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ALPHA PLOT INSTRUCTIONS ----------------------- GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- Alpha Plot is a sophisticated Hi-Res graphics program that will let you flex your Apple's Hi-Res capabilities to create colorful drawings and detailed charts and graphs. These instructions will do their best job if you run Alpha Plot and experiment while you read. Most of the details not in the instructions are printed on the screen. ALPHA INFO ---------- Any changes or suggestions that we have come up with since this book was printed appear on the Alpha Plot disk. Run the "Alpha Info" program. ALPHA PLOT'S TWO MODES ---------------------- Alpha Plot features a Drawing Mode and a Typing Mode. To enter either mode, select Key Chart Option 4, then D or T, OR type ctrl-D or ctrl-T while typing or drawing. In the Drawing Mode, you can do everything EXCEPT type. Typing Mode lets you type and access Options 1-6. TWO IMAGE PAGES --------------- The Apple has two Hi-Resolution screens or "Pages", called Page 1 and Page 2. With Alpha Plot, you can store two images in memory at the same time and view either one. Alpha Plot lets you draw or type only on Page 1, but you may easily move images from Page 1 to Page 2 and back, and from memory to disk and back from or to either page. You may, of course, store as many images as you want on disk. APPLE'S SCREEN LAYOUT --------------------- Apple's Hi-Res screens measure 280 plots wide (0-279) by 192 plots high (0-191). Four colors (1,2,5,6), two blacks (0,4) and two whites (3,7) are available for Hi-Res plotting. See "<1> Color Selection" and your Applesoft Manual and for more information. CURSOR MOVES ------------ Cursor moves from the Drawing and Typing Modes are similar. From the Typing Mode, you must press the CTRL key WHILE you press the appropriate cursor-move key. Otherwise, you would type the letter on the screen. KEY DIRECTION AMOUNT L. Arrow Left 1 unit (ctrl)-K Left 1 plot R. Arrow Right 1 unit (ctrl)-L Right 1 plot (ctrl)-A Up 1 unit (ctrl)-S Up 1 plot (ctrl)-Z Down 1 unit (ctrl)-X Down 1 plot See more about units, plots, and other cursor-move features in the Typing Mode and Drawing Mode sections. The Alpha Plot key layout works well for comfortable two-hand operation. Notice that the plot-move keys are adjacent to the unit-move keys. <RETURN> -------- If you find yourself in a part of Alpha Plot you don't want to be in (for example, you might accidentally press a 5 and be in the "Erase the Screen" mode), pressing the <RETURN> key as an answer to a question will usually get you back to the Drawing or Typing mode. COMPATIBILITY WITH NORMAL DISKS ------------------------------- Images created with Alpha Plot are completely compatible with your normal programs and disks. Therefore, you may use pictures made with Alpha Plot in your own programs. Run and list the program on the Alpha Plot disk called "PICTURE BLOAD DEMO" if you are unfamiliar with loading and viewing hi-res pictures under program control. SAVE TO BE SAFE --------------- Making a drawing on your Apple is quite a bit like programming. The more you plan, the better things turn out. The more you practice, the more efficient you will be. As with programming, SAVE YOUR WORK from time to time in case you want to continue drawing from where you were ten minutes ago (or in case the dog pulls the plug). STARTING OUT ------------ Boot the Alpha Plot disk, and choose the "Run Alpha Plot" option. Answer Y to "Clear the Hi-Res screen?" (or answer N if you have pictures in memory that you want to keep). After the usual amount of disk-whirring, you will be presented with Hi-Res Page 1, with text at the bottom of the screen offering you the choices D, T, L and S for Draw, Type, Load and Save. You will re-encounter this portion of the program each time you press the 4 key. More later about that. DRAWING MODE ------------ From this mode you can do anything except type--plot lines, dots, ellipses and boxes, and perform page and image manipulations. MOVING THE CURSOR ----------------- When you first run Alpha Plot, you will see a flickering squarish dot on the screen. This is the XO CURSOR, actually four cursors in one. Press the A, Z and Arrow keys a few times to separate the four cursors and to get a feel for cursor movement. Try the K, L, S and X keys too for one-plot movement. Notice how the O part of the cursor is controlled by you while the X stays in one position, and the two dots go along for the ride. CURSOR JUMPS ------------ How far your cursor goes with each keypress is determined by the SPEED (9 key). However, you may JUMP the cursor 50 PLOTS without changing the speed. Simply press <ESC>, then A, Z, or an Arrow. To jump 150 plots down from the top of the screen, for example, type <ESC>-Z-<ESC>-Z-<ESC>-Z. CURSOR COORDINATES and OFFSET ----------------------------- At the bottom left of the screen is information regarding the current position of the cursor. The H and V values after the word "CURSOR" represent the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the O part of the cursor. The "OFFSET" values represent the horizontal and vertical distances BETWEEN the X and the O. Notice that coordinates H=O and V=O place the cursor at the upper left of the screen and coordinates H=279 and V=191 place it at the lower right. (NOTE: To exit the Drawing Mode, type "4" or ctrl-T.) THE KEYS -------- Except for cursor moves, most Alpha Plot features are controlled by the top row of keys as indicated on your Keyboard Chart. Here is a discussion of each key and what it does. (SPACE BAR) DRAW/MOVE SELECTION ------------------------------- Press the space bar and you will see the flashing word, "DRAW", on the top left text line. Now move your cursor and it will indeed draw. Press the space bar again and "DRAW" will change to "MOVE", meaning you can move the cursor without drawing. The space bar is used because it is easily reachable with your thumb while you are manipulating the cursor. to plot a single dot, press the space bar twice and move the cursor away. (RETURN) ZERO OFFSET -------------------- Pressing the <Return> key while you are in the Drawing Mode will set the offset to Zero and place all four corners of the XO Cursor on top of the O. This same feature is accomplished by pressing 8 and Z. See "<B> Modify Cursor". (1) COLOR --------- Press the 1 key and you can select your Drawing or Typing (size>1) color. If Alpha Plot isn't drawing or typing when you think it should be, maybe you have the drawing color set the same as your background. To select a new color quickly, simply type 1-3 or 1-6 or 1-whatever, depending on the color you want. COLOR BUGS ---------- 1. The Apple won't let you draw certain colors in certain vertical columns. You can only draw in Colors 1 and 5 in ODD-NUMBERED columns. Alpha Plot corrects this by moving the cursor one plot over when necessary. 2. A WHITE VERTICAL line will appear in color unless you plot another line directly next to it. Alpha Plot does this for you for Colors 4 (Black) and 7 (White), but NOT for Colors 0 (Black) and 3 (White). That way you have a choice when drawing vertical lines. SPECIAL COLORS: 8 & 9 ---------------------- COLOR #8 (REVERSE) lets you draw lines or boxes (not ellipses) in the OPPOSITE of the background color. These lines and boxes may be erased by re-drawing over them in Reverse. Experiment and see. COLOR #9 (MIX) lets you select TWO COLORS (not Reverse) for drawing filled boxes and ellipses. Every other horizontal line will appear in each color. You can create many different shades and hues by mixing colors (and by adjusting a few of the knobs on your T.V. set!). Load the "Color Chart" picture from the Alpha Plot disk to see the range of color possibilities. If your color is #9 (mix), your drawing color for lines will be the FIRST COLORS of the mix. (2) NOTES ---------- The notes at the bottom of the screen may be turned off to reveal whatever image may be behind the notes. Press 2 for full-screen graphics or to turn the notes back on again. (3) GRID --------- Press 3 to draw a Hi-Res grid over your picture. Press 3 again and the grid will be erased (that's Color #8 again!). There are dots at every ten plots in both directions. The grid lines are 100 plots apart. It is best NOT to draw or type with the grid on the screen unless you want the grid as a permanent part of your picture. When the grid erases, it will draw little dots and stripes on any NEW parts of your drawing. Another way to access the grid is to draw it on Page 1 and store it on Page 2 (see option 6). (4) DRAW, TYPE, LOAD & SAVE ---------------------------- Running Alpha Plot or selecting Key Chart Option 4 will get you into the "Draw, Type, Load, Save" mode with its animated text arrow. the Drawing Mode and Typing Modes (described earlier) may be entered from this option by selecting "D" or "T". "Load" and "Save", selectable by pressing the L or S keys, let you load and save (actually BLOAD and BSAVE) hi-res pictures to and from disk. Hi-res pictures will usually appear as 34 sector binary (B) files in your catalogs. Scrunched picture files (see page 38) will be smaller. You may catalog whatever disk is in your drive by first selecting L or S and then typing "CAT" (return) when a file name is requested. You cannot perform other DOS functions such as Lock and Unlock while using Alpha Plot. To resave a picture that is locked, save it with a different name OR save it onto another disk. If you want, you can even quit Alpha Plot and load and save hi-res images "by hand" by typing: BLOAD PICTURE, A$2000 (page 1) BLOAD PICTURE, A$4000 (page 2) BSAVE PICTURE, A$2000, L$2000 (page 1) BSAVE PICTURE, A$4000, L$2000 (page 2) The "PICTURE BLOAD DEMO" program demonstrates more regarding handling of hi-res pictures. ERRORS ------ If the disk is full or some other error occurs during a Load or Save, you will see an error message number on the screen and the program will continue. the error number represents the TYPE of error that has occurred. Here are the most likely numbers: 4=WRITE PROTECTED, 6=FILE NOT FOUND, 8=I/O ERROR, 9=DISK FULL, 10=FILE LOCKED, 13=FILE TYPE MISMATCH. See your Applesoft Manual for the complete list. If you are attempting to save an image and get a DOS error, such as "File Type Mismatch" or "Disk Full", your picture will NOT BE SAVED completely. You will need to exit Alpha Plot, correct the problem, Run Alpha Plot, and save your image again. (5) CLEAR THE SCREEN -------------------- Press 5 and select the color you want to clear the screen. Your picture will be permanently erased unless you pick "Color" #8 which will give you a NEGATIVE IMAGE of the screen. "Erase" again with Color #8 and you'll get your own positive image back! (6) IMAGE OPTIONS ----------------- Pressing 6 gives you four powerful options: (6-P) SEE PAGE 2: ----------------- Press P, and you will see your Page 2 image (if there is one). Now press any key, and the screen will flicker between Pages 1 and 2 so you may compare them. Press any key again, and you are back to Page 1. (6-S) SWITCH IMAGES: -------------------- Press S and your two pages will be switched. Now you can draw or type on your (former) Page 2 image. (6-R) RELOCATE: --------------- Any rectangular section of Page 1 may be duplicated on either page within the limits of the screen. BEFORE YOU SELECT OPTION 6-R, define the area to be moved with the four points of the XO cursor. Now press 6 and R, select 1 or 2 for the page you want the move made to and move the flashing rectangle to the desired new location. The 2 key will function here if you want to temporarily remove the screen notes. PRESS M TO MAKE THE TRANSFER or <Return> to escape. After the transfer has been made, you may delete the original section image by drawing a solid box over it. (6-M) MERGE PAGES: ------------------ Alpha Plot lets you merge pictures four different ways. If you're into the terminology ("A OR B", etc.), here it is. If you're not, ignore this: 1. A OR B (Opaque Non-Black Page 1 onto Page 2) 2. A EOR B (XDraw Page 1 onto Page 2) 3. A AND B (Opaque Black Page 1 onto Page 2) 4. A=B ( Compare/Combine) You will want to experiment with each option. If your Page 2 picture is valuable, SAVE IT on disk BEFORE MERGING. Here are two sample images. The four possible merges appear on the next page. PAGE 1 BEFORE MERGE (PICTURES GO HERE) (7) KEYBOARD/PADDLE SWITCH -------------------------- The 7 key will switch cursor control from paddles to keyboard and back with a "KEY" or "PDL" appearing on the top line of the screen notes. If you don't have paddles, you don't need paddles; keyboard control is far more accurate. Paddle-1 will move it vertically. Paddles have no effect in the Typing Mode. All keys except the cursor-move keys have their normal effect with paddles in control. (8) MODIFY CURSOR ----------------- The 8 key lets you select or re-arrange the cursor. The current cursor's symbol; "XO", "RB", or "--" will appear in the screen notes. (8-X) XO CURSOR ---------------- This is the Drawing cursor you will probably use most, since it is the most versatile of the three available. The XO cursor consists of four points. The O is the drawing point, the X is a stationary reference point, and the other two points assist in the drawing of ellipses, boxes and lines. Pressing <Return> (or Option 8-Z) or drawing a line (Option "--") will put all four points on top of the O. (8-B) RUBBER BAND CURSOR ------------------------ The Rubber Band cursor works similarly to the XO cursor, but shows you a stretchable projected line between a stationary point and any other point you select. Using this cursor, you can actually see a line plot before you draw it. Pressing <Return> (or Option 8-Z) or drawing a line (Option "--") will give the Rubber Band a length of zero. (8-N) NO CURSOR --------------- The no-cursor mode is used when you want to draw with no distractions on the screen. With no cursor you can do everything you can with either of the two visible cursors. ( 8-Z) ZERO OFFSET ----------------- Z will put all four XO Cursor points on top of the current 0 position, or make the length of the Rubber Band Cursor zero. Select Z when you want to move the usually stationary X position. Pressing <Return> from the Drawing Mode is the same as selection 8-Z. (8-R) ROTATE LEFT ----------------- R rotates the XO Cursor points or the Rubber Band 90 degrees counter-clockwise (unpredictable in PDL mode). (9) SPEED --------- Speed determines the NUMBER OF PLOTS the cursor will plot or move for each A, Z or Arrow keypress. you may select speeds 1-9 by pressing the appropriate number. Pressing a zero will select a speed of 10. "*" is 20 and "-" is 40. S, X, K and L will move the cursor 50 PLOTS regardless of the speed. To quickly select a new speed, simply type 9-5 or 9-* or 9-whatever. (0) ELLIPSE ----------- Pressing the Zero key will draw an ellipse that would touch each of the four sides of an imaginary box connecting the four XO cursor points. Another Zero will fill the ellipse. you do not have to wait for the circle to be drawn to fill it (simply type two zeros). You may halt an ellipse while it is being drawn by pressing <Return>. An ellipse may be any color or color mix, but not Reverse. Theoretically, to draw a CIRCLE, the H and V Offset values at the bottom of your screen should be about EQUAL. This depends partly on the amount of distortion on your monitor. Try a test. (:) BOX ------- Pressing Colon will draw a linear box connecting the four points of the XO cursor. Colors 4 and 7 black or white boxes have fatter vertical sides. Colors 0 and 3 do not (see "Color Bugs"). A second Colon will fill the box in the selected color or Reverse. You may use mixed colors for drawing boxes (see more under Color Selection). (-) LINE -------- Pressing a Minus-sign key will connect the X and O ends of your XO cursor with a line or make an imprint of the Rubber Band Cursor on the s