PALEDIT - A Simple VGA 256 Color Palette Editor PALEDIT is distributed with MODEXnnn.ZIP, the general purpose MODE X Library for VGA Graphics. WHAT YOU NEED TO RUN PALEDIT: * A Vga Monitor * A Microsoft Compatible Mouse A Mouse is most definitely required, as the keyboard is used for nothing except entering file names. FILES NEEDED IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY: PALEDIT.EXE - The Palette Editor Program CHARSETS.CS - The Palette Editor's Internal Fonts MOUSEIMG.CS - The Palette Editor's Mouse Pointer SAMPLE PALETTE FILE THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED: RGB.PAL - A Simple Palette with Reds, Greens, and Blues PRIME.PAL - A Simple Palette GAMECOLR.PAL - A Bright Palette from a Game of mine. WHAT IT EDITS: The VGA DAC Registers, all 256 of them. HOW IT WORKS/FEATURES: PALEDIT allows the user to see the entire VGA Palette of 256 colors and select and modify the RED, GREEN, and BLUE values of any individual color (DAC) register. The entire group of 256 colors can be saved to a disk file for later retrieval. Individual "SLIDERS" show the current RED, GREEN, and BLUE color components of the current color and allow them to be changed. The Following operations can be performed. * Raise, Lower, and set the RED, GREEN, or BLUE components. * Copy the current RGB values to another Color (DAC) Register * Brighten the selected color * Darken and selected color * Reset the selected color to its original state * Blend an entire range of colors, creating a smooth Transition from one color to another * Optionally Lock out the first 16 colors to prevent Accidental Modification DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS/FEATURES FROM THE TOP DOWN: COLOR SLIDERS: In the upper left of the screen there are Three Rectangular Boxes: One for each primary color: RED, GREEN, and BLUE. Each Box has an arrow at each end, and a scale bar in the middle, connecting the two arrows. The scale bar is much like a thermometer, indicating how much of that color is in the selected color. To the right of each Box, the name of the color is indicated, along with the content color in the form of a number from 0 to 63; where 0 means none of that color goes into making the selected color, and 63 means that the selected color is saturated with that color. Clicking the mouse on the slider's left arrow box will decrease the amount of that primary color in the selected color. Holding the mouse button down will reduce the color value all the way to 0. Clicking the mouse on the slider's right arrow box will increase the amount of that primary color in the selected color. Holding the mouse button down will increase the color value all the way to 63. Clicking the mouse on the scale bar will set the amount of that primary color to the value the represents that position on the slider. LOCK Button: Clicking the button toggles the lockout of the first 16 colors. When they are locked out, they can not be modified, and when selected the word "LOCKED" will appear below the color # on the Color Information Display. LOAD Button: Clicking this button will load the Palette file that is named in the Palette File name box. If no name is given or no such file exists, then nothing will be loaded. SAVE Button: Clicking this button will save the current Palette in a file using the name given in the Palette File Name Box. If a Valid name is not provided, nothing will be saved. QUIT Button: Clicking this button will return you to DOS. Nothing is saved, and no confirmation is given. Color Information Display: This Box is on the left side of the Screen, below the Color Sliders. It shows the number of the currently selected color (from 0 to 255) and indicates if that color is locked. To the right of this box is a big square showing the current color. LIGHTER Button: Clicking this button will make the selected color brighter. DARKER Button: Clicking this button will make the selected color darker. RESET Button: Clicking this button will restore the selected color to the value it had when it was first selected. BLEND Button: Clicking this button will let you Blend a range of colors together. One end of the range of colors is the currently selected color. After Clicking the BLEND button. You must click on the color at the other end of the range in the Palette Display Box. All of the colors in between those two colors will be changed to represent a gradual transition from the color at one end to the color at the other end. PALETTE FILE NAME BOX: This Text Box is used to enter the name of a Palette file to load or the name to save the current Palette as. Just click on the Box, and it will change color and a flashing cursor will appear. Now you type in a filename or edit the existing filename. Press or click outside the text box to end editing. PALETTE DISPLAY BOX: This Box shows all 256 colors in an array of 32 by 8 color blocks. The Currently Selected Color will have a Box around it. Clicking on a color with the Left Mouse button will make that color the new currently selected color. Clicking on a color with the Right Mouse Button will copy the color value from the old selected color to it, before it is made the new selected color. Message Bar: At the very bottom of the screen, this Bar will display information and messages for various functions. PALETTE FILE FORMAT: BINARY image, in order of VGA DAC (Color) Number. 3 Bytes Per Color, 256 Colors. 768 Bytes total. The Files will be exactly 768 bytes in size. COLOR: RED: 1 BYTE GREEN: 1 BYTE BLUE: 1 BYTE PALETTE: Array (0 to 255) of COLOR COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, BUG REPORTS, etc: Send the to the Author: Matt Pritchard Through the 80xxx Fidonet Echo or Matt Pritchard P.O. Box 140264 Irving, TX 75014 CREDITS: This Palette Editor was written in QuickBASIC 4.5