D R A W v1 0 ANSI Screen Editor Copyright (c) 1994-1995 ACiD Productions(tm) Designed By Sinned Soul of ACiD Productions Programming By Skull Leader of ACiD Productions Quality Assurance RaD Man of ACiD Productions Artwork By Sparr Lord Jazz Stone The Crow Soul Blazer and Gangstar Introduction ACiDDraw is a utility for manipulating ANSI and ASCII text It is based upon Ian Davis s TheDraw (tm) Many of it s basic features and their organization parallel TheDraw In addition to these however it has many refined and added features The authors of this utility have sought to include within an efficient and tightly organized program the most useful tools for manipulating ANSI and ASCII text that could be conceived The ideas of some of the most experienced artists in these areas have been implemented in every way possible to create what we hope is the most useful utility of this type to date System Requirements 286 processor or better DOS v3 30 or higher (Not tested under Windows or OS 2) 480k Free memory (Approx) CGA video card and monitor MCGA video card and monitor for 50 line mode and VGA viewing SVGA video card and monitor for Hi-Res viewing Suggested Requirements 1 Meg of free extended memory (For multiple pages) SVGA video card with VESA support Mouse with a Microsoft compatible mouse driver New Features ACiDDraw v1 0 includes the following new features over ACiDDraw v0 5 Supports up 4 (2 for unregistered) pages Usage of XMS for multiple pages Dos Shell Pascal and C saving ability Extended background colors (a k a iCE Colour) Full screen editing Global commands Block loading and text alignment commands Undo command (For block commands) Sequential file saving File name guessing when saving Configuration file is built into the executable Bug Fixes More efficient and proper save routines Scrolling bugs are fixed Binary load EOF is now detected Fix for previous undo command No longer requires enhanced keyboard Unregistered Version ACiDDraw v1 0 is considered shareware and is on a try and buy system If you find ACiDDraw useful then please feel free to register the program using the methods described at the end of this document In order to encourage users to register ACiDDraw several features have been removed from the program These include Limit of 2 pages Tab position cannot be altered Intense background colour are not available With your registration and registration fee you will receive the latest copy of ACiDDraw personalized with your own name All of the unregistered features will be removed you will also receive free technical support directly from the creators of ACiDDraw For more information on registration please see the end of this document Notice This version of ACiDDraw is being release to you as is All bugs should be reported to either Skull Leader or Sinned Soul The authors take no responsibility for lost work or damaged equipment caused directly or indirectly by this program ACiDDraw cannot be modified in any way with out the written consent of either author Finally the charging of monetary fees by any unauthorized party for the circulation or use of this utility is expressly forbidden The Editor The editor consists of either a 80x24 or 80x49 (80x25 80x50 in full screen mode) viewable area There are up to 4 pages at 1000 lines with 80 columns or 500 lines in 160 column The following keys will allow you to maneuver through the viewable page Arrow Keys This keys allow you to move the cursor to different positions around the viewable screen The program will scroll the window to allow you to view the entire virtual page Page Up Page Down These two keys are keys which will allow you to maneuver around the virtual screen quickly It will move the screen either up a page or down a page Tab This will position your cursor to a position preset by the tab configuration (See tab setup) Shift-Tab This will position your cursor to the previous position set in the tab configuration (See tab setup) Ctrl-Left This will shift anything on the right hand side of the cursor over to the left by one This affects the entire length of the virtual screen (See undo function ) Ctrl-Right This will shift anything on the right hand side of the cursor over to the right by one This affects the entire length of the virtual screen (See undo function ) Ctrl-Y This will move every line below the cursor up one deleting the row below the cursor (See undo function ) Ctrl-I This will move every line below the cursor down one deleting the very last row (See undo function ) F1-F10 These keys will display special ASCII characters these ASCII characters are preset in the program The current character which will be display by press any one of these keys are listed on the top right corner of the screen There are 15 sets of these characters all preset and each set can be selected ALT-1 to 10 This will change the set which is currently being used sets 1 through to 10 can be selected using the ALT key Ctrl-1 to 5 This will allow you to select the current sets from 11 through to 15 ALT-C This command will prompt you if you want to clear the screen if you agree it will proceed to clear the current page ALT-E This command will allow you to switch between two possible pages Each page is separate from the other page in contents and SAUCE description ALT-J This command will cause ACiDDraw to drop to a Dos shell ACiDDraw will look for the Comspec environment command for the path to Command Com If XMS or a disk space is available then ACiDDraw will be able to provide more memory in the dos shell Note - You must have multiple pages in order to be able to switch between pages See configuration for more information Ctrl-PrintScreen This command removes the status bar from the top for full screen editing Allowing you to edit the screen in either 80x25 or 80x50 To retrieve the status bar simply hit Ctrl-PrintScreen again Numbers and alphanumerics can be displayed by pressing the corresponding key on the keyboard All shift combined with the numeric and alphanumeric are also valid entries Special ASCII codes can be entered by holding down ALT key typing the ASCII code in the keypad and then releasing the ALT key Color Changing The editor has the ability to select between 16 normal foreground colors 16 blinking foreground colors and 8 background colors With the ability to selection between blinking and intense background colors (See blinking intensity option) The current color determines what attribute the next character displayed will have Escape This key will pull down the quick palette menu (Quick Palette) which allows you to easily change colors with arrow keys The up and down arrows allow you to change the foreground colors The BB beside the foreground colors represents a blinking color The left and right arrows change the current background color The mouse can also be used to select the colors from quick palette (see section on mouse support) To select a color place the cursor on top of the colors you want and press the left button If ACiDDraw is in intense background color mode this menu will change and allow you to choose between 16 foreground color and 16 background colors Ctrl-A This key will bring a menu which allows you to select which color you want All the colors are displayed and both the foreground and background colors must be entered Either arrow keys or numeric entry will work in this menu Ctrl-Left This key will select the previous background color available Ctrl-Right This key will select the next background color available Ctrl-Up This key will selected the next foreground color available Ctrl-Down This key will selected the previous foreground color available NOTE - Some of the Ctrl keys may not work if you do not have an enhanced keyboard Alt-U This key will change the current color to the one located just under the cursor position Viewing Keys ALT-M This key toggles between a 25 and a 50 line display (Line Toggle) A 50 line display is only available with a VGA adapter ALT-V This key allows you to view the current page in (VGA Viewing) a simulated VGA environment It will try to convert the characters which are in text mode into a graphics mode The resolution which it is first displayed can be selected in the configuration menu F1 While viewing in the 320x200x256c mode ACiDDraw has the ability to change to higher resolutions These higher resolutions are only available to people with a SVGA or Super Video Graphics Adapter This key will display the vga at 320x200x256c mode F2 This will change the resolution to a 640x480x256c mode which is only available on a SVGA video card The video card is auto-detected F3 This will change the resolution to a 1024x768x256c mode which is only available on a SVGA video card The video card is auto-detected It is possible to view each page in VGA by selecting the proper page in text mode then using ALT-V to view it If the picture does not fit onto a single VGA screen you will be able to scroll the VGA using the up down page up and page down arrow keys It ESC to return back to the editor Setup Commands ALT-T This key combination will allow you to edit the position (Tab Setup) at which the cursor is placed when a TAB or Shift-Tab is placed Each marker is a place where the cursor jump the cursor will jump to the next marker from its current position You can either set each tab location or you can set the interval at which a marker is placed ALT-O This is the main configuration for the program (Configuration) Since this function has the ability to change page sizes at run time ACiDDraw will automatically ask if you want to save the current page NOTE - Be careful to save all your work on all pages before changing page sizes The configuration can also be edited and reset without loading the program To edit the configuration type ACiDDRAW !CONFIG This will bring up the configuration screen and exit back to the operating system when done If you need to reset the configuration for any reason without loading the program simply type ACiDDRAW !RESET This will reset all of the options in ACiDDraw to the default This is a brief description of some of the commands available in the setup menu Screen Width This option sets the number of columns the screen will have at startup either 80 or 160 Screen Resolution This option will set the screen resolution at start up either 80x25 or 80x50 Use XMS Memory This option will allow you to choose whether or not ACiDDraw will use XMS memory With out XMS memory ACiDDraw will not have multiple pages Number of Pages This will set the maximum number of XMS pages which ACiDDraw will use (1 XMS page will take up 160k of XMS memory) Blinking Cursor This option if on will make the cursor appear to be flickering This is useful when editing a screen which uses characters which hide the cursor Length of ANSI This option will set the method at which ACiDDraw determines which is the last line of the ANSI Possible options are entire page the position of the cursor (anything about will be saved) and auto-detect Filename Guessing This new option will cause ACiDDraw to try and determine what the file name should be called when saving This is based upon the filename which was loaded and the saving format of the image This option will become evident when you enter the filename to save an ANSI as The filename can still be edited before saving File Backup Format This option will allow the user to select what action should be taken when trying to save a file with the same name as another Possible options are overwrite BAK which will backup the existing file with the extension BAK and sequential The sequential save is a unique feature this option will automatically give the file an extension of 001 - 999 depending on what files already exist This option can be used to save images in a progressive order Start ANSI With This option will determine whether ACiDDraw will Default Color reset the color of a ANSI file to the default grey on black This option if on will place a esc 0m before an ANSI file End ANSI With Default This option is like the one above except it Color sets whether or not to reset to a default grey on black after an ANSI file Ascii Save Method This option either full or optimize will set whether or not to try and place a carriage return (if possible) for ASCII files which do not take up the entire line (Optimize) Write Tab This option will set whether or not to Configuration save the tab configuration to disk after tab positions are set Swap File Path This is the path in which to place a swap file when ACiDDraw shells to DOS (If no XMS is available) IMPORTANT - For this version it is NO longer required to re-enter the program after changing a page size but any work in the pages will NOT be saved Additional Commands ALT-S This is the key combination to save an ANSI (Save ANSI) The following save methods are available ANSI Standard method for storing graphics in text mode The length of the ANSI is automatically detected on the first blank line The characters per line option determine how many characters there will be before a carriage return An extension of ANS is automatically placed onto a file with no extension ASCII This method uses all the ASCII characters but without ANSI color and movement codes The line length is also auto-detected BINARY This is a raw binary dump of the entire virtual screen No length and width data is mentioned in the file You must use sauce to determine these PASCAL This format is used for the ability to import images directly into pascal programs NOTE - Be careful when saving an image over 400 lines This will cause the pascal array to be greater than 64k C This format is used to allow images to be imported in to the C language ALT-L This is the load menu it is allows you to choose which (Load ANSI) file you want to load Any file with the extension of BIN is loaded with a binary format any other file is treated as an ANSI file ALT-D (Within Load ANSI menu) Deletes selected file upon confirm- ation from the user ALT-D This menu will allow you to choose whether or not (Sauce Description) SAUCE will be attached to the end of the file It will also allow you to choose a name group and title for your work The date size dimensions etc are are automatically updated for you when you save NOTE - Each page is capable of holding an individual description ALT-R This command will restore a backed up file onto the screen Before a BLOCK command the image will be backed up If after preforming a single block command (i e Copy Move Fill Load) or a commands such as delete insert line delete insert column it is possible to retrieve the image as it was before it was modified Note-This function is partially limited you cannot undo multiple commands nor can you reverse the undo command This function is not available for simple key commands ALT-B This allows you to select a block and perform functions on this selected area of screen After blocking a certain area certain optional are available Copy or Move Copy allows you to stamp a block multiple times onto the screen Block moves the blocked area to a new location Flip X V This flips the block horizontally X being a regular byte for byte flip while a V will flip any ASCII characters which have a horizonal mirror image Flip Y W This flips the block vertically Y being a regular byte for byte flip while a W will flip any ASCII characters which have a vertical mirror image Fill Allows you to fill a blocked area with either the current foreground background both or fill the blocked area with a selected character with or without the current attribute Page Allows you to paste your block onto a separate page (if another one is available) Outline Allows you to outline a blocked area with a single double or a mix The selected set determines which is drawn set 1 single line set 2 double set 3 mix set 4 mix The color of the outline is determined by the current drawing color Save Allows you to save a block using either of the formats Load This command will allow you to load another image into the selected area After blocking an area and hitting L another menu will appear which will allow you to load another file A blocked area will show you the area which will be taken from the loaded file and placed into the image Hit S to load the image into your page Text Several text options are available such as centering left justification and right justification These will justify any characters to a position with in the blocked area Erase This command will blank out the area behind the block Delete This command will shift everything to the left of the block into the blocked area ALT-H A multi-screen help menu can be called up using this key combination Inside summarizes most of the commands To page through all four screens use either the page up or page down key ALT-X This command allows you to exit ACiDDRAW if the ACiDDraw detects that the CURRENT PAGE has been changed before it was saved it will prompt you if you want to save it Bugs Although ACiDDraw has been through many hours of testing it is not bug free If you discover a bug please notify the authors on the internet address below All users who have a registered copy of ACiDDraw will receive a free update of ACiDDraw How to Register 1 Print out or duplicate order form below 2 Fill out the order form 3 Mail order form along with Cheque or Money Order for $20 US or $25 CAN 4 Make all Cheques or Money Orders out to ACiD Productions Canada Pricing A fully registered copy of ACiDDraw costs $20 US or $25 CAN If you are outside of North America send in either American or Canadian funds (US Preferred) With this you will receive the latest registered copy of ACiDDraw on the size of disk you requested The registered version of ACiDDraw will allow have your personal name engraved into the program and all of the features enabled Plus technical support will be available to users who register -------------- CUT HERE! 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CUT HERE! -------------------- Order Form Name __________________________________ Address __________________________________ Apartment # __________________________________ City __________________________________ State Prov __________________________________ Zip Postal Code __________________________________ Country __________________________________ Voice # (___) ___-____ Ordering info Number of copies X $20US $25CAN = _______ Sales tax (only in Ontario) Add 7% = _______ Total = _______ * Note All residents of Ontario must pay PST Comments and or Suggestions _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ -------------- CUT HERE! CUT HERE! CUT HERE! CUT HERE! -------------------- Note All information will be kept confidential Send order forms to ACiD Productions Canada P O Box 94535 2900 Steeles Avenue East Thornhill Ontario CANADA L3T 7R5 Where to Reach Us Comments bug report suggestion etc can be forwarded to either Sinned Soul or Skull Leader at the following locations via the internet aciddraw@razor shadow net (ACiDDraw Feedback Account) or aciddraw@cyberspace com Note We will try to answer all of the messages we receive but those users who have a registered copy of ACiDDraw will take precedence