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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ JMedia v2.0 ├─┐
│ (FREEWARE) │ │
│ │ │
│ (c) Copyright 1996 By Nick Onoufriou │ │
│ All Rights Reserved │ │
│ │ │
│ (USER DOCS) │ │
└─┬───────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────┐
│INTRODUCTION ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└─────────────┘
JMedia is a multipurpose graphics program. It was originally
designed for easy editing of BBS menu screens using the RIPScrip
protocol. It has however been expanded to do many more things. You
can use JMedia to create demos, magazines, tutorials, and simple
programs. JMedia is a complete authoring system that allows you to
create actual executables that can be distributed royalty free.
JMedia comes complete with an integrated development environment or
IDE. It provides everything you need to write, edit, compile, run,
and debug your applications.
If you are a sysop and wish to use this program only for creating
RIP BBS menus than please read SYSOP.DOC, the information provided
from this point on deals only with creating JMedia applications.
┌─────────────┐
│REQUIREMENTS ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└─────────────┘
286 computer or better
EGA/VGA/SVGA display card
┌─────────┐
│FREEWARE ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└─────────┘
This program is FREE, use it for what ever purpose you wish.
Cash donations are welcomed but not required, please don't send
checks.
For any amounts of $10 (American/Canadian) or more I will send you
a disk containing JDraw Pro and some of my other Ripscrip utilities.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions
you may be able to reach me by:
Voice (416) 757-7944
Internet: nick.onoufriou@westonia.com (until Jan 1/97)
Surface Mail - Nick Onoufriou
1375 Midland Ave. #909
Scarborough, Ontario
CANADA M1P 3B7
┌────────────────┐
│GETTING STARTED ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────────────┘
When you first run JMedia you will notice a file displayer. This is
the main menu where you select the files you wish to view, run,
edit, or build. A help menu is available by pressing F1. You can
configure some of the JMedia's default settings by selecting F2.
Some of the configuration items may not seem clear right now but
will have more meaning as you become more familiar with the program.
The file type field is for setting the type of files to list in the
file display. The default setting is "J ;RIP;PRJ" which lists all
the files we will be dealing with. This is simply the extension of
the files separated by a semicolon. Please note that the spaces
following the "J" are required otherwise any file with extension
containing the letter "J" will be listed.
The icon search path field tells JMedia where icon files are
located, you can use multiple paths by separating each with a
semicolon. The icon export path is where files will be written to.
The font path is where all the files with the extension CHR are
located.
The text window field is for setting the status of the text window
command and all the commands that relate to it. You cannot
overwrite this option using JMedia's command language, it is best
to leave to "Y".
The ansi field is used for setting ansi in a text window, you can
overwrite this option using JMedia's ansi command as long as the
text window option is set "Y".
The disk write field is used to indicate if icons can be written to
disk. The Line length field is the number of columns per line that
will be used when creating RIP files.
┌────────────────┐
│ABOUT THE FILES ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────────────┘
There are three basic types of files you should be aware, these
include files with the extension J, RIP, and PRJ. "J" files contain
high level "english like" scripting commands. "RIP" files are
compiled "J" files, which means the files contain the same basic
information but are much more compact and not very readable. Some
JMedia commands also expand into a series of RIP commands.
Files with the "PRJ" extension are project files which contain names
of other files. The files listed in the "PRJ" are assembled together
to create a free standing executable file.
┌──────────────┐
│FIRST PROGRAM ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└──────────────┘
The entire JMedia command language along with description is listed
in the COMMANDS.DOC file. The best way to demonstrate JMedia is to
start with a simple "Hello World" program.
Lets start by creating a new file, call it HELLO.J
To do this type ALT-N from the main menu, you will be prompted to
enter a filename. Type "HELLO.J" and press enter. If you did
everything correctly you will notice that you are in a "Text Editor"
environment. Type in the following program.
Color Red
TextXY 300 180 Hello World!!!
Select ALT-S to save your program and then select ALT-R to execute
it. If you have typed in everything correctly you should see a red
"Hello World!!!" message in the middle of the screen. Press the
"ESC" key to return to the editor.
If you have made a mistake JMedia will indicate on the status bar
which line the error occurred and also give you some description
on what could have been the cause of the error.
Lets now return to the main menu, if you look carefully you will
notice that the HELLO.J program you have created is not displayed
in the file listing. You must manually update the contents of the
display by selecting ALT-R. Once you have done that the file should
now be visible.
┌────────────────────────────┐
│CREATING AN EXECUTABLE FILE ├────────────────────────────────────────
└────────────────────────────┘
One of the most important aspects of JMedia is its a ability to
create executable files which can run without JMedia. This only
takes a few simple steps.
From the main menu select the HELLO.J file you previously created
and press the "Enter" key and you're back in the editor once again.
This time instead of executing the program you must compile it. You
do this by the selecting ALT-C. The word "Success!" should be
displayed on the status bar when the program is finished compiling.
What should have happen is the creation of another file called
HELLO.RIP. Select the "ESC" key to return to the main menu.
Once again select ALT-R to update the file display. Again you
should see a new file called HELLO.RIP.
A third file must now be created called a project file. Select
ALT-N to create a new file and enter HELLO.PRJ for the filename.
From the editor type the following.
HELLO.RIP
F8X8.FNT
Save the file and exit back to the main menu. Type ALT-R to update
the file display. Now select HELLO.PRJ and press the "Enter" key.
You will see a new menu titled "BUILDING APPLICATION" and with the
filename as "HELLO.EXE" with the status indicating "Success." If
does not indicate "Success" than an additional error message will
indicate what has gone wrong. Most of the time it will be caused
due to incorrect spelling of filenames in the "PRJ" file.
Exit JMedia now and look for the HELLO.EXE program, it should be
in the current directory. Now type HELLO as though you were
executing any other DOS program. Amazing, you have coded, compiled,
and created an EXE file in just minutes.
NOTE: The shareware version of JMedia will create EXE files that contain
a shareware notice and a 25 second delay. The registered version
does not create EXE files with shareware notices or delays.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│USING ADVANCE TECHNIQUES ├───────────────────────────────────────────
└─────────────────────────┘
In the last example we've demonstrated all the steps required to
create a program from start to finish. Even though the resulting
program was nothing impressive it still contained of all the basic
steps for creating applications that are more complex.
The JMedia command language consists of number of commands and a
couple of macros, these are all listed in the commands.doc. By
using these commands you can construct programs that are very
powerful. Unlike traditional authoring systems JMedia allows you
have complete control over the look and feel of every application
you create.
Before creating applications with JMedia you must take become
familiar with how input/output and files are handled. JMedia uses
a simple technique known as stacking. A series of commands or
simply one command is stored in a buffer and then executed last in
first out (LIFO) order. This means the last command that is stacked
will be the first one executed. Each time a stacked command is
executed it is removed from the stack.
Using the same stacking technique you can stack files as well.
Files must contain periods since this is the only way to
distinguish files from commands. When a command is processed from
the stack it simply executed, but if it is a file it must be dealt
differently.
Commands and files can be stacked using several methods. One way
is to use the Push command:
Push Play abc^Mscreen2.rip^M
What this line has done is put "Play abc" and "screen2.rip" on the
stack. When Jmedia finished processing the current file it will look
on the stack and see what it finds. In this case it will first find
the command "Play abc" and it will proceed to execute it. The second
command that it will find is "screen2.rip" and since this is a file
it will begin processing (displaying) this one as well. Notice the
"^M" this acts as a command separator and command terminator.
Another way to stack commands is by using the Button command.
Button 10 10 0 0 a <>Option 1<>Play abc^M
Button 100 10 0 0 b <>Option 2<>screen2.rip^M
This will draw two buttons and wait for the user to select one by
either using the keyboard (pressing "a" or "b" on the keyboard) or
with a mouse.
If option 1 is selected the command "Play abc" will be stacked" and
if option 2 is selected then the file "screen2.rip" will be stacked.
The AddHotKey and Mouse commands can also be used to stack commands
similar to the Button command.
It is important to note that only extended commands can be stacked.
All other commands must be executed by stacking a file containing
those commands.
┌────────────────────────────┐
│HOW EXECUTABLES ARE CREATED ├────────────────────────────────────────
└────────────────────────────┘
With the example program all the steps were listed on how to create
the EXE file but no information was given on how an EXE file really
function.
When you build an application by selecting a file with a "PRJ"
extension JMedia looks for a file called "JMRUN.EXE", this file
should be in the current directory or in your DOS path. Once the
file is found JMedia starts searching for all the other files listed
in the project file. If a file listed is not found JMedia will
indicate with an error message.
If all the files are found JMedia begins to create an EXE file by
assembling the various files together. Once an EXE file is created
no other files are required. All reference to filenames will be used
as a reference to locate the actual information inside the EXE.
When creating a project file you must keep track of all the files your
application will be using. This includes RIP files, fonts (CHR and
FNT), icon (ICN), PCX, and any text files that are used by the
picklist and browser commands.
The first filename in the PRJ file must that of a RIP file. This is
the startup file that will get things going. All other files can be
placed in what ever order you wish. It is however a good a idea to
keep files that will be accessed the most close together.
One file that must always be included is the F8X8.FNT, this is the
font used for the initial text window that is created automatically
by JMedia. If you create text windows with other fonts you must
include those fonts as well.
When searching for filenames listed in the project file JMedia will
look in the current directory first. If it does not find the file
there it will look in the directory where JMedia has been executed.
If the file is still not found an error message will appear. To
avoid the searches you can specify the entire path when listing names
in the project file.
When you have created an EXE file it best run it and try out every
option, this is the only way to be 100% sure that all the required
files have been included in EXE. If a file was accidentally left
out your application will halt with an error message indicating
which file is missing.
┌───────────────────────┐
│DEMO APPLICATION FILES ├────────────────────────────────────────────
└───────────────────────┘
Explaining how to use JMedia by just words alone can seem very
complex, some of the topics covered here are actually very simple
once you study some of the demo programs and start creating your own
applications. Most of the demos contain many files and therefore
have been compressed into self extracting executables.
It is best to create a directory for each demo and copy the file
there. To uncompress it simply run the program, everything will
self extract. Each demo application contains all the files required
to build an executable, just select the PRJ file from JMedia and
application will be created.