************************************************** * * * CITAS (Convert ILBM To Assembler Source) * * * * ---- A Max Bithead production ---- * * * * Release 1.0: 4/7/90 * * * * Release 1.1: 6/2/90 * * * * Release 2.0: 7/9/90 * * * ************************************************** CHANGES: ------- V2.0: ---- Well, I got my first bug report (I knew one would come sooner or later). It seems that CITAS was choking on DPaint III 64 color pictures. It blew out a buffer when there were more than 32 colors in the file. Well, you know the old saying about assumptions... During Beta testing, one more bug was reported. It seems I forgot to update a routine to skip past a mask in the file (if it exists) during preprocessing. This caused a read error (which should never be seen unless the system actually has a problem reading the file). Other changes include: 1) Now print an error message in the case of an unrecognized compression format. 2) Added an option to output the mask supplied with the file instead of generating one. If using this option, and no mask is present in the file, no mask will be generated. 3) CITAS now does 'C' source too! I suppose the name has a little less meaning now, but oh well, so does IBM. If you're using the 'C' source option, options "-x" and "-s" won't do anything. Thanks go to Shawn Steele and Frank Weed for their helpful bug reports, suggestions, and Beta testing. Thanx guys! Enjoy! And help support shareware. V1.1: ---- I changed my blitter routines, which, unfortunately, meant changing CITAS. The DEPTH equate now reflects the number of bit planes from the original image. The reason being that if a bit plane is all zero's, it has to be cleared (using the mask) when blitting the image to the screen. This is a very minor change, but it makes life easier. Make sure you don't blit to a screen with less bit planes than your graphic data! 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 (V2.0 can produce 'C' source instead). 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 a single read buffer, and a single write buffer, but it's still pretty quick. It also uses less than 14K RAM while running, so converting in ram: is easy to do. 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 "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 ILBMfile [result_file] [-c] [-m] [-f] [-x] [-s] [-o] [-h] [$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. Labels allow 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" or ".c" 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). -f = Generate source for the mask supplied with the file. If no mask exists in the file, do not generate a mask. -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. -h = Generate 'C' source code instead of assembler. $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, which is the default. "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 source 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. NOTE: V2.0 'C' source files will contain "#define"'s and arrays instead of equates and labels. 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). Also, the color values on each line represent red, green, and blue respectively, and pertain to color registers 0 at the top line, through 31 at the last line of the color table. _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. This is NOT generated in a 'C' source output file. I myself don't use this label, but I stuck it in there in case someone might find a use for it. 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 (again). I'm asking a measly $10 for CITAS if you intend to use it. The cheapest development software you'll ever buy. Or, hey, send whatever you think it's worth. Support shareware for good, cheap stuff! Send any comments/suggestions/bug reports, and/or payment 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) 666-5221 -------------- * * -------------- " \_/