READ_ME.TXT Page......1 ***************************************************** To print the Manual, just enter COPY HERCBIOS.DOC PRN at the dos prompt. ********************************* ***************************************************** To print this file, just enter COPY READ_ME.TXT PRN at the dos prompt. ********************************* ! ATTENTION ALL MONOCROME GRAPHICS CARD OWNERS!!!! 43 ROWS! ________ NOW YOU CAN PUT 43 ROWS OF TEXT ON YOUR SCREEN AT THE SAME TIME! EVEN AT THE DOS PROMPT! PLUS, GET 90 CHARACTERS PER ROW INSTEAD OF THE USUAL 80. JUST $5.00 U.S. _______________ ALL FOR ONLY $5.00 (U.S dollars)! SIMPLE TO USE _____________ JUST INSTALL THIS SMALL RESIDENT PROGRAM "HERCBIOS", AND YOUR HERCULES MONOCROME GRAPHICS CARD OR COMPATIBLE WILL ACT AS THOUGH IT HAS A NEW 43 BY 90 TEXT MODE WHENEVER YOU ENTER THE COMMMAND "CHANGE" AT THE DOS PROMPT. TO RETURN TO THE USUAL 25 BY 80 TEXT MODE JUST ENTER THE COMMAND "TEXT" AT THE DOS PROMPT. THESE NEW COMMANDS COMMANDS PLUS MANY OTHERS SUCH AS "ROWS29", "ROWS43",AND "ROWS25" ARE SUPPLIED TO YOU AS PART OF THE SYSTEM. COMPLETE INT 10H SUPPORT ________________________ A COMPLETE SET OF INT 10H VIDEO BIOS ROUTINES ARE PROVIDED, PLUS SPECIAL VERY FAST LINE DRAWING ROUTINES. (TRY RUNNING THE INCLUDED DEMO PROGRAM "DAZZLE" !) ITS SHAREWARE! MAKE ALL THE COPIES YOU WANT, GIVE THEM AWAY! ____________________________________________________________ FURTHERMORE, THE ENTIRE PROGRAM IS AVAILABLE AS SHAREWARE, SO THAT YOU MAY FREELY COPY THE SYSTEM, GIVE FREE COPIES TO YOUR FREINDS AND PLACE THIS SYSTEM ON BULLETIN BOARDS. YOU ONLY PAY IF YOU LIKE THE HERCBIOS SYSTEM AND FIND IT USEFUL. PROGRAMERS THAT WRITE PROGRAMS THAT USE THE SYSTEM MAY GIVE AWAY FREE COPIES OF THE SYSTEM WITH THEIR COMMERCIAL OR NON COMMERCIAL PROGRAMS THAT MAKE USE OF IT. READ_ME.TXT Page......2 HERE IS A LIST OF THE PROGRAMS THAT COME WITH THE SYSTEM: YOU GET ALL THESE PROGRAMS! ___________________________ HERCBIOS COM ROWS43 COM ROWS29 COM ASCITABL COM TEXT COM HERCBIOS DOC HERCBIOS ASM ASCICHAR ASM ASCICHAR COM ASCITABL ASM CHANGE COM CHANGE ASM CLS0 COM CLS0 ASM CLS1 COM CLS1 ASM DAZZ BAT DAZZLE C DAZZLE EXE DAZZLE2 C DAZZLE2 EXE GRAFCHAR ASM GRAFCHAR COM MODEMAP COM MODEMAP ASM PAGE0 COM PAGE0 ASM PAGE1 COM PAGE1 ASM READ_ME TXT ROWS25 COM ROWS25 ASM ROWS29 ASM ROWS43 ASM TEXT ASM HBIOSARC EXE <--- Creates all the other files when run. (use when placing this system on bulletin boards) THIS PROGRAM IS COPYWRITE DOUGLAS MCDANIELS 1988, THEREFORE, IF YOU LIKE AND DECIDE TO USE THE SYSTEM, THEN YOU MUST SEND A $5.00 LICENCE FEE U.S. TO: DOUGLAS MCDANIELS 2627 ARLINGTON DR #101 ALEXANDRIA VA 22306 U.S.A. Hercules compatible graphics cards do not have built in INT 10H Video Bios functions like CGA EGA and VGA graphics cards do, so here is a TSR program that provides them. I recommend that you load this driver from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Here is how to load the driver. First, put the files in the root directory of the diskette into your utilities subdirectory on your hard disk, (or whatever subdirectory you would rather put them in) Though you need not copy the source code (i.e. files with the extension ASM) if you would rather not. Make sure, however, that there is a path to this subdirectory. If you are running this from floppy disks, well, just insert a copy of the diskette into your disk drive when you want to execute any of the programs on the diskette. Then, to load the driver type: HERCBIOS 43 ASCITABL GRAFTABL READ_ME.TXT Page......3 (If your computer is not sufficiently IBM compatible, then you may have to substitute the command ASCICHAR for ASCITABL) either at the dos prompt, or in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The order in which you run these programs is not important. GRAFTABL.COM is a lesser known DOS command and will be found in the subdirectory where you keep the dos files (that is if you have bothered to include this esoteric DOS command on your hard disk. If not, dig out the DOS diskette and put it on your hard disk) The driver will then be loaded. To check out the driver to see if it is working correctly enter CHANGE at the dos prompt. If you have ANSI.SYS loaded, then you must next run ROWS25 which will set the number of rows on the screen to 25. Otherwise, you will probably now want to run ROWS43 which will set the number of rows on the screen to 43. YES 43! and you will also have 90 COLUMNS on the screen instead of the usual 80! Enter some simple Dos commands (type a file or whatever) to check it out. Then when you would like to return your screen to the usual text mode, just enter the command TEXT as supplied on the diskette. While in this new graphics mode, you might also like to try running the demo program DAZZLE.EXE which demonstrates the line drawing routines that come with this graphics driver. Complete documentation on the driver will be found in the file HERCBIOS.DOC. HBIOSARC.EXE IS A PROGRAM THAT, WHEN RUN, CREATES ALL THE OTHER FILES ON THIS DISKETTE, AND IS THE PREFERED FORM OF DISTRIBUTION OF THIS PACKAGE WHEN DONE VIA MODEM. HERCBIOS is unique. unique There has been much attention lately in the trade press and by prominent software publishers such as Borland and Microsoft to the 43 line mode of the EGA (and also to the 50 line mode of the VGA), and yet although Monocrome graphics have been around much longer than the EGA, although it costs only about $140 to equip a computer with monocrome graphics card plus monitor, versus about $500 to equip a computer with an EGA card plus monitor, and despite the fact that the graphics resolution of monocrome computers is 12.5 percent better than the graphics resolution of an EGA computer, it has never been suggested that monocrome graphics computers could support a 43 line video mode also, until now. until now Yet it is possible, for any program or DOS that makes use of the EGA 43 line mode does so by going through the video bios of the EGA card. Therefor, to provide a 43 line (90 column) video mode of a similar nature for monocrome computers it is merely necessary to provide video bios routines, which can easily be installed in the READ_ME.TXT Page......4 form of a small resident program. Such a program is HERCBIOS, and as HERCBIOS far as I know as of this writing HERCBIOS is the only such program on the market ( and for a licence fee of just $5.00 it is certainly a bargain) HERCBIOS should not be confused with another type of program, the CGA emulator. There are a number of programs available that will make Hercules monocrome graphics systems emulate the CGA system, but that is not what HERCBIOS does. Rather HERCBIOS provides a new video mode (mode number 254) that has bios routines especially tailored to take full advantage of the high resolution of the monocrome graphics adapter including put and get dot, and extended bios routines to draw lines very rapidly on the screen. HERCBIOS has advantages for both the end user and the programer. End users will especially like the way HERCBIOS can be used with P.C Magazine's SNIPPER. When installed with the following command line: SNIPPER 43,90 SNIPPER works beautifully with the 43 line mode provided by HERCBIOS enabling the end user to capture save or print an arbitrary rectangle of text anywhere from the 43 by 90 character screen. Programers will like the speed with which HERCBIOS functions, much faster than one might expect for a video mode that has graphics capabilities. Programers will also like the ease with which programs that do text window data display and entry in a text mode can be converted to make use of the new video mode for monocrome systems, making adding graphics capabilites, even for monocrome computer users, to old text only programs a snap. Finally programers will like the fact that they may distribute HERCBIOS along with their programs that make use of it without having to pay a royalty. In brief, HERCBIOS is a very useful yet very inexpensive utility that virtually any monochrome computer user will soon find indispensable. Sincerely, Douglas McDaniels READ_ME.TXT Page......5