
                  Rude Dog Software Viewer v.1.0, Pure C
                  
                      Copyright 1992 by Sean P. Price


           Background, Features, Future Additions, and other BS
           

     Rude Dog Software Text File Viewer is a little utility I put  together 
after trying several text file viewers on my TT with no luck.  They all had 
problems  in TT medium (The resolution I do most of my work in).   Most  of 
them  didn't work at all.   Rather than run my GEnie bill through the  roof 
trying  to find one that works,  I wrote my own.
     Besides actually needing this program,  I used it to help me learn  C.  
It  has  certainly done that.   All future versions of  this  program,  and 
probably any program that I write will be in C, and released under the Rude 
Dog  Software title.   Don't hold me to it,  but I'm seriously thinking  of 
porting the FzDS Protocols to C.
     Rude  Dog  Viewer will run in any resolution,  although it  will  only 
allow  you to view text in resolutions with at least 80 columns.   It  will 
view ASCII text,  VT52,  ANSI,  Degas PI?  and PC?  images,  NeoChrome  NEO 
images, and Prism Paint PNT images.
     It  detects ANSI files automatically,  and will display them using  as 
many colors as are available.   It also fully supports ANSI attributes such 
as Ghost and Underline.   It has separate ANSI fonts for 8 and 16 line font 
sizes giving you high quality character output.   You won't see the  blocky 
font  used  by  FzDS Viewer (GFA Release) and FzDSTerm in  ST  High  or  TT 
resolutions.  
     It also now has the ability to view Degas PI?  and PC?, NeoChrome NEO, 
and  Prim Paint PNT  pictures.   It will automatically  switch  resolutions 
where applicable,  except when run under MultiTOS.  (See below for MultiTOS 
info.)   I.e.  If you try to view a PI1 picture from ST  Medium,  Rude  Dog 
Viewer  will  automatically switch to ST Low and show you the  picture  and 
switch back when you exit.   If you are in ST Medium and try to view a  PI3 
picture  you will get a message telling you can't view that picture in  the 
current resolution.   NOTE: Rude Dog Viewer always returns your palette and 
resolution  to your original settings.   (I personally hate  programs  that 
don't restore my colors.)  Degas de-compression routines adapted from  code 
written by John Brochu.
     This version finally adds access to the Menu Bar.   This means you can 
access other programs and the Desktop in MultiTOS without quitting Rude Dog 
Viewer.   Rude Dog Viewer has been tested under MultiTOS and works   great.  
There  are  two  things you should note about running  it  under  MultiTOS.  
First  you should use PRGFLAGS.PRG or CHPROT.APP to set Rude Dog Viewer  to 
Global  protection.   Second Rude Dog Viewer will not automatically  switch 
resolutions  to  fit  the  picture you wish to view.   This  is  due  to  a 
limitation in MultiTOS.   I could do it,  but it would require that I first 
shut  down all processes currently running.   I don't think  anybody  would 
appreciate that.
     I  will be adding printer support,  support for more  picture  formats 
such as Conny Pettersson's extended Degas,   and possibly TX2  support.   I 
would also like to add the ability to reformat the text to any column  size 
for  printing or re-saving.   It'll probably be a while before I  add  that 
though.
     This program is Copyright 1992 by Sean P.  Price.   It is a  shareware 
product.   If  you use it,  send a shareware contribution for whatever  you 
think it's worth.  I suggest between $3-$5 US but feel free to send more or 
less.   Some people may think that $3-$5 is a bit low,  but this program is 
fairly basic in it's current form and not really worth more.   For the most 
part I would just like to know that people are using it and are  interested 
in seeing it upgraded.   So send your contributions to me at the  following 
address:

     Sean P. Price
     P.O. Box 1364
     Inyokern, CA  93527

     I  assume  no responsibility for any damage incurred from the  use  or 
misuse  of  this  program.   It may be freely distributed as  long  as  the 
following files are included in the archive RUDEVIEW.ZIP:

     RUDEVIEW.PRG    The Rude Dog Software Text File Viewer
     RUDEVIEW.RSC    Resource file for Rude Dog Viewer
     RUDEVIEW.TXT    This documentation


                              How to use it.
                              

     Rude Dog Viewer is very easy to use.  It will accept a filename passed 
through the command line,  so you can easily install it as an  application. 
Or,  if  you are using TOS 2.0x or 3.0x you can simply drag the  text  file 
over Rude Dog Viewer and TOS will pass the name to Rude Dog Viewer.  If you 
run  it without passing a filename,  you will be prompted to select a  file 
for viewing with the file selector.

                            *NOTE for TT users*

     If  you have TT RAM,  you can set Rude Dog Viewer to 'Run in TT  RAM', 
but should set the 'Use TT RAM' flag to OFF.   This is because the TT can't 
use TT RAM for video.   If you don't plan on viewing pictures with Rude Dog 
Viewer, setting 'Use TT RAM' should work okay.

                         *NOTE for MultiTOS users*

     You  must  use PRGFLAGS.PRG or CHPROT.APP to set Rude  Dog  Viewer  to 
Global  mode.   If  you don't,  it may crash MultiTOS.   You will  also  be 
limited  to viewing pictures in the current resolution.   This is  a  limi-
tation of MultiTOS.


Text Viewing Command List:

              Help screen: Help

     Scroll down one line: Return
                           Down Arrow
                           Left Mouse Button

       Scroll up one line: Up Arrow
                           Right Mouse Button

     Scroll down one page: Space
                           Right Arrow

       Scroll up one page: Left Arrow

      Jump to top of file: T, t

   Jump to bottom of file: B, b

        Continuous Scroll: C, c

            Load new file: L, l
                           Both Mouse Buttons

          Quit to Desktop: Q, q
                           Undo

                   Search: S, s

          Access Menu Bar: A, a


Picture Viewing Command List:

                 Help screen: Help

               Load new file: L, l
                              Either Mouse Button

             Quit to Desktop: Q, q
                              Undo
                              Both Mouse Buttons

             Access Menu Bar: A, a


     Here's  a  little trick you can use to install Rude Dog Viewer  so  it 
will  run for any file extension not already in use by the  system.   First 
make a backup of your DESKTOP.INF or NEWDESK.INF file.   Then install  Rude 
Dog  Viewer  as an application with * as the document type  and  save  your 
desktop.  Load your DESKTOP.INF or NEWDESK.INF file into a text editor.  It 
will  look something like the one below.   It is a  NEWDESK.INF  file,  but 
that's not important.


#a000000
#b000000
#c7770007000600070055200505552220770557075055507703111103
#d                                             
#K 4F 53 4C 44 46 42 43 57 45 58 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 52 00 00 4D 56 50 00 @
#E 80 04 00 06 
#Q 41 40 43 40 43 40 
#W 00 00 1C 01 14 1C 00 C:\*.*@
#W 00 00 0A 0F 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 0E 01 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 04 07 26 0C 00 @
#W 00 00 0C 0B 26 09 00 @
#W 00 00 08 0F 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 06 01 1A 09 00 @
#N FF 04 000 @ *.*@ @ 
#D FF 01 000 @ *.*@ @ 
#G 03 FF 000 *.APP@ @ @ 
#G 03 FF 000 *.PRG@ @ @ 
#Y 03 FF 000 *.GTP@ @ @ 
#P 03 FF 000 *.TTP@ @ @ 
#F 03 04 000 *.TOS@ @ @ 
#P 03 04 000 C:\ARC.TTP@ *.ARC@ -x @ 
#P 03 04 000 C:\LHARC.TTP@ *.LZH@ @ 
#G 03 04 202 C:\UTILITY\RUDEVIEW.PRG@ *.*@ @ 
#M 00 02 00 FF C DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 00 00 FF A FLOPPY DISK@ @ 
#M 00 01 00 FF B FLOPPY DISK@ @ 
#T 00 08 02 FF   TRASH@ @ 
#M 00 03 00 FF D DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 04 00 FF E DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 05 00 FF F DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 06 00 FF G DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 00 00 FF H DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 01 00 FF I DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 02 00 FF J DEVICE@ @ 

     Now  move the line containing RUDEVIEW.PRG to the line just above  the 
one  with *.APP as in the example below.   Now save this text file and  you 
are set.  Simple enough, eh?
     For those interested I'll explain why this works.  When you launch any 
file from the Desktop,  TOS starts looking for a matching extension type in 
your  DESKTOP.INF  or  NEWDESK.INF  file so  it  can  run  the  appropriate 
installed application if any.  It searches from the bottom up, which is why 
PRG,  TOS,  APP,  TTP,  and GTP are above your installed applications.   By 
putting  Rude  Dog  Viewer above these any extension that  doesn't  have  a 
matching application,  and isn't a system file (TOS, PRG, etc.) will get to 
Rude Dog Viewer and load it because it's extension is the wildcard *.

#a000000
#b000000
#c7770007000600070055200505552220770557075055507703111103
#d                                             
#K 4F 53 4C 44 46 42 43 57 45 58 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 52 00 00 4D 56 50 00 @
#E 80 04 00 06 
#Q 41 40 43 40 43 40 
#W 00 00 1C 01 14 1C 00 C:\*.*@
#W 00 00 0A 0F 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 0E 01 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 04 07 26 0C 00 @
#W 00 00 0C 0B 26 09 00 @
#W 00 00 08 0F 1A 09 00 @
#W 00 00 06 01 1A 09 00 @
#N FF 04 000 @ *.*@ @ 
#D FF 01 000 @ *.*@ @ 
#G 03 04 202 C:\UTILITY\RUDEVIEW.PRG@ *.*@ @ 
#G 03 FF 000 *.APP@ @ @ 
#G 03 FF 000 *.PRG@ @ @ 
#Y 03 FF 000 *.GTP@ @ @ 
#P 03 FF 000 *.TTP@ @ @ 
#F 03 04 000 *.TOS@ @ @ 
#P 03 04 000 C:\ARC.TTP@ *.ARC@ -x @ 
#P 03 04 000 C:\LHARC.TTP@ *.LZH@ @ 
#M 00 02 00 FF C DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 00 00 FF A FLOPPY DISK@ @ 
#M 00 01 00 FF B FLOPPY DISK@ @ 
#T 00 08 02 FF   TRASH@ @ 
#M 00 03 00 FF D DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 04 00 FF E DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 05 00 FF F DEVICE@ @ 
#M 00 06 00 FF G DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 00 00 FF H DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 01 00 FF I DEVICE@ @ 
#M 01 02 00 FF J DEVICE@ @ 




                             Revision History
                             


Version 1.0:

          Finally the first non-beta release.   I would like to thank Frank 
     Lawrence for his help in beta testing,  creative suggestions,  and  of 
     course his registration fee.  <G>
          There isn't much change in this version.   At least not  anything 
     significant.

Version 0.9 Beta:

          Added  the  ability to access the Menu Bar  for  Accessories  and 
     MultiTOS.  
          Sped up text display considerably.
          Fixed some more cosmetic bugs.
          Fixed  clipping bug that would cause bombs if you tried  to  view 
     any dialogs in ST Low or TT Medium resolutions.
          Fixed  a bug where it wouldn't put a CR on the first  line  after 
     pressing C for Continuous Scroll.

Version 0.8 Beta:

          Added support for Prism Paint's PNT image format.
          Fixed some minor cosmetic bugs.
          Fixed a bug that could cause bombs if a compressed Degas  picture 
     was larger than 32000 bytes,  or a compressed Prism Paint picture  was 
     larger than 153600 bytes.

Version 0.7 Beta:

          Added ability to view Degas PI?, PC?, and NeoChrome images.
          Fixed a major bug concerning memory allocation.

Version 0.6 Beta:

          Fixed  a  bug  that  didn't allow you view  the  last  line  when 
     paging through with the right arow key.
          Added  ability to quit by pressing the Undo key.   It was in  the 
     documentation, but didn't function.

Version 0.5 Beta:

          New file input routines.
          Fixed the mouse buttons.  They did the opposite of what is listed 
     in the docs and help menu.  
          Fixed  a bug that caused an extra blank line to be  displayed  at 
     the bottom of a listing.
          Fixed the mouse pointer to switch to an arrow.
          Fixed  a bug in the search routines that caused it to not find  a 
     match in the last line.

Version 0.4 Beta:

          Added mouse scrolling support.   It was in the documentation  and 
     Help dialog, but not the program.
          Fixed a few problems with mouse hide and show.
          Fixed  a bug in search where it started out with Case  Ignore  as 
     default,  but the Case Ignore box wasn't highlighted.  It now defaults 
     to Case Sensitive.


                              Closing Remarks
                              

     As stated above, this program and all accompanying files are Copyright 
1992  by Sean P.  Price.   This program may be freely distributed  provided 
that all files listed above are intact in the archive RUDEVIEW.ZIP and have 
not  been modified in any manner,  and that there is no charge  other  than 
compensation  for media and postage.   The charge for media and postage  is 
not in any case to exceed $5.00 US currency.
     Rude Dog Viewer is written using Pure C and should run on any  version 
of TOS.   If you find some strange incompatibility problem,  please  inform 
me.
     You may send comments,  suggestions,  bug reports, or complaints to me 
at any of the following places:

     GEnie: Address GE-Mail to S.PRICE19

     Sanctuary From The Law BBS
     (619)377-3610, 8/N/1, 300-14400 HST/V.32/V.32bis
          1:210/41    @ FidoNet
          51:3/11     @ AtariNet
          100:290/7   @ TurboNet
          90:300/1001 @ NeST

     Sean P. Price
     P.O. Box 1364
     Inyokern, CA  93527

     GEnie is a Trademark of General Electric.

