@database ViewPCD.guide
@author Reinhard Haslbeck
@(c) © Copyright 1994 Reinhard Haslbeck
@$VER: ViewPCD.guide 1.0 (06.08.94)
@node Main "ViewPCD Documentation"


                             ViewPCD 1.1
       A freely distributable PCD viewer for PICASSO gfx boards

                     Written by Reinhard Haslbeck

                  Copyright © 1994 Reinhard Haslbeck
                         All Rights Reserved
        
        
        
        @{" Introduction " link Introduct  }

        @{" Disclaimer   " link Disclaimer }

        @{" Distribution " link Distribute }

        @{" Usage        " link Usage      }

        @{" Features     " link Features   }
        
        @{" Requirements " link Requirement}

        @{" Notes        " link Notes      }

        @{" History      " link History    }

        @{" Thanks       " link Thanks     }

        @{" Author       " link Author     }
@endnode

@node Introduct
Introduction
~~~~~~~~~~~~
ViewPCD shows Photo CD images on PicassoII gfx boards. Supported sizes
are  BASE,  BASE/4,  BASE/16. ViewPCD is ment to be a quick viewer for
Your photos. If you wanna take advantage of the sizes  4BASE,  16BASE,
converting  the  images  or  image  processing  functions,  You should
consider buying a commercial product.
@endnode

@node Disclaimer
Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~
The author cannot be held liable for the suitability  or  accuracy  of
this manual and/or the program(s) it describes. Any damage directly or
indirectly caused by the use or  misuse  of  this  manual  and/or  the
program  it  describes  is the sole responsibility of the user her/him
self.
ALL information about the PCD format I  have,  is  from  studying  the
source code from 'hpcdtoppm' or I've found out by myself. NOTHING else
has been used for the PCD specific parts of this program.
@endnode

@node Distribute
Copyright/Distribution
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ViewPCD, © Copyright 1994 Reinhard Haslbeck. All rights reserved. This
program  may  be  freely  distributed as long as all documentation and
executable(s) remain unchanged and are included with the distribution.
Also  no  profit  is  to  be  made by selling this program. Commercial
distribution is  NOT  allowed  without  written  permission  from  the
author,  but  it  is  allowed  to distribute the below listed files on
Public Domain CDs like Fresh Fisch or Aminet CDs. It is  also  allowed
for  non-commercial  BBSs  to  distribute  an  archive  with  only the
following files in it to save your users some money when they want  to
download   this   program.  NOTE:  All  files  listed  below  MUST  be
distributed  together.  None  of  the  files  listed  below   may   be
distributed  on  it's  own!  They  may  ofcourse  be archived with any
archiver.

         ViewPCD                  - Main Program
         ViewPCD.info             - Icon
         ViewPCD.guide            - Manual
         ViewPCD.guide.info       - Icon
         IntuiView.prefs.add      - add this to 'IntuiView.prefs'
         IntuiView.prefs.add.info - Icon
@endnode

@node Usage
How to use
~~~~~~~~~~
ViewPCD can be started from Workbench or Shell. If You start it from a
Shell the below listed arguments are allowed. Type 'ViewPCD ?' and all
available arguments are shown:

FILENAME/M,W=WAIT/K/N,M=MODEID/K/N,S=SIZE/K,O=ORIENTATION/K,R=SCREENREQ/S,V=VERBOSE/S:


    @{" FILENAME    " link FILENAME}

    @{" WAIT        " link WAIT}

    @{" MODEID      " link MODEID}

    @{" SIZE        " link SIZE}

    @{" ORIENTATION " link ORIENT}

    @{" SCREENREQ   " link SCREENREQ}

    @{" VERBOSE     " link VERBOSE}

If ViewPCD is started from  Workbench,  You  can  set  values  to  the
Tooltypes  'WAIT',  'MODEID',  'SIZE',  'ORIENTATION', 'SCREENREQ' and
'VERBOSE'. They have the same meaning as they have in Shellstart.

Pressing a key or a mousebutton will  close  the  Screen  and  ViewPCD
fetches  the  next  File  (in  Pattern  Matching  mode) or pops up the
Filerequester again. Press the <ESC> key or  select  'Cancel'  in  the
File/ScreenRequest to abort the program.
@endnode

@node FILENAME
FILENAME:

      Simply the name of the PCD image you want to  see.  Usally  this
      will  be 'IMGnnnn.PCD' (0000 < nnnn <= 9999) and should be found
      in the path 'PHOTO_CD/IMAGES' of  the  CD.  If  no  Filename  is
      entered,  a  Filerequester  will  appear. AmigaDos-style pattern
      matching is also supported.
@endnode

@node WAIT
WAIT:

      This is the optional duration time in seconds, an image will  be
      displayed. Useful for slideshows.
@endnode

@node MODEID
MODEID:

      If You want to force the image display Screen to a specific  ID,
      You  have to set a vailid ScreenModeID for an Picasso 8/15/16/24
      Bit Screen here. Look out  for  the  utility  'VScreenID'  which
      helps  getting  the IDs. If You choose an ID which nominal sizes
      are  smaller  than  the  picture,  the   Screen   will   be   an
      AutoScrolling  one  if  possible. If the pictures dimensions are
      too big  to  display,  it  will  be  cropped.  If  the  pictures
      dimensions  are  smaller  than  the Screen, it will be displayed
      centered.
@endnode

@node SIZE
SIZE:

      This has to be one of 'BASE',  'BASE/4'  or  'BASE/16'.  Default
      Size is 'BASE'.
      A Master PCD contains the same photo in five Sizes:

        BASE/16 = 192x128 Pixels or 128x192 Pixels
        BASE/4  = 384x256 Pixels or 256x384 Pixels
        BASE    = 768x512 Pixels or 512x768 Pixels
        4BASE   = 1536x1024 Pixels or 1024x1536 Pixels
        16BASE  = 3072x2048 Pixels or 2048x3072 Pixels

      A Portfolio PCD does`t contain the 4BASE and 16BASE Sizes.
@endnode

@node ORIENT
ORIENTATION:

      Normally ViewPCD tries to find out the  orientation  by  itself,
      but  due  to my lack of a PCD specification I`m not sure if this
      works properly. Therefore  You  can  force  the  orientation  to
      'LANDSCAPE' or 'PORTRAIT'.
@endnode

@node SCREENREQ
SCREENREQ:

      Since version 1.1 ViewPCD tries to find a suitable Screenmode by
      itself.  If You don't like that Screenmode, the switch SCREENREQ
      will induce ViewPCD to open a Screenmode requester where You can
      select Your favourite VillageScreen.
@endnode

@node VERBOSE
VERBOSE:

      By default no messages are printed out, even  errormessages  are
      disabled.  If  You  set  VERBOSE,  You will get some information
      about the image, Screen etc.
@endnode


@node Features
Features
~~~~~~~~
   - Needs not much memory (doesn't decode the whole  image  at  once)
   - Floating  Point  arithmetics have been replaced by Integer arith-
     metics for speed improvements.
   - Intelligent (?) auto screen selection
@endnode


@node Requirement
Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~
   - An Amiga Computer with a UNSEGMENTED driven PICASSO II pluged in
   - 'vilintuisup.library' V2.x+
   - Amiga OS2.04+
   - Hard- and Software for reading PCD files
@endnode

@node Notes
Notes
~~~~~
ViewPCD has not been tested on 1BM PICASSOs. I expect serious troubles
with that configuration.
@endnode

@node History
History
~~~~~~~

     @{" V1.0 -> V1.1 " link History1}
@endnode

@node History1
History
~~~~~~~
     V1.0 -> V1.1:  - more intelligent(?) screen size handling
                    - auto screen selection
                    - removed some redundant data
@endnode

@node Thanks
Thanks to
~~~~~~~~~
    Markus M. Wild for the GCC port
    Christian Stieber for his hints
    Gerhard Mueller for 'Gerlib'
    Hadmund Danisch for finding out the details of the PCD format
    Village Tronic
@endnode

@node Author
author
~~~~~~
Address:    Reinhard Haslbeck
            Spirknerstr. 7
            84137 Vilsbiburg
            GERMANY

Phone:      +49/(0)8741 91212 , +49/(0)8741 8676
Fax:        +49/(0)8741 7140

Internet:   Reinhard.Haslbeck@informatik.tu-muenchen.de
            haslbeck@leo.org
@endnode