home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Collection of Tools & Utilities
/
Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso
/
basic
/
qbscr15.zip
/
WHATS.NEW
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1989-09-01
|
8KB
|
154 lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHATS.NEW with the QBSCR Screen Routines for QuickBASIC 4.0+
(C)opyright 1989 by Tony Martin
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What's new with the latest release? Below is a revision history.
VERSION 1.5 : 1 September 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
All new product. Here's what to look for:
■ New program included called Screen Builder. Allows you
to interactively create multicolor ASCII screens to use
with your programs.
■ BuildScreen and new PutScreen will load and display the
screens you create with Screen Builder.
■ All new demo program. Makes use of pregenerated
screens created with Screen Builder. Impressive.
■ New routines include:
- PutScreen : Will load a screen created with Screen
Builder and display it on the screen.
- GetScreen : Will save the current contents of the
display to a file in Screen Builder format.
- BlockSave : Save a rectangular portion of the
screen and later restore with BlockRestore (also
new to version 1.5).
- QBPrint : Use to display ASCII characters that the
PRINT statement can't handle.
- MultiMenu : Create a multiple pull-down menu user
interface for any of your programs with minimal
effort.
- GetForeground : This function returns the
foreground color of any character on the screen.
Also GetBackground for the background color.
VERSION 1.4 : 10 May 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a major upgrade. Features new to the entire
package are detailed first, and then the specific changes
made to each routine.
Global Changes
---------------------------------------------------------
■ All display routines now support all 25 lines of the
display. Previous versions only supported lines 1
through 23.
■ All displays routines are now faster, particularly the
window displays and exploding windows.
■ Improved Commentary for all source code, including the
QBSCR source code, REF and DEMO (formerly SAMPLE).
More of it, and clearer.
■ Source code much more consistent. All constants are in
all UPPERCASE, all routine names a capitalized, and all
variables begin with lowercase letters. Makes for much
easier reading.
New Routines
---------------------------------------------------------
■ BuildScreen - Similar to ClrScr in operation, but
places predefined displays on the screen in interesting
ways. Must see to appreciate. Try the DEMO program.
■ ScrnSave - Save a portion of the display so that it can
be restored later. Used with ScrnRestore (below) to
pop windows and other display elements to and from the
screen.
■ ScrnRestore - Restores part of a display that was saved
with the ScrnSave routine.
Changes to Old Routines
---------------------------------------------------------
■ MakeMenu - Placement of menu choices is more consistent
than in previous versions. Code is much cleaner.
Added new feature - "Quick Access" keys that provide
direct access to each menu choice.
■ ClrScr - Five new and exciting modes for clearing the
screen.
The SAMPLE Program Changes
---------------------------------------------------------
■ Updated to demonstrate new routines.
■ No longer called SAMPLE. Now called DEMO.
The REF Program Changes
---------------------------------------------------------
■ Updated to show all 16 BuildScreen modes.
VERSION 1.3 : 28 January 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots this time! Added two new functions. All previous
functions were dedicated to building screens. These two
are to help you destroy screens! The ClrScr routine
will clear your screen in any of ten different ways,
while the new Wipe routine lets you clear out any
programmer-defined area of the screen.
Also new for version 1.3 is a sample application program
called REF. It serves as both example and programming
aid, demonstrating real-life uses for the QBSCR routines
and telling you often-referenced information about the
QBSCR package. If you need info it can provide while
programming, simply shell to DOS from QuickBASIC and run
REF. When you have the info you need, exit back to QB.
Minor changes this time include enhanced commentary for
all source code. More of it and clearer, too. Also
there was a bug in the GetString$ function that required
you to provide a starting column that was one less than
the actual column you wanted to start on. Bug is now
squashed. The Center routine also centers better by one
column position.
VERSION 1.2 : 15 July 1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Added a new function, ScreenBlank$. Will blank the
screen and then display a message informing the user that
the screen has been blanked. To prevent burn-in of this
message, it changes position periodically. Returns as a
value the key that was pressed to return to the main
module.
VERSION 1.1 : 5 June 1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Added a new function, GetString$. Allows enhanced string
input. You can now accept input and limit the length of
the string AS THE USER ENTERS it! With slight
modification of the source code, you can also limit the
characters the user is allowed to enter.
VERSION 1.0 : 28 April 1988
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Initial release.