GRABBiT Congratulations and Thank You! Discovery Software International is proud to present GRABBiT, a productivity power tool for your AMIGA. From now on, you will have the ability to print or to save any screen your AMIGA can display at any time with just a single keystroke combination. With GRABBiT, you can capture exactly what you see on your screen in an instant, regardless of what other programs you may be running. You can print hardcopy output on any printer supported by the AMIGA system software, or you can save the screen image on disk in the popular IFF standard format. You can print screens from programs with no printing option, and you can save screens on disk for presentations or enhancement using any of the popular paint and graphics packages. Best of all, GRABBiT requires only about 10K RAM to operate and remains invisibly resident in memory until you activate it with a special HotKey sequence. GRABBiT truly taps the power of the amazing multi-tasking AMIGA! We believe software should be easy to use, and using GRABBiT most definitely is easy. All you need to learn is a few special HotKey sequences and you will be a master GRABBiT user. However, no matter how easy it is to use there are still some details you will need to know to get the most from this powerful product. We suggest that you read through our short manual completely before starting to use the software. You may save yourself some time, frustration, and a long distance phone call to discovery Software's technical support just to find out that your question was answered in the first paragraph of page two of this manual. We have deliberately kept this manual short and to the point in order that you can quickly get starting using the program. Sƒeƒcƒtƒiƒoƒnƒ ƒ1ƒ.ƒ ƒ ƒGƒeƒtƒtƒiƒnƒgƒ ƒSƒtƒaƒrƒtƒeƒdƒ ƒwƒiƒtƒhƒ ƒGƒRƒAƒBƒBƒiƒTƒ Before doing anything else, you should first make a backup of your GRABBiT disk and put the originally away for safekeeping. Of course GRABBiT, like all Discovery software products, is not copy protected in any way. You can therefore use the AMIGADOS Diskcopy command to backup your disk, but many people prefer to use Discovery Software's Marauder program for greater security. For those of you who own Maruader, the Standard Copy parameters (0,0) will work perfectly. Since GRABBiT id delivered to you on a bootable Workbench disk, you can simply place the GRABBiT disk in your internal drive and reboot your machine. Use preferences to select the appropriate printer for your hardware configuration. Next install GRABBiT by double clicking on the GRABBiT icon. A small window should open on the Workbench displaying the Discovery Software copyright notice and a message indicating that GRABBiT has loaded successfully. If this message doesn't appear, consult the trouble shooting section of the manual. Otherwise GRABBiT is ready to go. You can close the window by clicking on the close box. This window does not need to be open.       GRABBiT can be installed from either Workbench or the CLI. In both cases the Discovery Software copyright message will be displayed, followed by a short installation status message. If you are installing GRABBiT from the Workbench, then these messages will be displayed in a special window opened by GRABBiT. If you are installing GRABBiT from CLI, you will see the messages in you CLI window. These message are explained in the trouble shooting section of the manual. Sƒeƒcƒtƒiƒoƒnƒ ƒ2ƒ.ƒ ƒ ƒGƒRƒAƒBƒBƒiƒTƒ ƒHƒoƒtƒKƒeƒyƒsƒ Each GRABBiT operation is triggered by a unique keystroke combination. We refer to these as the GRABBiT "HotKey" sequences. All HotKey sequences are generated by holding down the "CTRL" and the left "ALT" keys simultaneously and then pressing one of the letter keys. The following table briefly describes all the GRABBiT HotKeys and their associated operations, each will be explained in further detail below. Letter Key Operation P (P)rint the front screen. S (S)ave the front screen to disk. N Bring the (N)ext screen to the front. C (C)ancel the GRABBiT print operation. Q (Q)uit GRABBit. CTRL + ALT + P; Print the front screen This HotKey sequence will immediately dump the front screen to your printer. The AMIGA graphics hardware allows several screens to be stacked one upon the other, and the front screen is the uppermost screen in the stack. Although it is possible that several screens can be viewed simultaneously, only the front screen will be printed by GRABBiT. Remember, however, that you can easily move any screen to the front using GRABBiT's (N)ext operation. GRABBiT is one of the first TRUE multi-tasking AMIGA programs! Even while printing GRABBiT allows your other programs to continue executing. No waiting is necessary. Since some printers require as much as fifteen minutes or more to print a full graphic screen, this feature can be a particularly valuable timesaver. Don't forget, you (C)ancel the print at any time. GRABBiT uses the hardware configuration and printer settings you have selected with the Preferences tool It is extremely important that these settings correctly reflect your hardware. The printed copy is automatically adjusted to the maximum size allowable by the current margins set in Preferences, and the aspect ration of the screen being printed is preserved. CTRL + ALT + S; Save the front screen to disk This HotKey sequence will convert the front screen into a compressed Interchange File Format (IFF) image file and save it to disk. IF is the emerging graphics standard which has already been approved and adopted by Commodore AMIGA and several of the most popular AMIGA software developers. We at Discovery Software heartily endorse the IFF standard and plan to use it in all of our graphics related products. GRABBiT needs to know where to save your IFF screen files. Therefore you must specify the logical device name GRAB: before attempting to save any files to disk. This is done with the AMIGADOS CLI "Assign" command, which is fully documented in the AMIGADOS User's Manual and reproduced in the Appendix, or with the workbench GRABAssign program included on your GRABBiT disk. All saved screens will be written to this directory. Some examples of the CLI Assign command: Assign GRAB:DFO:                 Assign GRAB:DF1:Pictures                 Assign GRAB:RAM: It is important to note that the "Assign" command makes an assignment to a particular disk and not to a drive. This means that if you assign the name GRAB: to the disk located in drive DFO: and later place it in DF1: that AMIGADOS will still save your files to the correct disk. If you forget to "Assign" GRAB: GRABBiT will display an alert telling you "GRAB: not assigned." Each time you save a screen GRABBiT constructs a new file name based on the number of bitplanes andresolution of the screen to be saved. All GRABBiT image files have the following format: "GI__[depth][resolution]:[count]" The "GI__" is short for GRABBiT. * [depth] indicates the number of bitplanes in the image. This number can vary between 1 and 6, depending on the number of bitplanes in the GRABBeD screen. Hold and Modify screens will always have "6" bitplanes. * [resolution] signifies the screen's resolution. Possible resolutions are "I" for low resolution, "m" for medium resolution, and "h" for high resolution or interlaced mode. * The last three digits ensure that each (GRABBeD) image has a unique name. This three digit extension will increment by one with each screen that you GRAB. The first GRABBeD image will have "000" extension, the second will have a "001" extension, and the third "002", etc. Every time you reinstall GRABBiT the count will start again at "000". CTRL + ALT + N:  Bring the next screen to front This HotKey sequence sends the foremost visible screen to the rear of the screen display stack, making the next screen visible as the front. This feature is most easily learned and understood by actually using it. Of course, you can use the HotKey anytime to quickly and easily switch through all the screens. CTRL + ALT + C: Cancel the GRABBiT print operation Printing complete graphics screens can take quite some time, even on fast printers. If you have initiated a GRABBiT print operation and decide you are unhappy with the results before the printing is finished, don't worry, you won't have to wait. Simply use this HotKey sequence to abort the printing process. It works immediately, and you'll be able to correct whatever was wrong and restart if you like. CTRL + ALT+ Q: Quit GRABBiT This HotKey operation terminates GRABBiT and restores all memory resources allocated for GRABBiT. Remember that after executing this operation the other GRABBiT HotKeys will no longer be functional, unless of course, you reinstall the program. Remember that GRABBiT is the first memory resident program for the AMIGA. That means that these HotKey sequences are always active, even when you are running other applications. We have taken care during the design of GRABBIT to ensure completely trouble-free operation whenever possible. There are however, two types of errors you may encounter: installation errors and operating errors. Installation errors are always non-recoverable and cause GRABBiT to display a message during installation indicating the problem, and Alerts are used to display operating error messages. Alerts are usually used to indicate errors of a disastrous nature. You are probably familiar with the dreaded. "GURU Meditation" Alerts. You have no need to fear GRABBiT Alerts, they are quite harmless and will never reset your machine. Since our use of Alerts is somewhat unusual, we feel a word of explanation is in order. Alerts have two powerful advantages over any other method of error display. First the require very little memory in use. This is important since GRABBIT must be able to operate in tight-memory situations. Second, Alerts stop your machine cold in its tracks. This instantly freezes your screen and gives you time to decide what to do before continuing. As a result of these benefits, we have chosen Alerts as the optimum vehicle for error display in the multi-tasking environment. Installation Errors The following is a list of GRABBiT's installation status messages. each will be explained individually below. 1. GRABBiT loaded successfully 2. GRABBiT is already loaded 3. Can't find GRABBiT Load 4. Can't find printer device 5. Not enough memory 1.  GRABBiT loaded successfully    This says it all. GRABBiT is ready to use. 2.  GRABBiT is already loaded    No problem, you merely tried to install GRABBiT when it was already installed on ready to use. 3.  Can't find GRABBiT, Load    To install GRABBiT, the files GRABBiT and GRABBit Load must both be present in the current directory or Workbench Drawer. If you get this message please check that both files are present and try again. If you are unable to locate either file please copy it from your original GRABBiT disk. 4.  Can't find printer device    GRABBiT tries to load the printer device into memory. If the printer device isn't on your system disk you will not be able to install GRABBiT. If you receive this message please copy the file "printer.device" into the "devs" directory of your system disk. This file can be found in the "devs" directory of your original GRABBiT disk, or on any original Workbench disk. 5.  Not enough memory    This message is unlikely to appear since GRABBiT requires only about 10K total memory. Nevertheless, if you do see this message, free up some memory and try again. SƒEƒCƒTƒIƒOƒNƒ ƒ3ƒ.ƒ ƒ ƒTƒrƒoƒuƒbƒlƒeƒsƒhƒoƒoƒtƒiƒnƒgƒ Operating Errors As previously discussed, all operating error messages will be displayed in Alerts. Some operating errors allow you to correct the problem and continue, others abort the selected GRABBiT operation. Below is a list of all operating errors. We will describe each in further detail after the listing. Recoverable Operating Errors 1. Disk is write protected 2. Volume GRAB: not mounted 3. GRAB: disk not inserted 4. Disk not validated Non-recoverable Operating Errors 5. Not a DOS disk 6. Device GRAB: not assigned 7. Disk full 8. Can't open printer device 9. Not enough memory 10. No memory, printing from locked screen RAM 11. Screen hold ILLEGAL Blitter parameters The first group of errors give you the option of correcting the problem and then continuing. To retry the operation click the left mouse button or, if you wish to abort the operation, click the right mouse button. Recoverable Operating Errors 1.  Disk is write protected P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „The write protect tab of your GRAB: disk is set to the locked position. R„e„c„o„v„e„r„y„ „S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„:„ Eject the GRABBiT disk and set the write protect tab to the unlocked position. 2.  Volume GRAB: not mounted P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „The assigned GRAB: disk is not present in any drive. The word "volume" means the unique name associated with each disk. "Mounted" means inserted in a drive. R„e„c„o„v„e„r„y„ „S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„:„ Insert the assigned GRAB: disk. For more information about the "Assign" command and volume GRAB: refer to the Appendix. 3.  GRAB: not inserted P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „Yes, it is that simple. You do not have a disk inserted in your drive. R„e„c„o„v„e„r„y„ „S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„:„ Insert your assigned GRAB: disk. For more information about the "Assign" command and volume GRAB: refer to the Appendix. 4.  Disk not validated P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „AMIGADOS attempts to validate each disk when it is inserted. You will get this message if you try to GRAB a screen before the assigned GRAB: disk has been validated. R„e„c„o„v„e„r„ „S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„:„ Click the left mouse button to let your AMIGA complete the validation process. You may get this message more than once before the disk is fully validated. If this message persistently reappears contact your local disk physician (or assign GRAB: to a different disk). Non-recoverable Operating Errors This second group of Operating Errors aborts the current GRABBiT operation. Your screen will not be successfully GRABBeD in these cases. 5.  Not a DOS disk P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „A disk present in one of your drives is not a valid AMIGADOS formatted disk, or its structure has been corrupted beyond recognition. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ Replace the offending disk with a proper AMIGADOS disk. If you suspect that this message is incorrect remove the disk from your drive and reinsert it to ensure that it is securely mounted. You may also have to assign GRAB: to a different disk. For more information about the "Assign" command and volume GRAB: refer to the Appendix. 6.  Device GRAB: not assigned P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „There is no assigned GRAB: disk S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ Assign the name GRAB: to one of your disks according to the instructions describing the (S)ave HotKey sequence. For more information about the "Assign" command and volume GRAB: refer to the Appendix. 7.  Disk full P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „Your assigned GRAB: disk has no space left to store a new file. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„i„o„n„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ You can delete any unnecessary files from your assigned GRAB: DISK or you can Assign GRAB: to a different disk. 8.  Can't open printer device P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„ „A„:„ „ „The printer device is in use by another program S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ If another program is currently printing then wait until it has finished and retry. It is also possible that another program has control of the printer device even though it is not currently printing anything. If you suspect this to be the case you must deal with the other program accordingly. P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„ „B„:„ „ „The file "printer.device" is not in the system device directory, or is corrupted. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ „ „ Install the "printer.device" correctly 9.  Not enough memory P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „GRABBiT doesn't have enough memory to function. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ „ „ This message is unlikely to appear since GRABBiT requires only about 10K total memory. Nevertheless, if you don see this message, free up some memory and try again. 10.  No memory, printing from locked screen RAM P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ „ „GRABBiT cannot make a copy of the screen display because memory is too tight. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ This message is a warning that the screen will be locked. You will not be able to input any data, and other programs will not be able to render into the display. If you click either mouse button the printing will continue. You can cancel the print at any time with the GRABBiT (C)ancel HotKey sequence. 11.  Screen holds ILLEGAL Blitter parameters P„r„o„b„a„b„l„e„ „C„a„u„s„e„:„ A program that is rendering into the screen is taking liberties with AMIGA software standards. S„u„g„g„e„s„t„e„d„ „A„c„t„i„o„n„:„ „ „ Try GRABBiNG the screen again. GRABBiT adheres to the AMIGA software standards, programs that manipulate data used for the display in a non-standard fashion prevent GRABBiT from working. This is a rare occurrence and has thus far only been observed in some phases of the Boing! program. SƒEƒCƒTƒIƒOƒNƒ ƒ4ƒ.ƒ ƒ ƒAƒpƒpƒeƒnƒdƒiƒxƒ Logical Device GRAB: GRABBiT saves all disk files to the logical device named "GRAB:". A logical device name is just like a physical device name, (e.g. df0; df1:), except it can be used to specify any disk directory. To create the logical device name "GRAB:" you may use either the AmigaDOS "ASSIGN" command or the "GRABAssign" program provided on your GRABBiT distribution disk. The "ASSIGN" command is used from the CLI only, and a copy of the system documentation for its use is reproduced below.l The "GRABAssign" program provides a method for creating the logical device "GRAB:" directory from the Workbench without using CLI. "GRABAssign" is simple to use. All you need to do is double-click on its icon, type in the disk directory name you wish to use, and press return. If there are no problems, then "GRABAssign" will display a brief message indicating that it has successfully assigned the name "GRAB:" to your specified directory. Otherwise, an error message will be displayed in the "GRABAssign" window, and you can retry or cancel as you wish. After it has successfully completed the "GRABAssign" window will automatically close. Of course, you can always quit by clicking the window's close. AƒMƒIƒGƒAƒDƒOƒSƒ ƒAƒSƒSƒIƒGƒNƒ ƒCƒOƒMƒMƒAƒNƒDƒ ASSIGN F„o„r„m„a„t„:„ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ASSIGN[[||[LIST] T„e„m„p„l„a„t„e„:„ „ „ „ „ „ASSIGN"NAME,DIR,LIST/S" P„u„r„p„o„s„e„:„ „ „ „ „ „ „To assign a logical device name to a filing system directory. S„p„e„c„i„f„i„c„a„t„i„o„n„:„ „ „NAME is the logical device name given to the directory specified by DIR. If you have just given the NAME, AmigaDOS deletes the logical device name given (that is, it removes the assignment). ASSIGN without any parameters or the switch LIST displays a listing of all current assignments. When you ASSIGN, you must ensure that there is a disk inserted in the drive. This is important because ASSIGN makes an assignment to a disk to a drive. NOTE that the effect of ASSIGN is lost when you restart or 'reboot' „your computer. E„x„a„m„p„l„e„s„:„ ASSIGN sources: :new/work Sets up the logical device name "sources" to the directory "new/work". Then to gain access to files in "new/work", you can use the logical name "sources", as in TYPE source:xyz which displays the file "new/work/xyz" ASSIGN LIST lists the current logical device names in use.