Loadstar 243/243.d81/t.clips

Text File | 2022-08-26 | 15KB | 729 lines

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              C L I P S

    Commodore Loadstar Integrated
         Presentation System

           by Dave Moorman


    Got an idea for a multi-media
presentation? That's all it takes --
an idea. Add some graphics, some
music, and [voila!], you are amazing
your family, friends, and LOADSTARites
all around the world!

    All that is needed is Edstar or
Mr.Edstar with which you can write
your script. Put one of these on your
work disk, then collect your graphics
and music files.

    The bitmap graphics must be in SHP
format, which is easy to do with STB
PRINT (available on issue 223 or LS
Utilities). STB PRINT will convert
Koala, OCP, or Doodle files to our SHP
format, which has most of the air
squeezed out.

    The music must be SIDPlayer MUS
files and can be up to 16 disk blocks
long.

    Clips also allows use of FTS files
from Mr.MICK, (yep -- on this disk)
which include Font, Text, and Color
for a text screen. This is a great way
to do "fancy" screens with edited
fonts and other fun.

    So, now you have the IDEA, you
have the files you want on your work
disk (along with B.CLIPS, and
CLIPS.PKD). You are good to go.

    CLIPS uses commands to control
what happens. Most commands are
written within "pointy brackets" --
<>. The "<" [must] be in column 0, the
left edge of the screen. All command
characters must be in lower case.
Since CLIPS is very position-
sensitive, do not use spaces in the
commands.


 THE HEADER
 ----------

    The first three lines of your
script need to be the title, author,
and copyright information for the
presentation. Each line must be in
double quotes.

NOTE: Our examples will all begin on
column 1 in this text so formatting is
not messed up when you print out the
whole page. But in your script, begin
all commands in column 0.


 "MY PRESENTATION"
 "by Your Name"
 "(c) 2005 Your Name"

    CLIPS uses these three lines for
the title screen.

    Be sure to save your first script
file to "clipshow", for that is where
CLIPS looks for information.


 TEXT SCREEN
 -----------

 <tn>
 This will appear on a text screen.
 <w>
 <e>

    <tn> (Text New) clears the screen,
draws a frame, then prints all the
text until another command is
encountered. If that command is <w> or
<v>, the screen is unblanked so the
viewer can see the text.

    <w> Displays the current screen,
and waits for a keypress from the
user.

    <e> Ends the presentation.

    That was easy, right? You can
include as many lines of text as you
want. If you run long, a PRESS KEY
prompt appears at the bottom of the
screen. When a key is pressed, the
screen clears and the rest of your
text is displayed. In fact, if you are
writing just a text presentation, the
above is all you need to know.

    After using a <w>, you need to use
either <tn> to begin another text
area. Or use <te> to continue putting
text on the same screen.

    <tn> stands for Text New.
    <te> stands for Text Extend.
    <v>  unblanks the screen, but
         does not stop the script.
    <w>  unblanks, and waits for a
         keypress.


 LOADING FILES
 -------------

    To display graphics or play music,
you must first load the file into
CLIPS with <l#"file">, where # is the
buffer number. We have 3 buffers (1,
2, and 3), each being 16 pages long. A
graphic [must] be loaded using
<lg"graphic.shp">, and will overwrite
buffers 1 and 2. Music and FTS files
can be loaded into any of the buffers.

 <lg"bitmap01.shp">
 <d>
 <w>

    This is the basic format for
putting a bitmap graphic on the
screen. Note the <d> stands for
Display. You can do the load while the
user is reading the text -- and even
put a Press Key prompt up when the
load is finished.

 <tn>
 Read this while the graphic is
 loading...
 <v>
 <lg"bitmap02.shp">
 <tn>

                Press Key
 <w>
 <d>
 <w>

    Now you see why the <v> command is
useful. Maybe it stands for View.

    You can load and display graphic
after graphic, without interspersed
text screens (an improvement over
MediaMeister). In fact, you don't even
have to have a key press between them.

 <lg"bitmap03.shp">
 <d>
 <lg"bitmap04.shp">
 <d>

The <d> command blanks the screen and
renders the graphic, then unblanks the
screen. These graphics will change
just as fast as they are loaded.

    You can cause the script to pause
by using <p#>, where # is the number
of jiffies to pause. 60 jiffies = 1
second.

    You can also set a jiffy timer for
the <w> command. It will count
jiffies, and if they run out before a
key is pressed, the show goes on. Use
<j0> to make <w> wait for only a key
press.


 CAPTIONS
 --------

    Your bitmap graphics can have a
caption at the bottom of the screen.

 <lg"bitmap02.shp">

 <cc0>
 <ce11>
 <cv0>

 <dc4>
       This will be a caption.
  Be sure you use exactly the number
  of lines indicatated in the <dc#>
  command.
 <w>

    Multi-color graphics will use our
built-in MC font, which uses
"anti-aliasing" edges to improve
readability. This can be a bit tricky.
The three <c..> commands above set the
caption colors.

    <cc#> is the character color.
    <ce#> is the anti-aliasing edge.
    <cv0> sets unreverse mode.

The <ce#> works best if it is one
shade lighter or darker than the
<cc#> (depending on the color of the
background). But you will have to look
at it and make your own call.

    One problem is that the background
color is set by the multi-color
graphic and cannot be changed. If it
is not what you want, you can use
reverse mode with <cv1>. Then <cc#>
sets the "background" of the caption,
and <cr#> sets the edge color. The
characters are the graphic's
background color.

 <lg"bitmap05.shp">
 <cc0>
 <cr11>
 <cv1>
 <dc1>
     This is a one line caption.
 <w>

In this case, <cv1> turns on reverse,
and <cr#> is the color of the edges
you will see.

    Again, this will take some
practice -- and trying out your
presentation with CLIPS.


 COLORS
 ------

    Other color commands include:

    <ct#> Text color
    <cb#> Border color
    <ck#> Background color
    <cf#> Frame color

    These can be changed before the
<tn> command, or <ct#> can be changed
within the text to create different
color lines of text.

 <b>
 <cb0>
 <ck0>
 <cf0>
 <ct1>
 <tn>
                White
 <ct2>
 <te>
                 Red
 <w>

If you want to blank the screen to the
border color -- to hide background
color change, use <b> before the color
changes. (For anything fancier, use
Mr.MICK to create an FTS file, where
you have complete control of the
screen!)


 FTS FILES
 ---------

    FTS files are created with Mr.MICK
and can include customized fonts and
special color layouts.

 <l2"file.fts">
 <ft2>
 <w>

    The <ft#> command displays the FTS
file from buffer #.


 FONT CONTROL
 ------------

    You may have a particular fonts
you want to use with text or captions.
Just load it into any buffer, then use
the following commands:

    <fs#> Screen font from buffer #
    <fg#> Graphics (MC Caption) font
    <fn>  Restores text and caption
          to CLIPS default fonts.

 MUSIC
 -----

    This is also a matter of load and
play.

 <l2"song01.mus">
 <m+2>

    <m+#> Move music data from buffer
          # to music data area and
          play.
    <mp>  Pauses the music
    <mr>  Resumes paused music
    <m->  Turns off the music
    <ma>  Plays music already in the
          music data area. (Requires
          an <m-> to turn off the
          music currently playing.)

    If music is playing and comes to
the end of the song while the script
is waiting <w> for a key press, CLIPS
will automatically restart the song.


MORE SCRIPT
-----------

    A CLIPS Script can be only about
12-13 disk blocks long. But a CLIPS
Presentation can be infinite! When
your script gets too long, all you
have to do is load the next script and
switch over to it.

 <l2"script2">
 <sw2>

    The effect is nearly seamless! You
can even loop "clipshow" infinitely!

    Remember, use the <e> command to
indicate when the presentation is
actually over.

 [NOTE:] If starting your CLIPS show
(or loading a new script) causes the
computer to crash, the problem is most
likely that the script is too long.
Load your directory and check the disk
blocks. Then use E