



                          Moonlite's Script File Editor




                               SCRIPT FILE EDITOR
                               Moonlite  Software
                       Copyright 1990, 1991  Perry Robins

                 *   *   *   *   *   NOTICE   *   *   *   *   *

                SCRIPT FILE EDITOR IS NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE.

     It is Shareware, and may be distributed freely providing that the
     program and documentation are distributed together, and that the
     program, document, and credits remain intact and unchanged.

                *   *   *   *   *   THE PLEA   *   *   *   *   *
     If you decide to keep and use this program, please send a small
     contribution of what you feel the program is worth. In return for your
     contribution, you will become registered and receive notices of any
     updates as they become available. The only cost for upgrades will be
     for the disk (if needed) and for shipping.

                                   DISCLAIMER
     This program has been tested on several different hardware
     configurations including the ST's, MEGA's, STE's, and TT's, and should
     run from any drive or partition. I make no warranties concerning the
     use of this program, or any of the programs described in this document.
     I assume no responsibility for any damage to equipment, loss of data,
     of other damages resulting from the use of this program. Use this
     program only if you wish to assume full responsibility for the use of
     the program.

                         Perry Robins
                         P.O.BOX # 91852
                         Pasadena, California
                                   91109-1852

           Comments, suggestions, and reports of bugs are appreciated

                 * * * * * * * * * * CREDITS * * * * * * * * * *

            SCRIPT FILE EDITOR Written and compiled in GFA BASIC 3.5e

                            GFA BASIC is a product of
                   GFA Systemtechnik, Dusseldorf, West Germany
                   GFA Software Technologies Inc., Salem, MA.

         Special thanks to all the folks at Codehead Software and at the
     Codehead Quarters BBS for helping me out with a few technical problems.






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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                                 SCRIPT FILE EDITOR

     This program was written to bridge the gap between the SPECTRUM 512
     pictures and the 'Use Script File' option on the SPSLIDE8.PRG viewer.
     The only way that I have seen to create a script file is to type one
     out on a word processor, and then save it in an ASCII file. Not only is
     this time consuming, you must know the exact names of the pictures you
     want and know exactly which folder they are located in. This is fine if
     you keep all of your pictures in one place. With Script File Editor the
     job of creating a script file is much faster and simpler. By using the
     GEM file selector you can pick and choose the pictures and the editor
     automatically assembles the script file for you. You can add single
     files, add batches of files, merge existing files, and delete lines
     from your script files. Also included is the ability to create multi-
     cluster files with control codes to be used with Trio Engineering's
     SPSLIDE8.PRG.

     The editing buffer hold 500 lines. This should be more than adequate in
     most cases. If you find that you need to create a file larger than 500
     lines, try to split it into segments of less than 500 lines. Since your
     script is saved in ACSII form, you can MERGE large files with any text
     editor that handles ASCII formatted text.































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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                           RUNNING SCRIPT FILE EDITOR

     Be sure that the following files are all located within the same
     directory.                   
                              SCRIPT.PRG
                              SCRIPT.RSC

     SCRIPT.PRG will run in MEDIUM resolution only. Open SCRIPT.PRG to start
     the program. When the program starts it will look for the file named
     SCRIPT.DAT. This file contains the default paths for your .SP? and .RUN
     files. If it is not found, the program will create a new .DAT file and
     set both paths to the same directory that the program was run from. The
     main screen consists of a blank screen with a menu bar across the top
     edge. Many of the menu items are disabled at this time. They are the
     editing commands and will be enabled as soon as a file is opened for
     editing.

     Under the Title of FILES you will find the Open, Save, Close, and Quit
     options.

          Open Old
               Opens a file previously created for your slide show program.
               It should have the extension .RUN and should be an ASCII text
               file. Editing window will open and display a portion (or all)
               of the file.

          Open New;
               Starts a new file. The editing window will open, but will be
               empty at this time.

          Save;
               Saves the editing buffer under its current name (if you
               opened an old file). If the file is 'UNTITLED' you will be
               asked to provide a name.

          Save As;
               Asks you to provide a name before saving the editing buffer.
               ** All save commands will ask before it overwrites an
               existing file.

          Close;
               Closes the editing window. If your file has been altered you
               will be asked if you wish to save the file before closing it.
               Closing the window causes all data in the buffer to be lost.

          Quit:
               Exits the program. If the window is open and has been altered
               you will be asked if you wish to save the file.





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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



     The EDIT menu consists of the following items.

          Add Picture(s);
               Allows you to select files to add by using the file selector.
               Simply select the desired files and they will be added to the
               list. The feature will Auto-repeat. Exit by clicking on the
               selectors CANCEL box.

          Delete Line(s);
               Allows you to delete unwanted or accidentally entered lines
               from your script file. The mode is indicated by a check by
               the menu entry and by a pointing hand cursor. Exit the delete
               mode by performing a different operation (Add, Insert, Batch
               Add, Etc...)

          Insert/Sequential;
               When the editing window is opened it will default to the
               SEQUENTIAL mode. All files will be added to the end of the
               list in this mode. Select INSERT to add lines to the middle
               of your script file. The insert mode is indicated by a red
               line, and the menu entry will change to 'Sequential'. The red
               Insert Line may be moved within the editing window by
               clicking on the screen, moving it to the desired location. To
               exit the insert mode, select 'Sequential' from the menu, or
               an option other than adding files.

          Batch Add;
               Allows for multiple file entry. Enter the desired file mask
               (Using wildcards) and the program will search the selected
               directory for matching files. The files will be added in
               alphabetical order. Allowable extensions for this operation
               are .*, .SPC, .SPU, .SPS, .SP?, and .SP*. If you are in the
               insert mode they will be added at the location of the
               indicator, otherwise they will be added to the end of the
               file.

           Merge;
               Allows you to merge an existing .RUN file into the editing
               buffer. Only files with the .RUN extension are allowed. The
               new files will be added as determined by the
               insert/sequential mode.

           Add Control Codes;
               Adds the SPSLIDE8.PRG control codes to your file. They are
               added according to insert/sequential settings. See CONTROL
               PARAMETERS for the setting of these codes.







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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



          Mark Cluster;
               Adds a cluster marker to the file. It denotes the end of a
               cluster for control code usage.

          Control Parameters;
               This calls the parameter panel. You can set the Ping-Pong
               mode, animation/stereo mode, frame rate, and show cycles from
               this panel. These settings will be used when adding control
               codes to the file. More details on control functions are
               covered under Control Codes & Clusters.

          Print;
               Allows you to print your files out to your printer. You may
               choose from the current file buffer or from a file on disk.


     The DEFAULTS menu title has three items.

          Set .RUN pathname;
               Sets the path that the program will use locate your .RUN
               files.
          Set .SP? pathname;
               Sets the path that the program will use to locate your .SP?
               format files.

          Save Defaults;
               Your .SP? and .RUN paths, along with the positions and sizes
               of the window settings will be saved to the file called
               SCRIPT.DAT.

     The last title on the menu bar is for help. Use these entries to get a
     bit of help or information about the program. Basically, it includes
     the same information you just read.

                              KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS

     Many of the functions of Script File Editor also have Keyboard
     equivalents, which are displayed in the menus next to the function they
     perform. The following keystrokes are also available.

                   UP arrow...............Line up window
                   CTRL-UP arrow..........Page up window
                   DOWN arrow.............Line down window
                   CTRL-DOWN arrow........Page down window
                   Clr/Home...............Goto first page
                   CTRL Clr/Home..........Goto last page
                   ESC....................Clear all modes
                   HELP...................Calls the Help Menu





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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                                 The EDIT WINDOW

     The window is the same type of window that you are so familiar with.
     The window includes a Close Box, Movement/Title Line, Full Window,
     Information Line, and a Vertical Slider assembly. The window may be
     resized and moved.

     The Title line will display the file name (UNTITLED if not opened from
     disk).

     The information line displays program credits while the window is
     empty. When the window displays 1 or more lines it will tell you which
     lines appear in the window, total lines in the file, and the number of
     lines available to be filled. The Close Box will close the window.
     Buffer will be lost if not saved.

     The Slider will allow you to view different portions of your file. The
     number of lines visible in the window will vary depending on the size
     of the window.

     The 'Full Window' button will toggle between two windows settings which
     are both user adjustable. The second setting defaults to a "FULL
     SCREEN", but may be resized and repositioned when called up. The
     windows settings will be toggled when you click on the "FULL" button
     of the window.




























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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                           CONTROL CODES and CLUSTERS

     Trio Engineering's slide show program (SPSLIDE8.PRG) is capable of
     several types of shows. A normal show where pictures are shown one at a
     time, an Animation mode where many pictures are loaded into memory and
     shown rapidly using a page flipping technique, and a Stereo mode which
     is similar to the Animation mode, except it provides for Left and Right
     eye screens to be shown alternately. A ping-pong mode is also available
     to allow animations and stereo animations to be shown alternately in
     forward and reverse. SPSLIDE8.PRG also allows you to control the rate
     of speed for animations and how many times a cluster will be shown
     (SPEED & CYCLES in the program). The option ADD CONTROL CODE will use
     your menu settings to calculate the correct codes and insert them into
     your script file. Ping-Pong mode causes a file or cluster to be shown
     alternately forwards and than backwards. Normal/Stereo/Animation
     selections are radio buttons as only one can be selected at once. A
     normal show will load and than display one picture at a time. An
     ANIMATION will load as many of the listed pictures as possible (memory
     allowing) into memory and then show them rapidly (page flipping) to
     cause an animation effect. The STEREO mode is just like the animation
     mode, except that the pictures alternate with Left & Right eye views
     for a 3-D effect (with 3-D glasses?). The first picture must be for the
     left eye.

     Frame Rate is used to determine how long each picture will be shown
     before moving on to the next picture.

     Cycles is an editable field used to determine how many times a cluster
     will be shown before moving on to the next cluster. This defaults to 1,
     but may be set up to 999. A cluster is a group of pictures which belong
     together. A cluster is usually (but not always) started with a control
     code line. It is always ended with an exclamation mark (!) unless the
     cluster is the last one in the file. The cluster arrangement allows you
     to create several types of 'shows' within one file, each with it's own
     control code. This means that your first cluster could be an animation
     and be shown 8 times, the second cluster could be a normal slide show
     and be shown twice, while yet another could be a Stereo animation which
     will show 5 times. And all this can be done in one script file. When a
     script file reaches the end, it will repeat until you stop it (see
     viewer instructions).













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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                     SPSLIDE8.PRG vs. SPSLIDEX.PRG

     SPSLIDEX.PRG is a modified version of Trio's SPSLIDE8.PRG. It provides
     a very friendly user interface for showing pictures, animations, and
     stereo segments along with providing the ability to "Smoosh" your
     pictures even further. When the author wrote it he completely neglected
     the fact that Trio Engineering uses the .SPS extension for their Delta
     Animations when he decided to use that extension for his "smooshed"
     files. As a result, SPSLIDEX.PRG will allow you to view an .SPS file
     while SPSLIDE8.PRG will not. All this is very good, but the bad news is
     that SPSLIDEX.PRG does not interpret the script file control codes. As
     a result, you need to use SPSLIDE8.PRG if you want to have multi-
     segment script files, forcing you to use the larger .SPC and .SPU
     picture formats.

     The choice is yours, so I have left the ability to use .SPS files in
     the editor. Just remember which viewer you plan to use when writing
     your script files.
                                     EXTRAS

     If you are still using a version of TOS older than TOS 1.4, you will be
     interested in using an alternative file selector with Script File
     Editor. You should obtain a selector that allows you to easily move
     between various drives with the touch of a button. This will greatly
     simplify the picture selection process. There are several excellent
     commercial, shareware, and public domain item selectors available.

                                   LIMITATIONS

     Script file editor has ben equipped with a buffer designed to hold
     approximately 37500 characters, with a maximum limit of 500 lines. This
     means that the average line can be 75 characters in length. Even though
     there is no theoretical limit on folder depth when using Script File
     Editor, I recommend keeping your folder structure limited to 5 or 6 in
     depth.


















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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                               SAMPLE SCRIPT FILE
             ( Notation added to explain codes, Not normally added)


     D:\GENERAL\ALMADEN.SPC            !  Regular slideshow
     D:\GENERAL\APPLES.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\APPLETON.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\ARIEL.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\AZTEC.SPC
     *5,60                             !  Control Code to set
     D:\GENERAL\CASTLE.SPC             !  Animation, 5 cycles,
     D:\GENERAL\CLOWN.SPC              !  at 1 sec frame rate
     D:\GENERAL\COBRA.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\CRAB_NEB.SPC
     !
     *+10,30                           !  Set new cluster
     D:\GENERAL\MADONNA.SPC            !  Animation, Ping-Pong
     D:\GENERAL\MATCH_5.SPC            !  10 cycles, 1/2 second
     D:\GENERAL\MEGA_01.SPC            !  frame rate
     D:\GENERAL\MIDIMAZE.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\LAZRBEE7.SPC
     D:\GENERAL\ILLUSION.SPC
     !






























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                          Moonlite's Script File Editor



                                REGISTRATION FORM

     If you like Script File Editor and would like to see new or enhanced
     features added to the program, please let me know. When you fill out
     the form below and send it to me with a small registration fee
     (whatever you feel the program is worth) I will add you to my mailing
     list. You will be notified of any updates and any new programs as they
     become available. Registration includes FREE UPGRADES, with the only
     charge being for a disk (If necessary) and shipping costs.

                           Thank you for your support.

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                         SCRIPT FILE EDITOR REGISTRATION
                         ===============================


        NAME ___________________________________________________________

        Address ________________________________________________________

        City ________________________ State ________ Zip Code __________

        M / F      Under 18_____ 18-25_____ 26-35_____ Over 35_____

        Program Release No. _____._____._____

        ST Model __________  Amt. Memory __________

        Where did you obtain this program? _____________________________

        Comments / Suggestions:

        ________________________________________________________________

        ________________________________________________________________

        ________________________________________________________________

        ________________________________________________________________

        ________________________________________________________________

                             Mail to:

                             Perry Robins
                             P.O.Box 91852
                             Pasadena, Ca. 91109-1852





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