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CHANGES.140
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1993-08-23
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8KB
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225 lines
================================================================================
-=≡HACKDISP REVISION HISTORY≡=-
================================================================================
The Wildcat! BBS world has gone through quite a few changes since
HACKDISP was first born. When MSI introduced WCDRAW with version 3.6
of Wildcat! and TheDraw began supporting @-codes in v4.60, I thought
its day was long past.
But strangely, I found myself using it more and more, especially with
ANSI bulletins from door games. When my DOOR.BAT files started to
look like this:
CD\DOOR
GAME.EXE
ECHO @07@@CLS@@NOPAUSE@ > TEMP.BBS
HACKDISP SCORE.ANS SCORE.BBS 23
COPY TEMP.BBS + SCORE.BBS C:\WC30\BULL\BULL1.BBS
DEL *.BBS
ECHO @PAUSE@ >> C:\WC30\BULL\BULL1.BBS
CD\WC30
I knew HACKDISP had some life left in it! Now the above looks more like
this:
CD\DOOR
GAME.EXE
HD SCORE.ANS C:\WC30\BULL\BULL1.BBS /F/N/CLS/S=^M@PAUSE@/L=23
CD\WC30
Much nicer!
HACKDISP also has a handle on some problems that neither MSI's WCDRAW
v1.0 or TheSoft's TheDraw v4.61 are aware of. Your beautiful @-coded
screens may look wonderful to you while you sit in front of that
local display, but do you know what your caller is seeing? You might
be surprised.
================================================================================
NEW in v1.4:
Added recognition of "~M" for ANSI drivers that literally
interpret "^M" as a carriage return/line feed pair in file prefixes
or suffixes. As far as I know, this is ONLY a problem with certain
versions of DVANSI.COM, Quarterdeck's ANSI driver for DESQview.
Added ANSI conversion. Although HACKDISP does not create the
tightest possible ANSI files, it will get you there! Output is
completely compatible with TheDraw and ANSI PAINT. This feature was
added for my own use because Tomcat does a VERY BAD JOB converting
@-coded files.
Added PCBoard conversion. Now all you PCBoard sysops who've been
putting off changing to Wildcat because you don't have a way to
convert your old screens have no excuse! HACKDISP will now also
display PCBoard files with ease.
Added /@ command line switch. Some online games that offer @-coded
bulletins still don't know how to make a decent @-coded screen.
This switch will force HACKDISP to recognize a poorly made screen.
Added /I command line switch. Kills @-code auto-detect and forces
HACKDISP to ignore any initial and trailing @-codes in the file and
treat it as ANSI. For those "combination" files Wildcat sysops have
all over their hard drives. Not recommended for use with PCBoard
files.
Added /TDF switch for converting @-coded files made with utilities
that do not reset background attribute to black before a CR/LF pair
(see notes for version 1.2). For conversion only since viewing the
file helps in identifying the problem. The "F" in /TDF stands for
"fix". The meaning of "TD" is left as an excersize for the user.
Rewrote LAUGHING DOG output routines to write file in compressed
LAUGHING DOG format. /F switch will force uncompressed output.
DARE TO COMPARE! In many cases HACKDISP will produce a tighter
compressed Laughing Dog file than Laughing Dog, yet the output
remains COMPLETELY compatible.
Removed /C switch so that HACKDISP's default viewing mode is color.
Installed timer so that HACKDISP's 1st help screen will disappear
after two minutes with no keyboard input.
Removed internal monochrome help screens. You people with
monochrome monitors will just have to deal with the way the color
screens look in black & white!
A keypress will now override any delay set with the /D=xx switch
during viewing or conversion.
Rewrote screen-scrolling routine to use BIOS calls. It seemed
like the right thing to do at the time.
Changed many functions to macros for improved speed.
Added third information screen since most folks don't read docs!
Rewrote HACKDISP.DOC!
================================================================================
Version 1.3a Ooooooooooooooops!
HACKDISP was inserting spaces AFTER carriage returns. Sorry to all
who downloaded version 1.3! Some folks would call this a
"maintenance release".
================================================================================
NEW in v1.3:
Changed name of executable to HD.EXE to accommodate LARGE command lines.
File locking via SHARE.EXE finally installed! No more SHARE violations.
Fast (/F) and delayed (/D=xxx) conversion added.
HACKDISP "slide show" now possible with delayed (/D=xxx) viewing.
File suffixes (/S=[text]) and prefixes (/P=[text]) added.
Fixed bug when converting SCREEN with embedded NULL characters.
Fixed bug when DOG is specified for both input and output files. Why
anyone would actually want to do this is beyond me, but it was a bug so I
fixed it.
"Lines to convert" command line format changed to /L=xxx.
Faster, buffered output.
Improved error handling.
Rewrote view routine to eliminate redundant code.
Added second help screen to explain new command line switches.
Rewrote HACKDISP.DOC!
================================================================================
NEW in v1.2:
Added 43 line EGA and 50 line VGA support. Removed 40 column
support, which wasn't there in the first place!
Added Laughing Dog v1.0 file conversion and display support.
Added monochrome video support. Never had any complaints, but it
was always assumed that HACKDISP would be running on a color
system. Since HACKDISP reads and WRITES to screen memory at
segments B800-BFFF during the conversion and display processes, some
users with monochrome systems and TSRs loaded high in that area may
have experienced system crashes with v1.1 and 1.0, or at least
really WEIRD looking output.
Stubborn background color at end of line cured! Wildcat evidently
expands a line that ends before the 80th column with spaces and the
last background attribute it encountered. HACKDISP's conversion and
display routines were modified to reflect this "feature" of
Wildcat. Many thanks to Bryan Henderson, sysop of Ironhead BBS
(614-794-2646) for bringing this to my attention!
Rewrote @COLOR@ display routine to access HACKDISP'd files in binary
mode. A real can of worms.
HACKDISP will no longer show @CLS@, @STOP@, @PAUSE@, @NOSTOP@, or
@NOPAUSE@ in display mode and will now honk at you when it
encounters @BELL@. All other system and user codes (as well as
invalid codes of your own invention surrounded by "@" characters)
will be displayed.
Rewrote ANSI display routine so that it no longer depends on the
internal DOS command buffer.
Added input or output rejection based on file extension.
Added screen swapping, scrolling, and line clipping. Since HACKDISP
now saves and restores your screen, a two second pause after
conversion was added.
Added color & the famous DLS candelabra to default screen.
Rewrote HACKDISP.DOC!
Compiled under Borland C++ v3.1
================================================================================
NEW in v1.1:
Default @00@ screen attribute changed to @0F@ to ensure
compatibility with WilDraw v1.0 and others.
Extended internal DOS command buffer to allow for long path names.
Support for the lone "@" character was removed. According to MSI,
this will be fixed in future versions of Wildcat.
Screen rows now end at last non-space character or last space with
non-default attribute.
Fixed attribute bug that follows blank lines.
Program now creates tighter files.
Command line switch supports viewing converted files in color or
monochrome.
Source code no longer distributed with the executable file.
================================================================================