World of A1200/World_Of_A1200.iso/programs/misc/diane/diane.doc

Text File | 1995-02-27 | 15KB | 322 lines

                                   DIAne

                   Digital Intelligence Animation Editor

                      (C) Digital Intelligence MCMXCII
                            All rights reserved


    [1]    Introduction
      [1.1] Installing DIAne
      [1.2] Starting DIAne

    [2]    The menus
      [2.1] Project
      [2.2] Edit
      [2.3] Style
      [2.4] Background
      [2.5] Movement
      [2.6] Extras

    [3]    Editing
      [3.1] Slow/Fast mode
      [3.2] Insert/Overstrike mode
      [3.3] Cursor On/Off
      [3.4] Deleting frames
      [3.5] Changing the current frame
      [3.6] Setting the speed of the animation

    [4]    Backgrounds
      [4.1] Loading
      [4.2] Saving

    [5]     The filerequester
      [5.1] The layout
      [5.2] Hidden and shown files
      [5.3] Moving the cursor

    [6]    Registering

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[1] Introduction

    [1.1] Installing DIAne

    Installing  DIAne includes nothing more than copying the file DIAne
    to  the  directory from which you want it to run.  Since DIAne runs
    itself,  you will have no need to start the program using the 'run'
    command.   Upon  running  DIAne  for the first time, a default file
    will  be  created.   This  default  file  is  located  in  your  S:
    directory  and updated every time you run the program, so make sure
    that your startup disk is located in the drive.  This  default file
    contains information about insert/overstrike mode and the colors of
    the screen. This doesn't mean however that every time you alter the
    default values  these changes will  be written to the default file.
    If you want  to update the default file with your changes  you have
    to use the 'Save defaults' option in the program.

    If you're familiar with my Ansi Editor DIEd (up to version 2.4) you
    will  notice  that  the  layout  of the screen is much like that of
    DIEd.  I've done this to make working with the two programs easier,
    as well as to save me some time in programming.

    [1.2] Starting DIAne

    You  can  start DIAne either by typing just DIAne, or by giving two
    optional  argument.   One  of the arguments must point to a file or
    directory.   If  that  argument points to file DIAne will load that
    file  upon  starting, if it is a directoryname, that directory will
    be  taken  as your working directory (all filerequesters default to
    that  directory).   If  no  directory was given then DIAne tries to
    lock  the  directory  'DIAne:'  and  takes  that  as  it's  default
    directory.  You can also start DIAne in the background by giving -B
    as one of the two optional arguments.

[2] The menus

    [2.1] Project

    Under  the  project  menu  you  can load/save/view files as well as
    giving  CLI  commands  and changing the current directory, clearing
    the  file, and quitting DIAne.  As for the load/save/view commands,
    I'll assume that these are so simple that they need no explaining.

    With the 'CLI command' option you can enter a CLI command which the
    program  will  then  try  to  execute  using  the standard AmigaDOS
    Execute()  call  which means that the program 'run' must be in your
    C:   directory.   The command will redirect the output to the shell
    from  which you've started DIAne, which may cause a problem if that
    shell has been closed after starting DIAne.

    Change directory is used to set the working directory of DIAne.  By
    default  the  directory  is  the  directory  given at startup time,
    DIAne:   (if  assigned)  or  the  directory  from  which  DIAne was
    started, in that order.

    [2.2] Edit

    Redraw  screen  redraws  the  complete animation, while redraw part
    only draws that part of the animation till the current frame.  When
    redrawing an animation there are two modes in which the program can
    redraw,  fast  or  slow  mode.   These can't be set by the user but
    depend  on  the  function  chosen.   Both  part-redraw  and  redraw
    animation  will  redraw  the  animation  at it's current speed, all
    other redrawing will be done at the highest possible speed.

    Toggle  insert  toggles  the  mode  (insert/overstrike), and remove
    escape codes removes all styles and colors from the animation.

    [2.3] Style

    Editing the animation can be done in part by using this menu.  Here
    you  can  set  the  style in which the animation must be printed as
    well  as the background and foreground colors.  It depends on which
    mode  you're using which action will be taken when you select a new
    stlye or color (see [3.1] & [3.2]).

    [2.4] Background

    One thing that I've yet to see in any other animation editor is the
    possibility  to  use  a  background  which  you can see through the
    animation  you're  creating.   This  is particularly usefull if you
    start  with  a  normal  CLI  screen from which you want to create a
    non-standard  animation.   It  means  that  you  no  longer have to
    calculate  all  position before trying to create the animation, you
    can now see what you are doing and how the animation is supposed to
    finish.   Hide and show background are there to allow you to remove
    the  background for a moment to see just the animation.  One option
    which  may seem rather obscure is the save background option.  Save
    background  was  implemented  because  you can load animations as a
    background  which will produce a normal CLI screen upon termination
    which  you  had lost.  It may not seem particularly usefull, by try
    it  by  loading  animations  as  backgrounds  and  saving  them  as
    backgrounds.

    [2.5] Movement

    Moving  around  the  animtion is done by using the move menu or the
    keyboard  itself.   The  keyboard shortcuts are defined in the menu
    itself,  but  you  can  also  use the shifted cursor keys for these
    functions.   Shift-left  moves one frame backwards, shift-right one
    frame  forwards, shift-up is first frame and shift-down last frame.
    First frame takes you to the first frame in the animation, omitting
    the  rest  of  the  animation.   Last  frame  shows  you the entire
    animation  and you can add to the animation.  Previous and next are
    used  when you want to insert frames in the middle of the animation
    (another original feature).

    [2.6] Extras

    The  extras  menu has all the things that have no real place in the
    menus,  like  setting  the  colors,  saving  defaults,  setting the
    savetimer and iconifying DIAne.

    When  you've  set the savetimer to another value than 0 the program
    will  prompt  you with a requester when you've changed the file and
    the  number of seconds you've entered as the savetimer have elapsed
    without any saves.

    The only checkmarked option in the program is the hot-start option.
    If  this  is  set  to  on,  quitting  DIAne will have the effect of
    iconifying and you can recall the program when you want to (usefull
    to  free  chip-mem  for  a  short  while).   You can still quit the
    program  using  the  "Exit DIAne" option.  When you want to iconify
    DIAne  without  hot-start  on  you  can do this by using the option
    Iconify.

[3] Editing

    [3.1] Slow/Fast mode

    There  are  two  possible  editing modes.  Slow mode and Fast mode.
    The  difference  between  these  two  modes will become apparent if
    you're  in  overstrike  mode (in insert mode slow/fast mode changes
    have  no  effect).   When you change the style of the animation and
    the  mode  is set to slow, DIAne will redraw the animation from the
    current  frame  in the new style.  If the mode is set to fast DIAne
    will only redraw the current frame in it's new style.

    [3.2] Insert/Overstrike mode

    Insert  mode  is  used  when  you're  inserting new frames into the
    animation,  while  overstrike  mode is used when you want to change
    the  style  or  color  of existing frames.  When in insert mode the
    program will add frames with a style normal (default) unless you've
    changed  that style since starting the program.  Styles are toggled
    using  the style menu, as well as the colors.  If you're editing in
    overstrike  mode in the animation the style or color of the current
    frame  and it's successors is changed, if you're in insert mode the
    current  style  is  changed which will only be visible after adding
    another frame.

    [3.3] Cursor On/Off

    The  cursor  on/off  option  isn't visible inside DIAne itself, but
    it's use will soon become apparent if you type an animation outside
    of  DIAne  (or view it) saved with the cursor off, or on.  When the
    cursor  is  on  the  animation  will build much faster (because the
    cursor doesn't have to be drawn with every character) which may not
    always  be  what  you  want,  since the animation may be drawing to
    fast.   Cursor  on will ensure that the cursor is on providing that
    no other program has turned it off.

    [3.4] Deleting frames

    Deleting  frames  from  the  animation  can  only be done using the
    backspace  key.   When your current frame is one you want to delete
    just  type  a  backspace  and  the  frame  will be removed from the
    animation.   To  get  the  frames you want to delete will take some
    practice  but  won't  be  very difficult (I hope).  If you delete a
    frame  the program checks to see if there is another frame which is
    printed  at  the  same  position  at  the  lower  frame  number and
    substitute that frame for the one you've deleted.  If it can't find
    such  a  frame  the  background is checked for that position.  This
    means  that you have a complete overview of how the animation looks
    at the current frame.

    Don't  be  deceived  that you can delete a frame by positioning the
    cursor  over the character you want deleted and pressing backspace.
    This won't work, instead it will delete your current frame.

    [3.5] Changing the current frame

    You can cycle through the animation step by step using the movement
    menu  or  the  keyboard shortcuts.  These also check the background
    and  previous  frames  for  position  that  have  been cleared by a
    previous  frame  operation.   When  using previous/next the current
    frame is the frame that your cursor is positioned on (see [2.5]).

    [3.6] Setting the speed of the animation

    You  can  set  the  speed of the animation by selecting "Set speed"
    from  the  edit  menu.   This will prompt you for a value from 0 to
    255,  0  being  the  fastest speed and 255 being the slowest.  When
    saving  the  file  the  editor will put ESC-[s sequences after each
    character  so  that  the  output  is slowed down.  When reading the
    animation  back  however, the speed will not be read back by DIAne,
    so you get the screen back at the speed at which you loaded it.

[4] Backgrounds

    [4.1] Loading

    When  selecting a background you have no need to choose from merely
    simple  CLI screens, you can also use an animation as a background.
    The  program  will  read  the animation and every character will be
    placed  into  the  correct  frame.   This means that the background
    will look like the animation when it has finished.

    [4.2] Saving

    As  I mentioned before saving a background may not seem like a very
    usefull  option,  but I've found that I sometimes have a use for an
    animation  when  I've  already  thrown  the  background out, or I'm
    editing a new animation over an old one and I don't want to use the
    old animation as a background every time since loading an animation
    as  loading  a  background is more time consuming than a CLI screen
    itself.

    The output from this function is not optimized, it seemed that this
    was not a very simple operation so the output may be some 6K when a
    file of 1K would suffice.

[5] The filerequester

    [5.1] The layout

    When  you  start  the  filerequester  by requesting load/save of an
    animation  or  of  a  background  you are prompted with a requester
    which  consists  of  three different parts.  The three boxes at the
    top  of  the window are used for the output of assigns, directories
    and  files.   The  part  of  the  window  below  that  is  used for
    (character) input, and the bottom of the window is reserved for the
    gadgets.   Of  the  three  boxes,  the  top-right  one  is used for
    assigns,  the  top-left one for directories and the largest one for
    the files.

    [5.2] Hidden and shown files

    You  can  select  which  files you want to show or to hide.  A file
    will  only  be  shown if it doesn't match any of the hide masks and
    does  match one of the show masks.  Using a field seperator (|) you
    can  input  the  seperate  masks, i.e.  "*.c|*.h" in the show field
    would  shown  all  the files ending on .c or .h.  The program works
    with the one (*) wildcard which stands for any number of characters
    (0 or more).

    [5.3] Moving the cursor

    You can move the cursor by pressing SHIFT-RETURN or ALT-RETURN when
    any  of  the  string gadgets is active.  A shifted return will move
    the cursor in a vertical direction (i.e.  from the directory gadget
    to  the  file gadget), using alt and return you can move the cursor
    in  a  horizontal  direction.  A normal return in any of the fields
    other  than  the  file field will result in the cursor returning to
    the  file  field.  Pressing return in the file field will close the
    requester.

[6] Registering

    This  program  is  shareware,  so  if you like and use the program,
    please  support this principle.  I've spent quite a lot of time and
    effort  on  this  program.  When you've registered you will receive
    the next (shareware) version of the program when available.

    To register please send your name, address, preference as to how to
    receive the update (normal mail/e-mail), ideas for improvements, as
    well as an international money order, foreign cash (preferably US$,
    English   pounds   or   some  other,  strong,  currency)  or  Dutch
    cash/cheques for approximatly 20$ to the following address:

    P-E Raue
    Bieslook 92
    1422 RS Uithoorn
    The Netherlands

    If you want to contact me using E-Mail you can sent messages to:

    [e-mail]

    until 1993/1994.