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-
- NAME: TransGraphica
-
- SHORT: A utility to convert ASCII pictures to IFF
-
- AUTHOR: Francis G. Loch a.k.a. Dreamland Fantasy
-
- DATE: 18th January 1998
-
-
- Copyright
- ---------
-
- This program is Freeware (not Public Domain) and is the copyrighted
- property of the author.
-
-
- Distribution
- ------------
-
- This program may be freely copied and distributed provided that no charge
- is made for the copy and that none of the files in the archive are
- altered, omitted or added to in any way, shape or form.
-
- PD companies are excluded from the above and are permitted to charge for
- the program to cover any costs or overheads provided that no more than
- £2.50 is charged per copy (this includes postage and packaging). None of
- the files in the archive may be altered, omitted or added to in any way
- shape or form without the permission of the author.
-
-
- Note to magazines and CD-ROM publishers
- ---------------------------------------
-
- If you intend to include this program on a cover-disk and/or CD-ROM
- please notify me first so that I can ensure that you have the latest
- version of the program.
-
-
- Disclaimer
- ----------
-
- I make no guarantees about the performance of this program and I will not
- under any circumstances accept responsibility for any loss of data or
- damage to equipment as result of using this program.
-
-
- Requirements
- ------------
-
- - An Amiga (or compatible) with OS 2.0 or greater
-
- - ReqTools library
-
-
- Test information
- ----------------
-
- This program has been tested on the following setups:-
-
- - A basic Amiga 1200.
- - An Amiga 1200 with a 50 MHz Blizzard 1230-IV (no FPU), 2+32 meg of RAM,
- hard disk, 8x CD-ROM drive and external floppy drive.
-
- The program has also been tested with CPU caches off and the original and
- enhanced chip set options.
-
-
- A message from the author
- -------------------------
-
- If you use this program and like it, I would greatly appreciate any
- comments or suggestions you may have regarding it. This would also let me
- know if it is worthwhile supporting and updating this program because at
- present I do not know if there are many people that would have a use for it.
-
- Also, if anyone has a setup different from those listed in the "Test
- information" section then please notify me.
-
- My contact address can be found near the end of this text file.
-
-
- Background
- ----------
-
- One day I got a hold of some pretty groovy ASCII clipart. Looking through
- some of them I thought "Hey, wouldn't that look good as a proper graphic"
- and so began the story of TransGraphica. The original program
- (imaginatively entitled "ASCII>IFF") was quickly written and the ASCII
- clipart was then successfully converted to IFF.
-
- Several months later, I was looking for a programming project to do and
- after a few brainstorming sessions I thought to myself "Hmm, perhaps I
- could re-program ASCII>IFF". Work was promptly started on the new version
- of ASCII>IFF, TransGraphica.
-
-
- Instructions
- ------------
-
- TransGraphica should be pretty simple to understand but here is a list of
- its functions anyway:-
-
- Project
- -------
- Load ASCII file - Loads an ASCII file.
- Save as IFF-ILBM file - Saves the ASCII picture as an IFF-ILBM file.
- About - Displays details about TransGraphica.
- Quit - Quits TransGraphica.
-
- Options
- -------
- Inverse video - Allows you to switch between black on white and
- white on black.
- Reset window - Resets the window back to its original size
-
-
- Program history
- ---------------
-
- - ASCII>IFF The original program. Never released.
-
- - Version 1.0 Initial release. Complete re-write of the original code.
-
- - Version 1.01 Corrected the save iff routine as it did not save the
- pictures properly in inverse video.
-
- - Version 1.1 Improved the viewer palette routines so that it will
- find the required colour or the nearest one to it.
-
- - Version 1.2 The program now autoscales the pictures. Added the
- "Reset window" option. Optimised the palette routines.
-
-
- Known bugs and limitations
- --------------------------
-
- - Sometimes if you attempt to load a non-ASCII file the program will crash.
-
- - If you are running Magic Menu sometimes it changes the palette when you
- activate the menus, particularly if you are using high-colour Workbench
- screens. This does not affect how the picture is saved.
-
- - Only handles upto 150 lines of text.
-
- - The text width is always 80 (I have never come across a text file that has
- a width greater than this).
-
- - The tab is always 8 spaces (Again, I have never come across a text file
- that has a tab that has been different from this).
-
-
- The future of TransGraphica
- ---------------------------
-
- Depending on the response TransGraphica gets (see "A message from the
- author" above) the following features may possibly be added in future
- releases:-
-
- - Handling of files that have more than 150 lines
-
- - Scroll bars so that you can go up and down big ASCII files
-
- - This READ.ME file improved and re-written as an AmigaGuide
-
- - An install script
-
- - Bug fixes
-
-
- Contacting the author
- ---------------------
-
- I can be contacted via the following address:-
-
- Francis G. Loch,
- Medical Technical Officer,
- Medical Physics Instrument Lab,
- Ground Floor,
- Glasgow Royal Infirmary,
- 84 Castle Street,
- Glasgow,
- Scotland,
- United Kingdom,
- G4 0SF.
-
- Please note that this address can be used until July 31, 1998. Thereafter
- I cannot be contacted at this address.
-
-
- Contents of archive
- -------------------
-
- - TransGraphica The TransGraphica program
-
- - TransGraphica.info The icon for the program
-
- - READ.ME This text file
-
- - READ.ME.info The icon for the text file
-