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ForceView/2 (c) 1996 FORCE Productions' Super-dooper Multi-purpose File Viewer Main Code, documentation & organization by Goblin Configuration menu code by Legend ForceView/2 Screen Saver ANSi art by NMe Configuration program ANSi art by Anubis & Jez Documentation ASCii art by Krisis & Regurgitator ForceView/2 GUI ANSi art by Warhammer & Criminal Enigma & Kurrupt & Doozle [ Current version of ForceView/2 þ MERRY CHRISTMAS VERSION - December'96 ] Note: This is not a full release of ForceView/2, so there is a definite probability you may encounter bugs. Chances are we already know of most of the bugs you may find, and are (or already have) trying to fix these. However if you have any questions, comments, suggestions or bug reports regarding this release, please direct them to Goblin at s2190983@cse.unsw.EDU.AU (internet email address). Any flames or hate mail should be sent to root@127.0.0.1 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Introduction to ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Force, Australia's premier art group now welcomes you to the (soon-to-be) most comprehensive Art Viewer ever made. This first beta release of Force View/2 is already among the best art viewing programs available and soon this innovative production promises to become known as "The Ultimate ANSi & Art scene viewing utility". This release supports a wide range of file formats, with more support already in production for the next release. Note: In this document we refer to this program as "ForceView/2" to differentiate it from the earlier released program "Force View", made by Red Haze. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ General "blah" from the author º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Well, finally, ForceView/2 has reached public release stage, after many, long, laborius hours of struggle. First I'd like to thank all of those who helped with the production of ForceView/2 (see credits section). Enjoy the christmas release, a couple of minor additions, and some bug fixes, not a lot of difference, hopefully there'll be less crashes. *** IMPORTANT *** A conflict has been discovered by Legend: FV.EXE does not like Novell netware's NETX.EXE - this problem will be addressed ASAP, but in the mean time, avoid running NETX and FV together, or ForceView/2 will not work. NETX.EXE can be unloaded using the "NETX u" command line and then reloaded using a standard "NETX" command line. -Goblin/Force & Xtatic- ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Requirements of ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ¯ VGA or better video card and monitor [EGA will work... a bit :) ] ¯ 386 or higher processor [Maths Co-processor not required] ¯ DOS 3.0 [or higher], Windows'95 (í) or similar ¯ Plenty of memory (and I mean PLENTY) ForceView/2 is designed with speed and power in mind. Because of this, the system requirements may be greater than other, "lesser viewers", but we believe the "standard" computer system in use today exceeds these minimum requirements. í ForceView/2 works in a windowed DOS session under Windows'95, however it does not function exactly as it should, no bugs have yet been encountered while running ForceView/2 in a Full-screen DOS session under Windows'95. NOTE: File loading times while running ForceView/2 under Windows are MUCH longer than running under plain DOS. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Features of ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ¯ Supports ACiD Productions(tm)' very own special SAUCE file descriptor ¯ ANSi and BIN viewing in any available screen mode ¯ XBIN support, which is currently better than any other viewer ¯ Runs in protected mode, which means ForceView/2 will make use of all available system memory regardless of which memory manager you use [or even if you choose not to use any memory manager at all] ¯ Drive and Directory switching ¯ ANSi Scroll Back ¯ File deleting capability ¯ Maximum file size only limited by available system memory ¯ Full DOS shell capability ¯ Supports EXE/COM file spawning (execution) from within the viewer ¯ Inbuilt Configuration program for maximum configurability and ease of use ¯ Inbuilt Screen Saver ¯ Four different ANSi interfaces to choose from ¯ File-listing colour fully customizable ¯ The kitchen sink ¯ ForceView/2 currently boasts the widest range of viewing modes, as compared with any other viewer. Currently supported modes are: Text Modes - Columns Rows 40 80 90 AMiGA mode (í) 12 û û û û 14 û û û 15 û û û û 17 û û û 19 û û û û 21 û û û û 22 û û û 25 û û û û 28 û û û 30 û û û û 34 û û û 35 û û û û 38 û û û 40 û û û 43 û û û 44 û û û 45 û û û 50 û û û 51 û û û 57 û û û 60 û û û 64 û û 68 û û û 70 û û û 80 û û û í "AMiGA" Modes comprise both 40 and 80 column modes, with a custom font, specially designed to better suit viewing "AMi-X" style artwork. Viewing other files in the AMiGA modes will not adversely affect them. VGA Modes - 640x480 16 colour (VGA) 640x800 16 colour (SVGA) 1024x768 16 colour (SVGA) 640x350 16 colour Used only for viewing .RIP pictures Note: Not all modes are guaranteed to work on ALL video card/monitor combinations. If this is the case with your system, you can disable the offending video mode(s) through the ForceView/2 configuration program. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ File Formats supported by ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ¯ Textmode Binary dumps (.BIN) ¯ Extended Binary files (.XB) ¯ PC Board files (.PCB) - limited support, colour codes (@Xxx) only ¯ iCE Draw Format files (.IDF) - Not guaranteed to work perfectly ¯ Artworx Draw Format files (.ADF) ¯ Remote Imaging Protocol Scripting language files (.RIP) ¯ BSave (.BSV) - limited support ¯ TheDraw Save Files (.TD) - limited support ¯ All other files are treated as text files with support for imbedded ANSi codes, thus ForceView/2 can function as an ordinary text file viewer. ForceView/2 recognizes files by their extension, since scanning through every file in a directory to determine its format is very time consuming. Because of this, incorectly named files may be displayed incorrectly. Note: Any documents or source code explaining any file formats (even if the format is currently supported by ForceView/2) would be appreciated. Please send them via one of the methods listed later. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Navigating through ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Main Menu - A to Z ù Quickfind - pressing a letter key takes you straight to the first file name starting with that letter Up, down, pg-up, pg-down, home, end ù Move around the file listing Enter or Right(arrow) ù View/Run/Play/etc current file Left(arrow) ù Move back to parent directory (same as selecting "..") F1 ù Online help + or F2 ù Move to next available screen mode - ù Move to previous available screen mode F3 ù Toggle between 40, 80, 90, AMiGA and VGA viewing modes F4 ù ForceView/2 information page F5 ù Start up the ForceView/2 inbuilt configuration program F8 ù Toggle between Colour (normal), Grey scale, and ASCii drawing modes F9 ù Toggle Ice-Colour (high intensity background) mode on/off Insert ù Copy a file (THIS DOES NOT WORK YET, DO NOT TRY IT) Delete ù Delete selected file (asks for confirmation before deleting) Alt-D ù DOS Shell (Note: Music stops playing in during DOS shell, in order to try to minimize sound-device conflicts with other programs [see below section on DOS Shell for more info] ) Alt-S ù Invoke the Screen Saver (stops when you press a key) ESC/Alt-X ù Exit to DOS (Only for lamers :) ) Keys available while viewing a file - Arrow keys, pg-up, pg-down, home, end ù Scroll the picture ESC or Alt-X or Enter or Return ù Return to Main Menu + or F2 or - or F3 or F8 or F9 ù Manipulate screen mode (as above) ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ ForceView/2 inbuilt configuration menu º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The configuration program should be fairly self-explanatory, but... a û means "enabled", use the enter key to toggle or select. Important Note: if "yes" is chosen at the "save options" menu, the configuration is saved to disk, if "no" is chosen, the settings get reset upon reloading ForceView/2 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ The DOS Shell and file spawning system º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ In a DOS Shell, certain programs may conflict with ForceView/2. Files most likely not to work in a DOS shell are those that have high memory requirements. The same is true of spawning (running) EXE and COM files from within the viewer. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ History of ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 0.1á - Initial (unreleased) version of ForceView/2 0.1 - Initial public release version of ForceView/2 ForceView/2 was in beta stages up until the public release 0.1 0.1c - Christmas release - some minor bugfixes Future plans - BMP, TGA, TIF, JPG, GIF, PNG, PCX file support - Full, bug free support for IDF, ADF and XB files, including VGA viewing - Improved VGA viewing support for all files - Music playing (MOD, S3M, XM) (perhaps??) ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Credits for ForceView/2 º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Main (File-handling, interface, etc) code ¯ Goblin/Force & Xtatic ANS, BIN, PCB, ADF, IDF, XB, RIP, BSV, TD viewing code ¯ Goblin In-Viewer configuration program code ¯ Legend/Force & Xtatic & Deste " " " ANSi art ¯ Anubis/Force ú Jez/Force Force View Interface ANSi art ¯ Warhammer/Force Criminal Enigma/Force Kurrupt/Force Doozle/Force (adapted by Goblin & Legend) Force View Interface VGA art ¯ Grump/Force Force View Screen Saver main picture ¯ NMe/Force Documentation and History text ¯ Goblin " " " Header ASCii art ¯ Krisis/Force & XPS " " " Footer ASCii art ¯ Regurgitator/Force Force View ending ANSi art ¯ Goblin Force View inline information ANSi art ¯ Goblin PMODE/W Copyright (C) 1995-1996 Charles Scheffold and Thomas Pytel aka DareDevil and Tran Thanks to: DareDevil and Tran - For making the great PMODE/W Fatslayer - General help Iluvatar/Jade - For his great 90x64 mode setting code, which allowed a great number more viewing modes Liket/Goto10 - For help with screen mode setting routines Gaffer/Prometheus - For general C expertise Frog/Force All the Force members for their ideas and feedback Those people on #coders who _actually_ helped me All the people who got beta versions and let me know about bugs ForceView/2 was compiled with Watcom C v10.6 ForceView/2 is an Australian production ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Contact addresses º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Most Force members are available via ForceNet (available on any decent Force affiliated board) Goblin ¯ s2190983@cse.unsw.EDU.AU Legend ¯ legend@fl.net.au Find a Force Pack for more information ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ Disclaimer (aka Legal B.S.) º ÀÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The author (Scott Buchanan aka Goblin) shall not be liable for any loss of profit or time caused through use of this viewer. In no event shall the author be liable for any damage, including, but not limited to special, incidental, or consequential damages. All product names, trademarks and registered trademarks contained in this document are the property of their respective holders. All product names, trademarks and registered trademarks contained in the ForceView/2 package are the property of their respective holders. This version of ForceView/2 was coded using the Watcom C compiler. This release of ForceView/2 is _not_ an update of the original "Force View" by Red Haze, it is a completely new program, and as such, no support for Red Haze's Force View will be offered by the author of ForceView/2. No source code from Red Haze's Force View was used, nor any code by any people other than those listed in the credits section of this document. . ù + ù . $üüüüüü$ , ' ' , , `$ $$ $' $$$$"$$$$ .a#S"S#a. .a#S"S#a. .a#S"S#a. $$$$"$$$$ È. $ $$ $ $±$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$3$ $$$$ $0$$ $$±$ $$$$ $±$$ $$$$ ,a È. $ $$ $ $$$$ $$$$ $±$$ $±$$ $$$' $$$$ $$x$ aý` n b, È. $ $$ $ $8$$a$$$$ $ý$$ $±$$ $$$$a$$b $$T$ $$$$a$ , `b `b,a `¼. `,`bd $ $$ $ $$$$ üüüü $$$$ $$$$ $$$$ $$$l $±$$ $$$' ü Y `b `b 'ab `' $ $$ $ $$±$ .a. $$$$ $$0$ $$z$ $$$$ $$$$ $6$.`n Y `b `b ,a ` $ $$ $ $l$$ `ü' $±$$ $$$$ $$$$ $±$$ $2$$ $$$$ $±$$ .`¼. Y `b `bý` $ $$ $ $$$$ `ýY$a$Pý' $$$$ $$$$ `ýY$a$Pý' $$$$a$b, 'aY `' $ $$ $ $ $$ $ The Ultimate ANSi & Art Scene Viewer $ $$ $ $ $$ $ .a#@#a. .a#@#a. .a#@#a. .a#@#a. .a#@#a. d$ $$ $b d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$' aaaa$ ' .a#@#a. 'Y$P' .a#@#a. 'Y$P' .a#@#a. 'Y$P' .a#@#a. 'Y$P' .a#@#a. 'Y$P' ,dý"""` d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$Pü^`^üY$b,.,d$P' -rgt ' 'Y$P' 'Y$P' 'Y$P' 'Y$P' 'Y$P' SAUCE00ForceView/2 Documentation Goblin READ THE INI FILE 19961229sDP