tpaint.doc

C++游戏开发指南

                                - TEXT PAINT -
                                     (TM)
                                     v1.2


                      Copyright (c)  1993  Kevin Solway


        DESCRIPTION:

        Text Paint is a text-based paint program which can produce plain
        or multi-coloured text screens, and supports 43/50 line modes on
        EGA/VGA systems.  This program is ideal for those times when you
        need to provide relatively simple diagrams or pictures without
        the memory and time overheads associated with more detailed
        graphic images.  Also creates slide shows which you can
        distribute.  Text Paint will only work on systems equipped with
        a mouse.  Text Paint comes with the program Text Capture to
        capture screen images in full colour for editing with Text Paint.

        Text Paint files can be incorporated into "Bigtext" document
        files.  Bigtext (by the same author) creates self-displaying
        books with illustrations.




        A NOTE ON USER-SUPPORTED SOFTWARE:

        The user supported software concept (usually referred to as
        shareware) is an attempt to provide software at low cost.  The
        cost of offering a new product by conventional means is
        staggering, and hence dissuades many independent authors and
        small companies from developing and promoting their ideas.  User
        supported software is an attempt to develop a new marketing
        channel, where products can be introduced at low cost.

        If user supported software works, then everyone will benefit.
        The user will benefit by receiving quality products at low cost,
        and by being able to "test drive" software thoroughly before
        purchasing it.  The author benefits by being able to enter the
        commercial software arena without first needing large sources of
        venture capital.

        But it can only work with your support.  We're not just talking
        about Text Paint here, but about all user supported software.
        If you find that you are still using a program after a couple of
        weeks, then pretty obviously it is worth something to you, and
        you should send in a contribution.





                                  - USAGE -


        To run the program:

          From the DOS prompt, type TPAINT then press Enter.  Text Paint
          will only work on systems equipped with a mouse.

          Also, you can enter a file to edit from the command line:

                              for example,

                              tpaint filename.scr



        Help:

          Pressing F1 from inside Text Paint will display a help screen
        with all the essential instructions.



        To draw:

          Hold the left button of the mouse down and drag the cursor
        (the pen) around the screen.

          To draw on the very bottom line of the screen (below the menu
        options) you can drag then pen onto the bottom line while
        drawing, or hold down the RIGHT button of the mouse.



        Select pen type:

          Click on "Pen" to select the pen style, then clicking on the
        character you want.  Clicking on a space between the characters
        will select the space character.

          The currently selected pen type is coloured bright white.



        Pen Colour:

          Click on "Pen col" to select drawing colour (both background
        and foreground).  Background colours range vertically from 1..16
        while foreground colours range horizontally from 1..16.

          The currently selected colour is indicated with an asterix.



        Background Colour:

          Click on "B/g col" to change the original page colour.  All
        occurances of that background colour (whether they were part of
        the original page, or whether they have been drawn) will be
        converted to the new background colour.



        Load:

          Load a previously saved screen, or any standard ascii text
        file into Text Paint for viewing or editing.

          Any standard ascii text file can be loaded, and then saved as
        a Text Paint file.  But be warned: Text paint may not be able to
        load all of the lines of larger files, so if you save the file
        under the same name then text will be lost from the original
        file.



        Save:

          Saves work to disk.  If you do not provide an extension then
        an extension of .SCR will automatically be appended to the file.
        For example, if you type a file name of MYFILE then the file
        will be saved as MYFILE.SCR

          You can save the file in colour format or plain format.  The
        only value of saving screens in plain format is if your screens
        are likely to viewed on mono monitors.  Colour screens will
        sometimes look messy on a mono monitor.  A compromise is to save
        screens in colour format, but to use a black background which
        will provide good contrast on mono monitors.



        New:

          Clear the current screen and start a new drawing.  If the
        current screen has been changed then you will be prompted to
        save it before it is cleared.



        Erase:

          Sets the cursor working as an eraser by setting the pen style
        to that of a space.



        Overwriting with different colours or pen style:  

          Pressing Alt-C will cause overwriting of what is on the screen
        with a new colour, but preserves the pen character.  Alt-P will
        cause overwriting of what is on the screen with a new pen, but
        preserving the colour.

          When colour overwriting is on, a white "O" will appear after
        "col" on the bottom line of the screen.  Similarly, when pen
        overwriting is on this is indicated by a white "O" after the
        word "Pen".

          Of course, when both colour overwriting and pen overwriting
        are on, this is the same as normal drawing mode.



        Fill:  - also, change colours or characters of areas.

          To fill an area of the screen with the currently selected pen
        style and colour, click on "Fill" then click on the area you
        wish to fill.  You can fill any pen/colour combination with
        another pen/colour combination.

          If you want to change the colour of an area of the screen, but
        want to preserve the pen style (eg, the colours surrounding some
        text) then press Alt-C for "colour overwriting" (see above)
        before you select "Fill". 

          If you want to change the characters but want to preserve the
        colours of an area, press Alt-P to enable "pen overwriting"
        before you select "Fill". 



        Undo:

          This function undoes the last piece of work - up to 10 levels.
        Keep pressing Undo to return to your original work.



        Box:

          To draw a box on the screen, firstly click on "Box" then click
        on the screen where you want the corner of the box.  Keep
        holding the left button down while you drag (rubber band
        fashion) the box to the shape you want.

          Special feature: if the "pen" character is a line drawing
        character, then a box will be specially designed using the
        appropriate line drawing characters for corners etc.



        Text:

          To type text into your picture, firstly click on "Text" then
        click on the number of the font you desire.  Then click where
        you want to begin typing.  Press Enter to accept what you have
        typed or press Escape to cancel it.  Undo will erase any text
        you type so you can get the positioning correct.



        Lines:

          Select "Lines" then draw lines around the screen by holding
        the left button down, as you do with normal drawing.



        Special select colour and pen style:

          If you can see a character or a colour on the screen that you
        want to use, then rather than selecting them from the "Pen" and
        "Pen colour" menus, it is often faster to use the following
        short-cut:

          Position the cursor on the character, then press "C" to grab
        its colour, "P" to grab its pen style, or "B" to grab both its
        colour and pen style.

                           That is:  "C"olour
                                     "P"en
                                     "B"oth



        Condensed lines on EGA/VGA:

          If you have an EGA or VGA system then a small arrow will
        appear at the bottom right corner of the screen.  Clicking on
        this arrow will switch between 25 line mode and 43/50 line mode.



        Viewing the entire picture:

          Hold down the right mouse button to remove the bottom menu
        line for viewing the full picture.



        VIEW.EXE to view Text Paint files:

          VIEW.EXE is a small program whose sole task is to display the
        screens you create with Text Paint.  Registered users of Text
        Paint can distribute this program to other parties to display
        their Text Paint files.

          For example if you have a saved text screen called picture.scr
        then you would issue the command:

                          view picture.scr

                       or view picture    (view.exe will assume picture.scr)

          The picture will be displayed until a key is pressed.

          Alternatively you can make view display a picture for only a
        few seconds with the command:

                    view picture.scr 3000  (displays for 3000 milliseconds)
                                                           = 3 seconds

          Using this feature you can create your own slide shows by
        displaying a number of screens from (say) a batch file.  Using
        the program BAT2EXEC.COM you can turn these batch files into
        .COM files.

          If your screen images have more than 25 lines then VIEW will
        automatically switch to condensed line mode on EGA/VGA systems
        to display the picture.



        * Better still - BIGTEXT *

          Better than using VIEW.EXE to display your screens is BIGTEXT.
        This program (also written by myself) creates self-displaying
        books with illustrations.

          Bigtext can convert big text files of up to 700k or more into
        executable self-displaying text programs that fit on a 360k
        disk.  Complete with menus, searching and printing, Bigtext is
        great for books, catalogues, reports and manuals.  Importantly,
        Bigtext can display Text Paint files in full colour, integrated
        seemlessly into the text.  Bigtext can also execute other
        programs from within the text, so you can have complex VGA
        graphic illustrations as well.



        TCAPTURE - Text Capture

          Text Capture (which accompanies Text Paint) is a memory
        resident program that can capture text screen images - IN FULL
        COLOUR - from other programs.  These images can then be viewed
        and edited with Text Paint.


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        LICENCE:


        Copyright (c) 1993    Kevin Solway.      All rights reserved.

            This program is provided AS IS without warranty, expressed
        or implied.

            This program is in the public domain.  Users are encouraged
        to make as many copies as they like and to distribute them to
        whoever they choose.

            Under no circumstances is this program to be sold, except
        where clubs distribute programs without profit.

            If the program Text Paint does not accompany this program
        then registered copies are available from me for $10.


                        Suggestions are welcome.

                        Kevin Solway,
                        PO Box 207
                        St Lucia  4067
                        AUSTRALIA


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        LICENCE/REGISTRATION:

          Full registration details in the file TPORDER.DOC

          Registration for Text Paint costs $10 but is FREE when you
        register Bigtext for $30.


                               Kevin Solway
                               PO Box 207
                               St Lucia 4067
                               Australia


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