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OS/2 Help File | 1992-12-17 | 20.2 KB | 508 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. PM Camera /2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The PM Camera /2 is a tool by which you can take pictures of OS/2 PM windows, screens or screen parts. The pictures may be o put into the Clipboard for use by other applications o saved as OS/2 Bitmap files o saved as PSEG38PP or PSEG3820 files for inclusion into BookMaster files o saved as PostScript files for color or b/w printing on (color) PostScript devices. The most important facts about using PM Camera /2 are described in a how to use section. The menus of PM Camera /2 are ordered by the following main topics: o Grab o Options o Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. How To Use PM Camera /2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Selecting Output Formats There are four output formats supported ( OS/2 Clipboard , OS/2 BMP Bitmap , PSEG38PP/PSEG3820 and PostScript ). For each one checked, the system will generate the appropriate output into the clipboard or into a file. Files have the extensions '.BMP', '.PSE', '.PS' or '.EPS'. Automatic Numbering of Files PM Camera /2 was designed to be used like a camera, allowing to capture a sequence of images. In this case the system automatically takes the first six letters of the filename and appends a 2 digit number. The number is automatically increased after a picture is taken. This mode can be turned off, allowing you to enter an 8 letter filename. Note: PM Camera /2 writes over existing files without warning. Grabbing Fullscreen and Active Windows Select the Grab item in the grab menu (fullscreen only), or press the PrintScreen key. Grabbing Partial Screens Upon pressing the PrintScreen key a large cross-hair cursor and a rubberband box at the location of the last partial grab (default full screen) is displayed. To select a new box, move the cursor to a corner of the desired screen part, press button 1 and drag it open to the size desired and release button 1. Pressing button 2 inside the box allows the box to be dragged around. The cross-hair cursor will also display the size of the current box. Pressing <ENTER> grabs the selected part, pressing <ESC> cancels the grab. Using PSEGS in Publications Once you have grabbed a binary '*.PSE' file, you must upload this file binary to the host (using e.g. almcopy, this is favored over using the native communication manager file transfer ). On the host the binary PSE file must be converted into a real PSEG38PP file. The PBIN2PSE EXEC will do this for you. The resulting PSEG38PP file can now be imbedded into a script file with the '.si' command, or into a BookMaster file with the ':artwork' tag. Note: PSEG38PP and PSEG3820 files are identical, they can be converted into each other by renaming. Scaling PSEGS To generate nice black and white pictures from colorful PM screens, a halftoning process has to be applied to the images. PM Camera /2 allows the images to be scaled during this halftone operation. The scaling factor is applied to the pixels. That means for the usual 92 pixels per inch (ppi) on a screen a scale factor of 2.6 would have to be applied to obtain a page segment the same size as the image on the screen on a 240 ppi printer (like 3820, 3812 ...). A default of 2.0 was chosen, as in my experience this has lead to the most useful illustration size for publications. Scaling PostScript The default scale for PostScript is 0.7 as this gives approximate the same size pictures as onscreen (92 ppi on screen -> 72ppi postscript mapping). Optionally you may specify fit to page, which scales the picture to fill the page (currently only A4 supported) as well as possible by retaining the aspect ratio. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Save File Path ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The directory where the file should be saved. Default is the current directory where PM Camera /2 is started. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. Save File Name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The filename which is used to saved the grabbed images. When automatic file numbering is used, the file name consists of up to 6 letters and 2 digits. The digits are incremented automatically in this case. If file numbering is inactive, the file name may consist of up to 8 characters. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Save File Number ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This controls whether or not files are numbered automatically and allows the setting of the current file nbr. Automatic numbering is similar to a camera, where each picture you take increments the film counter. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. Grab Type ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ PM Camera /2 allows three types of screen shots: Full Screen An image the size of the display screen is generated. Partial Screen This is the most sophisticated option. It allows the selection of a a screen part. A large cross-hair cursor and a rubberband box at the location of the last partial grab (default full screen) is displayed. To select a new box, move the cursor to a corner of the desired screen part, press button 1 and drag it open to the size desired and release button 1. Pressing button 2 inside the box allows the box to be dragged around. The cross-hair cursor will also display the size of the current box. Pressing <ENTER> grabs the selected part, pressing <ESC> cancels the grab. Active Window Grabs the currently active window. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. Sound ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The system generates per default audio feedback about the grabbing process. A short beep is emitted a the beginning of the save thread and indicates that the screen was grabbed successfully and that saving to a file has started. Two short and one longer beep indicate the successful save of the image. This audio feedback may be turned off. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Grab Mouse Pointer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Per default the mouse pointer is grabbed along with the image. It may be turned off, such that the mouse pointer is hidden before the grab is taken. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.8. OS/2 Clipboard ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ A grab can be saved to the OS/2 Clipboard in a 1.1 OS/2 BMP format with 1, 4 or 8 bit(s) per pixel depending on the display capabilities. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.9. OS/2 Bitmap (1.1) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ These files have the extension *.bmp. OS/2 Bitmap files are saved in a 1.1 format with 1, 4 or 8 bit(s) per pixel depending on the display capabilities. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.10. PSEG38PP, PSEG3820 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ These files have the extension *.pse. PSE files are binary equivalent to PSEG38PP or PSEG3820 files on the host. They are especially useful for inclusion into BookMaster Documents. To include them into host documents, upload the .pse files binary to the host and convert them into a real PSEG38PP or PSEG3820 by using the PBIN2PSE EXEC (PSEG38PP and PSEG3820 files are identical, they can be converted into each other by renaming). To generate a PSE file, a halftoning process has to be applied. It is possible to select among o three sizes (4x4, 6x6 and 8x8) and o 4 types (Diagonal, Diamond, Circle and Square) of dither matrices. The invert option allows a black and white inversion. The output may be scaled by an arbitrary factor between 0.1 and 10.0 during the halftone operation. Default is a factor of 2.0. Note: This process may take quite some time. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.11. PostScript ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ These files have the extension *.ps, or *.eps. PostScript files are either generated as color-images, black and white images or by using a special technique which prints on either color or black and white PostScript printers. The special technique maps each pixel to a colored square. This method is used to generate pictures when it is not known whether a color printer is available or not, however printing such pictures is extremely slow and can take up to several hours!!! for larger pictures. PostScript files can be generated in two flavors: o PS which is printable and o EPS which is for inclusion into other PostScript files (e.g. via Page Maker). The pictures may be scaled by an arbitrary factor between 0.01 and 10.00 or fit to the page (the program determines the scaling factor). Default is a factor of 0.7. Optionally the pictures can be rotated (Landscape) by 90 degrees if needed. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.12. Command Line Syntax ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ PMCAMERA [/option] [/option] ... The options are: /PATH=... to choose the path for the file to be saved /FILE=... to choose the filename of the file to be saved (a file name of the form XXXXXXnn will take XXXXXX as the name and nn as the initial file number) /NONBR suppresses incremental file numbering /FULL or /PART or /ACTive grab the full screen, a part of it or the active window /CLIPboard or /NOCLIPboard enable/disable save of picture to clipboard /BMP or /NOBMP enable/disable save of picture as OS/2 bitmap /PSEG38pp or /NOPSEG38pp enable/disable save of picture as PSEG /PSEGSCale=... choose scaling factor between 0.1 and 10.0 /PSEGINVert invert black and white on a page segment /PS or /NOPS enable/disable save of picture as PostScript /PSSCale=... choose scaling factor between 0.1 and 10.0 /PSFIT or /PSNOFIT enable/disable fit to page /PSFITA4 or /PSFITLETTER fit to A4 or Letter sized paper /PSPS or /PSEPs save as printable (PS) file or as one for inclusion into other PostScript files (EPS) /PSLAndscape or /PSPOrtrait enable/disable rotation of picture by 90 degrees /PSCOlor, /PSBW or /PSBOth save in Color PostScript, PostScript (black and white) or a special form which uses squares to represent pixels and prints on either color or black and white printers (however very slow) /SOUnd or /NOSOUnd enable/disable beep when picture is taken /MOUse or /NOMOUse enable/disable capturing of mouse pointer /DSIze=... select size of dither matrix: 4, 6 or 8 /DMAtrix=... select type of dither matrix: DIAGonal, DIAMond, CIrcle or SQuare /PRIority=... select the priority of saving the image LOW or NORmal /MIN minimize PM Camera /2 after start /CMDfile=... specify the name of a .cmd file which will be invoked after the files are saved. See the POSTPROC.CMD file which comes as an example with this package. /LOGo or /NOLogo do or do not display a logo panel (default is taken from system settings) the default settings are: /PATH='current directory' /FILE=PMGRAB00 /BMP /FULL ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13. The Grab Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The grab menu can be used to stop an ongoing grab, or to exit this program. o Grab o Stop Saving o eXit this program ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13.1. Grab ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Alternate form to the <PrintScreen> key to start the grabbing action. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13.2. Stop Saving ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Stops the saving of the current grab. The files are deleted. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13.3. eXit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Quits this program. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14. The Options Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The options menu allows the selection and setting of several general attributes, reset to defaults and the saving and loading of the options. o Defaults o Dither Matrices o Save Priorities o Paper Size o Save Options o Load Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14.1. Defaults ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Sets all the options of PM Camera /2 back to the following defaults: PATH current directory NAME PMGRAB00 NBR on, starting with 00 GRAB full screen CLIP off BMP on PSEG off, scale 2.00 PS off, scale 0.70, PostScript, Landscape, Color BEEP on MOUSE on ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14.2. Dither Matrices ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To generate a PSE file, a halftoning process has to be applied. It is possible to select among o three sizes (4x4, 6x6 and 8x8) and o 4 types (Diagonal, Diamond, Circle and Square) of dither matrices. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14.3. Save Thread Priorities ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The grabbing off a screen or part takes only a short amount of time and is done immediately. Saving this grabbed image to disk however may take quite some time, especially for PSEG's and PostScript files. During this time no other grabs can be invoked. To allow for other activities during this saving period, the priority of the save thread may be varied: Low Saving takes only place only when there is unused processor type. The use of other programs and user activities takes precedence and allows users to do their work uninterrupted. This is the default setting. Note: If there is enough activity on the system, the save thread may not be working at all. Normal The save thread has a normal priority and gets thus his normal share of processor time. This is much faster than low saves, may however limit the responsiveness of the system to users requests. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14.4. Paper Size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ When grabbing PostScript images with fit to page selected, then this option will determine the size of the paper to fit to. Either A4 or Letter size is available. A border of about 0.6 inches (15mm) will be kept around the paper. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14.5. Save / Load Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Save All the options and settings of PM Camera /2 may be saved in a PMCAMERA.INI file and read back to be taken as defaults whenever a PM Camera /2 session is started. The file will be saved in the current directory. Load The options are restored to the saved settings. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15. The Help Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The help menu contains choices for fast access to special sections of this help information. The following choices are available: o Help for help o Extended Help o Keys Help o Help Contents o About ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15.1. Help for help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Explains how to use the help facility. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15.2. Extended help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Explains the working of this program, its options and how to use PM Camera /2. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15.3. Help for Keys ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <F1> Accelerator for getting help about this program <F3> Accelerator to exit this program <PrintScreen> Accelerator for starting the capture of a window, the screen, or part thereof ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15.4. Contents of the Help Document ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Displays the contents of this help document. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.15.5. Product Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This choice shows a panel with information about the version of PM Camera /2 and its author. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. IBM License Agreement for OS/2 Tools ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ IF YOU DOWNLOAD OR USE THIS PROGRAM YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS. International Business Machines Corporation grants you a license to use the Program only in the country where you acquired it. The Program is copyrighted and licensed (not sold). We do not transfer title to the Program to you. You obtain no rights other than those granted you under this license. Under this license, you may: 1. use the Program on one or more machines at a time; 2. make copies of the Program for use or backup purposes within your Enterprise; 3. modify the Program and merge it into another program; and 4. make copies of the original file you downloaded and distribute it, provided that you transfer a copy of this license to the other party. The other party agrees to these terms by its first use of the Program. You must reproduce the copyright notice and any other legend of ownership on each copy or partial copy, of the Program. You may NOT: 1. sublicense, rent, lease, or assign the Program; and 2. reverse assemble, reverse compile, or otherwise translate the Program. We do not warrant that the Program is free from claims by a third party of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or any other intellectual property infringement. Under no circumstances are we liable for any of the following: 1. third-party claims against you for losses or damages; 2. loss of, or damage to, your records or data; or 3. economic consequential damages (including lost profits or savings) or incidental damages, even if we are informed of their possibility. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limitations or exclusions, so they may not apply to you. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error free operation of the Program. We have no obligation to provide service, defect correction, or any maintenance for the Program. We have no obligation to supply any Program updates or enhancements to you even if such are or later become available. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. You may terminate this license at any time. We may terminate this license if you fail to comply with any of its terms. In either event, you must destroy all your copies of the Program. You are responsible for the payment of any taxes resulting from this license. You may not sell, transfer, assign, or subcontract any of your rights or obligations under this license. Any attempt to do so is void. Neither of us may bring a legal action more than two years after the cause of action arose. If you acquired the Program in the United States, this license is governed by the laws of the State of New York. If you acquired the Program in Canada, this license is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario. Otherwise, this license is governed by the laws of the country in which you acquired the Program. 3/92 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The communications manager file transfer is quite cumbersome, and its defaults often lead to undesirable side effects. Especially the default of using fixed record length to upload binary files adds undesired padding bytes to the last record. This in turn leads to an error message of the PBIN2PSE EXEC, which states that there is invalid data in the file (which is true: the padding bytes are superfluous). The output PSEG38PP file however is usually correct (despite the error message).