Kids Cube/1_Art.iso/pep/chapt13.txt

Text File | 1994-10-15 | 16KB | 300 lines

<Chapter 13:  Add-ons>
     Add-ons are special purpose PEP components that are not copied from
your disk into your computer's memory when you first load PEP. Instead, in
order to maximize available memory and reduce loading time, these modules
remain on disk until you use them the first time.

     When you invoke the ADD-ONS command, it displays a menu of the names
of all files in the home directory with the extension ADD. Choose a name
from this menu to load the corresponding add-on into PEP. The add-on will
then be activiated and the appropriate add-on menu will be displayed.
There are five add-ons supplied with PEP:

  The PCX add-on <[13.1]> exports pictures to bitmap files in the PCX
format.
  The TEXT add-on <[13.2]> imports ASCII text files into boxes with word
wrap.
  The FRAME add-on <[13.3]> generates decorative borders by replicating
objects.
  The GRID add-on <[13.4]> facilitates inserting grids of horizontal and
vertical lines.
  The PIC add-on <[13.5]> reads a 123/SYMPHONY graph file which becomes
the open object.

<Section 13.1:  The PCX Add-on: PCX Output>
     Use the PCX add-on to output (or export) a picture of the open object
to a file in the PCX format. Pictures in PCX files are accepted by many
word processors and publishing programs. By using the PCX add-on, you will
be able to incorporate pictures drawn in PEP, into documents produced by
any of these compatible packages.

     When running the PCX add-on, first use the ROTATION, STRETCHES,
IMAGE, WINDOW, and COLORS commands, if necessary, to define the properties
of the image that you want to produce. Then use the OUTPUT command to
enter a file name, and output a PCX image to that file.

<Section 13.1.1:  Output>
     After you have specified the image that you want to export using the
ROTATION, STRETCHES, IMAGE, WINDOW, and COLORS commands described below,
use the ADD-ONS/PCX/OUTPUT command to create a bitmap image according to
these specifications, and to output it to a file. Type the command letter,
and then enter a file name. A file is created with that name, and a bitmap
image is written to the file in the PCX format. The file is given the
extension PCX.

<Section 13.1.2:  Rotation>
     Use the ADD-ONS/PCX/ROTATION command to export a rotated picture of
the open object. Press the command letter to display a menu of the eight
rotation options: 0, 90, 180, 270 (degrees clockwise), \, -, /, | (mirror
images).

<Section 13.1.3:  Stretches>
     Use the ADD-ONS/PCX/STRETCHES command to control the magnification
applied to the open object when it is being written to the output file.
This XY input command allows you to set either or both of the X and Y
stretch factors. These numbers may be integers, decimals or fractions. The
maximum stretch is 255.

     Note: the stretch factors are overridden when an output image size
has been requested. A side effect of executing the STRETCHES command is to
turn the image size override off.

<Section 13.1.4:  Image>
     Using the ADD-ONS/PCX/IMAGE command, you can explicitly set the
number of pixels wide and the number of pixels high that the exported PCX
picture will be. There are two modes: ON and OFF. If the mode is ON, the
output image is forced to be a specified size. When the open object is
exported, PEP will ignore the stretch factors displayed in the PCX menu
and calculate new ones. The new stretches are chosen so that the exported
picture will have the required size. If the mode is OFF, the output image
size is determined by the stretches and the size of the open object. The
IMAGE command toggles the image mode between ON and OFF. When you turn
IMAGE ON, the command becomes an XY input command so that you can set the
horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) image size that you want PEP to produce.
Note: executing the STRETCHES command described above automatically turns
the image mode OFF.

<Section 13.1.5:  Window>
     If you do not want to export the entire open object, you can use the
ADD-ONS/PCX/WINDOW command to specify a rectangular sub-window which can
then be exported. There are two windowing modes: OFF and ON. Press the
command letter to toggle between these modes. The boundary of the window
is given by four coordinates which appear in two sets of XY input lines
under the command name in the menu. You can type in these numbers, using
WINDOW as an XY input command.

     Or you can specify the window graphically using the cursor. Proceed
as follows: press the command letter to turn windowing ON. Then position
the cross-hair cursor at one corner of the desired window and press
RETURN. The cross-hair is replaced by a stretchable box cursor. Position
the mobile corner of that cursor at the opposite corner of the desired
window and press RETURN again. The area outlined by the box cursor becomes
the exported sub-window.

<Section 13.1.6:  Colors>
     PEP can export either color PCX files or black and white PCX files.
The ADD-ONS/PCX/COLORS command controls which type of file is produced. If
the colors mode is OFF, black and white images are exported. Picture
elements in background color are drawn white, and elements in any other
color are drawn black. This is the default setting. If the mode is ON,
then each element is drawn in its true color.

     Note that a black and white PCX file is substantially smaller than
the coresponding color PCX file. This is so even if the picture being
exported contains only black and white data.

<Section 13.2:  The TEXT Add-on: Text Import>
     The TEXT add-on can be used to import text into boxes in the open
object with word wrap and to import text from a file into multiple
objects. Use the FILE command to identify the source text file and the
BOX-SIZE command to specify the size of box to receive the text. When the
source file has been specified, a cross-hair cursor appears. Position this
cursor at the upper left corner of the area you want to fill and press
RETURN. Text from the file is imported and flows into a box of the
specified size at the chosen point. If you prefer, you can change the
cross-hair cursor into a box cursor of the appropriate size by pressing
SPACE.

     If the source file contains more text, you can move the cursor and
press RETURN again to continue the import at another point. If you leave
the add-on to close the open object, the source text file remains open and
you can continue the text import into a new object.

      The text box inserted is a GROUP. It acts as a single element for
DELETE, MODIFY, and COLLECT operations. If you want to operate
individually on the text lines that compose the box, you must first use
the MODIFY/EXPLODE <[4.23]> command to ungroup it.

<Section 13.2.1:  File>
     Use the ADD-ONS/TEXT/FILE command to specify the source text file.
Press the command letter to display a menu of all files in the current
directory with the extension TXT (or other extension set by the
ADD-ONS/TEXT/EXT command below). Choose one to be the source for text
import.

<Section 13.2.2:  Ext>
     The ADD-ONS/TEXT/EXT command allows you to specify the file extension
used by the ADD-ONS/TEXT/FILE command described above.

<Section 13.2.3:  Box-size>
     Use the ADD-ONS/TEXT/BOX-SIZE command to set the width and depth of
the box into which text will flow. This is an XY input command.

<Section 13.2.4:  Modify>
     The ADD-ONS/TEXT/MODIFY command automatically selects the most
recently created box of imported text and displays a MODIFY menu for it.
You can now change as many of the properties of this element as you want.
Since text boxes produced by this add-on are PDL groups, the modify menu
appropriate for groups is displayed, although some commands (for example,
FILL) are not relevant in this context. (See Chapter <[4]> for a
description of each of the commands available in the different MODIFY
menus.)

<Section 13.3:  The FRAME Add-on: Decorative Borders>
     Using the FRAME add-on, you can add borders to the open object. You
can control the size and position of the borders, and by nesting multiple
borders, you can control the thickness and complexity. The FRAME add-on
generates these borders by replicating objects in a rectangular pattern.
One such rectangle is called a frame.

     Each frame produced by this add-on is a GROUP. It acts as a single
element for DELETE, MODIFY, and COLLECT operations. If you want to operate
on the individual objects that compose the frame, you must first use the
MODIFY/EXPLODE <[4.23]> command to ungroup it.

     To create a frame, first use the BOX command to set the size and
position of the border you want to create. Then use the FILE and OBJECT
commands to construct the border.

<Section 13.3.1:  File>
     Use the ADD-ONS/FRAME/FILE command to identify the source file for
the objects from which the frame is to be constructed. Press the command
letter to display a name menu of all files in the source directory with
the extension PDL and choose a source file from this menu.

     The source directory may be either the current PEP directory or the
PEP home directory. The choice is determined by the
ADD-ONS/FRAME/DIRECTORY command below.

     Collections of objects specifically designed for creating frames have
been included with PEP. These are the files FRAMEx.PDL. Of course, you can
also use objects from any other files to construct frames including
objects that you have created yourself. However, note that new objects
must first be saved to a file on disk before they can be accessed by the
FRAME add-on.

<Section 13.3.2:  Object>
     Use the ADD-ONS/FRAME/OBJECT command to select an object from the
source file and construct a border by replicating it. If an object with
that name is already present in the loaded PDL file, that object is used
to construct the frame. Otherwise, the object you chose is first imported
from the source file, and then used to build the frame.

     Once an object has been specified, FRAME checks the source file for a
companion object to use at the corners of the frame. By convention, the
name of a companion object is the tilde character (~) followed by the
original object name. If no companion object is found, the original object
is used for both the edges and the corners of the frame.

     Use the OBJECT command a second time if you want to construct another
frame immediately inside the one just created. This new frame is nested
within the old one. Any number of frames may be so nested to create a
border of arbitrary thickness and complexity. The border shown in
<[FIG19]> is made up of three nested frames. To construct a new frame
which is not nested, simply use the BOX command described below to define
a new position for the next constructed frame.

<Section 13.3.3:  Box>
     Use the ADD-ONS/FRAME/BOX command to define the size and position of
the frame to be created. Press the command letter, position the
stretchable box cursor, and press RETURN. The next created frame is
constructed inside the box so defined. Alternatively, the four coordinates
defining the box can be typed directly into either or both of the two XY
coordinate pairs following the BOX command menu item.

<Section 13.3.4:  Replace>
     Use the ADD-ONS/FRAME/REPLACE command to replace the most recently
created frame with another. Press the command letter to enable replacing,
then use the OBJECT command above to construct a new frame which then
replaces the old one.

<Section 13.3.5:  Directory>
     Use the ADD-ONS/FRAME/DIRECTORY command to select the directory
containing the source files for frame objects. This is a multiple choice
command. The choices are: HOME (source files are located in the PEP home
directory) and CURRENT (source files are located in the current
directory). You may want to construct frames with objects from either the
PEP standard libraries or libraries of your own creation. This command
provides a rapid method of switching between the relevant directories. The
current directory can be changed by using the SETUP/DIRECTORY menu
<[12.6]>.

<Section 13.4:  The GRID Add-on: Graph Paper>
     The GRID add-on can be used to insert grids of horizontal and
vertical lines into the open object. First use the NUMBER command to
specify how many rows and columns you want and use the UNITS command to
specify the width and height of a grid cell. Then position the cross-hair
cursor and press RETURN. A grid of horizontal and vertical lines is
inserted with its upper left corner placed at the cursor position. If you
prefer, you can change the cross-hair cursor into a box cursor of the
appropriate size by pressing SPACE.

     The grid is a GROUP. It acts as a single element for DELETE, MODIFY,
and COLLECT operations. If you want to operate individually on the
horizontal and vertical lines that compose the grid, you must first use
the MODIFY/EXPLODE <[4.23]> command to ungroup it.

<Section 13.4.1:  Number>
     The ADD-ONS/GRID/NUMBER command is an XY input command. Use it to set
the number of grid spaces required horizontally and vertically. X equals
the number of columns in the grid, and Y equals the number of rows.

<Section 13.4.2:  Unit-size>
     The ADD-ONS/GRID/UNIT-SIZE command is an XY input command. Use it to
set the grid line spacing horizontally and vertically. X equals the width
of one grid cell, and Y equals the height

<Section 13.4.3:  Modify>
     The ADD-ONS/GRID/MODIFY command automatically selects the most
recently created grid and displays a MODIFY menu for it. You can now
change as many of the properties of this element as you want. Since the
grids produced by this add-on are PDL groups, the modify menu appropriate
for groups is displayed, although some commands (for example, TEXT/FONT)
are not relevant in this context. (See Chapter <[4]> for a description of
each of the commands available in the different MODIFY menus.)

<Section 13.5:  The PIC Add-on: Lotus Graph Import>
     Use the PIC add-on to import PIC format graph files created by Lotus
1-2-3 and Symphony.

     The registered version of PEP includes a special font file, LICS.FON,
that supports the Lotus International Character Set. LICS.FON is similar
in appearance to BORIC.FON, but the bold and italic characters have been
replaced by the extended characters of the LICS set. If an imported PIC
graph file contains international characters, you can display these in PEP
by installing the LICS font as PEP font 0 or 1. (See SETUP/INSTALL/0-FONT
<[12.5.1]>). Normally, the first title in a PIC graph uses font 0, and all
other text uses font 1. Note: the LICS font is not part of the shareware
PEP package.

<Section 13.5.1:  Load>
     The ADD-ONS/PIC/LOAD command displays a name menu of all the files in
the current directory with the extension PIC. Use it to choose the PIC
file you wish to import. The imported PIC data becomes the open object.
The former contents of the open object are lost.

<Section 13.5.2:  Size>
     Use the ADD-ONS/PIC/SIZE command to control the size of the imported
PIC file images. You may set a size explicitly, or import the file in its
native size.

<Section 13.5.3:  Patterns>
     When you import a PIC file, you can optionally convert solid fill
regions into pattern fill. This feature is useful for adapting color PIC
files for black and white printing. The ADD-ONS/PIC/PATTERNS command is a
multiple choice command with two values: ENABLED and DISABLED. Press the
command letter to toggle between these two choices. If PATTERNS are
ENABLED (the default choice), then solid regions in the PIC data are
automatically converted to pattern fill. The pattern used is determined by
the color of the region.