ctrl-Left and Right arrow keys to increment the fore
and background colors respectively.
08/15/86 - Version 1.10 (later changed to v2.00)
Changes in a big way. New features include:
ANSI Animation, Line Drawing, Ruler, movement of
blocks UNDER other text and much more!!
Quick color change keys have been expanded to use
the Ctrl-Up, Down, Left, and Right keys in a more
logical manner.
09/13/86 - Version 2.01
A few more enhancements to TheDraw. Pop-Up help,
and macros have been added to the registered version
of the program. Also a few aspects of the animation
editor have been sped up.
TheDraw Page 27
R E V I S I O N H I S T O R Y (cont):
09/19/86 - Version 2.02
Fixed a slight bug which was causing TheDraw to
display the wrong Help Screen (in registered
version). Also, the registered version wasn't
keeping track of where its overlay was.
09/27/86 - Version 2.03
Carl Ehmann noticed yet another glitch (what would I
do without him?). The Ascii save routine was using
ANSI codes to advance the cursor to the next line.
11/28/86 - Version 2.04
Ray Buti discovered a oddity with the Pascal screen
save. If you used a single quote "'" TheDraw didn't
compensate for it. Therefore when Turbo Pascal
compiled that screen it complained. Ray also
noticed that characters under #32 were missing the
"#" required by Turbo. These have both been cured.
In addition, the animation load routine has been
made more reliable. Occasionally movement just
involving the cursor (no text) would be lost. Other
improvements were made to make animation screen
files smaller and display faster.
03/06/87 - Version 2.10
Support for monochrome monitors has finally been
added. Don't ask why I never did it before... The
glitches Paul Pacter (and many other people) found
with IBM PC Ctrl-Up/Down keys has been eliminated. I
would have never noticed that glitch, so many
thanks! Kent Godding made an excellent suggestion
for a ansi-file slow down routine. This has been
added. Lastly, a few changes were made to the
command structure to clarify things and many prompts
were cleaned up.
06/20/87 - Version 2.20
BSave saves fixed to operate properly for monochrome
monitors. Ansi files now output <esc>[40m color
sequences now to clear screen to black color before
doing anything else. Thanks to Barry Simon for
bringing this oversight to my attention and also
suggesting command line filespecs. Some new items
were added, most notably full screen editing. Thank
Ray Buti for finally bugging me enough to add it.
Also extended options for Asm, Pascal, and new C
storage modes to crunch and store only Ascii in
addition to the original normal (4000 byte) mode.
Thanks to Douglas A. Nicklow for suggesting the C
storage capacity.
TheDraw Page 28
R E V I S I O N H I S T O R Y (cont):
07/02/87 - Version 2.21
I missed a minor glitch in the registered version.
TheDraw wasn't using the overlay path entered by the
Setup utility when initializing. In addition, using
a command line filespec sometimes loaded a Ansi or
Ascii image with a random background color.
Needless to say, both problems have been fixed.
TheDraw Page 29
T H E F U T U R E
I have absolutely no idea... I've finally run out of ideas for
TheDraw. Perhaps some additional animation routines to jazz
things up here and there. We'll see won't we <grin>.
Send in your ideas, suggestions, criticisms and bug reports.
Report something first and be immortalized in the docs of
TheDraw!
TheDraw Page 30
R E G I S T R A T I O N
Registering for any TheSoft product (that OFFERS a registered
version) is simple. Just send a note or a title screen printer
dump with your name, address, program version, and a check with
the requested amount (minimum). You will receive your copy
promptly, and will be notified of any future TheSoft products!
What you receive is a disk with the latest versions of both the
Registered and Public Domain copies of that program and some demo
files (if applicable) all with documentation.
NOTES:
Users who contributed to TheSoft -before- the registered version
of TheDraw was made available, can register by simple sending the
difference to make up the $10 (generally another $5). Be SURE to
indicate your previous contribution somehow to avoid confusion.
D I S K U P D A T E S E R V I C E
Users who have Registered may upgrade to the latest version of
TheDraw by sending in their TheDraw ORIGINAL DISK, along with $5
(service and handling) and a note explaining the wanted upgrade.
On the note include your serial number (found on the diskette)
and the address you want the disk sent to.
You must send the registered program diskette, otherwise I
reserve the right to refuse the update.
The original disk must have the registered version of TheDraw on
it. The disk will be reformatted and the Master copied onto it.
Any disk in poor condition will be replaced by TheSoft. If the
serial number is missing or the diskette does not contain the
registered version of TheDraw, I reserve the right to deny the
update (disk will be returned unchanged).
There is bound to be someone out there saying other people give
free updates to their programs. I agree, they do. They also
charge $50 or more when you register (those I've seen). If
somebody sends me $50 for TheDraw, I'll gladly send them free
updates. If somebody sends me $5000, I'll gladly send them a
computer to use the free updates on (kidding).
TheDraw Page 31
W A R R A N T Y
TheDraw is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or
implied. This includes the fitfulness to a particular purpose or
application. While we tried to be as thorough as possible while
debugging TheDraw, we claim no responsibility for any losses
incurred alleged to be caused by use of the program. If you have
a problem with TheDraw please feel free to write and describe the
situation.
To those people who have registered, the physical diskette is
warranted against defects in materials and workmanship for a
period of 30 days from date of shipment (by TheSoft Programming).
Any returned disks found bad will be replaced at no charge.
L I C E N S E
You are free to use, copy, and distribute the PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
version of TheDraw to others so long as:
1) No fee is charged for its use.
2) No fee is charged for copying or distribution over the
amount of $6 (plus any mailing charges). This does not
apply to computer access charges the system operators of
or organizations owning bulletin board systems, online
services, etc... may or may not charge subscribers.
3) It has not been modified in ANY way.
The REGISTERED version of TheDraw may not be given out or
distributed. Doing so deprives TheSoft Programming and besides,
is a violation of federal copyright laws.
TheDraw Page 32
C O M M E N T S
Please consider the donation of $10 (or any amount). Quality
software at good prices is difficult to find these days. We at
TheSoft Programming Services firmly believe in and support the
concept of shareware products, and hopefully you do also. Please
make any checks out to TheSoft Programming Services. If you have
any requests, comments or suggestions for TheDraw, please send
them to:
TheSoft Programming Services
c/o Ian Davis - TheDraw
1929 Whitecliff Court
Walnut Creek, Ca, 94596.
Thanks for your support!
TheDraw Page 33
