Short: Personal 68K Blit Libraries v. 2.0 Uploader: info@cloanto.com (Cloanto) Author: info@cloanto.com (Cloanto) Type: biz/cloan Distribution: Only Cloanto, Aminet and Aminet CD-ROM CLOANTO SOFTWARE UPDATE THIS ARCHIVE CONTAINS THE LATEST VERSION OF THE FOLLOWING LIBRARIES: - personal_68000_blit.library - personal_68020_blit.library PROGRAMS USING THE LIBRARIES: - Personal Paint version 7.0 and higher - ColorType version 3.1 and higher INSTALLATION DIRECTORY: - Default : "PPaint:libs", "ColorType:libs" - Optionally: "LIBS:" (software checks both paths and uses the newer library if two are found) ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES: - PBlit_ChipMem (Yes/No/Auto) NEW FEATURES: These libraries use the 68K CPU to emulate a 32-bit blitter, whereas the previous libraries, like the original Amiga, worked with a 16-bit blitter model. This new release is about twice as fast as the previous libraries. Additional functionality has been integrated in these libraries to better support future programs. The 68020 library is slightly faster than the 68000 version. To use the 68020 version, please edit the library name in the "Startup_1.set" program settings file. In no case should the library files be renamed. It is sufficient to install one of the two 68K libraries. These libraries are mainly useful on blitterless systems such as the DraCo, or on systems where the original blitter cannot access the image bitmaps (for example, because they are in Fast RAM). In theory, when using a blitter emulation library rather than the "personal_agnus_blit.library", Cloanto programs like Personal Paint can work without Chip RAM. However, Personal Paint also uses the system "graphics.library", which for most functions (e.g. Flood(), AreaDraw(), etc.) can only access bitmaps in Chip RAM (not on Fast RAM). As these new 68K blitting libraries are being released, it appears likely that both CyberGraphX and Picasso software will soon have replaced all Amiga system functions to work on Fast RAM. The Cloanto "PBlit_ChipMem" environment variable, originally designed for development and testing purposes, can then be used to force Personal Paint not to use Chip RAM when these new system replacements are used. However, if the system graphics.library does not fully support bitmaps in Fast RAM, it is likely to crash as soon as a system function requiring Fast RAM is used by Personal Paint. The libraries included here use and instruct Personal Paint to use (or not to use) Chip RAM as indicated by the "PBlit_ChipMem" environment variable. If the variable is not set, the choice is made automatically by the library based on simple tests on the host system. OTHER NOTES: Your feedback is very appreciated: . For additional technical and legal information on the files, please refer to the documentation included with the original (commercial) distribution. In particular, all files are Copyright © 1996 Cloanto Italia srl.