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1996-04-07
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some quick documentation for "MWB2NI"
So, you've discovered that nifty system-patch, "newicons". kinda
cool, huh? but man, do those iso-icons ever suck? you think you
could convert all your magic-wb icons by using a cut-paste-inject, but
for *each* icon?!? no way. well, that's where mwb2ni comes into play.
to install it, just do the following:
copy c/mwb2ni to c:
hard, huh? you might want to use a dir-util if you can't do that
manually.
then, you can convert a single icon by doing this:
mwb2ni icon.info
you'll have to include the .info! mwb2ni isn't smart enough to do it
by itself.
you can convert a bunch of icons by doing this:
mwb2ni sys:paint/#?.info
or even,
mwb2ni sys:#? sys:tools/#? sys:paint/#? text:#? storage:incoming/#?
you get the picture...
now, there are some options available to optimize the conversion.
we'll go through them one by one.
O=OFFSET/N
this is a numerical value that describes where your four magic-wb
colors are located. if you're smart, then these will be at location
4. (this is the default, btw.) if you're using an older magic-wb
set, then they'll be up at 252. (this is also refered to as
eight-planes). if the default doesn't work, then try 252. if that
doesn't work, try 12, then 28, then 60, then 124. if all those
fail, then you're fucked.
DOT=CLEAROLD/S
this switch makes the old image into a "dot" to save both disk space
and memory. but, only use this when you're *sure* you don't need the
original old-image anymore. you can possibly convert the newicon back
to the old-image, but don't bet on it. maybe you could do a "lha -r
-x a oldicons #?.info" to your harddisks???
REDO/S
this forces a conversion of an exsisting newicon file. you can do this
if you get the colors (offset) wrong, or you want to use the dot
switch.
if you want to convert an entire directory and all it's
sub-directories, try this:
cd directory
list #? all dirs lformat "mwb2ni %s%s/#?" >ram:exme nohead
execute ram:exme
btw, this is included as a script. just use
convertall (if you're in the directory, or:)
convertall sys: (if you want to specify a directory)
convertallkill (same as convertall, but makes "dots" for old images)
some personal notes on "newicons", nicola salmoria, and roger mcvey...
read carefully. contains flames. these are OPINIONS and not to be
taken seriously. each person in the world should be ENTITLED to
his/her own OPINION.
first off, newicons (the program) is very nice. but, nicola's
attitude put me off working with him on joint projects, very quickly.
and i won't even mention that i personally dislike those iso-icons,
nor trying to insist that everyone use them.
i'm not sure how i first met up with nicola, but we started exchanging
email/files concerning iconian and newicons. i had offered to support
newicons inside iconian. he supplied some developer material and
ideas. i wrote some quick hacks and i had a version of iconian that
read and wrote 256 color newicons. i gave it to nicola, and he
flew off the handle! he wanted things a certain way, and would refuse
to listen that i had made the newicon support a HACK. at that point,
i gave up the idea of working with newicons and nicola.
i've saved all my email conversations with him, and i'd like to share
a few highlights of my conversation. to try and point out why i have
my opinions like i do...
nicola:
"The program is ready. It has been ready for months, now.
It's only missing documentation and icons. Roger McVey is very busy at the
moment." -- April 24, 1994
jeez..it was finally released in November of '94. had you released it
a year earlier, magic workbench wouldn't have been so widespread.
maybe you wouldn't have to dis it to try and get your package
installed...anyways,
nicola:
"It IS possible, however, to directly access the data stored in the
NewIcons - I can provide you routines to do so. Iconian should use a 256
color custom screen, however, not the Workbench screen, otherwise it may
lose information. And should allow to modify the palette, of course."
ok, then why did you later tell me this:
nicola:
"Using a custom screen shouldn't be necessary. A 12 color icon can easily
be edited on a 32-color Workbench, if you do things right.
The new RemapChunkyImage() fucntion in newicon.library could be helpful
(you did receive it, didn't you?)"
i know you say i can use the remapchunkyimage() function, but after
EVERY time i modify the image? i think not...(overhead)
me:
"I'm trying to keep Iconian backwards compatible. Therefore, I can't
really always use your newicon functions to read/write icons. Not
everyone has or will have newicon.library (well, no one does...)"
nicola:
"Watch carefully the code I sent you. Those functions fall back to
icon.library if NewIconBase is NULL. Using NewDiskObject insternally
is supposed to make things EASIER for you, since you don't have to
handle NewIcons as a special case."
yea, right. your library makes handling 4 buffers instead of 2
invisible to iconian. dream on. i still have to handle newicons as a
special case, so why not do it as a special case? jeez
nicola:
""Open NewIcon" and "Save NewIcon" must disappear. All editing should
be performed via "Open" and "Save"."
oh, is that right? iconian is my program, not yours. (of course,
this insistment could be language translation problems...hhh)
nicola:
"Actually, it would be very nice to have a good icon editor distributed
with NewIcons: it would make things much easier."
WAIT A SECOND you want to include iconian (a full blown, 140k program)
with a SYSTEM PATCH?!? i think not! you need get your priorities
straight. i'll include and promote your patch with my program, but
not the other way around. i personally know that my program must have
taken 10x the amount of work your 3k library took.
nicola:
"Let me know what you think. I really need an injection of enthusiasm
to finally finish this project which is almost one year old." -April
24, 1994
wow. it was released in November. that makes it 1.5 years old.
older than i thought.
to sum up. fuck nicola's and roger's idea of an isometric world. i
say coonvert all your glorious magic-workbench icons to the newicon
format just to piss them off! ;) later guys...
I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW, I SWALLOW
Be aggressive, B-e aggressive,
B-e-a-g-g-r-e-s-s-i-v-e
Go, Fight, Go, Fight, Go, Fight, Go, Fight, Win -- Faith No More