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CICA 1992 November
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CICA_MS_Windows_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_November_1992.iso
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vbasic
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metalib
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readme.txt
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1992-03-04
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The METALiB 1.0 library is a set of Visual Basic routines
that will allow you to create, draw, and save Microsoft SDK
metafiles in Visual Basic.
A metafile is unlike the more familiar bitmap because,
instead of storing each pixel of an image, only the drawing
commands themselves are stored. As a result, for simple
images such as graphs, charts, line drawings, etc. the
resultant memory and disk storage requirements are much
smaller than for bitmaps. But that is not the best part!
Since a metafile is made up of only the drawing commands,
the images are easily resizable and transportable. This is
best shown with the demo program accompanying this library
called METADEMO.EXE. It draws a simple line drawing of a
jet. Try resizing the window it is drawn in and the jet
will instantly re size to fit the new window size. Note
that as the size of the jet doubles, the lines and text all
stay the same width. In other words, it assumes the
resolution of the target drawing surface. This target
surface can even be a printer by simply substituting
Printer.hDC for the picture box hDC property. Try this with
a bitmap. When a bitmap is resized it retains its original
resolution. If its size is doubled you end up with lines
that are twice as wide and that exhibit the familiar "stair
stepping" that we are used to seeing on low resolution
devices.
Metafiles have their weaknesses, though. Highly detailed
images, such as portraits and artistic renderings are much
more suitable to bitmaps. Such images are difficult to
break down into individual drawing commands more powerful
than then the simplest PSet method. At this point it makes
more sense to store and process each pixel then it would
processing a quarter of a million PSet commands as would be
required for a 512 x 512 pixel by pixel image.
METALib is a collection of visual basic routines that are
designed to replace many of the standard VB methods that are
normally used for drawing bitmaps. METALiB is still
incomplete, but growing. We but the basic functionality
together and are distributing it in hopes that others can
improve on our original design. We would appreciate it if
anyone making improvements would pass the changes back to us
at Sygenex, Inc.
METALib 1.0 was designed and developed by Jon Upham at
Sygenex, Inc.
Jon can be reached at:
Sygenex, Inc.
15446 Bel-Red Road Suite 450
Redmond, WA 98052
206-881-5500
Compuserve: 70742,1226
Sygenex Inc. is not claiming that the METALib file has been
adquately tested and makes no warranties or claims of any
kind. METALib is free to use and distribute in anyway you
wish. Use at your own risk.
Copyright ⌐ 1992 Sygenex, Inc.