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XFA_Util.DOC
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*******************************************************************************
* *
* eXtra.Fast.Animation. Converter/Player © ClassX 1994 *
* *
*******************************************************************************
** Introduction:
XFA_Util has been developed to give users the ability to play and
convert XFA animations.
It is freely distributable only for NON COMMERCIAL purposes.
It is subject to the law that rules the distribution of the "SHAREWARE"
software.
Tecnhical characteristics:
XFA_Utils allows to:
-Load XFA animations
-Play XFA animations from Disk
-Play XFA animations from memory
-Convert XFA animations into separate IFF images
-Play XFA animations via AREXX
Next Release:
-Localization
-IFF -> XFA conversion
-Anim7, Anim5 -> XFA conversion
-Better XFA DiskPlay
*******************************************************************************
** Fields "Src" "Dst" "Start" "End" "Format" **
XFA_Util's interface is simple and intuitive.
Starting from the top there is the "Src" button, followed by a string field.
Clicking this button, we can select a source file, which complete path will
be displayed in the field.
So, with "SRC" can be specied the source filename, which indicates the file
that will be involved in operations like "Load XFA", "IFF-XFA" (and all those
operations that will need a source file to work with).
Similarly, with "Dst" we can select the path of the file to save, or the
base name of the IFF sequence to save.
Under the "Src" field, there are three numerical fields, named "Start", "End",
"Format".
While "Start" and "End" are currently disabled, "Format" is used to store
the format of the numerical extention to be appended to the filenames of
the single IFF frames generated by XFA_Util (button "XFA->IFF").
If, for example "Format" is set to "000", the saved IFF frames will have
a three digit numerical extension.
** The Buttons **
- Load XFA
This button starts the loading process of the "Src" XFA animation.
If there is already an animation in memory, it will be substituted with
the new.
- Play Mem
This button causes the execution of the XFA animation previously loaded into
memory.
The execution of the animation is ruled by "Loop" and "AutoPause" checkboxes.
After clicking this button, the play screen will appear and the program
will wait for a left mouse button click to start.
If Loop is enabled, the animation will cycle from the first frame to the last,
until the user clicks the right mouse button.
Keeping pressed the left mouse button freezes the animation.
If AutoPause is enabled, the player will stop and wait for the left mouse
button click everytime it reaches a frame sequence without moving objects
(delta = 0).
This mode is very useful, infact animations can pause for indefinite
time and can be syncronized with external events through the mouse.
To stop animations and return to XFA_Util it is necessary to click left and
right mouse buttons together.
For more information about Play modes, please refer to X-DVE user's manual.
- Play Disk
Clicking this button, XFA_Util will attempt to play the "Src" XFA animation
from disk.
Currently, disk play routines does not support AutoPause or Loop settings
(this is planned for the next release).
As everyone knows, disk-based animation is much more slow than the one
played from memory, but it has the great advantage to not use lots of RAM.
The speed of a disk animation depends almost exclusively on how fast is
the support from which it is played.
For XFA animations compressed with 32BitI and 16BitI modes, disk play
can cause some flickering.
This problem cannot be avoided, because such animations need to be played
at the maximum speed, under the constant, uninterrupted control of the
CPU.
However, animations compressed with 32Bit and 16Bit modes, will be played
in a perfectly stable way.
Note: Playing an XFA from disk requires that the currently loaded animation
must be freed from memory.
- Free
Clicking this button causes the currently loaded animation to be freed
from memory.
- I
With this button, users can obtain information about the current XFA animation
in memory.
- XFA->IFF
With this button, the "Src" animation will be converted into separated IFF
images.
The base name and the destination path of the single IFF must be specified
with the "Dst" field.
Example:
Suppose to convert the "DH1:XFA/INTRO.xfa" animation to a IFF sequence
on a disk.
All the thing to do are:
-Click "Src" and select the source XFA in "DH1:XFA/" through the usual
file-requester.
-Click "Dst" and select the destination device (ex: "DF0:")
-Complete the "Dst" field with the base name of the IFF frames (ex: "FRAME")
(the "Dst" field must show "DF0:FRAME")
-Start the conversion clicking "XFA->IFF" button.
-To stop the conversion simply click "STOP" or press the ESC key.
This will cause the generation of a sequence of frames in DF0 called
FRAME00000,FRAME00001,FRAME00002,......
** AREXX Interface
XFA_Util has a simple AREXX interface, just to play XFA animations from
external programs like Scala, MediaPoint, AmigaVision, CanDo, Helm, etc.
These are the XFA_Util AREXX commands:
SOURCE <s> ;Set the "Src" field of XFA_Util with the string <s>
LOOP <ON|OFF> ;Set/reset the loop play mode for XFA animations
AUTOPAUSE <ON|OFF> ;Set/reset the autopause mode for XFA animations
LOAD ;Load the "Src" animation into memory
FREE ;Free last loaded animation from memory
PLAYMEM ;Play the animation already in memory
PLAYDISK ;Play the "Src" animation from disk (memory will be freed)
all these commands must be in CAPITALS
/* sample AREXX script to play an XFA from memory */
options results
address 'XFA_Util'
SOURCE "DK3:XFA/ClassX.XFA"
LOAD
AUTOPAUSE OFF
LOOP OFF
PLAYMEM
FREE
exit
/* end script */
*******************************************************************************
ClassX Development
Via Francesca 463
I - 56030 Montecalvoli (PI)
Tel+Fax +39 587 749206
*******************************************************************************