HOW TO SEE ANSI GRAPHICS ------------------------ Compiled by: Craig Kamman November 26, 1986 I. INTRODUCTION What exactly is ANSI graphics? Well, ANSI is special code for IBM computer only. It is very similar to ASCII. ANSI is used on most IBM BBS's. ANSI can add so much to a BBS that it is worth the trouble to get ANSI configured on your system. How can you tell if your program has ANSI configured? Well, first, if all you see at the log on and the bulletins are garbled letters & numbers, that is a good sign you do not have it configured. How do you get it configured? Well, I suggest you follow these instructions. II. WHAT YOU NEED You will need a few things before configuring ANSI to your communications program. First thing you will need to have is an IBM computer obviously. Second your communications program. Third you will need the files called ANSI.SYS which is found on your DOS diskette. The fourth thing is optional, a ASCII text editor. For example EDLIN.COM which is found on your DOS diskette also. III. COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM Will any old communications program work? The answer is no. You must have a communications program that supports ANSI. How do you know if it supports ANSI? Well, there is no way of telling if it supports ANSI or not. Most communications DO support ANSI, a few public domain ones may be PROCOMM, QMODEMJR, GT, etc... A few copyrighted programs may include Crosstalk, Relay Gold, etc... There is one program that may get a lot of you is the one found in the PCjr Sampler diskette. That program is worth jack diddle. If you have that program, talk to the sysop and something can be arranged to get you QMODEMjr. If your program was none of the above, consult the programs manual. IV. GETTING STARTED The very first thing you will have to do is have your program on a system disk. If it is not on a system disk, then make a system disk. How do you make a system disk? Well, first take a blank disk, if the disk is formatted then stick DOS in drive A:. Then type SYS B:, this will transfer the system to the blank diskette. If the disk is unformatted, then place DOS in drive A:, then type FORMAT/S B:. That will format and then Š transfer the system to the disk. Now after the system is transferred, copy COMMAND.COM and your communications program to that disk. Then make an autoexec.bat file containing the name of your program so it will boot up automatically. Then copy ANSI.SYS and a editor if you would like to the disk. Then you will need to create a CONFIG.SYS file just like you created the autoexec.bat. At the A> type "COPY CON CONFIG.SYS" Then press enter, you should be on a blank line. Next type DEVICE=ANSI.SYS, then press enter. If you would like you may put in others, like RAM drivers or memory configures. For further information, consult your DOS Manual, 4-3 through 4-10. Below the last line, press CTRL-Z or FN-3. They will both end and save the file. Now reboot your system with the disk you have just made. Your program should come up, if not and all you got was the A> then you have a problem with your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You are just about ready to go if your program came up! All you need to do is some emulation configuration. V. EMULATION Your Emulation on your program should be set at ANSI.BBS or VT-100. Consult your programs manual on how to change emulation. If VT-100 or ANSI.BBS don't work, then either your program doesn't support ANSI or they have a different name for the emulation. Try different emulations out and call IBM boards containing ANSI to test it. Once that is done, check and see if your program has FILTERS, if so turn them OFF. Then dial this BBS up and enjoy! NOTE: This Documentation is generalized, not all communication programs were taken into consideration while writing this. Therefore, your program may need some extra configurations other than these. If your program fits into that case, then either consult your local sysop or your users manual.