************************************************** * * * CITAS 1.0 (Convert ILBM To Assembler Source) * * * * ---- A Max Bithead production ---- * * * * 4/7/90 * * * ************************************************** INTRO: ----- Ok all you assembler gurus out there. This program's for you. CITAS takes an ILBM file and converts it to assembler source for use in your own programs. If you're familiar with NGI, CITAS does basically the same thing, only without the gadgets, and the output is assembly source instead of 'C'. It also has a few nice features that NGI doesn't have. In the beginning... I wrote this program in assembler, for assembler, because I wanted an easy way to draw graphics with a paint program and then use them in my own assembly programs via blitter control. Unfortunately, I can be somewhat of a perfectionist, and CITAS soon became a full featured utility which took one full month (to the day) to complete and release. I gotta say I'm pleased with the results, though. I gave CITAS only a single read buffer, and a single write buffer, but this baby smokes! What a nice surprise. It also uses only about 12K RAM while running. CITAS is my first official piece of software for the Amiga. Hope you like it! NOTE: CITAS will not waste memory by extracting a null plane. The resultant "depth" and "planes" labels will reflect what is actually used. Also, should you wish to stop CITAS while it's running, hit CTRL-C. SECTION 1, USAGE: ---------------- Ok, nuff chatter already. At a CLI prompt (CITAS operates only from CLI), type: CITAS ILBM_file [result_file] [-c] [-m] [-x] [-s] [-o] [$nn] ["sfx"] The parameters in brackets are optional and may be supplied in any order with the exception of the result_file parameter which, if supplied, must follow the ILBM file name. All parameters are seperated by blanks. Type "CITAS" without any parameters for a brief description of its use. The parameters: result_file = The name of the output file. This output file name, minus any extension (.whatever), will be used in generating the labels for your data. This allows you to set up and assemble your code before actually using CITAS to create the data. It also allows you to modify the data without touching the linkable code. If no output file name is given, the input file name, minus any extension, will be used for the labels, and will be the name of the output file plus a ".asm" extension. This default file name will be placed in the current directory. -c = Inhibit generation of color table. By default, CITAS will include a color table in the output file. -m = Inhibit generation of image mask. By default, CITAS will include a mask plane in the output file. This mask is created by CITAS reguardless of whether or not the ILBM file contains a mask, and is simply a logical OR of all bit planes. It is meant to facilitate the use of the "cookie-cut" blitter minterm, which requires an image mask (at least that's how I use it). -x = Generate export definitions (XDEF) of labels for making linkable data. -s = Generate a "section" directive specifying chip RAM. This allows me to generate a hunk of data that will automatically load into chip RAM. Since the only assembler I am familiar with on the Amiga is Devpac, I'm not sure if other assemblers will appreciate this particular directive. -o = Allow an existing file to be overwritten by the output file. By default, CITAS will abort with an error if the output file already exists. This is more or less a safety feature. $nn = User supplied hex mask of planes to extract. This allows selection of only the bit planes you want extracted. Normally the resultant "planes" label will contain a mask of all planes that are not null (all zero). This may be further modified by entering your own mask. Bit numbers correspond to plane numbers (ie bit 0 corresponds to plane 0). Note, however, that if a plane specified by your mask is null, it will not be extracted. Thus if you entered a mask of $03, and plane 0 of the ILBM file was all zeros, the resultant "planes" label would be $02. Entering $ff will simply give you all non-zero planes. "sfx" = Any suffix needed to follow labels. I realize that some assemblers require a suffix on their labels, such as ":". This is for those weirdo assemblers. SECTION 2, LABELS: ----------------- CITAS inserts several labels into the resultant assembler file. Some of these labels are equates (EQU) and others mark the start of different data segments. The first part of a label, as described earlier, is the output file name. The remainder of the label will be standard in every CITAS created file, and starts with an underscore character. The equates: _height = The height of the image in scan lines _width = The width of the image in words _depth = The depth of the image in planes _planes = Mask of which bit planes are used to display the image (so we don't have to waste memory with null planes, and to specify how to display the image planes in a bitmap) The labels: _color = The address of the 1st byte of the color table (if generated) _image = The address of the 1st byte of the 1st generated bit plane. _mask = The address of the 1st byte of the mask plane (if generated) _end = The address of one byte past the last byte in the generated file. This is normally just past the image mask, or just past the image data if no mask is generated. SECTION 3, THE DREADED SHAREWARE NOTICE: --------------------------------------- That's right, CITAS is copyright Max Bithead (a.k.a. John Enright), and and is considered shareware. It is not for sale, nor may it be included in any commercial product without my written permission. It is, however, an excellent tool for CREATING commercial products. Have at it! CITAS may be freely distributed as long as this document accompanies it. Finally, I claim no responsibility for any loss or penalty incurred by the use of this program. Whew! Ok, paranoia aside, I hope that you find this program useful in developing great Amiga software. I know it works wonders for me. Graph paper was absolutely out of the question! ha ha. There are no known bugs, and I haven't been able to crash my system under any circumstances by using it. It will not blow out a disk should it become become full (including the RAM: disk), etc., CITAS simply aborts with an error. I believe CITAS covers all possible errors, but time will tell. I'm asking a measly $10 for CITAS if you intend to use it. The cheapest development software you'll ever buy. Send any comments/suggestions/bug reports, and oh yea, payment (if you like it) to me at: John Enright 2955 Glenwood Dr. #301 Boulder, Colorado, 80301 (USA) (303) 938-9490 You may also send electronic mail to Max Bithead on any of these great BBS's: Reggae Land (303) 699-2671 CD Players (303) 825-0419 Arvada 68K (303) 424-9831 BAUG (303) 494-4470 -------------- * * -------------- " \_/ A special howdy to all friends from Mankato State University, in Minnesota!