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WinRIP Lite - Version 1.0.
Demonstration Software.
Copyright (c) 1993 K. Waddon
All rights reserved.
This version of WinRIP Lite is for DEMONSTRATION purposes only.
WinRIP Lite is commercial software NOT shareware. The author does
not guarentee that the demostration version of WinRIP Lite is
complete nor that it is bug free.
This software may be reproduced and distributed at will as long
as no charge is made for providing copies of the software apart
from the cost of materials, i.e. diskettes.
This software may be made available for download from any
bulletin board system as long as it is available in a directory
for which no charge is made for access.
For details on how to order WinRIP Lite, see the file
"ORDER.FRM".
There are no warranties with respect to this documentation. The
information contained within this document is subject to change
without notice. WinRIP Lite can be used and/or copied only in
accordance with the terms specified. The Author and authorised
dealers assumes no responsibilities for errors within the
documentation. No part of this guide may be reproduced or
transferred in any form or by any means with the written consent
of The Author.
Trademarks.
-----------
IBM PC, IBM XT and IBM AT are registered trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation.
INTRODUCTION
What Do You Need to Use WinRIP Lite?
In order to use WinRIP Lite, there are certain hardware and
software requirements.
Hardware Requirements
The following system requirements are applicable when using
WinRIP Lite:
IBM PC/XT/AT or comatible computer.
Colour Graphic Display (VGA), with appropriate video card.
Software Requirements
Microsoft Windows 3.1
About This Manual
This manual is meant to be a guide to using WinRIP Lite. It will
not explain all the features of Microsoft Windows. For
information concerning Windows you may need to refer to the
documentation supplied by Microsoft with your copy of Windows
3.1.
Windows Annomalies.
-------------------
The is one feature of provided by the RIPscrip Specification that
is not available in WinRIP. This is user defined line styles.
Windows does not provide a method of defining line styles apart
from those provided as standard within Windows. The 'standard'
line styles available with RIPaint ARE available with WinRIP.
Flood Fill Problems.
Some RIP images create with editors other than WinRIP can cause
problems with flood fill. This is caused by the line termination
method used by windows.
Windows 'rounds' the end of a line, whereas RIPaint and other
editors tend to 'chop' the line. Therefore some images may not
flood fill correctly if they were not created using WinRIP.
THIS IS ONLY A PROBLEM WITH LINES THAT ARE 3 PIXELS THICK.
INSTALLATION.
Before you make use of the WinRIP Lite Demonstration Software,
you must first install it on your system.
Fistrly, you should create a directory on your hard disk into
which the contents of WRIPDEMO.ZIP should be unpacked. We suggest
for simplicities sake that you call this directory WINRIP.
You must now create several sub-directories in the WINRIP
directory, these are:
WINRIP\RIP
WINRIP\ICONS
WINRIP\BUTTONS
WINRIP\PATTERNS
These are the default directories where WinRIP will expect to
find RIP Image, RIP Icons, Button Styles and Fill Patterns
respectively.
Present in the WINRIP directory you will find three Windows
TrueType Font Files, these are:
SANS.TTF
GOTHIC.TTF
TRIPLEX.TTF
You will need to install these fonts into Windows. To do this you
will need to use the 'Control Panel' utility (Normally found in
the 'Main' window of the Windows Desktop. Select Fonts from the
Control Panel and use the 'ADD' option to select and install the
three fonts.
Thats all that is necessary to install the Demonstration Version
of WinRIP Lite.
The commercial version of WinRIP Lite has an installation utility
that will install WinRIP for you.
The Editing Window.
-------------------
Before you can perform any drawing with WinRIP Lite, you need to
have an editing window open. This can be accomplished in two
ways, either create a new picture, in which case a blank editing
window is opened , or load an existing picture for editing. To
create a new RIP image select the "New Picture" option from the
pop-up File menu. To load an existing picture, select the "Load
Picture" option from the pop-up File menu.
When loading an existing RIP picture, a dialog box will be opened
containing directory list and file list boxes. This will enable
you to select the picture file that is to be loaded.
In both cases an editing window is created which will measure 640
x 350 pixels and will be given a black background. Once the
editing window has been created the Toolbox Window will become
active, as will the greyed items on the pull down menus. You will
notice however that the "Load Picture" and "New Picture" options
on the File menu are now greyed. This is because you can only
have one RIP image open at any one time.
The Main Menu Bar.
------------------
The Main Menu Bar along the top of the main window, contains
several options, each of which will be explained in this section.
The Edit Menu.
--------------
There are two entries on this menu, the UNDO facility erases the
last drawing action. Once an action is "undone" it cannot be
reinstated. The "Redraw Image" option simply clears the edit
window and redraws the stored picture. This is useful if you want
to see how the picture will be drawn at the remote terminal.
The Icon Menu.
--------------
This menu, like the Edit Menu, only has two entries. The "Icon
Editor" option loads the Icon Editor Utility so that you can
create new icons and edit existing ones.
The "Load Icon" option allows you to load an icon for pasting
onto your picture. When this option is selected a File Open
dialog Box will be displayed containing Files List, Directory
List and File Type boxes. The file type box displayed beneath the
file list box has two files types specified, *.ICN and *.ICO. The
.ICN file type is an icon stored in RIP format, the .ICO file
type refers to Windows Icon format. WinRIP Lite is capable of
importing and converting Windows Icons.
If you decide to load a Windows Icon, a message box will be
displayed asking you if you wish to save the Icon in RIP format.
If you respond by clicking the "Yes" button you will be presented
with a File Dialog Box so you can specify which directory and
file name is to be used to save the icon.
A rectangle, the exact size of the icon, will be displayed near
the top right hand corner of the edit window. This rectangle may
be moved to the position where the icon is to be pasted by moving
the mouse pointer (which is changed to a hand in drag mode) into
the rectangle, holding down the left hand mouse button and
dragging the rectangle to the required position. Once the icon is
in the desired position you can paste it onto your picture by
clicking the right hand mouse button.
The Fill Menu.
--------------
The Fill menu contains five entries all relating to the Fill
Colour, Fill Pattern and Fill Boarder Colours.
Fill Toggle On/Off.
-------------------
This option is a checked item, this means that selecting it does
nothing more than placing a 'tick' against it. However, what
selecting this actually does is to cause solid shapes, i.e.
circles, rectangles, polygons etc to be automatically filled with
the current fill colour and pattern.
Fill Border Colour.
-------------------
Selecting this option from the Fill menu causes a window to be
displayed showing the 16 colours in the currently active palette.
From these colours you may select one to be the current Fill
Border. This is used by the Flood Fill Tool when flood filling an
area of the image. The flood fill will stop at the border colour.
Clicking "Cancel" leave the border colour selection unchanged.
Fill Pattern & Colour.
-----------------------
Selecting this option from the Fill menu causes a window to be
opened containing two sets of controls. The large set of buttons
represent the 12 standard fill patterns that may be selected. The
colours arranged as two rows of eight are the 16 colours of the
currently active palette. To select a Fill Pattern simply click
on the desired pattern. You will notice that the large rectangle
opposite the OK and CANCEL buttons will be filled with the
selected pattern. To select the Fill Colour simply click on the
desired colour. Clicking on the CANCEL button will restore the
Fill Pattern and Colour to their previous state.
Fill Pattern Editor.
--------------------
This option calls up the Pattern Editor, which allow you to
create your own customised fill patterns. The Pattern Editor has
two rectangular areas displayed side by side. The left hand
rectangle represents an 8 x 8 pixel area in which the pixel are
greatly enlarged. The right hand rectangle is used to display the
effects of your editing, i.e. the rectangle will be filled with
the pattern that you create so that you can see the effects your
fill pattern will produce.
Button/Mouse.
-------------
This menu contains one entry, Button Designer. This is dealt with
later in a separate section so won't be gone into here.
Options Menu.
-------------
This menu, with the exception of the Object Lister, contain
options concerned with the drawing tools.
Write Mode Option.
------------------
This calls up another pop-up menu which has two items on it,
"Normal" and "XOR". These two drawing modes effect how objects
are drawn on the screen. In "Normal Mode" objects are draw in the
currently selected draw colour. In "XOR Mode" the object is drawn
on the screen by XORing the current draw colour with the colour
already on the screen. A "tick" will be displayed against the
currently active mode.
Line Thickness Option.
----------------------
This allows you to select the width of lines drawn on the screen,
this also includes the thickness of boundaries of circles,
polygons etc. Two options are available, line thickness of 1
pixel and line thickness of 3 pixels.
Bezier Curve Smoothness Option.
-------------------------------
A Bezier Curve is made up of several straight lines, obviously
the smoothness of the curve is determined by the number of
straight line segments that make up the curve. This option allows
you to specify the number of segments that should be present in
any Bezier Curve that you draw. The default is ten line segments,
that is, each Bezier Curve will be made up of ten straight lines.
The higher the value specified here the smoother the curve will
appear on the screen.
Note, Bezier Curves are calculated using floating point
arithmetic, the greater the number of segments in the curve the
slower the processing will be.
Object List Option.
-------------------
Not Active.
Font Menu.
----------
The Font Menu allows you to select a Font Typeface and font Size.
Font Style Option.
------------------
This causes another pop-up menu to be displayed listing the
available Font Styles. Select the style of font you require from
this list. The currently selected font will have a "tick"
displayed next to it.
Font Size Options.
------------------
These options allow you to select the size of the current font.
Entries consist of a series of magnification factors, 1x, 2x ...
10x. Select the font size you require. A "tick" will be displayed
next to the current font size.
Applicable Drawing Controls.
----------------------------
In the next section the drawing tools are discussed in detail.
With each drawing tool there is listed the "Applicable Drawing
Controls". These mean that these options are used with that
particular drawing tool and effect the display. These controls
are:
The Current Drawing Colour.
The Current Line Pattern.
The Current Line Thickness.
The Current Fill Colour.
The Current Fill Pattern.
The Write Mode.
The Font Size.
The Toolbox.
------------
The Toolbox contains all the drawing tools needed to create a
"RIP" image. Note that the toolbox is inactive while there is no
editing window open.
The tools, listed from left to right, top to bottom are:
Pie Slice
Line Draw
Set Pixel
Hollow Rectangle
Filled Rectangle
Hollow Circle
Filled Ellipse
Circular Arc
Elliptical Arc
Hollow Polygon
Bezier Curve
Mouse Region
Flood Fill
Text Input
Filled Rectangle
Create Button
The block of 16 colours at the bottom of the Toolbox show the 16
currently active drawing colours, i.e. the current active colour
palette. The currently active drawing colour may be changed by
clicking on one of these colours. Each of the drawing tools
available in the Toolbox will now be discussed in detail.
Pie Slice.
----------
This tool allows you to draw a pie slice, it will be filled with
the current fill colour and pattern. To draw the pie slice move
the mouse pointer to the point where you require the center of
the arc to be. Hold down the left hand mouse button and without
releasing the left hand mouse button, move the mouse pointer to
position where the arc is to start, then release the left hand
mouse button. As you move the mouse pointer out from the center
a line will be 'rubber banded' to follow the mouse pointer,
giving an indication of the boundary of the arc. This line will
form the radius of the arc. Next, hold down the left hand mouse
button again and move the mouse pointer to the position at which
the arc is to end and release the left hand mouse button, WinRIP
Lite will then erase the 'rubber banding' lines and draw the pie
slice.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Thickness, Fill Colour, Fill Pattern.
Draw a Straight Line.
---------------------
This tool allows you to draw a straight line, in the current
drawing colour and line thickness. To draw a line move the mouse
pointer to the position at which the line is to start and click
the left hand mouse button. Move the mouse pointer to the
position at which the line is to end. A 'rubber banding' line
will be drawn from the line start position to the mouse pointer
as it is moved. When the mouse pointer is at the point at which
you want to end the line, click the left hand mouse button.
WinRIP Lite will then draw a permanent line from the start point
to the end point.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Pattern, Line Thickness, Write Mode.
Set Individual Pixel.
---------------------
This tool sets an individual pixel to the current drawing colour.
Move the mouse point to the position of the pixel you wish to set
and click the left hand mouse button.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour
Rectangle.
----------
This tool will allow you to draw a rectangle in the current
drawing colour and line style. Move the mouse pointer to the top
left hand corner position where you want the rectangle to start
and click the left hand mouse button. Now move the mouse pointer
to the position where you require the bottom right hand corner of
the rectangle. A rectangle will be 'rubber banded' whilst you are
moving mouse pointer. When the mouse pointer is positioned
correctly click the right hand mouse button and WinRIP Lite will
erase the 'rubber banded' rectangle and redraw it permanently.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Pattern, Write Mode.
Filled Rectangle.
-----------------
This tool draws a rectangle that is filled with the current fill
colour and pattern. You define the rectangle in exactly the same
way as for the RECTANGLE tool described above. Note the rectangle
will not be drawn with a border.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Fill Colour, Fill Pattern.
Circle.
-------
This tool draws a circle in the current draw colour and line
thickness. Move the mouse pointer to the point which is to be the
center of the circle and click the left and mouse button. Move
the cursor away from the center point and a circle will be
'rubber banded' as you move the mouse. When the circle is the
correct size, click the left hand mouse button to fix the circle.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Thickness.
Filled Ellipse.
---------------
This tool draws a complete ellipse in the current drawing colour
and fills the interior with the current fill colour and pattern.
The method for drawing the ellipse is the same as for the circle
above.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Thickness, Fill Colour, Fill Pattern.
Circular Arc.
-------------
This tool draws a circular arc in the current drawing colour and
line thickness. To draw the arc, move the mouse pointer to the
position which is to be the center of the arc. Hold down the left
mouse button and move the mouse pointer to the position where you
wish the arc to start and release mouse button. Hold down the
left mouse button and move the mouse pointer to the position at
which the arc is to end. Release the mouse button. The arc will
now be drawn.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Thickness.
Elliptical Arc.
---------------
This tool draws an elliptical arc in the current drawing colour
and line thickness. The arc is drawn within a rectangular
'bounding box' which would contain the entire ellipse (if one
were being drawn). The first step in drawing the arc is to define
the bounding box, to do this move the mouse pointer to the
position at which the top left hand corner is to be positioned.
Click the left hand mouse button. Next move the mouse pointer to
the position at which the bottom right hand corner of the
bounding box is to be positioned and click the left hand mouse
button. The 'rubber banded' bounding box will now be erased, and
a line will be drawn from the center point of the imaginary
ellipse to the mouse pointer. This line may be moved and defines
the point at which the arc will start. Hold down the left hand
mouse button and position the mouse pointer at the point at which
the arc is to end. Release the mouse button and the arc will be
drawn.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Drawing Colour, Line Thickness.
Polygon.
--------
This tool will draw a multi-sided closed polygon in the current
drawing colour, line thickness and line pattern. Move the mouse
pointer to the position where the polygon is to start and click
the left hand mouse button. Repeat this procedure for each point
in the polygon. As you move the mouse pointer the polygon will
be drawn in and 'rubber banding' lines will be used to connect
the mouse pointer to the last and first points defined. To
terminate the polygon click the right hand mouse button.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Drawing Colour, Line Thickness, Line Pattern.
Bezier Curve.
-------------
This tool allows you to draw customisable curves. Four control
points are used to create the path that the curve follows. Two of
these control points define the start and end points of the curve
and the curve will actually touch these two points. The remaining
two point are control points which 'pull' the curve away from the
straight line defined by the start and end points. These two
control points need not be actually on the curve.
To draw a curve, move the mouse pointer to the position at which
the curve is to start and click the left hand mouse button. A
small square point will be drawn. In actual fact this represents
all four control points of the curve, one on top of the other.
The order in which WinRIP Lite considers these points to be
stacked, from top to bottom is the end point, 2nd control point,
1st control point, start point.
To define the end point of the curve, move the mouse pointer over
the square control marker, hold down the left hand mouse button
and drag the control point to the position at which the curve is
to end. Release the mouse pointer. A 'rubber banding' line will
be drawn from the start point to the end point, and the curve
will also be drawn, which should resemble a straight line. The
square control marker at the start point will have been erased.
To move the 2nd control point, move the move pointer to the start
position of the curve (easily found because of the 'rubber
banding' line and hold down the left hand mouse pointer. The
square control marker will be re drawn and it may be dragged to
the position you require. Release the mouse button. You will now
notice that the curve has changed shape. Repeat this procedure to
position the 1st control point.
Once you have separated the four control markers you may adjust
their relative positions by positioning the mouse pointer on a
control point and dragging it to the desired position.
When you are happy with the shape of the curve, click the right
hand mouse button to erase the control markers, the rubber
banding lines and to make the curve permanent.
The 'smoothness' of the curve, which is made up of n segments of
straight lines may be set from the by pulling down the Options
menu from the menu bar.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Pattern, Line Thickness, Write Mode.
Mouse Region.
-------------
This tool allows you to define a rectangular area on the screen
that functions as a "HOT" mouse region. If the user clicks the
left mouse button while the mouse pointer is within the mouse
region then terminal will transmit a predefined text string to
the host. The rectangle is drawn using the same procedure for
drawing a Rectangle (defined above). When the drawing of the
rectangle is complete a dialog box ( shown below) is displayed so
that you may enter the text that is to be sent to the host when
this region is clicked.
The text entered into the dialog box above may contain control
characters where each control character is represented by an
ASCII character preceded by a ^ character, i.e. a 'RETURN'
character may be entered as ^M.
The two other fields in the dialog box are checkboxes and if
checked will have the following actions if they are checked:
Invert the image when this region is clicked.
Indicates that the region should be visibly inverted while
the mouse button is down, offering the user visual feedback
that the region has been clicked.
Reset all windows and clear the screen after this region is
clicked.
This will physically zoom the text window to full screen size
and clear the screen. This is useful if the text instructs
the host to enter an area that does not support RIP Graphics.
Flood Fill.
-----------
This tool is used to flood fill a region with a specific colour
and pattern. Move the mouse pointer to a point within the area to
be flood filled and click the left hand mouse button. The area
will will be upto the border colour, at which point the operation
terminates. Fill colour, pattern and border colour are selected
by pulling down the Fill menu on the menu bar.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Fill Colour, Fill Pattern.
Text Entry.
-----------
This tool allows you to enter text into your RIP image in the
current draw colour and font. Move the mouse pointer to the
position where the text is to be placed and click the left hand
mouse button. The dialog box shown below will be opened so that
you can enter the required line of text.
The text entry area is larger than one line of text, this is for
future developments to WinRIP Lite. You may only enter one line
of text at present.
On clicking the OK button, the dialog box will clear and a
bounding rectangle displayed, this bounding rectangle may be
dragged to the required position and then the right hand mouse
button clicked to paste the text. The text is output in the
currently selected font and size. To change the font style and
font size use the Font option on the menu bar.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Write Mode.
Filled Polygon.
---------------
This tool is identical to the Polygon tool described above with
the exception that the interior of the polygon is filled with the
current fill colour and pattern.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Draw Colour, Line Style, Line Thickness, Fill Colour,
Fill Pattern, Write mode.
Define a Button.
----------------
This tool creates a new mouse button in the style currently
defined in the Button Designer. As the operation of this tool is
closely linked with the Button Designer you are strongly
recommended to read the section entitled "The Button Designer"
prior to using this tool.
To create the button move the mouse pointer to the upper left
hand corner of where the button is to be positioned and click the
left hand mouse button. Note that this may not be the actual top
left hand corner of the button as any bevel, recess and sunken
effects are not taken into account at this stage. The dialog box,
shown below will be opened so that you can specify the Button
Label, the text to be sent to the host etc, when the button is
clicked.
The button label is the text that is displayed with the button,
exactly how this label is positioned relative to the button
itself is dependent on settings in the button style.
The 'Hot' Key defines a key on the keyboard which if pressed has
the same effect as if the button was clicked using the mouse.
The text to send to the host is simply the text that the terminal
will send to the host system when the button is clicked.
The 'Draw button as already selected' if checked means that the
button will be drawn as if it had been clicked.
The default if <<ENTER>> is pressed, if checked, means that if
the user presses <<ENTER>> then the text associated with this
button is sent to the host in response.
Once you have clicked on the dialog box's OK button and the
dialog box cleared from the screen, the button can be drawn.
This is carried out in one of two ways. For a button with a
predefined width and height, a rectangle will be drawn on the
screen representing the button surface. This rectangle may be
dragged to the required position and the right hand mouse button
clicked to paste the actual button.
If no width and height has been specified in button style, the
button is sized by a 'rubber banding' rectangle. Once the
rectangle is the correct size etc. click the left hand mouse
button to create the button.
Applicable Drawing Controls:
Font Sizes.
The Button Designer.
--------------------
Although The Button Designer comprises only of one window, it is
complicated and significant enough to warrant a section all to
itself!
The Button Designer does not do anything visibly on the screen,
except display the window shown overleaf, but creates an internal
template definition for a button, which is used in conjunction
with the Button Drawing Tool to actually create buttons.
Button Types.
-------------
There are only three main types of buttons, these are Plain, Icon
and Clipboard Buttons. The "Button Type" is selected by clicking
one of the Radio Buttons in the Button Type box at the top left
hand corner of the Button Designer Window. You will notice that
only one Button Type may be selected, this is because only one of
Button Type may be in use at any one time.
Plain Buttons.
--------------
A plain button is exactly what it says it is, "plain". A plain
button does not use an icon in the image of the button. The
button is constructed as a 'coloured' box, the colour of which
corresponds to the SURFACE colour specified in the Button
Designer window. (See below for details of the Surface colour.
Special effects may also use the "Special Effects" (described
below) to enhance the image of the button.
Plain buttons may be of any size, or they can be of fixed size.
Clipboard Buttons.
------------------
A Clipboard Button uses the current contents of the clipboard to
provide the button image. This means you could use an image that
you have previously loaded into the clipboard as a button, and
keep reusing it. This method improves transmission efficiency by
not having to keep on transmitting an icon file name etc.
Icon Buttons.
-------------
An Icon Button uses a specified icon for it's image. When you
create a button using the Button Tool, you will be expected to
provide the icon file which is to be used as the button image.
This will be the normal file open dialog box, you may use both
RIP format Icons and Windows Icons as the button image. The icon
specified will determine the actual size of the button and you
may drag it to any position you desire. The rectangular mouse
field drawn to represent the icon for 'dragging' purposes is
exactly the size of the icon to aid you in accurate positioning.
Button Labels.
--------------
Every button can have an optional text label which can appear in
one of several different locations relative to the button itself.
It's purpose is to inform the user of the function of the button.
The actual text of the label is not specified in the Button
Designer but when the button is actually created. However, the
placement of the label is specified in the Button Designer window
by clicking one of the radio buttons in the Label Orientation
Group. This specifies where the label is to appear relative to
the button and may be one of the following:
i) Label text positioned above the button.
ii) Label text positioned below the button.
iii) Label text positioned to the right of the button.
iv) Label text positioned to the left of the button.
v) Label text positioned centrally within the button.
Label Colour (Foreground).
--------------------------
The colour of the label text may be selected by clicking on the
Foreground button in the Button Designer Window. This will pop-up
a Colour Dialog box from which you can choose on of 16 colours
from the currently active palette. The colour chosen will also be
used to colour the 'Foreground Button' in the Button Designer
window, so that you can see immediately the current selected
colour.
DropShadow Effect.
------------------
You may also specify that the Dropshadow special effect is to be
used with the label. You do this by 'checking' the Dropshadow
Checkbox in the Button Designer Window and by specifying the
colour of the shadow by changing the colour of the 'Background'
button. This effect will first write the label text using the
Background colour, but offset 1 pixel above and to the left of
the 'normal' label position. Next the label text is displayed
again, this time in the 'normal' position and using the
Foreground colour. The overall effect of this option is to give
the impression that the label is floating just above the screen
and is casting a shadow.
Text Centering Adjustment.
--------------------------
Where the Label Orientation has been specified as either LEFT,
RIGHT or CENTER, the label will be centered vertically relative
to the button so that the text does look like it's "too low" or
"too high".
In some situation though, in particular with large fonts you may
notice that text centering is not quite right. This may be more
evident with text with descenders.
Note, this situation cannot occur within WinRIP Lite as the
descenders ARE taken into account when centering the text
vertically, as is the Internal Leading. However, you must be
aware that programs such as RIPaint and RIPterm DO NOT take into
account the descenders when vertically centering text.
The Adj Text, should therefore be 'checked' where you are using
text for the label that has descenders to ensure that the text is
centered correctly in RIPterm. This option has no effect within
WinRIP Lite.
Hot Key Underlining.
--------------------
If you have specified that this button is a "Mouse Area", then
you have the option of underlining the hotkey in the label text
(if the hotkey character occurs in the label). This is used to
indicate visually to the user, what the hotkey is.
If the "Underline" checkbox is "checked" in the Button Designer
window, then the first occurrence of the hotkey character is
underlined. If the Dropshadow effect is also active the underline
will also be dropshadowed.
Special Effects.
----------------
The "Bright", "Dark" and "Surface" colours are used with plain
button styles and with the special effects. These colours
represent the hilighted colour, the shadowed colour and the
normal surface colour that is used with the special effects.
Typical combinations that might be specified are WHITE, DARK-GREY
and LIGHT-GREY respectively to give a "3D chiselled-steel"
effect.
Bevelled Buttons.
-----------------
You can give any button a "Bevel", this gives the impression that
the side of your button are slanted giving a 3D impression that
the button is raised off of the screen.
The size of the bevel may be specified with the "Size" field in
the Button Designer window. This is a numeric field which may
contain a value between 0 - 99 inclusive. This number specifies
the actual width of the bevel (in pixels). The default width of
the bevel is 3 pixels.
Bevels use all three special effects colours (BRIGHT, DARK and
SURFACE), the Surface colour is used on the corners to give the
impression of an edge.
Note, the bevel is not implemented unless the "Bevel" checkbox
has been 'checked'. Also if the bevel effect is turned on the the
actual size of the button will be LARGER than the rectangular
image you see on the screen. The bevel is added onto the button
"image". This means that if you are creating an icon button, none
of the actual icon will be overwritten by the bevel.
If a bevel button is a "Mouse Area", then the size of the mouse
area is expanded to include the bevel.
Recessed Buttons.
-----------------
To enable the recessed effect, the "Recess" checkbox in the
Button Designer window must be 'checked' A recessed button has a
3D effect that makes the button look as if it has been hewn out
from the surrounding area. When clicked a recessed button will
not invert/halite the recess. This is because the recess appears
to be part of the surrounding area and not the button itself.
The recess effects adds two pixels to each side of the button, so
the overall result is that the button will be four pixels wider
and taller. Also the recess has no effect on the size of the
mouse region for a mouse button. The recess effect makes use of
all three special effects colours, plus BLACK.
Sunken Buttons.
---------------
To enable the sunken effect, the "Sunken" checkbox in the Button
Designer window must be 'checked'. The overall effect is such
that the interior of the button looks as if it has sunk a little
from the edges of the button. The sunken effect does not affect
the overall size of the button or mouse region in any way. The
effect is drawn after any icon has been pasted onto the button
and is drawn one pixel inside the actual button image.
Chiselled Buttons.
------------------
The chisel effect also affect the actual image of the button and
should primarily used with plain buttons. A chisel is a
rectangular outline drawn several pixels inside the image of the
button. A chisel is made up of two colours (BRIGHT and DARK) and
is two pixels thick.
The chiselled effect, like sunken, draw on top of the actual
button image.
Mouse Buttons and Non-Mouse Buttons.
------------------------------------
Buttons may be created in two different modes. A mouse button is
clickable and returns a text string to the host when it is
clicked. A non-mouse button on the other hand has no host
command, no hotkey, cannot be inverted when clicked, in fact it
can't even be clicked and does absolutely nothing other than
display itself on the screen.
Creating a Mouse Button.
------------------------
To define your button as a "Clickable Mouse Button" ensure that
the "Mouse Area" checkbox in the Button Designer window is
"checked". When the "Mouse Area" is active more effects are
available to you.
Invert Button.
--------------
The "Invert" field in the Button Designer window is used to
determine if the button is to be inverted when the user clicks on
it. If the "Invert" option is not "checked" then nothing visibly
will happen to the button when the user clicks it. Plain buttons
and clipboard buttons simply invert the image of the button when
they are clicked.
Icon buttons may also be inverted in the same manner, however
icon buttons also have another method of inverting.
Inverting an Icon Button.
-------------------------
One aspect of icon buttons that sets it apart from other buttons
is the fact that you can specify an icon file for the image of
the button (in WinRIP Lite, this may be either a RIP format icon
or a Windows icon). If you enable the "Hot Icon " field in the
Button Designer window, you are effectively specifying a
different method of inverting the button. Instead of simply
inverting the button as described above, RIPterm will attempt to
load a new icon file and stamp it on the button. The file name of
this new icon will be the same as the button icon but use a file
name extension of .HIC. If a hot icon file does not exist the
button is inverted in the normal way.
Reset Screen after button is clicked.
-------------------------------------
This option is activated by "checking" the "Reset" field in the
Button Designer window. It is used to clear the screen and make
the text window full size. This is used where clicking the button
would cause the user to enter a non-graphical section of the BBS.
Therefore allowing the user to interact with the BBS in full
screen text mode.
Radio Buttons, Checkboxes and Button Groups.
--------------------------------------------
Another feature of the Button Designer is to allow the grouping
of button into categories. These button groups act collectively
to create button like Radio Buttons or Checkboxes.
Button Groups.
--------------
A group of buttons is a collection of zero or more buttons that
are related to each other in some way. You may have a maximum of
36 groups. Each group may have as many buttons as you wish to a
maximum of 128.
When you create a button you assign it a group number. All
subsequent button that a re created are automatically place in
this group until you change the "Group No" in the Button Designer
window.
Radio Buttons.
--------------
A group of Radio Buttons are quite common in computer
application, especially in the Windows Environment. The "Plain",
"Clipboard" and "User Icon" button in the Button Designer window
for instance are Radio Buttons. The feature of Radio Buttons that
makes them so useful is that only one Radio Button in the group
may be active at any one time. So if you turn on a particular
Radio Button in a group, all the others will be turned off! A
Radio Button is defined by 'checking' the "Radio Group" checkbox
in the Button Designer Window.
CheckBoxes.
-----------
Checkbox groups, unlike Radio Buttons, are groups where more than
one button may be active at any one time. An example of this is
the Button Designer window, where the special effect are
specified by 'checking' a checkbox.
A checkbox button is defined by "checking" the "checkbox" field
in the Button Designer window.
Creating Fixed Size Plain Buttons.
----------------------------------
There are two fields in the Button Designer captioned "Width" and
"Height", you can enter the actual size of the buttons to be
created (in pixels). This saves having to draw the button with
the Button Tool.
If you set these fields to ZERO, then when you create a button
with the Button Tool you will have to "click and drag" to
dynamically size the button.
Auto-Clipboard Buttons.
-----------------------
An Auto-Clipboard that will take the image of the button and
automatically place it onto the Clipboard for use by later button
commands. This saves having to draw the button again and again.
To activate the Auto-Clipboard feature "check" the "AutoClip"
checkbox in the Button Designer window.
Note, You should not use Auto-Clipboard feature if the "Hot Icon"
facility is active.
Saving and Loading Button Styles.
---------------------------------
You may save a button style to disk so that in future you may
reload them instead of having to recreate them. Simply click the
SAVE or LOAD button in the Button Designer window . This will
cause the File Open dialog box to be opened where you can select
the file to be save to, or the file to load.
Default Button Style.
---------------------
The default button discards the current button style and
reinstates the default button configuration. This default
configuration contains the following settings:
Button Type = Plain
Bevel = Active
Bevel Size = 3
Background Colour = BLACK
Bright = WHITE
Dark = Dark Grey
Surface = Light Grey
Key = WHITE
Corners = Light Grey