Night Owl 6/Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso/007a/bilbd110.zip/BILBOARD.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-08 | 14KB | 365 lines

               Billboard, version 1.10            September 8, 1991

    Introduction

    Billboard is a program that puts the user's message up 'in lights' on
    the IBM-PC's (or compatible's) screen, much as the board at Times Square
    or a stadium would present a message in large letters that many can read
    at a distance. The letters move from the right side of the screen to the
    left, and the message repeats over again until the user presses a key to
    end the program.  The actual contents of the message can be entered when
    the program is started, or can be obtained from a previously prepared
    file.  Other options include variation of the speed that the letters
    cross the screen, changing the 'lights' that make up the sign, the
    colors of the screen, sign and letters.  The date and time can also
    be given as part of the message.

    The files that make up this release are:

    BILBOARD.EXE
    BILBOARD.DOC
    SAMPLE.RUN


    I. Entering a Message

    At the DOS prompt, type BILBOARD to run the program.  In this
    case you have not specified an input file, so Billboard assumes that
    you want to enter all new text to be displayed.

    i. Editing
    Use any of the alphanumeric keys for your text with the exception of
    the following five characters: ~`|{ and }. Use the Back Space key to
    delete any mistakes. The arrow, Home or End keys will move the
    cursor about in the message.  Editing is done in 'insert' mode, so that
    any characters added to your message will insert themselves before the
    character at the cursor. When you have finished entering a message,
    press the Enter key.

    A) Initialization Options

    The program will prompt you for any initialization options that you may
    want.  These options will stay in force as long as no overriding 'on
    the fly' options are given in the actual text [see (D) below].
    Note: Whenever a question has '[N]' (for No) or '[Y] (for Yes) at the
    end, an Enter key pressed at that point will default to a No or Yes,
    respectively, to the question.

    i. Speed
    For now, press a 'y' or 'Y' to the question. Another prompt will ask if
    you want to vary the speed of the sign. Type 'y' and then select either
    Slow, Fast, Medium or Variable. If 'V' were chosen, the higher the
    number the SLOWER the letters cross the screen.





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                        Billboard, version 1.10


    ii. Initial Sign Character
    If you want to change the character that makes up the 'off' lamps
    of the sign, enter then new one here or just press Enter. The default
    is a dark smiling face.

    iii. Initial Letter Character
    If you want to change the character that makes up the 'on' lamps
    of the sign, enter the new one here or just press Enter. The default
    is a light smiling face.

    Note that to bring up extended IBM characters for ii and iii above
    you must hold the Alt key while entering the three digit code for
    that character.  Alternately, some characters can be entered by using
    the Ctrl key (like Ctrl C for the heart character used in SAMPLE.RUN).
    The chart of possible characters and their codes are in IBM manuals
    or related literature.

    If you have a monochrome adaptor, the color choices of the next few
    options are, of course, limited.  Up to 16 colors are available,
    though, for CGA, EGA and VGA.

    iv. Initial Background color
    A choice of eight colors are given for the screen background around
    the sign.  Move arrow keys to make the desired color blink, then
    press Enter for the final choice.

    v. Initial Sign color
    A choice of sixteen colors are given for the sign's color (OFF lamps).
    The arrow keys will make the desired color blink, then pressing
    Enter will select the final choice.

    vi. Initial Letter color
    A choice of sixteen colors are given for the Letters' color (ON lamps).
    Again, the arrow keys in confunction with the Enter key will be
    used for the selection.

    At this point the sign will display your message with the options
    that you selected.

    B) Saving the Message

    Pressing any key will stop the sign's movement. At this point, you will
    be asked if you want to save the message in a file for later display by
    Billboard.  If you type anything except 'N' or 'n' then you will be
    prompted for a file name. Type a valid DOS filename (make sure it is
    not same name as an existing file you may want to keep!)  The message,
    including the initialization options, will be saved.

    C) Using an Old Message

    i. Invoke Billboard with this syntax: BILBOARD <message filename>.
    If it is a valid filename, then up to the first 500 characters of
    the file will come up on the editing screen of Billboard.  You can
    now modify the message with the editing keys, or just hit Enter
    to change options or just run your message on the sign.

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                        Billboard, version 1.10


    ii. Invoke Billboard with this syntax: BILBOARD <message filename> -r
    and if a valid filename has been entered, the '-r' switch (for RUN)
    will bring up the sign with the message, bypassing the editing and
    options screen.  In this way, a message need not be viewed before
    running, or the message can be invoked, for example, from the
    autoexec.bat file without having to manually enter Billboard and
    go through the editing screen.


    A sample text file, called SAMPLE.RUN is provided.  As a demonstration,
    use that file as your message text and watch it run or edit it.
    You will notice the control sequences that are present in the text,
    which are used for the changes in color that can be placed in the
    message as an option.  These will be explained later.  For now, run
    the program and see how the message is displayed.

    Note: Any file edited using Billboard or even any normal ASCII text
    file (up to the maximum number of characters) can be brought up
    for display by Billboard in either of the two ways discussed above.



    D) Special ("On the Fly") Options

    You can embed control sequences into the body of the text that will
    change colors of the background, sign and letters, and insert a pause
    in scrolling while the sign is running!  If a red sign letter were
    chosen, for example, then the letters will turn to that color when the
    message comes to that sequence until another change sequence for the
    letters is encountered (which may or may not have also been placed into
    the text). In the actual edited text, the sequences will appear as a
    lowercase letter and one (or two) hexadecimal digits.  These are easily
    distinguished from the text, which is always capitalized.  The control
    sequences themselves do not appear in Billboard's output.  The way that
    the sequences are entered into your message is similar to the
    initialization options that were explained above:

    i. Background color

    While entering your text, you can press the Ctrl key and simultaneously
    press the 'B' key.  A choice of eight colors are given for the new
    screen background around the sign.  Move arrow keys to make the desired
    color blink, then press Enter for the final choice. Note: Usually the
    message scrolling across the screen is 'smooth'. However, due to the
    time-consuming extra screen writes necessary for this command, there is
    a slight delay in scrolling each time this command is encountered in
    the moving text.
    The control sequence for this appears in the text as 'b' with a hex-
    adecimal (0-9, A-F) number trailing it.

    a) Background color (flashing)
    To help with the smooth scroll of the characters across the screen,
    four video 'pages' are used in color mode.  So, when the normal
    background color is chosen, all four pages are changed to the same


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                        Billboard, version 1.10


    background color.  However, any of the four pages, as an additional
    option, can have a color different than the other three, giving a
    flashing effect. (Not recommended for those who cannot tolerate a
    "strobe" effect). To cause this flashing enter Ctrl with 'O' then
    choose the desired color. Upon pressing Enter, you are asked which page
    to have this color apply. Press a number from 0 thru 3. Note that a
    non-flashing background color command will nullify this effect since it
    will overwrite all pages with a specified color.
    The control sequence appears in the text as 'o' followed by two
    hexadecimal digits.

    ii. Sign color
    While entering your text, you can press the Ctrl key and simultaneously
    press the 'S' key.  A choice of sixteen colors are given for the sign's
    new color (OFF lamps). The arrow keys will make the desired color
    blink, then pressing Enter will select the final choice.
    The control sequence appears in the text as 's' with a single-digit
    hexadecimal number after it.

    iii. Letter color
    While entering your text, you can press the Ctrl key and simultaneously
    press the 'L' key. A choice of sixteen colors are given for the
    Letters' new color (ON lamps). Again, the arrow keys in conjunction
    with the Enter key will be used for the selection.
    The control sequence appears in the text as 'l' followed by a single-
    digit hexadecimal number.


    iv. Pause function
    While entering your text, you can press the Ctrl key and simultaneously
    press the 'P' key. You will be asked about the duration of the pause
    that you want, from 1 to 9 seconds.  This is a handy effect for
    temporarily stopping the scrolling on the screen so that a particular
    word can be seen longer than others, for example.  If you do not
    press a number, then a pause of 0 is assumed and will have no effect
    on the scrolling.
    The control sequence appears in the text as 'p' trailed by a single-
    digit number.

    v. Dynamic time/date insertion
    A new feature in version 1.10 involves the display of the current
    time and/or day and/or date, which can be part of the message.  Every
    minute, if necessary, the message will be updated.  To invoke the
    menu for this, hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the 'D' key.
    The examples of the current formats that can be presented are
    as follows:
            5:23 PM        17:23
            SATURDAY    SAT
            JUN 29, 1991    JUNE 29, 1991
            6/29/91        29/6/91
            6-29-91        29-6-91
            29-JUN-91    91-06-29

    Several of these can be combined for your message, such as
    "SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1991 AT 5:23 PM".  Please note that

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                        Billboard, version 1.10


    each string does not have leading or trailing spaces; this gives
    you the option of adding the comma after "SATURDAY".
    Also remember that your computer must, of course, have the DOS time or
    DOS date set for this feature to have any meaning.
    The control sequence for this feature appears in the text as 'd'
    followed by a single hexadecimal number.

    Enhancements for version 1.10:

    Time, day or date may be placed into message, and updated
    automatically.  Detailed above.
    Several options now appear as pop-up menus.


    Bug fixes:

        In ver 1.00, the screen color was not properly initialized if user
    entered from "Initialization options?" screen or if read from a file
    for initial screen color.  Could cause unwanted blinking screen effect.
    Fixed for 1.01.
    In ver 1.01, if the user wished to save a new file under a new name,
    the old file was reduced to zero bytes.  Fixed in 1.10.
    In ver 1.01, selecting initilization of purple for sign caused
    blanking of screen instead of running message.  Fixed for 1.10.

    Wish list for future releases:

    It would be nice to have a standard default scroll speed, independent
    of the speed of the machine.
    Would like to incorporate into the editor a small viewing subscreen.
    It could show what the running screen would look like just at the point
    where the cursor now lies.  This would be useful so that a file does
    not have to be "tweeked" or re-edited a few times to get the effects
    just right.
    More effects.  Such as flashing letters, words scrolling vertically
    up or down, individual letter colors, exploding letters.  Who knows?

    Acknowledgements:

    Many thanks to Ray Frigon for his suggestions regarding the Pause
    feature.  Also gratitude to Steve Hegyi for his ideas regarding the
    time/date message updates.


    We sincerely hope that this program has been of some use or
    entertainment for you.  We ask that you pass this program on to your
    friends if you like it.  Please do not alter any of the provided files,
    and keep the three files that make up this release intact.  If you find
    any problems or wish to offer any suggestions, please send a card to the
    address below.  If you feel Billboard is worthy of a contribution (to
    finance my programming habit) please send $5 (US) to:

                            Frank Giarratana
                            16 E. Pembroke Rd
                            Danbury, CT 06811 USA
    Thank you.
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                        Billboard, version 1.10


    Notes:
    Billboard copyright (c) 1991 by Frank J. Giarratana
    IBM-PC, DOS, CGA, VGA, and EGA are trademarks of International Business
    Machines Inc. and Microsoft Inc.




















































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