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PsL Monthly 1993 December
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PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM (December 1993).iso
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scenebl.exe
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READ.ME
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1993-01-16
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SCENE BUILDER Version 1.01
Copyright (C) 1993 by Jerry Rivers, All Rights Reserved
OVERVIEW:
SceneBuilder is an exciting new way to do graphics in Turbo Pascal.
SceneBuilder is similar to a "paint" program in that it allows you to
create colorful graphics pictures interactively, using keyboard and
mouse. But it is unlike ANY paint program because SceneBuilder creates
a runnable Pascal source program which re-creates the graphics scene!
SceneBuilder maintains a "display list" of all graphics objects
created, to allow such functions as re-draw and zoom. The display list
is stored on disk with the extension "LST". Pascal source programs use
the same file name, but with the standard "PAS" extension.
This version of SceneBuilder is my first attempt at Turbo Pascal
graphics programming. SceneBuilder was originally written for my
daughter, who is learning Pascal. She wanted an easy way to build the
background scenery for graphics animation. Two major design goals for
SceneBuilder were: use of standard Turbo Pascal BGI graphics, and the
ability to create a compilable source program of the resulting scene.
I am interested in your comments, good or bad, with respect to
SceneBuilder's value and interest to you.
INSTALLATION:
There is no fancy "install" program with SceneBuilder. Just DOS COPY
the files on the installation disk to the hard disk directory of your
choice. The files EGAVGA.BGI, GOTH.CHR, LITT.CHR, SANS.CHR, and
TRIP.CHR have been linked into SCENE.EXE so that SceneBuilder can be
run whether you have Turbo Pascal 6.0 or not (also gets around the
changes in Borland Pascal 7.0). The "help" file SCENE.HLP must be in
the same directory as SCENE.EXE.
RUNNING SCENE BUILDER FROM DOS:
From DOS, just type SCENE. SceneBuilder will immediate start, showing
the "start-up" screen below:
SCENE BUILDER Version 1.01
By Jerry Rivers
Copyright (C) 1993, All Rights Reserved
- Context-sensitive help available: Press RIGHT mouse button
when over any menu item (except fill patterns and colors)
- Full help available: Select Help (?) icon or press "F1"
- Drawing tool, display, file, and fill pattern menu items
are selected with LEFT mouse button
- Drawing colors are selected with LEFT mouse button
- Fill colors are selected with RIGHT mouse button'
Press Any Key Or Either Mouse Button To Begin
┌────────┐
│ OK │
└────────┘RUNNING SCENE BUILDER FROM WINDOWS 3.1:
A Windows 3.1 PIF file is provided. SCENE.PIF assumes that SCENE.EXE
is in the C:\PGMS subdirectory, where I keep all my executables and
Pascal units (TPUs). Just use Window's PIFEDIT to edit SCENE.PIF to
suit your configuration.
SceneBuilder MUST be run in full-screen mode under Windows. It will NOT
operate within a DOS window!
BUGS:
There are no known bugs at this time in SceneBuilder. Of course, there
are bugs, I just don't know about them. So, as a "freeware" beta
tester, please let me know what bugs you find, as well as suggestions
to make SceneBuilder more useful
I have found a couple of BGI graphics library bugs:
- If you try to draw a filled polygon (FillPoly) with Black as the
edge color, only the filled interior will be drawn. This is
apparently a BGI bug dealing with edges in the background color,
which is Black by default. FillPoly with other edge colors draw
and fill OK.
- Contrary to the Library Reference documentation, line styles do
NOT work with circles, ellipses, or arcs. These are always drawn
with SolidLn styles. If you've defined Dashed, Dotted, or
Centerline styles in SceneBuilder, your curves will still be
solid, but "round rectangles" will have their straight lines in
the selected line style.
- Some filled objects may not look the way you expect when zoomed
in. This is a BGI limitation; if the flood fill origin is not
within the zoomed-in area, the BGI does not do the fill.
LIMITATIONS:
SceneBuilder has been tested on the following computers:
- Epson 386SX, 4mb RAM, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, VGA
(development platform)
- Lucky Goldstar 386/25, 4mb RAM, DOS 3.3, Windows 3.1, VGA
- Lucky Goldstar 486/33, 16mb RAM, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, VGA
- Gateway 2000 386/33, 4mb RAM, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, VGA
SceneBuilder has the following data capacity:
- 200 total display list items
- 200 total polygon points
- 50 total lines of text and comments
GRAPHICS:
SceneBuilder is designed to work ONLY with standard 16-color 640 x 480
VGA graphics. It will work OK on a "super VGA" system, but only in
normal VGA mode. SceneBuilder will NOT run on anything more or less.
CONTENTS OF SCENE ZIP FILE:
- SCENE.EXE SceneBuilder executable program
- SCENE.HLP Detailed help for using SceneBuilder. A help
screen is shown when either the Help (?) icon
is selected or "?" typed. SCENE.HLP can be
copied to your printer for written docs.
- SCENE.ICO SceneBuilder Windows 3.1 icon
- SCENE.PIF Windows 3.1 PIF (Program Information File) for
SceneBuilder. This allows you to run SCENE.EXE
under Windows 3.1. You MUST modify SCENE.PIF
to point to where you stored SCENE.EXE.
- READ.ME This file.
- HOUSE.LST Example scene of a house in winter
- PC.LST Example scene of a PC running SceneBuilder
- SCHOONER.LST Example scene of a schooner sailing ship
- USA_FLAG.LST Example scene of the USA flag
- WIDGET.LST Example scene of a 2-D blueprint drawing
COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, BRICK-A-BRACK:
Please send me your comments, good or bad, through CompuServe mail or
notes in the Borland Pascal forum. My ID is:
Jerry Rivers
71477, 2663
This version of SceneBuilder is strictly "freeware" (although it is NOT
public domain!). I am contemplating offering SceneBuilder as
shareware, complete with source. So, I'm interested in your views on
that: is SceneBuilder a worthy shareware program?
From time to time, I'll upload enhanced versions or versions with
identified bugs repaired. Your help in finding elusive bugs is
appreciated. Please post details of what you were doing just prior to
seeing the bug so I can try to recreate the situation. If necessary,
upload the *.LST file you had trouble with.
I'm also very interested in your comments regarding suitability to
task, user friendliness, general usefulness, etc. If you've got some
ideas that would make SceneBuilder better, please pass them along.
Thank you for trying SceneBuilder!
January 16, 1993
----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------
Software Library Information:
This disk copy provided as a service of
Public (software) Library
We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated
with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the
program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution.
Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about
this program to the author of the program, whose name appears
elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting
in touch with the author