GIFDESK.DOC - some notes on GIFDESK.EXE 4.5 (released January, 1993 - 27th anniversary of "Rubber Soul") GIFDESK is a utility to view many of your GIFs at one time on a VGA system. Examples of how to use GIFDESK: GIFDESK *.gif GIFDESK f:\pics\s*.gif p*.gif Run GIFDESK alone to get a quick-reference to it's usage. Remember, you need at least a VGA to use GIFDESK! All of the Super VGA modes require at least 512k video memory. If you have only 256k, you may need to override the autodetect by setting GIFDESK=VGA at DOS prompt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NEW THIS VERSION: - HiColor Support. Really makes improvement. (added version 4.3) will use 640x480x32k and 800x600x32k from VESA driver. (These are modes 0x110 and 0x113 on the Speedstar 24x VESA driver) - VESA bug fixed for cards returning more than 256 bytes of info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Display: GIFs are displayed by GIFDESK in several arrangements. The maximum number of GIFs shown at one time is 80 (if you have a 1024x768 mode on your SVGA). GIFDESK can also show 1 GIF at a time (in color if you have a hi-res 256 color mode on your SVGA). The display layout can be changed by hitting the SPACEBAR. This will cycle through the various GIF arrangements. Also, the F1,F2,F3 and F4 keys will switch directly to a particular layout. (Notice that F1=1x1, F2=2x2, etc). If you are using an SVGA that supports an 640x480, 800x600 and/or 1024x768 mode you can switch to a higher resolution using the + key. Switch to lower resolution with the - key. The following table lists the various configurations: Video Mode GIF Arrangemant F1 Key F2 Key F3 Key F4 Key ------------------ ------------- ----------- ----------- ------------ 640x480x16 1x1 16-Grey 2x2 16-Grey 3x3 16-Grey 6x5 16-Grey 640x480x256 (SVGA) 1x1 256/64 2x2 256/64 3x3 256/64 6x5 256/64 640x480x32k (SVGA) 1x1 32k 2x2 32k 3x3 32k 6x5 32k 800x600x16 (SVGA) 1x1 256/64 2x2 256/64 4x4 256/64 8x6 256/64 800x600x256 (SVGA) 1x1 256/64 2x2 256/64 4x4 256/64 8x6 256/64 800x600x32k (SVGA) 1x1 32k 2x2 32k 4x4 32k 8x6 32k 1024x768x16 (SVGA) 1x1 256/64 2x2 256/64 5x5 256/64 10x8 256/64 1024x768x256(SVGA) 1x1 256/64 2x2 256/64 5x5 256/64 10x8 256/64 (256/64 is 256 colour or 64 grey - toggle between these with F10) Notes: 1) GIFDESK should be able to handle GIF's up to 4096x4096 in size. 2) Writing a GIF file (via . key) may take a while. As it is being done, a white dot will scan the screen for top to bottom. At completion, a two tone sound will occur if successful. 3) Printing a screen (via F9 key) may take a while. At completion a tone will occur. Super VGA's: If you have a super VGA that supports 640x480x256 or better (you need 512K), GIFDESK should use the appropriate driver for your card. The signon screen lists the type of card that GIFDESK detected. If this is incorrect, you can override this autoselection with the environment variable GIFDESK. Set the environment variable GIFDESK to the correct card name according to the following table: Card(s) GIFDESK Environment Variable ===================================================================== ATI VGA Wonder ATI --------------------------------------------------------------------- Chips & Technologies, Cardinal C&T Boca Research 1024 VGA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Everex Viewpoint EVEREX --------------------------------------------------------------------- Paradise, AST, Compaq, Dell PARADISE Western Digital --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tseng, Genoa, STB, Orchid TSENG Quadram, Sota, Willow --------------------------------------------------------------------- Trident, Logix, ZyMOS TRIDENT TrueTech --------------------------------------------------------------------- Video 7, Headland VIDEO7 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Generic VGA VGA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tseng 4000, Sigma TSENG4K --------------------------------------------------------------------- Genoa 6400/6600 GENOA --------------------------------------------------------------------- V.E.S.A Driver VESA --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahead Wizard Deluxe AHEADB (older cards AHEADA) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tecmar ADGM TECMAR (no auto-detect) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Trident 8900 TRIDENT89 (no auto-detect) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Disk File image GIFDESK.DAT FILE (no auto-detect) Example: If you have an AST VGA card (with 512k!) use the following command: c:>SET GIFDESK=PARADISE Notes: 1) The startup screen will notify you of the driver GIFDESK is using. (the drivers are built into GIFDESK) 2) Several of the SVGA cards have not been tested...comments??? (Everex, Dell, Tecmar) Keys in GIFDESK: "PgDn/PgUp" . .Next/Previous screen "Esc" . . . . .Exit to DOS "Space" . . . .Toggle Resolution (2x2->1x1->6x5->3x3->2x2...) "Tab" . . . . .Skip to Next Pic "." . . . . . .Write screen to GIF file "Home". . . . .Go to first screen "End" . . . . .Go to last screen "+" . . . . . .Increase Resolution (SVGA only) (640x480->800x600->1024x768) "-" . . . . . .Decrease Resolution (SVGA only) (1024x768->800x600->640x480) "F9". . . . . .Print to LaserJet on LPT1 "F10. . . . . .Toggle between grey and colour mode (SVGA only) "F1,F2,F3,F4. .Change directly to 1x1,2x2 etc. any other . . .Skip to GIF file with name starting with character Examples: Key Result === =========================================== . Writes GIF file (named GIFDSKnn.GIF) c Skips to first GIF file starting with c (e.g. CHEAPSEX.GIF) 7 " " " " " " " 7 (e.g. 7HEAVEN.GIF) end Displays last set of GIF's (e.g ZAGNUT.GIF, ZIGGY.GIF, ...) esc Exit the wonderful world of GIFDESK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND FILE: If the file GIFDESK.CMD is present in the current directory, GIFDESK will read its commands from it. The file contains ASCII commands that tell GIFDESK what to do next. This may be useful to someone incorporating GIFDESK into an automatic GIF catalog generator for BBS use. SAMPLE.CMD contains a sample of a command file, along with a list of available commands. To use it: 1) copy SAMPLE.CMD to GIFDESK.CMD 2) run GIFDESK... e.g. "GIFDESK *.gif" 3) watch it happen (its like a slide show) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILE DRIVER: This driver is activated by setting GIFDESK=FILE. No graphics card is necessary; pixel operations are simulated by reading and writing a disk file (GIFDESK.DAT). Printing is not supported with this driver. Disk space of 768 kbytes is required for the GIFDESK.DAT file. Normal keystrokes or Command mode can be used (via the GIFDESK.CMD file, see SAMPLE.CMD). Status information is directed to the screen during processing, and can be redirected at command time: C:>GIFDESK *.gif >lpt1 Note that this driver is slower than real hardware, and certain operations (e.g. clearing the screen) may take a few seconds and be disk intensive. GIF89a extensions are not supported for this driver. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: -Vcard forces use of card type video. e.g. -VTSENG -Rres sets initial arrangement. 1=1x1, etc. e.g. -R3 @file read file names from "file" e.g. @C:\biglist ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- HiColor Notes: GIF files currently support 8 bits per gun (red,green,blue), 256 triplets per image. This "palette" works well when displaying 1 image on a 256 color VGA screen even though VGA only has 6 bits per gun. HiColor doesn't have a palette. It allows 32768 different colors to be displayed all at once. When displaying one GIF file this isn't an improvement as now the limit is 5 bits per gun. But when displaying more than one GIF (like GIFDESK does) HiColor provides a great improve- ment over normal VGA and Super-VGA. Now each picture can get its entire set of colors without having to "share" with other pictures on the same screen. When you save a GIF file from a HiColor screen you will notice the file (when redisplayed) is not up to par with the original screen. This is due to the GIF file format limitation of 256 colors per image. Maybe I'll add support for a different format save later like TIFF, JPEG, or PCX. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History: 1.0 - Initial release, worked...kinda slow... 1.1 - Faster. Allows keys during GIF decode. Shows resolution even in 6x5 format. 2.0 - Super VGA support, promo screen, 1x1,2x2 format, better sizing!, Writes GIF's!, 1st character key->filename, much more! 3.0 - Autodetect of SVGA. Colour-colour-colour!!! (on SVGA, GIFDESK now shows GIFs in colour in all modes. Can still force to grey with F10). Fixed 640x480x256 for C&T, Paradise, Trident, & Video 7. 3.1 - Some intermediate beta releases 3.2 - Tseng 4000 support, clear screen routine changed, vertical interrupt detection modified. 3.2a- GIF89a support, bank 0 preset fix for certain TSENG based cards. 4.0 - Rewritten video drivers. Printing to LaserJet. VESA, Genoa, Ahead, Tecmar, Trident 8900 added. Command file support. 16 color palette bug fix. FILE driver. More than 256 files quick key bug fix. Better color selection per picture. Better alphabetic file sorting. Full GIF89a support added. 4.1 - Fix of bug in file name generation after saving 10 GIF files. Fix of bug in palette fix after lots of files displayed. Fix of bug of lost error message upon exit. 4.2 - Addition of command line options (-V, -R, and @file). Addition of several script commands. 4.3 - Addition of HiColor (32k) via VESA support. Tested on Diamond Speedstar 24X card. Fixed minor printing bug. 4.4 - bug fixes for: Hicolor printing, command file IFEND 4.5 - VESA bug fixed for cards returning more than 256 bytes of info. GIF is a trademark of CompuServe Inc. Have comments, suggestions, fan mail, hate mail, GIF pictures? Jay Wherley 2291 Grand Teton Blvd. Melbourne, FL 32935 Prodigy: CVFP18A Compuserve: 72441,3326 Internet: jrw@ccd.harris.com Finally, GIFDESK Was free, Is free, Always free.