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The Datafile PD-CD 1 Issue 2
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PDCD-1 - Issue 02.iso
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_utilities
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utilities
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003
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_unimode2
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!UniMode2
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Intro
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1994-05-22
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What is POST-Ware?
==================
For programs in the Shareware or Careware domain you pay a small amount of
money. Authors of Public Domain programs expect you to send them a small
amount of money in appreciation. This does not work. Most people will not
pay for Public Domain programs and they come up with the most astonishing
reasons. Shareware programs are mostly paid for once. After that they are
copied (illegally) many times.
POST-Ware programs are based upon the Human-nature of not wanting to pay for
anything if you can get it for free. Let's face it, the chances of getting
dragged to court by some author are astronomically small. So, knowing this,
authors of POST-Ware programs don't expect anybody to pay for their efforts.
But they DO like to know whether their program is actually being used
(=copied) and how it performs. So, they request each user to send them a
picture-postcard. This way the author knows that somewhere out there someone
is actually using his program. If he is lucky he'll get all kinds of
postcards from all over the world and he can put them to many uses:
1. Hang them on the wall as decoration
2. Look at them to boost his ego when he is feeling down.
3. Use them as a reference, when applying for a job (success not guaranteed)
4. You can think of a few more, can't you?
Since the cost of a postcard and stamp are so small, the chances of
receiving a postcard are much bigger than those of receiving any money.
Background
==========
Over the years people have been (and will be) dissatisfied with the
screenmodes that are offered by RISC OS and making soft-modes was restricted
to the few who really understood how it was done. Users wanted bigger HiRes
modes, small memory-saving modes, VGA or SVGA modes, modes with specific X:Y
ratios, etcetera. Out of this need, programs were developed to help people
create their own soft-modes. Also, several companies offered programs that
supplied ready-made modes. With the coming of the so-called VidcEnhancers
the amount of such programs grew extensively. Many of these programs are
modules. They supply one or more modes. Unfortunately the user cannot
control which modenumber is allocated to a given mode. The problems related
to all this are obvious:
1. Some modules supply visually different modes but with the same
modenumbers. Due to clashing modenumbers the user can only use one of the
modules. If he wishes to use the other mode (which has the same modenumber)
then he needs to go to the CLI to kill one module and load the other. This
can be very frustrating to many a user.
2. A large number of modules supplies modes with a modenumber between 29
and 46. These programs no longer work under RISC OS 3. This is because
RISC OS 3 itself supplies modes in the range 0...46. So if you had a
favourite mode 42 and you upgrade to RISC OS 3 you'd loose your favourite
mode. Or would you?
3. Some of the VIDC Enhancer-Add-On's offered for the RISC OS 2 machines
are mapped into a specific bit in the IOC. Others are interfaced using the
IIC-bus. When Acorn released their A5000 machine they decided not to
support any of these so-called third party products. Therefore all modules
that supply a mode that requires a VIDC Enhancer-Add-On do not properly
display on an A5000. Even worse, modules designed for one type of
VidcEnhancer, do not work properly with ANY other VidcEnhancer.
UniMode2 is the first package that allows you to gain full control over the
Archimedes video-system, at a very reasonable price.
A program like 'VIDCPlus' can do part of the job, but being a commercial
program it is quite expensive, and still won't allow full control.... An
application called !CustomVDU allows you to create a screenmode but gives no
clues to whether the mode will correctly display, or why it doesn't display.
Another very important advantage is that it has the full control over any
VidcEnhancer. This means that the same program, together with all goodies,
will run with any make VidcEnhancer. You'll no longer need the firmware
which has often many shortcomings. For example UniMode2 is able to switch the
VidcEnhancer on or off by looking at the mode, and so find the best state
for the VidcEnhancer for each mode. This way it is no longer needed to put a
mode at a particular modenumber (like >= 96) to switch the VidcEnhancer on.
Do you have an unsupported VidcEnhancer PLEASE let us know, together with
make, type and the essential coding to turn it on and off.
But UniMode2 has much more to offer! The initial thought behind UniMode2 was
to make a module to provide softmodes. These modes can be loaded into the
workspace of the module at the modenumber of your choice. This allows you to
use any number of modes, at any modenumber you like and still have only one
module in the list. The files on disc are quite short since the common part
of the module is no longer needed. You need no longer load a pile of
junk-modes together with a single good-use-mode. Since most of the package
was developed to create softmodes, you can still make very good use of it
even if you haven't got a VidcEnhancer! Even though you can make the most
out of the package using a multiscan-monitor, it is not a must. Look for
example at the DIY_BSDM, to make modes for a broadcast-standard-
50Hz-monitor. The same goes for VGA- and HiResMonochrome-monitors, although
we never tried these.
The first version of UniMode2 was dated December 25th 1991 and eversince that
date I use it every single time I use my computer. Then my brother saw it
and he wanted to use it on his A5000. That was the moment I realised there
might be many others that might like the program, I decided to support all
known VidcEnhancers and wrote the most astonishing algorithm (Intelligent)
to control the VidcEnhancer. I really wonder why Acorn themselves never
thought of it before the release of the A5000, since anyone could have seen
the problem with existing large softmodes. Although the whole package is,
and will always be, PostWare, for the right price, we might consider a
licence to Acorn for inclusion in RISC OS 4 ROM's ...
What we would like UniMode2 to become is a package that every Archimedes
owner has in the root of his harddisc or bootdisc, so that commercial
applications only need to provide an MDF-file for use with the - in the
bootsequence loaded - UniversalMode-module.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Don't worry we'll get buried under piles of postcards
since we've got lots of room to stack them. Once there isn't enough room on
the walls and the ceilings anymore we'll think of some roulating-mechanism
to get them all on display. The only good reasons for not sending a
picture-postcard are:
- It's a Sunday;
- The shops are closed;
- The shops where just out of nice cards;
- Your going to buy a card first thing tomorrow.
And remember, the more cards we receive the better the next update will be!
UniMode2 requires RISC OS 3 in ROM. The entire package was developed and
tested on both a 2Mb A5000 (with On-Board-Enhancer) and a 4Mb A310 (with
SCSI, ARM3 and VIDC Enhancer-Add-On).
What's New?
~~~~~~~~~~~
The first release of UniMode (v1.70) was a bundle of command-line utilities
with a desktop front-end. With this second release we aimed to improve on
that. This release of UniMode2 takes full advantage of the RISC OS 3 features
and is a true desktop application. The desktop application has many
additional features added. You no longer need to edit a textfile. Instead
you can alter ANY register or variable by changing its state or value in one
of the windows. Refer to the manual for detailed features.
The format of the MDS has been changed. A utility is supplied to convert any
old format MDS to the new format. In some instances this utility may not
work properly. Especially when comments are appended to the end of a line.
Secondly, the PixelRate in the old format file is specified as 8, 12, 16 or
24. In the new format the PixelRate is specified as a valid PixelRate in the
range 8000 to 36000 kHz. Unfortunately, you will have to change this
PixelRate setting in the MDS yourself.
We guarantee to our root-users (those who get a copy of UniMode2 from us
personnaly) that the application is innoculated against the Extend virus and
that the application does not contain any viruses that we know of. All other
users (those who get a copy from somebody else) are advised to scan their
copy of UniMode2 with a virus-scanner like !Killer prior to use.
The Authors
~~~~~~~~~~~
Jean-Piδrre Hendrix (JP) was born on December 6th, 1969. He is a fourth year
Electronics student at the Institute of Higher Professional Education (HTS)
in Eindhoven. JP bought his Archimedes 310 only months after Acorn released
it, because Maurice had taken his Sony MSX2-computer when he went to live on
his own. JP spent 6 months in Blyth (Northumberland) working for Welwyn
Systems Ltd. JP is in charge of the hardware-interface of this package and
has written the UniversalMode module as well as some of the utilities.
Maurice Hendrix was born on March 12th, 1966. He studied Chemical
Engineering at the MTS (Technical Secondary Education) in Tilburg, graduated
right on schedule and went on to have a successful career at Fuji Photo
Film's european factory for photosensitized materials in Tilburg. Maurice
bought an MSX-computer during his scholar-years. During his graduating year
he upgraded to an MSX2 and (having fallen in love with his brother's
Archimedes) went out to buy an A310 only months before the release of
RISCáOS 2. He upgraded to an A5000 at the beginning of 1992. Maurice came up
with the idea of loadable soft-modes when he realised that many of his
favourite module-based-modes would no longer work under RISC OS 3 because it
has more modes. UniMode2 gradually grew out of this idea. Maurice is in
charge of the logistics involved. He has written the application's
user-interface (the desktop front-end), the compiler and most of the
manuals, Draw- and Textfiles supplied with the package.
Bibliography
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Books for further reading:
- RISC OS Programmer's Reference Manual (Acorn Computers Ltd.)
- Acorn RISC Machine Family Data Manual
- The 32-bit RISC Microprocessor System - (Prentice Hall)
Acknowledgements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Special thanks are due to (in random order) :
- Acorn Computers Ltd., Cambridge UK
- Welwyn Systems Ltd., Blyth UK
- Desk, Schiedam NL
- B. Bles, Woerden NL
- E. DorrΘ, NL
- FKW & ETJ v/d Pol, Hoeven NL
- Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid, Den Haag NL
- VLSI Technology Inc., San Jose USA
- Prentice Hall International Ltd., London UK
- J.P. Hendrix, Dongen NL
- M. Hendrix, Tilburg NL
The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow if I can.
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way.
Where may paths and errands meet,
And whither then? I cannot say.
- J.R.R. Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings" -