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1991-05-07
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=================
C o m p u S h o w
=================
Enhanced Version 8.24b
for the
IBM PC, XT, AT, PCjr, PS/2 (and compatibles)
with
Hercules Monochrome Graphics Adapter
or
Color Graphics Adapter (CGA)
or
Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA)
or
Multi-Color Graphics Array (MCGA)
or
Video Graphics Array (VGA)
and
Graphics Printer
This documentation describing features of the enhanced CompuShow program is a
supplement to the standard program documentation, CSHOW8A.DOC.
The System Configuration Program
================================
The System Configuration Program is used to install screen colors, select
video and printer drivers, and set start-up options. At your DOS prompt, type
CSHOWI and a <carriage return>. (On a Leading Edge you may need to do
"CSHOWI #L".)
Screen Colors
-------------
There are nine color settings, in four areas:
- SCREEN TOP colors are used for the top three lines of the screen and for
pop-up boxes. You specify a background color, normal and hilight text
colors.
- SCREEN CENTER colors are used in the center of the screen. Again, you
specify the background color, normal and hilight text colors.
- INPUT FIELD colors are used in the input area, and for the "highlight bar"
that you move through the directory list.
Page 1
- BORDER COLOR is the color of the screen border. (Hercules, EGA, and a
number of CGA adapter/monitor combinations WILL NOT display the border
color. "Standard CGA" or VGA systems will. The Leading Edge #L command
line switch disables the border color.)
In the lower half of the screen, all combinations of background and text
colors are displayed. Background colors are identified with the numbers 0..7,
and text colors with the letters A..P.
You make your selection for each of the nine colors in the top half of the
screen. At each of the nine specifications:
- Press carriage return to leave the color unchanged and move to the next
field.
- Enter the letter or number of the color and press carriage return to move
ahead. As you change any color, the screen is updated immediately.
- Press TAB to move back to the previous color specification.
- Press ESCape to exit the color install, ABANDONING any changes.
(You must complete the configuration program to save changes to screen
colors and other options. The only exception is that drivers are written
to disk as soon as you make a selection.)
Video Drivers
-------------
The next screen lets you select a video driver. Press [F1] to "peek" at the
section of video RAM which normally contains the manufacturer's name. This
may help you determine which driver you need for a "Super-VGA".
- All available drivers are listed. The "current driver" is shown at the
bottom of the screen. If you have a driver from a previous version of
CompuShow, it's identified as "WRONG DRIVER VERSION", and you need to
select a driver listed on the screen.
- Type the number of the driver and <carriage return>.
- The program tests each video driver mode by displaying a graphics
screen with arrows extending top to bottom and left to right and
sixteen color bars (counting black).
- After each mode is tested, respond "Y" or "N" to tell the program
whether the mode works correctly on your adapter.
- After all modes have been tested, if you indicated that at least one
mode worked, the program asks if you want this driver. If you respond
"Y", the program writes file VIDEO.DAT to indicate which driver modes
work, as well as VIDEO.DRV, the selected video driver.
- The current driver name reflects the driver you've selected. (Once you
have the driver you want, you don't need to select it each time you run
CSHOWI.)
- Press <carriage return> to move on to the next screen.
Page 2
Printer Drivers
---------------
The next screen allows you to select a printer driver, and parallels the
video driver selection, although no test is performed. After selecting a
printer driver, indicate whether your printer is attached to LPT1, LPT2, or
LPT3 (if you don't know for sure, LPT1 is "normal".)
Start-Up Options
----------------
The next screen allows you to set a number of start-up options so that you
don't need to specify the corresponding command-line switches.
- If you need to force a video mode, you can specify the mode here, making
the "+" command line switch unnecessary. NOTE that you shouldn't force a
video mode unless you NEED TO. CompuShow will detect the correct type of
video adapter in virtually all cases.
- Identify the type of of 480 line EGA you have ("/" switch.)
- Bypass horizontal panning on an EGA display ("#E" switch.)
- Enable PCjr/Tandy-1000 video modes ("#J" switch.)
- The size of the read buffer ("#M" switch.)
- The amount of memory to reserve for the file directory ("#D" switch.)
- The [F2] "log to drive and sub-directory".
- The [F3] two column directory display mode.
- The [F4] directory mask.
- The [F5] directory sort options.
- The "quiet" mode ("#Q" switch.)
At the last screen, you may "calibrate" the delay routine (on some fast
computers, the delays may be significantly shorter than what you specify in a
Slide Show script.) Calibrating the delay function calculates an adjustment
factor, so that a one second delay actually lasts one second.
When you finish the System Configuration, your specifications are saved in
CSHOW.CFG, which CompuShow will look for it in the same sub-directory as the
program.
Page 3
Printing
========
CompuShow uses custom graphics printer drivers to support a variety of
monochrome dot matrix, laser, and color printers.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FOR A COMPLETE, UP-TO-DATE LISTING OF THE PRINTER DRIVERS, SEE README.DOC |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The information in README.DOC should help in selecting the appropriate
printer driver as described above in the System Configuration program CSHOWI.
(If you're ONLY selecting a printer driver, you can ESCape out of CSHOWI
after you've made your selection. You don't have to step all the way through
the last screen.)
Selecting a monochrome dot matrix driver:
Most "IBM compatible" printers (such as Epson, Citizen, Panasonic, Star,
Toshiba, etc.) can use the IBM Graphics Printer driver.
If your printer has a "quad-density", 240 dots/inch mode, selected with
ESCAPE,'Z', (eg. IBM Pro-Printer) try the "generic" driver.
If your printer supports the "master graphics" command ESCAPE,'*',n where
the number n is 0 to 7, try the Citizen MSP 10/15/20/25 driver.
- When CompuShow has loaded a printer driver:
- The [Shift-F1] information box will include the printer driver name.
- A "P to print" reminder is displayed on the RLE and MacPaint graphic
screens.
- "P or ^P: print" is displayed in the graphic information box.
- For most printer drivers, "^P=Non-Display print" is also listed near the
lower right corner of the graphic information box.
- If no driver is loaded, these messages do not appear, and attempting to
print will sound a "buzzer".
- In general, a monochrome printer driver supports two print modes when
available, and pressing ^P will provide a faster print in a lower density
mode, while pressing "P" will provide a better quality print in a higher
density mode.
- Similarly, "P" and ^P may produce different quality prints on a color
printer. In general, ^P is intended for high-resolution graphics with few
colors, while "P" is for lower-resolution graphics with more colors.
- Beginning with CompuShow version 8, improved graphics print quality is
available with a monochrome printer capable of at least 120 dpi (dots per
inch). With one of these printer drivers, you'll see "^P=Non-Display print"
near the lower right corner of the graphics information box. To print with
this improved quality, follow the instructions "FOR BEST PRINT QUALITY",
below.
Page 4
- Monochrome graphics (RLE or MacPaint) are printed by pressing "P" or ^P
while the graphic is displayed.
- Color graphics are printed on a MONOCHROME PRINTER in one of three ways:
- On any graphics adapter, display an image in a monochrome mode (A..O or
P). This print is "WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get), so adjust
the "brightness" of the on-screen image with PgUp/PgDn before you press
"P" or ^P to print.
- FOR BEST PRINT QUALITY on an MCGA or VGA adapter, display the graphic in
an EGA, MCGA, or VGA mode (5..9), convert to gray-scale by pressing
Alt-G and adjust the brightness of the image with PgUp/PgDn before
pressing "P" or ^P to print. (You may print directly from the color
display, although you'll probably want to adjust the gray-scale
brightness before printing.)
This method prints the screen contents. See "Cut and Paste", below.
- FOR BEST PRINT QUALITY on any other (non-MCGA/VGA) adapter, press ^P for
non-display printing. The graphic will be decoded to the virtual screen
as though you had a 256 color mode available. When the program is ready
to print (you'll hear the "chirp", and see a message), press "P" or ^P
to print. If the print is too dark or light, use PgUp/PgDn to lighten or
darken it and press "P" or ^P to print again.
This method can accommodate images up to 640x480 (depending on the
amount of available memory; use Shift-F1 to check the size of the
virtual screen.) Printing while viewing in an "extended VGA" mode
( [ ] , . / ), or from a video driver mode ( S..Y ) is similar to non-
display printing; CompuShow will print the entire image, up to a
maximum size of 640x480.
- Color graphics are printed on a COLOR PRINTER in one of two ways:
- Display the graphic in a 256 color mode, if available (MCGA mode 8,
extended modes "[", "]", etc. or a video driver mode S..Y). You may
adjust the brightness with PgUp/PgDn and the color with [F1]..[F6], as
needed. Press "P" or ^P to print.
- If a 256 color mode isn't available, press ^P for non-display printing,
and then "P" or ^P when you see the "ready to print" message. If the
print is too light or dark, PgUp/PgDn (and [F1]..[F6]) will adjust the
brightness and colors, as needed.
- During printing, press any key to interrupt (and terminate) the print.
- When the image has finished printing (or when it has been interrupted by a
key-press) a form-feed will be sent to the printer. If your printer doesn't
advance to the top of the next page, you probably need to set top-of-form.
If your printer doesn't have a specific button to set top of form, you may
need to turn it off, re-position the paper, and turn it back on.
Page 5
Cut and Paste:
-------------
A monochrome print made on an MCGA or VGA adapter in modes 5..9 is a print of
THE SCREEN CONTENTS, and a 320x200 display yields the highest quality print.
An interesting result is "Cut and Paste" capability. For example, with a
640x400x256 graphic:
1. Display the 640x400x256 in mode 8 (320x200x256), go to gray-scale with
Alt-G and adjust the brightness, as needed. Then print the upper-left
corner with "P" or ^P.
2. Press Ctrl-Right to shift the display one screen to the right and print
the upper-right corner.
3. Press Ctrl-Left (or Home) to return to the upper-left corner and then
Ctrl-End to move down one screen. Print the lower-left corner.
4. Press Ctrl-Right (or End) to shift to the lower-right corner and print
it.
Pasting the four quadrants together produces a gray-scale print of about
18x14". Of course larger 256 color images (such as 640x480 or 800x600) can be
printed on additional pages.
Custom Printer Drivers
----------------------
Most modern dot matrix and laser printers are supported by the printer
drivers included with the enhanced program. If, however, your printer doesn't
work with any of the supplied drivers, see PRINTERS.DOC for the information
we'll need to develop a custom driver for you.
CompuShow Slide Show
====================
The slide show can be run in "dual monitor" mode. When started on the
monochrome monitor, the slide show "echoes" the script file lines to the
monochrome monitor, while displaying graphics images on the color graphics
monitor.
Beginning with version 8.22, the CompuShow Slide Show is combined with the
enhanced display program, rather than being a separate program. When run in
slide show mode, CompuShow reads the slide show instructions from a "script"
file, "CSHOW.SCR", located on the current disk and sub-directory. An "@" on
the command line indicates the start of the script file name. If you have
several scripts, you can specify that a different script file should be used:
>CShow @ (script file "CSHOW.SCR")
>CShow @b (script file "b.SCR")
>CShow @b. (script file "b")
>CShow @.b (script file "CSHOW.b")
>CShow @b: (script file "b:CSHOW.SCR")
>CShow @b:b.b (script file "b:b.b")
In other words, you can "over-ride" (any or all of) the location, file name,
or extension.
Page 6
The script file is an ASCII (text) file, which you create using a word
processor or text editor program. Word processor programs usually have the
ability to save in non-document, unformatted, or ASCII. (Be sure to do this!)
The Slide Show Script
---------------------
Each slide show "command" is on a separate line. The first character in the
line specifies the type of command (UPPER and lower case letters are
equivalent):
F: The File name; the name of the graphic file. You should include the disk
drive and/or sub-directory name.
M: The display mode:
An "M" command alone tells CompuShow to select the best available mode
in the same way that the space bar works.
To use a display mode other than the one the program selects as "best",
the command should be "MC", "M8", "M]", "M3", "M," etc.
In addition, you may display a "negated" RLE image by specifying mode "N",
and a colorized MacPaint image by specifying modes "A" through "J" to
correspond to the ten color palettes selected with the [F1] through [F10]
function keys.
P: A pan.
"P" alone will tell the program to perform a "right, down, left, up" pan
appropriate for the particular system it's running on.
Otherwise, you may specifically pan in a particular direction with the
commands "PR", "PD", "PL", and "PU". Using specific pan commands
provides more complete control over the slide show, and lets you control
the length of delay after panning in a particular direction.
D: A delay, in seconds, from 1 to 30. (Multiple "D" lines may be specified,
if you want more than a 30 second delay.)
W: Specifies a "Wait for key press". CShow will wait for a key to be pressed
before proceeding.
Q: Is the "Quit" command. CShow will quit, rather than repeating.
For a "free-running" slide show, you would use "F", "M", "P" and "D"
commands. The program will start over when it reaches the end of the script.
You exit the program by pressing ESCape or Ctrl-C.
By placing a "Q" command at the end of the script, the slide show will run
one time and then quit. (It may be interrupted with ESCape or Ctrl-C, if
desired.) By using wait (W) commands, instead of delay (D) commands, you can
set up an "operator controlled" show, where the program waits for a key press
between images. (Pressing ESCape or Ctrl-C will exit the program at a
"Wait".)
Page 7
The Slide Show Script Program
=============================
SCRIPT.EXE is a program which will create a slide show script for you. It's a
DOS "pipe", which takes its input from the output of a DIR command. For
example:
>dir *.gif | SCRIPT > allgifs.scr
will create a script named "ALLGIFS.SCR".
Keep in mind that you can "concatenate" the output of several DIR commands:
>dir c:\pics\*.* | sort > full.dir
>dir c:\pics\more\*.* | sort >> full.dir
>SCRIPT < full.dir > full.scr
(For more information on DOS "pipes", look under "Piping", "Redirection", or
"Standard Input and Output", in your DOS manual.)
SCRIPT will create a slide show script using "M" and "P" commands so that the
script is "portable" to any type of video system. Of course, once the script
has been created, you can use a word processor to rearrange the sequence of
images, omit some of them, and enter specific display modes, etc.
NOTE: If you're using "4DOS", you need to tell it to do its DIR display in a
DOS compatible format (check the 4DOS documentation.)
Page 8
S H A R E W A R E
=================
CompuShow is copyrighted software. However, you are encouraged to copy and
share it with others according to the following requirements:
CompuShow may be freely copied and shared with others, so long as
no charge is made for the software, and it is unmodified and copied
in its entirety, including all program documentation and all
support files.
CompuShow may be distributed via modem, provided that all files are
transmitted (archived) together.
Notice that ShareWare is copyrighted software. It's not "Public Domain"
software, nor is it "free" software. If you continue to use this program
beyond a reasonable "trial period", not to exceed 21 days, you must pay for
it by registering.
Thank you for your support: Bob Berry
Canyon State Systems and Software
Post Office Box 86
Sedona, Az. 86336
Voice: (602) 282-5070
CompuServe: [76555,167]
Internet: 76555.167@compuserve.com
GEnie: R.BERRY7
Graphics Interchange Format(c) copyright CompuServe Inc.
GIF(sm) is a Service Mark property of CompuServe Inc.
Copyright (c) 1991, Canyon State Systems and Software (tm), Sedona, Az.
Page 9