What is STRIPPCX?

STRIPPCX is a programming utility I wrote because I felt that to include PCX
files in a program was not professional.  STRIPPCX is used to strip the
header and palette from a 256 color PCX graphics file of any size.  The
file can then be used by your program in a format that is not recognized by
graphics viewers.  After running a PCX through STRIPPCX you are left with a
run-length-encoded binary file.  Your program will have to unpack the file
on the fly.  This works great for sprites or full screen graphics.
The original PCX file is opened in read-only mode and is not effected.

STRIPPCX is a command line tool created for MSDOS use but it can be used to
create graphics for Windows programs.  STRIPPCX requires no installation.
It can reside in the directory you are working in or in any directory that's
included in your path statement.  STRIPPCX is not a free program but it is
in no way crippled.  At a cost of only $2.00 it is hoped that you will feel
comfortable paying for it.  Feel free to distribute the program as you will
but please include this README.TXT file along with it.

To use STRIPPCX, lets assume you have a file named WORM.PCX and you wish to
create an identical file named WORM.DAT that is missing the header and
palette. Just enter the following.

STRIPPCX WORM.PCX WORM.DAT  <ENTER>

If you have questions about STRIPPCX, please e-mail them to me at:
beanpole@sprynet.com

If you like STRIPPCX look for other programming utilities I have written.

DATTOHEX - Converts a file to Ascii hexadecimal in a format that can be used
as an include file in an assembly language procedure.  Great for imbedding
graphics into an executable!

PCXTODAT - Unpacks a PCX file to a binary data string and creates an RGB
palette file. Open the external files from within your program or imbed them
into your executables by passing them through DATTOHEX and use them as
"include" files.

DISSECT - A very small and very fast utility for chopping up a file to fit
on 1.4 meg floppies.

FILECOMP - Compares two files, byte for byte.  Good for verifying that DISSECT
did it's job properly.

KODE - Used to scramble a file of any size and type. I use it to protect
sensitive text files.  Fortunately KODE will also unscramble a scrambled file.

All of these utilities were wrote in assembly and are very small executable
files.  I have used them for some time in my own programming and find them
indispensable.

                        Keep Programming

                                  M. Thompson
