SVGA An Image Viewing Utility Version 1.1 - April 1992 Program Reference Manual Copyright (C) 1992 by John P. Silva All Rights Reserved John P. Silva 3429 Maywood Dr. Richmond, CA 94803 (510) 222-9255 Internet: jsilva@cogsci.berkeley.edu GE Mail: J.SILVA1 SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -i- TABLE OF CONTENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SVGA LICENSE INFORMATION 1 Shareware & Registration 1 Terms and Conditions 1 Limited Warranty 2 Limitation of Liability 2 Shareware Distributor License Agreement 2 Trademark Information 2 INTRODUCTION TO SVGA 3 Program Description 3 Features 3 Machine Requirements 3 USING SVGA 4 SVGA Command Line 4 Installation 4 Environment Variables 4 SVGA Environment Variable 4 TEMP Environment Variable 4 File Selection Screen 5 Getting Help 5 Moving Around 5 View Image 5 Change Directory 5 Change drive 5 Toggle 4DOS Description Display 5 Toggle Image Resolution Display 5 Toggle 43/50 Line Mode 5 Toggle Automatic Resolution Selection 5 Change Display Resolution 5 Get File Information 6 Edit 4DOS Description 6 Rename File 6 Delete File 6 Image Display Screen 6 Getting Help 6 Moving Around 6 Color Mix 6 Brightness 6 Restore Palette 6 Change Display Resolution 6 Palettes and TrueColor Video Modes 6 APPENDIX 7 Troubleshooting 7 386 Memory Managers 7 Tseng Labs ET4000 HiColor and Video Snow 7 SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -1- SVGA LICENSE INFORMATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SVGA LICENSE INFORMATION Shareware & Registration SVGA is Copyright (C) 1992 by John P. Silva. All Rights Reserved. SVGA is SHAREWARE, user supported software for the IBM PC. SVGA is made available for a free 30 day trial period. If you find this program useful, you may license your copy of the program for use on one machine by sending US$15 to: John P. Silva 3429 Maywood Dr. Richmond, CA 94803 U.S.A. Terms and Conditions SVGA is copyrighted software, and all rights are reserved. SVGA may not be changed or modified in any way except by the author. SVGA is SHAREWARE, and may be freely distributed, as long as it remains in its complete form with all support and documentation files. It may be used for a 30 day free trial period. Regardless of how the copy is obtained, it is requested that all users comply with the following licensing and registration provisions if they continue to use it after the 30 day trial period: You may license multiple copies of SVGA with discounts as follows: 1 - 10 copies US$15 11 - 50 copies 20% discount 51 - 100 copies 35% discount 100+ copies 50% discount Site License US$750 Manuals and diskettes for the latest version of SVGA are available to registered users for US$10 per copy. All prices and discounts are subject to change without notice. Discounts apply only to individual orders, they are not cumulative. Registration entitles you to: Use all updates at no cost. Receive free updates by sending me a diskette and a self addressed stamped disk mailer. Receive free technical support either by phone (you call me) or by electronic mail. SVGA should be distributed intact, with all executable and documentation files. Registered users may install SVGA on more than one machine, provided they are the only user on each machine. The registration and license policy is similar to a book, which can be taken with you but used only by you. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -2- SVGA LICENSE INFORMATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Limited Warranty The author makes no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability, and fitness for any particular purpose with respect to both the software and the documentation included in this package. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT EVEN IF THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIM. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. The warranties set forth above are in lieu of all other express and implied warranties, whether oral, written, or implied, and the remedies set forth above are your sole and exclusive remedies. Limitation of Liability In no case shall the authors liability exceed the license fees paid for the right to use SVGA or five dollars (US$5.00), whichever is greater. Shareware Distributor License Agreement Shareware distributors may distribute this program as long as the Author has been notified prior to ANY distribution. The "per disk" charge may not exceed $10 and the shareware distributor will not change the above license agreement for the end user of SVGA. End users are still required to register each shareware copy of SVGA. Trademark Information Graphics Interchange Format (C) Copyright CompuServe Incorporated. GIF(sm) is a Service Mark owned by CompuServe Incorporated. For further information, please contact: CompuServe Incorporated Graphics Technology Department 5000 Arlington Center Boulevard Columbus, Ohio 43220 U.S.A. Truevision is a registered trademark of Truevision, Inc. TARGA is a registered trademark of Truevision, Inc. 4DOS(tm) is a trademark of JP Software, Inc. QEMM-386(tm) is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Other product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -3- INTRODUCTION TO SVGA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION TO SVGA Program Description SVGA is an easy to use multi-format image viewer designed to quickly browse through a collection of image files. Features SVGA is a general purpose image file viewer for VGA and SuperVGA with the following features: High speed viewing of the following image formats: 1.CompuServe GIF87a and limited GIF89a support. SVGA only supports the image storage portion of GIF89a, not the pseudo-animation and text extensions. 2.ZSoft PCX files (including 24 bit PCX). 3.MicroSoft Windows BMP files (including 24 bit BMP), both compressed and uncompressed. 4.Truevision TARGA files, types 1, 2, 9, and 10. Self configuring for most display boards using Ahead, ATI, C&T, Everex, Genoa, NCR, Headland, Oak, Paradise, S3, Trident, Tseng Labs (ET3000/ET4000), Video 7, and Western Digital chips (See the Appendix for supported chipsets). SVGA fully supports the VESA standard, and will use the VESA standard (through BIOS or TSR support) if desired. Supports viewing TrueColor images on VGA, HiColor, and Everex TrueColor display adapters. SVGA can view images much larger than the available video hardware may allow. This is accomplished by preloading the image and then displaying it in whichever mode the user desires. This allows the display mode to be changed on the fly without having to reload the image from disk. Automatic detection of 80386/80486 processors for faster image display. Will use all available main memory, EMS, XMS, and hard disk space to view images up to 8192 x 8192 in size. If there is insufficient physical memory to load an image, SVGA will create temporary files on disk as a virtual memory buffer to load as much of the image as is possible. Fully supports 4DOS compatible file descriptions, and can edit file descriptions at the file display screen. Updates the display screen automatically when images are renamed, deleted or descriptions changed. Can be compressed with PKLite or other executable file compressors with no ill effects. Machine Requirements SVGA requires a VGA or SuperVGA equipped IBM PC compatible computer with a minimum of 512k of memory. 2 MB of memory or more is desired for efficient viewing of most image files. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -4- USING SVGA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- USING SVGA SVGA Command Line SVGA Command Line Format: SVGA [/badrv4] [/x xres] [/y yres] [/p startpath] The /b option selects BIOS for screen I/O rather than direct screen writes. The /a option selects automatic resolution selection at startup. The /d option selects display of 4DOS descriptions at startup. The /r option selects file list image resolution display at startup. The /v option selects the VESA interface if VESA is installed. The /4 option selects 43/50 line mode at startup. The /x and /y options specify the largest allowable display mode at startup. The /p option specifies the path SVGA should switch to at startup. All command line switches are optional, and may be specified in any order. Installation Installation of SVGA is straightforward. Simply place the SVGA.EXE executable someplace in the DOS path, and the rest is automatic. SVGA will automatically detect your machine, memory and video adapter. (See Appendix for supported chipsets.) SVGA requires no configuration or data files for correct operation. However, there are a number of DOS environment variables which may be set to enhance program operation. Environment Variables SVGA Environment Variable Default command line switches may be specified in the dos environment variable 'SVGA'. DOS environment variables are set by giving a command to DOS before running SVGA. You can add these commands to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The format of the SVGA environment variable is identical to the SVGA command line format. All command line options may be set in this variable. Example: set SVGA=/dr4 /x 800 /y 600 /p C:\GIF These options select as default 4DOS descriptions, image resolution display, 43/50 line mode, 800x600 startup resolution (or the largest resolution available below 800x600), and a startup path of C:\GIF. TEMP Environment Variable The DOS environment variable 'TEMP' may be used to direct SVGA to place its virtual memory buffers in a specific location. If the 'TEMP' variable is not set, SVGA will place the virtual memory buffers in the current working directory. This may not be desirable behavior. It is recommended that 'TEMP' be set to a directory on a hard disk with more than 2 MB of free space. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -5- USING SVGA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- File Selection Screen The File Selection Screen consists of the display mode list, the file selection area, and the help line. The currently selected mode is displayed in yellow. Getting Help The F1 key will display the SVGA help and program information screen. Moving Around You may position the cursor on the screen by using the arrow keys, the HOME/END keys, the PGUP/PGDN keys, or by pressing the first letter of the desired filename. HOME will move the cursor to the start of the list. END will move the cursor to the end of the list. PGUP will jump up one screenful of names. PGDN will jump down one screenful. View Image To view an image, position the cursor to the desired image and press the Enter key to initiate image display. Change Directory To change the current directory, position the cursor to the desired directory and press the Enter key to select the directory. When changing to the directory one level up, the cursor will be positioned at the name of the previously selected directory. Change drive The F2 key will bring up the drive selection dialog box. Simply press the desired drive letter, and SVGA will attempt to change to the desired drive. If an error occurs, SVGA will remain at the current drive. Toggle 4DOS Description Display The F5 key will toggle the display between multiple columns and 4DOS descriptions. The default mode is multiple column display. Toggle Image Resolution Display The F6 key will toggle the display between file date/time and image resolutions. The default mode is file date/time display. Toggle 43/50 Line Mode The F7 key will toggle between the startup mode and 43/50 line mode. The default mode is usually 80x25 text mode. Certain utilities such as UltraVision may change the default mode. SVGA fully supports the large screen sizes provided by such utilities. Toggle Automatic Resolution Selection The F8 key will toggle between locked mode and automatic selection mode. The mode line will change to indicate current mode. Automatic mode is indicated when all shown resolutions are the same color. The default mode is locked. Change Display Resolution The F9/F10 keys will decrease and increase the current mode, respectively. The default mode is the mode with the highest possible resolution. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -6- USING SVGA -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get File Information Information on the current file can be obtained by pressing Alt-I. This information is the same information that is found under various aspects of the file display screen. Edit 4DOS Description 4DOS descriptions can be edited by pressing Alt-E. Descriptions may be edited whether or not descriptions are currently being displayed. Rename File The current file can be renamed by pressing Alt-R. Delete File The current file can be deleted by pressing Alt-D. This also deletes the description in the 4DOS description file. Image Display Screen Getting Help The '?' key will show available commands in Image Display Mode. Moving Around The arrow keys will scroll the image around the screen, if the current image is larger than the current display mode. Press ESCAPE or Enter to return to the File Selection Screen. Color Mix F1 will decrease the red content of the image. F2 will increase the red content of the image. F3 will decrease the green content of the image. F4 will increase the green content of the image. F5 will decrease the blue content of the image. F6 will increase the blue content of the image. Brightness F7 will darken the image. F8 will lighten the image. Restore Palette Alt-F10 will return the palette to normal. Change Display Resolution F9 will decrease the current display mode. F10 will increase the current display mode. Palettes and TrueColor Video Modes The palette editing functions in SVGA only effect the paletted video modes, such as the standard 256 color SuperVGA video modes. TrueColor video modes have no palette, and cannot be color corrected using the F1-F8 keys in view mode. SVGA Version 1.1 - April 1992 -7- APPENDIX -------------------------------------------------------------------------- APPENDIX Troubleshooting 386 Memory Managers SVGA may have difficulty detecting ATI, Genoa, Paradise and Western Digital video adapters when running QEMM-386 or similar memory management products which hide the system ROMs behind useable memory (QEMM calls this "stealth mode"). To correct this difficulty, you should either exclude the range C000-C1FF from use by the memory manager, or arrange to have the page frame mapped into the range C000-CFFF (this works with QEMM, but may not work with other memory managers). This allows SVGA to correctly access the necessary information in ROM. Tseng Labs ET4000 HiColor and Video Snow Most Tseng ET4000 based video boards have timing problems which manifest themselves as random changes to pixel data written to video memory. These changes typically appear as brightly colored pixels or "snow" in the image being viewed. This problem is particularly apparent in HiColor video modes. It is a hardware bug, not a problem in SVGA.