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- THE DESIGNER
- Version 1.0
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- A BASIC Animation Programming Tool for the IBM PC
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- User's Manual
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- Copyright 1983 by Jan B. Young
- April 29, 1983
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- Table of Contents
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- I. Introduction
- A. Overview 2
- B. Capabilities 2
- C. Benefits and Advantages 3
- D. Requirements 3
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- II. General Information
- A. Description of Functions 4
- B. Definition of Terms 5
- C. Explanation of General Concepts 5
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- III. How to Use the Program
- A. What to Do The First Time (Only) 7
- B. Using The Designer 8
- C. Using Files Created by The Designer 11
- D. "DEMO" 12
- E. What To Do If an Error Occurs 13
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- IV. Administration
- A. Warranty and Disclaimer 14
- B. Program Distribution 14
- C. Questions and Problems 14
- D. Maintenance and Enhancements 15
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- V. Reference Material
- A. Command Summary 16
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- April 29, 1983 Page 1
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- I. INTRODUCTION
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- A. OVERVIEW
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- The Designer is a programming tool for BASIC users working with animated
- graphics on an IBM-PC. It can be of significant value to people writing
- graphic games and to people interested in experimenting with animation.
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- The Designer is written in IBM advanced BASIC (BASICA). The source code is
- included for those who wish to study and/or modify it. Since The Designer
- uses dynamic array dimensioning, it cannot be compiled.
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- Included with The Designer is a demonstration program which illustrates one
- way to program animation. "Demo" is also provided in source code form so
- you can study and/or modify it as you wish.
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- The Designer is distributed without charge. If you are using it and find it
- to be of value, a contribution ($20 suggested) would be appreciated.
-
- Jan B. Young
- 767 N. Holden St.
- Port Washington, Wi. 53074
-
- Regardless of whether you make a contribution or not, individuals, clubs,
- and other non-profit organizations are granted permission to copy and
- distribute programs, data files, and documentation to others, providing that
- no charge is made for the software. Distribution costs may be charged to
- recipients providing they do not exceed $7 per copy.
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- The programs, data files, and documentation may be modified as desired by
- any individual or non-profit organization, and the modified materials
- distributed providing the following is retained without modification: all
- appearances of the copyright notice, all warranty disclaimers, all material
- explaining distribution policies, and all requests for contributions. Users
- distributing modified program or documentation copies are also required to
- add the words "User Modified" wherever The Designer's version number appears
- and must distribute without charge (other than the $7 maximum distribution
- cost).
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- B. CAPABILITIES
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- The objective of The Designer is to create data files of two types,
- "screens" and "sprites". A "screen file" contains the image of a fixed
- background (the scenery behind your game). A "sprite file" contains the
- image of a character which your BASIC programs can move about. The
- completed screen and sprite files are input data for your animation
- programs.
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- The Designer features full use of the PC's function keys to control program
- function. It has online-help capabilities and is able to print a handy
- reference card on your printer. This documentation is included on the disk.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 2
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- C. BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGES
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- The Designer was born of the frustration involved in an early attempt on my
- part to write a game. I found that I was spending as much time creating the
- images as I was programming the game logic and decided that a generalized
- tool would be of value.
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- With The Designer, your PC can be used like an artist's canvas. You can
- draw on the screen in color, store your work in either "screen" or "sprite"
- form, and recall it later to make changes. All calculations required to
- create the files are performed automatically and you need concern yourself
- only with the artwork and the graphic appearance of your images.
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- The Designer, together with Demo, can also be a learning experience for you
- if you aren't familiar with animation programming. Since Demo is
- modifiable, it gives you a starting place and some ideas for program
- architecture and design.
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- Whether your programs are modifications of Demo or not, they can directly
- read both screen and sprite files created by The Designer, limiting your
- programming effort to the game logic and its presentation to the user.
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- D. REQUIREMENTS
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- The Designer requires an IBM-PC with at least 64K of memory, PC-DOS with
- BASICA, a color/graphics adapter, an 80-character display, and at least one
- disk drive (two recommended).
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- The Designer, and this manual, assume that you have a beginning
- understanding of programming concepts and a beginning knowledge of BASIC.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 3
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- II. GENERAL INFORMATION
-
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- A. DESCRIPTION OF FUNCTIONS
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- The Designer supports ten different functions, each accessed by pressing a
- function key on the IBM PC. All functions are available at any time, simply
- by pressing the appropriate function key.
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- The Designer's ten functions are:
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- Fctn Key Function
- -------- ------------------------------------------------------------
- 1 NEW - Begin a new image on the screen. Both high and medium
- resolution are supported. Colors are supported to the
- extent that the color/graphics adapter supports them.
- The cursor control keys are used to draw lines. Special
- commands draw diagonals, circles, arcs and paint-in areas
- with color.
- 2 SCL - Scale. The Designer can expand and contract images on
- the screen. This allows you to create an original image
- in a convenient size and then enlarge or reduce it for
- actual use.
- 3 SSP - Store Sprite. Function key 3 causes the image now on
- the display to be stored as a sprite.
- 4 SSC - Store Screen. Function key 4 causes the image now on
- the display to be stored as a background screen.
- 5 RSP - Retrieve Sprite. The Designer can, of course, read
- the sprite files it creates and permits sprites to be
- modified. Modified sprites can be saved either as a new
- sprite or as a screen.
- 6 RSC - Retrieve Screen. Similar to sprites, saved screens can
- be retrieved from disk, modified and saved. Segments of
- screens can be saved as sprites, giving flexibility
- in the application of your artwork.
- 7 TXT - Add Text. Sometimes background screens (or even
- sprites) involve text characters. The Designer includes
- a library of characters, and is able to locate them on
- your artwork as you direct.
- 8 ANI - Test Animation. Since the overall effectiveness of
- animated graphics is dependent on the integration of
- screens and sprites, The Designer includes the ability
- to simultaneously retrieve a screen and a sprite, to
- display both, and to permit movement of the sprite.
- 9 INS - Instructions. Function key 9 returns you to the
- master menu from any place in The Designer. From the
- master menu, helps covering all functions and general
- system use can be requested. In addition, the master
- menu permits changes to the default disk drive and the
- printing of a handy reference card.
- 10 Stop. Function key 10 stops execution of The Designer.
-
- These functions are explained in further detail in section III.C.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 4
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- B. DEFINITION OF TERMS
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- The Designer uses the following terms which may be new to you:
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- Pixel - The color/graphics adapter's display is made up of a large number of
- dots, called pixels. The pixels can be colored in medium resolution and
- black or white in high resolution. Medium resolution graphics gives you
- 200 pixels vertically by 320 horizontally. High resolution gives you 200
- by 640.
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- Screen - "Screens" are commonly used as backgrounds in animation
- programming. By definition, a screen is the full size of your display
- (200x320 pixels in medium resolution and 200x640 in high resolution).
- Screens are retrieved using the BASIC BLOAD statement.
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- Sprite - "Sprites" are smaller figures which can be superimposed on screens
- and moved about as dictated by game logic. Sprites require more memory
- per unit area than screens, but are movable in single pixel increments.
- The smaller the sprite, the faster it moves and the less memory it uses.
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- Image & Figure - The Designer uses the terms Image and Figure
- interchangably to denote artwork on the display. Since artwork can
- become either a "screen" or a "sprite" at your command, The Designer
- refrains from using terms which imply one orientation or the other.
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- C. EXPLANATION OF GENERAL CONCEPTS
-
- BASICA supports two key statements of value to the programmer working with
- animation: BLOAD and PUT. You should read about these statements in the
- BASIC manual, as well as reviewing the short explanations given here.
-
- BLOAD
-
- The BASIC BLOAD statement moves data from a file to a location in memory
- specified by the programmer. One of the major uses for BLOAD is the
- transfer of an image from a file into the screen buffer.
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- The color/graphics screen buffer is 16K long, so the operation of BLOAD
- takes a few seconds. BLOAD fills the buffer linearly. Since the display
- unit scans the display (and uses the buffer) in an odd-even pattern, you
- will be able to watch BLOAD work first in horizontal stripes, and then
- filling in between the stripes.
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- When programming with BLOAD, remember that the statement assumes that files
- to be loaded will be qualified with ".BAS". If you rename a screen file
- that was created by The Designer, be sure to retain the .BAS suffix.
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- PUT
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- PUT differs from BLOAD in several respects. First, it moves data only into
- the screen buffer and only from a basic subscripted variable. Second, it is
- able to load a portion of the buffer as directed by the programmer, while
- BLOAD is really effective only for loading the entire buffer. And third, it
- is able to restore the screen to its prior appearance, simply by executing
- another PUT (using the XOR mode).
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- PUT works under four modes: AND, OR, XOR, and PSET. The use of these modes
- is explained in the BASIC manual, but may be best understood by
- experimenting with them. Try creating a screen and sprite using The
- Designer, and then use The Designer's animation test facility to experiment
- with the different modes.
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- Remember that PUT runs much faster on small sprites than on large ones.
- Animation of small characters, therefore, will be much faster and smoother
- than large ones.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 6
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- III. HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM
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- A. WHAT TO DO THE FIRST TIME (ONLY)
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- When you first receive The Designer, it will have the following files on the
- diskette:
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- DESIGNER.BAS The Designer program
- VERBIAGE Helps, menus, and the like. This file is
- input data. The Designer won't run
- without it.
- TEXTCHAR Text character images. If this file is
- deleted, The Designer will work, but use
- of Function Key 7 will cause an abend.
- DESIGNER.DOC This document, which can be printed by
- typing "COPY A:DESIGNER.DOC LPT1:"
- DEMO.BAS Animation Demo Program
- MOUSE.SPR Input to Demo (See IV.C)
- MAZE.RES Input to Demo (See IV.C)
- MAZE.BAS Input to Demo (See IV.C)
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- Starting The Designer the first time is done like this:
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- Step 1: BACKUP THE DISK. This is IMPORTANT. Use DOS DISKCOPY and a fresh,
- blank disk for backup. If you need help, read about DISKCOPY in your DOS
- manual.
-
- Step 2: If you're anxious to play with your new toy (as I always am when I
- get new software) do step 2. If you want to do it "right" the first
- time, then skip step 2 and proceed to step 3.
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- Insert your DOS disk in drive A and boot the system. Type "BASICA" to
- invoke advanced basic. Remove the DOS disk and insert The Designer.
- Type "RUN DESIGNER".
-
- Step 3. To do it "right":
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- a. If you have only one disk drive, you may want to create a "production"
- version of The Designer. To do this, first format a blank diskette,
- and then move the following files onto it using DOS COPY:
- DESIGNER.BAS, VERBIAGE, TEXTCHAR. The other files delivered on The
- Designer's diskette are not required for operation of the system.
-
- b. Insert your DOS diskette in drive A and boot the system.
-
- c. Type "SYS B:". When the prompt appears, insert The Designer. This
- step loads the hidden files IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM onto The
- Designer's diskette.
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- d. Type "COPY COMMAND.COM B:". When the first prompt appears, replace
- The Designer with the DOS disk. When the second appears, put The
- Designer back.
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- e. Repeat 2c, typing "COPY BASICA.COM B:". This completes installation
- of the IBM software on The Designer's diskette.
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- f. Now type the following commands:
- COPY CON: AUTOEXEC.BAT <Enter>
- BASICA DESIGNER/S:512 <Enter>
- <Cntl-Break>
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- Once you have completed step 3, The Designer can be started by booting
- your PC with The Designer's diskette in drive A.
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- 4. Regardless of whether you use step 2 or step 3, the first time you
- operate The Designer, it will ask you which drive should be used for
- storage. Respond with A, B, C, or D. This data will be stored in a new
- file called DESIGNER.DRV and you will not be asked the question again
- (unless the new file is destroyed). If you want to change the
- designation at any time, you can do so. See section B.3 below for
- details.
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- B. USING THE DESIGNER
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- Detailed instructions for operating The Designer appear in the helps which
- are available online during any session. For reasons of space economy, most
- of this information is not duplicated here. Instead, this section of the
- manual contains additional information and hints which may be of value.
-
- The helps can be printed and appended to this manual if you wish to do so.
- Printing can be done by running The Designer, calling the helps from the
- main menu, and using PrtSc to print them.
-
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- 1. Overall Scheme
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- The Designer is intended to be a tool for the programmer who is interested
- in experimenting with animated graphics or writing games or other animations
- using the IBM BASICA lanugage on an IBM PC.
-
- BASIC provides several powerful animation statements permitting the
- programmer to display backgrounds and movable elements and to move them
- around the screen. In particular, the BLOAD and PUT statements are
- valuable. These statements move images onto the screen and are capable of
- animation. You should refer to the IBM BASIC manual for more information.
-
- But, BLOAD and PUT both require images which have already been created and
- exist either in memory or in a disk file. BASIC provides no significant
- support for the creation of the images.
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- This is The Designer's role - the creation of backgrounds and movable
- characters in a form usable by the BASIC BLOAD and PUT statements.
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- Assuming you are writing a game involving animated graphics, The Designer is
- intended to be used as follows:
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- - Design your game. Divide the display images into fixed backgrounds
- and movable characters. Get a rough idea of the game logic and think
- about the shape, form and color of screens and sprites.
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- - Use The Designer to draw and save, one by one, the screens and sprites
- your game will use.
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- - Use The Designer's animation test facilities to inspect the screens
- and sprites in combination to assure that things fit and look good
- together.
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- - Start the programming. Use the BASIC manual for help with the BLOAD
- and PUT statements. Look over the Demo program that comes with The
- Designer for ideas and for help in applying the screen and sprite
- files created by The Designer.
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- - If you find that additional screens and sprites are required, use The
- Designer to make them.
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- - If you find that changes are needed to screens and sprites, The
- Designer will help you make them.
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- 2. Starting
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- If you have been through the steps in section III.A of this manual, starting
- The Designer is a matter only of inserting the diskette in drive A and
- booting your PC. If you have not done III.A, refer to it for instructions
- on starting The Designer.
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- 3. Using the Function Keys
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- With only a very few exceptions, any function key can be used at any time
- throughout The Designer. However, be careful when you have artwork in
- progress. If, for instance, you use function key 9 (which calls up the main
- menu) with artwork in progress, The Designer will assume that you are done
- with the artwork and will clear the screen to fill your request for the
- menu.
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- 4. Changing the Default Disk Drive
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- To change the default diskette drive used by The Designer for storage of
- screen and sprite files, move to the master menu (F9) and type DRV. The
- menu will be refreshed and the notation (last line) showing the default
- drive will change. Moving from A to B requires one entry of DRV. Moving
- from B to A requires cycling through C and D. All changes to the default
- drive are permanent and will remain in effect through future uses of The
- Designer until explicity changed by you.
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- 5. Cursor Management
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- The use of function keys 2, 5 or 6 immediately results in changing the
- cursor to the current foreground color. Therefore, the cursor can be made
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- to disappear by setting the foreground color as appropriate to your
- situation before using these function keys. If the foreground color is not
- correctly set, the cursor will become a permanent part of the image and it
- will be necessary to retrieve the saved image to erase it. Therefore,
- always check foreground color before using function keys 2, 5, or 6.
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- 6. Using the Enter Key
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- The Designer is largely controlled with fixed-length commands and function
- keys. To make it easier to use, it is designed to respond to commands
- without waiting for you to press the enter key. In most cases the enter key
- has been rendered inoperative.
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- The exception to this rule lies in the entry of file names which can be
- anywhere from one to eight characters long. Since The Designer does not
- know how long a file name will be, it waits for you to press enter before
- responding.
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- 7. File Names.
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- When storing or retreiving either screens or sprites, The Designer requests
- a file name. The Designer will append file qualifiers, relieving you of the
- need to type them.
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- It is best to refrain from using "DESIGNER" as a file name. You might
- overwrite the program itself, permanently loosing it. Unless Demo has been
- moved to another diskette, "DEMO", "MOUSE", and "MAZE" should also be
- considered reserved names.
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- 8. Upper and Lower Case
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- In all cases but one, if you type lower case characters into The Designer,
- they will be converted into upper case before being displayed or used.
- Therefore, you need not be concerned about cases.
-
- The exception is function 7, which allows inclusion of text on your images.
- Since both upper and lower case characters are supported, the status of the
- shift, and capslock keys will be recognized and used.
-
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- 9. Sound
-
- The Designer involves a great deal of full-screen work which cannot be
- disturbed by printing messages on the display. Yet in some cases, The
- Designer needs to confirm that it has completed a requested task, and in
- some cases it has to report problems.
-
- The display-in-use problem is circumvented using the PC's speaker. When The
- Designer wants to confirm that it has done what you asked it to (and
- particularly when its actions do not make any visible change to the screen),
- it will confirm with three high-pitched beeps. When The Designer encounters
- an error, it reports with a low-pitched warble.
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- C. Using Files Created by The Designer
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- The Designer is intended to be a tool to create data files which will be
- read by your programs. Discussion of the contents of these files and of
- their use in your programs is, therefore, important.
-
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- Screen Files
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- When you save a screen using The Designer, two files are created. The file
- names default to SCREEN.RES and SCREEN.BAS, but can be changed by The
- Designer if you tell it to do so, or can be changed using RENAME later.
-
- The RES file will consist of a single record containing the following
- information:
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- The resolution (2= high, 1=medium)
- The background color (0 through 15)
- The palette (0 or 1)
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- The RES file is necessary because this information is not stored by BSAVE in
- creating the BAS file. Since BASIC does not provide a simple way of
- appending the screen to the RES file, two files are used.
-
- The RES file should be read with the following BASIC statements (obviously
- you should use the correct file and variable names for your program) taken
- from DEMO.
-
- OPEN "A:MAZE.RES" FOR INPUT AS #1
- INPUT #1,RES,BAK,PAL
- CLOSE #1
-
- Use of the RES file is not required in your program. If you know the
- correct values for the resolution, background color, and palette, you can
- write them into the program and avoid using the RES file. You can even
- erase the RES file. If, however, you aren't sure what the values might be
- in the future, data in the RES file can be checked to prevent errors.
-
- The BAS file is used directly by BLOAD. Its format and contents are
- controlled entirely by BASIC. The required statements are:
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- SCREEN RES
- COLOR BAK,PAL
- CLS
- DEF SEG=&HB800
- BLOAD "A.MAZE",0
- DEF SEG
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- Sprite Files
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- Saving a sprite results in the creation of a single data file bearing a name
- you specified (there is no default in this case) with a .SPR extension.
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- The first record in a sprite file contains the following:
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- The resolution (2= high, 1=medium)
- The palette (0 or 1)
- The size of the array required to hold the sprite
- The width of the sprite (in pixels)
- The height of the sprite (in pixels).
-
- Subsequent records contain the ASCII values of the characters that need to
- be loaded into the array to represent the sprite.
-
- The statements required to load a sprite from a file created by The Designer
- are:
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- OPEN "A:MOUSE.SPR" FOR INPUT AS #1
- INPUT #1,RES,PAL,ARR,WID,HGHT
- DIM MOUSE(ARR)
- FOR I=0 to ARR
- INPUT #1, J(0),J(1),J(2),J(3)
- P=VARPTR(MOUSE(I))
- FOR N = 0 to 3
- POKE P+N,J(N)
- NEXT N
- NEXT I
- CLOSE #1
-
- Similar to Screen files, if you know the resolution and palette information
- and the array size, you can avoid a small amount of computing by writing the
- values directly into your program. In this case, you will have to delete
- the first line from the sprite file using either EDLIN or some other editor.
-
- The sprite width and height are supplied only as a convenience to you. They
- need not be used at all in your program.
-
- When your program has finished loading the array, and has moved the screen
- into the screen buffer, the BASIC PUT statement is used to apply and remove
- the sprite from the screen according to your program's logic.
-
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- D. "DEMO"
-
- The program "Demo" is intended only as a demonstration of the abilities of
- The Designer and of BASICA animation. It is not a game, nor is it the
- ultimate in animation technique. In fact, Demo is purposefully less than
- optimum to enhance program legibility.
-
- Demo, when run, displays a maze and a mouse than wanders randomly (and
- slowly) through the maze. Compiling this program will make the mouse move
- much faster and will make watching it more fun, but will eliminate the real
- benefit of the program, reading the code.
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- V1.0 User's Manual
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- To run Demo, stop The Designer with function key 10 and type "RUN DEMO".
- Demo requires no user input - you can just sit and watch it go. When you
- are tired of it, stop it with Cntl-Break and type "LIST" to see the program.
- Print the program using "LLIST" and study, especially, the use of the
- MOUSE.SPR, MAZE.RES, and MAZE.BAS files in lines 10180 through 10410.
-
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- E. IF AN ERROR OCCURS
-
- The Designer should catch all possible user errors and provide complete
- error diagnostics and opportunities to correct errors online. Since the
- online diagnostics are very complete, they are not documented here, with one
- exception.
-
- The Designer uses dynamic array definition to build arrays for transferring
- sprites from your display to diskette. It is possible for you to attempt to
- store a sprite which is so large that the required array would exceed the
- available memory.
-
- Should you exceed the available memory, The Designer will detect the problem
- before crashing. Since your sprite is still on the screen, and is stored
- nowhere except the screen buffer, The Designer refrains from clearing the
- screen and provides only an error tone (a low warble - see above). When
- this happens, you have a choice: You can reduce the size of the sprite by
- closing down the box further, or you can abort the whole thing by pressing a
- function key.
-
- The Designer contains one intermittent bug that I haven't been able to track
- down. Occasionally when saving a screen, you may get a syntax error on a
- non-existent line number. When this happens The Designer will probably lock
- up and you will have to re-boot your PC. However, the DIR command will
- reveal that all is not lost - your screen has been saved as SCREEN.BAS. If
- you rename it and restart The Designer, you can continue from where you were
- when you were interrupted.
-
- If you can figure out what's wrong with the program, I would like very much
- to know. Please write to me at the address below.
-
- In addition to these errors and messages, you may run across an error
- message in the form:
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- Error Number nnn on Line Number nnn
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- followed by a BASIC OK. This message means that The Designer has crashed.
- I would also like very much to know about crashes. Please write to Jan
- Young, 767 N. Holden St., Port Washington, Wi. 53074, and include as much
- detail as possible about what you were doing when the problem arose, and
- what suspicions you have, if any, about the causes.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 13
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- IV. ADMINISTRATION
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- A. WARRANTY AND DISCLAIMER
-
- In view of the fact that The Designer is distributed entirely without charge
- and contributions are wholly voluntary, all warranties are disclaimed. I
- cannot be responsible in any way for direct, indirect, or consequential
- damages. Any and all risk associated with using The Designer, Demo, their
- data files and/or the documentation is the user's.
-
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- B. PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION
-
- The Designer is distributed without charge. If you are using it and find it
- to be of value, a contribution ($20 suggested) would be appreciated.
-
- Jan B. Young
- 767 N. Holden St.
- Port Washington, Wi. 53074
-
- Regardless of whether you make a contribution or not, individuals, clubs,
- and other non-profit organizations are granted permission to copy and
- distribute programs, data files, and documentation to others, providing that
- no charge is made for the software. Distribution costs may be charged to
- recipients providing they do not exceed $7 per copy.
-
- The programs, data files, and documentation may be modified as desired by
- any individual or non-profit organization, and the modified materials
- distributed providing the following is retained without modification: all
- appearances of the copyright notice, all warranty disclaimers, all material
- explaining this distribution policy, and all requests for contributions.
- Users distributing modified program or documentation copies are also
- required to add the words "User Modified" wherever The Designer's version
- number appears and must distribute without charge (other than the $7 maximum
- distribution cost).
-
-
- C. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
-
- If you have questions about The Designer, or have experienced problems with
- it, I will try to help. Write to me (please don't phone) and enclose a
- stamped self-addressed envelope for my reply. Please don't expect return-
- mail responses since I travel quite a bit and may not even read your letter
- for a week or two.
-
- If The Designer crashes while you are using it, please let me know so I can
- fix the problem. The more details you provide, the easier it will be for me
- to make the fix.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 14
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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- D. MAINTENANCE AND ENHANCEMENTS
-
- If there is a reasonable level of interest in The Designer (measured by the
- number of contributions I receive), I will create and make available new
- releases. Some possibilities for future enhancements include: 1) Variable
- line widths in the "NEW" mode, 2) Separation of scaling into a compilable
- module so it will run faster, 3) use of color in high resolution (it is
- possible, but limited), 4) the ability to rotate images, and 5) extension
- into text-mode graphics. If you have other ideas, please write and let me
- know what they are.
-
- If you contribute once, the suggested contribution is reduced to $2 for a
- new release. Just send me a diskette, a postpaid, self-addressed mailer,
- and a brief note requesting a copy of the latest version. The same policy
- holds if you accidentally destroy the program and want a fresh copy of the
- current version. I will be unable to supply replacement copies of obsolete
- versions.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 15
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
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-
-
- V. REFERENCE MATERIAL
-
-
- A. COMMAND SUMMARY
-
- Function Command Explanation
- -------- ------- ----------------------------------------------------
- 1 NEW Cursor Arrows move the cursor.
- Fn Set foreground color to n, where n is 0 or 1 in
- high resolution; 0, 1, 2, or 3 in medium resolution.
- Color received depends on palette selelction.
- D1 Defines the first end of a diagonal line at the
- current cursor location.
- D2 Defines the second end of a diagonal line at the
- current cursor location and causes the line to be
- drawn in the current foreground color.
- C1 Defines the center of a circle at the current cursor
- location.
- C2 Defines the periphery of a circle at the current
- cursor location and causes the circle to be drawn
- in the current foreground color.
- A1 Defines the center of a circular arc at the current
- cursor location.
- A2 Defines the radius of a circular arc and the start-
- ing position at the current cursor location. (The
- arc will be drawn counterclockwise from this
- position.
- A3 Defines the ending position of a circular arc as a
- line from the A1 location to the current cursor
- position and causes the arc to be drawn in the
- current foreground color.
- 2 SCL En Expand the image by 4*n percent.
- Cn Contract the image by 4*n percent.
- 3 SSP Cursor Arrows reduce the box size. The up arrow,
- for instance, raises the bottom of the box.
- n Used as a multiplier for the speed of the cursor
- arrows.
- G Signals that the box now represents the size of the
- sprite and initiates creation of the sprite files.
- 4 SSC No commands
- 5 RSP No commands (but return to NEW is automatic and the
- NEW commands can be used).
- 6 RSC No commands (but return to NEW is automatic and the
- NEW commands can be used).
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- April 29, 1983 Page 16
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- THE DESIGNER
- V1.0 User's Manual
-
- A. COMMAND SUMMARY (Continued)
-
- Function Command Explanation
- -------- ------- ----------------------------------------------------
- 7 TXT Any key (ASCII 33 to 125) can be used to create the
- corresponding character.
- Cursor arrows move the most recently created char-
- acter.
- Space bar deletes the most recently created char-
- acter and blanks anything under it.
- 8 ANI Cursor arrows move the sprite.
- A Begins use of ADD mode PUTs.
- O Begins use of OR mode PUTs (alpha Oh).
- X Begins use of XOR mode PUTs.
- P Begins use of PSET mode PUTs (the default).
- 9 INS Typing any of the three-letter abbreviations will
- display a series of helps explaining the use of
- the corresponding function.
- GEN Initiates display of helps explaining general
- topics about The Designer.
- CRD Causes printing of the reference card.
- DRV Alters the default disk drive.
- 10 Stop No commands.
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- April 29, 1983 Page 17
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- READY
- APPLICATION B253 LOGON INHIBITED FILE RESTORE CN(00)
-