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GJOIN.EXE Document file VER .97 -- Copyright 1991 Wright Engineering
********************** ANOTHER TOOL IN THE GTOOLS LINE **********************
FEATURES:
* Allows joining of many GDRAW sequences into a single .vg. file!
* MAKE file allows a complex group of sequences to be managed easily.
* Allows anims and presentations larger than GDRAW'S capacity to be made.
*****************************************************************************
WARNING: ALL JOINING OPERATIONS SHOULD BE PERFORMED ON FILES THAT
ARE COPIES, DON'T TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR WORK!
*****************************************************************************
INTRODUCTION:
GJOIN is designed to let the user create incredibly
large run time Animation/Presentations that play as a single
.vg or .vr format file. This larger Animation/Presentation
is made of as few as 2 or as many as 255 individual GDRAW
sequences, each saved as a different filename.
GJOIN effectively provides two essential services:
1. It sums the contents of a list of .VG format GDRAW
files into a single .vg file that will be slightly smaller
in size than the sum of the individual files (this is due
to the elimination of redundant header information when the
files are joined). Since each file can contain up to 2000
object commands and up to 255 files can be joined together
into a single file, you can now have
Presentation/Animations with up to 510,000 object commands.
A file with that many objects would typically be about 2.5
MB's long and have a RUN TIME of approximately 7 hours. Use
of imported images can reduce efficiency significantly.
2. GJOIN provides project management facilities, like
a MAKE FACILITY, typical of a programming environment.
Each time you wish to create an output .VR? that consists
of many individual sequences, the .MAK file will guide
GJoin in linking each of the individual .vg files into a
single file (in the proper order). This file may now be
played with GPLAY or it can be GRELLED to shrink RUN TIME
size and make the presentation/animation uneditable.
USAGE:
GJOIN inputfilename[.EXT] [/SWITCHES]
Inputfilename is the name of the makefile created with a text editor.
[.EXT] indicates an optional extension.
[/SWITCHES] is any of the supported GJoin commands switches
If no [.EXT] is specified then GJOIN assumes a .MAK extension.
NOTE: VER. .97 does not support any command line switches.
GJOIN MAKEFILES:
GJoin makefiles tell GJoin how to make the
presentation from the various sequences that make up the
final Presentation/Animation. Here is a sample makefile
called Flight.MAK produced with a text editor...
; This Makefile will create the Flight animation in mode G
; A short little movie that shows off most features
;
flight.vgg; Output filename in VG format
thepad.vgg; #1 rocket on pad, launch lift, men enter ship
console.vgg; #2 control console and lift off instruments
orbit.vgg; #3 leaving planet surface
seperate.vgg; #4 seperation and hyperspace entry
solarmap.vgg; #5 Tracking map of Solar System
reentry.vgg; #6 Reentry to Subspace and docking
airlock.vgg; #7 Airlock closing repressurize
Each line of the makefile must be either a file name
or comment or a filename with a comment. To insert a blank
line just use a semicolon with nothing after it.
Notice that the first filename you specify is the
name you wish to have the output file to have. Since this
Presentation/Animation was made in mode G the extension is
.VGG and so all the files must be in mode G.
Each line of the .MAK file can have only ONE filename
on it. The end of the filename must end in a semicolon
(;), to tell GJoin that the line is complete and that
anything afterwards is a description of that sequence.
Do NOT embed any blank lines in the file and do NOT
end your last line with a carriage return or you will
confuse GJoin.
If you wish to have text lines for comments, then
start the line with a semicolon in the first position of
that line, and GJoin will ignore that line. If you place
the semicolon in a position other than the first position
of the line, GJoin will assume that all characters to the
left of the semi- colon make up a valid filename and GJoin
will become confused and exit without making the output
file.
Each of the filenames after the output filename should
be a GDraw created sequence that will be linked together in
the order of their appearance in the make file. This
points out something very interesting. If you are trying
to make a Presentation/Animation that is flexible, easily
updated, or modified you can change the order of the files
or substitute some files for other files.
NOTE: You cannot specify a name in the joining list
that conflicts with output file name as this would overwrite
one of the input files destroying it.
Note: GJoin .97 does not support mixing sequences made
in different screen modes but it is anticipated in VER .98.
Joining information window:
When you invoke GJoin to make a Presentation/Animation
GJoin follows these steps in making your presentation.
1. It opens the makefile you have created with a text
editor.
2. It opens each one of the files in the list to
examine the files header information and verify that it
exists. If one of the filenames does not exist GJoin will
exit with an error and attempt to tell you what happened to
make it fail. With errors in the files header, the program
will show an error message and exit.
3. GJoin then opens its Information Window, which
informs you about the state of joining.
Copyright 1990 Wright Engineering
Graphics Joiner Version .97
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Processing : current file being processed ║
║ File Comment : file comment from current file ║
║ Screen Mode : screen mode of the current file ║
║ GD Version : GDRAW version used to create current ║
║ Objects this file : # object processed so far in current ║
║ Total Objects : total # in current file to process ║
║ Bytes this file : # bytes processed in current file ║
║ Total Bytes : # bytes processed in all files ║
║ Current file size : # of bytes in the current file ║
║ Total Files : # of files to join together ║
║ Files Remaining : # of files before GJoin is finished ║
║ # Commands : # of GDRAW commands processed ║
║ Total # Commands : # GDRAW + GJOIN commands used ║
║ Output Filename : # the name of the joined file ║
║ Output File size : # instantaneousness size of output file ║
║ % Complete : # percentage complete 100% = done ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Should any file that is being joined be flawed, then
GJoin will delete the output file and exit with an error
message.
GDRAW and GJOINED vgX files
___________________________
If you join a large group of files into a single file
that is larger than 2000 commands, that file can no longer
be loaded into GDraw for editing; so GJoin will destroy the
output file from GJoin (if the output file has more than
2000 commands in it) after it has GRel'ed the file. This
will save disk space and prevent you from depending on that
single file for editing purposes only to find out that it
can't be loaded on your machine because it is too large to
fit in GDraw.
NOTE 2: DON'T ASSUME THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS EDIT THE OUTPUT .VG FILE EVEN
THOUGH IT HAS LESS THAN 2000 OBJECTS. YOU CAN NEVER BE 100%
SURE THAT YOU CAN EDIT IT UNTIL YOU TRY, SO NEVER DESTROY
YOUR INDIVIDUAL SOURCE FILES!
____________________________________________________________
GJOINING files into a single file smaller than 2000 commands
____________________________________________________________
If you GJoin files into a single file that contains less
than 2000 commands total then you can possibly use that as
an as GDRAW file. file under GDRAW the only exceptions to this is
that certain commands use a lot of raw machine memory.
These might make you run out of raw memory in GDRAW before
you run out of commands memory and even though you are less
than 2000 objects your machine may not be able to edit the
file.
PLAYING MASSIVE .VG FILES
________________________
GPlay can play any .vg file regardless of the file
size, so if for some reason you wish to keep the massive
single .vgX output file then use with GPLAY.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
--------------------
If you wish to find out more about:
GDRAW - GFX vectored Graphics interpreter
GPLAY - Vectored Graphics player
GCHECK - Vectored Graphics file checker
GREL - Graphics Relative Compiler
GFONT - Graphic Font maker
GTERM - GFX terminal software
GBBS - GBBS (Graphics Bulletin Board System)
please contact the Wright Engineering HQ BBS
at 714-847-2548 14.4 HST and below
the board is open from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Pacific time
or you may write:
WRIGHT ENGINEERING
19744 BEACH BLVD.
SUITE # 309
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA.
92648
This board is running WWIV BBS software until the
official release of GBBS which is currently under alpha
testing.