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████ ███ ████ TM █ █ █ █ █ █ █████ ████ █ █ █ █ ████ █ █ █ CAP CATV/CCTV Advertisement Program Version 2.2 using the iAPX 286 with VGA video Copyright (C)1991,1992 David R. Green. All rights reserved. This program and all of its accompanying files are NOT FREE or in the public domain, it is Copyrighted software. David R. Green holds all rights to this set of programs, including all source code. This program is currently distributed as Shareware. This gives you a 4 week period in which to test the software prior to purchase. If you continue to use this software after the 4 week period, please Register. See README.EXE for additional information and Registration Form. Deluxe Paint II and II Enhanced are (C) Electronic Arts IBM, PC/AT, are (TM) International Business Machines Corp. MS-DOS is (TM) Microsoft Corporation PC Paintbrush IV Plus is (C) ZSoft Corporation PCX File Format is (C) ZSoft Corporation 8088, 8086, 80286, iAPX 286, 80386, 80486 are (TM) Intel Corp. Special thanks to ZSoft Corporation for their supply of the PCX file format documentation. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── i TABLE OF CONTENTS ═════════════════ 1.0 What is CAP ................................... Pg. 1 2.0 CAP Hardware Requirements ..................... Pg. 2 3.0 Installing and Starting CAP ................... Pg. 3 3.1 Installation problems ..................... Pg. 7 4.0 CAP Files ..................................... Pg. 8 5.0 How do I use CAP? ............................. Pg. 9 5.1 Creating Ad Files in CAP .................. Pg. 12 5.2 Creating Color Banner Files ............... Pg. 13 5.3 Video Hardware & NTSC Color Information ... Pg. 14 5.4 CAP Limitations ........................... Pg. 15 6.0 Inside CAP .................................... Pg. 16 Appendix A CAP File Format Information ........... Pg. 17 Appendix B CAP Error Messages .................... Pg. 19 Appendix C CAP Version Delta Guide ............... Pg. 22 Glossary .......................................... Pg. 23 ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ii Table of Contents 1.0 What is CAP ════════════════ CAP is an acronym for "CATV/CCTV Advertisement Program", which is a program and utilities developed by David R. Green as a means to display scrolling multicolor text-based ads with a full color graphics Banner. CAP is designed for use by: ∙ Cable companies - as a means to display community events and bulletins, on a CATV Community Channel. ∙ Businesses - video advertising or video shopping in a store front window. ∙ Museum/Art Gallery - display daily tour schedules, upcoming events, or even digitized graphics of artifacts with technical information. CAP provides direct support for 36 Ad files of 128 Blocks (although any number of data files may be present and used). Each Block consists of 6 lines of 32 characters. That's a total of 884,736 characters! or just under 40 minutes at the fastest scroll Speed (0) with no Pauses (0); 19¼ hours at a comfortable Speed (2) and Pause (4); and almost 5 days at the slowest Speed (9) with full Pause (9). The video display is partitioned into a Banner section and a Text section. The Banner can be any graphics image either hand-drawn or video-digitized, composed of 256 colors from a palette of 262,144 colors. The Text section shows the scrolling Ads in 16 text and background colors. The Text background can be any 1 of 16, and each individual line of text can be any 1 of 16 colors. CAP supports the PCX Graphics file format for all Banners. The CAP Editor is a full-featured word-processor, with line-wrap, stream delete, insert/typeover modes, block insert/delete, and more. IF YOU FIND THIS PROGRAM USEFUL, PLEASE REGISTER. SEE README.EXE ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1.0 What is CAP 1 2.0 CAP Hardware Requirements ══════════════════════════════ ∙ IBM AT or 80286/80386/80486 or PS/2 series computer with 286/386/486 CPU ∙ VGA Video Adapter (100% IBM VGA Register and BIOS compatible) ∙ minimum 256k RAM (160k FREE RAM) ∙ a 1.2MB or 1.44MB Floppy Drive ∙ minimum 20MB Hard Drive is recommended ∙ OPTIONAL - a VGA to NTSC conversion unit This program makes use of the iAPX 286 instruction set, and therefore will not run on an XT or systems with 8088 and 8086 processors (80386 and 80486 operate fine). No 80286 Protected or Privileged instructions are used. This program requires a VGA card that is 100% IBM Register and BIOS compatible, and uses modes 13h (320x200x256) and 03h (16 color text). A 16-bit bus VGA card is recommended. A NTSC conversion unit is required if a standard VGA-output video card is used, as opposed to a NTSC output VGA card. This is required only if you need to display CAP over a CATV/CCTV system. Single CPU/Monitor systems may use only a computer and a VGA card with VGA monitor. Use of the DOS Shell [F9] function requires a minimum 320k of RAM. An 8MHz or faster AT/286 computer is recommended. A computer with Video BIOS Shadowing capability is recommended, as the BIOS Screen write facilities are utilized in CAP text displays. Shadowing will allow for smoother text scrolling. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 2 2.0 CAP Hardware Requirements 3.0 Installing and Starting CAP ═══════════════════════════════ While CAP will run OK from a Floppy system, a hard drive is recommended. A noticeable pause will occur on Floppy systems during Banner and Data file loads. Create a directory named CAP on your hard drive. Copy all files from the CAP diskette to this directory. All Ad data and Banner files MUST be located in the same directory as the CAP program. In step form: C:\> md c:\cap [ENTER] C:\> cd c:\cap [ENTER] C:\CAP> copy a:\*.* [ENTER] The setup should look something like this: C:\ │ ├─CAP CAP .EXE Main executable program │ CAP .DOC Cap Owner's Manual ~ README .EXE Program and Registration information * .CAP CAP Advertisement text data files BANNER .PCX default Banner graphics file * .PCX Banner graphics files PALETTE .GIF recommended Banner Palette (GIF format) PALETTE .PCX recommended Banner Palette (PCX format) PALETTE .LBM recommended Banner Palette (Deluxe Paint format) If you are missing any of the above listed files, please contact the party from whom you obtained the package. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 3.0 Installing and Starting CAP 3 Batch File Commands ─────────────────── Sections of the following text are excerpted from the DOS 3.30A manual, consult your DOS manual for additional information regarding Batch files, in the section titled "Batch Processing". ∙ You must name each batch file with an extension of .BAT. If you press CTRL-C while the batch file is running, MS-DOS asks you to confirm that you want to terminate the batch process. (Note that CAP traps out Ctrl-C processing while CAP is running). ∙ ECHO Purpose : Turns the batch echo feature on and off. Syntax : echo [on] or echo [off] or echo [message] Comments: turns the displaying of batch commands on or off. ∙ GOTO Purpose : Processes commands starting with the line after the specified label. Syntax : goto [:]label Comments: allows you to goto different places within a batch file. ∙ IF Purpose : Performs a command based on the result of a condition. Syntax : if [not] errerlevel number command Comments: allows conditional execution of commands. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 4 3.0 Installing and Starting CAP - Batch File Commands Starting CAP ──────────── To run CAP, simply type (excluding the quotation marks): "CAP" To have CAP automatically run a specific data file, enter "CAP filename" the filename must be a valid .CAP Text Ad data file. It is not necessary to add the .CAP extension to the filename. ∙ Unless specified in the OPTIONS menu, CAP will use the default Banner file named BANNER.PCX. ∙ CAP automatically drops to black and exits to DOS upon scrolling the last Block with text off the screen. To return to the Editor, you must press ESC before the last line scrolls off the screen. ∙ If you miss the last Block, and the program blacks and exits, you will be at the DOS prompt in 40-column mode. To return to 80-column mode, simply type MODE CO80 (the DOS external command MODE must be in the path) otherwise C:\DOS\MODE CO80. Running CAP from Batch Files ──────────────────────────── To loop one Ad text file indefinitely, create a batch file with the following: echo off cd\cap :repeat cap file1 if not errorlevel 2 goto end goto repeat :end ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 3.0 Starting CAP - Running CAP from Batch Files 5 By building the AUTOEXEC.BAT file similar to this example, multiple Ad files will be played, one after the other, and also un-monitored systems will automatically restart the program after power failures: echo off cd\cap :repeat cap file1 if not errorlevel 2 goto end cap file2 if not errorlevel 2 goto end cap file3 if not errorlevel 2 goto end goto repeat :end A batch file may also be written that runs one file through 4 times, then runs a second file once, then loops back to the beginning. Many different Ad formats can be produced using the batch file formats. CAP achieves this due to the fact that 3 different error levels are returned to DOS at program termination: ∙ 0 - standard CAP Editor Quit ∙ 1 - CAP quit with an internal error ∙ 2 - CAP scroll section exit after completion of text file scroll To return to the CAP Editor screen from an Ad Scroll, press ESC. As soon as the current Block has scrolled off the screen, you will be put into the Editor section. Please note that the current file you were working on, or Scrolling, including the Block number you were at, are still valid in the Editor section. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 6 3.0 Running CAP from Batch Files 3.1 Installation problems ═════════════════════════ ∙ Are you using a 286/386/486 computer system? ∙ Is CAP installed on a hard drive? ∙ Are you using DOS 3.0 or above? ∙ Do you have 256k or more RAM? 160k available for program use? ∙ Do you have a VGA graphics card installed? ∙ Is there an Ad data file present in the CAP directory? ∙ Are you starting the program with the proper syntax? ∙ Remove ALL TSRs (device drivers, disk-caches, pop-ups or other hot-key programs) from your Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat files and try running CAP again. Be sure to make backup copies of your Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat files before you change them. If CAP then runs, re-install each TSR one at a time until you find the conflicting one. Sometimes the ORDER in which the TSRs are installed affects the operation of the computer. Contact the author at the address stated on the Support card if have found some program that will not work with CAP. ∙ Try running the program on a different IBM compatible computer, possibly at a computer store. ∙ If you are using some non-standard hardware (ie a particular brand of VGA Video card), and you determine that there is a conflict with CAP or any of the Utilities, please contact the author. ∙ Contact the author via mail, with a FULL description of the problem, your equipment and setup, in addition to what TSRs you are using. You will be notified as soon as possible about any corrections. This Support feature is for Registered users only. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 3.1 Installation Problems 7 4.0 CAP Files ══════════════ CAP .EXE Main CAP program. Contains the Ad file Editor, and the Ad scrolling program. This file is written entirely in machine language for speed and compactness. * .PCX CAP Banner graphic pictures in ZSoft PCX Format. The upper screen banner during scrolling. PALETTE .GIF CAP recommended Palette for GIF paint programs. This is an actual GIF picture, that shows the size allowed for the Banner. PALETTE .PCX CAP recommended Palette for PCX paint programs. This is an actual PCX picture, that shows the size allowed for the Banner. PALETTE .LBM CAP recommended Palette for Deluxe Paint programs. This is an actual LBM picture, that shows the size allowed for the Banner. * .CAP CAP Ad text files. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 8 4.0 CAP Files 5.0 How do I use CAP? ══════════════════════ Before trying to create your own CAP Advertisements, I suggest you read this complete owner's manual. It explains many of the features and the operation therof, that is required knowledge prior to starting creation of your ads. The following is a representation of the Editor screen: ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ Calendar Logo Clock ║ ║ Copyright File-line ║ ║ ║ ║ Block# Error Message line ║ ║ ┌─────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ │ ┌─────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ Editor Window │ │ │ ║ ║ │ │ │ Auxiliary │ ║ ║ └─────────────────┘ │ Windows │ ║ ║ Control keys │ │ ║ ║ └─────────────────────┘ ║ ║ Function keys ║ ║ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ║ ║ ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ∙ the CAP Logo. ∙ CAP Copyright information. ∙ a clock calendar shows the current date/time. ∙ a File-line, which shows the name of the current file being edited, in addition to the area where you enter the name of files to Load/Save. ∙ an Error Message line, which displays any errors that occur. ∙ a Block#, informing you of the current Block Number in the Editor Window. ∙ an Editor Window, where you actually enter the Text for each Ad. ∙ Editor Control key reminder. ∙ a pop-up Auxiliary Window, which shows such things as directory listings, Option menu, etc. ∙ a line which shows the operation of the Function keys. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 5.0 How Do I Use CAP? 9 CAP Keystrokes ────────────── EDITOR: ∙ press ESC to Quit CAP. ∙ F1 Help cycles through the Help screens. ∙ F2 New deletes the current Ad file in the Editor, resets the default color set, etc. ∙ F3 Load loads an Ad file. ∙ F4 Save saves an Ad file, warns of overwrites. ∙ F5 Block allows for insertion and deletion of individual blocks. NOTE that you cannot Insert/Delete Block 1, as it contains the Option values. ∙ F6 Center centers or justifies the text on the current line. ∙ F7 Color cycles the current line's color. ∙ F8 Options pop-up menu for Ad file options. ∙ F9 DOS Shell temporarily exit to DOS to perform a DOS function such as copy or delete. NOTE that COMMAND.COM must be in the root directory of the C drive. ∙ F10 Run scroll the current Ad text file in memory. ∙ ^ (up) moves the Editor cursor up one line, if at the top line, go to the bottom line. ∙ v (down) moves the Editor cursor down one line, if at the bottom line, go to the top line. ∙ < (left) moves the Editor cursor left one character, if at the left-most column, starts at the right column. ∙ > (Right) moves the Editor cursor right one character, if at the right-most column, starts at the left column. ∙ <┘ moves the Editor cursor to the left column of the next line. ∙ PgUp goes to the previous Block number. ∙ PgDn goes to the next Block number. ∙ Home go to the left-most column of the current Editor line. ∙ End go to the right-most column of the current Editor line. ∙ Insert toggle Insert character mode/Typeover character mode. ∙ Delete deletes the character under the cursor, moves the remainder of the text on the line to the left. ∙ Backspace deletes the character to the right of the cursor, moves the remainder of the text on the line to the left. ∙ Tab jumps from the start of one word to the next for rapid text scanning. SCROLL ∙ press ESC to return to the Editor. ∙ press PAUSE or CTRL+NUMLOCK to pause the scroll, any key continues. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 10 5.0 How Do I Use CAP? OPTIONS BOX ─────────── ∙ Scroll Speed - determines the speed the lines scroll up the screen. It is based on the computer's Tick clock which is equivalent to about 1/18th of a second. ∙ Scroll Pause Time - the amount of time the Block text remains on screen before it scrolls up and off. In seconds. ∙ Scroll Cycle Times - the number of times the Ad file will repeat. 0 is NO repeats, 1 is 1 repeat or 2 total scroll times. ∙ Foreground Color * - the global color for all text Blocks. ∙ Background Color * - the global color for the backdrop or background behind the text. ∙ Banner File - the name of the Banner file associated with the Ad file. The default file BANNER.PCX will be used if this is left blank. * These values will override and reset any settings done on individual lines with the [F7] Color function. If you accidently press [F8] Options Box, you may press [ESC] to exit the Options section without disturbing your current settings. You will be prompted with "Update the Color Set? [Y/N]" when you press [ENTER] from the Options Box. If you wish to update all other values EXCEPT the colors, press [N]. Pressing [Y] resets any text colors to the new ForeGround value. It is recommended that you select the Options Menu and set the desired values BEFORE you assign color to individual lines. You CANNOT Insert or Delete Block 1, as it contains all of the Option parameter values. The Insert function will lose any text in Block 128 as it moves all Blocks from the current Block up one. The Delete function deletes the current Block, moves the next Block down to its place, and clears Block 128 as all other Blocks move downward. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 5.0 How Do I Use CAP? 11 5.1 Creating Ad Files in CAP ═════════════════════════════ The basic flowchart for creating Ads follows this sequence: 1. Use the Option menu to select the global color set for the text. Any 1 of 16 colors may be selected for the Foreground (text) and any 1 of 16 colors may be selected for the Background. You may also select the Scroll Speed, message Pause time, number of times you want the Ad file to loop in it's scroll, and the name of the Graphics Banner you would like to use for this Ad file. 2. Type the Ad text into each Block, using the Editor Window and text editing Control keys. 3. Hi-light any lines of text, by changing their color using the Color Function key [F7]. NOTE that these settings can be reset if you go through the Options menu. See the section above titled Scroll Options. 4. Save the Ad file. 5. You may run the Ad file directly, by pressing [F10], or quit the program and enter "CAP filename" with filename being the name of the file you just created. 6. To return to the Editor section, from a Scroll, press [ESC]. As soon as the current Block is finished, you will be returned to the Editor section, with all Editor settings exactly where you left off prior to running the Scroll [F10]. 7. If you do not press [ESC] during the Scroll, when all Blocks with any text have scrolled by (they will scroll by the number of times specified in the Cycle Times OPTION menu) the picture will drop to black, then exit to DOS. * To make one file Scroll continually, create a batch file using the name of the Ad file. See the section on Starting CAP. * If your Banner picture is not being displayed, but the Copyright Banner is, make sure you have not misspelled the Banner name in the Options Box. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 12 5.1 Creating Ad Files in CAP 5.2 Creating Color Banner Files ════════════════════════════════ CAP uses the Industry Standard PCX Graphics format for its Banner files. Using most any Paint program such as Deluxe Paint II Enhanced or PC PaintBrush IV+, draw your Graphic picture (remember to use 320x200 256 color mode only). You may use the PALETTE.* file, as it displays the border area you may paint within, and has the first 16 colors set correctly. If your paint program saves in a different format, for example Deluxe Paint II saves in LBM only, AutoDesk Animator saves in GIF only, obtain a graphics file conversion program. Many good shareware converters such as VPIC are available on many BBSs. You may even have a converter program included with your paint program, such as Deluxe Paint's Convert program. ! Be Sure your Banner uses only the upper half of the screen (320 pixels by 100 pixels). The bottom half of the screen MUST be Black (using Palette Color 0, the first color). If you place any graphics in the lower ½ of the screen, it will be written over by the scrolling text. 0 319 0┌───────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ BANNER │ │ │ │ │ 99│───────────────────│ 100│ │ │ │ │ text scrolls here │ │ │ │ │ 199└───────────────────┘ ! The first 16 colors in the picture palette MUST be the standard VGA 16 colors (they are used by the Scrolling Text). If you are unsure, use the supplied default palettes. Color 0 - Black Color 8 - Gray Color 1 - Blue Color 9 - Light Blue Color 2 - Green Color 10 - Light Green Color 3 - Cyan Color 11 - Light Cyan Color 4 - Red Color 12 - Light Red Color 5 - Magenta Color 13 - Light Magenta Color 6 - Brown Color 14 - Yellow Color 7 - White Color 15 - Light White ! You may use all 256 supplied VGA colors within your Banners. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 5.2 Creating Color Banner Files 13 5.3 Video Hardware & NTSC Color Information ═══════════════════════════════════════════ Graphics Banners may also be input into CAP, by utilizing Video- Digitization hardware. This allows any image to be captured from a Video Camera or VCR into the computer. Many systems are available, contact your computer retailer. Compuserve, Event Horizons, in addition to many other BBS systems, have many professionally digitized pictures available for consumer use. These may be cropped or reduced to proper 320x100 size, then used as a banner. The current IBM standard VGA video cards are not directly NTSC signal compatible. In order to get your CAP presentations converted to this format, the use of specialized hardware is required. The following devices are some of the hardware that is available for this task. VGA-TV Card Willow Peripherals 190 Willow Ave Bronx, NY 10454 (212) 402-0010 VGA Producer Magni System Inc 9500 SW Gemini Drive Beaverton, OR 97005 (503) 626-8400 or (800) 237-5964 When creating Graphic Banners, some limitation is placed on the image due to the inherent limitations of the NTSC signal. The use of certain colors and color blends should be avoided. Reds tend to bleed and fuzz more than other "stable" colors. ∙ Most Stable - Black, White, Grays ∙ Stable - Green ∙ Almost Stable - Blues, Browns, Yellows ∙ Unstable - Red, Magenta For best results, use stable colors for large solid-color areas or backgrounds. If you must use reds, add a little green to help stability. The following combinations of colors bleed into each other and cause a cancellation of both. ∙ Red with Cyan ∙ Blue with Yellow ∙ Green with Magenta ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 14 5.3 Video Hardware & NTSC Color 5.4 CAP Limitations ════════════════════ ∙ Maximum 36 Ad files displayable in the Load/Save Directory Window. CAP can use any *.CAP data file, but only the first 36 in the CAP directory will appear in the directory box. To use any other data files, simply enter their appropriate name. ∙ Maximum Advertisement File of 128 Ad Blocks. ∙ Maximum 6 lines of 32 characters per Block. ∙ Maximum 16 colors of text. (1 of 16 foreground, 1 of 16 background) ∙ Maximum 256 colors for each Banner picture. ∙ Maximum 320x100 pixels for each Banner picture. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 5.4 CAP Limitations 15 6.0 Inside CAP ═══════════════ The following is a flowchart of the CAP program ∙ test for the proper environment (286, DOS 3.0, VGA, 256k RAM). ∙ get Command-Tail for auto-run Ad file. ∙ call system and video initialize functions to set default parameters. ∙ run Editor section or Scroll section (depending on Command-Tail). INNER WORKINGS: ─────────────── You may wish to know some of the inner working of CAP to understand how it handles files. The following is a graphic description of the CAP program: ┌───────────────────┐ │ CAP Program │ <- The Program holds all machine code │ 64k reserved │ routines to handle all of the Disk/ │───────────────────│ Picture-Display/Scrolling functions. │32k Ad Text buffer │ └───────────────────┘ ┌───────────────────┐ │ 32k Aux. buffer │ <- used for the Scrolling Animation, and └───────────────────┘ reading Banner.PCX files ┌───────────────────┐ │ 64k VGA Video │ <- on the VGA card. └───────────────────┘ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 16 6.0 Inside CAP Appendix A CAP File Format Information ═══════════════════════════════════════ CAP File Formats. May 1991 1. CAP Ad File Format. Ad files are created within the CAP program, using the Editor section of CAP. CAP provides for 128 "Blocks" each consisting of 6 lines of 32 characters. Each Block is 256 bytes in size, and only used blocks are saved to disk, therefore, the number of blocks in a file can be calculated by dividing the file size by 256. ┌───────────────────┐ │ line 1 32 bytes │ │ line 2 32 bytes │ │ line 3 32 bytes │ │ line 4 32 bytes │ │ line 5 32 bytes │ │ line 6 32 bytes │ │ color 1 1 byte │ │ color 2 1 byte │ │ color 3 1 byte │ ┌───────────┐──┘ color 4 1 byte │ │ Block 1 │ color 5 1 byte │ ├───────────┤──┐ color 6 1 byte │ │ Block 2 │ │ reserved 58 bytes │ ** ├───────────┤ └───────────────────┘ │ Block 3 │ ├───────────┤ │ Block 4 │ ├───────────┤ ┌─────────┐ | | │ line 1 │ | | │ line 2 │ ├───────────┤──┘ line 3 │ │ Block 128 │ line 4 │ └───────────┘──┐ line 5 │ │ line 6 │ │ color 1 │ │ color 2 │ │ color 3 │ │ color 4 │ │ color 5 │ │ color 6 │ │ res. 58 │ └─────────┘ ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Appendix A CAP File Format 17 ** The 58 reserved bytes of the first Block have the following usage: USAGE SIZE OFFSET | | │ Scroll Speed 1 byte │ 198 │ Scroll Pause Time 1 byte │ 199 │ Scroll Cycle Times 1 byte │ 200 │ Foreground Color 1 byte │ 201 │ Background Color 1 byte │ 202 │ Banner file 8 bytes │ 203-210 filename │ Reserved 45 bytes │ 211-255 ├─────────────────────────────┤ | | ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 18 Appendix A CAP File Format Appendix B CAP Error Messages ══════════════════════════════ ∙ CAP Executable, During Startup: ─────────────────────────────── ∙ Memory Allocation Error, or Not Enough Free RAM! An attempt has been made to run CAP on a computer system with less than 320k of USABLE RAM. You will have to free up some base RAM by removing some of your TSRs or device drivers before you can run CAP. ∙ Sorry, CAP requires a VGA display adapter. An attempt has been made to run CAP on a computer system that has a video adapter other than a VGA adapter, or the adapter is not 100% IBM Register or BIOS compatible. ∙ Sorry, CAP requires an 80286 processor or better. An attempt has been made to run CAP on a computer system with an 8088 or 8086 CPU. ∙ Sorry, CAP requires at least 256k of RAM. An attempt has been made to run CAP on a computer system with less than 256k of standard RAM. You must install more RAM into your computer before CAP will run. ∙ Sorry, CAP requires DOS Version 3.0 or better. An attempt has been made to run CAP on a computer system with a version of MS-DOS prior to release 3.0. ∙ CAP Executable, During Operation: ───────────────────────────────── ∙ Banner Graphic File is not 320x200 256 color PCX! The picture filename specified was not a PCX file, or the file is damaged. ∙ Couldn't Find COMMAND.COM! The DOS Shell [F9] function could not find and execute COMMAND.COM, the DOS command interpreter. CAP assumes COMMAND.COM to be in the root directory of the C drive. ∙ Couldn't Find the Banner File! The Banner file specified to be read into CAP was missing or was misspelled. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Appendix B Error Messages 19 ∙ Couldn't Find the Text File! The Ad Text file specified to be read into CAP was missing or was misspelled. ∙ Disk Seek Error! Critical Error - DOS could not find the sector requested to read in a file. ∙ General Failure on Drive! Critical Error - controller or disk has failed, or disk is not formatted. ∙ Handle Invalid or File Not Open! An internal program error or DOS error occurred in the file read section of the CAP kernel, causing loss or damage to the file Handle or premature Closing of the file. ∙ Read Fault on Drive! Critical Error - error in attempting to read a file. ∙ The Disk Is Write Protected! Critical Error - write protected disk. ∙ The Drive Is Not Ready! Critical Error - drive controller problem, or drive door open. ∙ The Sector was not Found! Critical Error - DOS could not find the sector requested to read in a file. ∙ There has been a Disk Error! A general error has occurred that was passed to the Critical Error Handler. ∙ Unknown Media Type! Critical Error - DOS could not recognize the disk media type in the drive. ∙ Unknown Unit! Critical Error - request for a function from a device DOS does not recognize. ∙ Write Fault on Drive! Critical Error - error in attempting to write a file ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 20 Appendix B Error Messages ∙ You have a Bad Disk or Format! Critical Error - DOS had troubles finding the data requested to read in a file. ∙ MOS Executable, During Termination: ─────────────────────────────────── ∙ Memory De-Allocation Error! Memory boundaries were overrun, or damage to the allocation chain occurred during program execution, please reboot the computer before proceeding. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Appendix B Error Messages 21 Appendix C CAP Version Delta Guide ═══════════════════════════════════ Version 1.0 06-10-91 ∙ Proprietary graphic file format. ∙ Simple user interface. ∙ Appears to Lock up if Pause pressed during scroll. ∙ Scrolls only 6 lines at one time. Version 2.0 09-15-91 Major revision, therefore no version 1.x ∙ Reduced System RAM requirements by 32k. ∙ PCX graphic file reading capability. ∙ Smooth scroll instead of 6 lines at one time. ∙ Improved Editor screen, especially the Options Box. ∙ Query before Global Color Set change. ∙ IBM Keyboard Pause fixed. ∙ Corrected use of only 16 colors vs 17 colors. Graphic scroll text foreground/background colors are processed correctly. ∙ Corrected display of filename when [ESC] returning to Editor screen from command-tail auto-run, V1.0 didn't show filename. Version 2.1 01-30-92 ∙ Fixed bug in Options Dialog for Banner Name. Version 2.2 07-31-92 ∙ Re-release, updated DOCs etc. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 22 Appendix C Version Guide Glossary ════════ ACRONYM ∙ an abbreviation for a group of words. ALGORITHM ∙ a method for solving a problem. ANIMATION ∙ the quick display of seperate graphic images in order to deceive the human eye into perceiving motion. ASSEMBLER ∙ a program that converts assembly language source code into machine code. ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE ∙ a low-level language whose mnemonics and syntax closely reflect the internal workings of the microprocessor's registers. BIOS ∙ assembly language routines stored as machine code in ROM which provide Basic Input/Output Services for DOS and applications programs. BIT ∙ a single unit of binary logic. BInary-digiT. BITBLT ∙ an acronym for BIT Boundary bLock Transfer. One of several means of animation. BUFFER ∙ a temporary storage space for data. BYTE ∙ an 8-bit number which may indicate values from 0 to 255, or 00h-FFh in hexadecimal. CHROMA KEY ∙ see Color Key. COLOR KEY ∙ a color-based video overlay method that lets you drop all areas of a selected color out of a foreground image so that the corresponding areas of the background image can show through it. COMPOSITE VIDEO ∙ a video signal that combines all the color and timing components of the picture in a single input line. COORDINATE ∙ the arrangement of XY axes in a 2-Dimensional display. COPYRIGHT ∙ the right to copy an intellectual property such as a book, manuscript, software program, painting, photograph, and so forth. CPU ∙ an acronym for Central Processing Unit, also called a microprocessor. DOS ∙ Disk Operating System. DOUBLE-BUFFER ANIMATION ∙ see Hidden-Page Animation. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Glossary 23 DYNAMIC PAGE FLIP ANIMATION ∙ see Hidden-Page Animation. EDITOR ∙ refers to the interface which allows the user to create and modify program dependant data. FRAME ∙ in video and videographics, a complete picture. A single image in an animation sequence. GENLOCK ∙ short for synchronization GENerator LOCK, a feature that allows a video system to set its timing to match the timing of an outside signal, and so to overlay one signal on top of the other or to smoothly combine them. HARDWARE ∙ the physical and mechanical components of a microcomputer system. HIDDEN-PAGE ∙ a graphics page which is not currently being displayed. HIDDEN-PAGE ANIMATION ∙ another name for Real-Time Animation; a technique involving multiple buffers of video graphics, where one is currently being displayed while another is being constructed by the computer, which when completed, is flipped into view, and the procedure is continued. I/O ∙ Input Output. KERNEL ∙ the central or essential part of a program. LICENSE ∙ the right to use an intellectual property such as a book, manuscript, software program, painting, photograph, etc. Copyright is the right to copy an intellectual property, which is rarely included in software licenses. LSB ∙ Least Significant Bit. MSB ∙ Most Significant Bit. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT ∙ a contractual undertaking not to disclose proprietary information. OPTIMIZE ∙ to improve a program's speed of execution. OVERLAY ∙ to show one image superimposed on another. Especially in video images, to show text on top of a picture or computer output on top of moving video (see Genlock). PAGE-FLIPPING ∙ quickly placing a different graphics image on display for the purpose of creating animation. PARAMETER ∙ a variable which a subroutine expects to receive when it is called, also called an argument. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 24 Glossary PEL ∙ an acronym for Picture ELement, also called a pixel. PIXEL ∙ the smallest addressable dot or graphic on a display screen. RAM ∙ an acronym for Random Access Memory. RAM DISK ∙ a virtual or simulated disk which resides in RAM memory. REAL-TIME ∙ the actual time during which an event occurs. REAL-TIME ANIMATION ∙ see Hidden-Page Animation. ROM ∙ an acronym for Read Only Memory. SOURCE CODE ∙ program instructions written in the original programming language. SUBROUTINE ∙ a subordinate, self-contained portion (or module) of a program designed to perform a specific task. SYNTAX ∙ the grammar to be used with a programming language. SYSTEM OVERHEAD ∙ the amount of time the microcomputer allocates to general housekeeping functions instead of executing programs. VARIABLE ∙ a quantity whose value changes during program execution. VGA ∙ Video Graphics Array, a video adapter for IBM PC computers. VISIBLE PAGE ∙ the graphics page currently being displayed. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Glossary 25