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**************************************************
* *
* CITAS 1.0 (Convert ILBM To Assembler Source) *
* *
* ---- A Max Bithead production ---- *
* *
* 4/7/90 *
* *
**************************************************
INTRO:
-----
Ok all you assembler gurus out there. This program's for you.
CITAS takes an ILBM file and converts it to assembler source for use
in your own programs. If you're familiar with NGI, CITAS does basically
the same thing, only without the gadgets, and the output is assembly
source instead of 'C'. It also has a few nice features that NGI doesn't
have.
In the beginning... I wrote this program in assembler, for assembler,
because I wanted an easy way to draw graphics with a paint program and then
use them in my own assembly programs via blitter control. Unfortunately,
I can be somewhat of a perfectionist, and CITAS soon became a full featured
utility which took one full month (to the day) to complete and release. I
gotta say I'm pleased with the results, though. I gave CITAS only a single
read buffer, and a single write buffer, but this baby smokes! What a nice
surprise. It also uses only about 12K RAM while running.
CITAS is my first official piece of software for the Amiga. Hope you
like it!
NOTE: CITAS will not waste memory by extracting a null plane. The
resultant "depth" and "planes" labels will reflect what is actually used.
Also, should you wish to stop CITAS while it's running, hit CTRL-C.
SECTION 1, USAGE:
----------------
Ok, nuff chatter already. At a CLI prompt (CITAS operates only from
CLI), type:
CITAS ILBM_file [result_file] [-c] [-m] [-x] [-s] [-o] [$nn] ["sfx"]
The parameters in brackets are optional and may be supplied in any
order with the exception of the result_file parameter which, if supplied,
must follow the ILBM file name. All parameters are seperated by blanks.
Type "CITAS" without any parameters for a brief description of its use.
The parameters:
result_file = The name of the output file. This output file name,
minus any extension (.whatever), will be used in generating
the labels for your data. This allows you to set up and
assemble your code before actually using CITAS to create the
data. It also allows you to modify the data without touching
the linkable code.
If no output file name is given, the input file name, minus
any extension, will be used for the labels, and will be the
name of the output file plus a ".asm" extension. This default
file name will be placed in the current directory.
-c = Inhibit generation of color table. By default, CITAS will
include a color table in the output file.
-m = Inhibit generation of image mask. By default, CITAS will
include a mask plane in the output file. This mask is
created by CITAS reguardless of whether or not the ILBM file
contains a mask, and is simply a logical OR of all bit planes.
It is meant to facilitate the use of the "cookie-cut" blitter
minterm, which requires an image mask (at least that's how
I use it).
-x = Generate export definitions (XDEF) of labels for making
linkable data.
-s = Generate a "section" directive specifying chip RAM. This
allows me to generate a hunk of data that will automatically
load into chip RAM. Since the only assembler I am familiar
with on the Amiga is Devpac, I'm not sure if other assemblers
will appreciate this particular directive.
-o = Allow an existing file to be overwritten by the output file.
By default, CITAS will abort with an error if the output
file already exists. This is more or less a safety feature.
$nn = User supplied hex mask of planes to extract. This allows
selection of only the bit planes you want extracted.
Normally the resultant "planes" label will contain a mask
of all planes that are not null (all zero). This may be
further modified by entering your own mask. Bit numbers
correspond to plane numbers (ie bit 0 corresponds to
plane 0). Note, however, that if a plane specified by
your mask is null, it will not be extracted. Thus if you
entered a mask of $03, and plane 0 of the ILBM file was
all zeros, the resultant "planes" label would be $02.
Entering $ff will simply give you all non-zero planes.
"sfx" = Any suffix needed to follow labels. I realize that some
assemblers require a suffix on their labels, such as ":".
This is for those weirdo assemblers.
SECTION 2, LABELS:
-----------------
CITAS inserts several labels into the resultant assembler file. Some
of these labels are equates (EQU) and others mark the start of different
data segments. The first part of a label, as described earlier, is the
output file name. The remainder of the label will be standard in every
CITAS created file, and starts with an underscore character.
The equates:
_height = The height of the image in scan lines
_width = The width of the image in words
_depth = The depth of the image in planes
_planes = Mask of which bit planes are used to display the image
(so we don't have to waste memory with null planes, and
to specify how to display the image planes in a bitmap)
The labels:
_color = The address of the 1st byte of the color table (if
generated)
_image = The address of the 1st byte of the 1st generated
bit plane.
_mask = The address of the 1st byte of the mask plane (if
generated)
_end = The address of one byte past the last byte in the
generated file. This is normally just past the
image mask, or just past the image data if no mask
is generated.
SECTION 3, THE DREADED SHAREWARE NOTICE:
---------------------------------------
That's right, CITAS is copyright Max Bithead (a.k.a. John Enright), and
and is considered shareware. It is not for sale, nor may it be included
in any commercial product without my written permission. It is, however,
an excellent tool for CREATING commercial products. Have at it!
CITAS may be freely distributed as long as this document accompanies it.
Finally, I claim no responsibility for any loss or penalty incurred by the
use of this program.
Whew! Ok, paranoia aside, I hope that you find this program useful
in developing great Amiga software. I know it works wonders for me.
Graph paper was absolutely out of the question! ha ha. There are no
known bugs, and I haven't been able to crash my system under any
circumstances by using it. It will not blow out a disk should it become
become full (including the RAM: disk), etc., CITAS simply aborts with an
error. I believe CITAS covers all possible errors, but time will tell.
I'm asking a measly $10 for CITAS if you intend to use it. The cheapest
development software you'll ever buy. Send any comments/suggestions/bug
reports, and oh yea, payment (if you like it) to me at:
John Enright
2955 Glenwood Dr. #301
Boulder, Colorado, 80301 (USA)
(303) 938-9490
You may also send electronic mail to Max Bithead on any of these great
BBS's:
Reggae Land (303) 699-2671
CD Players (303) 825-0419
Arvada 68K (303) 424-9831
BAUG (303) 494-4470
-------------- * * --------------
"
\_/
A special howdy to all friends from Mankato State University, in Minnesota!