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** VESA256: VESA Graph unit for 256 colors **
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This is the Readme.txt of version 1.1 (11-29-'96)
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** Source by Peter de Jong. **
** Niek Engelschmanlaan 121, **
** 6532 CR, Nijmegen, **
** The Netherlands. **
** Phone : +31-24-3554399 **
** E-Mail : WPDEJONG@WORLDONLINE.NL **
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What is it?
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This is a unit with which you can produce fast 256 color
graphics using the VESA BIOS in your video card or a VESA
driver. The source code was written for TP7/BP7 real-mode,
and it is free-ware. It is a spin-off of a complex library
of units I made to support a windowing environment under
DOS. You can see a program created in this environment at:
[http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3093]
Why should you use it?
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It's resonably fast, supports multiple resolutions, pcx
image files, and it does include very neat mouse support.
It is however not completely compatible with the BP Graph
unit, but it has been debugged reasonable.
These VESA modes that are supported: 640x480 pixels
800x600 pixels
1024x768 pixels
1154x864 pixels
1280x1024 pixels
1600x1200 pixels
Remarks:
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- Take a look at the two demonstrations.
- High resolutions can damage certain monitors.
- You must specify the {$G+} and {$F+} compiler directives.
- When you overlay this unit you must move the mouse
interrupt routine to a non-overlayed unit.
- You should clear a new page before using it.
- The unit is big, maybe you should split it in multiple units.
- There is a 'SpritePut' operator, which operates the same
as the 'CopyPut' operator but does not draw color 0.
- You can assemble a bitmap before putting it on the screen.
- You can copy screen sections bigger than 64 Kb, even
from one page to another.
- big, multi-colored mouse pointers are supported.
- Only PCX files with 256 colors (version 5) can be read.
- 61 different bitmap fonts are supported.
- You should improve file handling!
- You will need to 'move' the mouse pointer from within
your program, just as in the examples. The reason for
this is that some of the graphical routines are not
re-entrant, calling them from within the interrupt
routine could produce artifacts.
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