RISC DISC 2/RISC_DISC_2.iso/pd_share/program/sprtools/readme

Text File | 1995-03-10 | 9.1 KB | 205 lines

SPRtools
========

SPRtools block 1c release (10-Mar-1995).
(C) 1989-1995 DEEJ Technology PLC

Contents
--------
SPRtools provides bitmap format conversion and image processing utilities,
designed to run on RISC OS and UNIX platforms.

This release contains the following tools:-

bmp2spr  : Version 3.00 (02-Feb-1995) : Windows 3 / OS2 BMP to sprite
bmp_info : Version 3.00 (02-Feb-1995) : Windows 3 / OS2 BMP file information
chmode   : Version 1.50 (21-Jun-1993) : Sprite change mode
clr2spr  : Version 2.10 (15-Jul-1994) : !Translator Clear format to Sprite
clr_info : Version 2.01 (25-Aug-1993) : !Translator Clear file information
ras2spr  : Version 2.50 (17-Jun-1994) : Sun raster format to Sprite
ras_info : Version 2.00 (16-Nov-1993) : Sun raster file information
sb2spr   : Version 2.00 (24-Jun-1993) : HP Starbase format to Sprite
sb_info  : Version 2.00 (23-Aug-1993) : HP Starbase file information
spr2bmp  : Version 3.00 (02-Feb-1995) : Sprite to Windows 3 BMP
spr2clr  : Version 2.00 (27-Aug-1993) : Sprite to !Translator Clear format
spr2ras  : Version 2.00 (18-Nov-1993) : Sprite to Sun raster format
spr2sb   : Version 5.00 (23-Aug-1993) : Sprite to HP Starbase format
spr2tga  : Version 2.00 (22-Aug-1993) : Sprite to Targa TGA format
spr2xbm  : Version 5.01 (25-Nov-1993) : Sprite to X Windows bitmap/pixmap
spr2xwd  : Version 1.50 (23-Aug-1993) : Sprite to X Windows Display format
spr3spr  : Version 1.10 (15-Jul-1994) : Sprite separation utility
spr_diff : Version 1.00 (20-Oct-1993) : Sprite differencing utility
spr_fsi  : Version 1.10 (20-Apr-1994) : Sprite image processing tool
spr_info : Version 4.02 (13-Jan-1994) : Sprite information and statistics
spr_pal  : Version 2.12 (20-Aug-1993) : Sprite palette image creator
tga2spr  : Version 2.00 (23-Aug-1993) : Targa TGA format to Sprite
tga_info : Version 2.50 (22-Aug-1993) : Targa TGA file information
xwd2spr  : Version 1.60 (18-Nov-1993) : X Windows Display format to Sprite
xwd_info : Version 1.50 (23-Aug-1993) : X Windows Display file information


License
-------
SPRtools are and remain the copyright of DEEJ Technology PLC.

The unmodified distribution package may be freely copied by users and
distributed by organisations as long it remains free of charge (except for the
minimum of distribution media costs), and is not bundled with any commercial
product, either software or in the form of a disc based magazine. It may be
placed on builtin boards or archive servers without restriction.

Only the original distrubtion packages can be passed on, copying of parts
of the package other than described in the installation is not permmited.
The code may be modified by the user, but must not be passed on, all
changes should be notified to the address at the end of this document.
No code may be used in commercial products with out prior and express
permission of DEEJ Technology PLC.

SPRtools is not supplied with WARRANTY of any kind either expressed or implied.
The author is under no obligation to provide support, corrections or
enhancements, any supplied are purely on a good will basis.


Distribution
------------
SPRtools is distributed in to forms; a spark archive for RISC OS, and a
compressed tar file for UNIX. Both forms contain the same files with
differing filenames to conform to RISC OS and UNIX conventions. Scripts
are provided to convert between RISC OS and UNIX filenames.

Directories contained in the Release

    bin    - contains executables when built
    docs    - documentation on SPRtools
    riscos    - RISC OS specific files, makefile, plus directories
            basic     - BASIC files for creating 24 bit sprites
            comndcfg - configuration files for !ComndCTRL
            obey     - scripts for RISC OS / UNIX transferring
    unix    - UNIX specific file, including makefiles
    sprites - test sprite files
    source    - contains source files - Tar release only
    c,h,o   - contains source files - Archive release only


Installation
------------
Spark archive on RISC OS
        Create a directory called SPRtools in the desired location
        on your harddisc. Using !Spark, !SparkFS, !ArcFS (or other
        popular archive handling tools) to copy the contents of
        the archive to the SPRtools directory.

Spark archive on UNIX
        First install the archive on a RISC OS machine as described
        above. Copy the script SPRtools.riscos.obey.tounix to the
        SPRtools directory. Place an empty  DOS formatted disc (720K
        should be sufficient for this release, but 1.44M may be
        necessary) in drive 0, and double click on the tounix script.
        Files will be copied on to the DOS disc, from where they can
        be copied to a UNIX system, either directly or via a NFS PC.

Tar file on UNIX
        Create a directory called sprtools in the desired location.
        Extract the contents of the tar file into this directory
        (using 'tar xvf sprtools.tar' after uudecoding and uncomp-
        ressing).

Tar file on RISC OS
        If you have access to !SparkFS (or another RISC OS program
        that can handle tar files), make a directory called SPRtools
        and copy the tar file in to it (the tar file can be in any
        compressed or uuencoded form), the tarfile must be called
        'sprtools/t' (case is important). Extract just the file
        sprtools/t.riscos.obey.fromtar to the SPRtools directory
        and set its file type to TaskObey. Running this script will
        extract and install the files, and set the file types.

        If you do not have !SparkFS, first install on UNIX as
        described above. The sprtools directory can then be copied
        to DOS disc (720K should be sufficient for this release, but
        1.44M may be necessary), either directly or via a NFS PC.
        On a RISC OS machine, place the DOS disc in drive zero and
        create a directory called SPRtools. Copy just the file
        sprtools.riscos.obey.fromunix into this directory, set its
        file type to TaskObey and double click to install the files.

Building
--------
RISC OS        Copy the file SPRtools.riscos.makefile to the SPRtools
        directory. Ensure that C$path is set up so the Clib is
        accessible to the compiler. Build SPRtools using AMU
        (or Make) using DDE or from the command line.

UNIX        First read the readme file in sprtools/unix, choose the
        most appropriate make file for your system and copy
        it to sprtools/source/makefile. Change to the sprtools/source
        directory and type 'make'.

Running
-------
RISC OS        Place the SPRtools.bin directory on your Run$Path. This
        should be done by placing a line in your desktop boot file.
        e.g. Set Run$Path %,[...].,adfs::HardDisc.SPRtools.bin.
        where [...] are a list of comma separated directories (ending
        in '.') that you also want on the run path.

        SPRtools may then be run form the command line, or a task
        window. A full RISC OS interface to the tools is provided
        in conjunction with !ComndCTRL, this enables input and
        files to be selected by dragging, options set using menus,
                and the correct filetype allocated to image files produced.
        See SPRtools/riscos/comndcfg/readme for more details.

        When dealing with very big sprites a large amount of memory
        will be required, all SPRtools can be run under VIRTUAL.
        VIRTUAL is available from many PD sources and enables
        limited virtual memory support in taskwindows.

UNIX        Place the sprtools/bin directory on your $PATH. For csh
        add the following to your .cshrc after any other 'set $paths's.
        e.g. set path=($path $HOME/sprtools/bin)

        Under csh type 'rehash', you will then be able to access
        SPRtools from any directory. Under UNIX shells several
        operations may be chained together using pipes.

        e.g. to display Windows BMP on X windows
             bmp2spr windows.bmp | spr2xwd | xwud

        e.g. to convert a sprite to a X window backdrop
             spr_fsi -bpp 1 -scale 1280,1024 -in sprite | spr2xbm >bits
             xsetroot -fg white -bg black -bitmap bits

General        Full documentation is provided in the Docs directory.


Information
-----------
SPRtools is continually being developed and improved. Please report any
problems or suggestions for improvements / new features to the address
below.

It is hoped that RISC OS and X windows front end applications built around
SPRtools will be available sometime in 1995.

If SPRtools is required to be converted to any platforms not covered
in the sprtools/unix/readme please send the output from the endian program,
and I will attempt to provide the required update. Alternatively if you
develop a new makefile and machine definitions, please send all changes to
me so they can be integrated into the official release version.

The DEEJ Technology application !CommndCTRL and module DEEJmodes are
required by some files in the riscos directory. These are commercial products,
details are available by requesting the "DEEJ Technology Product Guide" from
the address below.

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   |_/ |__ |__ \_|      |  |__ \_ |  | | \| \_/ |_ \_/ \_|  |      |   |_ \_
   T E C H N O L O G Y  .  I N T E L L I G E N C E  .  A P P L I C A T I O N

 David J. Ruck BSc              17 Apple Tree Close, Churchdown, Glos. England
 Director of Software Services  [phone] : [e-mail] : GL3 1JT
______________________________________________________________________________