DP Tool Club 8/CDASC08.ISO/VRAC/FXINFO.ZIP/ROBOPR02.TXT

Text File | 1993-07-23 | 11.7 KB | 188 lines

Downloaded from BBS++ RoboBOARD HQ USA - 619-793-8360 / 619-793-8361

                                                       DATE: 06/20/93
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                          By Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.
     ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


                 *****  The Tel-FX Graphical Protocol  *****

        Tel-FX is a lighting fast,  leading edge graphical protocol  to be
     released by Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.   We are the company that grew
     out of the grass roots success of the ROBO-BOARD Pro and Plus series.
     We are finishing writing a new  BBS package called  RoboBOARD/FX 1.00
     (100% new code).  The original ROBO-BOARD was released officially, by
     Seth Hamilton in August of 1992,  at the exact time that ONE Inc. was
     hosting the first ONE BBSCON in Denver.   ROBO-BOARD was original, it
     was  revolutionary,  and  it  was  plotting  a  new  course,  through
     uncharted waters.   As with all good ideas  we  now have competitors.
     The most frequently  asked  question  lately  is,  "What are you guys
     doing writing a graphical protocol,  when others exist?"   After  all
     there  is  NAPLPS,  the  accepted  international  standard,  and most
     recently the RIP protocol.   This  message  intended  for  Robo-BOARD
     SysOps,  will address this question  and  will  outline  some  of the
     expected Tel-FX features soon to be presented in RoboBOARD/FX.

        RoboBOARD/FX  and  Tel-FX are high expectation products, driven by
     an informed group of Sysops  and our desire  to bring  REAL  realtime
     graphics to the online world.   The reason we are protocol developers
     is  out  of  necessity.   We needed graphics,  and  continue  to need
     graphics that can address these expectations.   We  do  not feel that
     NAPLPS or RIP  meet our expectations  or the expectations of informed
     Sysops and Users alike. This is especially so since the advent of GUI
     (graphical user interface) based operating systems,  like Windows and
     OS/2.  Rather than us dissecting these other protocols  and detailing
     their good features,  missing features,  and incomplete features,  we
     will outline the Tel-FX Protocol.  This will give you the information
     about Tel-FX you need to make your own decisions, without the bias of
     a one sided conversation.

        We have read the proclamations, regarding the virtues of an online
     industry united under one protocol.   That is a wonderful idea but is
     it realistic with the protocols presented?

        NAPLPS,  North  American  Presentation  Level  Protocol  Sytax  is
     an ANSI & CSA approved standard.  The  NAPLPS  protocol addresses the
     needs of modern operating systems  and graphics hardware by providing
     resolution and colour depth independent graphics.   This  allows  for
     the display of a  16.8 million colour picture  on a 2 colour monitor.
     Most of what was written into the  NAPLPS technical specifications in
     1983, is still a valid today.  NAPLPS completely lacks user interface
     capabilities,  and as  its name  indicates is strictly a presentation
     protocol.  Despite all the thought, and effort put into NAPLPS it has
     failed  to  become   the   industry  leader  it  could  have  become.
     The technical specifications  were excessively large,  wandering  and
     very complex,  making  full  implementation impractical or impossible
     for  most  developers  needs.   Furthermore toolkits  and source code
     examples were not  common enough,  or  possibly  too  proprietary  to
     facilitate a quick implementation of NAPLPS.

        Out of the NAPLPS experience comes the new generation of graphical
     protocol developers;  The protocol entrepreneurs.   RIP is claimed to
     be the  online graphical standard, by some.    RIP, like the original
     ROBO-BOARD  addresses the problem  of  online  BIT  Mapped  Graphics.
     ROBO-BOARD  has always sent its BIT Maps in realtime.   RIP  requires
     the user to go through a  clumsy  download and  unpacking  procedure.
     Whenever the sysop changes a graphic  or a new user  logs onto a  BBS
     this download/unpack process must be repeated.   This requires that a
     user have a good understanding of  download  protocols  and archiving
     software.  The RIP protocol is  only  capable of displaying 16 colour
     graphics  at  EGA  640 x 350  resolution.     This  lack  of   device
     independence  and  practical  user  interface  is NOT in keeping with
     modern GUI interface standards, and our expectations.

        The most important criticism of the RIP protocol  is the high cost
     placed upon the SysOp.   Typically standards are not expensive and in
     many cases free.   We consider ourselves  BBS software developers and
     innovators, as well as  protocol developers.   We  needed  a protocol
     that would be  colour and  resolution independent,  provide real-time
     BIT Map graphics,  and  provide  an  interface as functional as other
     GUIs.  We have achieved all this with the FREE Tel-FX protocol.

        We do not see ourselves as RIP rivals,  rather we congratulate the
     crew from RIP on their success thus far and wish them the best in the
     future.   Before  anyone  in  these  echoes  puts   RIP   down  don't
     underestimate  what  they  have  done  for  online graphics.   We  at
     Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.  are hoping to see  RIP address the issues
     of realtime,  colour independence,  and  device  independence.

        We have developed our graphics toolkits in house,  and as a result
     of this extra work can release a developers kit.   YOUR COST NOTHING!
     To save  Tel-FX developers and sysops money we will also be releasing
     a FREE Tel-FX Terminal and Drawing Package.  The Tel-FX Terminal is a
     very polished  light weight  SVGA and  ANSI capable terminal.  Tel-FX
     Draw is a very modern GUI driven design package.  The Tel-FX Protocol
     is the solution for developers who want a  superior interface without
     charging valued SysOps hundreds of dollars for graphics.

        Tel-FX allows for a windowed interface  in any graphically capable
     environment.  By creating a  windowed protocol  BBS  users  can  drag
     windows around their screen  totally  independent of the host system.
     If a Tel-FX Terminal user has a 21" monitor and  wants to run it at a
     screen resolution of 1024 x 768  'no problem', your user simply has a
     larger playing field than the standard  640 x 480 screen  resolution.
     Exactly the way Microsoft Windows does it.  A user can  have multiple
     Bulletins  up  on  the screen  at the same time,  the  main  menu,  a
     template etc.   These are just a couple of examples  that demonstrate
     the  flexibility of a  windowed interface  but  most  importantly  it
     brings a new level of design power to the implementor.

        Tel-FX Draw is a full featured 256 colour high resolution drawing,
     painting  and   graphics  assembly  package  intended  for  use  with
     RoboBOARD/FX and other Tel-FX implementations.   We have accomplished
     a  natural  feeling  graphics  designer   by  using  a  mouse  driven
     interface, buttons,   intuitive  icons,   flyout  sidebar  menus  and
     dragging dialogue boxes.   Tel-FX Draw introduces mondo fonts;  large
     fillable banner fonts, that can be dragged and morphed into any  four
     sided shape.  Mondo fonts  come complete with  multilingual character
     sets. There are morphable ellipses that can be dragged into virtually
     any elliptical shape.  Tel-FX Draw is a polygon based drawing package
     and  its prime entities  are polylines,  polysplines (Bezier),  and 3
     point arcs.  Also included in Tel-FX Draw is a very sophisticated pop
     up icon editor, that  lets  you easily draw,  transform, and visually
     merge  icon  files.   You  can  let  your  users   view  full  colour
     photographic  images  in  realtime  using  our  in  house JPEG (Joint
     Photographic Experts Group) technology or our fast GreyPEGs.

        The  Tel-FX  protocol  supports  anywhere  from  2 to 16.8 million
     colour graphics,  however our implementation supports both 16 and 256
     colour modes.   We realize that the last thing people want to do,  is
     create a  16 and a 256 colour version  of every screen.   The  Tel-FX
     Terminal and Tel-FX Draw automatically convert 256 colour SVGA  to 16
     colour  VGA graphics  if only a  16 colour  VGA graphics  adapter  is
     detected.  We chose our 256 colour palette very carefully. We derived
     it mathematically to insure a wide range of colours.  The Tel-FX Draw
     palette not only lends itself very well to drawing, but also produces
     excellent results when displaying JPEG photographic images.  There is
     also a complete grey scale  in  our  256 colour palette,  perfect for
     displaying black and white photographs quickly.   We decided  that 16
     colour VGA was too limiting for those who cannot display 256 colours,
     so we extended the VGA palette to create a virtual 64 colour spectrum.

        A polyline is made up of a number of lines, splines, and arcs that
     are chained together in an end to end manner.   Polygons  are exactly
     the same as  polylines  except that they are closed  and must have at
     least 2 sides.   When a polygon is closed  the last point picked with
     your  mouse  is  in  exactly  the  same  place as the first point you
     picked.   Polygons and polylines are used by  most  high end graphics
     packages or systems like Microsoft Windows,  Corel,  PostScript,  ATM
     and Harvard Graphics.  Polygons  and  polylines  allow  for  powerful
     entity manipulation such as  rotating, mirroring, stretching, scaling
     and  morphing.   Polygons  and  polylines  give  Tel-FX  one  of  the
     necessary  ingredients,   to  address  the  complexities   of  screen
     resolution  independence,  colour  independence,  and  multi platform
     compatability.  Other protocol developers have chosen a short sighted
     flood fill  approach  to  painting,   that  makes  colour  and device
     independence impossible.   Polygons  allow  for  perfect colour fills
     every time.

        The Tel-FX protocol  will be capable  of emulating ANSI  while  in
     graphics mode.   If a user has logged on using FX-TERM and entered an
     ANSI DOOR their terminal end will stay in graphics mode.  This has an
     interesting look seeing ANSI,  being displayed  in a futuristic  SVGA
     Icon driven environment.

        We feel that  Tel-FX has a very important role in online graphics.
     Tel-FX provides the necessary tools for  this generation and the next
     generation of GUI based BBS software.


                                          Thank you
                                          Hamilton TeleGraphics Inc.