WireTap Multiviewer v4 1 __ __ ______________________ _______________________________________ __ ______ __ _ _ ___ ) _ ___ ___ _ __ - _ __ _ __ ______ _ __ _ _____ _ __ _ ^bc _____ _____ _ ___ _ ____________ _ ___ _ __ _ _ ____ ____ a cia production Table of Contense Introduction 1 Disclaimer 2 System Requirements 3 Supported File Formats 4 Viewer Interface 5 Deleting Files 6 Tagging Files 7 Bug Reports 8 Credits 9 Introduction 1 Welcome to the new release of CIA s viewer Wiretap My goal when making this program was not only for you to be able to view the work that is in the packs but to also allow you to view works from other packs and easily manage the files that are on your harddrive If you have any questions or comments please direct them to bchrome@goodnews net I would like to make this the most powerful viewer that the art scene has to offer Disclaimer 2 The author(s) of this program are in no way responsible for anything that this program does inside or outside of its normal functionality This program is provided with no garuntee and no warranty whatsoever Use this program at your own risk System Requirements 3 Of course the faster the processor and the more memory your computer has the better Wiretap will run Because it is run under a DPMI server and runs in Protected Mode Wiretap requires a 386 processor or greater To use the Super VGA modes you need a Super VGA video card You really need more than 1 megabyte of memory but if you fall short Wiretap will page to the harddrive for slow memory Other problems in the program that you encounter may be due to a lack of the proper hardware so take this in consideration before you fill out a bug report Supported File Formats 4 BIN Variable width Binary Ansi Picture Files These are files which are usually found to be 160 or 80 columns wide I have yet to see one that is over 160 columns but adding support is no great feat If anyone wants Wiretap to support a variable width (where you actually type in the width of each file) leave me email XBIN ACiD s Compressed X-Binary ACiD Productions has released their own format of BIN called XBiN (short for eXtended Binary) These files include a header which is neccesary to detect the size of the file as well as palette and font information The major difference between XBIN and ADF is that XBIN supports file compression where ADF just includes a raw image of the bitmap This format is for text mode graphics only ADF Artworks Draw CiADraw Art Files This format came about after Hooptie released the art drawing program known as Artworx CIADraw continued this legacy and is most commonly used to create ADF files These files include palette and font information as well as the raw image of the bitmap This format is for text mode graphics only BMP Both Windows and OS 2 Versions This format can have many forms First it can be either a windows or os 2 bitmap which include different file headers and can be compressed or uncompressed This is usually used for uncompressed images but Wiretap supports all types regardless This format is used for graphics files only PCX Z-Soft Image Files In these files there is a header palette and image data The image data is always RLE compressed to reduce the size of the file This format is used for graphics files only TGA Targa Files JPG JPEG Compressed File Because of its outstanding compression this is the most commonly used graphic file format on the internet This format is for storing 24bit color or greyscale images JPG uses a loss-compression method where the greater the compression the more distorted the image becomes Because of the techniques used to compress the data in this file format it takes a long time to decompress large images ILBM Interleave Bitmap Files GIF Compuserve GIF87a Files Another commonly used file format on the internet GIF was developed by compuserve and uses the LZW compression scheme to compress the image data This is a fairly quick and reliable compression scheme and because of the layout of the image its easy to store entire animations in a single GIF file Viewer Interface 5 On the top of the screen you see several fields indicating the status of the viewer The values in these fields determine how the file you select is going to be viewed The function key selects which options are selected F2 Select Video Mode F3 Select Viewing Resolution F4 Select Color Palette F5 Select Scrolling Type F6 Change File Mask Mode Resolution Color Scroll Mask Mode SuperVGA Res 1024x768 --- Color Smooth Mask * * The mode field contains the type of video mode which will be used in displaying a file Textmode - This mode is only used for text based file formats such as ANSI BIN ADF or XBIN If you select a graphic file under Textmode a video mode will be selected based on the resolution of the image VGA Mode - This mode is used for all types of files text or graphic The resolutions provided for VGA Mode will work on all 100% compatible VGA cards The aspects of these modes are usually non square and make the picture look funny These modes are generally provided for fun and those who don t own a SVGA video card Super VGA - This mode is used for all types of files text or graphic The resolutions provided will only work on SuperVGA video cards of various chipsets If one of these modes don t work right lock up the program or restart your computer you can get by with loading a VESA driver before loading Wiretap Wiretap does not detect if your card can handle a video mode before it attempts to use it The resolution field contains the resolution (in pixels) of the video mode that will be used to view the file you select Each Mode has its own set of available resolutions Square aspect resolutions include VGA 320x240 SuperVGA 640x480 The Color Type field contains the color style that will be used to view the selected file --- Color Normal Color If a Graphic image is selected the local color palette for that image will be used If there is no local palette the system palette is assumed When viewing text based images this indicates the normal color palette with blinking foregrounds ICE Color High Backgrounds If a Graphic image is selected the local color palette for that image will be used If there is no local palette the system palette is assumed When viewing text based images this indicates the normal color palette with high background colors Greyscale Greyscaled Local Palette When you have this option selected the palette that is determined (system or local) will be greyscaled before the image is displayed This works on all file types in all video modes The Scroll Type field contains the type of scrolling which will be used when you select a text based file to be displayed The scrolling is both vertical and horizontal depending on the length of the file When Textmode not selected this field is useless and therefore greyed out Smooth Smooth Scrolling Selects pixel-by-pixel scrolling of the file while remaining in text mode This works great but is somewhat unstable because of the way that Microsoft Windows messes with the computer s timing This causes jumping in the image while it is scrolling which can get annoying For this reason it is recommended that you use Block Scrolling when under the influence of Microsoft Windows When in DOS Mode or under any version of MS-DOS alone this scrolling mode should work great Block Block Scrolling Selects character-by-character scrolling of the file while remaining in text mode This works great but is somewhat slow and jerky It is recommended that you use this scrolling mode when under a multitasker because timing is not an issue The file mask will be used whenever Wiretap loads the list of files in a directory This is an extremely useful feature that helps you list only the files which you want to view based on the filename For instance if you want to only view all GIF files you simply put * JPG in this field To list all files which start with the letter M simply put M* * You can mix these mask styles using asktrisks and question marks The question means Any Letter and the Asktrisk means All Letters Deleting Files 6 To delete a file simply press the DELETE key on your keyboard A dialog will appear asking for confirmation and if YES is selected the file will be removed from the file system This command cannot be undone so if you select YES be sure you mean it! Tagging Files 7 To tag a file press the SPACE BAR and a checkmark will appear to the left of the filename This function is provided so that you can view multiple files without returning to the view screen every time The delete command ignores this function s usefulness for obvious reasons While viewing files ENTER continues to the next file while ESCAPE aborts viewing Pressing the SPACE BAR on a tagged file will un-tag that file Bug Reporting 8 While we try to provide the most bug free program possible there is still a large potential for some problems to spring up If you have any problems with Wiretap please send email to bchrome@goodnews net Please include a detailed description of the problem including what you tried to do at the time of the incident and what resulted The stability of Wiretap depends on the accuracy of frequent bug reports We will fix the bug and send you a new copy of the program as soon as possible Credits 9 Wiretap was made possible by many people not just Burning Chrome Below is a list of those who have helped in the development of this program Burning Chrome - Main structure and Interface Code Napalm - Interface Graphics Ironghost - Configuration Screen Graphic Shawn Hargreaves - The Allegro game programming library Paul Bartrum - GIF Loading Routines Eric Vannier - JPG Loading Routines DJ Delorie - Development of DJGPP