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-------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) The manual Title Page -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) by Michel Robert Version 2.0 ------------------------------------------------------- For interactive animation graphics. Requires a PC-compatible computer with a graphics adapter and a mouse. Copyright 1990-1993 by Michel C. Robert. All rights reserved. ------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 : Introduction Program description .......................... 1 - 01 Applications ................................. 1 - 02 Features summary ............................. 1 - 03 User comments ................................ 1 - 04 Limitations .................................. 1 - 05 Chapter 2 : Installation Hardware considerations ...................... 2 - 01 Files ........................................ 2 - 02 Quick start .................................. 2 - 03 Quick exit ................................... 2 - 04 How to use this manual ....................... 2 - 05 Chapter 3 : Interface Screen layout ................................ 3 - 01 Buttons ...................................... 3 - 02 Switches ..................................... 3 - 03 Switch pulse control ......................... 3 - 04 Parameters monitor ........................... 3 - 05 Pop-up menus ................................. 3 - 06 Menu bar ..................................... 3 - 07 Status bar ................................... 3 - 08 Options ...................................... 3 - 09 Visibility toggles ........................... 3 - 10 Mouse and keyboard considerations ............ 3 - 11 Remarks ..................................... 3 - 12 Chapter 4 : Objects Object definitions ........................... 4 - 01 Objects menu ................................. 4 - 02 Shape menu ................................... 4 - 03 Alter menu ................................... 4 - 04 Pose menu .................................... 4 - 05 Size menu : cursor and zone sizing ........... 4 - 06 Go menu : cursor and zone motion ............. 4 - 07 Attributes menu .............................. 4 - 08 Patterns ..................................... 4 - 09 Colors ....................................... 4 - 10 Draw menu .................................... 4 - 11 Cursor modes ................................. 4 - 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5 : Services Services menu ................................ 5 - 01 Icons menu : mouse tools ..................... 5 - 02 Clip menu : clip-art ........................ 5 - 03 Text menu : fonts, text ..................... 5 - 04 Bitmap output options ........................ 5 - 05 PCX menu ..................................... 5 - 06 Save menu .................................... 5 - 07 Print menu ................................... 5 - 08 Display menu ................................. 5 - 09 Chapter 6 : Miscellaneous and Advanced features Expert menu .................................. 6 - 01 Many menu : multiple objects ................. 6 - 02 Parameter Pulsing ............................ 6 - 03 Info bar ..................................... 6 - 04 Diagnostics .................................. 6 - 05 Default object settings ...................... 6 - 06 Chapter 7 : Keyboard commands Keystroke handling ........................... 7 - 01 Top-row number keys .......................... 7 - 02 Function-keys ................................ 7 - 03 Keypad / arrow-keys .......................... 7 - 04 Letter-keys .................................. 7 - 05 Miscellaneous ................................ 7 - 06 Keyboard limitations ......................... 7 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8 : DEF files Format ....................................... 8 - 01 Coordinates specification ..................... 8 - 02 House-symbol example .......................... 8 - 03 Chapter 9 : Trouble-shooting Mouse trouble ................................. 9 - 01 Memory trouble ................................ 9 - 02 EMS/XMS ....................................... 9 - 03 Object trouble ................................ 9 - 04 Error handling ................................ 9 - 05 Selected error messages ....................... 9 - 06 Selected process messages ..................... 9 - 07 Bug detection ................................. 9 - 08 Run-time error messages ....................... 9 - 09 User-support .................................. 9 - 10 Chapter 10 : Programming Introduction .................................. 10 - 01 The script file ............................... 10 - 02 Statement syntax .............................. 10 - 03 Command keywords .............................. 10 - 04 Identifiers ................................... 10 - 05 Value terms .................................. 10 - 06 Boolean terms and boolean commands ............ 10 - 07 Conditional expressions ....................... 10 - 08 Comparisons ................................... 10 - 09 Program initialization ........................ 10 - 10 Creating new commands ......................... 10 - 11 Animation scripting ........................... 10 - 12 The macro processor ........................... 10 - 13 System variables .............................. 10 - 14 Learning the language ......................... 10 - 15 Error messages ................................ 10 - 16 Debugging ..................................... 10 - 17 Command reference guide ....................... 10 - 18 Grammar terminology ........................... 10 - 19 BNF notation .................................. 10 - 20 Script language definitions (BNF) ............. 10 - 21 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Table of Contents : Appendices -------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix A : About ROTOR 2.0 The author .................................... A - 01 Program history ............................... A - 02 Resources ..................................... A - 03 Appendix B : Bibliography .................................. B Appendix C : Legal considerations Copyright ..................................... C - 01 Trademarks .................................... C - 02 Restrictions .................................. C - 03 License agreement ............................. C - 04 Appendix D : Shareware distribution The shareware version of ROTOR(tm) ............ D - 01 Mail-order distribution ....................... D - 02 BBS distribution .............................. D - 03 Suggested program description ................. D - 04 Appendix E : A DOS primer for beginners Overview ...................................... F - 01 Dealing with the prompt ....................... F - 02 Current drive/directory ....................... F - 03 Working with directories ...................... F - 04 Working with files ............................ F - 05 Disk commands ................................. F - 06 Disk media .................................... F - 07 Start-up customization ........................ F - 08 File extensions ............................... F - 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Introduction: Program description 1 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to ROTOR(tm), a unique graphics program unlike anything else you have ever tried before. ROTOR(tm) is an interactive animation engine which enables users to produce beautiful graphic designs, images, and most importantly, animations. The program incorporates a wide variety of built-in shapes, and it also supports user-defined forms. Both can be animated in a multitude of ways: sequences, rotations, expansions, contractions, deformations, linear and non-linear travels, color and texture variations, etc... Stunning designs can be created by drawing with such animated shapes. With very little effort on the part of the user, the program automatically generates intricate and impressive patterns. Furthermore, the program incorporates a full complement of mouse tools for painting, such as freehand-pen, smear, spill, and others. Also, ROTOR(tm) supports external resources such as New PrintShop clip-art libraries, GEM bitmapped fonts and PCX image files. The interface is versatile and user-friendly. It is both mouse and keyboard sensitive. It gives the user complete control over every facet of on-going drawing and animation processes. Precise adjustments can be requested at any time without interrupting the in-progress animation. When the user issues a command, it is executed rapidly, and with immediate feedback. This responsiveness is engaging, exciting and highly enjoyable. Screen images can be written to PCX files. For hard-copy output, a laser-compatible printer is required. Animations can be recorded on a VCR if you have a VGA-to-TV converter box. ROTOR(tm) is a powerful dynamic environment for educational graphic adventures. The animations it generates are entertaining, relaxing, and hypnotic. It is designed to be fun to use. We hope you will enjoy exploring it. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Introduction: Applications 1 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- special applications: ROTOR(tm) is eminently suited to a variety of specialized graphic projects and tasks, such as: + Custom borders, of any size. + Tiled designs such as checker boards, quilt-squares, or game-boards. + Fabric patterns. + Decorations for stationary. + Stroboscopic decomposition of movement, and related motion studies. + Turtle graphics, interactively or via a script program. + Ornamental spirograph drawings. + Moire patterns. + Logos. + Simple multi-layer designs, where each layer can be independently edited. + Black-and-white artwork for printed output. + Vivid colors ROTOR(tm) is also useful as an educational tool. It demonstrates clearly and concisely the nature of graphic attributes. It can be used to show how factors combine and interact. And it encourages experimentation. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Introduction: Features summary 1 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) is packed with powerful features: interface - user-friendly - pop-up menus, buttons, icons, edit boxes. - quick and safe exit-command. - defaults can be specified via a script file. - auditory feedback can be disabled. - visibility toggles for menus, cursor, shapes, etc. shape and cursor - generates geometric forms, stars, random shapes. - various shape libraries: alphabet, things, planes .. - auto-traced and bit-scaled clip shapes. - user-defined shapes. - shape deformations: crush, invert, bezier, quake - various cursor modes: square, circle, grid, etc... - multiple animated cursors/shapes are possible. motion - angle of motion can be specified. - range of motion is defined by a "zone" rectangle. - this "zone" can itself be moved in any direction. patterns & colors - built-in library of more than 300 fill patterns. - colors and patterns are easy to select or tag. - cycling is based on "tags". - 256 color support, with several palette choices. - alternate B&W palettes for all 16/256-color modes. - line-pattern and thickness controls. animation - each object attribute can be animated separately. - animation can be controlled interactively - or via a user-defined script macro. - the introductory logo animation is an example of scripted-animation. drawing tools - icons: freehand, line, box, circle, spray, smear, ... text - uses GEM 2.0 bit-mapped proportional fonts - powerful font manipulation options: bold, outline ... - flexible text-placement tools. clip-art - uses New Printshop clip-art libraries. - manipulation & placement tools like those for text. - clips can be auto-traced into a shape design. PCX files - load a PCX image to memory, then place it anywhere. - save the entire screen, or a portion, to a PCX file. - automatic color conversions when necessary. (e.g.: when loading a 256-color image to a 16-color screen) display adapters - all CGA, EGA, VGA, SuperVGA or VESA adapters are OK. - a primary or secondary Hercules adapter is also OK. - mode-switching w/ automatic rescaling of all objects. - simulated black-and-white modes for 2-color work. printing - print the entire screen, or only a portion of it. - only LASER-compatible printers are supported. (HP Deskjets are OK) hardware - a minimum of 425K free RAM is required. - additional EMS or XMS memory is desirable. - the icon functions require a Microsoft-compatible mouse. small EXE - Incredibly, all of the above features are packed into a single 165K program file. friendly - No copy-protection of any kind. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Introduction: User comments 1 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Due to its extreme versatility and ease-of-use, ROTOR(tm) is as popular with children as it is with artists and professionals. The following unsolicited remarks give an indication of ROTOR's appeal: " Only a brief review convinced me to register this program! If nothing else but for recreation! " Joyce, a weaver. (Camden, DE) " I am having a ball with it " Joe, a florist and oil painter. (Baker, LA) " My children enjoy it very much " Harald (Heidelberg, Germany) " I am impressed and have had great fun with this program " Norma, a housewife (Springville, IN) " I really like any graphics program but I must admit that yours is the most unique I have run across " Bob, a mechanic (Kirkwood, NY) " Thanks for ROTOR. It is exceptional! " Chuck, a retired engineer (Blue Ridge, GA) " My seven year old enjoys drawing with the computer and thinks ROTOR is `awesome'. " Jack (Dallas, TX) " A good product I will pass on to others ( the shareware version of course ). " Warren, a small business owner (Ontario, CANADA) " Very impressed with the speed, appearance and functionality of this program. It's simply a good idea. Great potential. I will recommend it to my contacts at the club. " John, a telecommunicatons technician (Dyfed, England) " Wild colors and action. It surprises you. " Phyllis, a secretary (Lomita, CA) " I have only recently purchased my machine and I am still feeling my way around with it. I received a package of programs from a friend to get me started, and yours was among them. To give you an idea how much I liked it, I played with it for over two hours and I am now filling this registration form. " Neil, an electronics technician (Waretown, NJ) " The animation features are fantastic. Much more fun than regular paint programs. " John, a hospital project manager (Tucson, AZ) " It's different, original, and asks to be explored. " Gustave, a retired journalist (Miami Beach, FL) " A simply marvellous program. I haven't had so much fun with my computer in a long while. " President of a chemicals co. (Bogota, Columbia) " Great fun! My four year old wants to play with it all the time. " Gary, a Postal Service clerk (Rockaway, NJ) " I get a real kick out of the MOTOR function... All in all a thoroughly enjoyable way to relax. Great fun when I don't feel like thinking about a thing. " David, an accountant (Centerville, MA) " The whole thing is a kick. " William, a Safety Coordinator (Tucson, AZ) " Of all the many shareware programs I have obtained since getting my 386 last September, none has given me as much enjoyment as ROTOR ... the pleasure in running the program is a reward in itself. " Karl, an automobile mechanic (Hollywood, FL) -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Limitations 1 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- While we like to think that ROTOR(tm) is a perfect program, we have to admit that it does suffer from a few limitations: The most glaring short-coming of ROTOR(tm) is its lack of a 'Zoom' feature allowing 'fat-bit' editing. Precise surgical editing of a ROTOR(tm) image is not easy. When this is needed, we recommend saving the screen, then loading it into a paint package like PC Paintbrush for pixel-level editing. The next noticeable limitation is that it does not allow images larger than its work area. This is actually a concious design decision. It is our opinion that screen-scrolling operations are tedious and annoying. In addition, the hidden parts of an image are usually not drawn onto, which leads to un-natural chopped designs. Essentially, we feel that simplicity of use is more important than unlimited image size. Finally, dot-matrix printers are not supported. We do not feel that this is a major sin, as the quality of their output is generally unsatifactory anyway. A more serious limitation is the lack of support for color printers. ROTOR(tm) automatically converts color images to black & white before printing. PC real-time graphics : The power of today's PCs, mighty as it is, is still limited. ROTOR(tm) strives to make the most of the available resources. But it cannot compete with the Silicon Graphics mainframes which are used to produce computer-animations for motion pictures such as Terminator 2. Users who expect such results are in for a rude awakening. ROTOR(tm) is limited to two-dimensional polygons! No 3D-graphics, no ray tracing, no image synthesis, certainly no photorealistic rendering! We point this out because we do not want our customers to approach ROTOR(tm) with inflated expectations which would lead to disappointment. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: Hardware considerations 2 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- required hardware : As with all graphic-based programs, the faster your computer the better. A 80286 processor, or faster, is recommended. adapters : ROTOR(tm) supports Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA, SuperVGA and VESA adapters. It automatically detects which adapter is installed. If you have two adapters installed, (a VGA card and a Hercules card, for instance) ROTOR(tm) will allow you to switch from one card to the other. It will not, however, run on both cards at the same time. monitor : ROTOR(tm) assumes a correctly matched adapter/monitor pair. You may need to adjust the monitor's output so that circles do not appear as elipses. mouse : A mouse is recommended, as it is required for freehand drawing. If you do not have a mouse, you can still use ROTOR(tm), as all other operations are keyboard controllable. If you have a mouse, it must be Microsoft-compatible, and the MOUSE.COM (or .SYS) driver must be loaded. other pointing devices : Any device that can simulate a Microsoft-compatible mouse will work. Most graphic tablets can do so. memory: ROTOR(tm) requires a minimum of 425K free memory to run. For optimum performance, you should have 500K+ If your machine features several megabytes of high memory, this is a welcome bonus. Whether it is configured as EMS (expanded) or XMS (extended) memory, ROTOR(tm) can make good use of it. EMS is preferable to XMS, as XMS requires an additional 64K of free memory above the initial 425K. We remind you here that both EMS and XMS configurations require a device driver in the CONFIG.SYS file. When these drivers are missing, ROTOR(tm) cannot access the high memory areas. The EMS driver must also be compatible with the LIM 4.0 specification, and the XMS must support the XMS 2.0 specification. disk space : The ROTOR.EXE file doesn't take up much space, but saved screens do, particularly those of high resolution modes. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH ROOM ON THE CURRENT DRIVE BEFORE STARTING THE PROGRAM! If your machine has no high memory, this is a particularly important consideration, as the current drive may be used as a virtual memory device. Basically, ROTOR(tm) may store information in temporary files instead of keeping it in memory. connection to VCR/TV : If you have a VGA graphics adapter, you can record ROTOR(tm) animations on a VCR. In order to do so, you need a VGA-to-TV signal converter. Such converters come in a variety of shapes, some as a small external box, others as an internal expansion board. The external box variety is installed so that it intercepts the VGA-adapter output. The following diagram illustrates: +----------- TV or VCR | input VGA port -------- converter | +----------- VGA monitor Converters can cost anyhwere from $150 to $400. They are usually advertised in the `multimedia' advertising-section at the back of computer magazines. Do they work? Yes! What you see on your screen is what you get on your VCR tape. You can use it with any software, not just ROTOR(tm). The maximum resolution supported is usually 640x480. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: Files 2 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- shareware version : The distribution files are: ROTOR20.EXE : The program. ROTOR20.SCR : The script file for the introductory logo animation. Also contains default settings and handy macro programs. ROTOR20.REG : This file contains the Registration Form, the User Questionaire and the License Agreement. Print these by typing: COPY ROTOR20.REG PRN <enter> ROTOR20.M1 & ROTOR20.M2 : These are the 'manual' files. They contain the documentation for the program, which you are now looking at. To print them, type: COPY ROTOR20.M? PRN <enter> ROMA-22.FON : A sample font, 22 pixels-high. R-BUGS.POG : A sample clip library (images). R-BUGS.PNM : Part of clip library (names). HOUSE.DEF : A sample DEF shape. disks : When distributed in uncompressed form, ROTOR(tm) requires three 360K floppies: + disk 1 : ROTOR20.M1 + disk 2 : ROTOR20.M2 + disk 3 : ROTOR20.EXE, ROTOR20.SCR, ROTOR20.REG, ROMA-22.FON, R-BUGS.POG, R-BUGS.PNM, HOUSE.DEF Alternatively, all of the ROTOR(tm) files may be compressed into a single 350K ROTOR20.ZIP file, which fits on a single 360K floppy disk. The ROTOR20.ZIP file requires a target decompression drive with at least 900K of free space. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: Files 2 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The registered version of ROTOR(tm) consists of: disks : Four 5"1/4 floppies (4 x 360K) : disk 1 : ROTOR20 and Utilities disk 2 : Clips (21 libraries) disk 3 : Fonts 1 (41 font files) disk 4 : Fonts 2 (42 font files) or Two double-density 3"1/2 diskette (2 x 720K) disk 1 : ROTOR20, Utilities, and clip libraries disk 2 : Fonts or One high-density 3"1/2 diskette (1 x 1.44Meg) containing all files. All files are uncompressed, ready to use. manuals : Rotor 2.0 manual. Font utilities manual. Fonts reference guide. Pogit Manual. Clips reference guide. 360K disk #1 contents : ROTOR20.EXE : The program. ROTOR20.SCR : The script file for the introductory logo animation. Also contains default settings and handy macro programs. Not required. FONTVIEW.EXE : A font viewing utility. FONT2PRN.EXE : A font printing utility. FONT2GEM.EXE : A font-file converter. FON2RFON.EXE : A GEM font renaming utility. POGIT.EXE : A clip-art file converter. HOUSE.DEF : A sample DEF shape. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: Quick start 2 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- hardware prep : If you have high memory (EMS or XMS) make sure that the appropriate device driver has been included in your CONFIG.SYS file. If you have a mouse, make sure that the MOUSE.COM (or MOUSE.SYS) driver has been installed. We recommend disabling the DOS Ctrl-C check by typing: break off <enter> This frees up the Ctrl-C key for use by ROTOR(tm). Also, it is a good idea to verify that the system clock date & time are correctly set. hard disk install : The following instructions assume a disk drive A: and a hard disk C: Create a ROTOR directory : md C:\ROTOR Copy all files to it : copy A:*.* C:\ROTOR Go to that directory : C: cd C:\ROTOR Start the program : ROTOR20 <enter> It is important to notice that all files are copied to a single directory. This is not an optional arrangement. All files MUST be copied to a single directory, because ROTOR(tm) is not equipped to access files across directory boundaries. Due to a DOS limit of a maximum of 112 root directory entries, we do not advise installing ROTOR(tm) in a root directory. diskettes- only users : Format a blank diskette. Insert the ROTOR + utilities disk in a drive, say A: Go to that drive : A: Start the program : ROTOR20 <enter> The program takes a while to load. When the introductory logo animation begins, remove the program disk and replace it with a blank formatted diskette. Saved screens or shapes will be written to this disk. Insert the Fonts and Clips disks as necessary during program operation. ROTOR(tm) does not prompt the user for such disk changes. when the program begins : Press the space-bar to end the logo-animation -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: Quick Exit 2 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Esc] command : To abort a ROTOR(tm) session, and return to the DOS prompt, simply press the ESC-key twice. The first ESC-key press indicates an intent to exit. The second ESC-press confirms that intent and causes ROTOR(tm) to remove itself from memory. The [ESC]-command is available at all times. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Installation: How to use this manual 2 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- to read or not to read : There is no need to read this manual from cover to cover before using ROTOR(tm). The program is entirely menu driven, and it is therefore relatively easy to figure-out how to use most of its features. There is no harm in jumping into ROTOR(tm) unprepared. Of course, reading the manual beforehand can't hurt either. recommended sections : We recommend the INTERFACE chapter. It details the keystroke short-cuts that correspond to various types of mouse clicks. These are easy to remember, and they are great productivity enhancers. We also recommend the begining of the OBJECTS chapter, which defines the basic organization of an object. beginners : For users unfamiliar with DOS, we have included an appendix on the basics of file manipulation. manual organization : The sequence in which information is presented is significant; each section assumes that the user is familiar with the content of the preceeding sections. Primarily, this manual is intended as a look-up reference. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Screen layout 3 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ menu-bar, 2 lines │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . │ │ mouse . ┌─────────┐ . │ │ # icon . │ / ~ \ │ work area . │ │ . │< shape >│ . │ │ . │ \ _ / │ . │ │ . └─ cursor─┘ . │ │ . . │ │ . . . . zone . . . . . . . . . . . │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Before embarking on a tour of ROTOR(tm)'s features, it is is a good idea to study its screen interface. It is important that you become familiar with the names for the various interface elements, as these are frquently referred to theoughout this manual. In particular, you should be able to distinguish the following items: menu-bar : This is the 2-line menu at the top of the screen. work area : This is the drawing surface. It has a border, which is permanent, and a surface color, which may be changed. In black-and-white modes, the border is not visible: it is black and blends into the surrounding margin. icon : This is a mouse pointer. It indicates the position of the mouse. The "design" of the icon reflects the mouse's function. object : This is an animated SHAPE within a CURSOR-box. The cursor-box is itself enclosed by a ZONE-box, but this zone is not normally visible when ROTOR(tm) first starts. Much of ROTOR(tm)'s interface is dedicated to managing the appearance and behavior of this object. Consequently, many of the controls studied here are closely related to the object's "innards". -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Buttons 3 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- buttons : The most common interface item is the BUTTON. It is a rectangular box with 'chipped' corners. It is labeled with a description of some sort. The first letter of the description is highlighted. Buttons are meant to be pressed. This is done via a mouse click, or by by pressing the key corresponding to highlighted letter. Pressing a button causes it to light up temporarily. This is accompanied by an audible "click" sound. button notation : Throughout this manual, square brackets ([]) are used to indicated a clickable button. Some buttons are labelled, other are empty. example: [Fill] -- this is the 'fill' button. -- [] -- this is also a button. -- ctrl-keys : Sometimes the highlighted letter of a button will consist of a '^' (caret) character followed by a letter. The key that toggles such a button is a Ctrl-letter combination. The following examples illustrate: [^PUT] : press Ctrl-P This button appears in several menus. It is used to rubber-stamp (ie 'put') something onto the screen. [^OP] : press Ctrl-O This button also appears in several places. It is used to select OPTIONS. [^PrtScn] : press Ctrl-PrtSc to print all or a portion of the screen. Unlike the commands above which are menu dependent, this command is always available. [^Clip] : press Ctrl-C to toggle the CLIP switch. This command only works when the DOS BREAK mechanism is disabled. Otherwise, it aborts ROTOR(tm). [^] or [^ Diag] : press ^ (shift top-row-6). Here, the caret does not signify a CTRL keystroke, but the caret character itself, as it is not followed immediately by another letter. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Switches 3 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Switches : Switches are similar to buttons, but they react differently when pressed; they toggle. An ON switch is turned OFF by a click, and an OFF switch is turned ON by another click. A switch is ON when it is lit. [switch] : A small rectangular pad is sometimes attached [modes ] to the underside of a switch. This is a 'modes-pad'. This pad is meant to be pressed, via a mouse click, or by the keyboard combination <Alt-letter>, where "letter" is the highlighted character on the switch. Pressing a modes-pad results in a pop-up menu of mode choices. [switch][] : Switches may be further enhanced by a blank [ modes][] padded switch on the right. It's a pulse control. The upper part functions like a switch. It is toggled by mouse-click, or via a <Ctrl-letter> keystroke combination, where 'letter' is the highlighted character on the switch. The lower part is similar to a MODES pad. It is activated by clicking, or with an <Alt-Ctrl-letter> combination, where 'letter' is the highlighted character on the switch. application to object attributes : Every object is defined by its attributes: its shape, its colors, its position, and so on. There are approximately 30 such attributes, and each has a corresponding switch. When a switch is ON, the corresponding attribute is a property of the current object. For instance, when [FILL] is ON, the object's shape is filled. When it is OFF, the shape is only an outline, ie it is NOT filled. Frequently, there is more than one way in which a particular attribute may be applied to an object. When this is the case, the user can chose among the alternatives by poping-up a MODEs menu. In the case of the [FILL] attribute, the user can specify an opaque or a translucent tinting fill. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Switch pulse control 3 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- linked parameter : While switches are ON/OFF devices, the attributes they control can usually take on a range of values. When this is the case, the switch is linked to a parameter which specifies a precise value. For instance, in the case of [FILL], a fill-color is involved. pulse control : This PARAMETER may have fixed value, or it may change with each cycle in the animation. This is where the pulse control switch comes in: When it is OFF, the parameter has a fixed value. When it is ON, the parameter's value fluctuates. The manner in which the parameter changes its value is decided by its 'pulse mode', which is selected via the pulse control's modes pad (bottom). The pulse mode choices are: Upward : The parameter value is incremented at each cycle. Downward : It is decremented at each cycle. Up&Down : It is incremented thoughout its range until it reaches its maximum value, then it is decremented in a similar manner. Random : The parameter value changes randomly. Blink : This mode is intended mainly for color parameters. It causes the color to alternate between high and low intensity values. To illustrate how the pulse control works, lets go back to our [FILL] example: When the [FILL] pulse-switch is OFF, the filled shape has a constant color. When it is ON, the fill-color varies. relevance of pulsing : All of ROTOR(tm)'s animation mechanisms are derived from its parameter-pulsing ability. It is therefore essential that you understand the 'pulse control' concept, and that you become comfortable with it. terminology: The 'pulse' verb appears repeatedly throughout this manual. As you may have infered by now, it means 'varying' or 'changing'. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Parameters monitor 3 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- parameter control : As mentioned previously, each attribute of an object can usually take on a range of values. Its precise value at a given moment is held in a 'parameter' variable. This value can be monitored and changed, via a 'parameters monitor', which consists of: [TAB] [<][#][>] [paramname paramvalue pulsestep] | | + -------- parameter frame ------- + Due to space limitations, abbreviated forms of this control are sometimes used. They may lack the [#] indicator, or the 'pulsestep' value may have been omitted. Also, there may be no [TAB] button. [TAB] : Typically, several different parameters can be edited [shift-TAB] from a single control-panel. To edit a parameter other than that which is shown, use this button. [TAB] advances to the next parameter, [shift-TAB] returns to the prior one. Mouse users may select the parameter from a pop-up menu by clicking the parameter frame. [<][#][>] : These controls are used to change the parameter's value. The [<] and [>] buttons decrement and increment the parameter by # (amount shown between the [<][>] buttons). The key strokes corresponding to [<] and [>] are [,] and [.] (comma and period). In other words, DO NOT USE TO SHIFT KEY! We know, this is a little inconsistent, and therefore confusing, but it is also a great convenience in actual usage. [#], the scan-step : The [#] value is referred to as the 'scan-step'. It is always in the range 1..10. By changing its value, the user can dictate the extent of the change caused by [<] and [>]. function keys : We use the function keys to modify the scan-step: F1 sets it to 1, F2 sets it to 2, F3 sets it to 3, and so on ... F10 sets it to 'X' , which is the Roman character for 10. Effectively, the function keys are used as number keys. parameter frame : The name of the parameter being edited appears in a framed box. Also shown in this box is the parameter's value. It is automatically updated when changed. When an attribute is animated, ie 'pulsed', the value of the corresponding parameter changes constantly, and this can be observed. To the far right of the parameter frame, a second number may be present. This is the parameter's current pulse-step value. Its role is similar to that of the scan-step. It specifies the amount of change that will be applied to the parameter at each cycle, when it is pulsed. Generally speaking, it is an indicator of animation 'speed'. pulse-step editing : The pulse-step can be edited via the [shift_<] and [shift_>] keys. ( [shift_comma] & [shift_period] ). They decrement/increment the pulse-step by a scan-step. These keyboard commands have no mouse equivalents. They are effective even when the pulse-step value is not shown, as is the case in the abbreviated form of the parameter frame. example : The preceeding explanations are somewhat dry and difficult to visualize. The following example may be helpful: [TAB] [<][5][>] [shape_tilt 15 1] We are editing the shape_tilt parameter. The frame tells us that the current shape_tilt is 15 (degrees). We click [>] once. The shape_tilt is incremented by scan-step, which is 5. The frame is updated to show shape_tilt's new value, 20. [TAB] [<][5][>] [shape_tilt 20 1] | + -- changed Not too hard. Now let's change shape_tilt to 21. In other words, let's increment it by 1. If we click [>], it would be incremented by 5, which is too much. We must first reset the scan-step to 1. To do so, we press F1: [TAB] [<][1][>] [shape_tilt 20 1] | + -- changed Now we click [>]. The shape_tilt is incremented this time only by 1, to 21: [TAB] [<][1][>] [shape_tilt 21 1] | + -- changed -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Pop-up menus 3 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- pop-up vertical menus : These are used for a variety of purposes. Their operation is rather straight forward: + To exit without making a selection, press [Esc] or click the [X] box. + To drag it to a new location, click the [D] box. (mouse users only) + To select a choice, click it, or use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar over the desired entry and then press [Enter]. check boxes : In some menus, every entry is prefixed by a check-box. When this is the case, each entry is an option which may be selected or deselected. Mouse users can toggle the status of such an entry by clicking its check-box. Keyboard users can do so by moving the highlight bar over the entry and then pressing [enter]. Please note that the [enter] key no longer exits. scroll bars : A scroll bar is attached to a pop-up menu when its entries are numerous. The user gains access to the hidden choices by moving the slider. Mouse users may drag the slider directly, or they may move it by clicking the arrow buttons. Keyboard users avail themselves of: [PgUp] [PgDn] to move the slider one "page" at a time. [Home] [End] to jump to the beginning or end of the list of choices Scrollable-menus can have up to 512 entries. Users with large hard-disks and vast collections of fonts, clip-art or PCX images may conceivably encounter this limitation. searches : To move to a particular entry quickly, press the key corresponding to the capitalized letter of that entry (usually the first letter). This moves the highlight forward to the nearest entry containing that cap. Some menus may have several entries beginning with the same cap, so it may be necessary to press the key several times before the correct entry is reached. placement : By default, pop-up menus appear in the upper-left hand side of the screen. This suits the author just fine, as he is a lefty. What? You say you are right-handed? No problem, ROTOR(tm) can be configured to accomodate your 'handicap'. The options menu allows you to chose 'right-handed' pop-up menus. current entry : When the menu is called-up (activated), the highlight bar is positioned on the currently active entry, if any. For instance, in the case of a 'modes' menu, the highlighted entry is the current 'mode'. effect on animation : When a menu is 'popped' onto the work area, all on-going animation is interrupted. The animation resumes after a selection is made, when the menu has removed itself from the work area. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Menu-bar 3 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm)'s menu-bar is a sophisticated interactive control panel. It is relatively simple, intuitive, informative, and responsive. ┌─┬─┬─────┬───────┬───────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┐ │*│#│\More│1:shape│2:Alter│3:Pose│4:Size│ .... │9:Draw│ ├─┴─┴──┬──┴┬──────┴───────┴──────┴─┬────┴──────┴──────┤ │ Info │ ? │ ROTOR(tm) version 2.0 │ s# 93-2428 │ └──────┴───┴───────────────────────┴──────────────────┘ When the program first starts, the user sees a menu bar similar to the figure above. It features two separate rows of controls. Each row serves a specific purpose. The top row is intended as kind of 'table of contents'. It consists of a collection of numbered buttons. Each button is labelled with the title of a 'chapter'. When the user clicks one of these buttons, the desired 'chapter' is brought into view on the row below. This bottom row is reserved for the actual 'meat' of the 'chapters'. In other words, the buttons on the top row are used to change the contents of the second row. the top row : Lets examine the various buttons that appear here: numbered buttons : These are not randomly ordered. They are arranged in a logical sequence. First time users are advised to examine the corresponding menus in that order. The number keys on the top row of the keyboard activate these buttons. ( This should be easy to remember: top row button, top row key, get it?) As previously mentioned, they allow you to change the controls on the row below. the [\more] button : ROTOR(tm) is a large program with many sets of tools, too many to mention in a single row. In other words, its 'table of contents' does not fit in a single page. The [\More] button turns a page to allow us to read the rest of the 'table'. When we begin with: ┌─┬─┬─────┬───────┬───────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬──────┐ │*│#│\More│1:shape│2:Alter│3:Pose│4:Size│ .... │9:Draw│ └─┴─┴─────┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴──────┘ (this is the Objects menu, see chapter 4) a press of the [\More] button changes the top row to: ┌─┬─┬─────┬──────┬──────┬──────┬─────┬─────────┬──────┐ │*│#│\More│1:Icon│2:Clip│3:Text│4:PCX│ ....... │9:Xprt│ └─┴─┴─────┴──────┴──────┴──────┴─────┴─────────┴──────┘ (this is the Services menu, see chapter 5) And vice versa. There are only two 'content' pages, so repeated presses of the [\More] button causes the top row to alternate between the two configurations shown above. The [\More] button is sometimes abbreviated to [\]. [9:Xpert] menu : The Objects and Services menus mentioned above cover almost all of ROTOR(tm)'s aspects. A few remaining items are tucked away in a third menu, the 'expert' menu. The features presented there are rarely used, or intended for advanced users only. This menu is accessed by pressing the [9:Xpert] button in the Services menu. For further details, please refer to chapter 6. [*], the Status bar toggle : This button replaces the top row with a status bar, which we describe in detail in the next section. Note that it is a toggle: repeated presses of the asterisk key retrieve the status bar, then remove it, then retrieve it again, etc... Keyboard users should use the asterisk key on the keypad, rather than that on the row, which requires the use of 'shift'. [#] : This button provides direct accesss to the various pop-up menus used throught the interface. It calls up a list of those menus, and then pops-up the selected one. It is particularly handy when you need something that is not on the current menu, but do not wish to change menus. the bottom row : Its contents and aspect vary dramatically from one set of controls to the next. title box : There is one feature which all of the bottom row menus have in common: They all begin with a 'title' box which is labelled with a descriptive name. It informs the user of the nature of the controls on that row. Mouse user's may use it to change menus, as it produces a list of menu choices when clicked. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Status bar 3 - 08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ┌─┐┌─┬┐┌─┬┬──┐┌─┬┬──┐┌─┬┬──┐┌─┬┬────┐┌─┬┬────┐┌─┬┬────┐ │*││T│││U││--││X││██││Y││██││L││░▒▓█││F││░▒▓█││B││░▒▓█│ └─┘└─┴┘└─┴┴──┘└─┴┴──┘└─┴┴──┘└─┴┴────┘└─┴┴────┘└─┴┴────┘ | | | | | | | +---+---+ +--------+--------+ | | | current current color line fill selection pattern patterns strips purpose : The primary purpose of the status bar is to provide a complete picture of the current object's drawing attributes. These are the various colors and pattern styles that affect its appearance. The status bar displays samples of these attributes. This information is available elsewhere in scattered chuncks which are more complete and intelligible, but less convenient. The status bar also gives the user a certain amount of control over these attributes; they can be switched ON or OFF, and they can be pulsed, by pressing the corresponding buttons. Mouse users can even select colors directly from miniature palettes. When called, the status bar replaces the top row of the menu-bar, leaving the row below intact. The status bar is particularly useful when it is paired up with the icon functions menu. Its color selection strips complement the icon menu's drawing tools. remarks : Due to space limitations, the various buttons which appear in the status bar are drastically abbreviated, down to a single letter. As a result, the status bar is bound to seem rather cryptic to first-time users. We recommend that they study the other menus first, and then come back to this one. contents : The following is a brief summary of the elements that form the status bar. (For more information, please refer to the corresponding sections of chapter 4). [*] : toggle to return to prior top menu. [T][] : thickness toggle and pulse-switch. [U][][---] : dashed-line toggle and pulse-switch, with sample. [X][][###] : patterned-fill toggle and pulse-switch, with sample. [Y][][###] : patterned-background toggle and pulse-switch, w/sample. [L][][▒▓█] : line toggle and pulse-switch, w/line-color palette. [F][][▒▓█] : fill toggle and pulse-switch, w/fill-color strip. [B][][▒▓█] : back toggle and pulse-switch, w/background-color strip. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Options 3 - 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [(] The user may customize the user interface in a few (shift-9) simple ways. This is done via the Options pop-up menu, which is accessed by pressing the right-parenthesis key (shift top-row-9). It lists the following items: Mouse : Turn this option OFF to hide and disable the mouse. When the mouse is hidden, the overhead associated with updating its position on screen is eliminated, and as a result the overall perfomance of ROTOR(tm) is significantly improved. Quiet : ROTOR(tm) uses a variety of simple sound effects to provide feedback. There is, for instance, a standard error-sound. Users who find this audio feedback annoying can disable it by toggling the sound option off. Smart : In certain situations, ROTOR(tm)'s behavior can be puzzling. Buttons seem to malfunction. The smart option is designed to remedy this problem. When ON, it detects these confusing situations and fixes them. Please note however that this involves a small loss of flexibility. MouseSYNC : This option links the current object to the mouse, causing it to move whenever the user shifts the icon. It allows the user to 'draw' with the current shape. It reponds to a pressed mouse-button by stamping the shape repeatedly onto the work-area. This is a frequently used option. It is directly accessible at all times via the ['] toggle. (unshifted ") AnimFILL : Filled shapes tend to slow things down. So it is often desirable to keep shape 'filling' down to a minimum. When AnimFILL is OFF, shapes are only 'filled' when they are stamped onto the screen, that is drawn permanently. When AnimFILL is ON, animated non-marking shapes can have a fill-color, instead of being limited to an outline. This, of course, slows the animation down. PopRight : Turn this option ON if you would prefer pop-up menus on the right-side of the screen rather than on the left side. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Visibility toggles 3 - 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- clutter control : The ROTOR(tm) screen can be a pretty busy and crowded place. Sometimes it's a little too much. A number of visibility toggles are available to help alleviate this clutter. Each toggle controls a particular interface element: [0] toggles the MENU-BAR [S] toggles the OBJECT's SHAPE. [C] toggles the OBJECT's CURSOR. [Z] toggles the OBJECT's ZONE. The mouse icon can also be disabled, via the options menu discussed in the prior section. It is a good idea to be familiar with these commands, as they are often responsible for 'missing' objects and other confusing situations. performance improves : The visibility toggles above help boost animation speed. This is due to the fact that hidden interface elements do not tie up the computer's CPU as much as their visible counterparts. The fastest animations are obtained by disabling all elements except the SHAPE. other effects : When the MENU-BAR is hidden, it is deactivated. Menu-area mouse-clicks fall on deaf ears. Keyboard commands, on the other hand, continue to be processed. They are handled by a background keystroke processor, which may or may not interpret them correctly. More on this later. When a SHAPE, CURSOR or ZONE is toggled OFF, it is not frozen in its current state. Rather, it continues to move or change, invisibly, somewhere backstage. Later, when toggled back ON, it resumes its existence not where it was last seen, but rather where it would be, had it never been hidden. When the mouse is hidden, it is deactivated completely. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Mouse and keyboard considerations 3 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- mouse clicks : ROTOR(tm) does not distinguish between the left and right buttons. It does not matter which one you press. You may press both at the same time if you wish. It's all the same as far as ROTOR(tm) is concerned. Also, there is no need to "double-click" anything. keystroke commands : ROTOR(tm) makes full use of the keyboard. Just about every keystroke-combination you can imagine has a reserved usage. And some have multiple usages. These are not new, secret, commands, but simply the keystrokes related to the various menus of the interface. Essentially, keystroke-command are always available, even when the corresponding menu buttons are not present. This is a great convenience, as it reduces the need to change menus continually. We do not expect first-time users to take avantage of this feature, as it requires some memorization. But it is of great benefit to advanced users who are familiar with the interface. mouse vs keyboard : The mouse and the keyboard complement each other. Some things can only be done with a mouse click. Others can only be achieved via a keystroke. It is worth noting that keystrokes are generally somewhat more efficient than mouse clicks. This is due to the fact that only displayed items can be clicked. Keystrokes do not suffer from this limitation. As an example, let's say that you wish to toggle the FILL switch. This can easily be done at any time by pressing the 'F' key. But it can only be done via a mouse click if the [Fill] button is currently visible in the menu bar. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Interface: Remarks 3 - 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- help : It is quite fashionable today to build into software packages an extensive system of 'help' screens. ROTOR(tm) provides no such thing. In the author's experience, help system's are not a particularly effective, and often downright annoying. They tend to use up precious disk and memory resources. They are no substitute for thoughtful interface design. The ROTOR(tm) interface has been carefully designed to be intelligible, intuitive, and efficient. It guides the user. It is responsive. There are no hidden or secret commands. [?] buttons are used to instruct the user about obscure keystrokes. There are no complex commands to remember. In other words, it's all there in the menus. tiny buttons : One of the main problems a menu designer faces is the limited space available on the screen. It is a constant struggle to keep everything fitting nicely and neatly. All too often, compromises must be made. Our philosophy here has been to insist on intelligible controls, and then to strive to make them as compact as possible. In some situations, we have elected to abbreviate buttons down to a single letter or character, which is of course not as friendly or self-explanatory as a button labelled with a complete description. In actual use, once the user has become familiar with the program, these smaller controls are a real benefit, as they reduce the number of keystrokes or mouse click that are required to produce meaningful work. A great deal of effort has gone into the development of ROTOR(tm)'s interface, and we hope you will share our satisfaction with the result. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Definitions 4 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- An object is a basic animation entity which is composed of three separate visible elements: a SHAPE, a CURSOR and a ZONE. It is important that you recognize and understand these, as they are discussed throughout this manual: shape : The SHAPE is a design of some sort, which gives the object its identity. A great variety of outline-shapes are possible. Color, line, pattern, and thickness attributes add further detail to any SHAPE design. The shape can be animated in a multitude of ways, and it can be used as a rubber-stamp. cursor : The cursor indicates the shape's position, and size. The shape always "fits" inside the cursor The cursor can be made to travel across the screen, as if it had wheels and an engine of its own. The shape is its passenger, moving along with it. The "tilt" of the cursor reflects its angle of travel. The cursor is usually square. But its appearance may be changed to a circle, a cross-hair, and a variety of other forms. zone : The zone box defines the "stomping grounds" of the cursor. It limits the territory that may be travelled by the cursor/shape. The zone can also be made to travel across the screen, as if it had wheels and an engine of its own. The zone is rectangular. It is drawn with a dashed line, to distinguish it from the cursor. visibility toggles : The object elements described above can be hidden independently of each other, as they are linked to separate dedicated 'visibility' toggles: The [Shape] switch toggles the object's SHAPE. The [Cursor] switch toggles the object's CURSOR. The [Zone] switch toggles the object's ZONE. ( ON = visible, OFF = hidden ) -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Definitions: animation and motion 4 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Objects are not dead static items. They are living creatures, capable of numerous activities. These can be split into two general categories: animation and motion. animation : The term "animation" refers to shape transformations that take place within the confines of the enclosing cursor. These may be changes in color, size, form, tilt, etc... motion : The term "motion" refers to cursor and zone travel. The cursor, as it moves, drags along the shape it contains. Similarly, zone motion may affect the cursor's position. Simultaneous cursor and zone motions are possible. cycle : Both animation and motion are achieved by the rapid display of successive object states. The term "cycle" describes all the computations that are necessary to proceed from one such state to the next. It corresponds loosely to the "frame" concept used in cartoons and motion pictures. kernel : The part of ROTOR(tm) in charge of object-cycles (ie animation) is called the "kernel". It generates a continuous stream of object-states, which is displayed as a flickering animated object. pause : The kernel can be instructed to de-activate an object. This is the role of the SPACE-BAR. When pressed, it "freezes" the object in its current position. The effect is reminiscent of the "pause" button on a VCR. multiple objects : When several objects are present, only the "current" object is affected by the pause command. The other objects carry on normally, undisturbed. continue : To re-activate a "paused" object, hit the ENTER key. This puts the object back on the kernel's list of things-to-do. pause usage : Object deactivation ("pause") is desirable for a variety of purposes: In the case of a passive object, which is visible, but neither moving nor changing, it eliminates the annoying flickering. When multiple objects are present, it reduces the kernel's work-load, which improves the other objects' animation. Mainly, it is intended to allow carefully controlled adjustments, which are difficult to achieve when an object is wildly animated. Such editing is possible because the space-bar does not deactivate the program's interface. Both the menu and the keyboard remain fully functional. In general, the SPACE key is a handy 'panic bar'. Use it to subdue out-of-control objects. single stepping : When applied to a deactivated object, the space-bar behaves like a "frame-by-frame" advance mechanism. Each bar-press nudges the object one cycle ahead, one step forward in its prescribed animation. We call this "single-stepping". paused object : When an object is 'deactivated' by a PAUSE command, it becomes non-marking. Editing commands applied to such an object change the object without altering the work-area. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) The Objects Menu 4 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ┌─┬─┬─┬───────┬───────┬──────┬──────┬────┬──────┬─────┬─────┬──────┐ │*│#│\│1:Shape│2:Alter│3:Pose│4:Size│5:Go│6:Attr│7:Pat│8:Col│9:Draw│ └─┴─┴─┴───────┴───────┴──────┴──────┴────┴──────┴─────┴─────┴──────┘ The focus of this top-row menu is 'objects'. It lists the various issues that need to be considered when crafting an object, and gives access to the corresponding editing controls. We briefly describe the purpose of each numbered button. The corresponding menus are studied in complete detail in later sections. [1:Shape] : To select a shape [2:Alter] : For shape deformations. [3:Pose] : To specify the shape's placement within its cursor. [4:Size] : To enlarge or reduce the various object elements. [5:Go] : To motorize the object. [6:Attr] : To monitor the object's drawing attributes. [7:Pat] : To select patterns. [8:Col] : To select color values. [9:Draw] : To draw with the object. [*],[#] [\More] : Please review the menu-bar section of the 'Interface' chapter for an explanation of these controls. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Shape Menu 4 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Definition : The term SHAPE refers to the design of an object. The start-up default is a square shape. Shape ┌─────┬────┬────┬─────┬─┬──────────┬─┬─┬─────────┬───┐ menu : │Shape│^Put│$ave│Shape│ │shape-type│<│>│points n│ │ └─────┴────┴────┴▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┴──────────┴─┴─┴─────────┴───┘ | | +-+-+ | menu-tail, varies by shape-type. ------------+ Usually, its a shape description of some sort. We examine each control in turn: [^Put] : This button stamps the shape onto the work area, (Ctrl-P) at its current position, using the current drawing attributes. [$ave] : Use this button to save the current shape. You may save the shape's definition, or its current state which may or may not differ from the definition. Each saved shape is writen to a separate file. These files sport a DEF extension. This feature allows you to save randomly generated shapes, and altered ones, for later re-use. We examine DEF files in greater detail elsewhere in this manual. Please check the table of contents. [Shape][] [modes][] : The [Shape] switch is a visibility toggle. When ON, the shape is visible. When OFF, it is hidden. Click the [modes] pad, or press Alt-S, to select the desired shape "type". There are many different kinds of shapes. We will examine these shortly. Within each shape category, various choices exist. Each design has an ID-number. The pulse-control button [Ctrl-S] can cause this number to change automatically at each cycle. The result is an animated shape. The effect is particularly pleasing when all the designs are related, or similar. Some computers reserve the Ctrl-Alt-S key combination for access to their ROM setup menu. When this is the case, the only way to set the SHAPE pulsing mode is via a mouse click. shape type : The type (ie the mode) of the current shape is reported in the frame next to the [Shape] control. [<][>] : Use these keys to select a specific shape of the selected "type". number of vertices : The number of vertices in the current shape is reported in this frame. This number can range from 1 (for a lone dot) to several thousand (for traced clips). Designs with numerous vertices require more computations, and therefore tend to slow down animations. We now examine the various shape types available. As mentioned previously, they are listed in the Shape Modes pop-up menu. Polygon : The shape is a regular polygon with sides of equal length. (a square, a pentagon ,etc..). Use [<][>] to specify the number of sides. Star : The shape is a star with N "tips". (5-tips, 7-tips, 16-tips, etc..). [<][>] changes the number of tips. The [~>][skip n] control alters the 'spread' of the tips. Low skip values produce fat bloated stars. High skip values make spiky compass-stars. Random : The shape is generated randomly by ROTOR(tm). The result is something reminiscent of modern sculptures. Use [<][>] to chose the number of vertices in it. When the random shape generated by ROTOR(tm) is not satisfactory, use the [~Redo] button to generate an alternate one. Dot : The shape is a single pixel, a dot, at the center of the cursor box. Other shape types can also produce a single dot, but not one that is centered in the cursor. (a single-vertex polygon consists of a dot by the upper edge of the cursor box.) Circle : A circle. Circles cannot be drawn with a thick or dashed outline. Alphabet : The shape is a letter, number or punctuation mark. The style of the characters produced is by this mode is reminiscent of the numbers on a football player's T-shirt: fat, with chopped corners. Digital : The shape is a digital number, similar those which appear in a calculator's readout. Things : A variety of object outlines. People : Interesting silhouettes. Sports : Sportsmen symbols. Planes : A variety of plane figures Bird : Two bird shapes. Pets : A few dogs and cats. Symbols : Miscellaneous designs. Clip : The shape is a tracing of the outline of a clip image. The user selects the clip to be traced. Clip-tracing is a CPU-intensive multi-pass process. It is not instantaneous. As each pass is completed, a message reports the progress accomplished. ClipBits : The shape is a collection of little squares, each representing a single black pixel of the selected clip. This mode produces pleasing mosaic-like images. Clip and ClipBits shapes usually have numerous vertices, and as a result, are not well suited for animation. It just takes too long to drawn them. It is a good idea to turn PAUSE ON when working with them. (the space bar turns PAUSE ON.) DEF file : The shape definition is retrieved from a DEF file chosen by the user. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Shapes: Reference guide 4 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- example pictures -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Alter Menu 4 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Shape modification and deformation is the purpose of this menu. the ┌─────┬──────┬─────┬─┬──────┬─┬─────┬─┬─────┬────────┐ menu : │Alter│Invert│Crush│ │Bezier│ │Quake│ │Tab<>│param n│ └─────┴▄▄▄▄▄▄┴▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┴▄▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┴▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┴─────┴────────┘ | | +-------+------+ | parameters monitor ------+ for precise adjusments We examine each control in turn: [Invert] : Use this switch to flip a shape upside-down, [modes ] left-to-right, or 180 degrees. The INVERT-mode determines the inversion direction. This tool is handy when a mirror image is called-for. [Crush][] : Use this control to change a shape's proportions. [modes][] In its slimming mode, CRUSH gives shapes a narrow waist. In its fattening mode, it squashes them into pancake-like blobs. The crush% parameter determines the crushing strength of this switch. When crush% is pulsed, the resulting animation is reminiscent of an inflatable mattress being blown-up. [Bezier][] : This control replaces every line segment in the current [modes ][] shape with a Bezier curve. Bezier curves look like bent wicker. They are named after Pierre Bezier, a french mathematician who, in the 70s, developed a curve modeling system for use in auto-body designs. Bezier curves are characterized by special mathematical properties which make them suitable for fluid, plastic shapes. There are several BEZIER-modes, and each produces slightly different results: Dip : Each new curve sags in the middle, toward the shape's center. Wave : Each line segment is replaced by a wavy line. The overall effect of this mode is reminiscent of a puzzle-piece. Petal : The shapes vertices are pulled toward the center of the cursor. When the original shape is a regular polygon, this mode produces attractive flower-like designs. Dent : Each line segment is poked in the middle, and pushed toward the cursor's center. Loop : Each line segment is replaced with an ornamental looped curve. This mode converts shapes into pleasing embroidery designs. The Bezier curves can be adjusted by modifying the parameter named 'tension'. Low values produce slight curvatures. Deep dips are caused by high values. The tension parameter can be pulsed. The BEZIER command works well with regular polygons. With random shapes, it produces organic looking forms. ROTOR(tm) does not actually produce true Bezier curves. It only simulates them. Each curve is constructed with a series of short line segments. The Bezier option is most effective on shapes with few vertices. We strongly advise against using it with complex figures, as it may end up crashing your machine (due to insufficient memory). [Quake][] : This control displaces every vertex in the current [modes][] shape by some random amount. The QUAKE-mode determines the direction of the jittering action: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, or random. The jitter% parameter dictates the extent of the shifting that occurs. It is pulsable. A shape under the influence of QUAKE dances like a grain of sand on a blasting loud-speaker. It's a rather intriguing effect. parameters monitor : This control allows you to observe and adjust the parameters mentioned in this section. For complete details regarding its operation, please refer to the interface chapter. Limitations : Bezier and Quake effects are not allowed with Clip, ClipBits or DEF shapes. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) A sampling of bezier-generated shapes: 4 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Pose Menu 4 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The controls presented here allow you to adjust the placement of the shape within its enclosing cursor box, ie its 'pose'. ┌────┐┌──────┬─┬──────┬─┬────┬─┬────┬─┬─────┬────────┐ │Pose││Shrink│ │Offset│ │Tilt│ │Roll│ │Tab<>│param n│ └────┘└──────┴▄┴──────┴▄┴────┴▄┴▄▄▄▄┴▄┴─────┴────────┘ | | +-------+------+ | monitor for related parameters ------+ [Shrink][] : When this switch is OFF, the shape is at its fullest [] size. This usually means that it fills as much of the cursor area as possible without overstepping the cursor-area's boundaries. When SHRINK is turned ON, a shrinkage amount is applied to the shape, reducing its size. The shrinkage parameter is defined as the difference between the cursor's radius, and the shape's radius. When it is pulsed, it causes the shape to swell and contract rythmically. [Offset][] : When this switch is OFF, the shape is centered within [] the enclosing cursor (by definition). When OFFSET is turned ON, the shape is pushed toward the top of the cursor-area, off-center. The offsetY parameter dictates the extent of the displacement, which is measured as the distance between the shape's center and the cursor's center. (in pixels). The OFFSET option automatically shrinks the shape as necessary, in order to keep it within the confines of the cursor's area. The OffsetY value cannot exceed the cursor's radius. It is pulsable. [Tilt][] : Use this switch to tilt a shape to one side or another [] (ie to change its orientation). A tilting-angle parameter, expressed in degrees, measures the tilt. When pulsed, it produces a rotating shape. [Roll ][] : This control is similar to the TILT switch, [modes][] as it also rotates the current shape, when ON. A roll angle, expressed in degrees, dictates the extent of the 'roll'. It is pulsable. There are 3 ROLL-modes: Regular : The roll angle is set by the user. Sync : The roll-angle value is determined by the angle-of-travel. (See Go section.) Vibrate : The roll-angle value alternates between positive and negative values, which produces a 'vibrating' effect. Tilt vs Roll : Both TILT and ROLL are rotation transformations. What differentiates them is the fact that TILT is applied before any OFFSET, while ROLL follows those transformations. In actual use, ROLL appears to rotate the entire contents of the cursor, while TILT limits its effect to the shape itself. The difference between TILT and ROLL is only noticeable when OFFSET is ON. Both TILT and ROLL may be active at the same time. When this is the case, their effect is cumulative. The following diagrams help visualize the difference between TILT and ROLL: ┌───────────────────┐ │ ██ │ │ ░░ < - - │- - - this is our shape, │ │ in an offset position. │ + │ No tilt, no roll. │ │ │ │< - - the cursor box │ │ └───────────────────┘ ┌───────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐ │ ░░███ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ + │ │ + ░░███ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────┘ └───────────────────┘ We apply a 90 degree We apply a 90 degree TILT, (no roll). ROLL (no tilt) Only the shape The entire contents of is rotated. the cursor are rotated. Both TILT and ROLL may be active at the same time: ┌───────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ░░ │ │ ░░ │ │ + ██ │ │ ██ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────┘ └───────────────────┘ We apply a 90 degree TILT We apply a 90 degree TILT and also a 90 degree ROLL and also a 90 degree ROLL to an OFFSET shape but NO OFFSET parameters monitor : This control allows you to observe and adjust the transformation parameters mentioned in this section. For more complete details regarding its operation, please refer to the interface chapter. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Size Menu: Cursor sizing 4 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- dual purpose : The Size menu allows you to change the size of either the CURSOR or the ZONE, depending on the state of the scroll-lock key. cursor sizing : When [Scroll Lock] is OFF : ┌────┐┌─────┬──────┬──────┬───┬─────┬───────────────┐ │Size││SLock│Cursor│=:Size│Ins│ -#+ │ cursor rad n │ └────┘└─────┴▄▄▄▄▄▄└──────┴───┴─────┴───────────────┘ | | +-----------+---------+ | monitor --+ [SLock] : This button reports the status of the Scroll-Lock key, which acts as a toggle between the two menu states. [CURSOR] : This is a CURSOR visibility toggle. Its presence confirms that the menu is in its cursor-sizing state. [=:Size] : A range of convenient CURSOR-sizing commands is accesible via the [=] key. These are: ┌────────────┐ │ Doubled │ > to double the cursor diameter. │ Halved │ > to halve the cursor diameter. │ Tripled │ > to triple the cursor diameter. │ Div_By_3 │ > reduces its diameter by 2/3. │ to_ZoneH │ > makes it as tall as the zone. │ to_ZoneW │ > makes it as wide as the zone. │ to_WAreaH │ > makes it as tall as the work area. │ to_WAreaW │ > makes it as wide as the work area. │ Huge │ > makes it twice as wide as the screen. └────────────┘ radius monitor [+][-] : The radius monitor allows subtle size adjustments which cannot be accomplished with the [=] pop-up menu. We recommend using the grey [+] and [-] keys by the numeric-keypad, instead of those on the top row. effects of cursor sizing : When the size of a cursor is modified, the shape within expands or contracts in tandem. The cursor's position remains unchanged. [Ins] : This is the 'centering' button/key. It centers the cursor within or around the ZONE. It is included here for convenient access during sizing operations. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Size Menu: Zone sizing 4 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- When [Scroll Lock] is ON, zone sizing is encouraged: ┌────┐┌─────┬────┬─┬──────┬───┬─────┬───────┬───────┐ │Size││SLock│Zone│ │=:Size│Ins│ -#+ │ width │ depth │ └────┘└─────┴▄▄▄▄┴─┴──────┴───┴─────┴───────┴───────┘ | | +-----------+---------+ | dimensions monitor --+ [ZONE ] : This is the ZONE visibility toggle. Its presence confirms that the menu is in its zone-sizing state. [=:Size] : A range of convenient ZONE-sizing commands is accesible via the [=] key: ┌────────────┐ │ WorkArea │ > Match the work area's size & location. │ Fitted │ > Size it to fit an exact cursr multiple │ Column │ > Size it to fit a column of cursors. │ Row │ > Size it to fit a row of cursors. │ Cursor │ > Match the cursor's dimensions. │ SmallSquar │ > Square it by adjusting its short sides. │ BigSquare │ > Square it by adjusting its long sides. │ Quadruple │ > Double both its width and its height. │ DoubleW │ > Double its width. │ DoubleD │ > Double its height (depth). │ Quarter │ > Halve both its width and height. │ HalveW │ > Halve its width. │ HalveD │ > Halve its height (depth). │ TripleW │ > Triple its width. │ TripleD │ > Triple its height (depth). │ ThirdW │ > For a 2/3 narrower width. │ ThirdD │ > For a 2/3 shorter depth. └────────────┘ Note that this is NOT the same set of commands that is used for cursor-sizing. width & depth monitor [+][-] : The monitor allows you set the zone dimensions precisely. The [+][-] controls expand and contract the width and depth dimensions simultaneously. [^left] [^right] : These combination-keys affect only the zone's width component: [ctrl-left-arrow] decrements the width. [ctrl-right-arrow] increments it. Use these keys to alter the zone's proportions, ie to flatten or stretch it. The ZONE dimensions are measured in pixels. effects of zone sizing : Almost all of the Zone-resizing operations expand or contract the ZONE about its center. The exception to this rule is the 'match workarea' command. [Ins] : This control centers the ZONE about the center of the WORK-AREA. The numeric keypad center key [5] may also be used for this purpose. keyboard layout : We conclude this section by noting that the keys surrounding the numeric keypad are generally reserved for cursor/zone operations. The Scroll-lock status determines whether they affect the cursor or the zone. The [=],[+],[-] and [Ins] keys behave in this manner. So do the arrow keys. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Go Menu: Motion control 4 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The cursor and the zone of an object are not static elements. Each features a built-in 'engine' which enables it to move about the screen independently. This menu allows you to operate these 'engines'. +--- Scroll-lock status indicator. | Menu-state indicator: | [cursor] when SLock is OFF. | [zone] when SLock is ON. | | ┌────┐┌─────┬──────┬─┬──┬─┬────┬────┬─┬──────┬──────┐ │Move││SLock│C or Z│?│Go│ │Pave│Veer│ │Tab<#>│step n│ └────┘└─────┴▄▄▄▄▄▄└─┴▄▄┴▄┴▄▄▄▄┴▄▄▄▄┴▄┴──────┴──────┘ | | +------+------+ | step and angle monitor ---+ [SLock] : The menu does not provide separate cursor-motion and zone-motion controls. Instead, it uses dual-purpose buttons. Their effect depends on the status of the scroll-lock key: When scroll-lock is OFF, they operate on the cursor, as indicated by the presence of a cursor visibility toggle. When scroll-lock is ON, the menu is dedicated to zone-motion. A zone visibility toggle confirms this. The Scroll-Lock key is a toggle key, like Caps-Lock. It is generally located above the numeric key-pad. Most keyboards provide an LED indicator which lights up when Scroll-Lock is ON. The scroll-lock status is also displayed on the menu. element : As we describe the dual-purpose devices mentioned above, we use the term "element" to refer to the item controlled (a cursor, or a zone). [Go ][] : This is the "ignition" switch which sets an element [modes][] in motion. Turn it ON to launch the element across the screen. Turn it OFF to stop the element. A `step' parameter dictates the speed of travel. Small step values produce slow-moving elements. Larger step sizes characterize racing elements. The `step' parameter can be pulsed. When it is, the element accelerates and decelerates with gusto. The element's movements are restricted by a limiting- range. For zones, it's the work-area rectangle. For cursors, it's the zone. Generally, the element is not allowed to wander completely out of sight (ie some part of it must remain inside its range). The Go-mode specifies what happens when a travelling element reaches its range-boundary. The possibilities are: Thru : The element disappears beyond the edge, then it automatically reappears on the opposite side, still travelling in the same direction. Exit : When the element travels out of its range, it remains there until someone directs it back in. Pong : In this mode, the element never leaves its range. It bounces off the boundary-walls like a ping-pong ball. Pong90 : Similar to the pong mode above, but with perpendicular bounces (orthogonal to incident angle). GridPong : Similar to the pong mode, but the element only moves in full steps, so it does not necessarily actually "touch" the range-edge before bouncing. This mode preserves the regularity of an element's motion-pattern. Scan : Similar to the thru-mode above. But here the element reappears one "step" below its original position. This leads to a scanning motion-pattern. ZScan : Similar to the scan-mode above. But here the element reverses its direction of travel when it reaches the bottom corner of its range. Edge : The element walks the perimeter of its enclosing range. HardEdge : Same as the edge-mode above, except that the element cannot be pulled away from the edge. The various PONG and EDGE modes listed above can only be applied to elements which are completely enclosed by their limiting-range. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Go Menu: Pave and Veer 4 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Pave ] : When this switch is turned ON, the moving element is [modes] adjusted so that each new position it occupies is contiguous to the prior one, instead of overlapping or completely distinct. The result is a hop-scotching element, one which moves like a chess piece, hopping from one square to the next, never stepping onto the cracks between the tiles. This effect is accomplished by matching the "step" parameter to the dimensions of the element. It is a temporary change: when the PAVE switch is turned OFF, the motion-step parameter returns to its original value. In its 'variable' mode, the PAVE control continuously updates the motion-step to match the dimensions of the element. In its 'fixed' mode, the step-size is only fitted when the PAVE switch is toggled ON. [VEER ][] : When VEER is OFF, the element's motion is strictly [modes][] limited to horizontal, vertical, or diagonal travel. When it is ON, other directions are possible. An "angle" value, given in degrees, specifies the direction of travel. The 0-degree setting corresponds to the three o'clock direction. When the angle parameter is pulsed, the element moves along a curved trajectory. In the 'full-range' VEER-mode, the element eventually completes a full circle. The 'half-range' mode restricts the PULSED angle to a -90..90 range of values, which produces a trajectory consisting of a series of half-circles. Similarly, the 'quarter-range' mode generates a path consisting of a sequence of quarter circles. parameters monitor : The monitor allows you to observe and modify the step and angle variables. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Go Menu: Arrow keys and Misc. 4 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- arrow keys : These are the numeric-keypad keys, 1 thru 9. A helpful [?] button reminds us of their availability. motion direction : When Go is ON, the arrow keys can be used to change the DIRECTION of a travelling element. After the keypress, the element proceeds in the general direction pointed to by the arrow key. manual control : When Go is OFF, the arrow keys actually ADVANCE the element in the direction indicated. This allows the user to manually adjust the position of an element. The extent of displacement is dictated by the element 's "step" parameter. diagonal steps : The keypad corner-keys dictate diagonal steps. These are not quite the same as "regular" steps, as a diagonal step is the combination of one horizontal and one vertical displacement. destination commands : The keypad can also be used to send an element to a specific location. The following commands are available: [^PgUp] : Moves an element to the top-right corner of its range. [^PgDn] : Moves element to the bottom-right corner of its range. [^Home] : Moves an element to the top-left corner of its range. [^End] : Moves element to the bottom-left corner of its range. [keypad-5] : Moves an element to the center of its range. [INS] : Also moves an element to the center of its range. reverse Command : The BACKSPACE key can used to reverse the direction of travel of an element. It also reverses the rotation-direction. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Go Menu: Motion speed 4 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- motion speed : The TRUE speed of travel depends on how fast the micro-processor in your computer is. The APPARENT speed of travel is defined by the size of the "step" that the CURSOR takes to move from one position to the next. Big steps create the illusion of a fast moving element. changing the "step" size : The "step" parameter can be adjusted at any time with the function keys. Two function-key presses are required: an F-key, followed by a shifted-F-key. This is what happens: The first keypress (unshifted) gives the 'scan-step' variable a value somewhere between 1 and 10. (F1 for 1, F2 for 2, etc...) The second keypress (shifted) multiplies 'scan-step' by the shifted-Fkey's number and assigns the result to the cursor's "step" parameter. Example: Lets say the user presses F3, then shift-F4. This sets "step" to 12. ( 3 x 4 = 12 ) Another example: Lets say you want a 32-unit "step" size. To do so, we note that 32 = 4 x 8. So we press F4, then shift-F8. Got it? We hope so. This is a very useful feature, one well worth memorizing. The key thing to remember is that the shifted-Fkey always comes last. This process is scroll-lock sensitive. When Scroll-lock is OFF, the cursor's step is adjusted. When Scroll-lock is ON, the zone ' s step is adjusted. It can only set "step" to a value between 1 and 100, not including any of the prime numbers between 11 and 100. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Go Menu: Zone modes & complexities 4 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [zone ] [modes] : The zone mode describes spatial relationship that binds the cursor to its surrounding zone. When the zone is a 'frame', its movements affect the cursor it encloses. It behaves like a bus with a billboard on its side: as it moves forward, so does the advertising message. In other words, the cursor is dragged along. When the zone is a 'window', it moves independently of the cursor. The cursor appears to belong to the background, which the zone glides over elegantly. To pop-up the zone-modes menu, press alt-Z. combined effect : Cursor and zone motions, if any, are independent of each other. When they occur simultaneously, their effect is cumulative, and sometimes unpredictable. lost cursor : A lost cursor is one which is located outside of its limiting-range. When a cursor gets lost, its engine automatically shuts down. This is a safety precaution which keeps it from travelling further and further away, into some off-screen neverland. The easiest way to handle a lost cursor is to press [Ins] to bring it back to the center of its range. The arrow-keys can also be helpful, if you know where the cursor is. You are probably wondering how the cursor gets lost in the first place. A variety of circumstances can cause this problem: For instance, a moving window-zone can slide over and beyond the cursor's location. Also, a cursor which is straddling its range boundary can end-up outside when shrunk drastically. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Attributes Menu 4 - 08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- This menu concerns itself with the appearance of the object's shape: its colors, its texture, the thickness of its lines, etc.. ┌──────┐┌────┬─┬────┬─┬─────┬─┬────┬─┬──────┬─┬────┬─┬────────────┐ │Attrib││Line│ │Use|│ │Thick│ │Fill│ │Xhatch│ │Back│ │tab<#>parm n│ └──────┘└▄▄▄▄┴▄┴▄▄▄▄┴▄┴─────┴▄┴▄▄▄▄┴▄┴▄▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┴────┴─┴────────────┘ | | +-----+------+ | monitor for dashID and thickness parameters --+ [LINE ][] : This is the LINE toggle. [modes][] When ON, the shape has an outline. The OFF status of [LINE] is used to request a filled shape with no outline. The LINE pulse-button, when ON, causes the line-color to change at each cycle. The LINE-modes specify how the shape outline is drawn. Solid : for a plain opaque outline. Apex : for an opaque black outline with highlighted vertices. The effect is reminiscent of a constellation diagram. Fuzz : for a transluscent outline. Instead of covering each other, successive shapes are blended together. The result is a blurring reminiscent of television static. We note that LINE-modes do not impact temporarily displayed shapes. Their effect is distinguishable only when a shape is drawn permanently. [Use| ][] : This control deals with line-patterns, which we also [modes][] refer to as dashed or broken lines. The expression "Use-|" is short-hand for "use a broken line". When this switch is OFF, the shape outline is drawn with a continuous unbroken line. When ON, some sort of a dash-pattern is used. Several different kinds of dash-patterns are available. These are listed in the modes menu: Assorted : patterns from a built-in collection. Randomized: randomly generated patterns. Dots : patterns composed of dots. Dashes : patterns composed of dashes. The "dash" parameter points to the current line pattern. Its meaning depends on the pattern-category: In Assorted mode, it is a pattern number. In Dots mode, it denotes the space between dots. In Dashes mode, it measures the "dash" width. In Randomized mode, it is ignored. The effect produced by a pulsed "dash" parameter depends on the nature of the dash-pattern. It is often reminiscent of dancing Christmas lights. A sample of the actual pattern can be found on the status-bar. Circle shapes cannot be 'dashed'. They are always drawn with thin continuous lines. [THICK][] : This is the line-thickness toggle. When OFF, the shape outline is thin, ie one pixel wide. When ON, a fat line is used instead. How fat? Line width is dictated by the "thickness" parameter, which is pulsable. The thickness value may not exceed the overall width of the cursor, as the corresponding fat-shape must remain confined to the cursor's area. The dash-sample in the status-bar is shown with a thickness corresponding to the "thickness" parameter. Circles and dot shapes ignore the [THICK] toggle. [FILL][] : This is the FILL toggle. [modes][] When OFF, the shape is only an outline. When ON, the shape has a surface, ie it is solid. The FILL pulse-button, when ON, causes the fill-color to change at each cycle. The FILL-mode describes the nature of the "filling material" which is used: Opaque : The filled shape hides whatever it covers. This is the default mode. Tinting : The filled shape is transparent. You can see whatever is "behind" it. Dark fill-colors are more "transparent" than light ones. Black is clear. White is opaque. This mode is implemented by bitwise OR. Erasable : The filled shape is transparent, in a "polarizing" fashion. You can recognize the objects "behind" the shape, but their colors are all mixed up. The distinguishing characteristic of this mode is that the filled shape can be erased, by drawing it a second time, in the SAME EXACT POSITION AND COLORS. This mode is implemented by bitwise XOR. Mix : This is a more colorful version of the "erasable" mode discussed above. It possesses the same blending and erasing characteristics. This mode XORs white. We note that FILL-modes affect drawn shapes, not temporarily displayed ones. Animfill option : This is one of the entries of the pop-up "options" menu (press shift-top-row-9). We mention it here, because it affects the way the FILL switch works: When ON, shapes are not shown "filled" unless they are being drawn permanently. When OFF, temporarily displayed shapes can be filled. [XHATCH][] : This control deals with fill-patterns, as indicated [modes ][] by the term "XHATCH", which is short-hand for "cross-hatching", ie the shading a surface with a set of intersecting lines. In other words, this is a PATTERN toggle. It only affects FILL'ed shapes. When it is OFF, FILL produces flat, solid surfaces. When it is ON, FILL applies a pattern to the inner area of the shape. ROTOR(tm)'s extensive collection of fill-patterns is divided into sets of thematically-related designs. The subject titles are accessible via the XHATCH modes-menu. Please refer to the "Patterns" section of this chapter for further details. The XHATCH pulse-button, when ON, forces a new fill-pattern at each cycle. When the patterns are organized in a logical sequence, the result is an animated pattern. [BACK ][] : This toggle specifies whether the current fillpattern [modes][] should be applied with a background, or not. When it is OFF, the fill-pattern has the properties of a mesh: it is see-through. When it is ON , the fill-pattern resembles a piece of wrapping-paper: it hides what it covers, unless the `paper' is itself transparent (which is possible). Mesh-like patterns use the basic "fill" color. Paper-like patterns require an additional "background" color (which is used to plug the mesh holes). The BACK pulse-toggle can be used to force a new background color at each cycle. This toggle only affects patterned shapes. parameters monitor : This control allows you to adjust both the 'thickness' and the 'dash' parameters. It excludes other attribute parameters, such as color and pattern numbers. Those attributes are best edited elsewhere. use other menus : This menu is intended mostly for beginners. Expert users should use the status bar instead, as it duplicates most of the controls found here, and in addition, includes color-selection-strips. Also, the color and pattern menus are preferable for detailed animation-related work. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Pattern Menu 4 - 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) uses: + a FILL pattern, to draw patterned shapes. + a BACK pattern, for patterned background areas. This menu concerns itself with the application, animation and selection of these patterns. +--- [Xhatch] or [Yhatch] | ┌───────┐┌───┬──────┬─┐┌─┬───┬───┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┬─┐ │Pattern││tab│X or Y│ ││(│Tag│<#>│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────┘└───┴▄▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┘└─┴▄▄▄┴───┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┴▄┘ | | +---------+---------+ | pattern-samples strip ------------+ [TAB] : Use [TAB] to select the pattern you wish to monitor. [Xhatch] appears when the menu monitors the fill pattern, [Yhatch] when it is in its back-pattern editing mode. [Xhatch][] : This is the PATTERNED FILL toggle. [modes ][] When ON, filled shapes have a patterned surface. When OFF, filled shapes are drawn flat. "Xhatch" is short-hand for "cross-hatching", a common pattern-type. [Yhatch][] : This is the YONDER-PATTERN toggle. It affects [modes ][] deletions by [DEL] and stamped-cursors caused by [PutC] (see the Draw Menu section). The term "yonder" means in the distance, ie in the background. pattern sets : A pattern-set is a group of 28 related patterns. There are 19 such sets built into ROTOR(tm). The patterns which appear on the right side of the menu belong to the "current" pattern-set. To select a different set of patterns, call-up the modes menu corresponding to the displayed "hatch" switch. (In other words, press Alt-X or Alt-Y.) Upon selection of a set, the samples-strip is automatically updated to show the new group of patterns. [(] : show colors : By default, the sample-patterns are usually shown in black-and-white. The "black" part of each sample is its foreground. The "white" part, is its background. Essentially, the pattern is drawn in black "ink" on white "paper". When a pattern is actually used, colors are applied instead of black and white. This toggle is designed to help you visualize the combined effect of color and pattern. When OFF, the patterns are shown in black & white. When ON, the current colors are used instead. In the color state, identical foreground and background colors produce flat color-squares instead of the expected pattern-samples. Don't let this confuse you! XHATCH colors : When a shape is pattern-filled, a fill-color and a back-color are used: The fill-color replaces the black foreground parts of the pattern. The back-color plugs the white background areas. When the [BACK] toggle is OFF, only the foreground part of a pattern used. The result is a mesh-like effect, and the mesh is fill-colored. YHATCH colors : Patterned deletes use a different pair of colors. The back-color is used on the black parts of the pattern, the line-color in its white areas. When the [BACK] toggle is OFF, only the foreground part of a pattern used. The result is a mesh-like effect, and the mesh is background-colored. sample strip : The row of pattern samples is called a "sample-strip". current pattern : When looking at the sample-strip, you can always tell which pattern is the current one: It is pointed to by a small white highlighting-bar, above the sample. Internally, the current pattern is identified by a numeric value between 1 and 28. (1 for the first pattern in the set, 2 for the next, and so on.) This number is stored in a pattern "parameter". selecting a pattern : To select a sample-pattern, you simply click it. Alternatively, the scanner ([<][#][>]) may be used to shift the highlight-bar over to the desired pattern. Due to space limitations, only 10 of the 28 patterns that form a set are actually displayed as samples. The remaining are hidden out of clicking-reach. To access these, shift the highlighting-bar all the way to the left or right. This forces a new group of patterns into view. pattern cycling : The pattern parameter is pulsable. When it is, the result is an animated-pattern. The usual pulse-mode choices are available, but their operation is restricted to "tagged" patterns only. The little rectangular pad which appears under each pattern-sample is a tag-pad. When lit, it indicates a "tagged" sample. When NOT lit, the corresponding pattern is "untagged". Untagged patterns are automatically excluded from animated-pattern sequences. tagging & untagging : Tagging or untagging a pattern is an easy matter for mouse users, as the tag-pads are clickable: A single click suffices. [Tag ] [modes] : This button tags/untags the current pattern. The related "tag-options" menu ( press Alt-T ) provides group-tagging services. Please refer to the color-menu section for further details. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) The Patterns 4 - 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Assorted ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Rotor1 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Rotor2 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Rotor3 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Symbol ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Tile ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Grille1 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Grille2 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Grille3 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Tone ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Letter ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Plaid ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Weave1 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Weave2 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Weave3 ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ WideDot ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Diagonal ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Wavy ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ Zigzag ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Color Menu 4 - 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) uses: + a line-color, for shape outlines. + a fill-color, for filled shapes. + a background-color, for background areas. This menu applies, adjusts and cycles these color parameters, one at a time. +--- Line, Fill or Back switch | ┌─────┐┌────┬─┐┌───┬─────┬─┐┌─┬───┬───┬─┬─┬─ ─┬─┬─┐ │Color││Hues│~││tab│L/F/B│ ││(│Tag│<#>│ │ │ ... │ │ │ └─────┘└▄▄▄▄┴─┘└───┴▄▄▄▄▄┴▄┘└─┴▄▄▄┴───┴▄┴▄└─ ─┘▄┴▄┘ | | +------+------+ | color-samples strip ----------+ (2, 4, or 16 colors) [TAB] : Use [TAB] to select the color variable you wish to monitor. [Line] appears in the menu's line-color mode, [Fill] when monitoring the fill-color, and [Back] when monitoring the background-color. All three switches are discussed at length in the "Attributes Menu" section of thi manual. We briefly summarize their functions: When ON , [Line] indicates a shape with an outline. When ON , [Fill] indicates a filled shape. When OFF, [Back] produces mesh-like patterns. color strip : The row of color-squares on the right side of the menu is called a "color-strip". In 2-color modes, it consists of 2 sample boxes, one for white, the other for black. In the CGA 4-color mode, it features 4 such boxes. In 16-color modes, all 16 colors are represented. [Hues ] : This toggle appears in 256-color modes (only). [modes] It alters the configuration of the color-strip: When OFF, the color-strip consists of 16 samples, identical to those seen in 16-color modes. When ON, a 2-line spectrum is shown instead. It features the remaining 240 colors, which usually form a gradient of hues. A spectrum is essentially a compressed color-strip. Each color is represented by a single vertical line. spectrum colors : Several built-in spectrum color-sets are available. They are listed in the Hues modes menu: saturated : for the brightest colors. bi-intensity : for two spectrums, one of high intensity colors, the other of lower intensity. 24-intense : for 24 high intensity colors, each in 10 different pastel variations. 24-saturated : for 24 colors, each available in ten different intensities. black/white : for black, white, and grey tones. Custom spectrum color-sets are imported by ROTOR(tm) when loading 256-color PCX images. effect of spectrum change : When the active spectrum is changed, the work area image is immediately redrawn. The colors of the the new palette are applied retroactively to their prior counterparts. [~] no colors : This is the NO-COLOR toggle, which only appears when there are 16 or more colors. When ON, the primary 16-colors are replaced by equivalent grey-tones. This transformation is instantaneous, and it affects the entire screen, not just the color-strip. In 256-color modes, the upper-spectrum is not altered. Colored pixels in its range remain intact. [(] show pattern : In high-resolution 16-color modes, patterns can be used effectively to simulate additional colors. This toggle helps produce and refine such colors. When it is OFF, each color-sample is a flat-square. When it is turned ON, the current pattern is applied to each sample, which changes its color-value. The precise color and pattern combinations used are: With fill-colors, the current fill-pattern is applied to a back-colored background. (Xhatch) With back-colors, the current back-pattern is applied to a line-colored background. (Yhatch) The line-color samples are not allowed to combine with any pattern. They always remain flat. Essentially, this toggle helps visualize the effect of the XHATCH and YHATCH switches. current color : The sample highlighted by a white bar is the current color. color selection : This is the menus's most important function. Two separate mechanisms are provided: Mouse users can chose a color simply by clicking the corresponding sample-square. The highlighting bar automatically jumps over to the selected color. Keyboard-only users are restricted to the scanner control ( [<][#][>] ), which shifts the highlight-bar. The selected color becomes the current color. color tags : The little rectangular pad which appears under each color-square is a tag-pad. When lit, it indicates a "tagged" sample. When NOT lit, the corresponding color is "untagged". tagging & untagging : Tagging or untagging a color is an easy matter for mouse users: a simple tag-click suffices. Keyboard-only users are limited to the [Tag] button, which toggles the current-color tag. When used in conjunction with the [<][>] scanner, it can tag/untag any color. color cycling : The term "color-cycling" refers to the pulsing of a color parameter, which produces a sequence of color values. tag restricted cycling : The sequences produced by color-cycling are restricted to tagged samples. Untagged colors are automatically excluded. Use this feature to define custom sets of compatible colors. spectrum cycling : Upper-spectrum colors feature no tags, and therefore, they are not tag-restricted when cycled. comments : All three color variables discussed here can be pulsed, independently of each other. The usual pulse-mode choices are available. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Color Menu: Group-tagging 4 - 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- When ROTOR(tm) begins, all of its colors are tagged. [Tag ] [modes] : Rather than setting each tag individually, it is often more convenient to set a whole group of them at once. The "tag-options" menu (press Alt-T) provides such group-tagging services: current : tag the current color. It does NOT untag it, if it is already tagged. all : to tag all the colors. invert all : reverses all the tags: tagged colors are untagged, and untagged colors are tagged. all following : tags the current color, and all those that follow, ie those to the right. All others are untagged. all preceeding : tags the current color, and all those that preceed it, ie those to the left. All others are untagged. every other : tags the current color, and every other before & after. Untags the rest. every 3rd : tags the current color, and every 3rd before & after. Untags the rest. every 4th : tags the current color, and every 4th before & after. Untags the rest. every 5th : tags the current color, and every 5th before & after. Untags the rest. first half : tags all the colors in the first half of the color-strip. Untags the rest. last half : tags all the colors in the upper half of the color-strip. Untags the rest. no change : no change to current tag settings. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- When used as a drawing-tool, an object can create delightful designs. This menu gathers together a variety of controls that permit such object-drawing. +------ sync function icon | ┌────┐┌─┬─────┬──┬─┬────┬────┬────┬────┬───┬──────┬───┐ │Draw││?│Pause│@@│"│Draw│PutC│Join│Clip│Del│|macro│...│ └────┘└─┴─────┴──┴─┴────┴▄▄▄▄┴────┴────┴───┴──────┴───┘ | active macro indicator ----+ [pause] : Meticulous drawing can be difficult when an object is dancing wildly. The [pause] toggle allows you to "freeze" it for precise positioning and stamping. The [?] help-button remind you that the space-bar turns pause ON, and that the enter-key is the "resume" button. sync mouse function : The most intuitive way to draw with an object is via freehand mouse movements. The "sync" mouse function makes this possible. sync icon and ["] : To get the mouse into its sync mode, click the sync-icon, or press the sync-button. Both of these are toggles. When clicked again, they return to their prior-state. In the sync-mode, the design of the icon is a small white diagonal arrow. When this arrow is dragged across the screen, the current shape automatically follows it. And if the user is holding one of the mouse buttons pressed, then the shape is actually stamped onto the screen at every step along the way. The mouse changes the cursor's position. It does not interrupt or alter the shape's animation in any way. Please note that the toggle key for the ["] sync-button is a single quote ('), ie an unshifted double quote. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu: Draw 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [DRAW ] : This is the shape-stamping toggle. When [DRAW] is OFF, no drawing takes place. When [DRAW] is ON, the current shape is repeatedly "stamped" onto the screen surface. If the shape is in motion, the result is a trail of "footprints". The manner in which the shape is painted onto the work area is specified by other toggles. In particular: The [LINE] toggle tells [DRAW] whether or not to paint the outline of the shape. The [FILL] toggle, when ON, directs [DRAW] to paint the surface of the shape. something to draw : When [DRAW] is toggled ON, it is reasonable to expect that something will begin painting itself onto the screen. However, this may not happen. When both [LINE] and [FILL] are OFF, there is nothing to draw. This is also a problem when the shape is "hidden" (ie the [SHAPE] switch is OFF). the smart option : Such confusing "nothing-to-draw" situations can be automatically detected and corrected by selecting the "smart" entry of the Options-menu (shift-toprow-9). In the "smart" mode, when [DRAW] is toggled ON, [LINE] and [SHAPE] are also turned ON, if necessary. sync link : In sync mode, [DRAW] is linked to the mouse buttons. When they are at rest, DRAW is OFF. When a button is pressed, DRAW is forced ON. for active objects : The [DRAW] command only works with active animated objects: When an object is deactivated by a PAUSE command, it becomes non-marking. Subsequent object-editing commands do not alter the work area, even when [DRAW] is actually ON. In particular, no shape-stamping occurs when arrow-key commands are used to change a paused object's position. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu: PutC 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [PutC ] [modes] : This is the "cursor-stamping" toggle. It operates independently of the [Draw] toggle. When ON, the cursor stamps itself onto the screen, at each cycle, underneath the shape. Open cursor designs, which consist of lines rather than an area, are drawn in the current line color. Closed-cursor forms, such as squares and circles, are stamped in the manner dictated by the PutC-mode: Shadow : only the area is stamped. (back_color) Filled : both the area and its outline are drawn. Outline : only the cursor lines are drawn.(line_color) The solid cursor areas are background-colored. They are patterned when YHATCH is ON. usage : [PutC] is particularly useful when [Pave] is ON. It produces crisp tile patterns, and fancy grids. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu: Join 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Join] : When this toggle in ON, each successive shape is connected to the prior one. The Join toggle has no noticeable effect on stationary shapes. However, when applied to a travelling object, the result is striking: When [DRAW] is OFF, the motion of a shape is accented by evanescent connecting lines. When [DRAW] is ON, permanent connecting lines are drawn between each successive shape. The result is a tubular design with 3D qualities. It is a wire-mesh structure when FILL is OFF, a solid-structure when FILL is ON. "hair" : The "connecting" role of [Join] can be isolated by hiding the shape (ie by turning [SHAPE] OFF). The result is a tangle of "hair", with as many strands as there are vertices in the shape. motion tracing : If the shape is a lone dot, then we get a single line. The exceptional property of this line is that it traces the path of motion of that dot. Ellaborate motion patterns produce complex curves which would otherwise be difficult to achieve. multicolor string : Another note-worthy aspect of this single line is its ability to change color from one segment to the next. This is done by cycling the line color of the dot. The result is a charming multicolor "string". -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu: Clipping 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [Clip] : This is the clipping toggle. It specifies what happens when the CURSOR and its SHAPE extend beyond the boundaries of the enclosing ZONE. When [Clip] is OFF, the overlap is visible. When [Clip] is ON, the parts outside the ZONE are hidden, ie "clipped" away. The ZONE acts as a window onto a larger world. A moving CURSOR may appear on one side, travel across the expanse of the ZONE, and then disappear on the other side, like a bird flying by an open window. ┌─────────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────┘ no clipping with clipping ctrl-C : The ctrl-C key combination may be used to toggle [Clip], if DOS BREAK is OFF. [Del] : Press this button to delete all or a portion of the screen. The options are: Nothing : Select "Nothing" when the [Del] key was pressed by accident. Work Area : Wipes the work area clean. Use this option to change the work-area color! Zone : Deletes the zone area. Cursor Area : Deletes the cursor area (must be closed). Shape Area : For a "cookie-cutter" deletion. When an area is deleted, it is not restored to some prior condition, as might be the case with an 'undo' command. Instead, the area is painted over, with BACK-colored paint. When YHATCH is ON, the back-pattern is applied to the deleted area, back-colored and line-colored. When BACK is OFF, only the back-colored foreground parts of the pattern are drawn. The [Del] key is usually located in the numeric keypad, next to the [Ins] key. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: The Draw menu: Macros 4 - 11 -------------------------------------------------------------------- macro : A macro is a little program written to automate a complicated or repetetive task. All macros are defined in a single text file, the rotor script file, ROTOR20.SCR. [|macro>] : This button pops-up a complete list of the macros defined in the script file. Selection of a macro causes it to begin executing. Some macros complete immediately, others require several cycles, and a few do not terminate until further user input is received. When a macro remains active over several cycles, its name is displayed in the frame next to the [|macro>] button. The sample macros included in the distribution disk are: Reset : Returns object to start-up defaults. Paint : Setup ROTOR(tm) for freehand painting. Border : Draw a border around zone. Corners : Stamp shape onto all 4 zone corners. Shadowed : For shapes with a shadow. Spirograph : For a simulated spirograph. Unmatch_colors : Forces different line & fill colors. Bird : Flying bird demo. Mouse~ : toggle mouse visibility. Rotor~ : Old ROTOR toggle. Pulse~ : Old PULSE toggle. Vortex~ : Synchronized ROTOR and PULSE toggles. Wipe : Wiping motion Tilt_NoTilt : Alternating tilt / no-tilt Crenelled_Pave : For a "castle top" zigzag motion. Main : The ROTOR(tm) logo-animation demo. Macros are user-editable. They allow you to extend and customize ROTOR(tm). If you are interested in creating your own customized commands, please refer to the 'Programming' chapter of this manual. It discusses the details of macro development. The key corresponding to this button is the vertical bar charater (|), ie shifted back-slash (shifted-\). -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Objects: Cursor modes 4 - 12 -------------------------------------------------------------------- cursor modes : The cursor can take a variety of forms. The cursor modes pop-up menu (Alt-C) provides the following alternatives: Square : for a plain square cursor. This is the default cursor. SquareX : for a square cursor with horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at its center. SquareX45 : for a square cursor partitioned diagonally. As with the previous mode, this cursor design is useful for centering. SquarePlus : for a square cursor surrounded by tabs. The tabs are placed a single "step" away from each edge. They indicate where the cursor would end up should it be moved one "step" in a particular direction. Circle : for a circular cursor which encloses all of the shapes vertices. Because circle-drawing is a CPU-intensive process, this mode is best avoided when animation speed is a consideration. CircleX : for a circular cursor divided by horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at its center. SmallX : for a small cross-hair locator. Handy with the dot shape. BigX : for a full-screen cross-hair locator. Useful when lining-up distant items. BigX45 : for a diagonal full-screen cross-hair locator. BigXX : for a heavy-duty full-screen cursor. Corners : for a subdued cursor. GridPoints : for a pixel-grid based of the cursor's size. Arrow : for a fixed size, small arrow that points in the current direction of travel. BigArrow : same as above, but the size of the arrow matches the size of the cursor. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) The Services Menu 5 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ┌─┬─┬─┬──────┬──────┬──────┬─────┬──────┬───────┬─────────┬──────┐ │*│#│\│1:Icon│2:Clip│3:Text│4:PCX│5:Save│6:Print│7:Display│9:Xprt│ └─┴─┴─┴──────┴──────┴──────┴─────┴──────┴───────┴─────────┴──────┘ This top-row menu presents a variety of auxilliary service functions. These are : [1:Icon] : For mouse functions similar to those found in painting programs : pencil, spray, rectangle, smear, etc.. [2:Clip] : To decorate the screen with clip-art. [3:Text] : For text inclusions, and font selection. [4:PCX] : To load a PCX image file from the current directory. [5:Save] : To save all or part of the screen to a PCX file. [6:Print] : To print all or part of the screen. [7:Display]: To change the display mode/resolution/colors. [9:Xpert] : To access the 'expert-level' menus. [*],[#] [\More] : Please review the menu-bar section of the interface chapter for an explanation of these controls. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Icons Menu 5 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the time, the mouse is used to point-and-click. That is its most basic purpose. It supports numerous other tasks as well. This menu gives access to these extended capabilities. ┌─────┐┌─┬───┬──────┐┌────┬────┬───────────┬────┬────┐ │Icon ││?│Tab│ none ││ │ │ ... │ │ │ └─────┘└─┴───┴──────┘└────┴────┴───────────┴────┴────┘ | | | | +------------ icons ------------+ | +--------- current mouse-function [tab] : In some display modes, only a partial set of icons can displayed at a time. The [tab] button allows you to reach the remaining ones. current function : The currently active tool is pointed to by a highlighting-bar. to select another tool : Just click the icon corresponding to the desired function. Alternatively, the user may select a function by clicking the description-frame next to [tab]. This calls a pop-up menu which lists all the mouse functions. To each function corresponds a unique icon-design. When a function is selected, the mouse-pointer takes the form of that design, and its name is displayed in the frame next to the [tab] button. returning to prior function : When the currently active tool is clicked, ROTOR(tm) switches back to the prior mouse-function, whatever it may have been. mouse actions : Throughout ROTOR(tm), nothing remarkable ever happens while the mouse buttons are in their released state. The icon moves if you move the mouse, and that's it. To get results, you have to press a mouse button. The position of the mouse-pointer at the time of a button-press is usually critical. It doesn't matter which button you press, ROTOR(tm) does not care. What does make a difference, is how long the button is held down. We distinguish the following two cases: clicks and squeezes. clicks : A click is a button press followed by an immediate release. To click a screen object, the user positions the mouse icon on it, presses the button, and then RELEASES it. Clicks are used thoughout to interface to select items, toggle switches, etc... squeeze : A squeeze is the act of pressing the mouse button, and then HOLDING it down (pressed). Squeezes are used by the mouse-drawing functions described below. During a squeeze, the mouse-pointer is normally hidden, replaced by some sort of line or area indicator. squeeze abort : The final effect of a squeeze is often delayed to the very last moment, when the pressed-button is released. The line, rectangle, ellipse, save-area and other mouse-tools behave in this fashion. Such squeezes can by CANCELLED by holding down a SHIFT key while releasing the mouse-button. This is a very useful feature, as it allows us to change our mind. The [?] help button reminds us of its existence. usage : The mouse-tools discussed here are intended for work-area use only. They are automatically disabled when the mouse is brought into the menu-bar area. When used, these mouse-tools interrupt all on-going animation. The only exception to this rule is the sync-tool, which is designed to take advantage of such animation. Please note that once a mouse tool has been selected, it remains available until another tool is chosen. In between clicks and squeezes, the user is free to change menus, toggle switches, pulse parameters, etc... -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services : The Icons Menu : functions 5 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- basic pointer : The little white upward-pointing hand is ROTOR(tm)'s basic mouse icon. It serves no other purpose than to point and click. This icon can be selected to disable another icon. sync pointer : This is one of ROTOR(tm)'s most delightful tools. It enables us to draw freely with the current SHAPE. This is acomplished by linking the current object to the mouse coordinates, so that whenever the mouse moves, it is automatically followed by the cursor. The mouse-icon points to the center of the cursor. To draw, you squeeze the mouse. To stop drawing, you release the mouse button. Internally, the [Draw] switch is forced ON by and for the duration of each squeeze. It is disabled at all other times. When first selected, SYNC automatically toggles [Draw] OFF. The ["] sync toggle, which appears in the draw-menu, can be used to quickly alternate between the sync function and another mouse-function, even when the Icons menu is not active. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services : The Icons Menu : drawing tools 5 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the mouse-functions are drawing-tools, which behave as follows: Lines are drawn in the current line-color. Their width depends on the state of the [Thick] toggle, and they may even be dashed, instead of continuous, if [Use|] is ON. Areas are painted in the current fill-color when [Fill] is ON, and they are patterned if [Xhatch] is also ON. The [Back] toggle determines whether the pattern is a see-through mesh or an opaque surface. When [Clip] is ON, drawing is restricted to the current zone. Areas outside the zone are not drawn to. In other words, the drawing functions respond to the current object's settings and attribute values. It is a good idea to use the status bar in conjunction with the Icons Menu. Together they provide a compact and powerful screen-painting interface, akin to that of regular paint packages. We now examine the mouse-functions in detail: freehand pencil : This is the freehand drawing tool. ┌────┐ │ │ It can produce thin or thick, continuous or dashed, └────┘ freehand lines. line : Use this tool to draw straight lines: ┌────┐ │ │ Start by positioning the dotted tip of stick where the └────┘ line begins. Then squeeze the mouse. Move the icon to form a line. Release the button to finalize it. rectangle : Use this tool to draw rectangles. ┌────┐ │ │ Start by placing the icon-tab at a corner of the └────┘ rectangle, then squeeze. Drag the mouse to form a rectangle, and release the button to finalize it. Solid rectangles are produced when [Fill] is ON. The current pattern is applied if [Xhatch] is also ON. ellipse : Use this tool to draw ovals. ┌────┐ │ │ First, place the mouse-icon at the oval's center, and └────┘ squeeze. Then move the mouse to form the desired ellipse. Release the button to freeze it. Solid ovals are produced when [Fill] is ON. The current pattern is applied if [Xhatch] is also ON. The thickness and line-pattern attributes are ignored. spray tool : This is the spray-paint tool. When squeezed, it emits ┌────┐ a spray of line-colored pixels. │ │ └────┘ The radius of the spray can be adjusted with the function keys. (F1 for a tight spray, F10 for a wider thin mist). When [Thick] is ON, fat circular pixels are sprinkled out. The thickness parameter dictates the size of the circles, and the other drawing attributes determine their appearance. smear tool : This tool emulates a smearing thumb. When squeezed, ┌────┐ it "picks-up" nearby pixels and spits them back out │ │ randomly. └────┘ The [Thick] toggle is ignored. pick-up : This is the color pick-up tool. ┌────┐ │ │ It allows us to select colors precisely and directly, └────┘ without any help from the color and status menus. It uses the screen-image as a palette of colors. When the mouse is clicked, the dropper icon "grabs" the color it is pointing at. When [Fill] is OFF, the picked-up color becomes the current line-color. When [Fill] is ON, the "grabbed" color becomes the active fill-color. This tool is particular useful in 256 color modes, where it may be difficult to identify and match colors just by looking at them. flood-fill : This is the area-flood tool. It is used to change the ┌────┐ color of an area. │ │ └────┘ The clicked pixel, and all connected pixels of the same color, are painted over with the current fill-color. A pattern is applied if [Xhatch] is ON. Save-area : This tool saves a user-designated portion of the ┌────┐ work area, to a numbered PCX file. │ │ └────┘ Start by placing the mouse-icon at one of the corners of the area to be saved. Then squeeze the mouse, and drag it across the screen until the rubberband rectangle encloses the desired area. When you let go of the button, ROTOR(tm) creates a PCX file for that part of the screen. A confirmation message names the new file. Print-area : This tool allows you to print a specific portion of the ┌────┐ work area. Your printer must be laser-compatible. │ │ └────┘ Its operation is similar to that of the save-tool above. The part of the screen to be printed is defined by a rubberbanding rectangle. Upon release of the mouse button, ROTOR(tm) begins printing. The ESC key may be used to abort the output. Of course, the LPT port must be correctly set, and your printer must be ready. Put-image : The PCX image-placing tool. ┌────┐ │ │ This tool indicates the extent of the picture to be └────┘ drawn with a rectangular box. A cross-hair shows the center of the image. The box appears when the mouse is squeezed. Its position can be adjusted with a drag. When the mouse-button is released, the image is drawn in that box. When the image is larger than the work-area, some scrolling may be allowed for further adjustments. The PCX-menu discusses the options that apply. Put-clip : The clip-stamping tool. ┌────┐ │ │ The box which appears when the mouse is squeezed └────┘ represents the overall dimensions of the output-clip. It takes into account the various ouput options in effect at the time. Drag this rectangle to its target location, then let go of the mouse-button. ROTOR(tm) draws the clip within the indicated area. Please refer to the clip-menu section for option and coloring information. Put-text : The text-stamping tool. ┌────┐ │ │ The operation of this tool is similar to that of the └────┘ Put-clip tool above. The extent of the text is indicated by a placing-rectangle, which the user drags to a target location. The colors and options which affect the output are discussed in the text-menu section. Drag-shape : The shape placement tool. ┌────┐ │ │ Squeeze the mouse to carry the shape over to the mouse └────┘ position. This is NOT a drawing tool. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Clip-art menu 5 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) supports clip-art library files compatible with the NEW Print Shop(tm). This menu provides all the functions necessary to load, select, manipulate and output such clips. clip name | ┌────┐┌────┐┌──────┐┌────┬─┬────────────┬──┬─────────┬───────────┐ │Clip││^Op ││ Clip ││^Put│@│ Lib R-BUGS │<>│Clip 1/16│ ant │ └────┘└────┘│ icon │└────┴─┴────────────┴──┴─────────┴───────────┘ └──────┘ | | | | +----------+----------+ | | current current library clip the [@] library selector : To pop-up a menu of all available clip-libraries, click this button. (or press shift top-row-2). The menu is actually a list of the library files located in the current directory. (files with .POG or .PNG extensions). the current library : When the user selects a library, it is read into memory and becomes the "current library". Its filename is displayed in a frame, and the number of clips it contains is shown as a denominator value. the clips : The clips are numbered sequentially, and each is labelled with a descriptive name. clip selection : We may use the [<][>] scanner to examine the contents of the current library, one clip at a time. Alternatively, we may click the clip-name frame to pop-up a list of ALL the clips in the library. current clip : The current clip is the one whose name appears on the menu. It is the "selected" clip. clip stamping : The menu provides two separate clip-stamping tools: The put-clip icon, and the [^PUT] button. These tools enable accurate placement of the current clip anywhere on the screen. put-clip tool : To use this tool, you must first activate it with an icon-box click. Next, move the mouse-icon to the approximate location where you wish to place the clip. Press a mouse button and HOLD it down. A box appears, indicating the extent of the clip. Its position may be adjusted while the button remains pressed. Upon release, the clip is drawn within the box. the [^Put] button : This button stamps the clip onto the screen, centered (Ctrl-P) in or around the current cursor. basic clip ouput : A clip should NOT be thought of as a small opaque sticker. Instead, it should considered to be the electronic equivalent of a RUBBER-STAMP. When it is applied to the screen surface, only the pixels struck by the "raised bumps" of the rubberstamp are altered. The spaces in-between remain untouched. output color : The current line-color is the "ink" which primes the rubber-stamp. The clip itself has no intrinsic colors. enhanced output options [^OP] : A variety of options are available for enhanced ouput. Use the [^OP] button to examine these. (Press Ctr-O). Several options may be used simultaneously, for combined effects. Please refer to the "Bitmap output options" section for a complete discussion of these options. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Clip-files information 5 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- clip size : Each clip is stored in memory as a small bitmap, 88 pixels wide by 52 pixels high. clip files : Each library actually consists of a pair of files, one for the clip bitmaps, the other for the clip names. The bitmap-files have a .POG or .PNG extension. The name-files have a .PNM extension. example: R-BUGS.POG R-BUGS.PNM clip libraries sources : ROTOR(tm) comes with a floppy disk full of clip-art files that are ready to use. ROTOR(tm) also includes POGIT(tm), a utility program which converts clip-libraries from other sources, such as Printmaster or the original Printshop, to the POG format. Many PrintMaster / Print Shop clip-libraries can be found in the public-domain, distributed by shareware vendors. The Print Shop Users Club, PO Box 1072, Renton, WA 98057, (800)835-2246, puts out an impressive clip-art catalog. To create your own clips from scratch, we recommend the New Print Shop Companion package. It features a powerful bitmap editor, and many other useful tools. installing clip-art files : All files must be copied to the ROTOR20.EXE directory, before the program is begun. ROTOR(tm) expects all accessory-files to be located in the current directory. It does not and cannot search other drives or directories. technical reference : Please look-up the POGIT(tm) manual for file-format specifications and a discussion of .PNG files. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Text menu 5 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- This menu provides the functions necessary to write, edit and draw small chunks of text, such as labels, headlines or short one-line sentences. current current font text | | ┌────┐┌──────┬──────┐┌────┐┌──────┐┌────┬─────┬───────┐ │Text││!:Font│ none ││^Op ││ Text ││^Put│Edit>│ Hello │ └────┘└──────┴──────┘└────┘│ icon │└────┴─────┴───────┘ └──────┘ current text : The "current text" is the word or phrase that appears in the right-most frame of the menu. When a text-stamping command is issued, the current text is printed on the screen. The start-up default is "Hello". the text editor [Edit>] : To change the current text to something else, press this button. The text-frame becomes inverted (white on black instead of black on white), and a cursor bar appears in the frame. The keyboard may then be used to type-in new text. The length of the input-text may not exceed the available frame-space. The following editing keys are available: Esc : To abandon all work and exit. Enter : To accept the new text and exit. L&R arrows : To shift the cursor position. Home : To move the cursor in front of the text. End : To move the cursor to the end of the text. BackSpace : To delete the character preceeding the cursor. Del : To delete the character following the cursor. Ins : To switch from OVERWRITE to INSERT, or vice-versa. In the overwrite mode, input characters replace existing ones, if any. The cursor is a vertical-bar. In the insert mode, new characters are inserted into the text, thereby increasing the length of the text. The cursor is an I-bar. text stamping : The menu provides two separate text-stamping tools: The put-text icon, and the [^PUT] button. These tools enable the accurate placement of text anywhere on the screen. put-text tool : Before it may be used, this tool must be activated with ┌────┐ a click. │ │ └────┘ Next, move the T-icon to the desired text location. Press a mouse button and HOLD it so. A box appears, indicating the extent of the text. Its position may be adjusted while the button is pressed. Upon release, the text is drawn within the box. the [^Put] button : This button stamps the text onto the screen, centered (Ctrl-P) in or around the current cursor. basic text ouput : The text is "rubber-stamped" onto the screen. Only the pixels struck by the "raised bumps" of the rubberstamp are altered. The spaces in-between remain untouched. output color : The current line-color is the "ink" which primes the rubber-stamp. The text itself has no intrinsic color. enhanced output [^OP] : A variety of options are available for enhanced ouput. Use the [^OP] button to examine these. (Press Ctr-O). Several options may be used simultaneously, for combined effects. Please refer to the "Bitmap output options" section for a complete discussion of these options. font selection [!:Font] : Click this button to select an output font for the current text. A font-menu pops-up. The menu is actually a list of the font files located in the current directory (files with .FON extensions). current font : This is the font currently in memory. Its filename is shown in a frame. Each time a new font is selected, it replaces and becomes the current font. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Font-files information 5 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- font files : ROTOR(tm) is designed to work with fonts stored in the GEM 2.0 file format. Created by Digital Reasearch Inc for use with their GEM graphic product, this format is now widely used in the PC environment. .FON extension : As far as ROTOR(tm) is concerned, GEM font files always sport a .FON extension. The font files distributed with ROTOR(tm) are so named. It is important to note that GEM font files from other sources will often have other extensions, such as .EGA or .VGA. To use such files with ROTOR(tm), you must first rename them. font size : The font files distributed with ROTOR(tm) include a size value in the filename. This number represents the pixel height of an upper case 'F'. example: GOTH-32.FON The upper case letters of this font can be expected to be 32 pixels high. font sources : ROTOR(tm) comes with two floppy disks full of font files. ROTOR(tm) also includes FONT2GEM, a utility program which converts fonts from other sources, such as Fontrix, Printshop-companion, etc.., to the GEM format. Some commercial font packages can produce GEM files. installing the font files : All files must be copied to the ROTOR20.EXE directory, before the program is begun. ROTOR expects all accessory-files to be located in the current directory. It does not and cannot search other drives or directories. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Font Utilities 5 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please lookup the Font Utilities manual for further information, including file-format specifications. The utilities are: FONTVIEW, a font viewer. FONT2PRN, a font-printing program. FONT2GEM, a font conversion utility. FON2RFON, a font renaming utility. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Bitmap ouput options 5 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) features an exciting array of options for enhanced clip and text output, which are accessed via the [^OP] button (see Clip and Text menus). These options are: Outlined : This our favorite special-FX. It gives the bitmap a crisp black outline, reminiscent of cartoons. TwoToned : When ON, we get a two-color bitmap image. The bottom half is fill-colored, the top half has the usual line-color tone. SpreadX : This option doubles the width of the bitmap by leaving a blank gap between horizontally adjacent pixels. SpreadY : Similar to SpreadX. Stretches a clip vertically by inserting a blank row between adjacent bitmap scan-lines. When both SpreadX and SpreadY are used simultaneously, the bitmap pixels are spaced apart in both directions, which produces an image twice the size of the original bitmap. Shadowed : Places a black shadow under the clip. The light source causing the shadow is somewhere off to the left. FX3D : Use this one to give the bitmap a 3D back-colored edge. Bold : When ON, the bitmap is drawn with "fat" pixels. This option is intended mostly for text headlines. Backwards : When ON, the bitmap is reversed left-to-right. This is useful when a mirror image is required. UpsideDown : When ON, the bitmap is stamped upside-down. This is handy for reflection effects. Italicized : This option slants the bitmap to the right. When applied to text, it produces italics. Sloped : When ON, it gives the bitmap a downward slant. When both Italicized and Sloped options are set simultaneously, the bitmap ends up tilted to the right, undistorted, slightly textured. Ghosted : When this option is active, the bitmap acquires horizontal pinstripes. ROTOR(tm) only draws every other line of the bitmap. Masked : Similar to Ghosted. Causes vertical pinstripes, as ROTOR(tm) draws only every other column of bitmap. When combined with the Ghosted option, only one out of every four pixels is stamped onto the screen. The result is a fog of spaced apart pixels. It is a low-resolution representation of the original bitmap. Background : When ON, a back-colored opaque rectangle is placed under the clip, thereby giving it a solid background. This rectangle is patterned, if XHATCH is ON. The pattern is a see-thru mesh, if BACK is OFF. Framed : Use this option to enclose the bitmap with a snug fill-colored border line. This frame also encloses any underlines or overlines that may be present (see below). BigFramed : This option surrounds the bitmap with a slightly more spacious box, also fill-colored. It can be combined with the Framed option above to give the bitmap a double-lined border. Underlined : This is a text option. When on, the text is underlined. Overlined : This is also a text-only option. When ON, the text is highlighted with a thin line, placed above the text. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Bitmap ouput colors 5 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- basic output : When a bitmap is stamped onto the screen only its foreground pixels leave an impression. The markings are line-colored. color scheme : The following colors are used: line-color : This is the primary output color. fill-color : Frames, big-frames, underlines and overlines are automatically fill-colored. The lower-half of the bitmap is also fill-colored when TwoToned is ON. back-color : 3D-edges and background rectangles are back-colored. black : Outlines and shadows are always BLACK. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Options Illustrated 5 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- examples : ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ all options OFF ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ outline outline + twotone ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────────────────────┘ all options OFF spreadX ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────────────────────┘ spreadY spreadX + spreadY ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ FX-3D bold shadow + outline ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ backwards upside-down both ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ italicized sloped italics + slope ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ ghosted masked ghosted + mask ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ background background w/ background + pattern frame ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ framed bigframed frame + bigframe ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └───────────────┘ underline overline under + over in frame -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The PCX menu 5 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- This menu handles PCX image files, via two separate operations, selection and pasting. current location image in memory | | ┌───┐┌───┐┌────┐┌──────┐┌──────────┬─────────────┬───────────┬─────┐ │PCX││^Op││^Put││ PCX ││ &:Select │ IMAGE01.PCX │ 178x125x2 │ EMS │ └───┘└───┘└────┘│ icon │└──────────┴─────────────┴───────────┴─────┘ └──────┘ | image size & colors [&:Select] : When clicked, this button pops-up a list of the PCX and PCC image files located in the current directory. Upon selection, the chosen file is read into memory. If the image file matches the current adapter-mode, the loading operation is quick and direct. When a conversion is required to fix a mismatch, the read phase can be rather slow, particularly if the image is large. The important thing to note is that ROTOR(tm) can display any image in any adapter-mode. automatic convertions: A convertion process is applied when the image and the adapter-mode are not perfectly matched. For instance, the image may contains more colors than the current adapter mode allows. When this is the case, a special technique called " dithering" is used to reduce the number of colors in the image. The original colors are simulated with half-tone dot patterns. The image aspect ratio may differ from that of the current adapter mode. When nothing is done to correct a mismatch of this type, the image ends up distorted. ROTOR(tm) handles this problem by stretching or compressing the image so that it displays properly. The image color-palette may require fine-tuning. In the case of 256-color images, the first 16 color values of the palette must match the basic 16 colors of the interface. When they do not, a mapping algorithm forces the image into conformance. current image : This is the PCX image currently in memory. The menu reports the following current image data: filename, dimensions, number of colors. The type of memory occupied by the current image is also spelled out. It may be: RAM : conventional memory. EMS : expanded memory (LIM 4.0 EMS). disk : in a temporary disk-file, not in memory at all. XMM : extended memory (286 CPU or better). image pasting : The menu provides two separate image-pasting tools: The put-PCX icon, and the [^PUT] button. These tools enable the accurate placement of the current image anywhere on the screen. put-PCX tool : Before it may be used, this tool must be activated with ┌────┐ a click. │ │ └────┘ The tool indicates the extent of the picture to be pasted with a rectangular box. A cross-hair shows the center of the image. The box appears when the mouse is squeezed. Its position can be adjusted with a drag. When the mouse-button is released, the image is drawn in that box. the [^Put] button : This button pastes the current image onto the screen, (Ctrl-P) centered in or around the current cursor. scrolling : The pasted image may be scrolled with the arrow keys, if it is larger than the display area. This feature is particularly useful with scanned images, which tend to be gigantic. It allows us to view their outer edges, which would otherwise be unreachable. The "display area" is usually the entire work area. However, when [CLIP] is ON, the zone truncates the output of the put-PCX tool. The [+] [-] keys adjust the scrolling speed. Press <Enter>, <Esc> or <Space> when done scrolling. pasting method [^OP] : Use this button to specify a pasting method: Chose SET for traditional opaque pasting. This is the default method. The other options, AND,OR, and XOR treat the image as if it was transluscent. They blend it into the screen. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: PCX files information 5 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- PCX files : The PCX image format was created years ago, by Zsoft, for use with the PC Paintbrush program. It has undergone a number of expansions over the years, mainly to accomodate improved display technologies. ROTOR(tm) adheres to latest PCX-format specification. It can handle any PCX image with 2, 4, 16 or 256 colors. It does NOT support true-color (24-bits per pixel) PCX images. PCC files : These are essentially the same as PCX files. They are created by the "cut" tool of PC Paintbrush. They indicate a clipped, rather than full-screen, image. PAL files : These are palette files, which contain color definitions. PAL files were produced by early versions of PC Paintbrush. Today, the palette information is usually appended to an image's PCX file, instead of being saved in a separate file. ROTOR(tm) does NOT support PAL files. image sources : The PCX format is widely supported throughout the PC community. Most Paint packages can store screen images into PCX files. Many publishing programs import them directly. Most scanners save their output to PCX images. The designs created by ROTOR(tm) can also be writen to PCX files. A large body of PCX images is available in the public domain. Images stored in another format, such as GIF, can easily be converted to the PCX format. installing PCX files : All files must be copied to the ROTOR20.EXE directory, before the program is begun. ROTOR(tm) expects all accessory-files to be located in the current directory. It does not and cannot search other drives or directories. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Save menu 5 - 07 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The screen images created by ROTOR(tm) can be written to PCX files for later retrieval and editing. This menu focuses on such save operations. ┌────┐┌───────┬───────┐┌──────┐┌─────────┬─────────────┐ │Save││ Edit> │ IMAGE ││ save ││ $ave to │ IMAGE03.PCX │ └────┘└───────┴───────┘│ icon │└─────────┴─────────────┘ | └──────┘ | | | save-name next-save filename. When the user selects a portion of the screen for disk storage, it is written to a numbered PCX file. ROTOR(tm) automatically generates the image filename, by appending a 2-digit number to a short descritive term. The number is chosen carefully, to insure a unique filename ( in order to avoid the accidental overwrite of an existing file ). the save-name : This is the short descriptive word, no more than 6 characters long, which is used to form the filename of the next saved image. The default description is "IMAGE". [Edit>] : To change the "save-name" to something other than "IMAGE", click this button, then edit the description. When done, press Enter. Esc aborts the editing. save controls : ROTOR(tm) provides two powerful image-saving controls: The Save_area tool, and the [$ave] button. Save_area : This tool saves a user-designated portion of the ┌────┐ work area, to a numbered PCX file. │ │ └────┘ Start by placing the mouse-icon at one of the corners of the area to be saved. Then squeeze the mouse, and drag it across the screen until the rubberband rectangle encloses the desired area. When you let go of the button, ROTOR(tm) creates a PCX file for that part of the screen. A confirmation message names the file. [$ave] : This control is preferable for general screen-save operations. When clicked, (press shift top-row-4 ) it pops-up a list of specific save-areas: cursor-area This is the square area currently occupied by the cursor. Use this option to save the "doily" designs created by rotating but stationary objects. The tilt and form of the cursor are not significant here. Also, when the cursor is only partially visible, only the visible part is saved. When it is completely hidden, an error message is produced. zone-area This is the portion of the work area enclosed by the zone. Use this option to save "frame" designs created with the border macro. When the zone extends beyond the edge of the work area, only the visible part of the zone is saved. When the zone is completely hidden nothing is saved. work-area This is the working area of the screen. Use this option to save your creations in their entirety. The resulting PCX file includes the work-area border. whole screen This option allows you to save the whole screen, including the menu-bar at the top of the screen. menus-only This option writes the menu-bar to a PCX file. This command was originally created to produce illustrations for the ROTOR(tm) manual. We've left it in for those of you who may want to write ROTOR(tm) teaching materials. screen-dump All of the options above remove various temporary items (shape, cursor, zone, mouse) from the screen before proceeding with the actual save operation. NOT so here. This option saves the whole screen, as is. It is intended for ROTOR(tm) documentation purposes. the next-save filename : This is the filename displayed in the right-most frame. It is not an existing file. It names the file to which the NEXT saved-screen will be written. It is formatted as NNNNNN##.PCX, where NNNNNN is the current "save-name" and ## is a two-digit number. consecutive saves : Each time that a something is saved, the ## value is incremented to the next available number. The following examples illustrate how this works: We begin with an empty directory, and the default save-name, IMAGE. Consecutive saves produce the following files: 1st save >> IMAGE01.PCX 2nd save >> IMAGE02.PCX 3rd save >> IMAGE03.PCX Now lets consider the case where the file IMAGE03.PCX already exists, left-over from a prior session. The following files are created: 1st save >> IMAGE02.PCX 2nd save >> IMAGE04.PCX <- skip 03, already exists. 3rd save >> IMAGE05.PCX destination directory : All PCX files are written to the current directory. PCX file type : The PCX files created by ROTOR(tm) match the active adapter-mode. In 2-color modes, 2-color files are produced. In 16-color modes, 16-color files are generated. In 256-color modes, 256-color files are created. The more colors there are, the larger the files become. In SIMULATED black and white modes, saved screens are not written to 2-color files. The color-format corresponding to the true mode is used instead. This leads to larger than necessary files, but preserves the image aspect-ratio. color palette : The 16 and 256 color PCX files created by ROTOR(tm) include the current palette. not in memory : The saved image is written directly to disk. It is not retained in memory. To "cut" a portion of the screen for pasting purposes, save it, then load the newly generated file. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Print menu 5 - 08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The screen images created by ROTOR(tm) can be sent to the printer for black-and-white output. This menu handles such printing. printer print port position | | ┌─────┐┌─┬──┬────┬────────────┐┌──────┐┌───────┬─────────┬─────────┐ │Print││?│<>│LPT1│^PrtSc:Print││ print││!:Eject│@:Advance│printY 0│ └─────┘└─┴──┴────┴────────────┘│ icon │└───────┴─────────┴─────────┘ └──────┘ the printer : It must be a laser-printer or compatible. HP Deskjets are laser-compatible. Most dot-matrix printers are not. The [?] button repeats this warning. printer checks : Make sure the printer is powered ON, and ready. Verify that its paper-tray is not empty. printer port : By default, ROTOR(tm) assumes that your printer is hooked up to the LPT1 port. This is by far the most common configuration. If your printer is connected to a different port, use the [<][>] scanner to select the correct one. printer test : If you are not sure which port your printer is attached to, or whether your printer is laser compatible, just go ahead, try printing something. If your printer does nothing at all, then chances are it is hooked up to the wrong port. If the output is a bunch of random characters, then your printer is NOT laser-compatible. print controls : ROTOR(tm) provides two powerful image-printing controls: The Print-area tool, and the [^PrtSc] button. Print-area : Use this tool to print a user-selected portion ┌────┐ of the work area. │ │ └────┘ The part of the screen to be printed is defined by a rubberbanding rectangle. Upon release of the mouse button, ROTOR(tm) begins printing. The ESC key may be used to abort the output. [^PrtSc] : This control is preferable for general screen-printing operations. When clicked, (press Ctrl-PrtSc ) it pops-up a list of specific print-areas: cursor-area This is the square area currently occupied by the cursor. Use this option to print the "doily" designs created by rotating but stationary objects. The tilt and form of the cursor are not significant here. Also, when the cursor is only partially visible, only the visible part is printed. When it is completely hidden, an error message is produced. zone-area This is the portion of the work area enclosed by the zone. Use this option to print pictures "framed" by the border macro. When the zone extends beyond the edge of the work area, only the visible part of the zone is printed. When the zone is completely hidden nothing is printed. work-area This is the working area of the screen. Use this option to print your creations in their entirety. The resulting image includes the work-area border. whole screen This option allows you to print the whole screen, including the menu-bar at the top of the screen. menus-only This option prints the menu-bar. This command was originally created to produce illustrations for the ROTOR(tm) manual. We've left it in for those of you who may want to write ROTOR(tm) teaching materials. screen-dump All of the options above remove various temporary items (shape, cursor, zone, mouse) from the screen before proceeding with the actual print operation. NOT so here. This option prints the whole screen, as is. It is intended for ROTOR(tm) documentation purposes. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Printer output 5 - 08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- output quality : ROTOR(tm) prints at a resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch) which produces good crisp images. Colors are rendered as dot-pattern tones. CGA 4-color screens are not printable. Sorry! It is best to work in a 2-color mode when printed matter is the end-goal. The output then matches exactly what you see on the screen. overall dimensions : The screen contents are printed as close as possible to "life size". In other words, the paper-output generally approximates the dimensions of the corresponding screen-image. This assumes a standard monitor, with a display area 8 1/4 inches wide and 6 inches tall. ouput placement : All output is right-justified, so that the right side of the image is printed 1/4 inch away from right edge of the paper. We find this layout useful when binding a sheaf of printed pages together. the print position : The "printY" variable specifies the vertical print position of the printed image, in dpi (dots per inch). When printY = 0, the output is placed 1/2 inch away from the top of the page. This is the very top of the printable area of the page. The following diagram shows a 2 inch square image printed at the printY=0 position: ┌─────────────────────────────────┐---+ unprintable │ │ |--- 1/2 inch │ printY=0 .....╔═════════════╗ --│---+ top margin │ ║ 1x2 ║ │ | │ ║ image ║ │ +--- 1 inch │ ║ ║ │ | (300 dots) │ printY=300 ...╚═════════════╝ --│---+ │ | │ unprintable │ +-│------- 1/4 inch └─────────────────────────────────┘ rght margin When an image is printed, the printY variable is automatically incremented to reflect the distance advanced by the paper. In the example above, the paper moves up an inch, or 300 dots. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: Printer control 5 - 08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- [!:Eject] : This is the paper-ejection button. It sends a form-feed to the printer, and resets PrintY to 0. [@:Advance]: This control emulates the line-feed mechanism of your printer. It allows you to advance the paper anywhere from 1/4 of an inch to two inches at a time. This device does NOT actually advance the paper in the printer. Instead it increments the PrintY variable. The net effect is the same: the next image is printed further down the page. When printing several images on a single page, this device allows you to space them apart. When no advance-command is issued, consecutive images are printed contiguously. Please note that the printY variable is NOT automatically reset to 0 when incremented beyond 3300 (11 inches). This allows you to print on legal size paper. do not use the printer controls : Please do not use the form-feed and line feed controls mounted on your printer, as they do not adjust the PrintY variable. shift-PrtScr : The shift-PrtSc key-combination normally generates a DOS screen-dump command. It's great for printing text-mode screens. Unfortunately, it does not work with graphic screens. When shift-PrtSc is accidentally pressed from within a graphic program, the resulting output is garbled. ROTOR(tm) avoids such incidents by disabling shift-PrtSc completely. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Services: The Display menu 5 - 09 -------------------------------------------------------------------- This menu describes the video hardware currently in use, and allows us to explore all of its possibilities. video monitor adapter current video hooked-up detected mode | | | | | | ┌───────┐┌──┬──────────────────┬──────────┬───┬──┬────────────────┐ │Display││~>│Monitor: VGA color│ Card:VGA │W&B│A>│ VGA 640x480x16 │ └───────┘└──┴──────────────────┴──────────┴───┴──┴────────────────┘ | | monitor adapter toggle modes menu monitor toggle : This toggle only appears when two separate graphic cards are installed in your computer. Usually, the pair consists of a monochrome adapter combined with a color card of some sort. In this kind of situation, ROTOR(tm) is NOT automatically displayed simultaneously on both monitors. It is on one, or the other. This toggle allows us to switch from one monitor to the other, and back. It is not an extremely useful feature. We use it for ROTOR-testing purposes. installed hardware : ROTOR(tm) automatically detects the monitor and graphic adapter configuration present in your machine. Please notify us if it fails to identify them correctly. the current adapter mode : It is displayed in the right-most frame. ROTOR(tm) supports all major graphic modes. adapter capabilities : Most graphic adapters can handle several different display modes. CGA adapters know two. EGA adapters can emulate the CGA modes, and they support four additional modes of their own. VGA adapters are backward-compatible. They simulate all of the CGA and EGA modes, and provide three VGA-only options. SGA ( super-VGA ) adapters do it all. They handle all of the modes discussed above. In addition, they are usually capable of displaying 256-color images at high resolution(s). VESA adapters are essentially standardized super-VGA graphic cards. to change modes [A>] : Click this button to pop-up a menu of the available adapter-mode options. This control does not appear when the active adapter is a Hercules monchrome graphics card, because such adapters do not support multiple modes. The following is a complete list of the modes that ROTOR(tm) supports. Please note that the pop-up menu includes only those which the installed adapter card can handle. CGA 320x200x4 VGA 640x480x16 CGA 640x200x2 VGA 320x200x256 EGA 320x200x16 SGA 640x400x256 EGA 640x200x16 SGA 800x600x16 EGA 640x350x2 SGA 640x480x256 EGA 640x350x16 SGA 800x600x256 VGA 640x480x2 SGA 1K x768x256 When switching to a new mode, the current screen contents are discarded. The cursor and zones are adjusted in order to preserve their relative size and position. The colors may have to be modified, when the new mode supports fewer colors. All other object attributes remain unchanged. simulated 2-color mode toggle [W&B] : When creating designs for printed matter, it is best to work in a 2-color mode, where what you see on the screen is exactly what you will get on paper. Unfortunately, the 2-color modes are not numerous, and some require a monochrome monitor. ROTOR(tm) overcomes these limitations by SIMULATING 2-color modes. The [W&B] toggle provides this 2-color emulation capability. (W&B = white and black). When clicked, it redraws the screen in black-and-white. A second click returns the screen to its original colors. The [W&B] control only appears in color modes, as emulation is not necessary in true 2-color modes. The EGA 640x350 2-color mode requires a monochrome monitor. On systems with color monitors, ROTOR(tm) handles requests for this mode by defaulting to the EGA 640x350x16 mode, with 2-color emulation activated. Usually, 2-color emulation is a strick black and white affair. Exceptionally, grey-scale tones are allowed when a 256-color PCX image is loaded to a 256-color mode. ROTOR(tm) converts the image colors to grey tones, instead of dithering. The resulting image is colorless, like a black-and-white photograph, but it is not strictly 2-color. preferred video modes : Although all adapter-modes produce satisfying results, those which feature square pixels are preferable. When the pixels are not square, aspect ratio correction operations are required to avoid distortions. These exact a performance penalty and sometimes cause a perceptible loss of precision. The preferred video modes are : VGA 640x480x2 VGA 640x480x16 SGA 640x480x256 SGA 800x600x16 SGA 800x600x256 (horizontal dimension is 4/3rds of vertical dimension) -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) The Expert-level Menu 6 - 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------- This top-level menu is purposely tucked out of the way. The service functions it accesses are intended for advanced users who are very familiar with ROTOR(tm). It discusses internal parameters in a manner that is likely to confuse beginners. It is also somewhat of a grab bag of miscellaneous utilities. We've stuck here all those items which would not fit anywhere else in the interface. ┌─┬─┬─┬──────┬─────────┬──────┬─────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────────┐ │*│#│\│1:Many│2:Pulsing│3:Info│^Diag│):Switches│0:No Menu│(:Options│ └─┴─┴─┴──────┴─────────┴──────┴─────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────┘ The menu entries are: [*],[#] [\More] : Please review the menu-bar section of the interface chapter for an explanation of these controls. [1:Many] : For multiple animated objects. [2:Pulsing]: For precise parameter pulsing control. [3:Info] : This is the start-up bottom menu. The user's serial number appears here. [^Diag] : For diagnostic examination of internal values. [):Switch] : For direct and simultaneous access to all of the current object-switches. Each switch may be toggled individually. [0:No Menu]: The menu-visibility toggle. [(:Options]: For access to the options pop-up menu discussed in the interface section of this manual. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Expert-level: The Many menu 6 - 02 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Although most of the time a single object is the focus of all activity, ROTOR(tm) is actually capable of handling several objects simultaneously. When multiple objects are present on the screen, they are independently animated. Each has its own shape, cursor and zone. This menu helps manage multiple objects. current object | ┌────┐┌─────┬──────┬─────────────────┬─┬─┬────────────┬────────────┐ │Many││ New │ Kill │^Kill all others │[│]│ object 1/1 │ heap 51672 │ └────┘└─────┴──────┴─────────────────┴─┴─┴────────────┴────────────┘ | | objects memory scanner available for objects the current object : ROTOR(tm)'s interface is designed to control one object at a time. When multiple objects are active, its object-editing functions apply only to the "current" object. This particular object is easily differentiated from the others. It is highlighted by a cursor box, which the other objects lack. ROTOR(tm)'s interface is in effect a "window" onto this current object. objects scanner : Internally, each object is identified by a number indicating its position in a list-of-objects. The current object's ID-number is shown on the menu as a numerator value. The square-bracket scanner buttons allow us to examine the list-of-objects. The left-bracket selects the prior object in the list. The right-bracket advances to the next object. The cursor box is automatically updated as the current object changes. [New] : This is the "add-an-object" control. Each time it is clicked, ROTOR(tm) generates an object, which becomes the current object. The new object is given a simple random shape, and it is placed in the center of the work-area. memory issues : The number of objects that may be created with this command is limited by memory. The right-most frame reports the number of memory bytes currently available. The term "heap" is the name of the memory area which is reserved for object instances. The memory requirements of an object are proportional to the number of vertices it contains. Shapes with few vertices occupy as little as 1 Kbytes. Complex clip-shapes may grab as much as 20 Kbytes. Under the best circumstances, up to fifty simple objects can be squeezed into existence. However, we do not recommend such crowds. For fifty objects move fifty times slower than a single one would. [Kill] : This is the "remove-an-object" control. When clicked, it deletes the current object from memory. Use it to get rid of unwanted objects. [^Kill] : This button complements the KILL function above. When clicked, it deletes all objects in memory, except the current one. KILL is a handy "wipe-them-all-out" command. warning : ROTOR(tm) does not prompt for deletion-confirmation. So be careful with the K-key! Please note also that ROTOR(tm) does not permit deletions when there is only one active object. keyboard commands : The keyboard commands for these controls are always available, even when the Many menu is not. It is therefore a good idea to memorize them. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Expert-level: The Pulsing menu 6 - 03 -------------------------------------------------------------------- pulsing : A pulsed parameter is one which changes its value at each cycle in the animation. All object parameters are pulsable. This menu handles parameter pulsing in great detail. It extends user-control to every aspect of pulsing. parameter parameter pulse pulse selector selected switch mode | | | | ┌───────┐┌──────┬─────┬───┬─────────────────┬─┬──────┬─┬───────────┐ │Pulsing││~List │%Para│<#>│ shape_ID 4 1 │P│Upward│:│ step_1-20 │ └───────┘└──────┴─────┴───┴─────────────────┴▄└──────┴─┴───────────┘ | | | | parameter value ---------+ | | | pstep value -----------------+ pstep pstep selector selected [~List] : Click this button to change the pulse-status of one or more parameters at once. A pop-up menu listing all the parameters makes this possible. Each parameter can be toggled individually. In low-resolution modes, this button is abbreviated to just [~]. parameter selector [%Para] : Use this button to select the parameter to be edited. When clicked, it pops-up a list of all parameters. This button is sometimes abbreviated to just [%]. parameter selected : The current value of the selected parameter shows up next to the parameter's name. parameter editing : A [<][>] scanner is provided for parameter adjustments. parameter pulsing : The [P] switch toggles pulsing ON/OFF. When ON, the parameter value can be observed changing. pulse mode : The current pulse mode is displayed in a frame next to the [P] toggle. To change modes, click the modes-pad under [P], or press Alt-P. A click to the mode-frame also works. pstep : Pstep (the pulse-step) is a number dictating the rate at which the current parameter changes. Small values produce slow-moving objects. Large values cause wild pulsing. Every parameter has an assigned pstep parameter, which is itself also pulsable. The pstep value appears next to the parameter's value. It can be adjusted via the scanner control. ( press shift-< os shift-> ). pstep selector [:] : Use this button to assign a different pstep to the currently selected parameter. When clicked, this button pops-up a list of parameters, which includes the standard object parameters. Every parameter can become the pstep of another parameter. pstep selected : The right-most frame displays the name of the current pstep parameter. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Expert-level: The Info Menu 6 - 04 -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you need to contact us for support, please look-up this menu. It lists our address and phone number, and it includes your serial number. serial number | ┌────┐┌───┬───────────────────────┬──────────────────┐ │Info││ ? │ ROTOR(tm) version 2.0 │ s# 93-2428 │ └────┘└───┴───────────────────────┴──────────────────┘ [?] : For contact information, please click this help-button. The following panel pops-up: ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ROTOR(tm) version 2.0 │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Copyright 1990-1993 by Michel C. Robert. │ │ All rights reserved. │ │ ROTOR is a trademark of Michel Robert. │ │ │ │ If you have any questions about this program, │ │ call us at (404)240-0410, or write to: │ │ │ │ ROTOR(tm) by Michel Robert │ │ 1732 Dunwoody Place, Atlanta, GA 30324-2734, USA. │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ We bring to your attention the fact that ROTOR(tm) is a copyrighted property. It is the result of a protracted development effort. It did not come into being overnight. Please reward our efforts by purchasing your own copy, if you have not yet done so. serial number : This number identifies your copy of ROTOR(tm). Please include it in all correspondence directed to us. version number : The program version number allows us to differentiate succeeding ROTOR(tm) releases. Please specify it when reporting bugs, incompatibilities, or anything else. Thanks. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Expert-level: Diagnostics 6 - 05 -------------------------------------------------------------------- The monitoring devices discussed here enable us to watch internal parameters which are not normally accessible, such as the coordinates of the cursor and zone. In addition, these tools provide invaluable diagnostic services. When ROTOR(tm) appears to malfunction, they help us determine the cause of the problem. Memory usage and availability are examined in great detail, as memory shortages are the most likely cause of serious trouble. These tools enable us to provide better support for our users, when they call to complain about a malfunction. the [^Diag] button : Click this button to select the item you wish to monitor. The choices are: ┌───────────────────┐ │ XY coordinates │ │ Zone coords │ │ Radius info │ │ Cycle Timer │ │ RAM Allocation │ │ Rotor RAM map │ │ Free memory │ │ Key Scancode │ │ Motion Step XY │ └───────────────────┘ Please note that this pop-up menu is always available even when the Xpert-menu is not. (Just press shift top-row-6). Upon selection, the TOP-menu is replaced by a row of one or more framed data items. XY coordinates: ┌──────────┬─────────────────────┬────────────────────┐ │ Top 54 │ CX 319 CY 266 │ MX 162 MY 96 │ └──────────┴─────────────────────┴────────────────────┘ Top : the height of the menu-bar CX,CY : the current cursor coordinates, ie its center. MX,MY : the mouse coordinates, ie the location of its hot-spot. The origin (0,0) is located at the top-left corner of the screen. The coordinates are expressed in pixels. Negative coordinates indicate out-of screen-range locations. When the cursor and the mouse are synchronized, they have matching coordinates. Zone coords: ┌───────────┬───────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐ │ ZoneL 1 │ ZoneR 638 │ ZoneT 54 │ ZoneB 478 │ └───────────┴───────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘ ZoneL : The left-edge X-coordinate. ZoneR : The right-edge X-coordinate. ZoneT : The top-edge Y-coordinate. ZoneB : The bottom-edge Y-coordinate. Use this option to compute the zone dimensions. Radius info: ┌───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┐ │ ShapeRadius 78 │ cursor_rad 107 │ └───────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘ cursor_rad : the cursor radius. ShapeRadius : the shape radius. The shape's radius is always equal to or smaller than the cursor's. Both are expressed in VERTICAL pixels. When the screen pixels are not square, all X-coordinates are adjusted to avoid distortions. Cycle Timer: ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ cycle 1/100 sec 11 │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This option displays the approximate duration of an animation cycle, in one hundredths of a second. The actual cycle time varies. Complex shapes moving in elaborate ways use-up more CPU time than simple static designs. RAM Allocation : ┌──────────────────┬─────────────┬──────────┬─────────┐ │ total RAM 640K > │Dos+Tsrs 126K│Rotor 426K│Free 86K │ └──────────────────┴─────────────┴──────────┴─────────┘ This option reports how the directly addressable lower 640K in your computer is being used: total RAM : conventional memory installed in computer. Dos+Tsrs : portion taken by DOS & resident utilities. Rotor : portion reserved/required for ROTOR(tm). Free : remaining conventional memory. When XMS memory is installed, the XMS-manager requires an additional 64K chunk of memory for internal processes. It grabs this chunk from the "free" store. Any left-over "free" memory is used by ROTOR(tm) for temporary bitmap-buffers. Rotor RAM map : ┌────────────┬──────────┬─────────┬─────────┬─────────┐ │ Rotor 426K │ code 295K│ data 51K│stack 14K│ heap 64K│ └────────────┴──────────┴─────────┴─────────┴─────────┘ This option details ROTOR(tm)'s memory requirements: Rotor : minimum amount of conventional memory required. code : portion occupied by program code. data : portion occupied by program data. stack : portion reserved for program stack. heap : portion reserved for fonts,clips,menus,shapes.. Rotor = code + data + stack + heap + PSP(256 bytes) + control block (16 bytes). This technical information is really of no interest to the average ROTOR(tm) user. It is the kind of trivia that experienced programmers enjoy. It is mostly intended for our own internal use. Free memory: ┌───────┬─────────────┬──────────┬───────────┬────────┐ │ Free> │ heap 50272 │ CMM 86K │ EMS 1008K │ XMS 0K │ └───────┴─────────────┴──────────┴───────────┴────────┘ Here ROTOR(tm) displays the memory resources available at a particular point in time. The numbers shown do not describe the installed memory. What they indicate is the extent of the free unused portions. heap : portion of reserved heap still available CMM : remaining unused conventional memory. EMS : free expanded memory (LIM 4.0 EMS) XMS : free extended memory, if any. K = kilobyte = 1000 bytes. Heap detail: ┌─────────────┐┌─────┬──────────┬──────────────┬──────┐ │full heap 64K││free>│heap 51360│maxavail 51192│^Empty│ └─────────────┘└─────┴──────────┴──────────────┴──────┘ The heap is a 64K block of memory which is set aside when ROTOR(tm) begins. It is used by various program resources, such as fonts, clips, scripts, menus, and shapes. The items shown here are: full heap : memory set aside for entire heap. free heap : currently available heap-memory. maxavail : size of largest heap memory-block currently available. When the heap is fragmented, this number may be considerably smaller than the 'free-heap' value. [^Empty] : This control allows you to free-up some heap memory. When clicked, it pops-up a menu which gives you the option to unload the current font, clip-library or script. Some resources, such as fonts, require a single monolithic memory block, rather than several small ones. When this is the case, the 'maxavail' value is the only significant measure of heap availability. The program resources compete against each other for the precious and limited heap memory. The demand is fierce. Shortages are inevitable. Key Scancode : ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ scancode 1 │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ When you press a key, the keyboard sends a "scancode" to your computer. All keyboards are supposed to issue to same scancode when a particular key is struck. We use this option to spot keyboard irregularities. Motion Step XY : ┌────────────────┬────────────────┬─────────┬─────────┐ │ Motor_step 15 │ Motor_angle 30 │ SX 13 │ SY 8 │ └────────────────┴────────────────┴─────────┴─────────┘ Here ROTOR(tm) presents cursor-motion information. An arrow called a "vector" can be used to describe motion. The vector points in the direction of travel, and its length shows the displacement per unit of time, which in our case is a single animation-cycle. Motor_step : this is the vector-length, ie the motion step-size. Motor_angle : this is the angle which describes the vector direction. SX,SY : when combined, these horizontal and vertical displacements produce a motion "step" in the correct direction. The SX value shown does not include any aspect ratio adjustments. -------------------------------------------------------------------- ROTOR(tm) Expert-level : Default object settings 6 - 06 -------------------------------------------------------------------- In the absence of any initalizing instructions, ROTOR(tm) generates a default initial object with the following characteristics: default zone : Matches the work-area: same size, same position. default cursor : Position: centered in the work-area. Size: The cursor radius is 1/4 of the work-area height. default shape : The inital default shape is a square polygon. When a shape is created by a [NEW] command, it is a random shape with 4 vertices. default animation : The following effects are present: + Shape rotation due to global_Tilt pulsing + Shape expansion and contraction, due to pulsing of shrinkage parameter. default motion : None. Neither the cursor nor the zone are moving. default colors : In 126 and 256-color modes, the defaults are: line-color: cyan (3) (a pale aqua) fill-color: blue (1) back-color: grey (8) In the CGA 4-color mode, the default colors are: line-color: black (0) fill-color: white (3) back-color: magenta (2) In 2-color modes, real or simulated, the defaults are: line-color: black (0) fill-color: white (1) back-color: white (1) default switch settings : Most switches are intialized in the OFF state. The ON exceptions are: + BACK, CURSOR, LINE, SHAPE (for visibility purposes) + SHRINK, ROLL (for default animation) When a switch supports multiple operating modes, the default mode is always the topmost one. (first on pop-up menu) default parameter settings : The following table shows the default parameter values and pstep links: default | default parameter related initial max | pstep name toggle value value | parameter -----------------------------------------+------------ shrinkage SHRINK 4 MaxInt | shrink_step shape_tilt TILT 45 359 | tilt_step offsetY OFFSET 20 Varies | offsetingY global_tilt ROLL 15 359 | roll_step tension BEZIER 1 15 | speed crush_rate CRUSH 10 99 | speed jitter_rate QUAKE 10 99 | speed motor_step GO 10 MaxInt | Caccel motor_angle VEER 30 varies | Cturn zone_step Z_GO 5 MaxInt | Zaccel zone_angle Z_VEER 30 varies | Zturn shape_ID SHAPE 4 Varies | step_1..20 dash_ID USE| 1 MaxDash | step_1..20 thickness THICK 3 Varies | step_1..20 line_color LINE 3 Varies | speed fill_color FILL 1 Varies | speed back_color BACK 8 Varies | speed fill_pattrn XHATCH 1 28 | speed back_pattrn YHATCH 1 28 | speed | shrink_step 4 Varies | speed tilt_step 15 359 | speed offsetingY 4 Varies | speed roll_step 15 359 | speed Caccel 1 11 | speed Cturn 5 359 | speed Zaccel 1 11 | speed Zturn 5 359 | speed step_1..20 1 50 | speed step_1..50 1 20 | speed speed 1 10 | speed | cursor_rad 40 MaxInt | shrink_step skip 1 Varies | speed points 4 Varies | speed -----------------------------------------+----------- MaxInt = 32767 MaxDash = 16 The default pulse mode is Upwards. The only exception to this rule is the shrink_step parameter, which is pulsed in an Up&Down manner.