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PCX SHOW A Presentation Software System This documentation explains how to use the PCX-Show Software System on MS-DOS microcomputers. PCX-Show is provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties ofmerchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. DECISIONS Software and it's officers and employees shall have no responsibility or liability to you or any other person, persons, or entity with respect to loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by use of PCX-Show and/or its documentation. The computer files and this book are protected by United States Copyright law. Copyright 1990/91, DECISIONS Software Music Research Incorporated Published by: DECISIONS Software P.O. Box 31418 Phoenix, AZ 85046 All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION PCX-SHOW is a highly stylized screen presentation program from DECISIONS Software of Phoenix, Arizona. The program allows the user to create customized screen presentations using pictures/screens saved or captured in the PCX file format. PCX-SHOW features include multiple screen fades and segues, kaleidoscope screen effects, text display using customized and computer fonts, border and screen clearing effects and more. The PCX file format is one of the single most used graphics file formats in the DOS world. It is the native format of the PC Paintbrush series of programs and was developed by ZSoft Corporation. Most of the major graphics programs allow the importing and/or exporting of graphics screens in this format. The files included in this version are: PCXSHO.EXE - PCX-Show program PCXSHOW.SPT - Demonstration Script File for VGA systems HELV12.FNT - 12pt Helvetica Custom Font *.PCX - Various PCX Screen files for demo PCXSHO.DOC - This documentation file ORDER.FRM - PCX-SHOW Order form WMTELL*.COM - Music Interludes for PCX-SHOW PCX-SHOW Demonstration Show A demonstration of many of the features of PCX-SHOW is included in this version. To view the demo, change to the directory where the PCX-SHOW files are stored. From that directory type PCXSHO at the DOS prompt and press the Enter key. In a few seconds, the demonstration program will begin. If you haven't viewed the demonstration of PCX-SHOW yet, we suggest you do so after following the installation procedures outlined in the next chapter. The demo will give you a good overview of the capabilities of the program. To see the demo show, change to the directory where you have installed your PCX-SHOW files. At the prompt type: PCXSHO PCXSHOW.SPT and press the Enter key. The program will load and run the demonstration files. All orders and inquiries should be directed to: DECISIONS Software P.O. Box 31418 Phoenix, AZ 85046 (602)-992-0310 REQUIREMENTS Minimum hardware requirements for using PCX-SHOW are an IBM computer (PC, XT, AT, PS/2) or compatible, DOS 2.xx or higher, 348K RAM memory and a EGA, VGA or SVGA graphics card with 256K Video Memory. A printer and color monitor are desirable but not required. PCX-SHOW uses the 640 x 350 resolution EGA screen for it's display screen by default. This means that presentations may be viewed on systems that contain EGA, VGA and Super VGA graphics cards. You may change to a VGA screen by using the VGA16 and VGA256 script commands. It is important to have an understanding of how PCX-SHOW stores and displays PCX files. To accomplish the nifty screen fades and segues, PCX-SHOW must store at least one screen file in background screen memory while displaying another visual (or foreground) screen. The number of screens you store in the background at any one time depends on the memory available to your system. To use the features of the program, you only need memory for two screens. . . the foreground, visible screen and one background screen. Some graphics modes have the ability to store more than one complete graphics screen in memory. One screen is the foreground screen. . . that is the visible screen. The others are considered background screens. When PCX-SHOW loads a PCX file, it stores it in memory as a background screen. With an EGA graphic adapter, there is sufficient memory to store at least two EGA graphic screens. Many VGA graphics adapters had only 256K of memory. This is not enough memory to store two of it's high resolution screens. One VGA screen (640x480) requires 132K. Two screens require 264K. That exceeds the video memory the VGA adapter has to work with. Consequently we chose the most universally compatible video mode available. This means that any system equipped with a EGA graphics card and monitor or higher may use PCX-SHOW. In VGA mode you may display any 650 x 480 screens but you will only be able to use the FADES 20 or VGA256 [Filename] script command. There is NO limit to the total number of PCX screen files you may use in a presentation. For those with limited memory, we have included a CLEAR command. When you have displayed a screen you may clear the memory that was required for its display and then load a new screen file. You will notice in the demo that we seldom load more than two screens at any one time. The maximum size of a single PCX file to be loaded with PCX-SHOW is 128K. USING PCX-SHOW You interface your PCX formatted screens with PCX-SHOW using a proprietary Script format. The Script format is simply a set of one or two word commands that tells PCX-SHOW what you want to do. An example of a Script file is the demonstration file PCXSHOW.SPT. Take a look at this file in the Show Editor or any editor/word processor that is able to load and read ASCII based text files. Once you have created or captured the PCX screens you wish to include, you need to tell PCX-SHOW when and how you want them displayed. You may also use the Script to display text (using custom or computer fonts), pop-up window boxes, create kaleidoscope screens, clear screens, draw screen borders and more. You may create the Script in SHOWEDIT.EXE or any editor/word processor that can save a file in standard ASCII format. Once you've completed your Script you can name it using any conventional DOS characters. To see the show at the DOS prompt you would type: PCXSHO [Filename.Ext] and then press the Enter key. The Script file and PCXSHO.EXE file must be in the same drive/directory. If no file name is given when PCXSHO is entered at the DOS prompt, the program looks for a default file named PCXSHOW.SPT. That's what we named our demo Script. If PCX-SHOW can't find the Script file it will tell you. Let's say you created a Script file named MYSHOW.SHW and you want to view the show. From the DOS prompt you type: PCXSHO MYSHOW.SHW and press the Enter key. Be sure there is a space between PCXSHO and your Script file name. You may, of course, add to, change or delete lines/commands in your Script file at any time. SCRIPT COMMANDS The following is a review of all the Script commands available in PCX-SHOW. Script files may be prepared in any editor/word processor that is able to save files in the ASCII format. Each Script command must be on a separate line. Any combination of upper and lower case letters are allowed. The proper syntax outlined below must be followed. We have grouped the commands in six main categories. They are: 1. File Commands 2. Fades/Segues & Special Effects 3. Clearing the Screen 4. Kaleidoscope Commands 5. Text Display 6. Miscellaneous Commands 1. File Commands: There are three file commands. They are LOAD, CLEAR and SEND. LOAD [Filename.Ext] [Number] ============================ This script command is used to load a PCX screen file. The LOAD command is followed by the filename and extension. Finally, you must assign that file a number. For example, if you wanted to load a PCX file named MYFILE and assign it as file number one the syntax would be: LOAD MYFILE.PCX 1 You may also designate a drive and directory if your PCX file is not in the same directory as the PCXSHOW.EXE program. For example, if your file is located on drive C in a directory named PCXPICS, then the proper syntax would be: LOAD C:\PCXPICS\MYFILE.PCX 1 Be sure there is a space between each element of the command. The LOAD command does not display the file on screen, but simply sends the information to memory. To display a file, you use the SEND and FADES script commands after the LOAD command. CLEAR [Number] ============== This command is the opposite of the LOAD command. It removes the PCX screen file from memory. To remove the file from memory in the example cited above the proper syntax would be: CLEAR 1 SEND [Number] ============= This command identifies the loaded PCX screen file you wish manipulate by it's number. The SEND command is used just prior to identifying how you want the screen displayed. The actual command to display the screen is the FADES command. We will next examine the multiple fades available in the category named Fades & Seques and Special Effects. 2. Fades/Seques and Special Effects: These are commands that actually display your loaded PCX screen file on to your screen. For Fades/Seques there is one command named FADES. The proper syntax for this command is: FADES [Number] ============== There are 24 possible fade/segue numbers that follow the FADES command. Here is a list of the screen fade numbers and the type of fade/segue it invokes. 1 - Instant on (the entire PCX screen pops on instantaneously). 2 - Implode 3 - Puzzle Pieces 4 - Diagonal Wipe 5 - Horizontal Squeeze 6 - Explode 7 - Fast Fade 8 - Weave 9 - Slide Up 10 - Slide Right 11 - Slide Left 12 - Slide Down 13 - Random Fade 14 - Slow Fade Down 15 - Split Screen Fade 16 - Blinds 1 17 - Blinds 2 18 - Blinds 3 19 - Blinds 4 20 - VGA (650x480) screen only 21 - Open Curtain 22 - Close Curtain 23 - Pour Picture Top to Bottom 24 - Snake Special Effects: There are four special effects commands. They are: SHAKE [Times] ============= This command literally causes the picture on your screen to shake up and down. The [Times] parameter is the length of time you wish the screen to shake. FLIP ==== This command will turn the displayed picture upside down (180 degrees). MIRROR1 ======= This command will display a mirror image of the top half of the screen on the bottom half of the screen. MIRROR2 ======= This command will display a mirror image of the bottom half of the screen on the top half of the screen. 3. Clearing the Screen: There is one command in this category and that is CLR. The proper syntax is: CLR [Fade Number],[Color Number] ================================ The CLR script command clears the screen. It fills the screen with blank characters using one of 10 different fade techniques. In addition, you may designate one of 16 background colors for the screen. The following is a list of screen clear fade numbers and the type they invoke: 1 - Instant Screen Clear 2 - Imploding Screen Clear 3 - Puzzle Piece Screen Clear 4 - Diagonal Wipe Screen Clear 5 - Exploding Screen Clear 6 - Blinds Screen Clear 7 - Open Curtain 8 - Close Curtain 9 - Split Vertical 10 - Snake The following list contains the Color Numbers used in PCX-SHOW. (See PAL command under Miscellanous commands for other color information) 0 - Black 8 - Dark Gray 1 - Blue 9 - Bright Blue 2 - Green 10 - Bright Green 3 - Cyan 11 - Bright Cyan 4 - Red 12 - Bright Red 5 - Purple 13 - Bright Purple 6 - Brown 14 - Yellow 7 - Gray 15 - White 4. Kaleidoscope: There is one command in this category and it is KALID. The proper syntax is: KALID [Kaleidoscope Number] =========================== The kaleidoscope feature of PCX-SHOW gives you the ability to draw colorful designs on your screen to give your presentation motion and pizazz. The Kaleidoscope Number gives you some control over the appearance of the pattern drawn. Any number between -32000 and +32000 may be used as the Kaleidoscope Number. . . or you may choose not to use any number at all. By using a number, you guarantee that the same pattern will be drawn each time you run your PCX-SHOW Script File. You may use the kaleidoscope in EGA or VGA16 screen modes. See the demo script file PCXSHOW.SPT for examples. 5. Text Display: PCX-SHOW features the ability to display any text you wish to add to any screen. The text may be in your resident computer font or in one of the four custom fonts supplied with PCX-SHOW. You may enlarge or shrink this font using the size command explained below). For your resident computer font there are two script commands used to display the desired text and an optional color command. They commands are: COLOR [Foreground Color Number,Background Color Number] ======================================================= The color command is used for foreground and background color of the text. The colors may be different than the screen color (For color selection numbers see the color chart under the CLR command). For example, the script command COLOR 15,4 would display any text in white letters on a red background. AT [Row, Column] ================ The AT script command places the desired text to begin at a specific screen row and screen column. There are 25 rows and 80 columns on each EGA screen and 30 rows and 80 columns on each VGA screen. If you wanted a line of text to appear in the upper left hand corner you would enter the following script command: AT 1,1 PRINT ["Text"] ============== This is the script command that actually displays the text on your screen. Your text must be enclosed by quotation marks. Example: If you wanted to enter text that said ACME Widget Budget Review the proper syntax would be: PRINT "ACME Widget Budget Review" PCX-SHOW also lets you display custom fonts. The commands for display text in this font are similar to the commands above. FONT [Font Filename] ==================== --- Only Helvetica 12 pt. available in Shareware Version---- COLOR [Foreground Color Number,Background Color Number] ======================================================== The custom fonts use the background color(s) of the screen. You must designate the foreground color and background color of the text using the color chart. LOCATE [Row Word,Column Word] ============================= The LOCATE script command is similar to the AT command except that there are two possible forms; one is pixel location and the other are word locations. With word approximations, words are used instead of actual row and column numbers. There are 3 Row Words and 3 Column Words. The Row Words are TOP, MIDDLE and BOTTOM. The Column Words are LEFT, MIDDLE and RIGHT. To display a line of text centered in the middle of the screen the syntax would be: LOCATE MIDDLE,MIDDLE. To display a line of text in the upper left hand corner the syntax would be: LOCATE TOP,LEFT In using pixel locations, remember there are 650 pixel columns in both EGA and VGA screen modes. In EGA mode there are 350 pixel rows and in VGA mode there are 480 pixel rows. The row numbering is 0 to 349 (or 479) and column numbering is 0 to 649. To display a line of text in the upper left hand corner using the pixel location the syntax would be: LOCATE 0,0 FPRNT ["Text"] ============== This is the script command that actually displays the custom font text on your screen. Your text must be enclosed by quotation marks. Example: If you wanted to enter text that said ACME Widget Budget Review the proper syntax would be: FPRNT "ACME Widget Budget Review" BOLD [On/Off] ============= The BOLD script command is used to bold or un-bold the custom font. ITALICS [On/Off] ================ You may italicize the custom font using this script command. SIZE [Number] ============== If you want to enlarge or shrink the size of the custom font you would use the SIZE script command. The number may be a whole or decimal number. For example, to double the size of the font the proper syntax is: SIZE 2. If you wanted the font size to be three quarters of the normal 12 point the proper syntax would be: SIZE .75 6. Miscellaneous Script Commands MOUSE [On/Off]: =============== If you have a mouse active on your computer you may use it as a pointer and a remote control device. To activate the mouse the proper syntax is MOUSE ON. When you turn the mouse on, a pointer will appear in the upper right hand corner of your screen. You may then move the pointer on your screen as you move your mouse. To make the pointer disappear the syntax is MOUSE OFF. If the mouse is connected, you may use it as a remote control device whether or not the pointer is displayed. Clicking the right and center mouse buttons move forward one screen. Clicking the left mouse button will end the show. DELAY [Seconds] =============== You may create a designated delay between screens by using the DELAY script command. If you wanted to delay 3 seconds between screen actions the proper syntax would be: DELAY 3 PAUSE ===== Pause is similar to delay except that a key press or mouse click is required for the show to continue. Pressing the left mouse key or the Esc keyboard key will terminate the show. Pressing any other key will move forward to the next script command. LOOP ==== If you wish to re-display the entire show from the beginning without having to rerun PCX-SHOW you would use the LOOP command. This will start the show over from the very beginning. . . this means from the opening Script command. BORDER [Color Number] ===================== You may draw a border around any screen with the BORDER script command. You may also choose a color for that border using the color chart listed earlier in this documentation. To draw a blue border on your screen the proper syntax would be: BORDER 1 VGA16 ===== With this script command you change the video mode to VGA 650 X 480 screen resolution. All text display and kaleidoscope features will now appear in this resolution. You may now display PCX files in this resolution by using the FADES 20 command after loading the file using the LOAD and SEND script commands. EGA (640x350) PCX files will also display in this mode but reduced in size. VGA256 [Filename] ================= With this script command you change the video mode to VGA 320 x 200 screen resolution. You do not use the LOAD or SEND commands when displaying PCX files in this mode. Simply include the filename as part of the command. For example if you wish to display a 320x200 PCX file called CAT.PCX the proper syntax would be: VGA256 CAT.PCX PAL === PCX-SHOW normally uses the standard 16 color palette when displaying PCX files. If your PCX file has a different palette you may display it using the PAL command. You must first load the PCX picture using the LOAD command. Then simply enter the PAL command and the picture will be displayed in the saved palette. All subsequent pictures will now be displayed in this palette until you again enter the PAL command. A demonstration of the PAL command is included in the sample script files. EPAL [color#,palette#] ==== You may change the palette of any EGA screen using this script command. There are 16 colors and and 63 palette colors available. To change the palette enter the color you wish to change followed by the palette color. For example, to change a dark blue (COLOR 1) to a bright red (palette 44) the script command would be: EPAL 1,44 A demonstration of the EPAL command is included in the sample script files. VPAL [COLOR#,RED,BLUE,GREEN] ============================ The VGA palette gives you control over 256 colors by varying the intensity of the red, blue and green planes of the VGA screen. To change a dark blue (COLOR 1) to a bright white on a VGA screen the script command would be: VPAL 1,63,63,63 BOX [X1,Y1,X2,Y2] ================= The BOX script command gives you the ability to pop-up boxes (windows) during your presentation. This command may be used in the EGA or VGA screen modes. You control the size and location of the boxes by entering the beginning and ending pixel rows and columns immediately following the BOX command. The X and Y coordinates are as follows: X1 = Beginning Column Pixel Location Y1 = Beginning Row Pixel Location X2 = Ending Column Pixel Location Y2 = Ending Row Pixel Location Remember, the EGA mode has 640 column pixels and 350 row pixels. They are numbered 0 to 639 and 0 to 349 respectively. The VGA screen mode has 640 column pixels and 480 row pixels. They are numbered 0 to 639 and 0 to 479 respectively. For example, if you wish to draw a pop-up box in the center of the screen the command is: BOX 200,128,451,220 IMPORTANT: Each of the X and Y screen coordinates must be three digits, even if the coordinate is a single or double digit pixel location. For example, if you wanted to draw the above box beginning at column 1 and row 15 the proper syntax is: BOX 001,015,451,220. To control the color of the box, simply issue the COLOR script command before entering the BOX command. For example, to draw a blue box with a white border, the proper color command is: COLOR 15,1 (See the Color command for more information on it's use and color numbers). To see examples of using the BOX command and creating shadow effects, see the PCXSHOW.SPT or EGASHOW.SPT script file examples. SOUND [Number] -------------- You may use this command when you desire a sound to highlight a screen or message. There are five distinct sounds included in this version of PCX-SHOW. All sounds are relatively short in duration. The number following the Sound script command must be between 1 and 5. RUN [Filename.Extension] ------------------------ This command is a built in shell feature of PCX-SHOW and may be used to run other executable (.EXE or .COM) programs without disturbing your screen presentation in PCX-SHOW. This command was originally created to allow users to play music while a screen from PCX-SHOW appears on the monitor. The demo script, PCXSHOW.SPT, gives an example of using the RUN command in this fashion. You may also use the command to run any program. When the shelled program ends, you are returned to your PCX-SHOW where you left off. For example, if you wish to run a program named EXAMPLE.COM from within your PCX-SHOW, the proper syntax would be: RUN EXAMPLE.COM. Be sure there is a space between the command RUN and the full filename of the program. IMPORTANT ------- The RUN command is a DOS Shell. Consequently, COMMAND.COM must be present in the PCX-SHOW directory or available through a path command set by your autoexec.bat file, when shelling to another program. RUN-TIME MODULES ---------------- Overview: Two programs are provided for unlimited distribution of your show created with PCX-SHOW. DECISIONS Software prohibits the copying and distribution of the file PCXSHO.EXE. We understand, however, the need to be able to distribute demo shows created with PCX-SHOW. We therefore provide a runtime version of PCXSHO.EXE named DEMOSHOW.EXE. This program, along with a modified script file created using MAKESHOW.EXE, may be distributed with no royalties or other fees. These programs are only available in the registered version of PCX-SHOW. OTHER PROGRAMS FROM DECISIONS ============================= DECISIONS Software also offers TEXT-SHOW & Utilities. TEXT-SHOW is an ASCII screen presentation program using the text file format. Like PCX-SHOW, it uses multiple screen fades, seques and special effects but the screens it displays are ASCII text screens. The program comes with a text file utility that captures a DOS ASCII text screen and saves it to a file that may be used in TEXT-SHOW. See the file ORDER.FRM for details. DISCLAIMER ========== PCX-SHOW is a copyrighted program of Decisions Software of Phoenix, Arizona. These programs are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Decisions Software and it's employees shall have no responsibility or liability to you or any other person, persons, or entity with respect to loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by use of these programs or their documentation. We are always looking for ways to improve our software. If you have thoughts of additional features you would like to see in future versions, please drop us a line or call us at 602-992-0310 with your suggestions. Thank you for using software from DECISIONS Software!