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1992-08-31
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Textshot Version 2.1
+++++++++
by McAdams Associates
*****************************************************************
**IMPORTANT**
To register Textshot, see "Registering Textshot" on page 9 of
this manual.
Contents Page
-------- ----
Description................................ 2
Hardware Requirements...................... 2
Loading Textshot........................... 2
Removing Textshot from Memory.............. 3
Activating Textshot........................ 3
Using Textshot............................. 4
Saving a Screen............................ 5
If There Are Problems...................... 6
Image Editing.............................. 6
Tips For Getting a Good Picture............ 7
Disclaimer & Agreement..................... 8
Registering Textshot....................... 9
Index...................................... 10
(C)Copyright 1992 by T.C. McAdams. All Rights Reserved.
TEXTSHOT DESCRIPTION
--------------------
Textshot is a pop-up TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program
designed to be a text screen counterpart to ZSoft's FRIEZE(tm),
producing output files for use in word processors and desktop
publishing applications. The user loads Textshot into memory,
presses the hot key from within a character-based application,
and a menu pops up permitting entry of a filespec and a choice of
various file options. When the [ENTER] key is pressed, the
screen is restored and is saved to disk in the form of a
monochrome (2-color) PC Paintbrush-format .PCX graphics file.
This file can be loaded into any application that accepts .PCX
files or into ZSoft's PC Paintbrush(tm) itself, for editing. PC
Paintbrush is not needed to use Textshot. This version of
Textshot also permits image "clipping" prior to writing an image
to disk, as well as the optional preservation of all image
settings "between pop-ups". Textshot should work on any DOS
computer running DOS 2.11 or above.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
---------------------
Textshot will work with any of the common PC video standards.
Specifically: MDA/Hercules, CGA, EGA and VGA. Textshot is
intended to work only in text modes, not in graphics modes.
Textshot will capture 80x25 screens (all standards), 80x43
screens (EGA and VGA) and 80x50 screens (VGA). Screen formats of
other than 80 columns are not supported.
Since Textshot relies on a computer's internal graphics fonts for
its output, the computer on which it's run must have, at minimum,
a complete CGA font set. In instances where this is not the
case, a DOS utility called GRAFTABL must be run to supply the
"upper half" of the necessary font set. EGA and VGA cards supply
their own complete font sets.
LOADING TEXTSHOT
----------------
Textshot is loaded into memory by typing
TEXTSHOT [ENTER]
at the DOS command line. If you use an expanded memory manager,
Textshot will function happily there, leaving your DOS memory
free for other things. For example, if you use Quarterdeck's
QEMM, you can load Textshot into high memory by typing
LOADHI TEXTSHOT [ENTER]
When Textshot is loaded a message appears telling you so. As
mentioned above, on some machines a full (256-character) ROM font
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set may not be available; Textshot checks to see before loading.
If this is the case, you are told to run the DOS GRAFTABL utility
before proceeding. Screen printing is disabled while Textshot is
resident.
REMOVING TEXTSHOT FROM MEMORY
-----------------------------
To remove Textshot from memory simply type
TEXTSHOT [ENTER]
from the command line, just as if you were loading it. Note: If
you loaded Textshot into high memory through a memory manager,
don't invoke the memory manager a second time to remove Textshot;
just type "TEXTSHOT [ENTER]", as above.
Textshot will tell you it's unloaded itself, else it will tell
you that it CAN'T unload itself. There are lots of reason why a
TSR could be unable to remove itself from memory, but most of
them come down to some other program, used after Textshot was
loaded, altering the computer's interrupt table. In these cases,
the only way to unload Textshot is to reboot.
ACTIVATING TEXTSHOT
-------------------
Textshot's hot key is [PrScr] or, on some machines,
[SHIFT + PrScr], which means hold down the [SHIFT] key, while
pressing [PrScr].
If the hot key is pressed while in a graphics mode, you'll hear
two beeps. This is Textshot's way of telling you to stop doing
that. You will also hear two beeps if your video adapter is in
other than an 80-column text mode. In the special case of the
Hercules adapter, it doesn't seem to be possible to tell with
100% reliability when it is and isn't displaying graphics;
sometimes, if you press the hot key while Hercules graphics are
being displayed, instead of hearing beeps you'll see "splotches"
appear at the top of the screen. This means that Textshot has
failed to accurately gauge modes and you'll see what ASCII
characters written to a graphics screen look like. Solution:
press [ESC] to leave Textshot. Your graphics screen will be
restored.
Another potential problem lies with other programs that play with
a computer's interrupt table, particularly the keyboard
interrupts. Textshot attempts to be nice to your computer's
interrupt table, taking over and using no more of your computer's
resources than it absolutely has to; but it HAS to have access to
some things, simply to function. If Textshot refuses to pop up,
or if you have trouble typing inside Textshot, try changing the
loading order of any other TSR programs you might be using. This
is a common cause of incompatibilities. If you're not running
any other TSRs simultaneously with Textshot and it still refuses
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to function correctly, the problem lies (probably) with the
running application and there may not be much to be done about
it.
USING TEXTSHOT
--------------
After pressing the hot key in text mode, a menu will appear at
the top of your screen. On the first line is a prompt saying
"Enter filespec:". This is where you type a name for your screen
capture file.
On the second and third lines are what we might call "status
prompts", giving you your options: [ESC] and [F1] through [F5].
Here's what they do:
[ESC] Leaves the program, "pops it down".
[F1] Controls image inversion. Textshot pops up with this
option set to "OFF". The correct setting of this toggle
(called a "toggle", because when you press it, it goes to
its opposite state; pressing once produces "ON", pressing again
produces "OFF", and so on) can only be determined by examining
the final printed output of whatever document or file you've
loaded your screen image into. Some applications will print a
normally-output ("OFF" setting) screen black-on-white while
others will print it as white-on-black. What you want your
output to look like will determine the setting of this switch.
Try it both ways.
[F2] The state of this toggle determines whether dot patterns
are used in the file to simulate, to the degree it's
possible, what the background colors of a screen look
like. 6 of the 8 possible background colors have their own
pattern. No patterns are necessary for white-on-black and black-
on-white areas. Whether or not it's worthwhile to use color
patterns will depend entirely on the nature of the screen you're
taking a picture of and what you want the final output to look
like. Again, give it a try. Note that this option isn't
available (or necessary) in monochrome modes.
[F3] On MDA/CGA equipped machines, pressing this key does
nothing; CGA fonts are all there are. On EGA/VGA-equipped
machines, you can tell Textshot to use any font available
in your computer by pressing this toggle. For an EGA, this means
CGA and EGA fonts. For a VGA adapter, it means CGA, EGA and VGA
fonts. Where you have a choice, each option represents
tradeoffs: EGA or VGA fonts will give a higher-resolution
picture, but at the cost of increased file sizes. CGA fonts
produce the smallest output files, but with the coarsest picture
resolution. The resolution question must be decided by what
you're using the output files for, and what quality is necessary.
The file size issue might become important if you're loading
screen images into an application that already hogs most of
memory, when a change in font resolution could mean the
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difference between using or not using a file. Also be aware that
.PCX file editors that don't use scroll bars may be unable to
load higher-resolution Textshot files.
Note that Textshot pops up with the font switch set to the
highest possible resolution by default. This can be changed by
using the [F4] key.
[F4] This key preserves all of Textshot's toggle settings
between pop-ups, including the position of the clipping
box (discussed next). Filespecs are not preserved.
[F5] Pressing this key enables you to tell Textshot which areas
of your screen to save. When pressed, it causes the menu
to (temporarily) disappear and a white "clipping box" to
appear on your screen. The first time this key is pressed, the
box will be as large as your screen; changing the box's shape
tells Textshot which part of the screen you want saved -- those
parts that are covered by the box. The clipping box is
"inclusive", which is to say that whatever is covered by the
edges of the box will be included in what is saved. This would
permit, for example, collapsing the clipping box down to the size
of a single character, if that's what you wanted, and saving that
single character to a file.
The clipping box is controlled by pressing the arrow keys. When
[F5] is pressed and the box first appears, the arrow keys control
the "upper left" sides of the box. The top and left sides.
Pressing [ENTER] with the box still visible "flips" the arrow
keys, which then control the "lower right" sides of the box. The
right and bottom sides. Pressing [ENTER] again toggles sides yet
again, which can be repeated as many times as necessary.
Pressing [SHIFT + ARROW] accelerates the clipping box's
movements, allowing you to "cover more territory" quickly.
After setting the clipping box, pressing [ESC] makes the box
disappear and the menu reappear.
If you should want to quickly restore the clipping box to its
default (whole screen) size without having to use the arrow keys,
make sure the [F4] toggle is set to "OFF", pop down Textshot, by
pressing [ESC] from the menu, and then pop it up again by
pressing [PrScr]. All toggles will be reset.
SAVING A SCREEN
---------------
Textshot doesn't care whether or not you use a .PCX file
extension. If you want your files to be "real" PC Paintbrush
files, it's necessary for you to give them a .PCX or .PCC
extension.
Filespecs can be as long as the available screen space. The
cursor will stop automatically when you've reached the limit.
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After entering your filespec and selecting the desired options,
pressing [ENTER] causes Textshot to restore the screen and write
the file you've specified. Since a high-resolution file might
take a little while to write, especially on a slower machine,
Textshot will beep when it's finished writing to disk. That
means your picture is complete.
Note: Textshot does not include the cursor in the pictures it
makes. If whatever you're using the picture for requires a text
cursor, one can be "faked in" by loading the file into PC
Paintbrush (or another .PCX file editor) and drawing it.
IF THERE ARE PROBLEMS
---------------------
If Textshot has any trouble when writing the file, you'll hear
two beeps, a message window at the top of the screen will appear,
and whatever the problem might be is described. You are then
asked to press any key, and the message window disappears. Press
[PrScr] again to try the operation over.
Make sure you've typed a correct pathname (a directory that
exists) and that the disk you're writing to has enough room for
the output file. It's a "giveaway" if you type DIR for the disk
you're trying to write to and discover there are "0 bytes free"!
Textshot tells you specifically about most common disk problems.
If you see the general message "Disk error", though, it's
something sufficiently obscure that Textshot (and probably you)
can't do much about it.
Finally, if there ever should be any difficulty in loading a
Textshot file into an application, try loading it first into PC
Paintbrush, or another .PCX file editor, and save it back to disk
with the same filename, and then try again.
IMAGE EDITING
-------------
As with any other .PCX-format file, screen images produced by
Textshot can be loaded and edited inside PC Paintbrush. Since
Textshot produces 2-color files, your copy of PC Paintbrush must
either be set (through PBSETUP) for any monochrome mode, or, on
color systems, to CGA 2-color mode.
Strange as it may seem, it is possible to get VGA resolution
screen shots using CGA-mode files! If, for example, you create a
VGA-, or EGA-resolution screen image with Textshot and load it
into CGA-configured PC Paintbrush, all the characters will seem
"elongated", to be stretched vertically. Don't worry! These
files can be edited easily enough inside PC Paintbrush. When,
however, the images are imported into an application they
automatically assume the aspect ratio (the ratio of height to
width) of the "frame" into which they're "poured". A computer's
video screen has an aspect ratio of about 3:4. If the frame you
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pour the image into, inside your application, has this same
aspect ratio, the screen images will turn out looking very
natural. If your Textshot images are saved using the CGA font,
the resulting images will appear to have a "natural" aspect ratio
inside PC Paintbrush to begin with, when it is configured for
CGA.
When a Textshot image is loaded into PC Paintbrush running on a
Hercules adapter, the image will be smaller than the screen
(because it has only 640 pixels horizontal resolution), on the
right and possibly on the bottom, depending on the font
resolution of the Textshot image. If, after editing, the file is
saved back to disk, those blank areas on the right and the bottom
will go with it. This is something to take into account.
Every word processor or desktop publishing program that I'm
familiar with has no trouble importing PC Paintbrush images
regardless of resolution or mode, and that includes Textshot
images; mode translation is always automatic. Final judgements
regarding hardware and software compatibility, though, as with
any shareware product, must be yours. Please make sure Textshot
works with everything you might need it to work with before
committing to it!
TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD PICTURE
-------------------------------
As mentioned previously, the first things to try when saving an
image is to use the toggle switches available when Textshot is
"popped up". Image inversion, the use of color patterns and
changing the image resolution should make it possible to get an
acceptable image under most circumstances. But what do you do if
none of these work? This section has some additional ideas.
If your video adapter is able, try switching to monochrome (MDA
or Hercules). Most programs make their screens differently,
using ASCII characters and character intensity only, when running
in monochrome.
In cases where the color patterns are unacceptably ugly, but are
necessary, sometimes you can solve the problem by changing the
patterns used by changing the top application's screen colors.
Since you are dealing with Textshot's color patterns, remember
that it doesn't matter what the colors on the screen look like,
whether they are pretty or ugly; all that matters is that the
color patterns turn out acceptably. If all else fails, try
changing the application to sheer black-on-white, or vice versa.
If you want to put something into a captured image that wasn't in
the original, or take out something that doesn't belong, you must
resort to PC Paintbrush, or some other .PCX file editor, for
editing. There, it's also possible to add cursors and capture
small bits of an original file as .PCC (cutout) files.
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DISCLAIMER & AGREEMENT
----------------------
Users of Textshot must accept this disclaimer of warranty:
"Textshot is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
warranties, expressed or implied, including, without
limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of
fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no
liability for damages, direct or consequential, which
may result from the use of Textshot."
Textshot is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge
to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your
friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products. If you find this program
useful and find that you are using Textshot and continue to use
Textshot after a reasonable trial period, you must make a
registration payment of $25 to McAdams Associates. The $25
registration fee will license one copy for use on any one
computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like
a book. An example is that this software may be used by any
number of people and may be freely moved from one computer
location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it
being used at one location while it's being used at another.
Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the
same time.
Commercial users of Textshot must register and pay for their
copies of Textshot within 30 days of first use or their license
is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by
contacting McAdams Associates.
Anyone distributing Textshot for any kind of remuneration must
first contact McAdams Associates at the address below for
authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted
to distributors recognized by the ASP as adhering to its
guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may
begin offering Textshot immediately (However McAdams Associates
must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-
date with the latest version of Textshot.).
You are encouraged to pass a copy of Textshot along to your
friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their
copy if they find that they can use it.
And since this is shareware and I am a member of the Association
of Shareware Professionals, please read the following:
"This program is produced by a member of the
Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP
wants to make sure that the shareware principle works
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for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-
related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP
Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem
with an ASP member, but does not provide technical
support for members' products. Please write to the ASP
Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442
or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP
Ombudsman 70007,3536."
REGISTERING TEXTSHOT
---------------------
Registering Textshot costs $25 and includes one year's free
support by phone, mail and CompuServe e-mail, free bug fixes, the
latest version of Textshot, plus TWO handy utility programs: 1)
SEARCH, a multitalented disk scanning file-finder program, and 2)
TO/RET, a "two-in-one" combo that work together, enabling you to
change to any disk/directory and return instantly to your
starting point.
To register Textshot, simply print and fill out the file
REGISTER.DOC and send it, along with $25 (checks or M.O.s drawn
on U.S. banks only, please) to:
McAdams Associates
P.O. Box 835505
Richardson, TX 75083-5505
CIS PPN 70353,1644
Textshot was created using QuickC and MASM, which are trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation.
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INDEX
-----
Activating Textshot, see [PrScr] key
Beeps
One (signifying completion), 6
Two (disk error), 6
Two (graphics mode error), 3
Clipping (image), 2, 5
Color patterns, 4, 7
Commercial distribution, 8
Commercial use of Textshot, 8
Disk errors, 6
Editing Textshot images, 6-7
[ESC] key, 4, 5
and Hercules "splotches", 3
[F1] function key, see Image inversion
[F2] function key, see Color patterns
[F3] function key, see Fonts
[F4] function key, see Preserve settings
[F5] function key, see Clipping
Fonts
Aspect ratios of, 7
[F3] toggle, 4-5
File sizes using different, 4
Hardware requirements, 2
GRAFTABL DOS utility, 2, 3
Graphics file format, 2
Graphics modes, 2, 3
Hercules (determining), 3
Hot key, see [PrScr] key
Image inversion, 7
Toggle switch, 4
Leaving Textshot, see [ESC] key
Loading Textshot, 2-3
Memory managers, 2, 3
PCX file editors, 5, 6, 7
PCX file extension, 6
PCX file format, 2, 6-7
Preserve settings, 5
[PrScr] hot key, 3
Registering Textshot, 8-9
Software compatibility, 3-4
Support policy, 9
Unloading Textshot, 3
Video
80-column modes supported, 2
Aspect ratio, 6-7
Hercules & PC Paintbrush, 7
Monochrome, 4, 7
Standards (compatibility), 2
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