@DATABASE Vinfo
@AUTHOR   Rickard Lundin
@(C)      1995
@$VER:    Vinfo v2.0 Dec. 1995 by Rickard.Lundin md93-rlu@nada.kth.se
@WIDTH    78

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			        @{FG Highlight}@{B}Vinfo v2.0 @{FG Text}@{UB}
		            1995 @{B}Rickard Lundin @{UB}
		       @{I} INET: md93-rlu@nada.kth.se @{UI}


        


			     @{" About         " link About}
			     @{" Install       " link Install}
			     @{" Function      " link Function}
			     @{" Advanced      " link Advanced}
			     @{" License       " link License}

			     @{" Future        " link Future}



 brave heroic kamikaze test pilots ...

 SAAB 900    Mum
 A600/00     Martin.I 
 A3000/030   Daniel.K
 A4000/030   Per.K
 A4000/030   Christer.J
 A4000/030   Mathias.S at Sanitarium BBS +46(0)8-39 41 47
 A4000/040   Fredrik.B , the ultimate kamikaze !
 A4000/040   @{" Me myself and I " link Author}.
 
                                    ... and remember Vinfo v2.0 is AIRWARE !
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                                @{B} ABOUT @{UB}
 Vinfo is short for "Visual Info" and was written for low price Amigas such
 as Amiga 1200, and should result in the the minimum price for a simple non 
 interactive info system that can handle both text and graphics in an 
 extremely simple way. Anyone can use Vinfo, even my mum !

 Vinfo is using PAL/NTSC low resolution since the idea was (is !) that it 
 could be used in any sort of small locale installation like in:

       *  supermarkets
       *  hotells
       *  exhibitions
       *  locale cable tv.  

       etc...

 In case of "anything" please do contact the @{" Author " link Author} !

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                                @{B} INSTALL  @{UB}
 You need an Amiga with OS3.0 system or better  , no more no less !
 Vinfo is 100% system friendly and for a list of what is required from
 the system see @{" System resources used " link System}



 There is no INSTALL script since Vinfo is not a utility program.
 
 Start Vinfo from SHELL or WB ,  you only need the VINFO exe file ,whatever
 it is called, for a quick start,  just click on the Icon in the extracted
 archive , under Vinfo/ and voila , Vinfo comes up with a demo text.
  

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            @{B} CONTROL VINFO @{UB}
 In the top of the screen there is a menustrip with simple functions.
 Vinfo is simply using the mouse and the keyboard , you click at the
 desired function with the mouse and voila ! 

 You use the mouse in the following way.

       * Left mouse button to choose a function.
       * Right mouse button to choose a menustrip.
    
            @{B} EDIT TEXT @{UB}
 Vinfo has very primitive text edit function, you simply edit a line and
 then select the colour and text font, and that's it !, You can't do 
 any fancy text editing, but there is no need for that !

            @{B} INVOKE PICTURES @{UB}
 You can choose if you want a TEXT page or PICTURE page, in a future version
 they can be mixed, so pictures can be used as backgrounds.

            @{B} VINFO INFO @{UB}
       * PAL/NTSC System using locale Language.
       * 30 pages with indivudually set delay between 10 or 120 sec.
       * 5 different fonts ,about 20 pixels max height.
       * 16 rows of text. 7 Text colours , including one "flash" colour.
       * Picture resolution is about 320x256 , in 128 colours.
       * Backgound Logo 320x256 in 64 colours.
       * Text can be saved on hardisk/disk etc, in case of crash :-(

            @{B} EXIT VINFO @{UB}
 Uuups, forgot about that, eh when in "show" mode, press escape key !!
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                               @{B} LICENSE @{UB}

 Vinfo v2.0 is @{B} AIRWARE @{UB}.
 Yes it is totally for @{B} FREE @{UB}. 
 and I (Rickard Lundin) take @{B}NO RESPONSIBILITY @{UB}for anything !!!

 Use it in any way you want, yes , if you can earn money on it, DO IT !!
 For example take a walk to your nearest supermarket/hotell etc. bring a 
 A1200 without any hardisk, but a Vinfo disk with some fancy gfx and
 and sell it to them and @{B}KEEP THE MONEY FOR YOU SELF !@{UB}



 In case of "anything" please do contact the @{" Author " link Author} !

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 @{B} How to set up a system for a customer @{UB}

 Vinfo works on any A1200 or better. It was developed on a Amiga4000/040.
 It is very easy to set up a customer system, it is enough with a A1200
 with one diskdrive , this gives a very low price for the hardware !
 You could create a disk with Vinfo and some gfx , setup the startup
 so it copies all gfx to ram: then run Vinfo ,Voila !

 Remember to make to it easy for the customer, so you don't need to spend
 any extra time reinstalling software etc. You should create a disk that
 autoboots and loads everything , so that in case of a crash the result
 is only a minor delay of time. The best thing is when everything else
 is closed down, like wb screen and such things. And use the RAM: so
 (In case of no hardisk!) , loading time is kept at minimum.
 
 Vinfo is not using anything else than the Amiga OS , for a list you can
 take a look at @{" System resources used " link System}
 
@{B} Vinfo looks for a file Vinfo.Logo @{UB}
 If there is a picture file 320x256 ,64 colours with the name Vinfo.Logo
 then this is used as a constant background. If this file is not present
 then this screen is not setup, thus saving some bus cycles , this does
 possible speed up the operation of the screen swapping a bit.

@{B} Vinfo looks for your .GFX files @{UB}
 When Vinfo starts , either from CLI or WB , it scans the current
 directory and the ram: for all files ending with .GFX , thus you can 
 place all your gfx files there and name them .GFX , since Vinfo is using
 datatypes it can handle a lot of different formats, but remember that the 
 resolution and the amount of colours are limited to 320x256 in 128 colours.
 NOTE !! , the first 8 colours are used by the system , therefore you can
 not use them, since I don't do any palette remapping!

@{B} Vinfo can be made "Solo system"  @{UB}

 If you start Vinfo with a parameter SOLO,then Vinfo tries to take over the
 machine. This is a very useful for a end customer system. The following
 is happens when this parameter is set. 

 1. Escape key disabled, so no escape is possible
 2. Vinfo tries to be the constant foremost screen.
 3. Vinfo tries to be the constant owner of the user.
 4. Vinfo tries to close the WB screen.

 At startup Vinfo tries to close the WB , but it can only do that if
 there is no CLI window open, so you should close the CLI directly after
 that you have started VINFO,  NOTE !! , A small delay (About 5 sec) at
 startup , so you can close the shell that started Vinfo, so Vinfo can
 close WB screen !!.



 In case of "anything" please do contact the @{" Author " link Author} !

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                               @{B} FUTURE @{UB}

 In case of any interest in this program the following features could be
 added with only a minor amount of work.

       * A complete documentation :-)
       * Improved text edit functions.
       * Improve solo function.
       * Mix text & graphics, so a picture can be used as a background.
       * Animated sprites for moving animated objects like a sun/star etc..
       * Sound effects at every page-flip, and/or random occasions.




 In case of "anything" please do contact the @{" Author " link Author} !

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@NODE System
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 @{B}  The following is used, everything is pure Amiga os !!. @{UB}

 Dos commands:
      * resident
      * setclock
      * list

 Libraries:
      * exec.library
      * dos.library
      * graphics.library
      * intuition.library
      * diskfont.library
      * gadtools.library
      * locale.library

 Fonts:
      * topaz.font     11
      * helvetica.font 15
      * sapphire.font  14
      * ruby.font      15
      * garnet.font    9

 Datatypes:
      The more datatypes the better !, but to include graphics in Vinfo 
      you need the corresponding datatype for the graphic format.

 ram disk:
	yes , the ram: is used , but only at startup .
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                             @{B} Author info @{UB}

 I'm a Swedish computing science student and my beloved favorite pets are:

 SVI328      Z80
 Sinclar QL  M68008
 A500        M68000
 A4000       M68040
                      ... And for the sake of money I do stuff for the PC.


 That's me and this is how you acess me:    +----------------------------+
                                            | Rickard.Lundin             |
                                            | Norstrmsvgen 9.          |
                                            | 14260 Trngsund            |
                                            | SWEDEN                     |
                                            |                            |
                                            | TEL: 7710031               |
                                            | INET: md93-rlu@nada.kth.se |
                                            +----------------------------+

                       @{B} !! Sentimental stuff !! @{UB}

 Hejsan till Kamikaze nissarna och Peter.E, Anders.R Ceder, Pricken,Pippi
 och alla glada Danskor ,ven Finskor fr den delen , ej att frglmma 
 gubbsen p Ericsson i sumpan och stackarna frn PSK P10, Strngns, dock 
 ej Larsson som alltid smet undan s att jag fick gra allt skit !

 Sist men inte minst Lynxarna & andra knappande drar som har rkats mig.
 Hll ut , snart slpper jag Psykopaten_trivsIII.mod , den ni !!!

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