Night Owl 6/Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso/020a/rtist095.zip/RTISTNFO.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-24 | 28KB | 622 lines

                                      tm
                              AnsRtist
                 Copyright (C) 1991  by Joe Fischer
                        all rights reserved

                     version __0.91____ 80 X 25 MODE ONLY

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      Blink is inoperative in all Shareware versions with Fonts.
               ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

      ATTENTION  SYSOPS!!!!!!!

      AnsRtist writes an .ANS file and a .TXT file at the same time.
      The .TXT file is only 79 characters wide, the beep tells the
      user that the 80th column will not be in the .TXT file.


      Use OverWrite Editing, mistakes will not be seen in the .TXT
      file and will not be seen in the .ANS file if animation is
      removed using THEDRAW.........

      Please make sure there is plenty of disk space before using.

      The scrolling feature writes the topmost line to the .TXT file
      with each line scrolled, then writes the 23 line screen to the
      .TXT file just before exiting the program.

      This is not only useful for Sysops, but with the large fonts
      leaflets and handbills can be printed from the .TXT file with
      50+ lines per page if the scrolling feature is used.  AnsRtist
      displays the total .TXT file line count in scrolling mode.


      This version is CGA 80 x 25 hardware dependent.   Author will
      not be held responsible for damages resulting from use
      or misuse.   (Most EGA and VGA machines have a CGA mode)

      This program is NOT Freeware......   It must be registered.
      This program is not crippled in any way.   It is the full
      and complete program at the time of distribution.   Any bugs
      that you may find are accidental, they were not planned.

      Sysops of NON-Commercial Bulletin Board Systems may register
      by simply mailing Name, BBS name, Phone Number, mailing
      address,  and $2.00 to the author.

      All other NON-commercial users Please send $5.00 to the author.
                                     ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
      Registration will not be acknowledged unless SASE is enclosed.

      Commercial use is expressly forbidden without prior
      arrangement with the copyright owner(s).   (See LEGAL.TXT)

          Joe Fischer
          P. O. Box 79
          West Point, KY
          40177


PROGRAMMERS TAKE NOTE!!!!!!!!

      Since the UNCrunch feature was added to THEDRAW and the uncrunch
routine was furnished with THEDRAW, a new dimension in programming
in Pascal and 'C' has emerged.    This program uses those features,
and probably would not have been written without them.
      AnsRtist users also need THEDRAW to correct static screens
and to reduce the ANSI file size.   The scrolling feature in AnsRtist
adds another new dimension to creating many types of computer files.
      Story book type files and turtorials, emphasized and colored
text files (converting text files to ansi files), etc., are quick
and easy to create using AnsRtist.   Many types of Presentation
programs can be created as ANSI files rather than time consuming
and expensive programming.   The Auto-Recoloring feature allows
Recoloring without retyping the characters.    The many fonts are
useful for modem screens, files and advertising screens and files.
      The .TXT files are handy for Sysops and have a number of uses,
and the imbedded music strings provides an item of interest for
educational and entertainment use.

    ( THEDRAW.ZIP may be found on your favorite BBS as TDRAWxxx.ZIP )

      In 23 line (normal) mode, AnsRtist is meant primarily to
produce ANSI screens very rapidly, overwriting mistakes.   In
Scrolling mode AnsRtist produces ANSI color files of almost any
size.   Load the .ANS file produced into THEDRAW to remove animation
and mistakes if Scrolling Mode has NOT been used!!!
     If an ANSI screen is not wanted and only ansi Music code is
wanted, just go directly to the Ansi Music Composer-Editor,
(HOLD ALT, Press 6, then 7, then 8), and no Ansi colors or
characters will be written.
     An .ANS file and a .TXT file are written simultaneously.
Sysops may need to change the file extension on both the .ANS and
.TXT file to that required by the BBS program.
     If the .TXT file is to be used for printouts, use the bottom
left solid colors in the (W)hole Screen function, because they are
the only ones that can fill the ANSI screen background with color
and the character 32 (or space) and will leave the .TXT background
black on the monitor and white on paper.

      IT MAY NOT BE POSSIBLE TO USE BLOCK MOVE OR BLOCK COPY IN
      THEDRAW WITH THE RANDOM PATTERN SCREENS WITHOUT EXTRA WORK.

      Because AnsRtist is an animated ansi file drawing program,
and not an editor, the filename is requested in advance.   An .ANS
extension is added whether an extension is entered or not.  A .TXT
extension is added to the filename entered for the text file.

      If the file already exists, a prompt will say so and options
to erase and rewrite (press y), or to enter a new filename (any other
key) are given.

      Most ansi screens are not animated.   Since animated screens
are usually quite large, a program called THEDRAW is essential to
remove the animation.   The main reason for ansi screens is the
ability to send screens with color and attributes over a modem.
      Please remove the animation from all screens made with this
program unless the animation is necessary for the presentation.
      Please do not send these animated screens over a modem without
first removing the animation, unless there is action required in
the screen.  The files made by this program must be loaded into
THEDRAW and resaved to reduce file size before sending over a
modem, even if animation is not removed.

      This program contains a Scrolling capability which is
compatible with the ANSI.SYS file that comes with MS-DOS, etc.
      This Scrolling feature, along with the built-in fonts,
makes possible many uses for ANSI files, such as Presentation
Program files of any size that can be typed up, Story Book
type files, and others.
      This is especially useful if a group of viewers want to
watch the presentation at the same time, and for the visually
impaired who need the text in large type fonts.   The ability
to make these ANSI colored, animated scrolling files, very
rapidly and at low cost, should be a big help in all kinds
of entertainment presentations and information and instruction
programs, without having to have an executable program to use
them.
      This program may also be used to create .TXT files using
the large fonts and the auto-line drawing features.


      WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!
           If the Scrolling feature is used, the file most likely
      will not all fit in THEDRAW, or may not scroll properly with
      some communication programs and terminal emulators.
           The very large fonts do not cause the screen to scroll.
      Only the two and three line fonts cause the screen to scroll
      when in scrolling mode only.    When using the very large
      fonts in a scrolling ansi file, it is necessary to exit
      the font using BackSpace and moving the cursor down to the
      23rd line and then the Return key will cause one line to
      scroll with each Return KeyPress, then the large font can
      be re-entered for use at any position on the visible screen.

      The program is entered in normal typing mode.   The cursor
will look like the underline cursor, but it may have different
colors at times, and if it is placed on a spot where a character
has been entered, regardles if the character is visible or not,
(even an entered space), the cursor will look like a full block
cursor.    The cursor shape is the clue to which drawing mode
the editor is in, and is different in the four modes.

      The typing mode (or main mode) cursor is an underline  _ or █
character, possibly blue or another color.   In this mode,
the status line will say "Draw is OFF", but typing any of the
keyboard keys will write that character normally.

      In fast drawing mode (for drawing any character in any  │
direction), the cursor will be a large cross-hair cursor,    -∙-
simulating a graphics cursor, and drawing will occur in any   │
by direction using the cursor keys and keypad keys and the
status line will say "Draw is ON".
      The character drawn will be the character highlighted
at the center of the 25th line.
      ScrollLock will toggle the Fast Draw mode off and on.

      In Half-Block mode, the cursor will be a blinking half-
block character.  It will not draw unless Scroll Lock is on   ▀ or ▄
and the status line says "Draw is ON".   Half-block mode is
toggled on and off by ALT-X.
      BackSpace will also exit half-block mode.
                                                               ┌  ┐
      In any of the font modes, the cursor will be four single
line corner characters at the four corner positions of the "H" └  ┘
character of that font, but depending on the letter, the characters
may not fit within the cursor.  The top left corner will be a
different color so that the position can be seen on some back-
ground colors.
      Backspace will exit any font mode.

      In the Music Composer, the cursor is a normal underline
cursor, but in the Music Editor, the cursor is the half-block
cursor and is moved by the left and right arrow keys.       ▀


               The CONTROL key and "Wet Brush"

      From the normal typimg mode only, color selections can be
made from the color palettes, or directly from any spot on the
screen where a color has been placed.   Drawing modes must be
exited into the normal typing mode to select colors with the "dip
brush" or "wet brush" features.

      To correct mistakes made, or for ease of use, if a change
to a color already on the screen is wanted (in normal typing
mode only), just place the cursor on the color wanted, and press the
CONTROL key.   Both foreground and background colors will change
to the new color and the status (24th) line should reflect that.
      This is called "wet brush".   It is the equivalent to wetting
a paint brush with paint already on the canvas.

      If both the character and color are wanted, holding Left-Shift
and then pressing CONTROL will change to the colors under the cursor
and change the highlighted character on the 25th line to the character
under the cursor.



      If a new color is wanted, function keys 5 thru 8 will
sequence thru the background and foreground colors.   But to make
it easier, a "dip brush" feature is added to display dithered or
solid colors by pressing 'ALT-s' for solid or 'ALT-d' for dithered,
and the work screen will be saved and a screen of color patches will
displayed.    The cursor can then be placed on the desired color
and a press of the RETURN key will pick up the colors selected.
      ALT-D can be pressed 8 times to see all the possible dithered
colors in large patches, and the cursor can be moved when any of
the eight screens are visible, and the RETURN key will then select
the dithering colors.

      Pressing 'ALT-a' will display all possible colors, but in very
small patches.   Placing the cursor on a patch and pressing the
RETURN key will select those colors and the status line will then
change.    The 'ALT-a' display shows all colors in relation to each
other, but the larger patches with 'ALT-d' will show what the color
looks like over a larger area.

      If the correct character for the dithered color is desired,
press 'ALT-c', which has the same display as 'ALT-a', but when the
RETURN key is pressed, the colors and the correct character will be
selected and changed.

      ALT- F will display the regular Font type styles along with
the ALT-letter key to select them.

      ALT-H will display a Help file and a listing of the keys
used by the program, and describe what they do.

      ALT-O will display the Overlay Font type styles and the
ALT-function key to select them.

      ALT-W will prompt for filling the Whole screen with any
solid or dithered character color.   (~300 colors possible)

      ALT-N will prompt for filling the whole screen with a
Nettled random pattern.  (Select from many color combinations)

      ALT-M will display the Main Menu of options while in the
normal typing mode and upon entry into the program.


      The CONTROL key, and LeftShift-Control really makes touching
up easy and fast, as colors can be selected directly from those
already used on the screen.

                    Function Keys

       F1  -   Returns all attributes to normal, does not change color

       F2  -   Turns on Blink

       F3  -   Reverses ForeGround and BackGround Color

       F4  -   Reverses colors and adds Blink

             ( The TAB key turns on BOLD )


       F5  -   Sequences BackGround Colors Backward

       F6  -   Sequences BackGround Colors Forward

       F7  -   Sequences ForeGround Colors Backward

       F8  -   Sequences ForeGround Colors Forward


       F9  -   Moves 25th line one character to Left

      F10  -   Moves 25th line one character to Right


      F11 and F12  duplicate the action of F9 and F10 for Convienence


    ALT-F9  -   Moves 25th line 10 characters to Left

    ALT-F10 -   Moves 25th line 10 characters to Right


      Function keys 9 and 10 move the characters displayed on the
25th line.   The character that is highlighted is the one that will
be used in the All Direction Drawing Mode, and in the user selected
character font, and also the single character (Insert Key).
      All Direction modes are enabled by turning on the Scroll Lock.
Either the light on the keyboard, or the status line,  will show if
Fast Drawing Mode is ON or OFF.
      Function keys 11 and 12 have identical actions to F-9 and F-10,
on keyboards with 12 function keys for convenience and ease of use.
      ALT-F9 and ALT-F10 increase speed of selection by moving 25th
line 10 characters at a time.

      The half-block drawing mode is enabled and toggled on (and off)
by ALT-X.   The cursor then becomes a half-block character.   It will
not draw unless the Scroll Lock is turned on though.   This makes the
positioning of the cursor before turning on the Scroll Lock easy and
useful.    Color selection in half-block mode is best done with the
function keys (F-5 thru F8).   No dithering is possible, so the colors
are limited to the normal sixteen colors (Press TAB for "bold" colors).

      The half-block drawing mode is not ideal, and cannot be, because
of hardware design.   Two of the half-blocks share the same character
and attribute memory cells.   Because of this, certain restrictions
are imposed by the hardware constraints.

      In half-block mode, if the two half-blocks (220 and 223) in
a cell are both the same color, then they can have the bold attribute,
but if they are different colors, then only one can be BOLD and the
other will have to be NORMAL.

      In half-block mode, the program must make decisions on what
color to make the second cell.   If the drawing is being done with
character 220, then the other half of the cell (character 223) will
be above it.   As long as drawing stays away from other places that
are already drawn, there is no problem, but if the line being drawn
crosses another line, then the program tries to keep the old line
intact and place the new line over the top of it.

      This means that the program must keep the color being drawn
as the foreground color.   But the background color being used must
be changed to the color of the line being crossed, and then changed
back to the current background color.   It is easy to imagine that
problems will exist, and may have to be resolved in an ansi editor
such as THEDRAW after completion in AnsRtist.
      If the line being crossed has a bold attribute (and is not
the same color as the line being drawn), it has to be changed to
normal attribute, which this program should do (sometimes) without
any problems.

      Problems do arise when more than one color is involved and
when many colors are near together.   It is best to start in the
middle and work around the edges adding color in the half-block
mode.

___________________________________________________________________

      In half-block mode the program will try not to disturb the
areas already drawn.
      But if a mistake is made or a change wanted, then a hard-write
option can be enabled with the DELETE key.   When hard-write is ON
the status line will say "HARD WRITE ▄▀▄▀▄▀" instead of "DRAW is ON"
and both colors of the characters 220 and 223 will be written and
will over write anything already on the screen.
      The DELETE key also toggles HARD WRITE off.
___________________________________________________________________

      A ZIG-ZAG feature is toggled by ALT-Z in half-block mode
which writes the characters ▄ and ▀ alternately when moving in
both horizontal directions, making a checkerboard effect.
      Moving in the vertical direction normal straight wide lines
are written, so with these two combinations, shading in half-block
mode is rapid and easy.


      When the program is _NOT_ in half-block mode, the cursor will
be a normal underline character and the cursor and keypad keys will
work normally.   All alphabetic and numeric keys can be typed as
usual.    If Scroll Lock is turned on, then the cursor (Arrow) keys
and the keypad keys will write the character highlighted on the
25th line in the current colors.

      When the Scroll Lock is turned on in typing mode, the cursor
becomes a simulated graphics plane cursor with cross hairs and a
dot in the middle.   This makes it easy to see what mode the program
is in, if the cursor keys and keypad keys will draw characters,
or if they will just move the cursor.

      The cross hair cursor is also easier to see, and is essential
to high speed drawing where the colors used make the cursor difficult
to see.    The cross hair cursor identifies the Fast Drawing mode,
the underline cursor identifies the normal typing mode, and the
half-block cursor identifies the half-block mode, and the four corner
cursor identifies the font drawing mode.


                Auto Line Draw Mode   ═ and ║ , or ─ and │

      If lines and boxes are being drawn with the │ character, or
the ─ character highlighted on the 25th line, and Scroll Lock on,
then the single line character will be drawn automatically, even
the corners.   The same is true with the ║ character and the ═
character.   Using this feature is the best way to see what it
does.   Lines crossed in a horizontal direction will be replaced
with a ╬ , ┼ , or other + type character.   Lines drawn in the
vertical direction will just cross the line and not draw the +
type character.   It may be necessary to use THEDRAW to touch up
these characters.

      ALT-Q will quick sketch any highlighted character onto the
screen only, but will not write it to the file.   This allows
marking corners, outlines, or just quick sketching.   This can
only be done with light gray or white with normal attribute.
      These characters will not be written to the file, and
must be overwritten (in desired color) to append them to the
ANSI file.

      A sketch can also be loaded as an ASCII file before drawing
is started (ASCII files do not contain color or attributes).  This
ASCII sketch will also not be written to the file and must be
overwritten with the correct color.   ALT-T will prompt for loading
of a 23 line text file, or the first 23 lines only.

      Before beginning to draw, the whole screen can be dithered
with any color selected from the palettes with the ALT-W keys.
      The random nettled background can also be selected before
beginning to draw.   The menu of possible random patterns and
color combinations will appear after answering the y/n prompt.
      Using this feature after drawing will overwrite everything
already drawn.

      At any time, the TAB key will turn on the BOLD attribute, and
the F-1 key will return attributes to normal.
    ( F-2 turns on BLINK,  NOT on shareware versions )
and F-3 reverses the colors (if bold is on, it will not carry through
to the background color because both the background color and the
foreground color cannot both be BOLD if they are different.

      ALT-R, F-3, and (F-4*) all reverse the foreground and background
colors, so using ALT-R and then F-3 or (F-4*) will return the colors
back to what they were, but with the other attributes added.
              ( *  NOT on shareware versions )

      The ESCAPE key provides the only exit from the program, and
'y' must be answered to the prompt to exit.   The program cannot
be exited from the half-block mode.  Answer 'y' or 'n' to the
rename prompt upon exiting also.

      The keys INSERT and DELETE have no usual function in the program,
because the ansi file is written in real time and insert and delete
would move the characters to the right of the cursor to the right or
left, but would not make the corresponding action in the file.


      Insert will type the highlighted character at the cursor
position without the repeat action.   If ScrollLock is turned
off after fast-drawing and the last position was not typed,
the pressing INSERT is easier than turning ScrollLock back on
and using the arrow keys to fill in the one character.


      BackSpace should work as normal, but will not drag the
characters to the right of the cursor with it.
      BackSpace is also an easy way to move the cursor from col 1
to col 80 in the typing mode.
      BackSpace also exits any font mode and the half-block mode.

      ALT-E will save the screen to memory and clear the screen,
to be used as a screen saver, or just to relax the eyes.


      NOTE!!!!!
      Shift-TAB will auto-recolor existing characters, even text
files loaded with ALT-T.   Multicolor fonts can be produced very
easily.   Shift-TAB has the repeat action, so holding SHIFT and
pressing TAB will move the cursor and recolor and append recolored
text rapidly.
      Each keypress recolors both the background and foreground
and writes to the file and the screen, and advances the cursor.
      If the current background color is the same as the existing
background color, then only the foreground color is changed.
      This is a very powerful feature.   In addition to recoloring
fonts, etc., old text files can be broken up into files of 23 lines
or less and loaded with ALT-T and color added, converting them to
ansi files, making emphasized words and other features possible.



      Fonts are built in and after entering a particular font mode,
the large letters can be typed directly from the keyboard with one
keystroke.
      One or more spaces should be placed between letters, and
several spaces before and after the word or phrase if the color
of the existing background is different from the background being
typed in one of the regular fonts.


      Regular Font mode keys are;

      ALT-P    Pretty Font
      ALT-I    Single line Font (upper and lower case)
      ALT-G    Gigantic Font
      ALT-K    Kurly Font
      ALT-L    Large Font
      ALT-B    Bi Font, Double line on left (upper and lower case)
      ALT-J    Jumbo Font

      ALT-U    Double Line Font, both sides double line (upper & lower)
      ALT-V    Very small Font (two type styles)
      ALT-Y    Wide Line Font



          ALT-Function Keys...............

      Overlay Font mode keys are;

      ALT-F1   Striped Overlay font
      ALT-F2   Large Overlay font
      ALT-F3   Split Overlay font (large).
      ALT-F4   Gigantic Overlay Font (same as ALT-G, but an overlay)

      ALT-F5   Very Large Narrow Line Overlay Font
      ALT-F6   Very Large Decorative Font
      ALT-F7 &
      ALT F8   User Selected Character Overlay Font
               (letters are written using character
                highlighted on 25th line)

      BackSpace exits any font mode.    Fonts can then be recolored
with Shift-TAB.    Either Foreground or BackGround can be recolored,
or both ForeGround AND BackGround can be recolored.
      NOTE that some overlay fonts have no background color.

      Advanced Features for high speed drawing

             (ALT-Numerals)

      ALT-1      Writes the entire line the cursor is on using
              the current highlighted character and colors, and
              adds a linefeed-carriage return.


      ALT-2      Replicates the line directly above the cursor,
              onto the line that the cursor is currently on
              [ copies whatever is on the line above the cursor].

      ALT-3      Writes the entire line the cursor is on, and then
              moves the cursor up one line to column 1.


      ALT-0      If the cursor is on the 25th line and if Scrolling
              mode is on, writes a line of black spaces.

      ALT -      Writes a full line of ─── 's on the line the cursor
              is on.

      ALT-=      Writes a full line of ════'s on the line the cursor
              is on.


             (Shift-Function Keys)

      Shift-F1   Writes 10 characters at the cursor to the right.
      Shift-F2   Writes 20 characters at the cursor to the right.
      Shift-F3   Writes 30 characters at the cursor to the right.

      Shift-F8   Writes 66 characters centered, Columns 8 thru 73,
                 on the line the cursor is on.

      Character written is the Highlighted character on the 25th line.
Colors used are the current colors displayed on the 24th line.


                    Scrolling Mode

      Generally, modem screens are single 23 line screens, or the
screen clears and another screen is written.   For a number of
purposes it may be desirable to have ANSI screens scroll.   This
is not the case if the screen is meant to be viewed in it's entirety
in real time online over the modem.
      But for cases like Tutors, Publications, Presentations, Large
Font text to be viewed, at a distance, or by the Sight Impaired, Story
Book files, Advertisments, etc., it may be beneficial and useful.

      Shift-F10     Toggles Scrolling Mode OFF and ON

      While in Scrolling Mode the Return Key will cause the screen
to scroll when the cursor is on the 23rd line, as will ALT-1 and ALT-2.
                   ==========================
      Ansi Music String composing, entering and embedding documented
within the Music Editor.   Hold ALT, press 6, then 7, then 8 in this
early release version.

    File Survival in case of Power Interruption or System Failure
                      . . . . . . . . .

      Certain keys will cause the file buffer to be flushed and
the file closed, and then reopened to be appended to during writing
and changing modes.
      This assures that much of the drawing done will not be lost if
a power failure occurs.  This may add extra characters to the file
but since the file needs to be loaded into THEDRAW and resaved,
the size of these files will be reduced there.



      Exiting the program with ESC closes the file and returns
to DOS.

      This version is CGA hardware dependent.   The Author will
      not be held responsible for damages resulting from misuse.

      Please document any bugs in writing, and mail to

          Joe Fischer
          P. O. Box 79
          West Point, KY
          40177