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CyberShow Professional Version 6.0 (c) by Helmut Hoffmann 1995/96 ====================== New in V6.0: + BestMode option for automatic selection of suitable screenmode + Width and Height options to select screenmode just by size This is an universal shareware picture viewer/slideshow/presentation program (incl. PhotoCD support, transition effects, zooming ...) and converter for all Amigas (and Draco!) with OS3.0 and higher which can display images in windows on the Workbench, on custom screens or public screens or presentate as slideshow incl. transition effects * in TrueColor/HighColor on CyberGraphX systems (incl. Draco) on such screens * in reduced color (upto 256 colors) on any screen/Workbench including AGA, ECS, OCS and usually WB-Emu graphic board screens (e.g. CybGfx,EGS) It has many special features which make it a flexible, fast and comfortable multi-purpose tool with flexible format support (over 20 file formats). +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | By the way: +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+--- | | | | | | | | |IFX | | | Create your own | True Color animations... |with | XiP | ... | | | | | | | | | Pgs| | | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+--- | | with ImageFX, XiPaint or Photogenics and my universal loader | | modules (FastIFXModules, XiPaintModule, UniversalGIO Modules) | | which now all include TrueColor animation savers as well | | for the HHsYUVSq animation format... For ImageFX and XiPaint | | special ARexx scripts are already included which can automate the | | creation of TrueColor animations. You can playback the HHsYUVSq | | animations e.g. with CyberTVPlayer on your TrueColor Workbench... | | The fast loading functions of all modules are the same as thoose | | in CyberShow Professional (only JPeg is mising). | | Add-on price (to CyberShow or other orders): 8US$ or 10DM each | | Special price for registered CyberShow users: 13US$ or 15DM for | | one module; additional further modules available at add-on price | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ New in V6.0: + BestMode option for automatic selection of suitable screenmode + Width and Height options to select screenmode just by size New in V5.6: + Delete function to get rid of unwanted pictures + Immediate scrolling during use of scrollbars + Random option to display pictures in random order + Extended information requester (e.g. number of pictures) New in V5.5: + Additional menu functions for settings New in V5.4: + Automatic "downscaling to screensize" option New in V5.3: + Extended TIF support for "Intel" byte order formats + AppWindow (drop your pictures/drawers/disks into the window) New in V5.2: + Multi-stage cursor scrolling (with Shift and Alt keys) (see version history for details or earlier versions...) Supported picture file formats for loading: 1) IFF-ILBM (all standard formats 1 to 8Bit, EHB, HAM6, HAM8, 24Bit) 2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait); linear 24Bit RGB) 3) JPeg (color and greyscale) 4) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color) 5) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray) 6) Targa (RLE compr.&uncompr. 1/8/15/16/24/32Bit; incl. interleaved) 7) PCX (compr.&uncompr. EGA1-4Bit, VGA 8Bit grey/Colormap and 24Bit) 8) BMP (uncompr. 24Bit RGB,1Bit,4Bit or 8Bit Colormap; RLE compressed 8Bit,1Bit) 9) TIF (packbit-compr.&uncompr. 24Bit,1-8Bit grey/Color Motorola&Intel formats) 10) EGS7.x window icons 11) DEEP (compr.&uncompr. IFF-DEEP 24Bit and 32Bit formats) 12) YUV (color 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 4:1:1 and greyscale) 13) VLAB raw (color 1:1:1, 2:1:1, 4:1:1 and greyscale) 14) RGB (IFF-RGB: RGB8 and RGBN compressed; RGB5 uncompressed) 15) HHsYUVSq sequence format (sequential or random access) 16) IFF-PBM (DPII) format 17) ACBM (IFF-ACBM: 1 to 8Bit, EHB, HAM6, HAM8) 18) FBM (8Bit grey/Colormap and 24Bit) 19) Sun raster (uncompressed formats for 1Bit, 8Bit grey/ColorMap and 24Bit) 20) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only) 21) HHsXRL formats (1-8Bit ColorMap incl. HAM6/8, 8Bit grey, 24Bit RGB compressed) 22) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK; this function is experimental) 23) TBCPlus frames&fields and all picture DataType formats (OS3.0 and up) and animation DataType formats (OS3.1 and up). -> Important! If you have any difficulties viewing certain picture types -> (e.g. PCX, PhotoCD, DataTypes, JPeg etc.) directly from CD-ROMs (while viewing -> the same pictures copied to disk works), you have encountered a CD-ROM file -> system problem. I have heard of difficulties with several third party file -> systems. I recommend to use only one of the following CD-ROM file systems: -> 1) Original AmigaDOS OS3.1 CD-ROM file system -> 2) AmiCD-File System V1.15 or higher (older versions are probably NOT usable) -> 3) BabelCDROM File System V1.2 or higher -> see section "Important" below for more details. For animation formats (HHsYUVSq and animation datatypes) the first frame is shown (for playback of HHsYUVSq animations you can use my freeware program CyberTVPlayer; for creation of such animations you can now use my univeral modules for ImageFX, XiPaint and Photogenics; see information box above for details...) Please note: The format "GIF" and LZW compressed "TIF" variants are not internally supported for legal reasons, but due to the DataType support loading should be possible if you have a suitable DataType (with a fast GIF or TIF DataType loading is usually still faster than with many other viewers which directly support theese formats!). Supported picture file formats for saving: 1) IFF-ILBM 24Bit (compressed and uncompressed) 2) IFF-DEEP 24Bit (uncompressed) This format is used e.g. by TVPaint, XiPaint or Photogenics 3) JPeg (variable compression rates and optimization) 4) PPM-P6 This format is used by the PBM image processing software 5) QRT 6) Targa 24Bit (compressed and uncompressed) 7) HHsXRL TC24 format (compressed lossless and lossy) This format is esp. designed for raytracing pictures, which should be compressed lossless or with nearly invisible losses. Compression is usually better than IFF-ILBM or Targa compression. Highlights of CyberShow: + flexible presentation of your pictures in windows or on screens incl. slide show function with transition effects, presentation delay etc. + Fast zooming (magnification upto 1:4 and reduction upto 4:1; use + to zoom in and - to zoom out; * to go to standard size) and fast scrolling functions (cursor keys or scrollbars) + All loading functions (except JPeg: This software is based in part on the work of the independent JPeg Group) have been written in Assembler and optimised for extremely high speed. Loading will usually be upto 5 times faster than with comparable viewers... An exception to this is the JPeg format, which is written in C and based on the usual code of the ind. JPeg group. + Automatic preloading: The next picture is loaded while you view the current picture; you can now also scroll or zoom the picture or use other functions during preloading of the next picture; this reduces waiting time to a minimum + Can view single files, group of files (supporting patterns) and even directory trees (automatic search of subdirectories); multiple picture arguments can be passed by CLI, Workbench or selected with file requester. Images will be shown in alphabetical order (ordered by complete path name) or (as option) in random order. + AppWindow function + Optional downscaled loading for faster access and less memory usage (selectbale as CLI parameter, WB Tooltype or by menu function) + Can go back to previous images as well + Information window for picture can be opened including name, dimensions, file type, file size, file comment and number of frames (for animations) + Fast direct transfer of images to famous image processing and painting programs (currently ImageFX, XiPaint and ArtEffect/PicoPainter are supported; transfers to other programs could be included if more developers/dealers would support me and more programs would have sufficient interfaces) + Save function to convert pictures into some 24Bit file formats (JPeg, IFF, ...) + Delete function to delete pictures you don't like ... Using instructions ================== Configuration: Usually CyberShow will show the pictures in windows directly on the default public screen (usually the Workbench). To make use of other screens, private screens or to present the pictures as SlideShow etc, you can select options as CLI parameter or by Workbench Tooltypes. New: the BestMode option can be used to let CyberShow select a suitable screenmode by itself. If you specify the Width or Height parameters, a suitable screenmode will be selected according to thoose dimensions. A screenmode or public screen name can also be specified by the environment variable "CyberShowScreen": a) Custom Screen: If you want a screen to be opened for CyberShow you should set an environment variable with the screenmode, e.g.: SETENV CyberShowScreen "NTSC:HighRes Interlace" You can specify all kinds of screenmodes for Amiga screens, emulation screens of graphic boards and TrueColor/HighColor screens for Cybergraphics. In any case the screen will be opened with the max. depth which is available for that mode. Please note that the screenmode name is case sensitive! Take a look at the Prefs/Screenmode program's list of screenmode names to see what is available. If you specify an unknown screenmode name or the specified screenmode can't be used for some reason the program will use the default public screen (after an information requester). Alternatively you can specify a CLI parameter "Screenmode": e.g. CyberShow Screenmode "NTSC:HighRes Interlace" This parameter will override the ENV: variable as well as a PublicScreen parameter. This is also available as tooltype for WB start (e.g. Screenmode=NTSC:HighRes). b) Named Public Screens: If you want to make CyberShow use a non-default Public Screen, you can also specify this with the ENV: variable, e.g.: SETENV CyberShowScreen "*CoolScreen" To distinguish between a screenmode and a public screen name the * character has to be specified before the screen name. To find out the public screen name of your applications, look into their manuals! The screen title of the public screens is often NOT the public screen name. If the named public screen can't be used (if it is not found or private) then the default public screen is used (after an information requester). Alternatively you can specify a CLI parameter "PublicScreen": e.g. CyberShow PublicScreen "CoolScreen" This parameter will override the ENV: variable. Please note that the * has not to be specified for the CLI parameter. If you also specify a Screenmode parameter, the PublicScreen parameter will be ignored. This is also available as tooltype for WB start (e.g. PublicScreen=CoolScreen). To save the screenmode or name specification for automatic use after booting, just copy it from ENV: to ENVARC: (or use the WB Tooltype). If you want to use the program on the default public screen again, just SETENV CyberShowScreen "" or delete the variable from ENV: or from ENVARC: for permanent effect (or delete the Tooltype). Important note: The * character is sometimes ignored as input in CLI/shell lines (or misinterpreted as #?). This can happen e.g. with screenmode names of certain drivers or with public screen name specifications; in such a case you should enter the * character twice (**), which will then usually lead to one character * as result. This can depend on your configuration. Spaces and case of characters are also important in the screenmode names. In case of difficulties the options "BestMode", "Width" and "Height" should help... Parameters: CyberShow accepts multiple picture/path/pattern and configuration parameters both from Workbench and CLI. In addition the picture window is an AppWindow in which you can drop picture icons or even drawers or disks to view pictures. a) Workbench usage: To specify pictures, you can multi-select one or several pictures or even drawers by holding shift and selecting with the mouse before double clicking. Another method is to make icons for the pictures and specify "CyberShow" complete with it's path as default tool. Other options can be specified as tooltypes in the icon for WB start. The options are similair to the CLI options. Take a look at the icon to see the available parameters which are enclosed in parentheses to make them inactive. DefaultPath=path Provide default path for path/pattern/file requester after startup or for save requester Downscale=number Select downscaling with factor 1:number (number range 1 to 16 supported in increments of 1; some file formats can not be downscaled by all fac- tors; for thoose the next higher factor is used) Autoscale Downscale all pictures to screensize (or smaller) NonRecursive Switch off recursive subdirectory search Screenmode=name Select screenmode name for private screen (Overrides ENV:CyberShowScreen) PublicScreen=name Select named public screen (Overrides ENV:CyberShowScreen) BestMode Use private screen and select a suitable screenmode automatically; currently this is only done for the first picture as other pictures will be displayed on the same screen. Internally CyberShow uses 24Bit, thus a screen will be selected by size and opened with max. color depth. Width=width Use bestmode with specified width if possible Height=height Use bestmode with specified height if possible BestMode, Width and Height will override any specified screenmode or public screen options Icons Do not ignore .info files. This is only useful if you have some Icon-Datatype and want to take a look at the icons of files. By default, .info files are now completely ignored. Please note that in addition to this option you might have to remove the ~(#?.info) pattern from the file requester if this is used. Request Show file/path/pattern requester after displaying all files PresentWindow Leave window size unchanged between pictures; window will open at screen size; smaller pictures are shown centered in the window; you can still resize the window manually. On TrueColor/HighColor windows transition effects will be used as default. Use Effects or NoEffects to manually control this. SlideShow Show pictures on screen (no window borders); this works best if you select your own Screenmode. On Workbench or Public screens you will still have a depth arrangement bar on default (you can instead select a backdrop window with another option). As there are no scrollbars, you can only scroll with the cursor keys in this mode. The usual menue functions are still available. On TrueColor/HighColor windows transition effects will be used as default. Use Effects or NoEffects to manually control this. BackDrop Backdrop window for SlideShow on WB or Public Screens Black For small pictures fill unused screen or window areas with the foreground pen (usual black) instead of background (usual grey); in SlideShow mode on private screens black is always used and even specifed as background to make presentations better e.g. for Video recording Effects Select transition effects (default for presentation windows and slideshow on true color screens); use this option to get effects in standard mode or on palette oriented screens (2-256 colors). NoEffects Disable transition effects; if you use this option together with the Effects option, the effects will actually be disabled, but the usual palette locking for 2 to 256 color screens will remain active Delay=number Automatically go to next picture after specified number of seconds; can also be switched on&off by menu (default 8s if switched on without spec. time) Loop Start with first picture again after showing last (useful in conjunction with Delay for automatic presentation at shows etc.) IgnoreErrors Do not show requesters for unreadable files; they will instead be quietly ignored PartialFiles Accept partially corrupt files during loading (at least 50% must be loaded correctly; default is to reject all corrupt files; partial loading is not possible for some formats e.g. Datatypes due to technical reasons; the information requester now contains the % of success, which will be less than 100% for corrupt files) SlowJPeg Use slower (but slightly better?) JPeg loading Random Display pictures in random order b) CLI usage: You can specify multiple pathes/pictures/patterns in the CLI command line, e.g.: CyberShow ram:#?.jpg tmp:#?.iff "CD1:Photo_CD/Images" Picture parameters can be included in " for better compatibility. This should work with directory utilites as well (I checked it with DirOpus 4.12A+: E.g. specify CyberShow {F} as DOS command for your CyberShow button; please note that DirOpus will call CyberShow multiple times if you select too many files for the CLI command length limit; this can have unpleasant effects if you want to view many pictures as slideshow from DirOpus). There are many other parameters available as command line options, which are usually identical to the Workbench ToolTypes. Type CyberShow ? to get a list of parameters. Here are the additional parameters (incl. abbreviations): DS=Downscale (number) AS=Autoscale NR=NonRecursive SM=Screenmode (name) PS=PublicScreen (name) BM=BestMode W=Width H=Height Icons Request PW=PresentWindow SL=SlideShow BD=BackDrop Black Effects NoEffects Delay (number) Loop IE=IgnoreErrors PF=PartialFiles SlowJPeg Random -> see WB tooltypes above for detailed explanation If you just start CyberShow without any picture parameters, a file/path/pattern requester appears. With this you can specify a directory (path) with an optional pattern or select one or multiple pictures (by holding shift during the selection). You can select a new file/path/pattern by using the "New Directory" menu entry at a later time (it will be shown automatically after displaying all files if you select the Request option) or by dropping icons of pictures, drawers or even disks into the CyberShow window which is now an AppWindow. In any case subdirectories will be searched automatically if you don't restrict searching by a pattern to one directory or use the NonRecursive option. Default is to load pictures in full size. With the "Scaled-Loading" menue or Downscale option you can select to load all pictures in reduced size. For many file formats this downscaled loading will be significantly faster. Please note that the pictures will be in small form in memory, thus save or transfer operations will save or transfer the images in small form. This is different from the zooming functions. If you load a picture in normal size you can zoom out to get it in reduced size as well, but then the image remains in original resolution in memory. Automatic downscaling to screen size is also available as option or by menu. This will lead to a downscaled loading which reduces all pictures to the screen size or a smaller size, if that is not possible. If you specify both BestMode and AutoScale, the first picture will be loaded in full size (unless you have manually specified width and height) and a screenmode selected for this. Subsequent pictures will be loaded downscaled to screen size. To show pictures as slideshow instead of windows, it is best to specify a screenmode as well or use BestMode or Width/Height: E.g. cybershow #?.jpg SlideShow ScreenMode "PICCOLOSD64:800x600x16M" You can also use the slideshow as backdrop e.g. on the WB screen. SlideShows and PresentWindow presentations will by default use transition effects on TrueColor/HighColor screens. You can switch them off with the NoEffects option or select them with Effects for palette oriented screens or standard viewing (automatically resized window). Please note that effects on palette oriented screens can be quite slow (due to this fact some effects are only available on TrueColor/HighColor screens; while zooming is active, some effects are also disabled for speed reasons) and that the palette will be locked for all pictures. This can lead to reduced displaying quality if you have many pictures with different colors. On TrueColor/HighColor screens such problems can not occur. For automatic presentations you can specify a delay time after which the next picture is selected automatically and a loop function for endless presentations. You still have full manual control with Menu functions or keys (use Esc or Quit to exit). The loop function will only be active if at least 2 pictures are available. The random option can be used to display pictures in random order. To advance to the next picture use the "Next Picture" menu entry (Shortcut Amiga N), press the space bar or press the close button of the picture window (the next picture will be selected automatically if you have specified a number of seconds as a delay time). During displaying the next picture will already be loaded. You can now scroll or resize the window or select another function while the next picture is preloaded (due to technical restrictions of some file formats this is partially not available if pictures are not stored line by line, e.g. FBM24, ACBM, DataTypes, vertical PCD images, YUV, VLB, HHsYUVSq; during the color conversion phase you can still scroll and this phase is often longer than the loading time unless you load from floppy disk). Scrolling: Scrolling can be performed with cursor keys or the scroll bars (scroll bars are not available in slideshow mode). You can select between different cursor scrolling speeds (use cursor keys with Shift for fine scrolling, ALT to scroll upto the border or without other key to scroll for one third of the window). Zooming: Since V5.0 you can zoom in and out to magnify or reduce the picture; to zoom in press the + key (max. magnification 1:4); to zoom out press the - key (max. reduction 4:1); to go back to standard viewing (1:1) press the * key. Zooming functions are also available as menu entries. Please note that reduced viewing is different from downscaled loading; if you load a picture downscaled, it is kept in memory in reduced size and transfers or saves will be in reduced size as well. If you just zoom out to reduce a picture, it remains in memory in it's full resolution. The zoom stage will be kept even if you change to the next picture. You can also go back to previous pictures with the "Previous Picture" menu entry (Shortcut Amiga P) or by pressing the backspace key. If you try to select the next picture (or previous picture) before automatic preloading has finished, the window title will inform you about the already loaded part of the picture (in percent). For the currently displayed picture you can get an information requester by selecting the "Picture Info" menu item (Shortcut Amiga I). It includes the name, dimensions (original and loaded), file format, file size, file comment and number of frames (for animations). The file format string often includes the color depths or other variation informations as well. For pictures loaded with any DataType, the file type begins with "DTxx" with xx being the color depth. For animations loaded with DataType the file type begins with "DHxx". This is followed by the recognition string of the DataType, if available. For partially loaded files (use option PartialFiles) the information requester contains in percent the part which is loaded correctly. In addition the picture number and total number of files are displayed. You can quit the program with the "Quit" menu item or by pressing the Esc key in the picture window (or screen), by pressing Ctrl-C in the CLI or sending a Ctrl-C signal to the task. The "About" menu function gives an information requester (which includes the personal registration information if you are a registered user with a correctly installed keyfile). Fast direct transfer and saving/conversion (not available in demo version): You can directly transfer the image in full 24Bit quality very fast to important image processing and painting programs (see transfer menu). Currently supported applications: ImageFX, XiPaint and ArtEffect/PicoPainter For ArtEffect/PicoPainter you can transfer the image into a picture project window or into a brush. Please note that pictures will always be transferred in their loaded size. If you have selected the downscaled loading, the pictures will be transferred in small form. The same restrictions apply to the save functions which can be used to convert the currently loaded image into one of several formats (see above for list of supported save formats). All pictures are saved as 24Bit images. This is not dependent on the screenmode. The size which has been used for loading will be the size in which it is saved. For JPeg saving you can select the quality between 50% and 95% in 5% steps with a sub menu and optional an additional optimization (needs extra memory during saving but can lead to slightly smaller files without additional loss). Registered users can also delete the file of the currently visible picture (after confirmation requester); the picture will remain in loaded form in memory and can thus still be saved afterwards. Important: Please read the following ------------------------------------ -> Problems with loading specific file formats? <- If you have difficulties viewing a picture in one of the supported file formats (or DataTypes) and you are sure that you have enough memory left, check the following: a) File systems: Some PD/ShareWare/Commercial add-on or replacement file systems (esp. CD-ROM file systems!) are buggy (e.g. they do not support some rarely used DOS functions properly). Try to copy the picture to a standard device (e.g. RAM:) and to view it from there. If this works, you know that your specific file system is buggy. I found the following file systems to be usable: 1) Original AmigaDOS OS3.1 CD-ROM file system 2) AmiCD-File System V1.15 or higher (older versions are probably NOT usable) I also heard that the following works without problems: 3) BabelCDROM FileSystem V1.2 or higher I recommend to only use one of theese CD-ROM file systems. Several users e.g. reported problems with "AsimCD-Filesystem 3.0"; so this seems to be an unsuitable Filesystem (maybe the newer 3.4 version supports all necessary functions). Typical unimplemented or wrong functions in filesystems are: NameFromFH (needed for Datatype access) and ExamineFH (needed for several formats, e.g. PCX-VGA). b) DataTypes: Some DataTypes are instable and can crash on certain pictures with odd dimensions or incomplete pictures. I have no influence on this. If you have difficulties with certain DataTypes, look out for newer versions. Requirements ============ Any Amiga (or Draco!) with + OS3.0 or higher + some memory (about 4MByte Fast-RAM should be enough for normal use) For displaying in TrueColor/HighColor quality you also need + cybergraphics.library V40 or higher and a suitable graphic board (Cybergraphics is a Workbench emulation/True color software extension which is usable in conjunction with several graphic boards as the Cybervision, Piccolo, SD64, Picasso, Retina-BLTZ3, Spectrum, Domino. It is Copyright by Thomas Sontowski and Frank Mariak.) Please note: The Draco computer already contains a built in graphic board, so that you can use CyberShow in TrueColor without additional hardware. Shareware modalities ==================== The unregistered demo version of CyberShow has an important restriction: All pictures will be shown in greyscale only in the demo version!!! Anyway, I have designed the loading functions so that the speed is the same as with color loading so that you can check the real speed of my fast loading functions, but please note: on screens with less than 15Bit color depths the displaying speed of the greyscale pictures could be higher than that of color pictures due to the fact that the color pen allocation is different. I have no influence on this; to see the real speed, try it on HiColor/TrueColor screens (if you have Cybergraphics), as no color pens are needed and it makes no difference if a greyscale or true color image is displayed. If you want to see how the color allocation works with 2 to 256 colors, take a look at CyberTVPlayer, my freeware TrueColor animation player for HHsYUVSq animations (which you can now create with ImageFX, XiPaint and Photogenics; see above). CyberTVPlayer uses the same color reducing functions as CyberShow. Some other functions are also not available in the demo version (e.g. direct transfer functions, delete, save functions, AutoScale and AppWindow). Registration for CyberShow Professional: Shareware fee 30DM (in europe) or 25US$ (outside europe); other currencies possible (see registration form). Together with CyberShow you can order fast loader/saver modules for several programs the add-on price of 10DM or 8US$ each. To register send the filled in and signed registration form (included in this archive) to my address together with the money as banknotes, a cheque or international postal money order: My address: Helmut Hoffmann Rubensstrasse 4 D-41063 Moenchengladbach Germany Users in germany can also transfer money to my account (No bank transfers from outside germany!!). You can currently contact me by EMail (no registrations by EMail!): hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de After registration you will receive a keyfile and the latest version of this program. The keyfile will enable you to use future demo versions of this program as full version. The processing of your order can take some time. Usually it will be very fast (only a few days), but under raw circumstances it could take some weeks. Registered users might get another advantage: If I decide to port my picture management software EGSPhotoAlbum for Cybergraphics and standard Amigas, registered CyberShow users can register for a lower price. The fast loading functions of CyberShow are the same as thoose in EGSPhotoAlbum Professional 5.x. Where to find the latest versions ================================= New versions become usually available at least at the following places: 1) FTP and BBSs Aminet sites and mirrors or mirrowing BBSs 2) CD-ROMs New versions will usually be available on Aminet CDs (currently appearing every two months), Fresh Fish CDs or the ADX-CD. Version history =============== 1.0 (14th june 95): Initial release (supporting 21 file formats and DataTypes) 2.0 (19th june 95): Added menu for picture windows offering Quit, About, SaveAs, Picture Info, Next/Previous Picture, Transfer, Downscale Added fast direct transfer functions to ImageFX, XiPaint and ArtEffect/PicoPainter Added saving functions (7 formats) for picture conversions Added function to go back to previous pictures Added scrollbars for comfortable scrolling Implemented faster scrolling methods Functions like scrolling/resizing now already usable during the next picture is loaded Window position will now be left unchanged for newly opened windows if possible; the scroll position will be left unchanged between pictures of identical size Information requesters for unreadable pictures/problems Preloading is suppressed if not enough memory is available Support of downscaled loading (1:1, 2:1, 4:1, 8:1) 3.0 (30th june 95): New reduced color output function which is available with OS3.0 and not only with OS3.1; drawing speed increased for Amiga screens and certain emulations Support of separate screen with screenmode specified in ENV:CyberShowScreen Added menu function to select a new directory and/or pattern Changed menu colors for OS3.x look Changed file requester for saving to a save requester with picture file name as default for save name as well 3.1 (7th july 95): Support of use of named foreign public screen with name specified (with a leading *) in ENV:CyberShowScreen Information requester if screenmode or public screen can't be found or own screen can't be opened Fixed bug which could lead to crashes if files couldn't be opened after they have been stored in the internal list; now you can choose to try the next picture or quit the program in case of any difficulties Fixed bug which could lead to problems if window couldn't be opened Correction of Sun raster 24Bit loading (wrong colors and problems with odd sized images) 3.2 (21st july 95): Support for RLE compressed 8Bit and 1Bit BMP files Bug fix for loading function which could lead to crashes if certain non-picture files where detected as a picture 3.3 (24th july 95): Enhanced CLI parameter control incl. multiple picture arguments and new parameters Added Workbench parameter support for pictures and even drawers Added muliple-file-selection support for file/path requester Extended information window (now incl. file size, file comment) Now ignoring icons (.info files) on default Next/previous picture now also selectable with space/backspace keys 3.4 (27th july 95): Now configurable by Tooltypes for start from WB Introduction of "DefaultPath" Tooltype to specify a directory as default for the file requester by WB start New option "Request" for automatic requesting of new path/pattern/files after displaying is finished Introduction of Progress indicator which appears in the window title if Next/Previous picture is selected before the picture is available (preloaded) Higher file requester window for easier multi-selection 4.0 (1st aug. 95): Introduction of SlideShow and Presentation window features: in standard mode window will now be resized instead of being closed and opened again if picture size changes; in presentation mode window size will be unchanged unless changed by the user; in slideshow mode a borderless (optional: backdrop) displaying will be used for pure presentations, esp. on private screens Introduction of transition effects for SlideShows or presentation mode Changed min. window size and set useful small alternate window size on default for zoom gadget Introduction of IgnoreError option to skip unreadable files quietly (useful if you e.g. have many non-picture files like .readmes on a CD you want to scan for pictures without getting lots of errors) 4.0a (2nd aug. 95): Bug fixes for window titles (could lead to corrupt titles) 4.1 (5th aug. 95): Changed TIF loader for better compatibility with certain pics Extended Targa loader by 15Bit and 16Bit HiColor loading 4.1a (7th aug. 95): Corrected XiPaint transfer problems (appeared in V3.3) 4.2 (15th aug. 95): Added 5 new transition effects for slideshow/presentations Changed window redraw for scrolling/resizing to be done without effects in presentation windows 4.3 (20th aug. 95): Introduction of automatic advancing to next picture (delay option) after specified number of seconds Introduction of loop mode (for endless presentations) Screen font changed to other font instead system text font 5.0 (30th aug. 95): Introduction of fast zooming functions for magnified or reduced viewing (1:4 upto 4:1) Support for new file formats: binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB,CMYK) and TBCPlus frames Fixed lockup-bug which occured if picture had to be reloaded for new downscaling factor but was not accessible anymore Added (partial) german documentation file 5.1 (05th sep. 95): Changed standard viewing mode to support effects as well in automatically resized windows Changed JPeg loading to use faster decoding method (old slower method still available as option) Added support for optimized JPeg saving (selectable by menu) Added support for partial file loading (corrupt files) as option & extended file info requester with status field Extended file format information for Datatype loaded pictures or animations (includes now DT specific ID if possible) 5.2 (27th sep. 95): Added multi-stage cursor scrolling functions. Use cursor keys without qualifier to scroll as usual (1/3rd of the window). Use them with Shift for smooth scrolling and with Alt to scroll in one go upto the border. 5.3 (9th oct. 95): Extended TIF loader to support "Intel" byte order files and more image variants Added zooming functions into menu AppWindow function for picture window: drop picture icons, drawers or whole disks into the window for displaying File requester now uses picture path as default 5.4 (27th oct. 95): Automatic "downscaling to screensize" option Fixed slideshow window title bug Fixed bugs leading to unprecise automatic delays Adapted scrollbars to respect unusual sized size gadgets 5.5 (15th nov. 95): Improved handling of unreadable pictures if "IgnoreErrors" is used; now the next loadable picture is preloaded Added menu functions for delay,loop,effects,ignore,partial Fixed bug for "PartialFile" loading of IFF-ILBM masks Extended IFF loader to accept 0-sized chunks 5.6 (7th dec. 95): Delete function to delete current picture file "Random" option to display pictures in random order Immediate scrolling during use of scrollbars Faster smooth cursor scrolling (w. Shift) while zoomed in Extended PicInfo requester (loaded size; picture numbers) Fixed bug which lead to endless loop if loop mode was selected and no pictures where left to display 6.0 (9th jan. 96): BestMode option to find screenmode depending on picture size etc. Width and Height options to specify screenmode by size PublicScreens or WB will now be put to front if used Fixed bug in JPeg loading which could lead to crashes if unsupported variants of JPeg pictures were found Extended IFF loader to accept unusual sized color maps Special Thanks ============== My special thanks go to: Kermit Woodall from NOVA-Design for providing me with ImageFX. Thomas Dorn for providing me with XiPaint. Almathera for providing me with Photogenics. Alexander Pratsch for providing me with ArtEffect. Without this support the fast direct transfer functions or loader modules would probably have been impossible. Thomas Sontowski and Frank Mariak for making the TrueColor/HighColor Workbench possible. The "Independent JPEG Group" for providing the portable C source code for JPeg compression/decompression. The JPeg functions are based on this code (This software is based in part on the work of the independent JPeg Group). and to all registered users of CyberShow (currently from 17 countries all over the world), esp. thoose who reported bugs or made suggestions... Hard- and Software used for developing ====================================== This program is written in pure Assembler (using the german assembler O.M.A.). Only the lowlevel JPeg functions have been implemented in C (based on the portable C source of the Independent JPeg Group) and compiled with the german MaxonC++ 3.x system. My development system is: Amiga 3000/030/25MHz / 18 Megabytes RAM / OS3.1 (incl. OS3.1 CD file system) 4MByte Piccolo SD64 (64Bit) graphics board (running in Zorro III-mode). This program was tested with enforcer and mungwall running. This program was also tested on a Draco computer. Disclaimer ========== This software (program and documentation) is provided "as is" and comes with no warranty, either expressed or implied. The author is in no way responsible for any damage or loss that may occur due to direct or indirect usage of this software. You use this software entirely at your own risk. Copyright ========= This software (program and documentation) is copyright by Helmut Hoffmann Rubensstrasse 4 D-41063 Mönchengladbach Germany The demo version may be freely distributed and used as long as the following conditions are met: 1) All files have to be kept together 2) No file may be modified or crunched/packed. The only official way to distribute this demo packed is the original .lha archive. The program may not be disassembled or analysed. The limitations integrated in the demo version may under no circumstance be removed or bypassed. 3) Distributors may only charge for the duplication process (including media) and not for the software. Theese charges may not exceed the following limits: a) Demo on a PD-disk: 8$ (US-dollar) including postage&packing (in Germany: 12DM) b) Demo on a PD-CD-ROM: 50$ (US-dollar) including postage&packing (in Germany: 75DM) c) Demo on a BBS/Mailbox/ftp-site or other electronically callable system: Maximum charge 4$ (US-dollar) (in Germany: 6DM) for downloading Anyway, it must be made explictly clear to the buyer, that he does not pay for the program (demo) itself but only for the duplication service. 4) It is not allowed to distribute the demo with any commercial product without a written permission by me. One exception is the distribution of the demo version with products not exceeding the above price limits (e.g. a cover-disk magazine for 8$ or less). The following companies have my explicit permission to distribute the demo with their products: Almathera, NOVA Design, Ingenieurbüro Helfrich. If you want to distribute the demo with your commercial product (hardware or software) write to me for details. 5) The registered version (the keyfile) may not be redistributed. It may only run on one machine per registration. It is allowed to make a backup copy of the original disk.