Fresh Fish 8/FreshFishVol8-CD1.bin/new/util/boot/picboot/picboot.man

Text File | 1994-11-30 | 28KB | 739 lines

   This file describes PicBoot, version 2.6, a program that shows an
IFF ILBM or GIF picture during boot.

Introduction
************

   Have you removed all output in your 2.0+ startup, and only see a
black screen during boot? Wouldn't it be nice to have a picture
instead? A picture that disappeared when the Workbench screen opened?

   If so, PicBoot is certainly a program for you. What it will do is
to read any IFF file containing an ILBM - or GIF - picture, and show
it. As soon as the Workbench screen appears (or you press any
mouse-button), the picture will go away.

   Features:

   *  Fast picture unpacking, using highly optimized assembler. The
     entire picture is read into memory and then unpacked. This applies
     both to the IFF and the GIF unpacker.

   *  Optional auto-detaching; the picture is loaded as fast as
     possible, with minimal memory fragmentation.

   *  A picture can be shown a user-specified time after the
     Workbench screen opens (see DELAY and PATCH).

   *  Extremely flexible argument parser.

   *  Random select among any number of pictures, in several different
     ways.

   *  Force a certain display mode for a picture, even if saved with
     another (can be selected on a picture by picture basis).

   *  The comment field of a file may be used to specify options.

   *  Optional screen centering (horisontally).

   *  Optional screen fading (in various forms). Uses the increased
     palette range in AA (24 bits).

   *  Should work with most "Intuition emulators" for gfx-cards.

System requirements
*******************

   Apart from OS 2.04+, PicBoot doesn't require any special
libraries. The only non-ROM library required is iffparse.library
(which normally resides in Libs:).

       PicBoot have full support for OS 3.0+ and AA graphics. It
should even work with gfx-cards that have an "Intuition emulator".

Legal information
*****************

   This program is freeware. You may copy and use this program freely,
as long as the following conditions are met:

   *  All files are copied in an unmodified state. If additional
     information is needed, place it in a separate file. Preferably
     redistribute in the original archive form (*.Lha).

     Exception: So called BBS ads may not be added!

   *  The copying is done on a non-commercial and non-profit basis
     only. A copy fee to cover media costs, postage etc. may be
     charged. This fee may not exceed the fee to obtain an AmigaLibDisk
     from Fred Fish.

   *  The copier/spreader is not claiming the Copyright © of this
     program.

   Any exceptions from these restrictions requires written permission
from the author, Magnus Holmgren (see Author contact).

Disclaimer
==========

   Magnus Holmgren neither assume nor accept any responsibility for the
use or misuse of these programs. He also will not be held liable for
damages or any compensation due to loss of profit or any other damages
arising out of the use, or inability to use these programs.

   Magnus Holmgren will not be liable for any damage arising from the
failure of these programs to perform as described, or any destruction
of other programs or data residing on a system attempting to run the
programs. While he know of no damaging errors, the user of these
programs uses it at his or her own risk.

Usage
*****

   To activate PicBoot, add a line to your S:Startup-Sequence,
looking something like this:

     PicBoot Pics:Hi-res/Calvin01.Pic DETACH

Or, if you have a list of files in "Work:Text/PicList":

     PicBoot Work:Text/PicList LIST DETACH

   Or, if your drawer Pics:BootPics contains some pictures:

     PicBoot Pics:BootPics/#?.(Pic|Gif) DETACH

   This line should be located near the beginning in the
S:Startup-Sequence (no point in placing it near the LoadWB
command, is it? :), but keep it after SetPatch. PicBoot will only
output any text if it fails, so don't re-direct its output. Note however
that if you place PicBoot before any additional monitors are
installed, you'll be stuck with the default.monitor for showing your
picture. The DEFAULT switch may be of help here.

   Make sure no program makes any output in the CLI window, since then
the Workbench screen will open with a boring CLI-window instead...

   Options:

FILES
=====

   This is the only required argument. Here you specify the name of the
picture you want to view. You may enter several files here, in which
case PicBoot will select one of them randomly, and show that one.

   The name(s) can also be the name of an ASCII file containing a
filename list if you specified the LIST option.

   The name(s) can also be the name of a drawer, in which case
PicBoot will randomly select one of the files in this drawer. To
use a pattern during this scanning, simply enter the pattern like it
had been the name of a file in the drawer. Example:

     Work:Pics/#?.gif

which would make PicBoot select a file ending in .gif in the drawer
Work:Pics

   If the comment field of the selected listfile or picture starts with
"*PicBoot*: " (case sensitive), then the rest of the comment is taken
to be arguments, like those in a LIST file.

   You may freely mix picture and drawer names. Listfiles can only be
mixed with the other two ones if the comment contains the LIST switch.
In that case, the LIST argument should not be used on the command line
(or in a list file). Ofcourse you can random select among list files
with the "drawer scanner" if you like.. :)

MODEID
======

   Short form: M

   NOTE: This argument is mainly for the more "advanced" user.

   This argument should be a decimal number specifying which screen
mode to use.  It basically replaces the so called CAMG hunk in an ILBM
file (since it contains which screen mode to use). Thus, you must
select mode with care, or else the picture will look like trash
(nothing more serious can happen. I hope! :). When showing GIF files,
it will override the internal "best mode" routines (which aren't good
at all. But I haven't bothered to add code to make them better.. :).

   To make it easier for you to find out which display mode id to use,
there is a small program called GetModeID included, which uses the
ReqTools or Asl screenmode requester. Simply select the display
mode you want, and it will print out the number you should use here.
See GetModeID.

   The mode id will be passed through the same validity checking as a
normal so called CAMG chunk, so PicBoot should handle bad values
properly (although I haven't tested this much.. :).

LIST
====

   Short form: L

   If this switch is specified, PicBoot will interpret the files in
the FILES argument as names of files containing a list of pictures (or
rather, argument lines). PicBoot will then randomly select one of the
lines in the selected file, and process it almost like a normal argument
line. The only difference is that you can't use the DETACH, DELAY,
PATCH or ACTIVATEWB arguments. These arguments may not be specified in
a listfile (no point in doing it anyway).

   The listfile is an ASCII (text) file with a simple layout. On the
first line you specify the number of argument lines in the file. This is
usually <number of lines in file>-2 (one line is occupied by the count,
and the other is the last linefeed). If this value is zero, then
PicBoot will exit silently. The rest of the file is simply the
argument lines to choose from. An example:

     4
     Work:Pics/Comics/Calvin02.Pic MODEID 137220
     Work:Pics/Comics/Calvin03.Gif
     Work:Text/MoreCalvins.txt LIST CENTER ON
     Work:Pics/Misc/#?.Gif

   Note that any arguments specified from the CLI, or in any previous
listfile, will be taken as the new default value. In the listfile you
may alter this default. This does not include the LIST argument
(ofcourse). It is always turned off before parsing a line.

       Warning: Since you may enter a new listfile within a listfile,
you can be caug