ReadMe File For
WinBmp(C) Version 3.0
(C) Copyright 1994-1999 Bill Buckels
All Rights Reserved.

Introduction
------------

The WINBMP program package is a suite of documentation and editting
tools for working with MS-DOS text, MS-DOS Screens, and plain Ascii text
in Windows. This package contains many useful programs for converting
text to Graphics and much more.

The WINBMP Program
------------------

At the core of the WINBMP package is the WINBMP program.

WINBMP is a limited function monochrome .BMP File Editor (Maximum
Supported .BMP Size is 640 x 475). It was originally designed to provide
editting capabilities for screen shots of MS-DOS programs, and to
convert these into .BMP files to use in program documentation. WinBmp
comes with a really clear font for MS-DOS screens.

Since the monochrome .BMP files produced by WINBMP are very efficient
and very clear, the output will print very cleanly and quickly and will
use very little diskspace.

WINBMP will convert Clipboard Text, Text Files, and MS-DOS Screens to
Bitmaps without losing formatting or MS-DOS characters. It also Loads,
Edits, and Saves Monochrome .BMP files, and allows pasting of BitMaps
back to the clipboard for use directly in other programs, such as Word
Processors, Desktop Publishing, and Image Editors.

The WinOEM Program
------------------

The suite of tools and features included with WINBMP has expanded over
time to include a number of other utilities. One of these is a Windows
Text Editor for MS-DOS Text called WinOEM which has many of its own
features.

WinOem is similar to the Windows Notepad and it edits MS-DOS style text
without losing the MS-DOS "box" characters, which makes it rare as
Windows applications go. This means that you can Paste an MS-DOS Screen
into WinOem from the clipboard, and you will not lose your formatting,
and since WinOem uses a "fixed pitch" font, your character spacing is
not lost.

You can also bring an MS-DOS report (i.e. a report that was printed to
disk) into WinOem and "clean it up" and it will not lose its character
spacing. Since you can save the MS-DOS Text as a Windows .BMP file
directly in WinOem, you can insert this as a .BMP into a Word Processor
document and it will still retain its appearance.

The Summary of WinOem's Features includes:

- Load, Save, and Edit text files using the Windows OEM Font
- Copy and Paste MS-DOS Text to and from The Clipboard
- Save Text as a Monochrome BMP

Other Utilities and Features Of The WINBMP Package
--------------------------------------------------

Other utilities for working with Text are provided with the WINBMP
package, including an MS-DOS "Screen Capture Utility" called GRABSV,
which is extremely tiny.

An Extensive User's Manual in the form of Windows Online Help is
provided with this package, as well as several samples of unique MS-DOS
screenshots that you can practice with.

WINBMP is distributed as Shareware. Registration is $10.00. Complete C
Language Source Code is also provided.

What's New In Version 3.0 ?
---------------------------

- .PTX File Format Support.
- Color Mode Native Text Screen PASTE To Windows ClipBoard.
- Enabled Moving of Window (Previously it was fixed on center.)
- Additonal Utilities

Installing WinBmp
-------------------

Install WinBmp by "UNZIPPING" WinBmp.ZIP complete with pathnames to
the drive of your choice. If you decide to install WinBmp to Drive C:,
WinBmp will be installed into the directory C:\WinBmp.

To Run WinBmp click-on WinBmp.EXE.
To Run WinOem click-on WinOem.EXE.

Create a program group (Folder) on your Windows Desktop and install
Shortcuts for WinBmp and Winoem into WIndows. Make the \WINBMP directory
the startup directory for these applications.

If you want Online help in WinOem, just copy Winbmp.hlp to WinOem.hlp.
Keep the help files in the same directory as the applications.

Read the Rest Of This ReadMe File and The Online Help for more details.

WinBMP User's Manual
--------------------

Table of Contents
-----------------

Listed below are several topics that refer to WinBMP and its companion
utilities, or that are related to converting MS-DOS text and MS-DOS
screens to bitmaps for use in Windows documents.

WinBMP is NOT Free. It is distributed as Shareware. Registration is
$10.00 per installed copy. If you have not registered in 30 days, you
must remove WinBMP and its companion programs from your computer. If you
have already registered, thank you.

Chapter 1  - WINBMP - MS-DOS Screens In Documents
Chapter 2  - WINOEM - MS-DOS Text In Windows
Chapter 3  - Why Bother At All?
Chapter 4  - Windows Has A Clipboard!
Chapter 5  - IN PLAIN ENGLISH- The Windows ClipBoard
Chapter 6  - TXT2BMP - Converting Text to Bitmaps
Chapter 7  - REAPER - Capturing The MS-DOS Printer
Chapter 8  - GRABSV - CAPTURING MS-DOS in Color
Chapter 9  - GRAB2BMP - Converting MS-DOS in Color
Chapter 10 - BSV2TXT - Converting MS-DOS to Text
Chapter 11 - Additional Utilities

If you prepare documents that use MS-DOS text screens and text, a number
of alternatives and techniques are available for manipulating these for
presentation purposes and hardcopy output.

There are many simple and effective methods that you can employ to
obtain good quality output of MS-DOS text in Windows.

Chapter 1 - WINBMP is a limited function monochrome BMP File Editor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Load, Edit, and Save BMP files such as those created by the Utility
TXT2BMP (Maximum 640 x475). or convert Clipboard Text to Bitmaps
including MS-DOS text such as the text generated by  WinOem .

2a. To Clip a BMP Fragment Use The Mark Fragment Menu Option And Click a
Boxed Area Over Your Screen Image Prior to Saving.

2b. To Add Text Use The Mark Fragment Menu Option And Click a Boxed Area
Over The Portion of your Screen Image that you wish to start your text
at, and then select Text Entry from the menu.

2c. To Paint With Text or Add Special Characters, Use The Mark Fragment
Menu Option and Click a Boxed Area Over The Portion of your Screen Image
that you wish to fill with text at, and then select a character set from
the Fast Keys Menu. Then use function keys F1 - F10 to enter the fill
character.

3. To Reverse 8 x 16 Cells Use The Reverse Cell Menu Option And Click
Over The Cell Area That You Wish to Invert.

4. Use the Color Display Option if you have imported a .BSV (Bsaved
Image) File or a .PTX File (.PCX Encoded Text Screen). Then use the COPY
Menu Command on the Edit Menu to save the colour screen to the Windows
Clipboard. The image in WinBmp will revert to Black and White when you
de-select the Colour Option..

5. Import and Edit a BSAVED text screen such as those created  by my
utility GRABSV, or import a compressed text screen (a .PTX screen) and
save these  to a BMP format.

6. Use the Delete Option to Kill Unwanted files such as  BSAVED Files
that have been resaved in BMP format.

Licence Agreement
-----------------

WINBMP Version 3.0
Copyright Bill Buckels 1994-1999.

Use or Duplication of this program without the express permission of the
author is not permitted. This program may not be distributed
commercially for profit without the Author's Permission.

Registration is $10.00 per Installed Copy

Send Payment by Check or Money Order to:

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford Street
Winnipeg, Mb, Cdn R3M 3J2

Email: bbuckels@escape.ca
Website: http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels

BMP files - the Windows standard
--------------------------------

A simple non-compressed monochrome bit-map is nothing more than a dump
of video memory which is loaded from the bottom up.

In its simplest state which is the Windows Standard There is absolutely
nothing elegant about this format. They are not typically found in a
compressed state.

There is a minimum of information in the BMP file. Load coordinates are
not provided.

Chapter 2 - WinOem - A Windows Text Editor for MS-DOS Text
----------------------------------------------------------
by Bill Buckels 1994

WinOem is similar to the Windows Notepad in that it is a text editor.
That is to say... it is a word processor that hasn't grown up.

It does not provide printing services, and its size is limited. But it
does edit MS-DOS style text without losing the MS-DOS "box" characters,
which makes it rare as Windows applications go.

This means that you can Paste an MS-DOS Screen into WinOem from the
clipboard, and you will not lose your formatting, and since WinOem uses
a "fixed pitch" font, your character spacing is not lost.

You can also bring an MS-DOS report (i.e. a report that was printed to
disk) into WinOem and "clean it up" and it will not lose its character
spacing.

Since you can save the MS-DOS Text as a Windows .BMP file directly in
WinOem, you can include this later in a Word or Write document and it
will still retain its appearance.

Since you can Copy All Text or Selected Text to the Windows Clipboard,
you can paste the MS-DOS text into another application that accepts
MS-DOS text, such as WinBmp.

WinOem's key strokes are like any other Windows Edit Text application,
so they have not been listed at the risk of being redundant. WinOem
sports an undo buffer and delete and replace features and the usual text
editing keys. There are however some unique editing keys that bear
mentioning.

The following features are available in WinOem:
-----------------------------------------------

1. The [F1] through [F10] keys are used as "FAST KEYS" to allow the
entry of line drawing characters and allow the entry of High Ascii -
MS-DOS style.

2. Ascii Characters MS-DOS Style can also be entered using the normal
numeric keys to work similarily to the MS-DOS ascii numeric keypad
entry... i.e. when the [ALT] Key is pressed the numeric value of the
keys is the ascii value of the entry...

An additional step is necessary... the [Insert] Key must be pressed
after the [Alt[-Numeric keypress is made to register the entry.

Also To Summarize:
------------------

1. Loads, saves, and edits text files using the Windows OEM Font
2. Copies The Edit Buffer to The Clipboard
3. Pastes The Text From The Clipboard Into The Edit Buffer
4. Alternately Saves The Text From The Editbuffer as a Monochrome BMP

Licencing
---------

WinOem is Bundled with the WinBmp Utilities and The Registration fee for
the WinBmp suite is $10.00 per licence. These are specialized tools for
certain and certainly of limited use if you don't need them, but a
bargain if you don't have them and do need them.

If WinBmp  or WinOem  or indeed any or all of the utilities included in
this package will potentially save you more than an hour or two, please
consider registering by sending a check or money order for $10.00 to the
address below...

And if you have already done so, live long and prosper.

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford St.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 3J2

http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels
bbuckels@escape.ca

Chapter 3 - Why Bother At All?
------------------------------

With the death of DOS and character based displays this is not all that
much of an issue unless you are still supporting a character based
software product.

The WINBMP and WINOEM programs have as much to with MS-DOS as they do
with with Windows.

Although the WINBMP and WINOEM programs are Windows Applications unlike
most Windows applications they exist because of MS-DOS, and not in spite
of it, and they are bundled with a number of MS-DOS companion utilities.

It's not a perfect world in the DOS and Windows PC environment and this
was once painfully apparent to the technical writer who tried to produce
a document for a text based MS-DOS application from within Windows.

Pictures of screens and reports are required for manuals, and generally
speaking the writer probably doesn't have time to build these from
scratch. It is far less work to "GRAB" an image of the text specimen and
insert it as a object into the documentation.

Windows has a "Clipboard" which does its best to grab screens from DOS
applications. But for some reason the designers of the Windows clipboard
fell short of giving us a reasonable black and white conversion of the
colour screen.

Even the colour screens that Windows provides us with are not always in
proportion to the DOS screen that they represent. WIndows 95 admittedly
does a better job but in Windows 3.1 It doesn't matter what standard
font you care to use. Your colour screen clips will appear "squished" or
out of aspect.

You may also need to make a slide-show or a "live document" displaying
colour text screens that don't look like somebody sat on them.

To digitize documentation graphics of MS-DOS programs you may want to
use alternatives to the Windows Clipboard such as a "SOFTWARE CAMERA" to
take pictures of the screen, another to capture reports, and use import
utilities to change text to graphics to preserve the format and the
appearance.

The following major programs are included in the WINBMP package. I have
also included source code and Online Help Documents in WINBMP that
should provide you with sufficient ammunition to win your particular
Documentation battle.

Program List
------------

WINBMP.EXE - WINDOWS PROGRAM - Monochrome BMP editor for MS-DOS Screen
"Captures". Also converts screen captures to BMP's.

WINOEM.EXE - WINDOWS PROGRAM - Text Editor for Ms-Dos Style Text. Also
converts text files to BMP's.

TXT2BMP.EXE - MS-DOS Command Line Utility to convert MS-DOS text based
output and screens to WINDOWS BMP's.

BSV2TXT.EXE - MS-DOS Command Line Utility to convert MS-DOS screens
(Bsaved Images) to MS-DOS Text Files.

GRABSV.COM - MS-DOS memory resident screen capture program

REAPER.COM - MS-DOS memory resident program to intercept printer output.

SOWER.EXE - MS-DOS Command Line Utility to empty the output from
REAPER.COM to a disk file.

GRAB2BMP.EXE - MS-DOS Command Line Utility to Convert Colour Screens
from MS-DOS programs to 16 Colour BMP files for display in Windows.

Read this ReadMe and the Windows Help File and work with the programs,
and you will likely have no problem producing MS-DOS text pictures for
your various documents.

Bill Buckels
Revised July 1996
Revisited September 1999

Chapter 4 - Windows Has A Clipboard
-----------------------------------

Windows has a Clipboard! (But you've got to know how to use it.)

Windows 95 and Windows 98 Users (and beyond) should overlook the
occasional Windows 3.1 references since this was written quite some time
ago, but the basic principles are still valid.

If you have attempted to use the results from a clip-board paste from
DOS to a WINDOWS document application, then you understand that screen
colors are not represented with any provision for monochrome conversion,
graphics are "squished" or out of aspect and the DOS character set
(called the OEM character set) is not generally available in Windows
(WINDOWS uses the ANSI character set), and DOS graphics characters in
text are not available even when a non-proportional "printer font" (like
courier) is used to display the results of a clipboard paste.

In spite of its shortcomings, the ClipBoard is an effective tool for
MS-DOS text aquisition. If you want the whole story, open the clipboard
viewer from your Main program group, and select Windows Help for the
Clipboard Viewer, and also read the other ClipBoard-Related Topics in
WinBmp help.

As previously indicated, if you aren't concerned with losing the color
attributes, and the DOS graphics characters, you can simply use the
Clipboard to clip text and use a non-proportional font in your document.

But if this is not good enough, and if the WinBmp and WinOem programs
and their companion utilties are not immediately available, try one of
the following alternatives to preserve the MS-DOS text characters, and
convert them for use in Windows later.

Method 1 - Saving An MS-DOS Text .CLP File
------------------------------------------

When You use the clipboard to aquire MS-DOS text, Save the contents as a
.CLP file using the Clipboard Viewer and load it again later into the
Clipboard Viewer, and paste it into WINOEM.EXE or WINBMP.EXE to edit and
convert the text to a Windows Monochrome Bitmap.

Method 2 - Saving An MS-DOS Text File
-------------------------------------

When You use the clipboard to aquire MS-DOS text, Don't paste it into a
Windows Application, (With the exceptions of the WinBmp and the WinOem
programs which support pasting MS-DOS text from the Windows Clipboard),
or you will probably lose your formatting and your text graphics
characters.

Open two MS-DOS Windows on the Desktop. In one of the DOS Windows run
the application that you want to document, and use the Mark and Copy
commands from the Edit command on the system menu of the MS-DOS window
to grab the text of the entire screen that you want to capture.

Open your DOS text editor in the other DOS window, and use the PASTE
option in the window to "type" the clipboard contents into your editor.
(DOS EDIT will allow you to use it this way.)

Note: Don't try to save the clipboard contents as an "OEM" text .CLP
file using the Clipboard editor and then try to edit this afterwards in
your DOS text editor. You will get the clipboard header with your text
if you do, and this will create extra clean-up work for you later.

After Windows has finished typing the text from the clipboard into your
editor, save the file in DOS. It is now a clean DOS text file. No colors
though... sorry.

If the WinBmp and WinOem programs and their utilities are available
later, you can use the Windows Programs WINOEM.EXE or WINBMP.EXE or the
Dos Program TXT2BMP.EXE to convert the DOS text to a BMP file.

Chapter 5 - IN PLAIN ENGLISH - The Windows ClipBoard
----------------------------------------------------

Using the Windows Clipboard to Capture Screen Information When Running
MS-DOS Applications

by Bill Buckels 1994

The following notes are observations that I made while using the Windows
3.1 clipboard on my 386-SX running DOS 5. They may not be 100% accurate
depending on your version of Windows and particular hardware
configuration, but they also apply to what I have trued under Windows 95
on my older 486-DX.

1. When running an MS-DOS application in an MS-DOS Window, you can copy
some or all of the TEXT that is on the MS-DOS screen, a BITMAP image of
the MS-DOS Window, or a BITMAP image of the entire WINDOWS DESKTOP onto
the Clipboard.

2. When running a full-screen application, you can copy only the FULL
SCREEN of TEXT onto the Clipboard.

You can switch the application between a full screen and a window by
pressing ALT+ENTER.

A Short Note About MS-DOS Graphics under Windows
------------------------------------------------

You CAN use the Windows Clipboard to copy MS-DOS screens from SOME
MS-DOS programs that run in SOME Graphics Modes. BUT many MS-DOS
programs that run in Graphics modes are incompatible with Windows
itself, either by the fact that the Graphics Mode that the MS-DOS
program uses is not supported by your Windows installation, or that the
way the program is generally written conflicts with Windows, or the fact
that a program specific PIF (program information file) is not installed
in your Program Manager to make the program behave correctly.

Even if you do succeed in copying an MS-DOS graphics program screen to
the clipboard, DOS graphics programs may use color palettes that the
Clipboard cannot reproduce. This means that the results will not be an
accurate reproduction of the MS-DOS graphics screen color.

If you fail, and cause Windows to crash, which is often likely, (less
often under Windows 95 but recovery is longer and hopefully safer) you
run the risk of corrupting data that Windows is actively managing. It is
generally not worth the risk unless you are intimately familiar with all
the technical issues. I know I am not.

Most MS-DOS paint programs include Screen Capture programs, and these
usually provide a better solution for aquiring MS-DOS graphics screens.
But not all MS-DOS programs will tolerate having their pictures taken.

This is all very interesting but has little to do with character based
DOS applications. The following notes concern the use of the clipboard
to copy MS-DOS screens in standard 80 x 25 Color Text Mode. Additionally
you should also refer to the standard Windows Clipboard Help.

What may not be CLEAR...
------------------------

1a. Using The Clipboard To Copy TEXT
------------------------------------

You will lose your video attributes ("Text Colors"). You will likely
also lose your MS-DOS "graphics" characters.

Windows applications that accept pasting of TEXT from the clipboard
(Word Processors, etc.) generally do not support the MS-DOS character
set.

Windows supports two formats for text: ANSI TEXT (the default Windows
text format) and OEM TEXT (the format Windows uses for text in MS-DOS
applications). (OEM is an acronym that means Original Equipment
Manufacturer. i.e. IBM.) (ANSI is the acronym for the American National
Standards Institute.)

The ANSI character set does not contain all the equivalent characters
for the MS-DOS "graphics" characters that are usually used in DOS
screens.

When you select the Paste option in your Word Processor to paste MS-DOS
text into a document, the word processor requests the text from the
clipboard in ANSI format. Windows automatically converts the MS-DOS TEXT
to ANSI TEXT before supplying it to the Word Processor. The MS-DOS
graphics characters are substituted with the non-DOS characters that
MICROSOFT programmed the clipboard to use for this.

Although the result is not a complete disaster, it is sometimes not
great. You can't use a True-Type font for this text. You must use a
non-proportional fixed-pitch ("printer") font (i.e. courier) or the text
will not "line-up".

If it is important to you to preserve your MS-DOS graphics characters
you can overcome this problem by opening a text editor (i.e.DOS EDIT) in
an MS-DOS window and use the clipboard to paste the MS-DOS text into the
text editor's window. The clipboard will preserve the MS-DOS text and
the DOS editor can be used to save it.

If you wish to use a Windows Editor for MS-DOS Characters, You may want
to try my editor, WINOEM.

When clipping a partial DOS screen the text will sometimes not "line
up". It is better to save the whole screen and edit it later if this
occurs.

1b. Using The Clipboard To Copy BITMAPS
---------------------------------------

When running an MS-DOS application as a full-screen in text only mode,
and not in a window, you cannot copy a BITMAP of the MS-DOS screen to
the clipboard.

If you want to copy a BITMAP, run your DOS application in a window.

To copy a BITMAP of the entire DESKTOP, press PRINTSCREEN.

To copy a BITMAP of the MS-DOS screen when you are running in a window
press ALT+PRINTSCREEN. When you copy a BITMAP of the MS-DOS screen
window you will get a picture of the window borders, scroll bars,
controls, and title bar whether you want these or not. You will need to
use Windows Paint to clean this additional baggage from the copy.

A BITMAP copy is the only way that you can get a color copy of an MS-DOS
screen using the clipboard. Unfortunately, the text information will be
lost.

The clipboard BITMAP copy will use the font that is currently selected
for the MS-DOS window. The 8 x 8 font that the MS-DOS window generally
uses is squashed (the aspect ratio is incorrect). On the VGA display
that is commonly used for Windows (640 x 400 or 800 x 600) It is
actually out of proportion by 2.4 times (1:2.4).

Even if you change fonts in the MS-DOS Window and use the 10 x 18 font,
the proportion is still somewhat squashed but it is much better and you
should use this for saving your BITMAP copy. The actual proportion for
the typical VGA display of standard MS-DOS text is 8 x 19.
(Effectively...)

You should MAXIMIZE the MS-DOS Window if you want a BITMAP of the whole
MS-DOS screen.

16 Colour Bitmaps take 4 times more space to store than 2 colour
bitmaps. If Bitmap copies of MS-DOS screens are being used for printing
purposes, it is quite wasteful to save these in a color format.

If you hope to convert a color MS-DOS screen to a Monochrome Bitmap for
the purposes of printed hard copy, you will be unlikely to accomplish
this by pasting a color copy into a Monochrome Bitmap. The Clipboard
does not provide a proper color conversion to black and white.

The color to black and white conversion problem is not one that can be
solved by the general BITMAP copying services in the clipboard. A
"smart" conversion of this type is beyond the scope of Windows.

Word processors allow you to manipulate pictures embedded in Documents,
and substitute colors with "dithers", but this process may need to be
done with a considerable amount of trial and error and time and effort.

Additional Notes
----------------

To paste into a full-screen application in Windows, the Windows
application must support the clipboard.

Please refer to Windows Clipboard Help for usage and additional
information on the other capabilities of Windows Clipboard Services.

Refer to the other topics included in the WINBMP and  WINOEM  help for
more information on converting MS-DOS text for use in Windows Documents.

Chapter 6 - TXT2BMP - Converting Text to BitMaps
------------------------------------------------

Txt2bmp by Bill Buckels 1994

Usage is"Txt2bmp [my.txt] [columns-optional]"

Alternate"Txt2bmp [my.bsv]"

Txt2bmp.exe is a command line ascii text document converter which will
take a straight ascii file and convert it to a monochrome Windows Bitmap
(.BMP).

Alternately, Txt2bmp will take a color text screen (25 lines x 80
columns) and convert it to a Windows Monochrome .BMP file. (The color to
black and white conversion  is generally pretty good and suitable as-is
for including in Windows Documents.)

This is especially useful when preparing screen shots or other
facsimiles of ASCII files required for documentation purposes for
including these in documents prepared in Windows.

My own screen capture program (GRABSV.EXE) can be used to generate the
initial .BSV screen file.

There are certain programs that are not compatible with GRABSV, and I
have tested the screen capture utility THEGRAB(tm) using the /ASCII
switch with these and obtained good results.

Txt2bmp can also be used in conjunction with printer intercept programs
including my own REAPER and SOWER programs to produce BMP files of
printed reports.

Why all the fuss about text?
----------------------------

Windows and word processors in general have some pretty respectable
proportional fonts, and as far as most of us are concerned, to be any
good at all, a document must use these. The days of line printers and
non-proprtional fonts are certainly over for document preparation.

However, business will likely continue to print reports that use
ordinary line printers, and certainly there are still lots of programs
being written that exist outside of GUI interfaces.

When we document these things, we are faced with the problem of how to
display samples of screens, reports, etc. We could probably set-up
non-proportional fonts, tables, and the like in our docs, and do other
time-consuming  preparation.

I prefer to just convert the non-proportional (fixed pitch) and graphics
characters into a seperate bitmap object and insert this in my Windows
document like any other picture.

It's just cleaner all the way around.

But this is not just simply a matter of using your Word processor, and
looking up a command in the manual. The discipline of document
preparation means that YOU have the responsibility of understanding how
to get your graphics into a suitable format for printing.

So don't expect this to come without some patience and learning and
skill on your part. This is not a trivial issue. Give yourself some time
to learn this. And learn it on your own (don't keep bugging the "next
guy" just because he has mastered this skill... he had to work at it
too!) So don't bother with short-cuts... There aren't any.

I have given you all the tools that you need to reach this level except
the most important tool...

The tool I am talking about is experience... and you have my sincerest
wish that this will come to you without much pain with the use of these
other tools. Good luck, and Happy Documentation. Cheers, and Here's to
excellence!

Chapter 7 - REAPER - Capturing The MS-DOS Printer
-------------------------------------------------

Reaper(C) by Bill Buckels 1993
------------------------------

Memory resident printed output interception and passthrough DriverModule

Purpose:

To provide a 32K buffer in memory for output being sent to the printer.
Note that this output is still passed through to the printer.

Uses:

To intercept report output passthrough on the way to the printer and
create a copy in memory which can later be saved to disk using SOWER.EXE

SOWER(C) by Bill Buckels 1993
-----------------------------

Memory resident printed output interception and passthroughData
Aquisition Module

Directions for Use:

Before starting the program that will be printing reports, load
theReaper module into memory. Remember, Reaper does not interfere with
the printer, and merely remembers whatever goes to the printer so that
youcan save a copy to disk.

Since reaper will not save more than 32K, when doing a variety of
reports run Sower fairly often to clear memory to disk.

Why I did Reaper the way that I did:
------------------------------------

My system hung with several different utilities that attempted to
intercept the printer and redirect it to disk. This happened with
several of my own attempts as well.

So I decided that rather than make a complex series of safety checks
that I would simply save the printer output into a 32K memory tank, and
dump the tank later.

Aside from avoiding the complexity of fooling the System by imitating
the printer, I also decided not to disable the printer because the
hardcopy is handy for comparative purposes.

Why I wrote Reaper at all:
--------------------------

I needed to capture printed Reports from a Clipper Application in order
to convert these to bitmap files for use in a Reports Section of a
User's Manual. None of the Printer Redirection programs that I had would
work for me so REAPER was contrived.

Copy and Use freely.

Bill Buckels
1993

GRABSV and REAPER are memory resident and have not been written in a way
that allows them to "uninstall" themselves. Restart your computer when
you are finished using these to remove them from memory.

Only One Copy of either GRABSV or REAPER may be resident in memory at
any one time, and it is recommended that as with all special purpose
TSR's, that you run these in "Clean DOS" to avoid conflicts with the
system. (i.e. Don't Run DOS From Windows if you have a problem.)

A Final Word regarding using printed output as text:

You will often need to remove printer control characters from printed
output in order to use TXT2BMP.EXE to convert the report to a Windows
Bitmap or to insert the report in your Word Processor.

You may need to try various editors to clean-up the output. Printers and
reports are not "all created equal". The use of printer control
characters as graphics characters in some IBM text documents combined
with the large number of possible printer commands prevented me from
attempting to "filter" printer output in my utilities.

You are on your own here.

Chapter 8 - GRABSV - CAPTURING MS-DOS in Color
----------------------------------------------

Grabsv Copyright (C) Bill Buckels October 1993

Grabsv is a text screen frame grabber (screen capture program) used to
capture 80 x 25 color text screens in standard IBM color text mode. It
captures these in a BSAVED image format which can be viewed later using
humble Basic or a variety of other programs and editors, be converted to
BITMAPS or text using BSV2TXT and be manipulated in a variety of useful
ways.

The BSAVED format has the distinction of being very quick to save which
helps keep the system from hanging. Saving to disk from a TSR is a messy
business and the quicker a save occurrs, the less the risk of such a
thing becomes.

Grabsv is written in assembly language and will terminate and stay
resident in less than 2K of memory. This is accomplished by limiting its
output to a single file format and supporting a simple screen mode.

Grabsv also has a very useful feature which will help organize those
libraries of text screens into something more than an unidentifiable
consecutively numbered bunch (which is the case with most frame
grabbers). A user definable filename of up to 6-alpha-numeric letters
can be entered using a hot-key press at any time.

Capturing Screens
-----------------

Press [Shift]+[Print Screen]:

Up to 100 Screens will be saved to disk in the current directory using
the user definable filename. Grabsv increments/appends the filename with
numbers 0-99. If the filename is changed the numbers revert to 0.

Changing File Names
-------------------

Press [Alt]+[Period(".")]:

In the top left corner of the screen a small filename entry field will
be displayed.

Press the backspace key to erase each unwanted character in the field.

Type in the filename that you wish to use as a base filename.

When you are done press [ENTER]. You can change this name as many
times as you wish.

Note: The Default name used by Grabsv is "SVGRABXX.BSV" (where XX is the
incremental number of the file for each consecutive grab). All files
created by Grabsv have the extension "XX.BSV".

Warning: Do Not Grab Screens when file IO is being performed by the
current process unless you are prepared for unpredictable results.

DOS is not a multi-tasking system, and gets confused rather easily. OTOH
if you insist, go ahead. Read the disclaimer first though.

Also avoid conflicts with other tsr's by unloading as many as you can
live without. You might wish to jot down your CMOS settings in case you
knock these out from conflicts (I don't want to scare anyone but I have
never used a Screen Capture Utility that didn't hang the system due to
some conflict or other, and depending on where the bits flip you can
lose a byte or two of hardware or software information when such
nonsense takes place.)

Disclaimer: Grabsv is neither warranted or guaranteed to work on your
system. Bill Buckels is not responsible for hardware or software
conflicts nor from the damage that may result from such things.
Nevertheless Grabsv is written with deliberate care and was well behaved
when tested.

Licencing
---------

You may freely use and distribute Grabsv but You may not charge any fee
whatsoever for the program or its source code. I own that.

Chapter 9 - GRAB2BMP
--------------------

GRAB2BMP(C) Copyright 1995 by Bill Buckels
------------------------------------------

Overview - What is GRAB2BMP ? and Other Issues

Grab2Bmp.exe is a file conversion utility which converts a memory image
of an 80 x 25 Color Text Screen into an industry standard 16 Color .BMP
File.

To begin with, most folks won't have a use for such a thing, but some
applications (especially windows applications) want to receive video
graphics in the form of a Bitmap. People that use those (rather memory
intensive) types of programs sometimes have a need to aquire a color
image of a computer text screen... perhaps for the purposes of
presentation Graphics which detail an MS-DOS Computer Program and
require Color Bitmaps of Computer Screens as Part of a "Live" Document.

Color Mapping and Appearance
----------------------------

The Color Map used by Grab2Bmp is reasonably accurate within the
limitations of the IBM VGA. The BLINK Attribute is a hardware specific
feature of the Text Mode display. Grab2Bmp simply translates blinking
characters into high intensity backgrounds, and the blink attribute is
normally not used except occasionally.

One problem with converting the lowly video display to graphics is the
Squashed appearance that the conversion usually produces. The VGA
Videomode of 640 x 480 does not translate vertically into an even
multiple of the 25 row X 80 column text mode. Standard display fonts are
8 or 16 points high for IBM Graphics Modes. Even using the 8 x 16 VGA
font we represent the screen in a 640 x 400 mode (hence the poor aspect
ratio resulting in the "squashed" appearance.)

Although Grab2Bmp supports an optional "switch" for the 640 x 400
conversion, its default creates a 640 x 475 BMP (which looks almost
perfect in Windows). It does this by creating an internal font of 8 x 19
(from the standard 8 x 16 font) which correctly plots even box graphics
although because of the scaling of the font, certain other characters
have a thicker or slightly jagged appearance. (This jagged appearance is
not highly pronounced and is more than compensated for by the more
accurate proportion that the expanded vertical aspect creates.)

Using GRAB2BMP
--------------

Filetypes Supported
-------------------

Grab2Bmp will convert two text-screen filetypes; The Old Standard Basic
BSAVED (.BSV) text screen image (Created by Screen Capture programs such
My Own GRABSV.EXE or the Self-Displaying .COM files created by
THEGRAB(tm).

TXT2BMP.EXE  converts either text files or BSV images to reverse video
monochrome Windows Bitmaps (.BMP images), and I have ignored support for
text files in GRAB2BMP since those types of screens are usually used in
Desktop Publishing and Black and White displays rather than Color
Presentations which is where Grab2Bmp should be used. If you want black
and white images try using TXT2BMP instead.

Usage
-----

Grab2Bmp has two usage modes.

It supports wildcards if used to operate on files in the current
directory. For example, to convert all the valid Text Mode Screens in
the current directory to Color BMP Files, type "GRAB2BMP *.*" and press
enter.

It supports Unique file names. To convert a single file, type "GRAB2BMP
[any.bsv]" and press enter.

Epilog and Licencing
--------------------

And that's about it. Try using GRAB2BMP if you want to find out more.

You are permitted to freely use the graphics files produced by GRAB2BMP
with no preconditions.

This program in whole or in part is the exclusive property of Bill
Buckels.

You are permitted to distribute the executable code as you see fit
pursuant to the conditions stated below.

You may not bundle this code in whole, in part, or in any form
whatsoever with any other software without the express written
permission of Bill Buckels.

You may not charge any fee whatsoever for this software without the
express written permission of Bill Buckels.

The commercial distribution fee for GRAB2BMP is $1.00 per copy and is
conditional on the purchase of a commercial distribution licence from
Bill Buckels.

Registered Users of WinBmp are granted a single licence to use GRAB2BMP.

A non-exclusive commercial distribution licence may be obtained by
writing:

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford St.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
R3M 3J2

An application fee of $10.00 and your return address must accompany your
application. This fee is in addition to the registration fee of $10.00
that is required for the WinBmp Text Screen Conversion Utilities package
for Windows (Which is what you are using now.)

A conditional licencing agreement will be forwarded by return mail and
must be in your possession prior to any commercial distribution.

This licence is required by all commercial software authors including
Shareware Authors prior to including GRAB2BMP with a Software Package.

WAIVER OF LIABILITY
-------------------

Bill Buckels is not liable in any way whatsoever for damage resulting
from the use of GRAB2BMP (or any programs bundled with WinBmp). All
reasonable precautions Have been taken for exception processing and
conformance, but with any number of possible system configurations it is
also possible that an unrecoverable error may occur.

If you can't abide by the above stated condition don't use this program.

Chapter 10 - BSV2TXT - Converting MS-DOS to Text
------------------------------------------------

MS-DOS Utilities Bundled With WinBmp

Where are they and what are they?

When you installed WinBmp on your computer, several MS-DOS command line
utilities were bundled with it. You may want to Add these to your WinBmp
program group.

Maybe you will never use them, but if you prefer a "batch" method to
automate the MS-DOS text to Bitmap conversion they are there if you need
them.

The TSR's should not be added to the Windows Menu. Quit out of Windows
entirely if you want to run these. Due to changes in the Windows 95
environment and hardware conflicts with some newer computers, I no
longer make any attempt at an installation check for these TSR's. They
are not guaranteed to work in all cases. And don't load them twice.

The MS-DOS utilities can be found in the directory that WinBmp was
installed into. Included is one very small MS-DOS utility that you may
want:

BSV2TXT - a very small utility hardly worth mentioning

If you have used GRABSV to aquire a library of colour text screens but
now need the colors removed and want the results converted to ordinary
text, then use BSV2TXT.

This is an MS-DOS command line utility, and an admittedly single purpose
one. Type "BSV2TXT" and press [enter] for usage.

Chapter 11 - Additional Utilities
---------------------------------

These include:

TEXTVU.EXE
PTXMAKE.EXE
CGA2BSV.EXE
BLOAD.EXE
BSVU.EXE

Details
-------

Originally included in "The GRABTEXT PIRATES TOOLCHEST", the following
2 additional utilities are now included in WINBMP.

The following 2 utilities support a fairly effective run length encoding
and Text Screen compression scheme that typically compresses a 4k
textscreen to less than half its size in a Binary File which I have
dubbed a PTX file, using a modified PCX (ZSOFT) algorithm and providing
a 128K descriptive header.

Program Synopsis:

TEXTVU  EXE -  Screen Viewer and Batch File Driver
PTXMAKE EXE -  BSAVED Screen Compression Utility

The Screen Viewer was originally Targeted At People who used TEXT
GRAPHICS on the IBM PC and who typically used Editors like THEDRAW to
create them.

TEXTVU.EXE Text Screen Viewer and Extended Batch Manager
--------------------------------------------------------

FORMATS supported are .BSV, .ANS, .TXT, and PTX. Loads a text screen in
those formats and returns to DOS with an ERRORLEVEL at a KEY PRESS. One
possible use of this utility could be as a batch file driver. (ANSI SYS
is required for the display of the .ANS files.)

PTXMAKE.EXE- BSAVED compressed format conversion Utility
--------------------------------------------------------

The USAGE is "PTXMAKE [filename]". This utility will compress most
MS-DOS text screens so that they take half the space of the raw BSAVED
file, which was important when disk space was more expensive.

CGA2BSV.EXE - Converts CGA compatible graphics images to Text Screens
---------------------------------------------------------------------

USAGE is "CGA2BSV [filename.bas]". This utility allows small
graphics in the 320 x 200 x 4 color CGA BSAVED IMAGE or .PCX FORMATS to
be converted to MS-DOS text screens.

This program is a novelty program more than anything, but may be quite
interesting to graphics programmers. It actually produces pretty good
results.

Sample Images for Use With CGA2BSV.EXE
---------------------------------------

A number of sample .PCX graphics files have been included to give you
something to play with. These .PCX files are part of a collection of
Apple II Graphics called "Minipix" which I converted from Apple II
format to IBM-PC format. The entire contents of Minipix Disk 1 including
title screens (and original credits and Copyright notices) is provided
as sample images, and used with permission.

I have added some color to these images to make your results a little
nicer looking.

These .PCX files are in an older .PCX format that I like to use, but
can't be resaved properly using any modern paint program that I am aware
of. However they can be loaded into several paint programs including
Windows Paint and saved to other formats.

Read the conditions of use at the end of this ReadMe for Copyright
Information and Restrictions for the use of these images (apparently
there are none).

How I ported Minipix from the Apple to the IBM-PC
-------------------------------------------------

In 1991, I converted Disks 1-3 of The Beagle Bros. Minipix disks to
Apple Bsaved screens using the Beagle Bros. Minipix Converter that Came
on Minipix Disks 2 and 3 ("Read Page 6 in Your Manual").

I then used the Proterm Terminal package and a Null Modem cable to port
the Bsaved screens from my Apple II to my IBM-PC running Procomm Plus.

I then wrote a program called Minipix.Exe to convert the Apple Bsaved
screens to IBM Bsaved screens. (Yes Virginia, there are Bsaved screens
on Both Platforms.)

This was so long ago now, that I forget exactly what other programs that
I eventually wrote to convert these into their final resting place in
their respective .PCX images.

Origin And Conditions of Use
----------------------------

This collection of Clipart Images were originally distributed on disk 1
of 3 disks by Beagle Bros. Software (circa 1986) with the condition "Use
Minipix Pictures in your programs - no charge".

Since I am a Minipix Disk owner, under the original distribution
agreement, it is ok for me to let you use these pictures in my programs,
including CGA2BSV.EXE.

Beagle Bros. Software is now closed. Mark Simonsen who currently owns
the Copyright for all of the Beagle Software has placed any programs not
currently being sold into the Public Domain, calling the Public Domain
Software the "Beagle Oldies".

In 1997, Mark Simonsen OKed ALL distribution of the "Beagle Oldies" from
any source, be it BBS, FTP sites WITH the following condition that the
copyright notice and authors are retained. i.e. no modications of any
sort in the software.

=====eMail from Mark Simonsen=====

From MarkSi@aol.com  Fri Jun  6 14:07:28 1997
Return-Path: <MarkSi@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Concerning the Beagle Oldies freeware programs

As long as all original copyright and trademark notices are
retained/preserved and used AND as long as only those titles that are
designated as Beagle Oldies are included (i.e. you may not include
anything that is currently being sold by Quality Computers), it's OK
with me for you to make them available from your BBS, etc.

=====End of Email=====
=====Email from Quality Computers=====

From: Matt Spatafora <msspataf@sqc.com>
To: <bbuckels@escape.ca>
Sent: Friday, July 23, 1999 9:04 AM
Subject: MiniPix

As long as you get permission from Mark Simonsen, Scantron Quality
Computers does not object to posting these titles on your download site.

Matt Spatafora
Scantron Quality Computers
20200 9 Mile Rd
SCS, MI 48080

800/777/3642
810/774/2698 Fax

Visit us on the Web http://www.sqc.com
=====End of Email=====

Since there are apparently no objections from the Copyright owners, the
sample images distributed with CGA2BSV.EXE may be used and copied
freely.

BLOAD.EXE - Loader for CGA Mode .BAS or .PCX files
--------------------------------------------------

Usage is Bload [file1] [file2] [...]

These files can be created in old versions of PCPAINT, IBM PICTURE
MAKER, PCPG, or in GWBASIC, etc. or aquired using a screen capture
program that saves CGA Mode .BAS or .PCX files

Loads the file, waits for a key press then

- Returns 0 as an exit code unless the ESCAPE key is pressed.
- Returns 1 as an exit code if the ESCAPE key is pressed.

Can be used as a slide show driver or batch menu.

Read bload.c for technical info.
See Demo.Bat for usage example.

BSVU.EXE - Loader for .BSV files
--------------------------------

These files can be created in the THEDRAW or in GWBASIC, etc.
or aquired using a screen capture program that saves .BSV files

This program turns off the cursor, loads the file, waits for a
key press then turns the cursor on and returns the key value as
an exit code.

Can be used as a slide show driver or batch menu.
Read bsvu.c for technical info.

End Of ReadMe
