Filelist of the archives belonging to the Quick-Basic8-Viewer V3.5: (This viewer is only running in the 80Columns-mode of a C128 !) "QB8V-V35.SFX" - A selfextracting archive (only depacking in C64-mode, sorry) Containing the viewer and the following docs as a CBM-text. "QB8V-V35.DOC" - The infotext and the docs you're currently reading. "QB8V-PX*.SFX" - 3 selfextracting archives (also only depacking in C64-mode) Containing different demo-pictures for the viewer. Note: To dissolve the SFX's, switch your C128 into C64-Mode, load the SFX-file, insert a disk with lots of room on it and run the SFX-program. -----------------------Beginning of the entire QB8V-Docs----------------------- The Quick-Basic8-Viewer V3.5 by Martin Hoffmann 1993-1995 Documentation written in 1995 by Martin Hoffmann Contents: --------- 1.1. Introduction 1.2. In General 1.3. Hardware Requirements 2.1. Using the Viewer Version 3.5 2.2. History of the Quick-Basic8-Viewer 3.1. Note to the Basic8-Format 3.2. Future Projects 3.3. How to contact me 3.4. Contents of this archive 1.1. Introduction (or Quick-Basic8-Viewer what's that ?) What is the Quick-Basic8-Viewer ? What abilities has it ? I decided to start this documentation with these questions, because that is what everyone wants to know when testing this utility. And often you have to read several pages of a program's documentation before finding out that the utility hasn't got the features you are looking for... So here is a short description of the Quick-Basic8-Viewer: * loading and displaying BASIC8-Pictures * easy to use (menu driven) * 100% in machine-language (no question, eh ?) * fast display-routines (using VDC's capabilities) * working with all kind of disk-drives (hopefully) * some kind of FREEWARE (postcardware) Important note: This Utility was written on a PAL-C128, but as far as I know it should run 100% on a NTSC-C128 as well. If not, please contact me and tell me about the problem... 1.2. In General This utility is FREEWARE, for more details see below under "How to contact me", and can be freely copied and distributed as long as nothing is changed and all files included in this archive are passed along with it. This utility is not for commercial use. The Basic8-Format mentioned in this documentation is a trademark of Walrus-software. The author (me). 1.3. Hardware Requirements To use the Quick-Basic8-Viewer you need a C-128 in 80-columns-mode (VDC) with 64KB VDC-RAM and a disk-drive. A 80-columns-COLOR-monitor is recommended, because with a MONOCHROME-Monitor the pictures look somehow ugly. That's because some brightness-values are wrong then, e.g. in monochrome-mode light-red is as bright as white ! If you only have 16KB VDC-RAM you can't use the Viewer, because a Basic8-Picture takes 24KB to be displayed. So first expand it to 64KB by exchanging the two 4164's against two 4464's or 41464's (If you don't know enough about the hardware ask a friend who knows... and don't blame ME if your computer is out of order, because you tried it yourself). The disk-drive can be a 1541 or 1571, I have tested both, and it should also work with CMD-Drives or a 1581, but I haven't tested this, because I do not own one. And that's why CMD and 1581-Features like subdirectories are NOT supported. (Maybe in a later version) 2.1. Using the Viewer Version 3.5 When starting the Viewer it tries to load the file "QB8V.CFG" from the current disk-drive (normally the one you loaded the Viewer from). This file is a ConFiGuration-File consisting of the following information: * Display Frequency (50Hz or 60Hz) try out which looks best on your monitor. * Mode while Disk-Operations (1MHz or 2MHz) 1MHz works with all disk-drives, but 2MHz may cause problems, e.g. my 1541 with Prologic-Dos V.1.1 crashes when loading in 2MHz-Mode is enabled. So if you're unsure use 1MHz-Mode. The Configuration-File itself is always loaded in 1MHz-Mode. * Displaying Info-line (Yes or No) This option toggles the Info-line below the picture containing it's name, length and format. You can toggle this in the Viewer by pressing "i" ! * Default Drive (6...23) This options allows you to choose the default-drive which is to be scanned for pictures. The following assignment is done: y: = Drive 6 (not tested, maybe useful) z: = Drive 7 (dito) a: = Drive 8 (like in CP/M or an IBM-PC) b: = Drive 9 (dito) c: = Drive 10 ... p: = Drive 23 In the Viewer you can use the SHIFTED drive-character to switch to the appropriate drive, e.g. use SHIFT-B to switch to B:, which is drive 9 ! If the file "QB8V.CFG" is not found the default values will be set. After changing the configuration-data you can press "ENTER" to leave or "s" to save the data to disk and leave. This brings you to the main-screen of the Viewer. All the info you need is written on the left half of the screen. On the right half of the screen is a directory of all Basic8-Files on the current disk (All files with the prefix "PICT." are displayed). Use the Cursor-Keys to select a picture and press "Enter" to view it. Now you're in viewing-mode. Here you can use cursor-keys or "Enter" and "Del" to walk through the pictures, e.g. When you press "Del" the picture being in the directory above the currently shown picture, is shown. Did anyone get that ? O.k.: If you have 3 pictures named "PICT.A", "PICT.B" and "PICT.C" on a disk and you are currently viewing "PICT.B" you can press "Del" to view "PICT.A" or "Enter" to get "PICT.C". That's what I tried to explain. 2.2. History of the Quick-Basic8-Viewer... (only for those who care) Initially the viewer was ment to be a short tool for viewing one of those BASIC8-Pictures with 8x2Cells, which were produced by a BASIC-tool converting PC-GIFs into VDC-Format. This was because the BASIC-tool took several minutes to produce the VDC-Picture, but had the ability of saving it as a BASIC8-Picture. At this time I had no idea of how the pictures are packed, and in Germany it's rather hard to find something out about an american format... so if it's still not working with some pictures, I may have interpreted some values wrong...? So in the end of 1993 the Version 1.0 of the Viewer was born: You had to know the filenames of the pictures you wanted to see and type them in. Then the picture was loaded and unpacked into main-memory by taking the bytes separately from the disk-drive and interpreting them for unpacking. After this the whole memory-area was copied into the VDC-Ram (taking 3-4 seconds !?). This was a fine working but uncomfortable, slow version. Then a few months later the 2.0 Version was developed... Still based on the same loading-unpacking and then copying concept, but with a list of filenames to walk through with the cursor-keys (Similar to the current version). Much better but still not very fast, not at last because of loading with the BAS-IN-Routine ($FFCF). That's why in the end of 1994 Version 3.0 was finished. It had the same picture-selection frame, but a different system of loading: First it was loading the whole picture (still packed) into main-memory by using the normal load-routine ($FFD5) and then using the VDC's memory-fill-feature to unpack it from the main-memory directly into the VDC-Memory. This was much faster in loading (for Computers having fast-loads) and in unpacking, because the VDC does it faster than you can do it by copying. But still the Viewer was not as comfortable as I liked it, so I decided to improve it again: Version 3.5 (March 1995) This one has the same features for choosing, loading and unpacking as Version 3.0 but has some bug-fixes and some additional features: * Option for changing the disk-drive (6,7,8,9...23) * Error-Handling : It's telling you what kind of error occurred (Version 3.0 was sometimes crashing if some kind of disk-error happened) * This version can handle the Basic8-Pictures which have no color-ram (Only bitmap) * The info-line below the picture is new, telling you the NAME, SIZE and the FORMAT of the currently shown picture. * A configuration-file in which different system-settings are stored. Last but not least (heard anywhere before ?) I like to mention that this viewer was initially called "BASIC8-VIEWER", but in april 1995 when I decided to upload it, I found another program called this name... GREAT! So I simply put the "QUICK" in front of it ! Anyway the speed of my display-routine is one of the most important features, so "quick" is not wrong... By the way I think it will be uploaded at the end of may 1995, because I have some problems in creating a self-extracting-archive on the C128. I have read that CS-Dos can do it, but not without a REU 1750, and guess what - I do not have one ! But then I found a program named "LZH to SFX" which should do it, but it didn't...only CRC-Errors and mutilated files. So I'm still searching for a comfortable and working method to create SFX's on C128 without having a REU. 3.1. Note to the Basic8-Format As I've mentioned before I had to find out the format of the Basic8-Pictures myself. So I may have interpreted some bytes wrong... but the viewer works with all Basic8-Pictures that I own. If you're interested here is a list of the header, as I have interpreted it: $00,$00 - startaddress of the picture (not used) $42,$52,$55,$53 "brus" - indicating that the bitmap-data follows (if not there, the viewer will not show the picture) $??,$??,$??,$??,$??,$?? - unknown values (not interpreted) $50,$c8 - witdh (in characters), height (in lines) of the picture. (if not $50 (#80 characters wide) and $c8 (#200 lines high) it will not be displayed, maybe later versions...) $??,$?? - unknown (not interpreted) $xy - colors for a 2colored only-bitmap-picture (2 colored pictures are recognized, if no "colr"-mark is found) $?? - unknown (not interpreted) packed bitmap data $43,$4f,$4c,$52 "colr" - indicating that the color data is following (if not there it's treated as a 2colored picture) packed color data If you have any Basic8-Pictures which are not handled correctly by this viewer let me know and I'll correct it. It would also be nice if somebody could tell me about the UNKNOWN VALUES in the header of the pictures... 3.2. Future Projects I probably think of improving the Viewer as follows: * bug fixes, if somebody finds bugs and tells me about them... * expanding the Viewer for other picture-formats, only if other formats, being worth to be displayed, exist (non-interlaced!) * including nice features as SUBDIRECTORY-Handling with CMD-drives and the 1581, but only if somone tells me how to change the directories 3.3. How to contact me As I've mentioned before this utility is POSTCARDWARE, which means that you needn't (NOT mustn't) pay for it. So it's freeware, but it would be nice if you contact me when using this utility and tell me how you like it... So send me your comments, questions, ideas, pictures (graphics not photos!), nice tools, etc. At the moment you can contact me under the Internet/EMail-Address of my brother or under my post-address. But someday my brother will leave the university and then you can only reach me under the post-address. If you have any comments, questions, found bugs or Basic8-pictures which won't work with this Viewer tell me and send me those pictures. Or if you have nice pictures (not only Basic8!) send them to me, please. And probably if I get enough nice pictures of a non-Basic8-format I'll expand my Viewer to this format... O.K. contact me under: Internet/EMail: hoffmann@ibr.cs.tu-bs.de or send to: Martin Hoffmann Malstatterstrasse 13 38116 Braunschweig Germany 3.4. Contents of this archive This archive consists of the following files: * "QWKBAS8-VIEWR3.5" - The Viewer itself * "QB8V.CFG" - The ConFiGuration-file * "QB8VIEW35.DOC" - This DOCumentation * "PICT.*" - Demo-Pictures -------------------------------End of documentation----------------------------