Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/windows/iconpeek.zip/ICONPEEK.DOC

Text File | 1991-01-09 | 8KB | 194 lines

           IconPeek - A Quick Peek at Your Windows 3.0 Icons
            -----------------------------------------------
                       Version 1.0 - Jan 9, 1991


                           Copyright (c) 1991
                                   by
                            William L. Hirst
                          All Rights Reserved




INTRODUCTION
------------
This is a SHAREWARE program that will read an entire directory, find
every icon (*.ICO filenames) and copy them to a Paintbrush bitmap.  It
puts 56 icons and their names on each page.  You can print the bitmap on
ANY graphics printer that Windows 3.0 supports, save it for reference,
or cut-and-paste (from Paintbrush) into other Windows applications.

I wrote it right after I downloaded over 500 of the things and had no
idea what they all looked like.  I couldn't print them, and it was
taking forever to look at them one at a time. Now I can see them all on
just nine pages.



LIMITATIONS
-----------
It does not replace ICONDRAW, or any other graphics editor. It was only
intended to be a way to look at icons, not draw them. There is NO WAY it
will ever take a Paintbrush screen and create icons from it.

The newest version of ICONDRAW has a file called ICONLIB.EXE with many
icons in one file.  I don't know how to read that file yet.

VGA is the only video mode that I have tested.  It should work on other
modes, since it reads and writes FILES, not video images.  Use the
Windows Paintbrush utility to look at the output.  As long as it will
show a 640 x 480 16-color bitmap, you should be ok.


RUN-TIME PARAMETERS
-------------------
The name of the program is ICONPEEK. It needs to be somewhere along the
PATH if you expect the system to find it, or you need to type in the
directory name. Like:      C:\bin\ICONPEEK

You can put in a few parameters:

    NOSORT        (if you don't want to sort - default is sort)
                  (if it can't find SORT on your path, it won't run)

    PREFIX=arrgh  (names the bitmaps ARRGH01.BMP, ARRGH02.BMP, etc.)
                  (otherwise the default is ICONPK01.BMP, etc.)
                  (truncates to 6 characters)

    DIR=c:\icon\
    PATH=c:\icon\ (either keyword tells where your icons are)
                  (include the final  \  )
                  (default icon location is the current directory)
                  (the output ALWAYS goes to the current directory)

    COLOR=yellow  (background color for output bitmaps)
                  (default is white)

Upper and lower case are the same. Leave one or more spaces between
parms. Example:

    c:\windows\iconpeek nosort prefix=mega7 path=\download\ color=gray



Valid colors are:

  WHITE, YELLOW, MAGENTA, RED, CYAN, GREEN, BLUE, GRAY, BROWN, BLACK.

You can also use light or dark prefixes:

  L-MAGENTA, D-MAGENTA, L-RED, D-RED, L-CYAN, D-CYAN, L-GREEN, D-GREEN,
  L-BLUE, D-BLUE, L-GRAY, D-GRAY.

The colors with "L-" are the same as the colors with no letter.

  L-RED is the same as RED.  There is no D-YELLOW or L-BROWN.



RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS
---------------------
1.  As a DOS program:
    You do not need the ICONPEEK.PIF file for this.  Call up a
    fullscreen DOS session and enter the program name ICONPEEK and
    parameters at the command line.  Type EXIT when it finishes to
    close the window.

2 - In a Window:
    You must copy ICONPEEK.PIF to your Windows directory to run in a
    window.  Pull down the FILE menu from PROGRAM MANAGER and select
    RUN.  type in ICONPEEK and any parameters.  You can let it run in a
    window or run it mimimized.  The window will close when finished.

3 - By clicking on an icon:
    Copy the ICONPEEK.PIF file to the Windows directory.  Open the FILE
    MANAGER, pull up the Windows directory and drag the ICONPEEK.PIF
    file to a program group window, like ACCESSORIES.  Now pull down the
    FILE menu from PROGRAM MANAGER, select PROPERTIES, then CHANGE ICON.
    Type in PEEK.ICO or PEEK1.ICO.  Start the program by clicking on the
    icon.  You can mimimize the window and let it run in background.

NOTE:  If you need to change parameters before running ICONPEEK as a
windowed program, you will have to update the ICONPEEK.PIF file with the
PIF editor. See your Windows book for how to do that.



PRINTING TIP
------------
Printing from Paintbrush on a HP Deskjet Plus, I get fairly good results
with LANDSCAPE orientation, 300 dpi, PROOF quality, 130% scale, and set
the switch on the printer itself to "DRAFT."



PROGRAM INTERNALS
-----------------
First, this program isn't going to win any awards for speed, because I
wrote it in QuickBASIC 4.5 and fiddling with bits is a whole lot faster
in assembler.  It also takes me a lot longer to write assembler.  It
isn't the kind of thing you're going to run every day anyway.

Second, the output is a bitmap (.BMP suffix).  The Paintbrush format
(.PCX suffix) is about half the size.  You might want to open the
bitmaps with Paintbrush and save them as .PCX files to save space.
I know the format of the .PCX files, but I'm NOT going to do that kind
of data compression in BASIC.  It was bad enough I had to do transparent
backgrounds and build my own font.

Third, it reads the directory with the crude but reliable DIR command,
and uses the equally klunky SORT filter.  And, quite frankly, BASIC
leaves a lot to be desired in the area of random access file I/O.

If I re-wrote it in assembler, I'd create some humongous arrays, open
about 10 - 15 files at once, keep track of dozens of pointers, and it
would run like a scalded duck. I might even bypass the BIOS. (This
vaporware will be out in 3 years, and will cost over $250.00).

Finally, it isn't even a Windows program, just a plain old DOS program
that reads files and writes files.  There is no graphics output, so it
runs just fine as a full screen or in a window or even if Windows isn't
up.  I didn't write any display drivers or printer drivers and I'm not
going to - Use Paintbrush to look at the output and/or print it.



COPYRIGHT AND DISTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS
---------------------------------------
This program and the documentation are SHAREWARE.  That means you should
send me some money if you find this thing is useful.  $20 would be nice.
If you can't afford that, send $10.  (If you can't even afford $10, I'll
understand - I've been broke at times too).  You get a license to use
this until the format of the icons changes and it quits working.

You may freely copy and distribute this work for private, non-commercial
use in its complete, unaltered form.  You may not charge more than a
reasonable fee for distribution.  You must include the COPYRIGHT notice.
I encourage you to upload it to any public bulletin boards.  Please
upload the complete ICONPEEK.ZIP file.  Commercial users need a site
license.

The icons PEEK.ICO and PEEK1.ICO are public domain.

This program has no guarantee whatsoever.  You have to decide if it is
suitable for your needs.  It may not work on all systems.  If you suffer
any misfortune from the use or misuse or failure of this program, don't
blame this program for your mistakes.  In any event, all you could get
is a refund of whatever you paid for the program.



ALMOST FORGOT THIS PART !
-------------------------
My address:  Use it to send money.  Also use it to send comments,
suggestions or reports of bugs.


                Bill Hirst
                5691 Southwest First Street
                Plantation, FL   33317-3557


Thanks in advance for your support.