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- ;
- ; HELP.SRC
- ;
- ;
- ~HdrFile=HELPDEFS.H
- ~HlpFile=FRACTINT.HLP
- ~Version=100
- ~FormatExclude=8
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Main Help Index, Label=HELPMENU
- ~Label=HELP_INDEX
-
- ~Format-
- { Using Help } { Fractals and the PC }
- { Introduction } { Distribution of Fractint }
- { Conditions on Use } { Contacting the Authors }
- { Getting Started } { The Stone Soup Story }
- { New Features in Version 19.2 } { A Word About the Authors }
- { Other Fractal Products }
- { Display Mode Commands }
- { Color Cycling Commands } { Fractint on Unix }
- { Palette Editing Commands } { Using Fractint With a Mouse }
- { Video Adapter Notes }
- { Summary of Fractal Types } { GIF Save File Format }
-
- { Doodads\, Bells\, and Whistles } { Common Problems }
- { "3D" Images }
- { Palette Maps } { Bibliography }
- { Other Programs }
- { Startup Parameters\, Parameter Files } { Revision History }
- { Batch Mode } { Version13 to 14 Conversion }
- { "Disk-Video" Modes } { Printing Fractint Documentation }
-
- ~Format+
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~DocContents
- { , 0, "New Features in Version 19.2", FF}
- { , 0, "Introduction", "Conditions on Use", FF}
-
- {1. , 0, Fractint Commands, FF}
- {1.1 , 1, "Getting Started"}
- {1.2 , 1, "Plotting Commands"}
- {1.3 , 1, "Zoom box Commands"}
- {1.4 , 1, "Color Cycling Commands"}
- {1.5 , 1, "Palette Editing Commands"}
- {1.6 , 1, "Image Save/Restore Commands"}
- {1.7 , 1, "Print Command"}
- {1.8 , 1, "Parameter Save/Restore Commands"}
- {1.9 , 1, "\"3D\" Commands"}
- {1.10 , 1, "Interrupting and Resuming"}
- {1.11 , 1, "Orbits Window"}
- {1.12 , 1, "View Window"}
- {1.13 , 1, "Video Mode Function Keys"}
- {1.14 , 1, "Browse Commands"}
- {1.15 , 1, "RDS Commands"}
- {1.16 , 1, "Hints"}
- {1.17 , 1, "Fractint on Unix"}
- {2. , 0, "Fractal Types", FF}
- {2.1 , 1, "The Mandelbrot Set"}
- {2.2 , 1, "Julia Sets"}
- {2.3 , 1, "Julia Toggle Spacebar Commands"}
- {2.4 , 1, "Inverse Julias"}
- {2.5 , 1, "Newton domains of attraction"}
- {2.6 , 1, "Newton"}
- {2.7 , 1, "Complex Newton"}
- {2.8 , 1, "Lambda Sets"}
- {2.9 , 1, "Mandellambda Sets"}
- {2.10 , 1, "Circle"}
- {2.11 , 1, "Plasma Clouds"}
- {2.12 , 1, "Lambdafn"}
- {2.13 , 1, "Mandelfn"}
- {2.14 , 1, "Barnsley Mandelbrot/Julia Sets"}
- {2.15 , 1, "Barnsley IFS Fractals"}
- {2.16 , 1, "Sierpinski Gasket"}
- {2.17 , 1, "Quartic Mandelbrot/Julia"}
- {2.18 , 1, "Distance Estimator"}
- {2.19 , 1, "Pickover Mandelbrot/Julia Types"}
- {2.20 , 1, "Pickover Popcorn"}
- {2.21 , 1, "Peterson Variations"}
- {2.22 , 1, "Unity"}
- {2.23 , 1, "Scott Taylor / Lee Skinner Variations"}
- {2.24 , 1, "Kam Torus"}
- {2.25 , 1, "Bifurcation"}
- {2.26 , 1, "Orbit Fractals"}
- {2.27 , 1, "Lorenz Attractors"}
- {2.28 , 1, "Rossler Attractors"}
- {2.29 , 1, "Henon Attractors"}
- {2.30 , 1, "Pickover Attractors"}
- {2.31 , 1, "Gingerbreadman"}
- {2.32 , 1, "Martin Attractors"}
- {2.33 , 1, "Icon"}
- {2.34 , 1, "Test"}
- {2.35 , 1, "Formula"}
- {2.36 , 1, "Julibrots"}
- {2.37 , 1, "Diffusion Limited Aggregation"}
- {2.38 , 1, "Magnetic Fractals"}
- {2.39 , 1, "L-Systems"}
- {2.40 , 1, "Lyapunov Fractals"}
- {2.41 , 1, "fn||fn Fractals"}
- {2.42 , 1, "Halley"}
- {2.43 , 1, "Dynamic System"}
- {2.44 , 1, "Mandelcloud"}
- {2.45 , 1, "Quaternion"}
- {2.46 , 1, "HyperComplex"}
- {2.47 , 1, "Cellular Automata"}
- {2.48 , 1, "Ant Automaton"}
- {2.49 , 1, "Phoenix"}
- {2.50 , 1, "Frothy Basins"}
-
- {3. , 0, Doodads\, Bells\, and Whistles, FF}
- {3.1 , 1, "Drawing Method"}
- {3.2 , 1, "Palette Maps"}
- {3.3 , 1, "Autokey Mode"}
- {3.4 , 1, "Distance Estimator Method"}
- {3.5 , 1, "Inversion"}
- {3.6 , 1, "Decomposition"}
- {3.7 , 1, "Logarithmic Palettes and Color Ranges"}
- {3.8 , 1, "Biomorphs"}
- {3.9 , 1, "Continuous Potential"}
- {3.10 , 1, "Starfields"}
- {3.11 , 1, "Bailout Test"}
- {3.12 , 1, "Random Dot Stereograms (RDS)"}
-
- {4. , 0, "\"3D\" Images", "3D Overview", FF}
- {4.1 , 1, "3D Mode Selection"}
- {4.2 , 1, "Select Fill Type Screen"}
- {4.3 , 1, "Stereo 3D Viewing"}
- {4.4 , 1, "Rectangular Coordinate Transformation"}
- {4.5 , 1, "3D Color Parameters"}
- {4.6 , 1, "Light Source Parameters"}
- {4.7 , 1, "Spherical Projection"}
- {4.8 , 1, "3D Overlay Mode"}
- {4.9 , 1, "Special Note for CGA or Hercules Users"}
- {4.10 , 1, "Making Terrains"}
- {4.11 , 1, "Making 3D Slides"}
- {4.12 , 1, "Interfacing with Ray Tracing Programs"}
-
- {5. , 0, Command Line Parameters\, Parameter Files\, Batch Mode, "Introduction to Parameters", FF}
- {5.1 , 1, "Using the DOS Command Line"}
- {5.2 , 1, "Setting Defaults (SSTOOLS.INI File)"}
- {5.3 , 1, "Parameter Files and the <@> Command"}
- {5.4 , 1, "General Parameter Syntax"}
- {5.5 , 1, "Startup Parameters"}
- {5.6 , 1, "Calculation Mode Parameters"}
- {5.7 , 1, "Fractal Type Parameters"}
- {5.8 , 1, "Image Calculation Parameters"}
- {5.9 , 1, "Color Parameters"}
- {5.10 , 1, "Doodad Parameters"}
- {5.11 , 1, "File Parameters"}
- {5.12 , 1, "Video Parameters"}
- {5.13 , 1, "Sound Parameters"}
- {5.14 , 1, "Printer Parameters"}
- {5.15 , 1, "PostScript Parameters"}
- {5.16 , 1, "PaintJet Parameters"}
- {5.17 , 1, "Plotter Parameters"}
- {5.18 , 1, "3D Parameters"}
- {5.19 , 1, "Batch Mode"}
- {5.20 , 1, "Browser Parameters"}
-
- {6. , 0, Hardware Support, FF}
- {6.1 , 1, Notes on Video Modes\, \"Standard\" and Otherwise,
- "Video Adapter Notes", "EGA", "Tweaked VGA", "Super-VGA",
- "8514/A", "XGA", "Targa", "Targa+"}
- {6.2 , 1, "\"Disk-Video\" Modes"}
- {6.3 , 1, "Customized Video Modes\, FRACTINT.CFG"}
-
- {7. , 0, "Common Problems", FF}
-
- {8. , 0, "Fractals and the PC", FF}
- {8.1 , 1, A Little History}
- {8.1.1, 2, "Before Mandelbrot"}
- {8.1.2, 2, "Who Is This Guy\, Anyway?"}
- {8.2 , 1, A Little Code}
- {8.2.1, 2, "Periodicity Logic"}
- {8.2.2, 2, "Limitations of Integer Math (And How We Cope)"}
- {8.2.3, 2, "Arbitrary Precision and Deep Zooming"}
- {8.2.4, 2, "The Fractint \"Fractal Engine\" Architecture"}
-
- {Appendix A, 0, Mathematics of the Fractal Types,
- "Summary of Fractal Types",
- "Inside=bof60|bof61|zmag|period",
- "Inside=epscross|startrail",
- "Finite Attractors",
- "Trig Identities",
- "Quaternion and Hypercomplex Algebra",FF}
-
- {Appendix B, 0, Stone Soup With Pixels: The Authors,
- "The Stone Soup Story",
- "A Word About the Authors",
- "Distribution of Fractint",
- "Contacting the Authors", FF}
-
- {Appendix C, 0, "GIF Save File Format", FF}
-
- {Appendix D, 0, "Other Fractal Products", FF}
-
- {Appendix E, 0, "Bibliography", FF}
-
- {Appendix F, 0, "Other Programs", FF}
-
- {Appendix G, 0, Revision History,
- "Version 18",
- "Version 17",
- "Version 16",
- "Version 15",
- "Versions 12 through 14",
- "Versions 1 through 11",
- FF}
-
- {Appendix H, 0, Version13 to Version 14 Type Mapping, "Version13 to 14 Conversion", FF}
- ;
- ; End of DoContents
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Using Help
- ; This topic is online only.
-
- Use the following keys in help mode:
-
- F1 Go to the main help index.
-
- PgDn/PgUp Go to the next/previous page.
-
- Backspace Go to the previous topic.
-
- Escape Exit help mode.
-
- Enter Select (go to) highlighted hot-link.
-
- Tab/Shift-Tab Move to the next/previous hot-link.
-
- \24 \25 \27 \26 Move to a hot-link.
-
- Home/End Move to the first/last hot-link.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Printing Fractint Documentation
-
- You can generate a text file containing full Fractint documentation by
- selecting the "Generate FRACTINT.DOC now" hot-link below and pressing
- Enter, or by using the DOS command "fractint makedoc=filename" ("filename"
- is the name of the file to be written; it defaults to FRACTINT.DOC.)
-
- All information in the documentation file is also available in the online
- help, so extracting it is a matter of preference - you can print the
- file (e.g. DOS command "print fractint.doc" or "copy fractint.doc prn")
- or read it with a text editor. It contains over 100 pages of information,
- has a table of contents, and is cross-referenced by page number.
-
- {=-101 Exit without generating FRACTINT.DOC}
-
- {=-100 Generate FRACTINT.DOC now}
-
- Fractint's great (and unique as far as we know) online help and integrated
- documentation file software was written by Ethan Nagel.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=New Features in Version 19.2
- Version 19.2 is a bug-fix release for version 19.1. Changes from 19.1
- to 19.2 include:
-
- Fixed the 3D function, which was broken in 19.1 due to a side-effect of
- a repair of a minor bug in 19.0. Arrgghh! This is the main reason for the
- release of this version so quickly.
-
- Fixed a bug that caused the Julia inverse window and the orbits window to lose
- their place after loading a color map.
-
- Fixed a bug that causes corners to be lost when too many digits are entered.
-
- Added an enhanced ants automaton by Luciano Genero and Fulvio Cappelli.
-
- New showorbit command allows orbits-during-generation feature to be turned
- on by default. Expanded limits of Hertz command to 20 to 15000.
-
- Targa 3D files are now correctly written to workdir rather than tempdir.
-
- Uncommented garbage between file entries is now ignored. (But note that "\{"
- must be on same line as entry name.)
-
- Fixed savename update logic.
-
- Version 19.1 is a bug-fix release for version 19.0. Changes from 19.0
- to 19.1 include:
-
- Disabled the F6 (corners) key when in the parameters screen (<z>) for
- arbitrary precision.
-
- IFS formulas now show in <z> screen.
-
- Allow RDS image maps of arbitrary dimensions.
-
- Touched up Mandelbrot/Julia <Space> toggle logic.
-
- Fractint now remembers map name, and uses the mapfile path correctly, and
- now allows periods in directory names.
-
- Fixed tab bug that caused problems when interrupting a restore of an
- arbitrary precision image.
-
- Repaired savename logic. No longer show (usually truncated) full path of
- the saved file in the screen.
-
- Fixed double to arbitrary precision transition with 90 degree images. (This
- only failed before when the image was rotated exactly 90 degrees.)
-
- Corrected docs directory errors that reported several commands such as
- PARDIR= that were not implemented. Documented the color cycling HOME
- function.
-
- Fixed Mandelbrot/Julia types with bailout less than 4 (try it, results
- are interesting!)
-
- Fixed browser delete feature which left a box on the screen after deleting
- and exiting browser feature.
-
- More changes in filename processing logic. ".\\" is now recognized as the
- current directory and is expanded to its full path name. It is now possible,
- although not recommended, to designate the root directory of a disk as the
- desired search directory.
-
- Fixed integer math Mandelbrot bug for 286 or lower machines.
-
- Fixed problem of reading some Lsys files incorrectly (distribution
- PENROSE.L file was broken unless first line was commented.)
-
- Fixed problem that caused endless loop in RDS with bad input values.
-
- Made reading the current directory first optional, added the new
- curdir=yes command for times when you want to use current directory
- files.
-
- Fixed problem with complexpower() function ("x^y" formula operator) in
- the case where x == 0. (Note that formulas where 0^0 appears for every
- every pixel are considered broken and no promises made.)
-
- Prevented aspect ratio drift as you zoom. If you want to make tiny
- adjustments, use new ASPECTDRIFT=0 command.
-
- Inside=bof60 and bof61 options now work correctly with the formula parser.
-
- We discovered the calculation time is no good after 24 days, so instead of the
- time you will now get the message "A Really Long Time!!! (> 24.855 days)".
- We thought you'd like to know ... A prize for the first person who actually
- *sees* this message!
-
- A summary of features new with 19.0 begins on next page.
- ~FF
- New arbitrary precision math allows types mandelbrot, julia, manzpower, and
- julzpower to zoom to 10^1600. See {Arbitrary Precision and Deep Zooming}
-
- New Random Dot Stereogram feature using <Ctrl>-<S>. Thanks to Paul De Leeuw
- for contributing this feature. For more, see {Random Dot Stereograms (RDS)}.
-
- New browser invoked by the <l> command allows you to see the relationships of
- a family of images within the current corners values. See {Browse Commands}
- and {Browser Parameters}. Thanks to Robin Bussell for contributing this
- feature.
-
- Added four {Bailout Test}s, real, imag, or, and. These are set on the
- <Z> screen of the fractal types for which they work. The default is
- still mod.
-
- New asin, asinh, acos, acosh, atan, atanh, sqrt, abs (abs(x)+i*abs(y)),
- and cabs (sqrt(x*x + y*y)) functions added to function variables and parser.
-
- New fractal types types chip, quadruptwo, threeply, phoenixcplx,
- mandphoenixclx, and ant automaton.
-
- Increased maximum iterations to 2,147,483,647 and maximum bailout to 2,100,000,000
- when using floating point math.
-
- New path/directory management. Fractint now remembers the pathname of
- command-line filenames. This means that you can specifiy directories where
- your files reside in SSTOOLS.INI. In what follows, <path> can be a directory,
- a filename, or a full path.
-
- File SSTOOLS.INI Command Comments\
- ==========================================================================\
- PAR directory parmfile=<path>\
- GIF files for reading filename=<path>\
- MAP files map=<path>\
- Autokey files autokeyname=<path>\
- GIF files for saving savename=<path>\
- Print file printfile=<path>\
- Formula files formulafile=<path>\
- Lsystem file lfile=<path>\
- IFS file ifsfile=<path>\
- Miscellaneous files workdir=<path>\ new command\
- Temporary files tempdir=<path>\ new command\
-
- If the directories do not exist, Fractint gives an error message on runup
- with the option to continue.
- ~FF
- Fractint now searches all FRM, IFS, LSYS, and PAR files in the designated
- directory for entries. The number of entries in files has been greatly
- increased from 200 to 2000. Comment support in these files is improved.
-
- Parameters shown in <z> screen now match those used in a formula.
-
- Distance estimator logic has been overhauled, with the variable olddemmcolors
- added for backward compatibility.
-
- New floating point code for Lsystems from Nick Wilt greatly speeds up image
- generation.
-
- Enhanced fast parser from Chuck Ebbert makes floating point formula fractals
- faster than built-in types.
-
- Enhanced the history command to include all parameters, colors, and
- even .frm, .l, and .ifs file names and entries. Number of history sets
- remembered can be set with the maxhistory=<nnn> command to save memory.
-
- Enhanced center-mag coordinates to support rotated/stretched/skewed zoom
- boxes.
-
- Added new parameter to built-in Halley for comparison with formula type,
- also added new parameter to Frothybasin type.
-
- Added color number to orbits numbers <n> display.
-
- Added two new parameters to distest= to allow specifying resolution.
- This allows making resolution-independent distance estimator images.
-
- Fixed bug that caused the "big red switch" bug if '(' appeared in random
- uncommented formula file text, but fair warning, we don't officially
- support uncommented text in FRM files.
-
- Symmetry now works for the Marksjulia type and Marksmandel types.
-
- Full path no longer written in PAR files with <b> command.
-
- Fixed fractal type fn(z*z) so that zooming out will no longer dump you out
- to DOS, affecting zoomed out integer images made with this type.
-
- Fixed a float to fudged integer conversion that affects integer fractal
- types fn(z*z) and fn*fn. This has only a minor impact on integer images
- made with these types.
-
- Default drive and directory restored after dropping to DOS, in
- case you changed it while under DOS.
-
- Added support for inversion to the formula parser (type=formula).
-
- Increased maximum number of files listed by <r> command to 2977 from 300.
-
- Added outside=atan option.
-
- Added faster auto logmap logic.
- ;
- ;
-
- ~Topic=Introduction
-
- FRACTINT plots and manipulates images of "objects" -- actually, sets of
- mathematical points -- that have fractal dimension.
- See {"Fractals and the PC"} for some
- historical and mathematical background on fractal geometry, a discipline
- named and popularized by mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot. For now, these
- sets of points have three important properties:
-
- 1) They are generated by relatively simple calculations repeated over and
- over, feeding the results of each step back into the next -- something
- computers can do very rapidly.
-
- 2) They are, quite literally, infinitely complex: they reveal more and
- more detail without limit as you plot smaller and smaller areas. Fractint
- lets you "zoom in" by positioning a small box and hitting <Enter> to
- redraw the boxed area at full-screen size; its maximum linear
- "magnification" is over a trillionfold.
-
- 3) They can be astonishingly beautiful, especially using PC color
- displays' ability to assign colors to selected points, and (with VGA
- displays or EGA in 640x350x16 mode) to "animate" the images by quickly
- shifting those color assignments.
- ~OnlineFF
-
- For a demonstration of some of Fractint's features, run the demonstration
- file included with this release (DEMO.BAT) by typing "demo" at the DOS
- prompt. You can stop the demonstration at any time by pressing <Esc>.
-
- The name FRACTINT was chosen because the program generates many of its
- images using INTeger math, rather than the floating point calculations
- used by most such programs. That means that you don't need a math co-
- processor chip (aka floating point unit or FPU), although for a few
- fractal types where floating point math is faster, the program recognizes
- and automatically uses an 80x87 chip if it's present. It's even faster on
- systems using Intel's 80386 and 80486 microprocessors, where the integer
- math can be executed in their native 32-bit mode.
-
- Fractint works with many adapters and graphics modes from CGA to the
- 1024x768, 256-color XGA mode. Even "larger" images, up to 2048x2048x256,
- can be plotted to expanded memory, extended memory, or disk: this bypasses
- the screen and allows you to create images with higher resolution than
- your current display can handle, and to run in "background" under multi-
- tasking control programs such as DESQview and Windows 3.
- ~OnlineFF
-
- Fractint is an experiment in collaboration. Many volunteers have joined
- Bert Tyler, the program's first author, in improving successive versions.
- Through electronic mail messages, CompuServe's GO GRAPHICS forums,
- new versions are hacked out and debugged a little at a time.
- Fractint was born fast, and none of us has seen any other fractal plotter
- close to the present version for speed, versatility, and all-around
- wonderfulness. (If you have, tell us so we can steal somebody else's ideas
- instead of each other's.)
- See {The Stone Soup Story} and {A Word About the Authors} for information
- about the authors, and see {Contacting the Authors} for how to contribute
- your own ideas and code.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Conditions on Use
-
- Fractint is freeware. The copyright is retained by the Stone Soup Group.
-
- Fractint may be freely copied and distributed in unmodified form but may
- not be sold. (A nominal distribution fee may be charged for media and
- handling by freeware and shareware distributors.) Fractint may be used
- personally or in a business - if you can do your job better by using
- Fractint, or using images from it, that's great! It may not be given away
- with commercial products without explicit permission from the Stone Soup
- Group.
-
- There is no warranty of Fractint's suitability for any purpose, nor any
- acceptance of liability, express or implied.
-
- **********************************************************************\
- * Contribution policy: Don't want money. Got money. Want admiration. *\
- **********************************************************************
- ~OnlineFF
-
- Source code for Fractint is also freely available - see
- {Distribution of Fractint}.
- See the FRACTSRC.DOC file included with the source for conditions on use.
- (In most cases we just want credit.)
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Getting Started
-
- To start the program, enter FRACTINT at the DOS prompt. The program
- displays an initial "credits" screen. If Fractint doesn't start properly,
- please see {Common Problems}.
-
- Hitting <Enter> gets you from the initial screen to the main menu. You can
- select options from the menu by moving the highlight with the cursor arrow
- keys
- ~Doc-
- (\24 \25 \27 \26)
- ~Doc+
- and pressing <Enter>, or you can enter commands directly.
-
- As soon as you select a video mode, Fractint begins drawing an image - the
- "full" Mandelbrot set if you haven't selected another fractal type.
-
- For a quick start, after starting Fractint try one of the following:\
- If you have MCGA, VGA, or better: <F3>\
- If you have EGA: <F9>\
- If you have CGA: <F5>\
- Otherwise, monochrome: <F6>
-
- After the initial Mandelbrot image has been displayed, try zooming
- into it (see {Zoom Box Commands}) and color cycling (see
- {Color Cycling Commands}).
- Once you're comfortable with these basics, start exploring other
- functions from the main menu.
-
- Help is available from the menu and at most other points in Fractint by
- pressing the <F1> key.
-
- AT ANY TIME, you can hit
- ~Doc-
- one of the keys described in {Display Mode Commands}
- ~Doc+,Online-
- a command key
- ~Online+
- to select a function. You do not need to wait for a calculation
- to finish, nor do you have to return to the main menu.
-
- When entering commands, note that for the "typewriter" keys, upper and
- lower case are equivalent, e.g. <B> and <b> have the same result.
-
- Many commands and parameters can be passed to FRACTINT as command-line
- arguments or read from a configuration file;
- ~Doc-
- see {Startup Parameters\, Parameter Files} for details.
- ~Doc+,Online-
- see "Command Line Parameters, Parameter Files, Batch Mode" for details.
- ~Online+
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Display Mode Commands
- ;
- ; This topic is online only
-
- ~Format-
- { Summary of Commands }
- { Plotting Commands}
- { Zoom Box Commands }
- { Image Save/Restore Commands }
- { Print Command }
- { Parameter Save/Restore Commands }
- { Interrupting and Resuming }
- { Orbits Window }
- { View Window }
- { \"3D\" Commands }
- { Video Mode Function Keys }
- { Browse Commands }
- { RDS Commands }
- { Hints }
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Summary of Commands, Label=HELPMAIN
- ; This topic is online only
- ~Doc-
-
- Hit any of these keys at the menu or while drawing or viewing a fractal.
- Commands marked with an '*' are also available at the credits screen.
-
- ~Format-
- {Plotting Commands}
- * Delete,F2,F3,.. Select a Video Mode and draw (or redraw) current fractal
- * F1 HELP! (Enter help mode)
- Esc or m Go to main menu
- h Redraw previous screen (you can 'back out' recursively)
- Ctrl-H Redraw next screen in history circular buffer
- Tab Display information about the current fractal image
- * t Select a new fractal type and parameters
- * x Set a number of options and doodads
- * y Set extended options and doodads
- * z Set fractal type-specific parameters
- c or + or - Enter Color-Cycling Mode (see {=HELPCYCLING Color Cycling Commands})
- e Enter Palette-Editing Mode (see {=HELPXHAIR Palette Editing Commands})
- Spacebar Mandelbrot/Julia Set toggle.
- Enter Continue an interrupted calculation (e.g. after a save)
- * f toggle the floating-point algorithm option ON or OFF
- * i Set parameters for 3D fractal types
- * Insert Restart the program (at the credits screen)
- a Convert the current image into a fractal 'starfield'
- Ctrl-A Turn on screen-eating ant automaton
- Ctrl-S Convert current image to a Random Dot Stereogram (RDS)
- o toggles 'orbits' option on and off during image generation
- * d Shell to DOS (type 'exit' at the DOS prompt to return)
- Ctrl-X Flip the current image along the screen's X-axis
- Ctrl-Y Flip the current image along the screen's Y-axis
- Ctrl-Z Flip the current image along the screen's Origin
-
- {Image Save/Restore Commands}
- s Save the current screen image to disk
- * r Restore a saved (or .GIF) image ('3' or 'o' for 3-D)
-
- {Orbits Window}
- o Turns on Orbits Window mode after image generation
- ctrl-o Turns on Orbits Window mode
-
- {View Window}
- * v Set view window parameters (reduction, aspect ratio)
-
- {Print Command}
- p Print the screen (command-line options set printer type)
- ~OnlineFF
- {Parameter Save/Restore Commands}
- b Save commands describing the current image in a file
- (writes an entry to be used with @ command)
- * @ or 2 Run a set of commands (in command line format) from a file
- g Give a startup parameter: {Summary of all Parameters}
-
- {\"3D\" Commands}
- * 3 3D transform a saved (or .GIF) image
- # (shift-3) same as 3, but overlay the current image
-
- {Zoom Box Commands}
- PageUp When no Zoom Box is active, bring one up
- When active already, shrink it
- PageDown Expand the Zoom Box
- Expanding past the screen size cancels the Zoom Box
- \24 \25 \27 \26 Pan (Move) the Zoom Box
- Ctrl- \24 \25 \27 \26 Fast-Pan the Zoom Box (may require an enhanced keyboard)
- Enter Redraw the Screen or area inside the Zoom Box
- Ctrl-Enter 'Zoom-out' - expands the image so that your current
- image is positioned inside the current zoom-box location.
- Ctrl-Pad+/Pad- Rotate the Zoom Box
- Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn Change Zoom Box vertical size (change its aspect ratio)
- Ctrl-Home/End Change Zoom Box shape
- Ctrl-Ins/Del Change Zoom Box color
-
- {Interrupting and Resuming}
-
- {Video Mode Function Keys}
-
- {Browse Commands}
- L(ook) Enter Browsing Mode
- {RDS Commands}
- Ctrl-S Access RDS parameter screen
- ~Doc+
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Plotting Commands
-
- Function keys & various combinations are used to select a video mode and
- redraw the screen. For a quick start try one of the following:\
- If you have MCGA, VGA, or better: <F3>\
- If you have EGA: <F9>\
- If you have CGA: <F5>\
- Otherwise, monochrome: <F6>\
-
- <F1>\
- Display a help screen. The function keys available in help mode are
- displayed at the bottom of the help screen.
-
- <M> or <Esc>\
- Return from a displayed image to the main menu.
-
- <Esc>\
- From the main menu, <Esc> is used to exit from Fractint.
-
- <Delete>\
- Same as choosing "select video mode" from the main menu.
- Goes to the "select video mode" screen. See {Video Mode Function Keys}.
-
- <h>\
- Redraw the previous image in the circular history buffer, revisiting fractals
- you previously generated this session in reverse order. Fractint saves
- the last ten images worth of information including fractal type, coordinates,
- colors, and all options. Image information is saved only when some item
- changes. After ten images the circular buffer wraps around and earlier
- information is overwritten. You can set image capacity of the history feature
- using the maxhistory=<nnn> command. About 1200 bytes of memory is required
- for each image slot.
-
- <Ctrl-h>\
- Redraw the next image in the circular history buffer. Use this to return to
- images you passed by when using <h>.
-
- <Tab>\
- Display the current fractal type, parameters, video mode, screen or (if
- displayed) zoom-box coordinates, maximum iteration count, and other
- information useful in keeping track of where you are. The Tab function is
- non-destructive - if you press it while in the midst of generating an
- image, you will continue generating it when you return. The Tab function
- tells you if your image is still being generated or has finished - a handy
- feature for those overnight, 1024x768 resolution fractal images. If the
- image is incomplete, it also tells you whether it can be interrupted and
- resumed. (Any function other than <Tab> and <F1> counts as an
- "interrupt".)
-
- The Tab screen also includes a pixel-counting function, which will count
- the number of pixels colored in the inside color. This gives an estimate
- of the area of the fractal. Note that the inside color must be different
- from the outside color(s) for this to work; inside=0 is a good choice.
-
- <T>\
- Select a fractal type. Move the cursor to your choice (or type the first
- few letters of its name) and hit <Enter>. Next you will be prompted for
- any parameters used by the selected type - hit <Enter> for the defaults.
- See {Fractal Types} for a list of supported types.
-
- <F>\
- Toggles the use of floating-point algorithms
- (see {"Limitations of Integer Math (And How We Cope)"}).
- Whether floating point is in
- use is shown on the <Tab> status screen. The floating point option can
- also be turned on and off using the "X" options screen.
- If you have a non-Intel floating point chip which supports the full 387
- instruction set, see the "FPU=" command in {Startup Parameters}
- to get the most out of your chip.
-
- <X>\
- Select a number of eXtended options. Brings up a full-screen menu of
- options, any of which you can change at will. These options are:\
- "passes=" - see {Drawing Method}\
- Floating point toggle - see <F> key description below\
- "maxiter=" - see {Image Calculation Parameters}\
- "inside=" and "outside=" - see {Color Parameters}\
- "savename=" filename - see {File Parameters}\
- "overwrite=" option - see {File Parameters}\
- "sound=" option - see {Sound Parameters}\
- "logmap=" - see {Logarithmic Palettes and Color Ranges}\
- "biomorph=" - see {Biomorphs}\
- "decomp=" - see {Decomposition}\
- "fillcolor=" - see {Drawing Method}\
-
- <Y>\
- More options which we couldn't fit under the <X> command:\
- "finattract=" - see {Finite Attractors}\
- "potential=" parameters - see {Continuous Potential}\
- "invert=" parameters - see {Inversion}\
- "distest=" parameters - see {Distance Estimator Method}\
- "cyclerange=" - see {Color Cycling Commands}\
-
- <Z>\
- Modify the parameters specific to the currently selected fractal type.
- This command lets you modify the parameters which are requested when you
- select a new fractal type with the <T> command, without having to repeat
- that selection. You can enter "e" or "p" in column one of the input fields
- to get the numbers e and pi (2.71828... and 3.14159...).\
- From the fractal parameters screen, you can press <F6> to bring up a
- sub parameter screen for the coordinates of the image's corners.
- With selected fractal types, <Z> allows you to change the {Bailout Test}.
- ; With the IFS fractal type, <Z> brings up the IFS editor (see
- ; {=HT_IFS Barnsley IFS Fractals}).
-
- <+> or <->\
- Switch to color-cycling mode and begin cycling the palette
- by shifting each color to the next "contour." See {Color Cycling Commands}.\
-
- <C>\
- Switch to color-cycling mode but do not start cycling.
- The normally black "overscan" border of the screen changes to white.
- See {Color Cycling Commands}.
-
- <E>\
- Enter Palette-Editing Mode. See {Palette Editing Commands}.
-
- <Spacebar>\
- Toggle between Mandelbrot set images and their corresponding Julia-set
- images. Read the notes in {=HT_JULIA Fractal Types, Julia Sets}
- before trying this option if you want to see anything interesting.
-
- <J>\
- Toggle between Julia escape time fractal and the Inverse Julia orbit
- fractal. See {=HT_INVERSE Inverse Julias}
-
- <Enter>\
- Enter is used to resume calculation after a pause. It is only
- necessary to do this when there is a message on the screen waiting to be
- acknowledged, such as the message shown after you save an image to disk.
-
- <I>\
- Modify 3D transformation parameters used with 3D fractal types such as
- "Lorenz3D" and 3D "IFS" definitions, including the selection of
- {=HELP3DGLASSES "funny glasses"} red/blue 3D.
-
- <A>\
- Convert the current image into a fractal 'starfield'. See {Starfields}.
-
- <Ctrl-A>\
- Unleash an image-eating ant automaton on current image. See {Ant Automaton}.
-
- <Ctrl-S> (or <k>)\
- Convert the current image into a Random Dot Stereogram (RDS).
- See {Random Dot Stereograms (RDS)}.
-
- <O> (the letter, not the number)\
- If pressed while an image is being generated, toggles the display of
- intermediate results -- the "orbits" Fractint uses as it calculates values
- for each point. Slows the display a bit, but shows you how clever the
- program is behind the scenes. (See "A Little Code" in
- {"Fractals and the PC"}.)
-
- <D>\
- Shell to DOS. Return to Fractint by entering "exit" at a DOS prompt.
-
- <Insert>\
- Restart at the "credits" screen and reset most variables to their initial
- state. Variables which are not reset are: savename, lightname, video,
- startup filename.
-
- <L>\
- Enter Browsing Mode. See {Browse Commands}.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Zoom Box Commands, Label=HELPZOOM
-
- Zoom Box functions can be invoked while an image is being generated or when
- it has been completely drawn. Zooming is supported for most fractal types,
- but not all.
-
- The general approach to using the zoom box is: Frame an area using
- the keys described below,
- then <Enter> to expand what's in the frame to fill the
- whole screen (zoom in); or <Ctrl><Enter> to shrink the current image into
- the framed area (zoom out). With a mouse, double-click the left button to
- zoom in, double click the right button to zoom out.
-
- <Page Up>, <Page Down>\
- Use <Page Up> to initially bring up the zoom box. It starts at full screen
- size. Subsequent use of these keys makes the zoom box smaller or larger.
- Using <Page Down> to enlarge the zoom box when it is already at maximum
- size removes the zoom box from the display. Moving the mouse away from you
- or toward you while holding the left button down performs the same
- functions as these keys.
-
- Using the cursor "arrow" keys
- ~Doc-
- (\24 \25 \27 \26)
- ~Doc+
- or moving
- the mouse without holding any buttons down, moves the zoom box.
-
- Holding <Ctrl> while pressing cursor "arrow" keys moves the box 5 times
- faster. (This only works with enhanced keyboards.)
-
- Panning: If you move a fullsize zoombox and don't change anything else
- before performing the zoom, Fractint just moves what's already on the
- screen and then fills in the new edges, to reduce drawing time. This
- feature applies to most fractal types but not all. A side effect is that
- while an image is incomplete, a full size zoom box moves in steps larger
- than one pixel. Fractint keeps the box on multiple pixel boundaries, to
- make panning possible. As a multi-pass (e.g. solid guessing) image
- approaches completion, the zoom box can move in smaller increments.
-
- In addition to resizing the zoom box and moving it around, you can do some
- rather warped things with it. If you're a new Fractint user, we recommend
- skipping the rest of the zoom box functions for now and coming back to
- them when you're comfortable with the basic zoom box functions.
-
- <Ctrl><Keypad->, <Ctrl><Keypad+>\
- Holding <Ctrl> and pressing the numeric keypad's + or - keys rotates the
- zoom box. Moving the mouse left or right while holding the right button
- down performs the same function.
-
- <Ctrl><Page Up>, <Ctrl><Page Down>\
- These commands change the zoom box's "aspect ratio", stretching or
- shrinking it vertically. Moving the mouse away from you or toward you
- while holding both buttons (or the middle button on a 3-button mouse) down
- performs the same function. There are no commands to directly stretch or
- shrink the zoom box horizontally - the same effect can be achieved by
- combining vertical stretching and resizing.
-
- <Ctrl><Home>, <Ctrl><End>\
- These commands "skew" the zoom box, moving the top and bottom edges in
- opposite directions. Moving the mouse left or right while holding both
- buttons (or the middle button on a 3-button mouse) down performs the same
- function. There are no commands to directly skew the left and right edges
- - the same effect can be achieved by using these functions combined with
- rotation.
-
- <Ctrl><Insert>, <Ctrl><Delete>\
- These commands change the zoom box color. This is useful when you're
- having trouble seeing the zoom box against the colors around it. Moving
- the mouse away from you or toward you while holding the right button down
- performs the same function.
-
- You may find it difficult to figure out what combination of size, position
- rotation, stretch, and skew to use to get a particular result. (We do.)\
- A good way to get a feel for all these functions is to play with the
- Gingerbreadman fractal type. Gingerbreadman's shape makes it easy to
- see what you're doing to him. A warning though: Gingerbreadman will run
- forever, he's never quite done! So, pre-empt with your next zoom when he's
- baked enough.
-
- If you accidentally change your zoom box shape or rotate and
- forget which way is up, just use <PageDown> to make it bigger until it
- disappears, then <PageUp> to get a fresh one. With a
- mouse, after removing the old zoom box from the display release and
- re-press the left button for a fresh one.
-
- If your screen does not have a 4:3 "aspect ratio" (i.e. if the visible
- display area on it is not 1.333 times as wide as it is high), rotating and
- zooming will have some odd effects - angles will change, including the
- zoom box's shape itself, circles (if you are so lucky as to see any with a
- non-standard aspect ratio) become non-circular, and so on. The vast
- majority of PC screens *do* have a 4:3 aspect ratio.
-
- Zooming is not implemented for the plasma and diffusion fractal types, nor
- for overlayed and 3D images. A few fractal types support zooming but
- do not support rotation and skewing - nothing happens when you try it.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Image Save/Restore Commands, Label=HELPSAVEREST
-
- <S> saves the current image to disk. All parameters required to recreate
- the image are saved with it. Progress is marked by colored lines moving
- down the screen's edges.
-
- The default filename for the first image saved after starting Fractint is
- FRACT001.GIF; subsequent saves in the same session are automatically
- incremented 002, 003... Use the "savename=" parameter or <X> options
- screen to change the name. By default, files left over from previous
- sessions are not overwritten - the first unused FRACTnnn name is used.
- Use the "overwrite=yes" parameter or <X> options screen) to overwrite
- existing files.
-
- A save operation can be interrupted by pressing any key. If you interrupt,
- you'll be asked whether to keep or discard the partial file.
-
- <R> restores an image previously saved with <S>, or an ordinary GIF file.
- After pressing <R> you are shown the file names in the current directory
- which match the current file mask. To select a file to restore, move the
- cursor to it (or type the first few letters of its name) and press
- <Enter>.
-
- Directories are shown in the file list with a "\\" at the end of the name.
- When you select a directory, the contents of that directory are shown. Or,
- you can type the name of a different directory (and optionally a different
- drive) and press <Enter> for a new display. You can also type a mask such
- as "*.XYZ" and press <Enter> to display files whose name ends with the
- matching suffix (XYZ).
-
- You can use <F6> to switch directories to the default fractint directory
- or to your own directory which is specified through the DOS environment
- variable "FRACTDIR".
-
- Once you have selected a file to restore, a summary description of the
- file is shown, with a video mode selection list. Usually you can just
- press <Enter> to go past this screen and load the image. Other choices
- available at this point are:\
- Cursor keys: select a different video mode\
- <Tab>: display more information about the fractal\
- <F1>: for help about the "err" column in displayed video modes\
- If you restore a file into a video mode which does not have the same pixel
- dimensions as the file, Fractint will make some adjustments: The view
- window parameters (see <V> command) will automatically be set to an
- appropriate size, and if the image is larger than the screen dimensions,
- it will be reduced by using only every Nth pixel during the restore.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Print Command
-
- <P>\
-
- Print the current fractal image on your (Laserjet, Paintjet, Epson-
- compatible, PostScript, or HP-GL) printer.
-
- See {"Setting Defaults (SSTOOLS.INI File)"} and {"Printer Parameters"}
- for how to let Fractint know about your printer setup.
-
- {"Disk-Video" Modes} can be used to
- generate images for printing at higher resolutions than your screen
- supports.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Parameter Save/Restore Commands, Label=HELPPARMFILE
-
- Parameter files can be used to save/restore all options and settings
- required to recreate particular images. The parameters required to
- describe an image require very little disk space, especially compared with
- saving the image itself.
-
- <@> or <2>
-
- The <@> or <2> command loads a set of parameters describing an image.
- (Actually, it can also be used to set non-image parameters such as SOUND,
- but at this point we're interested in images. Other uses of parameter
- files are discussed in {"Parameter Files and the <@> Command"}.)
-
- When you hit <@> or <2>, Fractint displays the names of the entries in the
- currently selected parameter file. The default parameter file,
- FRACTINT.PAR, is included with the Fractint release and contains
- parameters for some sample images.
-
- After pressing <@> or <2>, highlight an entry and press <Enter> to load it,
- or press <F6> to change to another parameter file.
-
- Note that parameter file entries specify all calculation related
- parameters, but do not specify things like the video mode - the image will
- be plotted in your currently selected mode.
-
- <B>
-
- The <B> command saves the parameters required to describe the currently
- displayed image, which can subsequently be used with the <@> or <2> command
- to recreate it.
-
- After you press <B>, Fractint prompts for:
-
- Parameter file: The name of the file to store the parameters in. You
- should use some name like "myimages" instead of fractint.par, so that
- your images are kept separate from the ones released with new versions
- of Fractint. You can use the PARMFILE= command in SSTOOLS.INI
- to set the default parameter file name to "myimages" or whatever.
- (See {"Setting Defaults (SSTOOLS.INI File)"} and "parmfile=" in
- {"File Parameters"}.)
-
- Name: The name you want to assign to the entry, to be displayed when
- the <@> or <2> command is used.
-
- Main comment: A comment to be shown beside the entry in the <@> command
- display.
-
- Second, Third, and Fourth comment: Additional comments to store in the
- file with the entry. These comments go in the file only, and are not
- displayed by the <@> command.
-
- Record colors?: Whether color information should be included in the
- entry. Usually the default value displayed by Fractint is what you want.
- Allowed values are:\
- "no" - Don't record colors. This is the default if the image is using
- your video adapter's default colors.
- "@mapfilename" - When these parameters are used, load colors from the
- named color map file. This is the default if you are currently using
- colors from a color map file.
- "yes" - Record the colors in detail. This is the default when you've
- changed the display colors by using the palette editor or by color
- cycling. The only reason that this isn't what Fractint always does
- for the <B> command is that color information can be bulky - up to
- nearly 1K of disk space. That may not
- sound like much, but can add up when you consider the thousands of
- wonderful images you may find you just *have* to record...
- Smooth-shaded ranges of colors are compressed, so if that's used a
- lot in an image the color information won't be as bulky.
-
- # of colors: This only matters if "Record colors?" is set to "yes". It
- specifies the number of colors to record. Recording less colors will
- take less space. Usually the default value displayed by Fractint is what
- you want. You might want to increase it in some cases, e.g. if you are
- using a 256 color mode with maxiter 150, and have used the palette
- editor to set all 256 possible colors for use with color cycling, then
- you'll want to set the "# of colors" to 256.
-
- At the bottom of the input screen are inputs for Fractint's "pieces"
- divide-and-conquer feature. You can create multiple PAR entries that
- break an image up into pieces so that you can generate the image pieces
- one by one. There are two reasons for doing this. The first is in case the
- fractal is very slow, and you want to generate parts of the image at the
- same time on several computers. The second is that you might want to make
- an image greater than 2048 x 2048. The parameters for this feature are:
- X Multiples - How many divisions of final image in the x direction\
- Y Multiples - How many divisions of final image in the y direction\
- Video mode - Fractint video mode for each piece (e.g. "F3")\
-
- The last item defaults to the current video mode. If either X Multiples or
- Y Multiples are greater than 1, then multiple numbered PAR entries for the
- pieces are added to the PAR file, and a MAKEMIG.BAT file is created that
- builds all of the component pieces and then stitches them together into
- a "multi-image" GIF. The current limitations of the "divide and conquer"
- algorithm are 36 or fewer X and Y multiples (so you are limited to "only"
- 36x36=1296 component images), and a final resolution limit in both the
- X and Y directions of 65,535 (a limitation of "only" four billion pixels
- or so).
-
- The final image generated by MAKEMIG is a "multi-image" GIF file called
- FRACTMIG.GIF. In case you have other software that can't handle
- multi-image GIF files, MAKEMIG includes a final (but commented out) call
- to SIMPLGIF, a companion program that reads a GIF file that may contain
- little tricks like multiple images and creates a simple GIF from it.
- Fair warning: SIMPLGIF needs room to build a composite image while it
- works, and it does that using a temporary disk file equal to the size
- of the final image - and a 64Kx64K GIF image requires a 4GB temporary
- disk file!
-
- <G>
-
- The <G> command lets you give a startup parameter interactively.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=<X> Options Screen, Label=HELPXOPTS
- ; This topic is online context-sensitive only.
-
- Passes - see {Drawing Method}\
- Fillcolor - see {Drawing Method}\
- Floating Point Algorithm - see notes below\
- Maximum Iterations - see {Image Calculation Parameters}\
- Inside and Outside colors - see {Color Parameters}\
- Savename and File Overwrite - see {File Parameters}\
- Sound option - see {Sound Parameters}\
- Log Palette - see {Logarithmic Palettes and Color Ranges}\
- Biomorph Color - see {Biomorphs}\
- Decomp Option - see {Decomposition}\
-
- You can toggle the use of floating-point algorithms on this screen (see
- {"Limitations of Integer Math (And How We Cope)"}). Whether floating
- point is in use is shown on the <Tab> status screen. If you have a
- non-Intel floating point chip which supports the full 387 instruction set,
- see the "FPU=" command in {Startup Parameters} to get the most out of your
- chip.
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=<Y> Options Screen, Label=HELPYOPTS
- ; This topic is online context-sensitive only.
-
- Finite attractor - see{ Finite Attractors }\
-
- Potential parameters - see{ Continuous Potential }\
-
- Distance Estimator parameters - see{ Distance Estimator Method }\
-
- Inversion parameters - see{ Inversion }\
-
- Color cycling range - see{ Color Cycling Commands }\
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Image Coordinates Screen, Label=HELPCOORDS
- ; This topic is online context-sensitive only.
-
- You can directly enter corner coordinates on this screen instead of
- using the zoom box to move around. You can also use <F4> to reset
- the coordinates to the defaults for the current fractal type.
-
- There are two formats for the display: corners or center-mag. You can
- toggle between the two by using <F7>.
-
- In corners mode, corner coordinate values are entered directly. Usually
- only the top-left and bottom-right corners need be specified - the
- bottom left corner can be entered as zeros to default to an ordinary
- unrotated rectangular area. For rotated or skewed images, the bottom
- left corner must also be specified.
-
- In center-mag mode the image area is described by entering the coordinates
- for the center of the rectangle, and its magnification factor. Usually
- only these three values are needed, but the user can also specify the amount
- that the image is stretched, rotated and skewed.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Interrupting and Resuming
-
- Fractint command keys can be loosely grouped as:
-
- o Keys which suspend calculation of the current image (if one is being
- calculated) and automatically resume after the function. <Tab>
- (display status information) and <F1> (display help), are the only
- keys in this group.
-
- o Keys which automatically trigger calculation of a new image.
- Examples: selecting a video mode (e.g. <F3>); selecting a fractal
- type using <T>; using the <X> screen to change an option such as
- maximum iterations.
-
- o Keys which do something, then wait for you to indicate what to do
- next. Examples: <M> to go to main menu; <C> to enter color cycling
- mode; <PageUp> to bring up a zoom box. After using a command in this
- group, calculation automatically resumes when you return from the
- function (e.g. <Esc> from color cycling, <PageDn> to clear zoom box).
- There are a few fractal types which cannot resume calculation, they
- are noted below. Note that after saving an image with <S>, you must
- press <Enter> to clear the "saved" message from the screen and resume.
-
- An image which is <S>aved before it completes can later be <R>estored and
- continued. The calculation is automatically resumed when you restore such
- an image.
-
- When a slow fractal type resumes after an interruption in the third
- category above, there may be a lag while nothing visible happens. This is
- because most cases of resume restart at the beginning of a screen line.
- If unsure, you can check whether calculation has resumed with the <Tab>
- key.
-
- The following fractal types cannot (currently) be resumed: plasma, 3d
- transformations, julibrot, and 3d orbital types like lorenz3d. To check
- whether resuming an image is possible, use the <Tab> key while it is
- calculating. It is resumable unless there is a note under the fractal
- type saying it is not.
-
- The {Batch Mode} section discusses how to resume in batch mode.
-
- To <R>estore and resume a "formula", "lsystem", or "ifs" type fractal your
- "formulafile", "lfile", or "ifsfile" must contain the required name.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Orbits Window, Label=HELP_ORBITS
- The <O> key turns on the Orbit mode. In this mode a cursor appears
- over the fractal. A window appears showing the orbit used in the
- calculation of the color at the point where the cursor is. Move the
- cursor around the fractal using the arrow keys or the mouse and watch
- the orbits change. Try entering the Orbits mode with View Windows (<V>)
- turned on. The following keys take effect in Orbits mode.\
- <c> Circle toggle - makes little circles with radii inversely\
- proportional to the iteration. Press <c> again to toggle\
- back to point-by-point display of orbits.\
- <l> Line toggle - connects orbits with lines (can use with <c>)\
- <n> Numbers toggle - shows complex coordinates and color number of\
- the cursor on the screen. Press <n> again to turn off numbers.\
- <p> Enter pixel coordinates directly\
- <h> Hide fractal toggle. Works only if View Windows is turned on\
- and set for a small window (such as the default size.) Hides the\
- fractal, allowing the orbit to take up the whole screen. Press\
- <h> again to uncover the fractal.\
- <s> Saves the fractal, cursor, orbits, and numbers as they appear\
- on the screen.\
- <<> or <,> Zoom orbits image smaller\
- <>> or <.> Zoom orbits image larger\
- <z> Restore default zoom.\
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=View Window, Label=HELPVIEW
-
- The <V> command is used to set the view window parameters described below.
- These parameters can be used to:\
- o Define a small window on the screen which is to contain the generated
- images. Using a small window speeds up calculation time (there are
- fewer pixels to generate). You can use a small window to explore
- quickly, then turn the view window off to recalculate the image at
- full screen size.
- o Generate an image with a different "aspect ratio"; e.g. in a square
- window or in a tall skinny rectangle.
- o View saved GIF images which have pixel dimensions different from any
- mode supported by your hardware. This use of view windows occurs
- automatically when you restore such an image.
-
- "Preview display"\
- Set this to "yes" to turn on view window, "no" for full screen display.
- While this is "no", the only view parameter which has any affect is "final
- media aspect ratio". When a view window is being used, all other Fractint
- functions continue to operate normally - you can zoom, color-cycle, and
- all the rest.
-
- "Reduction factor"\
- When an explicit size is not given, this determines the view window size,
- as a factor of the screen size. E.g. a reduction factor of 2 makes the
- window 1/2 as big as the screen in both dimensions.
-
- "Final media aspect ratio"\
- This is the height of the final image you want, divided by the width. The
- default is 0.75 because standard PC monitors have a height:width ratio of
- 3:4. E.g. set this to 2.0 for an image twice as high as it is wide. The
- effect of this parameter is visible only when "preview display" is
- enabled.
-
- "Crop starting coordinates"\
- This parameter affects what happens when you change the aspect ratio. If
- set to "no", then when you change aspect ratio, the prior image will be
- squeezed or stretched to fit into the new shape. If set to "yes", the
- prior image is "cropped" to avoid squeezing or stretching.
-
- "Explicit size"\
- Setting these to non-zero values over-rides the "reduction factor" with
- explicit sizes in pixels. If only the "x pixels" size is specified, the "y
- pixels" size is calculated automatically based on x and the aspect ratio.
-
- More about final aspect ratio: If you want to produce a high quality
- hard-copy image which is say 8" high by 5" down, based on a vertical
- "slice" of an existing image, you could use a procedure like the
- following. You'll need some method of converting a GIF image to your final
- media (slide or whatever) - Fractint can only do the whole job with a
- PostScript printer, it does not preserve aspect ratio with other printers.
- o restore the existing image\
- o set view parameters: preview to yes, reduction to anything (say 2),
- aspect ratio to 1.6, and crop to yes
- o zoom, rotate, whatever, till you get the desired final image\
- o set preview display back to no\
- o trigger final calculation in some high res disk video mode, using the
- appropriate video mode function key
- o print directly to a PostScript printer, or save the result as a GIF
- file and use external utilities to convert to hard copy.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=\"3D\" Commands
-
- See {\"3D\" Images} for details of these commands.
-
- <3>\
- Restore a saved image as a 3D "landscape", translating its color
- information into "height". You will be prompted for all KINDS of options.
-
- <#>\
- Restore in 3D and overlay the result on the current screen.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Video Mode Function Keys, Label=HELPVIDSEL
-
- Fractint supports *so* many video modes that we've given up trying to
- reserve a keyboard combination for each of them.
-
- Any supported video mode can be selected by going to the "Select Video Mode"
- screen (from main menu or by using <Delete>), then using the cursor up and down
- arrow keys and/or <PageUp> and <PageDown> keys to highlight the desired mode,
- then pressing <Enter>.
-
- Up to 39 modes can be assigned to the keys F2-F10, SF1-SF10 <Shift>+<Fn>),
- CF1-CF10 (<Ctrl>+<Fn>), and AF1-AF10 (<Alt>+<Fn>). The modes assigned to
- function keys can be invoked directly by pressing the assigned key, without
- going to the video mode selection screen.
-
- 30 key combinations can be reassigned: <F1> to <F10> combined with any of
- <Shift>, <Ctrl>, or <Alt>.
- The video modes assigned to <F2> through <F10> can not be
- changed - these are assigned to the most common video modes, which might
- be used in demonstration files or batches.
-
- To reassign a function key to a mode you often use, go to the "select
- video mode" screen, highlight the video
- mode, press the keypad (gray) <+> key, then press the desired
- function key or key combination. The new key assignment will be remembered
- for future runs.
-
- To unassign a key (so that it doesn't invoke any video
- mode), highlight the mode currently selected by the key and press the
- keypad (gray) <-> key.
-
- A note about the "select video modes" screen:
- the video modes which are displayed with a 'B' suffix in the number
- of colors are modes which have no custom programming - they use the BIOS
- and are S-L-O-W ones.
-
- See {"Video Adapter Notes"} for comments about particular adapters.
-
- See {"Disk-Video" Modes} for a description of these non-display modes.
-
- See {"Customized Video Modes\, FRACTINT.CFG"} for information about
- adding your own video modes.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Browse Commands, Label=HELPBROWSE
-
- The following keystrokes function while browsing an image:\
-
- <ARROW KEYS> Step through the outlines on the screen.\
- <ENTER> Selects the image to display.\
- <\\>,<h> Recalls the last image selected.\
- <D> Deletes the selected file.\
- <R> Renames the selected file.\
- <s> Saves the current image with the browser boxes displayed.\
- <ESC>,<l> Toggles the browse mode off.\
- <Ctrl-b> Brings up the {Browser Parameters} screen.\
-
- This is a "visual directory", here is how it works...\
- When 'L' or 'l' is pressed from a fractal display the current directory is
- searched for any saved files that are deeper zooms of the current image and
- their position shown on screen by a box (or crosshairs if the box would be
- too small). See also {Browser Parameters} for more on how this is done.
-
- One outline flashes, the selected outline can be changed by using the
- cursor keys. At the moment the outlines are selected in the order that
- they appear in your directory, so don't worry if the flashing window jumps
- all over the place!
- ~OnlineFF
- When enter is pressed, the selected image is loaded. In this mode a stack
- of the last sixteen selected filenames is maintained and the '\\' or 'h' key
- pops and loads the last image you were looking at. Using this it is
- possible to set up sequences of images that allow easy exploration of your
- favorite fractal without having to wait for recalc once the level of zoom
- gets too high, great for demos! (also useful for keeping track of just
- exactly where fract532.gif came from :-) )
-
- You can also use this facility to tidy up your disk: by typing UPPER CASE 'D'
- when a file is selected the browser will delete the file for you, after
- making sure that you really mean it, you must reply to the "are you sure"
- prompts with an UPPER CASE 'Y' and nothing else, otherwise the command is
- ignored. Just to make absolutely sure you don't accidentally wipe out the
- fruits of many hours of cpu time the default setting is to have the browser
- prompt you twice, you can disable the second prompt within the parameters
- screen, however, if you're feeling overconfident :-).
-
- To complement the Delete function there is a rename function, use the UPPER
- CASE 'R' key for this. You need to enter the FULL new file name, no .GIF is
- implied.
-
- It is possible to save the current image along with all of the displayed
- boxes indicating subimages by pressing the 's' key. This exits the browse
- mode to save the image and the boxes become a permanent part of the image.
- Currently, the screen image ends up with stray dots colored after it is
- saved.
-
- Esc backs out of image selecting mode.\
-
- To find the next outer image, zoom in using page_up, press control_enter,
- ignore the generating image, and press control_L to start browsing. Whatever
- is boxed around the center is the next outer image!
- ~OnlineFF
- POSSIBLE ERRORS:
-
- "Sorry..I can't find anything"\
- The browser can't locate any files which match the file name mask.
- See {Browser Parameters} This is also displayed if you have less than
- 10K of far memory free when you run Fractint.
-
- "Sorry.... no more space"\
- At the moment the browser can only cope with 450 sub images at one time.
- Any subsequent images are ignored, make sure that the minimum image size
- isn't set too small on the parameters screen.
-
- "Sorry .... out of memory"\
- The browser has run out of far memory in which to store the pixels covered by
- the sub image boxes. Try again with the main image at lower resolution,
- and/or reduce the number of TSRs resident in memory when you start Fractint.
-
- "Sorry.... read only file, can't delete"/ "can't rename"\
- The file which you were trying to delete or rename has the read only
- attribute set, you'll need to reset this with your operating system before
- you can get rid of it.
-
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Browser Parameters, Label=HELPBRWSPARMS
-
- This Screen enables you to control Fractints built in file browsing utility.
- If you don't know what that is see {Browse Commands}. This screen is
- selected with <Ctrl-B> from just about anywhere.
-
- "Autobrowsing"\
- Select yes if you want the loaded image to be scanned for sub images
- immediately without pressing 'L' every time.
-
- "Ask about GIF video mode"\
- Allows turning on and off the display of the video mode table when loading
- GIFs. This has the same effect as the askvideo= command.
-
- "Type/Parm check"\
- Select whether the browser tests for fractal type or parms when deciding
- whether a file is a sub image of the current screen or not. DISABLE WITH
- CAUTION! or things could get confusing. These tests can be switched off
- to allow such situations as wishing to display old images that were
- generated using a formula type which is now implemented as a built in
- fractal type.
- ~OnlineFF
- "Confirm deletes"\
- Set this to No if you get fed up with the double prompting that the browser
- gives when deleting a file. It won't get rid of the first prompt however.
-
- "Smallest window"\
- This parameter determines how small the image would have to be onscreen
- before it decides not to include it in the selection of files. The size
- is entered in decimal pixels so, for instance, this could be set to 0.2 to
- allow images that are up to around three maximum zooms away (depending on
- the current video resolution) to be loaded instantly. Set this to 0 to
- enable all sub images to be detected. This can lead to a very cluttered
- screen! The primary use is in conjunction with the search file mask (see
- below) to allow location of high magnification images within an overall
- view (like the whole Mset ).
-
- "Smallest box"\
- This determines when the image location is shown as crosshairs rather than
- a rather small box. Set this according to how good your eyesight is
- (probably worse than before you started staring at fractals all the time :-))
- or the resolution of your screen. WARNING the crosshairs routine centers
- the cursor on one corner of the image box at the moment so this looks
- misleading if set too large.
- ~OnlineFF
- "Search Mask"\
- Sets the file name pattern which the browser searches, this can be used
- to search out the location of a file by setting this to the filename and
- setting smallest image to 0 (see above).
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=RDS Commands, Label=RDSKEYS
- The following keystrokes function while viewing an RDS image:\
-
- <Enter> or <Space> -- Toggle calibration bars on and off.\
- <Ctrl-s> or <k> -- Return to RDS Parameters Screen.\
- <s> -- Save RDS image, then restore original.\
- <c>, <+>, <-> -- Color cycle RDS image.\
- Other keys -- Exit RDS mode, restore original image, and pass\
- keystroke on to main menu.\
-
- For more about RDS, see {Random Dot Stereograms (RDS)}
- ;
- ;
- ;
-
- ~Topic=Hints
-
- Remember, you do NOT have to wait for the program to finish a full screen
- display before entering a command. If you see an interesting spot you want
- to zoom in on while the screen is half-done, don't wait -- do it! If you
- think after seeing the first few lines that another video mode would look
- better, go ahead -- Fractint will shift modes and start the redraw at
- once. When it finishes a display, it beeps and waits for your next
- command.
-
- In general, the most interesting areas are the "border" areas where the
- colors are changing rapidly. Zoom in on them for the best results. The
- first Mandelbrot-set (default) fractal image has a large, solid-colored
- interior that is the slowest to display; there's nothing to be seen by
- zooming there.
-
- Plotting time is directly proportional to the number of pixels in a
- screen, and hence increases with the resolution of the video mode.
- You may want to start in a low-resolution mode for quick progress while
- zooming in, and switch to a higher-resolution mode
- when things get interesting. Or use the
- solid guessing mode and pre-empt with
- a zoom before it finishes. Plotting time also varies with the maximum
- iteration setting, the fractal type, and your choice of drawing mode.
- Solid-guessing (the default) is fastest, but it can be wrong:
- perfectionists will want to use dual-pass mode (its first-pass preview is
- handy if you might zoom pre-emptively) or single-pass mode.
-
- When you start systematically exploring, you can save time (and hey, every
- little bit helps -- these "objects" are INFINITE, remember!) by <S>aving
- your last screen in a session to a file, and then going straight to it the
- next time by using the command FRACTINT FRACTxxx (the .GIF extension is
- assumed), or by starting Fractint normally and then using the <R> command
- to reload the saved file. Or you could hit <B> to create a parameter file
- entry with the "recipe" for a given image, and next time use the <@>
- command to re-plot it.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Fractint on Unix
-
- Fractint has been ported to Unix to run under X Windows. This version is
- called "Xfractint". Xfractint may be obtained by anonymous ftp to
- sprite.Berkeley.EDU, in the file xfractnnn.shar.Z.
-
- Xfractint is still under development and is not as reliable as the IBM PC
- version.
-
- Contact Ken Shirriff (shirriff@cs.Berkeley.EDU) for information on Xfractint.
-
- Xfractint is a straight port of the IBM PC version. Thus, it uses the
- IBM user interface. If you do not have function keys, or Xfractint does
- not accept them from your keyboard, use the following key mappings:
-
- IBM Unix\
- F1 to F10 Shift-1 to Shift-0\
- INSERT I\
- DELETE D\
- PAGE_UP U\
- PAGE_DOWN N\
- LEFT_ARROW H\
- RIGHT_ARROW L\
- UP_ARROW K\
- DOWN_ARROW J\
- HOME O\
- END E\
- CTL_PLUS \}\
- CTL_MINUS \{
-
- Xfractint takes the following options:
-
- -onroot\
- Puts the image on the root window.
-
- -fast\
- Uses a faster drawing technique.
-
- -disk\
- Uses disk video.
-
- -geometry WxH[\{+-X}\{+-Y}]\
- Changes the geometry of the image window.
-
- -display displayname\
- Specifies the X11 display to use.
-
- -private\
- Allocates the entire colormap (i.e. more colors).
-
- -share\
- Shares the current colormap.
-
- -fixcolors n\
- Uses only n colors.
-
- -slowdisplay\
- Prevents xfractint from hanging on the title page with slow displays.
-
- -simple\
- Uses simpler keyboard handling, which makes debugging easier.
-
- Common problems:
-
- If you get the message "Couldn't find fractint.hlp", you can\
- a) Do "setenv FRACTDIR /foo", replacing /foo with the directory containing
- fractint.hlp.\
- b) Run xfractint from the directory containing fractint.hlp, or\
- c) Copy fractint.hlp to /usr/local/bin/X11/fractint
-
- If you get the message "Invalid help signature", the problem is due to
- byteorder. You are probably using a Sun help file on a Dec machine or
- vice versa.
-
- If xfractint doesn't accept input, try typing into both the graphics window
- and the text window. On some systems, only one of these works.
-
- If you are using Openwindows and can't get xfractint to accept input, add
- to your .Xdefaults file:\
- OpenWindows.FocusLenience: True
-
- If you cannot view the GIFs that xfractint creates, the problem is that
- xfractint creates GIF89a format and your viewer probably only handles
- GIF87a format. Run "xfractint gif87a=y" to produce GIF87a format.
-
- Because many shifted characters are used to simulate IBM keys, you can't
- enter capitalized filenames.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Color Cycling Commands, Label=@ColorCycling
-
- ~Doc-
- See {=HELPCYCLING Color Cycling Command Summary} for a summary of commands.
-
- ~Doc+
- Color-cycling mode is entered with the 'c', '+', or '-' keys from an image,
- or with the 'c' key from Palette-Editing mode.
-
- The color-cycling commands are available ONLY for VGA adapters and EGA
- adapters in 640x350x16 mode. You can also enter color-cycling while
- using a disk-video mode, to load or save a palette - other functions are
- not supported in disk-video.
-
- Note that the colors available on an EGA adapter (16 colors at a
- time out of a palette of 64) are limited compared to those of VGA, super-
- VGA, and MCGA (16 or 256 colors at a time out of a palette of 262,144). So
- color-cycling in general looks a LOT better in the latter modes. Also,
- because of the EGA palette restrictions, some commands are not available
- with EGA adapters.
-
- Color cycling applies to the color numbers selected by the "cyclerange="
- command line parameter (also changeable via the <Y> options screen and via
- the palette editor). By default, color numbers 1 to 255 inclusive are
- cycled. On some images you might want to set "inside=0" (<X> options or
- command line parameter) to exclude the "lake" from color cycling.
-
- When you are in color-cycling mode, you will either see the screen colors
- cycling, or will see a white "overscan" border when paused, as a reminder
- that you are still in this mode. The keyboard commands available once
- you've entered color-cycling. are described below.
-
- <F1>\
- Bring up a HELP screen with commands specific to color cycling mode.
-
- <Esc>\
- Leave color-cycling mode.
-
- <Home>\
- Restore original palette.
-
- <+> or <->\
- Begin cycling the palette by shifting each color to the next "contour."
- <+> cycles the colors in one direction, <-> in the other.
-
- '<' or '>'\
- Force a color-cycling pause, disable random colorizing, and single-step
- through a one color-cycle. For "fine-tuning" your image colors.
-
- Cursor up/down\
- Increase/decrease the cycling speed. High speeds may cause a harmless
- flicker at the top of the screen.
-
- <F2> through <F10>\
- Switches from simple rotation to color selection using randomly generated
- color bands of short (F2) to long (F10) duration.
-
- <1> through <9>\
- Causes the screen to be updated every 'n' color cycles (the default is 1).
- Handy for slower computers.
-
- <Enter>\
- Randomly selects a function key (F2 through F10) and then updates ALL the
- screen colors prior to displaying them for instant, random colors. Hit
- this over and over again (we do).
-
- <Spacebar>\
- Pause cycling with white overscan area. Cycling restarts with any command
- key (including another spacebar).
-
- <Shift><F1>-<F10>\
- Pause cycling and reset the palette to a preset two color "straight"
- assignment, such as a spread from black to white. (Not for EGA)
-
- <Ctrl><F1>-<F10>\
- Pause & set a 2-color cyclical assignment, e.g. red->yellow->red (not EGA).
-
- <Alt><F1>-<F10>\
- Pause & set a 3-color cyclical assignment, e.g. green->white->blue (not EGA).
-
- <R>, <G>, <B>\
- Pause and increase the red, green, or blue component of all colors by a
- small amount (not for EGA). Note the case distinction of this vs:
-
- <r>, <g>, <b>\
- Pause and decrease the red, green, or blue component of all colors by a
- small amount (not for EGA).
-
- <D> or <A>\
- Pause and load an external color map from the files DEFAULT.MAP or
- ALTERN.MAP, supplied with the program.
-
- <L>\
- Pause and load an external color map (.MAP file). Several .MAP files are
- supplied with Fractint. See {Palette Maps}.
-
- <S>\
- Pause, prompt for a filename, and save the current palette to the named
- file (.MAP assumed). See {Palette Maps}.
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Color Cycling Command Summary, Label=HELPCYCLING
- ; This topic is online only
-
- ~Format-
- See {Color Cycling Commands} for full documentation.
-
- F1 HELP! (Enter help mode and display this screen)
- Esc Exit from color-cycling mode
- + or - (re)-set the direction of the color-cycling
- Home Restore original palette
- ~Doc-
- \27 \26 (re)-set the direction of the color-cycling (just like +/-)
- \24 \25 SpeedUp/SlowDown the color cycling process
- ~Doc+,Online-
- Right/Left Arrow (re)-set the direction of the color-cycling (just like +/-)
- Up/Down Arrow SpeedUp/SlowDown the color cycling process
- ~Online+
- F2 thru F10 Select Short--Medium--Long (randomly-generated) color bands
- 1 thru 9 Cycle through 'nn' colors between screen updates (default=1)
- Enter Randomly (re)-select all new colors [TRY THIS ONE!]
- Spacebar Pause until another key is hit
- < or > Pause and single-step through one color-cycle
- * SF1 thru AF10 Pause and reset the Palette to one of 30 fixed sequences
- d or a pause and load the palette from DEFAULT.MAP or ALTERN.MAP
- l load palette from a map file
- s save palette to a map file
- * r or g or b or force a pause and Lower (lower case) or Raise (upper case)
- * R or G or B the Red, Green, or Blue component of the fractal image
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Palette Editing Commands
-
- ~Doc-
- See {=HELPXHAIR Palette Editing Command Summary} for a summary of commands.
-
- ~Doc+
- Palette-editing mode provides a number of tools for modifying the colors
- in an image. It can be used only with MCGA or higher adapters, and only
- with 16 or 256 color video modes.
- Many thanks to Ethan Nagel for creating the palette editor.
-
- Use the <E> key to enter palette-editing mode from a displayed image or
- from the main menu.
-
- When this mode is entered, an empty palette frame is displayed. You can
- use the cursor keys to position the frame outline, and <Pageup> and
- <Pagedn> to change its size. (The upper and lower limits on the size
- depend on the current video mode.) When the frame is positioned where you
- want it, hit Enter to display the current palette in the frame.
-
- Note that the palette frame shows R(ed) G(reen) and B(lue) values for two
- color registers at the top. The active color register has a solid frame,
- the inactive register's frame is dotted. Within the active register, the
- active color component is framed.
-
- Using the commands described below, you can assign particular colors to
- the registers and manipulate them. Note that at any given time there are
- two colors "X"d - these are pre-empted by the editor to display the
- palette frame. They can be edited but the results won't be visible. You
- can change which two colors are borrowed ("X"d out) by using the <v>
- command.
-
- Once the palette frame is displayed and filled in, the following commands
- are available:
-
- <F1>\
- Bring up a HELP screen with commands specific to palette-editing mode.
-
- <Esc>\
- Leave palette-editing mode
-
- <H>\
- Hide the palette frame to see full image; the cross-hair remains visible
- and all functions remain enabled; hit <H> again to restore the palette
- display.
-
- Cursor keys\
- Move the cross-hair cursor around. In 'auto' mode (the default) the color
- under the center of the cross-hair is automatically assigned to the active
- color register. Control-Cursor keys move the cross-hair faster. A mouse
- can also be used to move around.
-
- <R> <G> <B>\
- Select the Red, Green, or Blue component of the active color register for
- subsequent commands
-
- <Insert> <Delete>\
- Select previous or next color component in active register
-
- <+> <->\
- Increase or decrease the active color component value by 1 Numeric keypad
- (gray) + and - keys do the same.
-
- <Pageup> <Pagedn>\
- Increase or decrease the active color component value by 5; Moving the
- mouse up/down with left button held is the same
-
- <0> <1> <2> <3> <4> <5>\
- Set the active color component's value to 0 10 20 ... 60
-
- <Space>\
- Select the other color register as the active one. In the default 'auto'
- mode this results in the now-inactive register being set to remember the
- color under the cursor, and the now-active register changing from whatever
- it had previously remembered to now follow the color.
-
- <,> <.>\
- Rotate the palette one step. By default colors 1 through 255 inclusive
- are rotated. This range can be over-ridden with the "cyclerange"
- parameter, the <Y> options screen, or the <O> command described below.
-
- "<" ">"\
- Rotate the palette continuously (until next keystroke)
-
- <O>\
- Set the color cycling range to the range of colors currently defined by
- the color registers.
-
- <C>\
- Enter Color-Cycling Mode. When you invoke color-cycling from here, it
- will subsequently return to palette-editing when you <Esc> from it.
- See {Color Cycling Commands}.
-
- <=>\
- Create a smoothly shaded range of colors between the colors selected by
- the two color registers.
-
- <M>\
- Specify a gamma value for the shading created by <=>.
-
- <D>\
- Duplicate the inactive color register's values to the active color
- register.
-
- <T>\
- Stripe-shade - create a smoothly shaded range of colors between the two
- color registers, setting only every Nth register. After hitting <T>, hit
- a numeric key from 2 to 9 to specify N. For example, if you press <T>
- <3>, smooth shading is done between the two color registers, affecting
- only every 3rd color between them. The other colors between them remain
- unchanged.
-
- <W>\
- Convert current palette to gray-scale. (If the <X> or <Y> exclude ranges
- described later are in force, only the active range of colors is converted
- to gray-scale.)
-
- <Shift-F2> ... <Shift-F9>\
- Store the current palette in a temporary save area associated with the
- function key. The temporary save palettes are useful for quickly
- comparing different palettes or the effect of some changes - see next
- command. The temporary palettes are only remembered until you exit from
- palette-editing mode.
-
- <F2> ... <F9>\
- Restore the palette from a temporary save area. If you haven't previously
- saved a palette for the function key, you'll get a simple grey scale.
-
- <L>\
- Pause and load an external color map (.MAP file). See {Palette Maps}.
-
- <S>\
- Pause, prompt for a filename, and save the current palette to the named
- file (.MAP assumed). See {Palette Maps}.
-
- <I>\
- Invert frame colors. With some colors the palette is easier to see when
- the frame colors are interchanged.
- ~OnlineFF
- <\\>\
- Move or resize the palette frame. The frame outline is drawn - it can
- then be repositioned and sized with the cursor keys, <Pageup> and
- <Pagedn>, just as was done when first entering palette-editing mode. Hit
- Enter when done moving/sizing.
-
- <V>\
- Use the colors currently selected by the two color registers for the
- palette editor's frame. When palette editing mode is entered, the last
- two colors are "X"d out for use by the palette editor; this command can be
- used to replace the default with two other color numbers.
-
- <A>\
- Toggle 'auto' mode on or off. When on (the default), the active color
- register follows the cursor; when off, <Enter> must be pressed to set the
- active register to the color under the cursor.
-
- <Enter>\
- Only useful when 'auto' is off, as described above; double clicking the
- left mouse button is the same as Enter.
-
- <X>\
- Toggle 'exclude' mode on or off - when toggled on, only those image pixels
- which match the active color are displayed.
-
- <Y>\
- Toggle 'exclude' range on or off - similar to <X>, but all pixels matching
- colors in the range of the two color registers are displayed.
-
- <N>\
- Make a negative color palette - will convert only current color if in 'x'
- mode or range between editors in 'y' mode or entire palette if in "normal"
- mode.
-
- <!>\
- <@>\
- <#>\
- Swap R<->G, G<->B, and R<->B columns. These keys are shifted 1, 2, and 3,
- which you may find easier to remember.
-
- <U>\
- Undoes the last palette editor command. Will undo all the way to the
- beginning of the current session.
- ~OnlineFF
- <E>
- Redoes the undone palette editor commands.
-
- <F>\
- Toggles "Freestyle mode" on and off (Freestyle mode changes a range of
- palette values smoothly from a center value outward).
- With your cursor inside the palette box, press the <F> key to enter
- Freestyle mode. A default range of colors will be selected for you
- centered at the cursor (the ends of the color range are noted by putting
- dashed lines around the corresponding palette values). While in Freestyle
- mode:
-
- Moving the mouse changes the location of the range of colors that are
- affected.
-
- Control-Insert/Delete or the shifted-right-mouse-button changes the
- size of the affected palette range.
-
- The normal color editing keys (R,G,B,1-6, etc) set the central color
- of the affected palette range.
- ~OnlineFF
- Pressing ENTER or double-clicking the left mouse button makes the
- palette changes permanent (if you don't perform this step, any
- palette changes disappear when you press the <F> key again to exit
- freestyle mode).
- ;
- ;
- ;
- ~Topic=Palette Editing Command Summary, Label=HELPXHAIR
- ; This topic is online only.
-
- ~Format-
- See {Palette Editing Commands} for full documentation.
-
- F1 HELP! (Enter help mode and display this screen)
- Esc Exit from palette editing mode
- h Hide/unhide the palette frame
- Cursor keys Move the cross-hair cursor around. Control-Cursor keys
- move faster. A mouse can also be used to move around.
- r or g or b Select the the Red, Green, or Blue component of the
- active color register for subsequent commands
- Insert or Delete Select previous or next color component in active register
- + or - Increase or decrease the active color component by 1
- Pageup or Pagedn Increase or decrease the active color component by 5;
- Moving the mouse up/down with left button held is the same
- 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Set active color component to 0 10 20 ... 60
- Space Select the other color register as the active one
- , or . Rotate the palette one step
- < or > Rotate the palette continuously (until next keystroke)
- c Enter Color-Cycling Mode (see {=HELPCYCLING Color Cycling Commands})
- = Create a smoothly shaded range of colors
- m Set the gamma value for '='.
- ~FF
- d Duplicate the inactive color register in active color
- t Stripe-shade; after hitting 't', hit a number from 2 to 9
- which is used as stripe width
- Shift-F2,F3,..F9 Store the current palette in a temporary save area
- associated with the function key
- F2,F3,...,F9 Restore the palette from a temporary save area
- w Convert palette (or current exclude range) to gray-scale
- \\ Move or resize the palette frame
- i Invert frame colors, useful with dark colors
- a Toggle 'auto' mode on or off - when on, the active color
- register follows the cursor; when off, Enter must be hit
- to set the register to the color under the cursor
- Enter Only useful when 'auto' is off, as described above; double
- clicking the left mouse button is the same as Enter
- x Toggle 'exclude' mode on or off
- y Toggle 'exclude' range on or off
- o Set the 'cyclerange' (range affected by color cycling
- commands) to the range of the two registers
- n Make a negative color palette
- u Undoes the last command
- e Redoes the last undone command
- ~FF
- ! Swap red and green columns
- @ Swap green and blue columns
- # Swap red and blue columns
- f Toggle Freestyle Palette-Editing Mode. See
- {Palette Editing Commands} for details.
- ;
- ;
- ; Fractal Types:
- ~Include help2.src
- ;
- ; Doodads, 3D:
- ~Include help3.src
- ;
- ; Parameters, Video Adapters & Modes:
- ~Include help4.src
- ;
- ; The rest:
- ~Include help5.src
- ;
- ;