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CyberShow.ReadMe
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1996-05-08
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CyberShow Professional Version 7.0a (c) by Helmut Hoffmann 1995/96
======================
New in V7.0: + Screenmode requester (at program start or by menu function)
+ CV64Patch option to avoid displaying problems w. CyberVisions
+ Alternative transition effect model ("BlackTransition") with
better quality esp. for palette oriented screens (2-256 col.)
+ Configurable JPeg save quality/optim.
New in V6.x: + BestMode option for automatic selection of suitable screenmode
+ Width and Height options to select screenmode just by size
-> CD-ROM producers: Special editions of CyberShow for CD-ROMs
are available on appointment at special conditions <-
This is an universal shareware picture viewer/slideshow/presentation
program (incl. PhotoCD support, transition effects, zooming ...) and
converter for all Amigas (and Draco!) with OS3.0 and higher which can
display images in windows on the Workbench, on custom screens or public
screens or presentate as slideshow incl. transition effects
* in TrueColor/HighColor on CyberGraphX systems (incl. Draco) on such screens
* in reduced color (upto 256 colors) on any screen/Workbench including
AGA, ECS, OCS and usually WB-Emu graphic board screens (e.g. CybGfx,EGS)
It has many special features which make it a flexible, fast and comfortable
multi-purpose tool with flexible format support (over 20 file formats).
------> Special note for CyberVision 64 users: Some CyberVision users have
reported problems with CyberGraphX 2.12 and up (at least upto 2.15;
cybergraphics.library V40.62 and 40.64) on 24Bit screens. Such
problems do not occur with older libs (cybergraphics.library 40.58),
other screen depths or on other boards. To work around this I have
now included the option "CV64Patch" which you can try, if such
problems occur on your setup. As this option can slow down displaying
slightly and will avoid some effects, it should only be seen as
a possible intermediate solution. Hopefully newer CyberGraphX
versions don't contain this bug anymore. <----
Warning: I know that illegal/modified keyfiles of CyberShow exist. The use !!
of such keyfiles ("hhscybershowkey.library") is strictly prohibited and !!
can lead to undefined results and problems! For a program which you use !!
you should also be willing to pay the shareware fee. Only if enough users !!
register I will be able to do further improvements or create other graphic!!
applications. You can also help me by sending me illegal keyfiles of
CyberShow which you find somewhere. !!
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| By the way: +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+---- |
| | | | | | | |IFX | |
| Create your own | True Color animations... |with | XiP | ... |
| | | | | | | | Pgs| |
| +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+---- |
| with ImageFX, XiPaint or Photogenics and my universal loader |
| modules (FastIFXModules, XiPaintModule, UniversalGIO Modules) |
| which now all include TrueColor animation savers as well for the |
| HHsYUVSq animation format... For ImageFX and XiPaint special ARexx|
| scripts are already included which can automate the creation of |
| TrueColor animations. You can playback the HHsYUVSq anims e.g. |
| with the freeware CyberTVPlayer 5.x on Workbench or other screens.|
| The fast loading functions (new:incl. downscaling) are the same as|
| in CyberShow Professional (JPeg is missing in FastIFXM.&Univ.GIO).|
| Add-on price (to CyberShow or other orders): 8US$ or 10DM each |
| Special price for registered CyberShow users: 13US$ or 15DM for |
| one module; additional further modules available at add-on price |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
Supported picture file formats for loading:
1) IFF-ILBM (all standard formats 1 to 8Bit, EHB, HAM6, HAM8, 24Bit)
2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait); linear 24Bit RGB)
3) JPeg (color and greyscale)
4) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color)
5) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray)
6) Targa (RLE compr.&uncompr. 1/8/15/16/24/32Bit; incl. interleaved)
7) PCX (compr.&uncompr. EGA1-4Bit, VGA 8Bit grey/Colormap and 24Bit)
8) BMP (uncompr. 24Bit RGB,1Bit,4Bit or 8Bit Colormap; RLE compressed 8Bit,1Bit)
9) TIF (packbit-compr.&uncompr. 24Bit,1-8Bit grey/Color Motorola&Intel formats)
10) EGS7.x window icons
11) DEEP (compr.&uncompr. IFF-DEEP 24Bit and 32Bit formats)
12) YUV (color 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 4:1:1 and greyscale)
13) VLAB raw (color 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 4:1:1 and greyscale)
14) RGB (IFF-RGB: RGB8 and RGBN compressed; RGB5 uncompressed)
15) HHsYUVSq sequence format (sequential or random access)
16) IFF-PBM (DPII) format
17) ACBM (IFF-ACBM: 1 to 8Bit, EHB, HAM6, HAM8)
18) FBM (8Bit grey/Colormap and 24Bit)
19) Sun raster (uncompressed formats for 1Bit, 8Bit grey/ColorMap and 24Bit)
20) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only)
21) HHsXRL formats (1-8Bit ColorMap incl. HAM6/8, 8Bit grey, 24Bit RGB compressed)
22) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK; this function is experimental)
23) TBCPlus frames&fields
and all picture DataType formats (OS3.0 and up) and animation DataType
formats (OS3.1 and up).
-> Important! If you have any difficulties viewing certain picture types
-> (e.g. PCX, PhotoCD, DataTypes, JPeg etc.) directly from CD-ROMs (while viewing
-> the same pictures copied to disk works), you have encountered a CD-ROM file
-> system problem. I have heard of difficulties with several third party file
-> systems. I recommend to use only one of the following CD-ROM file systems:
-> 1) Original AmigaDOS OS3.1 CD-ROM file system
-> 2) AmiCD-File System V1.15 or higher (older versions are probably NOT usable)
-> 3) BabelCDROM File System V1.2 or higher
-> see section "Important" below for more details.
For animation formats (HHsYUVSq and animation datatypes) the first frame is shown
(for playback of HHsYUVSq animations you can use my freeware program CyberTVPlayer;
for creation of such animations you can now use my univeral modules for ImageFX,
XiPaint and Photogenics; see information box above for details...)
Please note: The format "GIF" and LZW compressed "TIF" variants are not
internally supported for legal reasons, but due to the DataType support
loading should be possible if you have a suitable DataType (with a fast
GIF or TIF DataType loading is usually still faster than with many other
viewers which directly support theese formats!).
Supported picture file formats for saving:
1) IFF-ILBM 24Bit (compressed and uncompressed)
2) IFF-DEEP 24Bit (uncompressed)
This format is used e.g. by TVPaint, XiPaint or Photogenics
3) JPeg (variable compression rates and optimization)
4) PPM-P6
This format is used by the PBM image processing software
5) QRT
6) Targa 24Bit (compressed and uncompressed)
7) HHsXRL TC24 format (compressed lossless and lossy)
This format is esp. designed for raytracing pictures, which should be
compressed lossless or with nearly invisible losses. Compression is usually
better than IFF-ILBM or Targa compression.
Highlights of CyberShow:
+ flexible presentation of your pictures in windows or on screens incl.
slide show function with transition effects, presentation delay etc.
+ Fast zooming (magnification upto 1:4 and reduction upto 4:1; use + to zoom
in and - to zoom out; * to go to standard size) and fast scrolling functions
(cursor keys or scrollbars)
+ All loading functions (except JPeg: This software is based in part on the work
of the independent JPeg Group) have been written in Assembler and optimised for
extremely high speed. Loading will usually be upto 5 times faster than with
comparable viewers... An exception to this is the JPeg format, which is
written in C and based on the usual code of the ind. JPeg group.
+ Automatic preloading: The next picture is loaded while you view the current
picture; you can now also scroll or zoom the picture or use other functions
during preloading of the next picture; this reduces waiting time to a minimum
+ Can view single files, group of files (supporting patterns) and
even directory trees (automatic search of subdirectories); multiple
picture arguments can be passed by CLI, Workbench or selected with file
requester. Images will be shown in alphabetical order (ordered by complete
path name) or (as option) in random order.
+ AppWindow function
+ Optional downscaled loading for faster access and less memory usage
(selectbale as CLI parameter, WB Tooltype or by menu function)
+ Can go back to previous images as well
+ Information window for picture can be opened including name, dimensions,
file type, file size, file comment and number of frames (for animations)
+ Fast direct transfer of images to famous image processing and painting
programs (currently ImageFX, XiPaint and PicoPainter are supported;
transfers to other programs could be included if more developers/dealers
would support me and more programs would have sufficient interfaces)
+ Save function to convert pictures into some 24Bit file formats (JPeg, IFF, ...)
+ Delete function to delete pictures you don't like ...
Using instructions
==================
Configuration of a screen to use:
Usually CyberShow will show the pictures in windows directly on
the default public screen (usually the Workbench). To make use of other
screen modes or to use public screens you can configure CyberShow by
CLI parameters, Workbench Tooltypes or by the ENV: variable "CyberShowScreen".
You can also make use of a screenmode requester or use the "BestMode" option
(by CLI or Tooltype). The BestMode option will let CyberShow select a suitable
screenmode by itself. If you specify the Width or Height parameters, a
suitable screenmode will be selected according to thoose dimensions.
To use a custom screen:
If you want a screen of a fixed mode to be opened for CyberShow you can
set an environment variable with the screenmode, e.g.:
SETENV CyberShowScreen "NTSC:HighRes Interlace"
You can specify all kinds of screenmodes for Amiga screens, emulation
screens of graphic boards and TrueColor/HighColor screens for Cybergraphics.
In any case the screen will be opened with the max. depth which is available
for that mode. Please note that the screenmode name is case sensitive!
Take a look at the Prefs/Screenmode program's list of screenmode names
to see what is available. If you specify an unknown screenmode name or
the specified screenmode can't be used for some reason the program will
use the default public screen (after an information requester).
Alternatively you can specify a CLI parameter "Screenmode": e.g.
CyberShow Screenmode "NTSC:HighRes Interlace"
This parameter will override the ENV: variable as well as a PublicScreen
parameter. This is also available as tooltype for WB start (e.g.
Screenmode=NTSC:HighRes).
You can also use a screenmode requester (by a menu entry). If you want
the screenmode requester to appear after program start, you can use the
option "RequestMode".
To use a named public screen:
If you want to make CyberShow use a non-default Public Screen, you can
also specify this with the ENV: variable, e.g.:
SETENV CyberShowScreen "*CoolScreen"
To distinguish between a screenmode and a public screen name the *
character has to be specified before the screen name. To find out the
public screen name of your applications, look into their manuals! The
screen title of the public screens is often NOT the public screen name.
If the named public screen can't be used (if it is not found or private)
then the default public screen is used (after an information requester).
Alternatively you can specify a CLI parameter "PublicScreen": e.g.
CyberShow PublicScreen "CoolScreen"
This parameter will override the ENV: variable. Please note that the *
has not to be specified for the CLI parameter. If you also specify a
Screenmode parameter, the PublicScreen parameter will be ignored.
This is also available as tooltype for WB start (e.g. PublicScreen=...).
To save the screenmode or name specification for automatic use after booting,
just copy it from ENV: to ENVARC: (or use the WB Tooltype). If you want to
use the program on the default public screen again, just
SETENV CyberShowScreen "" or delete the variable from ENV: or from ENVARC:
for permanent effect (or delete the Tooltype).
Important note: The * character is sometimes ignored as input in CLI/shell
lines (or misinterpreted as #?). This can happen e.g. with
screenmode names of certain drivers or with public screen name
specifications; in such a case you should enter the * character
twice (**), which will then usually lead to one character * as result.
This can depend on your configuration. Spaces and case of characters
are also important in the screenmode names. In case of difficulties
the options "BestMode", "Width" and "Height" should help...
General parameters for CLI usage or start from Workbench:
You can specify multiple pathes/pictures/patterns in the CLI command line, e.g.:
CyberShow ram:#?.jpg tmp:#?.iff "CD1:Photo_CD/Images"
Picture parameters in the CLI can be included in " for better compatibility.
To specify pictures on Workbench start, you can multi-select one or several
pictures or even drawers by holding shift and selecting with the mouse
before double clicking. If no pictures are specified on program start,
a file requester appears, which allows selection of a path, a pattern or
any number of single pictures.
Another method is to make icons for the pictures and specify "CyberShow"
complete with it's path as default tool.
The CyberShow window is also an AppWindow in which you can drop picture
icons or even drawers or disks of pictures to view them.
Tooltype options for start from WB: Many options can be specified in the
Tooltypes of the CyberShow icon; similair options are available as parameters
from CLI start. Take a look at the icon to see the available parameters which
are enclosed in parentheses to make them inactive. If you want to use a tooltype,
remove the parantheses (and add any missing parameter).
The tooltypes are:
DefaultPath=path Provide default path for path/pattern/file
requester after startup or for save requester
Downscale=number Select downscaling with factor 1:number
(number range 1 to 16 supported in increments of 1;
some file formats can not be downscaled by all fac-
tors; for thoose the next higher factor is used)
Autoscale Downscale all pictures to screensize (or smaller)
NonRecursive Switch off recursive subdirectory search
Screenmode=name Select screenmode name for private screen
(Overrides ENV:CyberShowScreen)
PublicScreen=name Select named public screen
(Overrides ENV:CyberShowScreen)
RequestMode Use a screenmode requester to ask for a screen mode
BestMode Use private screen and select a suitable
screenmode automatically; currently this is
only done for the first picture as other pictures
will be displayed on the same screen. Internally
CyberShow uses 24Bit, thus a screen will be
selected by size and opened with max. color depth.
Width=width Use bestmode with specified width if possible
Height=height Use bestmode with specified height if possible
BestMode, Width and Height will override any
specified screenmode or public screen options
Icons Do not ignore .info files. This is only useful if
you have some Icon-Datatype and want to take a look
at the icons of files. By default, .info files are
now completely ignored. Please note that in
addition to this option you might have to remove
the ~(#?.info) pattern from the file requester if
this is used.
Request Show file/path/pattern requester after
displaying all files
PresentWindow Leave window size unchanged between pictures;
window will open at screen size; smaller pictures
are shown centered in the window; you can still
resize the window manually. On TrueColor/HighColor
windows transition effects will be used as default.
Use Effects or NoEffects to manually control this.
SlideShow Show pictures on screen (no window borders); this
works best if you select your own Screenmode. On
Workbench or Public screens you will still have
a depth arrangement bar on default (you can instead
select a backdrop window with another option).
As there are no scrollbars, you can only scroll
with the cursor keys in this mode. The usual menue
functions are still available. On TrueColor/HighColor
windows transition effects will be used as default.
Use Effects or NoEffects to manually control this.
BackDrop Backdrop window for SlideShow on WB or Public Screens
Black For small pictures fill unused screen or
window areas with the foreground pen (usual
black) instead of background (usual grey); in
SlideShow mode on private screens black is
always used and even specifed as background to
make presentations better e.g. for Video recording
BlackTransition Show a black screen between all pictures as a
transition (very useful for palette oriented
screens and in conjunction with the effects option).
Effects Select transition effects (default for presentation
windows and slideshow on true color screens); use
this option to get effects in standard mode or on
palette oriented screens (2-256 colors).
NoEffects Disable transition effects; if you use this option
together with the Effects option, the effects will
actually be disabled, but the usual palette locking
for 2 to 256 color screens will remain active
Delay=number Automatically go to next picture after specified
number of seconds; can also be switched on&off by
menu (default 8s if switched on without spec. time)
Loop Start with first picture again after showing last
(useful in conjunction with Delay for automatic
presentation at shows etc.)
IgnoreErrors Do not show requesters for unreadable files;
they will instead be quietly ignored
PartialFiles Accept partially corrupt files during loading
(at least 50% must be loaded correctly; default
is to reject all corrupt files; partial loading
is not possible for some formats e.g. Datatypes
due to technical reasons; the information
requester now contains the % of success, which
will be less than 100% for corrupt files)
JPegQual=quality JPeg save quality (50..95 in steps of 5)
JPegOpt Use JPeg save optimization
SlowJPeg Use slower (but slightly better?) JPeg loading
Random Display pictures in random order
CV64Patch Option which will hopefully avoid some possible
displaying problems of CyberGraphX in conjunction
with the Cybervision 64. If such problems occur
on your setup, you should try this option.
The CLI parameters are:
Due to the possibility to specify multiple pictures or pathes on the command line
CyberShow should also be suitable for use with directory utilities (I checked it
with DirOpus 4.12A+: E.g. specify CyberShow {F} as DOS command for your CyberShow
button; please note that DirOpus will call CyberShow multiple times if you select
too many files for the CLI command length limit; this can have unpleasant
effects if you want to view many pictures as slideshow from DirOpus).
Many other options are available as CLI parameters as well; they are usually
identical to the above listed ToolType options. Type CyberShow ? in a shell to
see the possible options. Here are the additional parameters (incl. abbreviations):
DS=Downscale (number)
AS=Autoscale
NR=NonRecursive
SM=Screenmode (name)
PS=PublicScreen (name)
RM=RequestMode
BM=BestMode
W=Width
H=Height
Icons
Request
PW=PresentWindow
SL=SlideShow
BD=BackDrop
Black
BT=BlackTransition
Effects
NoEffects
Delay (number)
Loop
IE=IgnoreErrors
PF=PartialFiles
JPegQual (number)
JPegOpt
SlowJPeg
Random
CV64Patch
-> see WB tooltypes above for detailed explanation
If you just start CyberShow without any picture parameters, a file/path/pattern
requester appears. With this you can specify a directory (path) with an optional
pattern or select one or multiple pictures (by holding shift during the selection).
You can select a new file/path/pattern by using the "New Directory" menu entry
at a later time (it will be shown automatically after displaying all files
if you select the Request option) or by dropping icons of pictures, drawers
or even disks into the CyberShow window which is now an AppWindow.
In any case subdirectories will be searched automatically if you don't restrict
searching by a pattern to one directory or use the NonRecursive option.
Information about additional functions:
* Change of screen: You can select a new screenmode and color depths with the
menu entry "Screenmode requester". CyberShow will then try to open the new
screen and continue it's displaying there.
* Downscaled loading: Default is to load pictures in full size. With the
"Scaled-Loading" menue or Downscale option you can select to load all
pictures in reduced size. For many file formats this downscaled loading
will be significantly faster. Please note that the pictures will be in
small form in memory, thus save or transfer operations will save or
transfer the images in small form. This is different from the zooming
functions. If you load a picture in normal size you can zoom out to get
it in reduced size as well, but then the image remains in original
resolution in memory.
Automatic downscaling to screen size is also available as option or
by menu. This will lead to a downscaled loading which reduces all pictures
to the screen size or a smaller size, if that is not possible.
If you specify both BestMode and AutoScale, the first picture will be
loaded in full size (unless you have manually specified width and height)
and a screenmode selected for this. Subsequent pictures will be loaded
downscaled to screen size.
* SlideShow and presentation windows: To show pictures as slideshow
instead of windows, it is best to specify a screenmode as well, e.g.
cybershow #?.jpg SlideShow ScreenMode "PICCOLOSD64:800x600x16M"
or use BestMode or Width/Height.
You can also use the slideshow as backdrop e.g. on the WB screen.
SlideShows and PresentWindow presentations will by default use transition
effects on TrueColor/HighColor screens. You can switch them off with
the NoEffects option or select them with Effects for palette oriented
screens or standard viewing (automatically resized window). Please note
that effects on palette oriented screens can be quite slow (due to
this fact some effects are only available on TrueColor/HighColor
screens; while zooming is active, some effects are also disabled
for speed reasons) and that the palette will be locked for all
pictures, except if you use the BlackTransition option as well.
Palette locking can lead to reduced displaying quality if you have
many pictures with different colors. Due to this it is recommended
to use the BlackTransition option on palette oriented screens. On
TrueColor/HighColor screens such problems can not occur, but the
BlackTransition option is usable as well. For automatic presentations
you can specify a delay time after which the next picture is selected
automatically and a loop function for endless presentations. You still
have full manual control with Menu functions or keys (use Esc or Quit
to exit). The loop function will only be active if at least 2 pictures
are available. The random option can be used to display pictures in
random order.
* Flipping between pictures: To advance to the next picture use the
"Next Picture" menu entry (Shortcut Amiga N), press the space bar
or press the close button of the picture window (the next picture
will be selected automatically if you have specified a number of
seconds as a delay time). During displaying the next picture will
already be loaded. You can now scroll or resize the window or select
another function while the next picture is preloaded (due to technical
restrictions of some file formats this is partially not available if
pictures are not stored line by line, e.g. FBM24, ACBM, DataTypes, vertical
PCD images, YUV, VLB, HHsYUVSq; during the color conversion phase you can
still scroll and this phase is often longer than the loading time unless
you load from floppy disk).
You can also go back to previous pictures with the "Previous Picture"
menu entry (Shortcut Amiga P) or by pressing the backspace key.
If you try to select the next picture (or previous picture) before
automatic preloading has finished, the window title will inform you about
the already loaded part of the picture (in percent).
* Scrolling: Scrolling can be performed with cursor keys or the scroll bars
(scroll bars are not available in slideshow mode). You can select
between different cursor scrolling speeds (use cursor keys with Shift
for fine scrolling, ALT to scroll upto the border or without other key
to scroll for one third of the window).
* Zooming: Since V5.0 you can zoom in and out to magnify or reduce the
picture; to zoom in press the + key (max. magnification 1:4); to zoom
out press the - key (max. reduction 4:1); to go back to standard viewing
(1:1) press the * key. Zooming functions are also available as menu
entries. Please note that reduced viewing is different from downscaled
loading; if you load a picture downscaled, it is kept in memory
in reduced size and transfers or saves will be in reduced size
as well. If you just zoom out to reduce a picture, it remains
in memory in it's full resolution. The zoom stage will be kept even
if you change to the next picture.
* Picture information window: For the currently displayed picture you
can get an information requester by selecting the "Picture Info"
menu item (Shortcut Amiga I). It includes the name, dimensions (original
and loaded), file format, file size, file comment and number of frames
(for animations). The file format string often includes the color depths
or other variation informations as well. For pictures loaded with any
DataType, the file type begins with "DTxx" with xx being the color depth.
For animations loaded with DataType the file type begins with "DHxx".
This is followed by the recognition string of the DataType, if available.
For partially loaded files (use option PartialFiles) the information
requester contains in percent the part which is loaded correctly. In
addition the picture number and total number of files are displayed.
* Exiting CyberShow: You can quit the program with the "Quit" menu item
or by pressing the Esc key in the picture window (or screen), by
pressing Ctrl-C in the CLI or sending a Ctrl-C signal to the task.
* Program information: The "About" menu function gives an information
requester (which includes the personal registration information if
you are a registered user with a correctly installed keyfile).
* Fast direct transfer functions (not in demo version):
You can directly transfer the image in full 24Bit quality very fast to
important image processing and painting programs (see transfer menu).
Currently supported applications: ImageFX, XiPaint and PicoPainter
For PicoPainter you can transfer the image into a picture
project window or into a brush.
Please note that pictures will always be transferred in their loaded
size. If you have selected the downscaled loading, the pictures will
be transferred in small form.
* Conversion/Saving (not in demo version):
The same restrictions apply to the save functions which can be used to
convert the currently loaded image into one of several formats (see
above for list of supported save formats). All pictures are saved as
24Bit images. This is not dependent on the screenmode. The size which
has been used for loading will be the size in which it is saved. For
JPeg saving you can select the quality between 50% and 95% in steps of
5% and optional an additional optimization (needs extra memory during
saving but can lead to slightly smaller files without additional
loss) by menu functions, WB-Tooltypes or CLI parameters.
* Delete function (not in demo version): Registered users can also
delete the file of the currently visible picture (after confirmation
requester); the picture will remain in loaded form in memory and can
thus still be saved afterwards.
Important: Please read the following
------------------------------------
-> Problems with loading specific file formats? <-
If you have difficulties viewing a picture in one of the supported
file formats (or DataTypes) and you are sure that you have enough
memory left, check the following:
a) File systems: Some PD/ShareWare/Commercial add-on or replacement
file systems (esp. CD-ROM file systems!) are buggy (e.g. they do
not support some rarely used DOS functions properly). Try to copy
the picture to a standard device (e.g. RAM:) and to view it from
there. If this works, you know that your specific file system is
buggy. I found the following file systems to be usable:
1) Original AmigaDOS OS3.1 CD-ROM file system
2) AmiCD-File System V1.15 or higher (older versions are probably NOT usable)
I also heard that the following works without problems:
3) BabelCDROM FileSystem V1.2 or higher
I recommend to only use one of theese CD-ROM file systems.
Several users e.g. reported problems with "AsimCD-Filesystem 3.0";
so this seems to be an unsuitable Filesystem (maybe the newer 3.4
version supports all necessary functions). Typical unimplemented
or wrong functions in filesystems are: NameFromFH (needed for Datatype
access) and ExamineFH (needed for several formats, e.g. PCX-VGA).
b) DataTypes: Some DataTypes are instable and can crash on certain
pictures with odd dimensions or incomplete pictures. I have no
influence on this. If you have difficulties with certain DataTypes,
look out for newer versions.
Requirements
============
Any Amiga (or Draco!) with
+ OS3.0 or higher
+ some memory (about 4MByte Fast-RAM should be enough for normal use)
For displaying in TrueColor/HighColor quality you also need
+ cybergraphics.library V40 or higher and a suitable graphic board
(Cybergraphics is a Workbench emulation/True color software extension
which is usable in conjunction with several graphic boards as the
Cybervision, Piccolo, SD64, Picasso, Retina-BLTZ3, Spectrum, Domino.
It is Copyright by Thomas Sontowski and Frank Mariak.)
Please note: The Draco computer already contains a built in graphic
board, so that you can use CyberShow in TrueColor without additional hardware.
Shareware modalities
====================
The unregistered demo version of CyberShow has an important restriction:
All pictures will be shown in greyscale only in the demo version!!!
Anyway, I have designed the loading functions so that the speed is the
same as with color loading so that you can check the real speed of my
fast loading functions, but please note: on screens with less than
15Bit color depths the displaying speed of the greyscale pictures could
be higher than that of color pictures due to the fact that the color pen
allocation is different. I have no influence on this; to see the real
speed, try it on HiColor/TrueColor screens (if you have Cybergraphics),
as no color pens are needed and it makes no difference if a greyscale
or true color image is displayed. If you want to see how the color
allocation works with 2 to 256 colors, take a look at CyberTVPlayer,
my freeware TrueColor animation player for HHsYUVSq animations (which
you can now create with ImageFX, XiPaint and Photogenics; see above).
CyberTVPlayer uses the same color reducing functions as CyberShow.
Some other functions are also not available in the demo version (e.g.
direct transfer functions, delete, save functions, AutoScale and AppWindow).
Registration for CyberShow Professional:
Shareware fee 30DM (in europe) or 25US$ (outside europe); other
currencies possible (see registration form).
Together with CyberShow you can order fast loader/saver modules for
several programs the add-on price of 10DM or 8US$ each.
To register send the filled in and signed registration form (included
in this archive) to my address together with the money as banknotes,
a cheque or international postal money order:
My address: Helmut Hoffmann
Rubensstrasse 4
D-41063 Moenchengladbach
Germany
Users in germany can also transfer money to my account (No bank transfers
from outside germany!!).
You can currently contact me by EMail (no registrations by EMail!):
hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
After registration you will receive a keyfile and the latest version of
this program. The keyfile will enable you to use future demo versions of
this program as full version. The processing of your order can take
some time. Usually it will be very fast (only a few days), but under raw
circumstances it could take some weeks.
Registered users might get another advantage: If I decide to port my
picture management software EGSPhotoAlbum for Cybergraphics and standard
Amigas, registered CyberShow users can register for a lower price.
The fast loading functions of CyberShow are the same as thoose in
EGSPhotoAlbum Professional 5.x.
Where to find the latest versions
=================================
New versions become usually available at least at the following places:
1) FTP and BBSs
Aminet sites and mirrors or mirrowing BBSs
2) CD-ROMs
New versions will usually be available on Aminet CDs (currently appearing
every two months), Fresh Fish CDs or the ADX-CD.
Version history
===============
1.0 (14th june 95): Initial release (supporting 21 file formats and DataTypes)
2.0 (19th june 95): Added menu for picture windows offering Quit, About, SaveAs,
Picture Info, Next/Previous Picture, Transfer, Downscale
Added fast direct transfer functions to ImageFX, XiPaint
and PicoPainter
Added saving functions (7 formats) for picture conversions
Added function to go back to previous pictures
Added scrollbars for comfortable scrolling
Implemented faster scrolling methods
Functions like scrolling/resizing now already usable
during the next picture is loaded
Window position will now be left unchanged for newly
opened windows if possible; the scroll position will
be left unchanged between pictures of identical size
Information requesters for unreadable pictures/problems
Preloading is suppressed if not enough memory is available
Support of downscaled loading (1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 8:1)
3.0 (30th june 95): New reduced color output function which is available with
OS3.0 and not only with OS3.1; drawing speed increased
for Amiga screens and certain emulations
Support of separate screen with screenmode specified in
ENV:CyberShowScreen
Added menu function to select a new directory and/or pattern
Changed menu colors for OS3.x look
Changed file requester for saving to a save requester with
picture file name as default for save name as well
3.1 (7th july 95): Support of use of named foreign public screen with name
specified (with a leading *) in ENV:CyberShowScreen
Information requester if screenmode or public screen can't be
found or own screen can't be opened
Fixed bug which could lead to crashes if files couldn't be
opened after they have been stored in the internal list;
now you can choose to try the next picture or quit the
program in case of any difficulties
Fixed bug which could lead to problems if window couldn't be opened
Correction of Sun raster 24Bit loading (wrong colors and
problems with odd sized images)
3.2 (21st july 95): Support for RLE compressed 8Bit and 1Bit BMP files
Bug fix for loading function which could lead to crashes if
certain non-picture files where detected as a picture
3.3 (24th july 95): Enhanced CLI parameter control incl. multiple picture arguments
and new parameters
Added Workbench parameter support for pictures and even drawers
Added muliple-file-selection support for file/path requester
Extended information window (now incl. file size, file comment)
Now ignoring icons (.info files) on default
Next/previous picture now also selectable with space/backspace keys
3.4 (27th july 95): Now configurable by Tooltypes for start from WB
Introduction of "DefaultPath" Tooltype to specify a directory
as default for the file requester by WB start
New option "Request" for automatic requesting of new
path/pattern/files after displaying is finished
Introduction of Progress indicator which appears in the
window title if Next/Previous picture is selected before
the picture is available (preloaded)
Higher file requester window for easier multi-selection
4.0 (1st aug. 95): Introduction of SlideShow and Presentation window features:
in standard mode window will now be resized instead of
being closed and opened again if picture size changes;
in presentation mode window size will be unchanged
unless changed by the user; in slideshow mode a
borderless (optional: backdrop) displaying will be
used for pure presentations, esp. on private screens
Introduction of transition effects for SlideShows or
presentation mode
Changed min. window size and set useful small alternate
window size on default for zoom gadget
Introduction of IgnoreError option to skip unreadable
files quietly (useful if you e.g. have many non-picture
files like .readmes on a CD you want to scan for
pictures without getting lots of errors)
4.0a (2nd aug. 95): Bug fixes for window titles (could lead to corrupt titles)
4.1 (5th aug. 95): Changed TIF loader for better compatibility with certain pics
Extended Targa loader by 15Bit and 16Bit HiColor loading
4.1a (7th aug. 95): Corrected XiPaint transfer problems (appeared in V3.3)
4.2 (15th aug. 95): Added 5 new transition effects for slideshow/presentations
Changed window redraw for scrolling/resizing to be done
without effects in presentation windows
4.3 (20th aug. 95): Introduction of automatic advancing to next picture (delay
option) after specified number of seconds
Introduction of loop mode (for endless presentations)
Screen font changed to other font instead system text font
5.0 (30th aug. 95): Introduction of fast zooming functions for magnified or
reduced viewing (1:4 upto 4:1)
Support for new file formats: binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB,CMYK)
and TBCPlus frames
Fixed lockup-bug which occured if picture had to be reloaded
for new downscaling factor but was not accessible anymore
Added (partial) german documentation file
5.1 (05th sep. 95): Changed standard viewing mode to support effects as well
in automatically resized windows
Changed JPeg loading to use faster decoding method
(old slower method still available as option)
Added support for optimized JPeg saving (selectable by menu)
Added support for partial file loading (corrupt files) as
option & extended file info requester with status field
Extended file format information for Datatype loaded pictures
or animations (includes now DT specific ID if possible)
5.2 (27th sep. 95): Added multi-stage cursor scrolling functions. Use cursor
keys without qualifier to scroll as usual (1/3rd of the
window). Use them with Shift for smooth scrolling and
with Alt to scroll in one go upto the border.
5.3 (9th oct. 95): Extended TIF loader to support "Intel" byte order files and
more image variants
Added zooming functions into menu
AppWindow function for picture window: drop picture icons,
drawers or whole disks into the window for displaying
File requester now uses picture path as default
5.4 (27th oct. 95): Automatic "downscaling to screensize" option
Fixed slideshow window title bug
Fixed bugs leading to unprecise automatic delays
Adapted scrollbars to respect unusual sized size gadgets
5.5 (15th nov. 95): Improved handling of unreadable pictures if "IgnoreErrors"
is used; now the next loadable picture is preloaded
Added menu functions for delay,loop,effects,ignore,partial
Fixed bug for "PartialFile" loading of IFF-ILBM masks
Extended IFF loader to accept 0-sized chunks
5.6 (7th dec. 95): Delete function to delete current picture file
"Random" option to display pictures in random order
Immediate scrolling during use of scrollbars
Faster smooth cursor scrolling (w. Shift) while zoomed in
Extended PicInfo requester (loaded size; picture numbers)
Fixed bug which lead to endless loop if loop mode was
selected and no pictures where left to display
6.0 (9th jan. 96): BestMode option to find screenmode depending on
picture size etc.
Width and Height options to specify screenmode by size
PublicScreens or WB will now be put to front if used
Fixed bug in JPeg loading which could lead to crashes if
unsupported variants of JPeg pictures were found
Extended IFF loader to accept unusual sized color maps
6.0a (18th march 96): Changed PCX loading for more compatibility
Bugfixes in scrolling functions for zoomed pictures
Specified screen title for private screens
6.0b (26th march 96): Fixed bug (introduced in V6.0a) for zoomed-in pictures
in presentation windows or slideshow
6.0c (29th march 96): Extended PCX loading for more compatibility
7.0 (9th april 96): Screenmode requester function available as menu entry
Option "RequestMode" for screenmode selection on start
Option "BlackTransition" for black screens between
pictures; useful esp. for palette oriented screen
slideshows in conjunction with "Effects"
Option "CV64Patch" to try to avoid some CV64/CG problems
Added Quit-Option in certain Out-of-memory requesters
Added break check (Ctrl-C) during directory scanning
Added Tooltypes and CLI parameters for JPeg quality&opt.
Fixed minor bugs in handling of some menu option switches
Fixed major bug in memory handling in conjunction with
changes of the effect option by menu
7.0a (10th april 96): Fixed bug in handling of effect menu switch
Special Thanks
==============
My special thanks go to:
Kermit Woodall from NOVA-Design for providing me with ImageFX.
Thomas Dorn for providing me with XiPaint.
Almathera for providing me with Photogenics.
Cloanto for providing me with PPaint.
Without this support the fast direct transfer functions or universal modules
would probably have been impossible.
Thomas Sontowski and Frank Mariak for making the TrueColor/HighColor
Workbench possible.
The "Independent JPEG Group" for providing the portable C source code
for JPeg compression/decompression. The JPeg functions are based on
this code (This software is based in part on the work of the independent
JPeg Group).
Haage&Partner for providing me with StormC.
and to all registered users of CyberShow (currently from 18 countries all
over the world), esp. thoose who reported bugs or made suggestions...
The future development of Amiga and CyberGraphX compatible software
depends on YOUR registration...
Hard- and Software used for developing
======================================
This program is written in pure Assembler (using the german assembler
O.M.A.). Only the lowlevel JPeg functions have been implemented
in C (based on the portable C source of the Independent JPeg Group)
and compiled with the german MaxonC++ 3.x system.
My development system is:
Amiga 3000/030/25MHz / 18 Megabytes RAM / OS3.1 (incl. OS3.1 CD file system)
4MByte Piccolo SD64 (64Bit) graphics board (running in Zorro III-mode).
This program was tested with enforcer and mungwall running.
This program was also tested on a Draco computer.
Disclaimer
==========
This software (program and documentation) is provided "as is" and
comes with no warranty, either expressed or implied.
The author is in no way responsible for any damage or loss that may
occur due to direct or indirect usage of this software. You use
this software entirely at your own risk.
Copyright
=========
This software (program and documentation) is copyright by
Helmut Hoffmann
Rubensstrasse 4
D-41063 Mönchengladbach
Germany
The demo version may be freely distributed and used as
long as the following conditions are met:
1) All files have to be kept together
2) No file may be modified or crunched/packed.
The only official way to distribute this demo packed is the
original .lha archive.
The program may not be disassembled or analysed. The limitations
integrated in the demo version may under no circumstance be removed
or bypassed.
3) Distributors may only charge for the duplication process (including media)
and not for the software. Theese charges may not exceed the following
limits: a) Demo on a PD-disk: 8$ (US-dollar) including
postage&packing (in Germany: 12DM)
b) Demo on a PD-CD-ROM: 50$ (US-dollar) including
postage&packing (in Germany: 75DM)
c) Demo on a BBS/Mailbox/ftp-site or other electronically
callable system: Maximum charge 4$ (US-dollar) (in Germany: 6DM)
for downloading
Anyway, it must be made explictly clear to the buyer, that he does not
pay for the program (demo) itself but only for the duplication service.
4) It is not allowed to distribute the demo with any commercial product
without a written permission by me. One exception is the distribution of
the demo version with products not exceeding the above price limits (e.g.
a cover-disk magazine for 8$ or less).
The following companies have my explicit permission to distribute the
demo with their products: Almathera, NOVA Design, Ingenieurbüro Helfrich,
MacroSystem and the distributors of XiPaint and PPaint.
If you want to distribute the demo with your commercial product
(hardware or software) write to me for details.
5) The registered version (the keyfile) may not be redistributed. It may only
run on one machine per registration. It is allowed to make a backup copy
of the original disk. All keyfiles include visible and invisible signs,
which allow trace back to the user even if the keyfile is modified. It
is always illegal to use faked/modified keyfiles and any try to do so
can lead to unpredictable results.
6) Licensed special versions, e.g. for picture-CD-ROMs, can be
created by appointment for very low prices. Please write to me
for details.