PART I - Introduction Introduction 1.0 Preface Welcome to the manual of CAPS XL, the Computer Aided Presentation System for the Commodore Amiga. The CAPS XL software and two Amigas enable you to run a professional newspaper by cable, to create a dazzling information show for a business office or to design an impressing presentation. The user-friendly software makes working with CAPS a breeze, this manual makes it even more easy to use. At 1001 Software Development we are trying to make the technology less important than the software: no jargon, mouse operated and short cuts for the experienced user. No fuss when you are trying to get your work saved, consistency in the interaction between you and the system and last but not least: safety. Your valuable data may never disappear to never-never land by a single keystroke. Have fun! The creators of CAPS XL, 1001 Software Development, January 1991 1.1 CAPS and CAPS XL When the Computer Aided Presentation System (CAPS) was introduced late fall 1988 a powerful system entered the market. The system proved not only to be a good presentation system but also seemed the right solution for what is called in the Netherlands 'Newspapers by Cable'. The Dutch media laws don't allow commercial radio or television to broadcast in the Netherlands and the only way to air commercials is displaying them on a computer accompanied by news. The commercials may not be animated else they would compete with the regular commercials shown on the State subsidized broadcast companies. The people who used CAPS as a presentation tool were satisfied with the page lay-out on their PC but the users of CAPS as a Newspaper by Cable had problems with the limited lay-out possibilities. They said they would like to have an on- screen representation of the page, multiple fonts and font sizes and a flexible way of incorporating photos and illustrations. In June 1989 we started to work on a simple graphical extension on CAPS, but as work progressed it became a full-fledged system in which CAPS has been integrated. The system is called CAPS XL (XL stands for eXtra Large) and exists basically of two parts. The first part consists of a script repository, a script editor and communications facilities. The second part is a desktop publishing-alike program in which you can design the pages. The integration of CAPS in CAPS XL makes it possible to edit pages on Amigas as well as on PCs or Macintoshes. The window-icon-menu environment is only available on the Amiga, the other platforms are confined to characters and digits. 1.2 Glossary Baud rate - The unit in which transmission speed is expressed. When transmitting binary signals, one baud is equal to one bit per second. A value of 2400 bps (bits per second) is common for most computers and modems. When you are communicating via a wire or an expensive modem, it is possible to obtain rates of 9600 bps or higher. See paragraph 3.1.3 for more information on selecting the baud rates in CAPS XL. Cursor - The cursor in CAPS XL is a vertical bar which indicates at which position a character will be inserted. DOS shell - System operators can launch an AmigaDOS shell from CAPS XL to edit, delete or copy files or directories. A shell is a program in which commands can be entered like copy, format or delete. See paragraph 3.1.5 for more information on how to launch a shell. Icon - Icons are graphical representations of program parts. Because pictures are more easily remembered than words, icons help you to learn a program more easily. Line spacing - The line spacing parameter in CAPS XL defines the number of extra pixels between lines of text. See paragraph 4.8 for more information on the line spacing. Clicking - Your Amiga mouse has two buttons. The left mouse button acts as a selection button, the right mouse button as a menu button. See paragraph 4.1 for more information on the mouse buttons. Login - Logging in is a common procedure in the world of large computer systems. The procedure consists of entering your name and a password. Forcing people to log in protects their data but also the data of other people. See paragraph 3.0 for more information on the log in procedure. Mouse pointer - The mouse pointer normally has the shape of a pencil but its shape changes after selecting certain program options. Paragraph 1.4.1 shows you all mouse pointer shapes. Preview - You can preview a complete show or just one picture in the Script Editor. The preview shows the pictures and animations and the selected transitions. See paragraph 3.3.10 and 3.3.11 for more information on previewing. Window - The Page Lay-out System (PLS) uses windows in which texts, photos and borders can be placed. Windows can be moved, resized and stacked. The word 'window' is used because a window in CAPS XL can, just like a real-world window, show only a portion of all the information that lies behind it. Justification - CAPS XL offers three types of justification: free (right justified), centered and left justified. See paragraph 4.8 for more information on the justification. Script - The script is a description in which order, with which transitions, how long and when the pictures and animations are shown. A script can be edited using the Script Editor in CAPS XL. See paragraph 3.3 for more information on the Script Editor. Kerning - The kerning defines the number of extra pixels between the characters. By enlarging the kerning, the lines will become longer. See paragraph 4.8 for more information on the kerning. Style sheet - A style sheet is a document in which all colors, fonts, borders, windows etcetera are defined. Every aspect of the page can be defined but text and pictures are usually left out. A style sheet enables you create series of pages easily. Besides the style sheets you get when installing CAPS, you can design your own ones or adapt the existing. 1.3 Hardware and software 1.3.0 The workstations CAPS XL distinguishes two types of workstations. The first type is an Amiga running CAPS XL, the second is a PC or a Macintosh. On the former you can design graphical pages with pictures and different fonts, on the latter you can only edit the text of the page. Figure 1 shows a possible network consisting of 1 Amiga workstation, 2 PCs and a Script Driver (also an Amiga). In this figure the computers are connected to the Script Driver via modems: fig. 1 - A possible CAPS XL network. On the Amiga you can design pages using multiple windows with pictures, fonts and borders. The same Amiga is also used to edit the script and to design the so-called 'PC pages'. These pages don't contain any text but they may contain pictures and a header. A PC page can, when sent to the Script Driver, be filled with text on an ordinary character oriented terminal (for instance a PC, a Macintosh or an Amiga). In order to run a Newspaper by Cable or a presentation you need at least two Amigas (one workstation and one Script Driver). The least expensive expansion consists of one or several PCs on which PC pages can be edited. A more professional configuration consists of several Amigas, an Ethernet network and journalists who enter their texts at home or elsewhere on PCs or Macs. The workstation Amiga needs the following hardware and software: Workstation hardware · Amiga 500, 2000, 2500 or 3000. · 2 Mb internal memory. · Harddisk. · A modem if the Script Driver can't be connected to the workstation by a wire. · Video camera, a flatbed scanner or a still camera. You need these devices when you want to digitize photographs. · Digitizer (DigiView of Snapshot). A digitizer is a system comprising of hardware and software which, after connecting a video source, enables you to digitize pictures. Workstation software · CAPS XL (Page Lay-out and communications system). · DeluxePaint version 3.0 or higher (sketch program). · PhotonPaint version 2.0 or higher (retouching program). · DigiView version 4.0 or higher or Snapshot Professional (digitizers). · Pixmate (image processing software). · PageRender of Real 3D (3D animation programs). Designing and transmitting a PC page (a simple page) requires the following hardware and software: Character oriented workstation hardware · Personal computer (IBM compatible, Amiga or Macintosh). · A modem if the Script Driver can't be connected to the workstation by a wire. Character oriented workstation software · Modem/terminal software (Procomm, JRComm, ZTerm). 1.3.1 The Script Driver The Script Driver is the Amiga on which the show is displayed. This computer is connected to the workstations via a modem or a wire. The Script Driver sends its signal into the local television network or to a monitor or a television. The script drivers needs the following hardware and software: Script Driver hardware · Amiga 2000, 2500 or 3000. · 1 Mb internal memory (3 Mb if large animations are incorporated in the show). · Harddisk. · A modem if the Script Driver can't be connected to the workstation by a wire. Script Driver software · CAPS XL Script Driver (part of CAPS XL). 1.4 The graphical user interface During the designing of CAPS XL the focus has been on simplifying all the procedures. The main objective was to have as little steps as possible between an idea and its result while creating a presentation. The graphical user interface, with its many icons, shadowed levels which visualize buttons, fields and knobs. All the screens have a few greys, giving the illusion that some parts are placed higher than other parts. When you know that an imaginary light source shines from the top left corner on the screen you see which parts are placed higher and which are placed lower. The higher parts are called 'buttons' or 'fields' and the lower parts are called 'information panels'. fig. 2 - Buttons and panels. 1.4.0 Buttons and fields The higher placed parts can be divided into two categories: · buttons · fields The buttons can be divided into the following categories: · action buttons · elevators · selection buttons · menu buttons · radio buttons The fields can be divided into the following categories: · number fields · date fields · text fields · time fields 1.4.0.0 Buttons Action buttons - The Ok and Cancel buttons are typical examples of action buttons. By bringing the mouse pointer above the OK button and pressing the left mouse button will highlight the button and start an action. Action buttons are square or rectangular and may have an icon representing a certain function. Figure 3 shows an action button: fig. 3 - Action buttons. Elevators - An elevator has a double function. The first function is letting the user travel through more information than a screen can show. In the Script Editor an elevator is used to scroll a list icons representing all the pages, pictures and animations a show can contain. Moving the list is accomplished by bringing the mouse pointer above the elevator button, pressing the left mouse button and sliding the mouse up and down. The elevator button will follow the mouse pointer and when the elevator is at the desired position, the left mouse button can be released. The new position of the elevator represents the position of the icon list. It is also possible to click above (not on) or under the elevator button: the button will jump as many pixels up or down as the height of elevator button. fig. 4 - An elevator. The second function is to display the relation between how much of the total information is obscured and how much is present. When the elevator takes up half the total height of the elevator box, then you know that only half of the total information is visible. For example, the Script Editor can shows 11 icons at once. When the elevator takes up the half height of the elevator box, you know that another 11 icons are obscured bringing the total number of icons to 22. Selection buttons - These buttons enable you to select or deselect an option. For example, selection buttons are used when selecting a font style. Multiple styles like italic, bold and underline can be selected or deselected. fig. 5 - Selection buttons. Menu buttons - Menu buttons are only used by the Page Lay- out System. When you press the right mouse button, the page you are working on will be pushed down in order to make room for the menu. fig. 6 - Menu buttons. The black fields indicate the subject of the menu items and the grey fields represent all the options. The majority of the options directly start a certain action, which can be seen by a change in the mouse pointer shape. The menu buttons with a small triangle bring you to a new screen. The letter inside some menu buttons are called 'short cuts'. Pressing one of these letters mimics bringing the menu bar on screen and clicking on a button with the mouse. For example, pressing the letter 'p' (with or without the menu visible) renders the palette tool on screen. Radio buttons - In some cases the selections you can make are mutual exclusive. In those cases the buttons are round and clearly visible grouped. Clicking a button which has not been highlighted, highlights it and deselects the highlighted button. Radio buttons derive their name from the buttons on a real radio: pressing the AM button, deselects the FM button and vice versa. Both buttons cannot be selected simultaneously. fig. 7 - Radio buttons. 1.4.0.1 Fields Number fields and text fields - A text field can be activated by bringing the mouse pointer above the field and by pressing the left mouse button. A cursor (a small rectangular box) appears, indicating that a text can be entered. Old text can be changed or new text can be typed. The 'del' and 'backspace' keys, the cursor keys and the return key behave just as they behave in a word processor. When entering text in a not completely filled text field the old characters will move to the right. On the other hand, when the text field is filled completely the old characters will be replaced by newly typed ones. ¤ Besides the usual keys like backspace and return, many Amiga programs offer two additional key commands: Right Amiga key and x - delete all text in a text field. Right Amiga key and q - undo last deletion. fig. 8 - Text fields. Date fields - A date is entered in the format dd-mm-yy. Omitting the dashes will insert them after you press return. fig. 9 - Date field. Time fields - The time is entered in the format hh:mm:ss. Again, omitting the colons will insert them after you press return. Entering a '10' will be interpreted as 10 seconds, 110 as 1 minute and 10 seconds etcetera. If you, accidentally, enter 01:01:91 in a date field or 13-26-52 then CAPS XL will change this into 01-01-91 and 13:26:52 respectively. 1.4.1 The mouse pointer Under normal conditions, the mouse pointer is shaped as a pencil. While carrying out lengthy operation (operations involving the disk drive or recalculating pixels) the pointer changes into a tiny cloud carrying the text 'zz'Ę(the sleepy pointer). The mouse pointer knows many shapes as you will find out. Many operations in the Page Lay-out System will change the shape. You may encounter the following shapes: Shape Meaning Default mouse pointer shape. Wait until a certain operation finishes. Shape Shown after selecting Menu title:Menu button Text:Word processor. Text:Open as, Photo:Open as, Photo:Remap, Miscellaneous:Repaginate. Text:Place. Text:Erase. Photo:Place. Photo:Erase. Shape Shown after selecting Menu title:Menu button Window:Open. Window:Define. Window:Resize. Window:Move. Window:Close. Window:Erase. Window:To front, Window:To back. Shape Shown after selecting Menu title:Menu button Window:Clone. Typeface:Type and size. Typeface:Style. 1.5 The help facility If you are in the main menu or in the Page Lay-out System with the worksheet or the menu on screen, pressing the Help key will pop up a help screen. The help screen shows this manual, a few buttons, an elevator and a text field. You can look-up words by entering the word in the text field and by pressing return. You can, for example look-up this piece of text! ----------------------------------------------------------------- PART II A page on TV in 15 minutes This chapter covers all the steps between logging in and having a new page running on the Script Driver. If you are a new user, you should continue with part III. However, this chapter gives a good insight in how many (or how little) steps it requires to get a page on screen. 2.0 Logging in After you have launched CAPS XL, a screen appears prompting you to enter your name and password. » Enter your name, followed by return. Repeat this for the password. You have three chances and keep in mind that CAPS XL is case sensitive. ¤ By default you can enter 'caps' as a user name and password. The system operator may change this using the SysEdit program. See part V of this manual for more information on SysEdit. When the main menu appears, a welcome message is rendered on the screen. Figure 10 shows the message (the version number of CAPS XL is located in the bottom right corner). » Click on the OK-button to make the message go away. fig. 10 - The welcome message. 2.1 Creating a new script » Click in the main menu on 'Select script'. Select 'New' in the screen that appears next. » The screen which appears next prompts you to enter a new name for the script. The creation of a new script can be cancelled at this moment by clicking on the Cancel button. If you have entered a non existing name you can click on the OK button to create a new script. If you enter an existing name, you will be warned and asked to enter another name. 2.2 Designing a page » Select 'Design page' in the main menu. The main menu fades to white and a small bar appears on top of the screen. Pressing the right mouse button reveals the menu. In the next example a news page will be designed using a style sheet. The style sheet is a document with a pre-defined lay-out. It has an header and two windows without any text. The right colors have been chosen and a typeface has been selected. The only thing you have to do is to enter some text in both windows. First you will have to load the stylesheet: » Select 'Open as'. » Select 'Stylesheet'. » A list of all available stylesheets appears. Select the 'news' stylesheet by clicking on 'news' and next on 'OK'. Double clicking 'news' has the same effect. » When the stylesheet has been loaded you can press the right mouse button to reveal the menu again. Select 'Word processor' (located under the title 'Text') and click on the upper dotted rectangular box. The screens becomes white indicating that the word processor has been launched. Enter a text and quit typing by pressing the right mouse button (or the Esc key or the F10 function key). » Select 'Word processor' again and enter a text in the lower large dotted rectangular box. When you are finished, press the right mouse button twice to quit typing and to get the menu on screen. » When the news page is finished, it can be written to the harddisk. Select in the menu 'Save as'. Next, select 'Document' in the screen that appears. The screen which appears next is called the disk save requester. In the disk save requester you can name the page you are about to save. The name 'news' ('news' was the name of the stylesheet which stood model for this page) is a default name. You can use the name 'news' or adapt it. There is no harm in using the name 'news' because documents and style sheets are stored in different places. Click on the OK button to save the page. 2.3 Editing the script » Leave the Page Lay-out System by clicking on 'Main menu' (located in the bottom left corner). » Select 'Edit script' in the main menu. The screen which appears next shows in the top left corner of the screen an icon of a testbars page. This icon appears in a new script because a script always has one page. » The news page you created in the Page Lay-out System can be included in the show by clicking on the Library button. Next, click on 'news' and on the OK button. The news page will be appended to the testbars page icon. » Remove the testbars page by clicking on its icon and selecting 'Delete'. If you like you can include more pages in the script if there are any in the library. » Click on the OK button (located in the bottom right corner of the screen) to save the script. 2.4 Sending the script » Click on 'Send script' in the main menu. A screen appears informing you which telephone number and baudrate is selected. Furthermore, you are asked to choose between communicating via modem or via wire. If the telephone number isn't correct, select cancel. See paragraph 3.1.3 for more information on baud rates and telephone numbers. » Hit the OK button to call the Script Driver. After the connection has been established your workstation starts to upload the pages and other files. You can monitor the transmission on a screen which tells you how many bytes are transferred and how many are left to be sent. When all the data has been transmitted you will hear the sound of a gong. The script will start to run on the Script Driver. The complete process of designing a script, creating a simple page, editing a script and sending it to the Script Driver has been covered very briefly in this chapter. In the next chapters we will go deeper into all the features and procedures of CAPS XL. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PART III The main menu and its features 3.0 Logging in There is a twofold reason for having to log in. First and foremost, it protects your valuable data from strangers. Remember that most script drivers are connected to a public telephone line. Anyone can try to enter the system. Secondly, your user name is being used by the electronic mail facility. You can write letters to other user using the same workstation or to users on other workstation if your CAPS XL systems runs on Amigas interconnected by a local area network. fig. 11 - The login screen. The login procedure follows the steps outlined here: » The first time: Enter 'caps' in the user name text field as well as in the password text field. If this doesn't work, the system operator should open an account for you. See part V of this manual for more information on managing the users with the SysEdit program. » After the first time: Enter the user name and password you received from the system operator. Remember: CAPS XL is case sensitive! The following key command can be used in the text fields: Backspace (the <-- key) - deletes the character on the left of the cursor. The cursor will advance one character to the left. Del (delete) - deletes the character under the cursor. All the characters right of the cursor will be moved to the left. Amiga-x - holding down the right A-key and pressing x will empty the complete text field. Amiga-q - holding down right A-key and pressing q will undo the last deletion. Return - pressing the return key or pressing the left mouse button exists the text field. ¤ The key commands mentioned above can not only be used in the text fields of the login screen but used throughout CAPS XL. When you have logged in you can change the password which the system operator has assigned to you. See paragraph 3.1.4 for more information on how to change your user name and password. 3.1 DOS/System preferences fig. 12 - The DOS/System preferences icon. 3.1.0 Setting the date With the easy-to-use calendar which appears when you click on the DOS/System preferences button in the main menu you can set the date of your workstation battery backed-up clock. Each time a script has been sent to a Script Driver, the clock of that remote Amiga will be synchronized with the clock of your workstation. fig. 13 - Setting the date. 3.1.1 Setting the time When the battery backed-up clock of your workstation is not reflecting the current time, you can set the time of it. Every time a script has been sent to a Script Driver the clock of that remote Amiga will be synchronized with the clock of your workstation. fig. 14 - Setting the time. 3.1.2 The telephone number index The telephone index can hold up to 10 entries. The list can be scrolled up and down by clicking on the arrows located at the right side of the list. A telephone number and additional information can be entered by clicking on an empty line and by filling the two text fields located at the bottom of the index. Enter the telephone number (only digits and dashes are allowed) in the left text field. CAPS XL uses this number to call the Script Driver so enter the right telephone number! fig. 15 - The telephone number index. 3.1.3 Setting the baudrate The baudrate defines the speed at which two interconnected computers can communicate. Modems usually communicate at 1200 or 2400 bps (bits per second). When you are using a null- modem cable or an expensive high- speed modem you can set the baudrate to 9600 bps or higher. fig. 16 - Setting the baudrate. 3.1.4 Changing the password At the editorial office of a Newspaper by cable or any other easily accessible workstation it is important to shield your data from strangers. Change your password frequently, write it down on a note an put it in your wallet. fig. 17 - Changing the password. The procedure of changing your password is outlined here: » Enter your current user name. » Enter your current password. » Enter a new password. Type carefully! Do not forget your new password! 3.1.5 Launching a DOS shell. When you click on the 'AmigaDOS shell' button, the screen will go away and the familiar Workbench screen will appear with an opened CLI window. In this AmigaDOS CLI window (by the way, these abbreviations stand for Amiga Disk Operating System Command Line Interface, no wonder they invented windows!) you can enter all the DOS commands like copy, format delete etcetera. The CLI window can be closed by typing 'endcli'. You return to CAPS XL by hitting the Esc key. If you hit Esc without entering 'endcli' a second CLI process will be spawned when clicking on the AmigaDOS shell button a second time. 3.1.6 The Script Driver parameters The Script Driver parameters are stored in a file which resides on the workstation. Every time a script is being transmitted to a Script Driver and modifications have been made to this file, a copy of this file is also uploaded. The Script Driver parameters screen features an OK and a Cancel button so you can fiddle around without having to save the modifications. 3.1.6.0 Altering the display position If the display of the Script Driver computer isn't correctly centered then you can modify this by changing the x and y co- ordinates. fig. 18 - Altering the display position. The new values can be sent to the Script Driver by sending a script. 3.1.6.1 The interlude screen co-ordinates The script editor has a special feature which allows you to insert a special page between e.g a group of commercial pages and a news page. This special page, called an interlude, will render a random mathematical figure on screen when displayed by the script editor. The area which is used by the figure can be controlled by setting the interlude screen co-ordinates. The FillerPicture is used as a background so the values of the interlude screen co-ordinates should not exceed the dimensions of the FillerPicture. If the FillerPicture has a width of 320 pixels and a height of 200, the co-ordinates are 0,0 to 319,199. If for instance the upper 25 scanlines are occupied by text, a possible range for the co-ordinates could be 0,30 to 319,199. fig. 19 - The interlude screen co-ordinates. ¤ How you upload the FillerPicture to the Script Driver is explained in appendix A. 3.1.6.2 The clock and date position A page designed in the Page Lay-out System can have the time and date printed on it. You can switch the clock on by clicking on the small clock icon in the script editor. When doing this, a small icon of a clock will appear next to the name of the page: fig. 20 - A page with and without a clock and date on screen. The Script Driver parameter screen offers a few text fields in which you can fill in the font name, the font size and the kerning which will be used to print the date and time. fig. 21 - The parameters of the clock and time. Besides the font and its related parameters you also have to indicate at what position the clock will be printed on all the screens. This can be accomplished by clicking on the 'POSITION' button. Before doing this, you should load a 'typical' page in the Page Lay-out System. Because the position you are going to set is used for all the pages with a clock, the page you take as an example must have an header with a commonly used height and lay-out. When you have opened such a page and you have returned to the Script Driver parameters screen you can click on the 'POSITION' button. With the mouse pointer you can drag a rectangle representing the broadest date which can occur using the selected font. Setting the position follows the steps outlined here: » Drag the rectangle around the screen by moving the mouse pointer. » Press the right mouse button to toggle between position the clock in the header or in the bottom screen. Toggling will not work if the header is too narrow for the rectangle to fit in. » Press the left mouse button to record the last position. The date will appear on screen in the following format: 23 September 12:32 3.1.6.1 The clock page parameters Besides including an interlude in the script, it is also possible to include a screen which displays the actual time. Again, the FillerPicture is used as a background. The typeface, the size and kerning can be set as well as the position of the clock. You can have to clock centered horizontally as well as vertically or define the position yourself. When defining the co-ordinates you have to take the dimensions of the FillerPicture into account.. fig. 22 - The clock page parameters. You can preview the clock page by clicking on the 'TEST' button. In order to get a true representation you should copy the FillerPicture into the CAPSSYS: as well as into the CAPSPAGES: directory. When you do this and you click on 'TEST' the time will be displayed in the right color using the selected typeface, font size and kerning. 3.2 Selecting and creating a script fig. 23 - The select script icon. Clicking on the 'select script' button will bring you to a screen asking you to choose between opening an existing script or creating a new one. An existing script may be empty (excluding a test page) or contain several pages. It is also possible that the script runs on the Script Driver. fig. 24 - The choice between opening an old script or creating a new one. 3.2.0 Creating a new script If you choose to create a new script a screen appears like the screen shown by figure 25. It consists of a text field and two action buttons. In the text field you can enter the name of the new script. If the name exists you are warned and asked to enter another name. The OK button only works if the name doesn't exist already. fig. 25 - Naming a new script. 3.2.1 Selecting an existing script If you want to open an existing screen you will have to pick one from a list of scripts. You can select one by clicking on it and selecting OK or by double clicking on its name. 3.2.2 The script info screen After you have opened an existing script, a script info screen is presented giving you all sorts of details concerning the script. When the wrong script is selected you can select another one by clicking on the 'Select other script' button. Pressing the OK button brings you back to the main menu. fig. 26 - The script info screen. Selecting the 'Delete this script' button will ask you if you really want to delete the chosen script. Confirming the question will delete the script from the harddisk so be careful! The function 'Print all texts' will print all texts included in the script. The function 'Copy this script' will ask you to enter a new name for the copy of the selected script. Copying the script offers you a flexible way of modifying the running script without altering the original script. 3.3 Editing the script fig. 27 - The Edit script icon. 3.3.0 The first error message When you select 'Edit script' and an error messages appears on screen telling 'You must first select a script before you can modify one', then you should first select an existing script or create a new one (see paragraph 3.2). 3.3.1 The screen elements A script can consist of several objects, for instance pictures, animations or interludes. The objects are represented by icons which are listed along the left side of the script editor screen. The icon list can be scrolled up and down using the buttons located in the vertical bar in the middle of the screen. fig. 28 - The screen of the script editor. On the right side of the screen are the buttons and fields which can be used to program the display conditions. These conditions can apply to one object, to a group of objects or to all. At the bottom of the page the total number of pages and the duration of the show is displayed. The show duration is displayed in hours, minutes and seconds (hh:mm:ss). ¤ The show duration is only an approximation. The durations of the transitions and animations are not taken into account. Furthermore, the printed duration is the maximum duration: pictures which are only displayed during a few hours a week will always be accounted for when calculating the duration. A script can consist of many objects: pages designed in the Page Lay-out System, pictures and animations drawn in DeluxePaint, or digitized pictures. Between these objects you can insert interlude effects and a clock page. Al the script objects have their own icon: Shape: Meaning: Animation CAPS XL page Clock page PC-page Picture (IFF) Test page Interlude Video page 3.3.2 Scrolling the icon list The vertical bar placed in the middle of the screen has 7 buttons: Shape: Meaning: Jump to the top of the icon list. Scroll the icon list one icon up. Scroll the icon list 11 icons up. The elevator. Scroll the icon list 11 icons down. Scroll the icon list one icon down. Jump to the bottom of the icon list. The icon list can also be scroll up and down by placing the mouse in the upper left corner or in the bottom left corner. ¤ How the elevator operates has already been explained but a short summary is outlined here: Clicking on the elevator button and moving the mouse, repositions the button. When you release the left mouse button, the new position of the elevator will reveal a new part of the information. Clicking above or under the elevator button will move the button as many pixels as the height of the elevator. 3.3.3 Consulting the library Before we explain how objects can be moved, copied or deleted you will have to make a simple script. The library contains all the files you can include in the script, including the pages you create in the Page Lay-out System. In fact, every time you save a document a second file is saved in the library directory (called CAPSPAGES). ¤ See appendix B for more information on all the important CAPS XL directories. The library can be opened by clicking on the 'Library' button in the Script Driver. A screen appears displaying a list of all the available files. In the library you can select one or more files which will be appended to the script when you click on the OK button. The pages you select are appended to the show in the same order in which they are selected in the library. A temporary order can be made in the library indicated by numbers appearing in front of the file names. The order can changed by selecting a previously selected file name again. fig. 29 - The screen of the library. The list of file names is sorted alphabetically. The right column is a continuation of the left column. fig. 30 - Five selected pages. The selected pages are appended to the script when you leave the library. Figure 31 shows the correspondence between selected pages in the library and the same pages appended to a script (compare figure 30 and 31). fig. 31 - The five appended pages. 3.3.4 Selecting one or more pages The script editor enables you to select one page at a time, a few pages at the same time or even groups of pages. Doing so enables you to edit the display conditions for more than one page at once. The following selection methods can be used: Selecting one page - Click with the left mouse button on the icon of the page you would like to select. The icon remains highlighted until you select it again or select another page. Scrolling the icon list will not affect the highlight state of any icon. Selecting more than one page - Click with the right mouse button on the first icon of the group of pages you would like to select. Move the mouse pointer to the last icon of the group and click again with the right mouse button. All the icons between the first and the last selected icon will be highlighted. It is possible to select the same icon twice, in order to select a group of icons consisting of only one page. If only one page has been selected, then this page can be deselected by clicking on it. A group of pages can be deselected by clicking on any of the selected icons. Selecting/deselecting all the pages - Click on the action button of figure 32. All the pages will be highlighted indicating that all the pages are selected. Clicking again will deselect all the pages. fig. 32 - The 'select all' button. ¤ Selecting icons with the right mouse button not only enables you to select more than one page but also more than one group of pages. The copy, delete and move operations also apply to multiple groups. 3.3.5 Copying a page A page or a group of pages can be copied by selecting the icons which should be copied and by clicking on the Copy button. After you have clicked on the Copy button an insertion cursor appears which can be positioned by moving the mouse pointer. When you click on the left mouse button, the page (or the group of pages) will be copied to the desired position including the display conditions. ¤ When the insertion cursor is visible the left mouse buttons acts as a confirmation button and the right mouse button as a cancel button. 3.3.6 Deleting a page A page or a group of pages can be deleted by selecting the icons which should be copied and by clicking on the Delete button. The selected icons will be removed from the script and the underlying icons will be appended. 3.3.7 Moving a page Moving a page or a group of pages is simply a matter of selecting one or more pages, clicking on the Move button and positioning the insertion cursor. Clicking on the left button will transfer all the selected icons to the new destination. 3.3.8 Programming the display conditions The display conditions enable you to program in a very flexible way on and until which date, for how many seconds, on which day of every week etcetera a particular page will be displayed. Some programming possibilities are outlined here: · You can program the starting date and the ending date. · A page can be shown continuously or cyclically. A continuously shown page will be displayed from and until a particular date and time and will interrupt the running show. A cyclical page will be shown at a regular interval along with all the other cyclical pages and can also have a starting day and starting time and an ending day and ending time. · Every cyclical page can have a duration of 99 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds. fig. 33 - The buttons and fields of the display conditions programmer. 3.3.8.0 Cyclical pages A cyclical page has the following display condition fields: fig. 34 - The display condition fields of a cyclical page. When you do not enter a starting date and time and an ending date and time (the date and time are set to 00-00-00 and 00:00:00 respectively ) the page or pages to which these conditions apply will always be displayed. 3.3.8.1 Continuous pages Continuous pages have the following display condition parameters: fig. 35 - The parameters of a continuous page. When you do not enter the starting day and ending day parameters (both are set to 00-00-00) and the starting time and ending time parameters are set correctly, then this page will be shown accordingly. When you do not enter a starting and ending time the page will not be display at all. You can toggle between the cyclical and continuous mode of a page by clicking on one of the two radio buttons located on the screen of the Script Editor. A continues page can be distinguished from the cyclical pages by an hour-glass which appears at the right side of the name of the page. fig. 36 - A continuous page and its hour-glass. The major difference between a continuous and a cyclical page is this: the former interrupts the script and shows the page continuously for a certain period but only once a day. The latter is shown for a certain period over and over again every time the script has completed its cycle. 3.3.8.2 The day-of-the-week programmer For every page in the script you can easily program on which days of the week it should be displayed. By default, all the day buttons are highlighted indicating that the page will be displayed every day. fig. 37 - The buttons of the day-of-the-week programmer By deselecting all the icons but 'SA' and 'SU' (Saturday and Sunday) you tell the Script Driver to display the selected pages only on Saturdays and Sundays. The 7 day buttons, of course, represent all the days of the week but the eighth button (the small one located in the upper rightmost corner) is the so-called 'inverter' button. Clicking on this button inverts the current selection of the day buttons. If you, for example, want to display a page only on Mondays you can deselect Monday and then click on the inverter button. All the selected pages become selected and vice versa. Clicking again on the inverter button reverts to the previous state. 3.3.9 Selecting a transition The transition defines the way a page is rendered on screen. The previous page will be replaced by the new one and CAPS XL offers you many ways to do this. Clicking on the 'Effect'Ębutton brings you to a screen with several icons representing a certain transition. Clicking on an icon and then on the OK button selects the transition. fig. 38 - All the available transitions. It is also possible to enter an effect number directly. This number can be entered in the number field, located next to the Effect button. The screen which display all the transitions offers three basic types of transitions: Fade - Fading is accomplished by a mathematical adaptation of the color palette. It is possible to fade all the colors to black, to white or to the colors of the next page. Wipe - A wipe is a transition which can be performed only on pages with the same resolution. The next page is drawn over the previous page using all sorts of graphical effects. 3.3.10 Showing a picture or an animation A page, a picture or an animation can be shown by selecting its icon and clicking on the green eye button. fig. 39 - The green eye button enables you to show a e.g. picture. 3.3.11 Previewing the script The script can be previewed by clicking on the blue eye button. fig. 40 - The blue eye button enables you to preview the script. Figure 41 shows the screen which appears when you click on the blue eye button. The screen offers several options, enabling you to give a mouse controlled 'slide presentation' or a quick preview of the complete show. The presentation can be stopped by pressing the Esc key or the Help key. When you do not highlight an icon, the presentation will start with the first picture. When an icon has been highlighted, the presentation will start there, run to the end and then start with the first picture in the script. When you click on the Preview button instead of the Presentation button, the script will only run once, returning automatically to the Script Editor. fig. 41 - The preview option screen. 3.3.12 The clock page When you click on the button of figure 42, an insertion cursor appears representing a floating clock page which can be inserted somewhere in the script. Clicking on the left mouse button inserts the clock page, resembling the copy and move operations. The right mouse button cancels the insertion of the clock page. fig. 42 - The clock page button. The clock page is a screen which shows the time (in the format hh:mm:ss). The resolution, the colors and the typeface of the digits can be defined by you. See paragraph 3.1.6 for more information on the clock page and its appearance. 3.3.13 The PC page Only when the page icon or a group of page icons (the icons representing pages created in CAPS XL) has been highlighted, the PC button can be used. fig. 43 - The PC page button. A PC page is a page created in the Page Lay-out System. It has at least one window and a typeface. When the PC page is included in the script and the script has been sent to the Script Driver, then this page will appear in the list of available pages when you log in at the Script Driver with a PC or a Macintosh. A PC page can be used to make an 'overlay picture', consisting of a background picture created on an Amiga and text typed on a PC or a Macintosh (or on a so-called dumb terminal, like the DEC VT- 100 terminal). When you have sent a PC page to the Script Driver, but you have not yet typed any text, then this page will not be displayed (empty pages do not look very appealing). The text you type on the PC or Mac will appear in the window you have opened first in the Page Lay-out System. The text will be rendered on the screen in the typeface, the colors and style you have defined for this first window. Designing a PC page therefore should follow the steps outlined here: » Click on the menu button 'New' of the Page Lay-out System. » Click on the menu button 'Open' and open the window for the PC text. » Define the typeface of the PC window and type 'PC window' in order to keep this window clearly distinguishable as the first opened window. » Finish the page by loading a header, opening other windows and by putting a pictures in some windows. » Delete the text in the PC window, else this text will become part of the background. » Save the page as a document. » Define the page in the Script Editor as a PC page (highlight the icon and click on the PC button, see figure 43). ¤ Notez bien: the System Operator must give you access to the PC pages. He does this by using the SysEdit program and by sending the script to the Script Driver in order to get the new access description file to the Script Driver. This seems a bit cumbersome, but remember that you are running a system that is accessible by telephone. 3.3.14 The time and date on screen Only when a page icon or a group of page icons (icons representing a page created in the Page Lay-out System) has been selected, the clock button can be selected. fig. 44 - The clock button. Just like the hour glass which appears when you make a cyclical page continuous, a tiny icon of a face of a clock is displayed when you add the date and time to a page. The typeface, the position etcetera can be defined by you. See paragraph 3.1.6 for more information on the date and time. 3.3.15 The interlude page Clicking the interlude button brings an insertion cursor on screen. You can move this cursor around in order to position the interlude page somewhere in the script. fig. 45 - The interlude page. An interlude is a screen on which a random, colorful mathematical figure is rendered. The interlude page uses the same background as the clock page. More information (e.g. positioning and sizing the figure) is supplied in paragraph 3.1.6. 3.3.16 Including animations in the script It is possible to include animations (e.g. the ones created in DeluxePaint) in the script. The animations should be saved using the ANIM5 file format specifications (see appendix C for more information on making and preparing animations). An animation can be placed in the library by saving it to the CAPSPAGES directory. When it is in the library, it can easily be selected and appended to the existing script. Just like any other page can animations be copied, moved and deleted. When an animation has been inserted in the script you can select its icon. Figure 46 shows the animation parameter button which brings up a panel when you click on it. fig. 46 - The animation parameter button. When you click on the button of figure 46, a panel like the one in figure 47 appears on screen: fig. 47 - The animation parameter panel. The number field 'Rotations' defines the number of times the animation is played every time it is displayed. By default this parameter is set to 1. Increasing this number plays the animation more than one time, but requires some special preparation of the animation (see appendix C for more on this). The number field 'Frames per second' enables you to define the speed of the animation. The maximum speed is 25 frames per second which gives you a smooth movement. 3.3.17 Controlling a VCR fig. 48 - The button which brings the VCR control panel on screen. With an optional software module, which can be purchased separately, it is possible to control videorecorders, laserdiscs or audio equipment. When these devices are attached to this module they can be started and ended on specific dates and times. Contact your CAPS dealer or 1001 Software Development for more information. If your specific device is not supported by our drivers, we will gladly make one for you. The more devices are supported, the better. 3.3.18 Changing a parameter globally In order to change a parameter of a script item, you have to highlight its icon. Highlighting more than one icon enables you to modify more than one script item at once. Selecting all the icons using the 'select all' button (see figure 32) highlights all the available icons, giving you the possibility to change the duration of every page, animation or picture with a few keystrokes. Changing a parameter globally can be performed on the following parameters: · Effect (the button as well as the number field can be used). · Display days (SU, MO etcetera). · Display period (from:dd-mm-yy and to:dd-mm-yy) · Cyclical from:hh:mm:ss · Cyclical to:hh:mm:ss · Cyclical duration:hh:mm:ss · Continuous from:hh:mm:ss · Continuous to:hh:mm:ss · PC page · Date and time option 3.4 Sending a script fig. 49 - The Send script button in the main menu. When you have selected a script you can upload it to the Script Driver. Before the actual transmission takes place, the following screen appears giving you the possibility to choose between a modem or a cable connection. This screens also tells you to whom and at which speed the script will be transmitted. fig. 50 - The screen which appears before every transmission session. Clicking on OK will tell CAPS XL to call the Script Driver. After the connection has been established all the pages will be transmitted. Figure 51 shows you the screen which appears on screen while communicating. It shows the filename of the file being uploaded, the number of remaining bytes and the total number of bytes. When the connection is lost or another error occurs then an error message will be displayed. fig. 51 - The screen which appears while communicating. 3.5 Cancelling the show fig. 52 - The Cancel show button in the main menu The running show can be canceled and a testbars picture can be broadcast or the Script Driver can be reset. Resetting can be useful when a new version of the software has been uploaded to the Script Driver. In order to get the new software to run, you will have to reset and to boot the Script Driver. fig. 53 - The options to cancel the show. Just like when a script is uploaded, an option screen appears before making contact to the Script Driver giving you the choice between communicating via wire or modem. 3.6 The newsflash fig. 54 - The newsflash button in the main menu. The newsflash function enables you to interrupt the running show and to show a page, a picture or an animation. The only thing you will have to do is to select a page, to enter the display duration and to hit the OK button in order to transmit it. Just like when a script is uploaded, an option screen appears before making contact to the Script Driver giving you the choice between communicating via wire or modem. When a newsflash has been sent and you re-enter the newsflash option screen, a second option enables you to stop the pending newsflash. Choosing this option will make CAPS XL call up the Script Driver and terminate the newsflash, forcing the script to run again. Now you can send another newsflash. 3.7 Leaving the program fig. 58 - The exit button in the main menu. You can exit CAPS XL by clicking on the 'Exit CAPS XL' button. When there is still an unsaved page is the Page Lay-out System, you will be warned. When you have passed this dialogue box, a second one appears asking you if you really want to quit. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PART IV The Page Lay-out System (PLS) 4.0 General features The Page Lay-out System offers the following features: · Independently definable windows in which text and a picture can be placed. Each window can have a different typeface, border, background and the text as well as the picture can be positioned independently. Windows can be resized, moved and stacked. · Pages can be saved as a document or as a stylesheet. When you save a page as a document, then an IFF picture will be saved as well. This picture is used by the Script Driver to display it on television. · The word processor supports word wrap, lines can be deleted or inserted and is fully WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). You can import ASCII files created in other word processors e.g. the Commodore Amiga 'ed'. When you scale a window you can repaginate the text in order to fit the lines into the window. · Pictures can be remapped to less colors or colors can be swapped. An automatic 'extra color' function can remap all the pictures to get one extra color (e.g. an extra text color). · Each page can have a 16 colors header. The header is independent to the underlying page which has its own 16 color palette. 4.1 Getting started fig. 59 - The 'Design page' button in the main menu. » Click on the 'Design page' button in the main menu. When you click on this button, the screen fades to white and a small bar appears on top of the screen. This bar is the header and may contain different sized headers like the 'News' or the 'Sports' headers. » Pressing the right mouse button brings the menu on screen. This menu shows all the options of the Page Lay-out System (called PLS for brevity). The menu buttons with a small triangle pointing to the right present a second screen when clicked on. Menu buttons without this triangle start a particular action immediately. When an actions is started this is indicated by changing the mouse pointer shape. See paragraph 1.4.1 for more information on all the mouse pointer shapes. fig. 60 - On the left a page on screen, on the right the page as well as the menu on screen. The menu which can be seen in the right picture of figure 60 was called on screen by pressing the right mouse button. The menu disappears by pressing the right mouse button again. ¤ All the functions of the left as well as the right mouse button are outlined here: The left mouse button is used to click on button, field and elevators. You start an action or make a selection with this button. The right mouse button is used: · In the Page Lay-out System to bring the menu on screen and to make it go away. · To leave the word processor (Esc or Help works as well) · To display a list of devices in the disk requesters. · To cancel most operations in the Page Lay-out System. 4.2 File management CAPS XL distinguishes the following file types: Page - A page is an IFF picture which can be read by almost any Amiga graphics program e.g. you can load a CAPS XL page in DeluxePaint. What DeluxePaint and other programs cannot do is split the header from the bottom part of the screen. These programs will show a CAPS XL page in the colors of the bottom part of the screen. ¤ The IFF (Interchange File Format) standard is not an Amiga specific file format. On the PC and Macintosh are also programs which can read and write IFF files. Two popular programs are: · Adobe Photoshop for the Apple Macintosh. · Electronic Arts DeluxePaint for the (IBM compatible) PC. When you create pictures on the PC (Adobe Photoshop cannot write IFF pictures, only the PC DeluxePaint can) you will have to keep in mind that the Amiga has a different resolution and a different number of colors. If you create a 640 pixels wide and 480 pixels high picture with 256 colors then you will have to convert this picture to a mode the Amiga understands. In DeluxePaint on the PC you can enlarge the page size to 640 by 400 with 16 colors. Creating and saving pictures using this format will create legal Amiga pictures. Document - A document is a page which can be edited in the Page Lay-out System. All the elements of a document (windows, text, pictures etcetera) are stored as objects enabling you to change them easily without having to rub out pixels. A document can only be edited in the Page Lay-out System. Stylesheet - The only difference between a stylesheet and a document is the place where both are stored. A stylesheet can be a completely designed page with windows, pictures and an header. Stylesheets enable novice CAPS XL users to create documents in an easy way but also help the advanced users to create a consistent collection of pages. Animation - Animations can not be created in CAPS XL but they can be included in the script. 4.2.0 Opening files 4.2.0.0 Opening a document There are two ways to load a document. The easiest way is to click on the menu button 'Open'. A disk requester appears in which you can select a document. Clicking on the OK button (or clicking on the document name rapidly twice) will load the document. The second way to load a document is to click on the menu button 'Open as' and to click on 'Document' on the screen which appears. The three selection buttons (Texts, Photos and Header) are highlighted by default. These buttons enable you to select which document are loaded and which are not. A document with many photos can be loaded quickly by deselecting 'Photos'. Saving this document afterwards of course discards the photos. 4.2.0.1 Opening a stylesheet A stylesheet can be opened by clicking on 'Open as' and then on 'Style-sheet'. The same three selection buttons are available enabling you to read only a bare-bones page with only windows if you deselect all three buttons. 4.2.0.2 Opening an header CAPS XL has a library of headers, located in the CAPSHEADERS directory. You can also create them yourself for instance using Deluxe-Paint. A header must be 640 pixels wide and maximum 250 pixels high. You save a header in DeluxePaint as a brush to the CAPSHEADERS directory. 4.2.0.3 Importing files You do not have to enter your text using the word processor in CAPS XL. Text files can be loaded from disk and flown into a window. You can use your favourite word processor or the AmigaDOS text-editor 'ed' to generate ASCII files. When using a word processor be sure to save your files as a 'plain' or 'raw' file. 1001 Software Development has written a small text-editor called TeXT which creates such textfiles. 4.2.0.4 Reading colors from an IFF file With the function 'Open palette' you can read the colors from an IFF file. If you like the palette of a picture, but you do not know how to create them using the palette tool you can just read them from that file. The resolution of the file does not matter as long as it has a color table. 4.2.1 Saving When a page was opened as a document then it will be saved as a document as well when you click on 'Save'. The same applies to stylesheets: reading a stylesheet will save it as one when you click on 'Save'. 4.2.1.0 Saving a document A page can be saved as a document by clicking on 'Save as' and next on 'Document'. This enables you to save a page as a document which was originally loaded as a stylesheet. When you save a document, an IFF picture is also saved automatically. This picture is uploaded to the Script Driver. 4.2.1.1 Saving a stylesheet When you create a nice looking page, you can save it as a stylesheet. The three selection buttons 'Texts', 'Photos' and 'Header' make it easy to leave out the texts and photos when you save a finished page as a stylesheet. 4.2.2 Deleting This list of pages which appears when you click on the 'Delete' button is the same as the pages listed in the library of the Script Editor. This list shows all the pages which can be included in the script (pages created in the Page Lay-out System, IFF pictures and animations). If you select a page, or several pages and you click on the OK button then a dialogue box will appear warning you that proceeding will delete the file (or files). If you proceed then the selected files will be removed from the harddisk. Be careful! 4.3 New The function 'New' has two options: the document can be removed from the screen completely or only the texts can be erased. The former will close all windows, clean the palette but leave the header on top. The latter leaves the document on screen but only erases the texts, giving you the possibility to work on page 2 of a 4 page story without having to erase those three windows one after the other. fig. 61 - The option screen which appears when you select 'New'. 4.3 Printing The document your working on can be printed graphically but it is also possible to print all the texts. Figure 62 shows all the options: fig. 62 - The print options. The selection button 'Print extra info' prints information about every window of text. The information ranges from dimensions of the window to the typeface that it uses. This can be helpful when designing many stylesheets having the same lay-out. The print option screen also tells you which printer is selected. If the wrong printer is selected then you should return to the Workbench and launch the Preferences. This program enables you to select a printer along with other related parameters. ¤ If you make a modification in the printer Preferences then you will have to boot the Amiga in order to let the system pick up the changes. Booting means pressing the CTRL key together with both Amiga keys. 4.3 Word processing When you click on the 'Word processor' menu button the mouse pointer shape changes into a I-shaped cursor. Clicking with this cursor on one of the windows starts the word processor for that particular window. If you have not selected a typeface for a window then you will have to do that first. If you have already opened a window and selected a typeface then a newly opened window will have the same typeface. Clicking on a window with a typeface will start the word processor. The screen turns white, all the windows get a marquee (a dotted border), everything turns to black and white making all the texts easily readable. CAPS XL works with non-transparent windows which can be stacked. This means that you can work on a window text which is partially obscured. If you do not want this then you'll have to bring this window to the front or move it. Obscured windows can be recognized by intertwined marquees. 4.3.0 Typing the text The word processor has the following features: Word wrap - When a word does not fit at the end of a line it will be moved entirely to the next line. This will only work if there's an empty line at the bottom of the text. Semi-automatic hyphenation - This function is illustrated by the following features: When you enter the text wasteland, you'll notice that this word does not fit on the first line and that it will be word wrapped to the next line. To split the word 'wasteland' you'll first have to type a hyphen (dash) between 'waste' and 'land': Placing the cursor before the 'w' of 'wasteland' and hitting the backspace key will split the word: Cursor keys and shift - In the previous example you had to place a dash in the middle of a word and to use the cursor key to move the cursor to the beginning of the line. You can move the cursor to the start and end of the line with one keystroke by holding the shift key down and by pressing one of the cursor keys. Pressing the shift key and the cursor up key homes the cursor to the top left corner. Cursor keys and alt - You can jump from word to word by pressing the alt key together with one of the cursor keys. Tab key - The tab key advances the cursor three characters but does not insert any white spaces. Function key F2 - Pressing F2 deletes the line where the cursor is located and moves all underlying lines one line upwards. Function key F3 - Pressing F3 insert an empty line where the cursor is located if there is at least one empty line at the bottom of the text. Right mouse button - Pressing the right mouse button stops the word processor and renders the text in the window using the right colors, borders etcetera. The Esc key and F10 perform the same action. Special character insertion - Pressing the Help key brings a special selection menu on screen showing you all the special characters like ‘, Ž or •. Clicking on one of these characters inserts them at the cursor position. Notez bien: not all fonts support all international characters, showing only a white space or rubbish when you select e.g. the Ż. You can add these missing characters with the Commodore program Fed (Font Ed) or the commercially available Calligrapher 4.3.1 Positioning text The text can be positioned independently from the position of the window or a picture inside the window. If a text for instance overlaps a thick border, you can move the text more to the middle of the window. 4.3.2 Deleting text You can erase the text from a window by clicking on 'Erase' and by clicking on that particular window. Erasing text is not undoable. 4.4 Putting a photo in a window A window may contain a text as well as a photo. Both are treated as independent objects but a photo will always be placed behind the text with the text superimposed on the photo. Just like the text can a photo be positioned independently from the position of the text or the window. 4.4.0 Opening a photo Select the option 'Open' from the menu and click on a window. ¤ When the window you clicked on already contains a photo then this photo will be discarded from this window in the process of picking and cropping a new photo. The photo will only be erased from the window, not from the harddisk. After you have selected a window, a disk requester appears with a list of photographs. Double clicking on a file reads the photo in the picture crop screen. A menu bar with several buttons also appears. 4.4.0.0 Moving the marquee A marquee is drawn over the photo indicating the dimensions of the window you just clicked on. You can move the marquee by clicking on the button of figure 63 and by moving the mouse. You'll notice that as soon as you click on the button the screen colors change to the real photo colors. fig. 63 - The marquee move button. The marquee can be dragged to several places and the left mouse buttons brings the menu bar back on the screen. You can drag the marquee around as many times as you like. 4.4.0.1 Sizing the marquee If the window in which the photo will be loaded is too small or too large, you can size the marquee. The window will keep its original dimensions only the photo will have other dimensions. The button of figure 64 enables you to size the marquee. fig. 64 - The marquee size button. Just like moving the marquee, the sizing may take several adjustments before your really satisfied. 4.4.1 Placing the photograph When a photo has been put in a window you can position it. Just like text can a photo be positioned independently from the window or its text. See paragraph 4.5.1 for more on positioning. 4.4.2 Remapping a photo There are two reasons why you would have to remap a photo. Firstly, you can throw out a color of a photo in order to get a new text color. Secondly, you can throw out the color 0 (the background color) of a photo when the new background color does not matches the background color in which the photo was digitized. When a the palette of a photo contains a black and a very dark gray, you might want to throw out the dark gray in order to get a new color. Doing so enables you to make the dark grey for instance yellow without altering the photo colors. Replacing colors is a simple mathematical trick. When a photo contains 16 colors and 2600 dark grey pixels then the remapping will consist of replacing all 2600 dark grey pixels by 2600 black pixels. The second reason why you would like to remap a photo is to replace all color 0 pixels (pixels having the first color of the palette) by pixels having another color. If you digitize a picture with a black background and you change the background into a white in CAPS XL then you will probably see an ugly greyish contour. Replacing all the white (color 0) pixels by a darker color from the palette, the photo will look better. The remap tool can be brought on screen by selecting the 'Remap' menu button. The remap tools offers several buttons and a palette: fig. 65 - The remap tool. Clicking on the button 'color 1 --> color 2' changes the shape of the mouse into an arrow with a '1' attached to it. You select color 1 by clicking on one of the wells of the palette. When you select a color, the '1' changes into a '2' indicating that you can select color 2. Doing so starts the remapping procedure. The mouse pointer changes its shape into a little 'zz' cloud because remapping takes some time. The option 'color 1 --> color 2' can be interpreted as: 'Use all colors 1 for all colors 2' or: 'Replace all pixels having color 2 by pixels having color 1' The button 'color 1 <--> color 2' can be used to swap two colors. 4.4.3 Erasing a photo The option 'Erase' will remove the photo from the window. 4.5 Opening a window When you click on the 'Open' menu button, the mouse pointer changes into a small square. You can click somewhere on the screen and drag the window corner around. Clicking on the left mouse button opens the window, the right mouse buttons cancels the opening of the window. As you have maybe noticed, the corner you placed first does not have to become the top left corner, it can also become the bottom right corner. Again: the left mouse button opens the window, the right mouse button cancels the opening. 4.6 Defining the window characteristics When you opened a window you can modify its appearance. You can change the background color, the border, kerning, spacing etcetera. Clicking on 'Define' in the menu of the Page Lay-out System brings the following menu on screen: fig. 66 - The window definition screen. Window dimensions - The four number fields enable you to control the size and position of the window very precisely. You can check, for instance, whether two windows have identical sizes. fig. 67 - The window dimension number fields. The top left corner is the origin (0,0) and the screen has 640 pixels horizontally and 206 (412 interlaced) vertically. The real usable height depends on the height of the header. Left and right margin - These parameters enable you to limit the amount of available text space in a window. A large value for both the left and the right margin gives you a small area to type. Increasing the left margin moves the complete text to the right, this can be useful when a thick left border makes the text unreadable. Kerning - The kerning defines the number of extra pixels between the text lines. By default the kerning is 0: a large kerning value enlarges the space between the text lines. Spacing - This number field defines the number of extra pixels between all the characters. By default the spacing is 0: a large spacing value enlarges the space between the characters. Line width - The line width defines the thickness (in pixels) of a border. Line pattern - The 8 selection buttons define the pattern of the border. Highlighting them all gives a solid line, highlighting only one gives you a very light dotted border. fig. 68 - The 8 line pattern selection buttons. Figure 69 shows all the possible border types. A border is drawn before the text is superimposed on it, giving you the possibility to make nice effects. fig. 69 - All the possible border types. Justification - The justification defines the way the text is rendered in the window: left, centered or right justified. fig. 70 - The justification options. Color palettes - The three color palettes define the background color of the window, the color or the border and the color of the text. fig. 71 - The three color palettes of the window definition screen. 4.7 Resizing a window When you resize a window, you first have to decide which corner should be expanded. CAPS XL not only allows you to pick the bottom right corner but also the other corners. Each window can be divided into four areas, see figure 72: fig. 72 - The four areas of a window. Figure 73 shows you how a window can be resized by selecting the top left area and by dragging the mouse to the left. The mouse pointer changes into a small square which figure 73 also shows: fig. 73 - Resizing the window and the related mouse button. Figure 74 shows the resizing of a window in the classical way: the bottom right corner is extended to the right to make the window larger: fig. 74 - Resizing the window the classical way. 4.8 Moving a window A window can be moved to anywhere on the screen but not to the header or outside the screen. Moving a window does not change the depth position when multiple windows are stacked. 4.9 Erasing a window Erasing a window makes the following changes: · If the window contains a photo then it will be erased. · Text, if present, will be erased. · All the window definitions will be reverted to their default states. 4.10 Closing a window Closing a window throws away the text and the photo. You cannot undo this so be careful. 4.11 Copying a window Selecting this option changes the mouse pointer indicating you to click on the window which should be copied. After you have selected this window you can open the new one. This newly opened window will have all the characteristics of the copied window such as typeface, border, colors etcetera. The text and a photo, if present, will not be copied. 4.12 Selecting the typeface and size When you select 'Type and size' you will have to click on a window first before you can select a typeface. When you select a typeface for one window then all windows opened later will have the same typeface. You can of course change this later even when the window already contains text. fig. 75 - Selecting a typeface and size. If the typeface of a windows seems too small you can easily change it. When the typeface is too large to fit all text in the window then the lines which do not fit in the window are not discarded. They are only discarded when the word processor is started. This means that you can experiment harmlessly with types and sizes until you find the right one. 4.13 Selecting the type style Each window can have its own typeface and size but also its own type style. fig. 76 - Selecting the type style. Each typeface can have the following styles (or a mix of styles): · plain text · bold · italic · underlined · outlined · shadowed The styles can me mixed freely. Only when you select 'outlined' or 'shadowed', the light source positioning can be adjusted. The 8 selection fields represent 8 lamps shining to an imaginary centre in the middle of the 8 selection buttons. The shadow depth defines how many pixels the actual text 'floats' above its shadow. The color of the shadow can be chosen from one of the 16 wells. 4.14 The color palette A page has 16 colors which can be modified by the palette tool. Each color can be chosen from a palette of 4096 colors. By clicking on the R(ed), G(reen) and B(lue) sliders you can create a color. fig. 77 - The palette tool. Creating colors on a computer differs from creating colors using real paint. A short table of some basic colors and their R, G and B values is printed below: ¤ 0 % means: slider left 100 % means: slider right color % R % G % B red 100 0 0 green 0 100 0 blue 0 0 100 black 0 0 0 white 100 100 10 yellow 100 100 0 purple 100 0 100 cyan 0 100 100 grey 50 50 50 orange 100 50 0 Using the H, S and V sliders you can adjust the hue, saturation and value of the color. The hue slider controls the 'tint' of the color. A reddish color can be changed into a bluish color using the H slider without altering the brightness of the color. You can harmonize a few colors by making 4 colors by copying 1 color to 3 other wells and by modifying the 3 using the H slider. The S slider defines the amount of white in a color, the V slider the amount of black. 4.15 Creating an extra color Paragraph 4.4.2 explains how an extra color can be created using the remap tool. This involves removing a color from a picture by clicking on two similar colors. You can do this yourself, but the 'Extra color' option does it for you automatically! CAPS XL searches for two similar colors in all the photos on the screen and removes one of these colors. The extra color is made purple so that you can easily recognize the new color. Creating an extra color may take some time as it involves scanning several thousands of pixels. 4.16 Repaginating The function 'repaginate' breaks the text up in lines which fit into the window. When you resize the window and the text is drawn outside the boundaries you can use 'repaginate' to refit the lines. Lines which do not fit inside the window will be remembered as long as the word processor is not started. Resizing the window until the lines fit again will make the obscured lines visible again. The next figures show how the text looks before and after it is repaginated: fig. 78 - The text after the window has been resized and before it's repaginated. fig. 79 - The text after is has been repaginated. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PART V SysEdit - The system operator's program 5.0 Starting The program SysEdit is a separate program and is not integrated into CAPS XL. SysEdit is used by system operators to manage the users accounts. You can edit the usernames, the passwords and assign pages to users. SysEdit has its own icon in the Workbench. When it is launched, the familiar CAPS XL login screen appears. This time, the only valid username and password are the ones of the system operator. The first time, when CAPS XL has been installed, you can enter SysEdit with the username and password 'caps'. fig. 80 - The SysEdit screen. A the bottom of the screen you will see a box which may contain all the usernames and password. The top line always contains the data of the system operator. Be sure to place your name and password there, if you are the system operator. A new entry can be created by clicking on the 'New user' button. An existing user can be deleted by selecting the line (by clicking on it) and by clicking on the 'Delete user'. When a line is highlighted you can modify the username, the password and whether the user is a PC user or a workstation user. A PC user can only log in on the Script Driver with its PC or Mac, but not on the workstation. When you create a PC user, you also have to assign pages to this user. You do this by clicking on 'Select PC pages'. When you do this, a list of all the available pages appears. You can assign a page by clicking on it. Clicking twice deselects the page. You return to the user list by clicking on the 'Edit users' button. Note that this button changes its text when you click on it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- PART VI Appendix A - The 'FillerPicture' The picture 'FillerPicture' is an IFF file which can be modified using DeluxePaint. This picture is stored in the CAPSSYS directory (or e.g. dh1:caps_xl/sys). The FillerPicture is used by the Script Driver as a background for the interlude and the clock page. The resolution should be 320 by 256 and 32 colors. You can send the FillerPicture to the Script Driver by including it in the script (click all the display days off else it will be displayed) and by sending it one time to the Script Driver. After that you can remove the FillerPicture from the script. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix B - The CAPS XL directories The CAPS XL directory contains a file called 'caps_assigns'. This file contains all the assign used by CAPS XL to access directories. The file contains the following information (if CAPS XL resides on dh1:): assign CAPS: dh1:caps_xl assign SERVER: dh1:caps_xl assign CAPSMAIL: CAPS:Mail assign CAPSSYS: CAPS:Sys assign CAPSPICS: CAPS:Pictures assign CAPSSCRIPT: CAPS:Scripts assign CAPSTEMP: CAPS:TempFiles assign CAPSEFFECTS: CAPS:Sys assign CAPSHEADERS: CAPS:Headers assign CAPSPHOTOS: CAPS:Photos assign CAPSDOCS: CAPS:Documents assign CAPSSTYLES: CAPS:Styles assign CAPSPAGES: CAPS:Pages assign CAPSTEXTFILES: CAPS:TextFiles Each time you launch CAPS XL these assigns are executed. They can also be put in your 'startup-sequence' giving you the possibility to access these directories by their assigned name before CAPS XL is launched. Including lines in your startup- sequence is described in your Amiga manual. When you do this you can access the CAPSPAGES directory directly from e.g. DeluxePaint. These directories are important: CAPSPHOTOS: This directory contains all the pictures which can be imported in the Page Lay-out System. The pictures should be 640 by 400 and have 16 colors. CAPSPAGES: This directory contains all the pictures, pages and animations which can be included in the script. All the Amiga screen formats are supported by the Script Driver. The CAPSPAGES directory therefore may contain HAM, EHB (Extra HalfBrite) and overscan pictures. The 'FillerPicture' can be placed in this directory and transmitted to the Script Driver in order to get a new version of this picture to the Script Driver. CAPSHEADERS: This directory contains brushes. The headers can be as high as 250 scanlines, should be as wide as 640 pixels and have 16 colors. CAPSTEXTFILES: This directory contains ASCII files which can be imported in the Page Lay-out System. CAPSSYS: This directory contains the files bing, bing1, bing2 and bing3. The file 'bing' contains a digitized sound which can be heard when you make an error or a requester comes up. The FillerPicture also resides here because CAPS XL needs it sometimes. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix C - Animations (the ANIM5 standard) Playing an animation CAPS XL can play animations which are stored in the ANIM5 file format. Animations which are created in DeluxePaint are stored in this format. Including an animation in the script is outlined here: » Start DeluxePaint and create an animation. » Save the animation using the 'Anim Save...' menu option. » Enter into the 'Drawer' text field the directory name 'CAPSPAGES:' (or e.g. 'DH1:caps_xl/pages' when the CAPS XL assigns are not included in your startup-sequence). » Quit DeluxePaint, start CAPS XL, select a script and go to the Script Editor. » Go to the library and select the animation. » Highlight the animation and click on the button of figure 81: fig. 81 - The animation parameter button. » Enter a '1' into the 'Rotations' number field and '25' into the 'Frames per second' number field. Click on the OK button to leave this requester. » Enter a value into the duration number field. This value defines the duration of the last frame. Playing an animation more than one time In the previous example you have included an animation which runs once when being displayed. Some animations however make more impact when you run them a few times when they are being displayed (e.g. a revolving name of a company). You will have to do some special things with the animation in order to run it more than one time: » Start DeluxePaint and create an animation. » Save the animation using the 'Anim Save...' menu option. » Enter into the 'Drawer' text field the directory name RAM: (or another temporary directory). » Enter into the 'Frames' number field '1' to '2'. This will save only the first two frames of your animation. » Go to the menu option 'Anim Load...' and select the file with the two frames you just saved. Do not click on the OK button but on the Append button. Doing so will append the first two frames to the animation, creating two equal first and last frames. » Now you can save the complete animation. Converting an animation Some programs (like VideoScape 3D) write their animations in other file formats than ANIM5. The program ANIMagic of Aegis can convert such files and add special effects to it (like adding another color palette to each frame). A DeluxePaint warning When you save a picture or an animation, be sure to switch off the stencil option. Leaving it on will add an extra bitplane to the picture confusing CAPS XL. The stencil options is turned on when a reverse 'S' is visible in the menu bar.