Loadstar 236/236.d81/t.s2f

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 5KB | 196 lines

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         S H P   2   F O N T
           by Dave Moorman


    Every time I get involved in some
project, the first thing I seem to
need is a tool to massage data or
graphics into the form I need. Right
now, I am working on a completely new
Presenter Menu program for LOADSTAR,
and I needed a way to get fancy-
schmancy Windows display font text to
our modest text screen.

    The first step isn't all that
hard. I use Photo Delux to type the
text in the typeface I want. This is
saved as a 320x200 pixel GIF. Then I
move the GIF to a D64 disk image, and
fire up GoDot to turn it into a hi-res
SHP (LOADSTAR's favorite graphics
format) -- or a Doodle (then use
STBPRINT to convert the edited Doodle
to SHP).

    But then what? How do I get the
bitmap to font characters? Johnny
Harris published a good DOODLE TO FONT
utility on 116. However, the program
does a whole screen (or as much as can
be squeezed into 256 characters). I
wanted more control over the process.
So here is SHP2FONT.


USING THE UTILITY
-----------------

    SHP2FONT is a step-by-step
utility. First, you must have your
bitmap graphic in the SHP format,
which is easy to do with STBPRINT.
Then you can choose the disk drive the
SHP file is on by clicking on

            [1. Disk Drive]

 (or press <1>).

    Now on with the work. Choose

              [2. Get SHP]

 A scrolling menu of *.SHP files are
offered. The one you choose is
displayed until you click the mouse or
press <BACK ARROW>.


             [3. Make FTS]

 You [must] choose a SHP file before
this action can happen.

    An FTS file contains the font
(begining at +0 Page), the screen (at
+8 Page), and color (at +12 Page).
When you select this action, you are
asked if you want to use 256, 192,
128, or 64 font characters -- or Not
do it at all.

    The program looks at each 8-byte
cell of the bitmap screen and compares
it to the cells already recorded in
the font. If a match occurs, that font
character is used to replicate the
bitmap on the text screen. If no
matching character is found, a new
character is created, copying the
8-byte cell from the bitmap.

    If you have enough characters to
replicate each 8-byte bitmap cell, you
get a text screen rendition of the
bitmap. If you run out of characters
in the font, the process just stops.
Either way, you can save the result as
an FTS file (with [5. Save File]).

    Remember, cells that are identical
use the same font character. So if you
have large patches of clear or solid
cells, the bitmap may well fit in 192
characters -- leaving you with the
basic alphanumeric characters.


            [5. Make Block]

    The alternative to replicating the
whole bitmap is to make a block that
uses 128 or 196 characters. Again, a
SHP file must be chosen with [1.]
before this action will work.

    When the bitmap is displayed, a
single square will follow the mouse
arrow around. Click to place this
square in the upper left corner of the
area you want to capture. Once you
have clicked, three other squares move
in concert with the mouse arrow to
designate the other corners of the
block. When you have the block
defined, click again.

    If you goof up -- especially when
you discover that the upper-left
square is not quite where you want it,
press <BACK ARROW> to return to the
first phase. During the first phase,
<BACK ARROW> will return you to the
main menu.

    During the first phase, a Right
Click will change the color of the
blocks. A Right Click during the
second phase toggles between 192 and
128 font characters available for the
block. The squares will not move
outside the given available space.
However, when you toggle to 128
characters, you will want to move the
squares closer together then out again
to mark the correct amount of area.


               [5. Save]

    This action will not work unless
you have made an FTS or a Block. Then,
it will automatically save the
appropriate file format. Just type in
the name. If the file name exists on
the disk, a warning will appear.


               [6. Exit]

    Returns you to LOADSTAR or BASIC.


The BLOCK File
--------------

    Putting the Block on the screen is
fairly easy -- even in BASIC. I
reserved the last three bytes of the
font (character screen code 255) to
record the starting character, the
width, and the height of the block. If
you are using DotBASIC, the custom
font is at 2048. Bload the font with
the Block with:

 .bl,"f.block",dv,2048

    Then get the beginning screen
code:

 bc=peek(4093):rem font+2045

    Set the upper left corner of the
block with:

 bk=1024+by*40+bx

    Now you can use FOR-NEXT loops to
put the block on the screen.

 for y = 0 to peek(4095):rem font+2047
   for x = 0 to peek(4094):rem +2046
     poke bk+y*40+x,bc:bc=bc+1
   next
 next

    Obviously, an ML routine would be
quicker, and if you want to write one,
you now know where to look for the
necessary information.

 DMM