* * CHARM * *
A Programmable Character Generator
Copyright (C) 1982, Allen S. Jacobson
Reproduction in any part or form of the contents of
this document or its accompanying diskette, except for the
personal use of the original purchaser, is strictly
forbidden without the expressed consent and permission of
the author.
LNW Research Corporation and/or the author shall have
no liability or responsibility to the purchaser or any
other person for any loss or damage caused by this program.
* * * * * *
INTRODUCTION
CHARM is a programmable character generator designed
to provide the LNW80, user a maximum of ease and flexibility
in designing character sets, symbols and graphics
characters, and displaying them on the video screen. A
diskette is provided formatted as a 35-track data disk in
single density. The diskette contains the following files:
1. CHARM641/CMD-The character design program and
video driver with the standard 64-column by 16-line screen
format.
2. CHARM801/CMD-The same with an 80-column by 16-line
screen format.
3. CHARM802/CMD-The same with an 80-column by 24-line
screen format.
4. PATCH/CMD-A patch program described below. (missing)
5. MAINSET/CHR-The standard character set.
6. OLDTIME/CHR-A character set resembling old style
block characters.
7. FUTURA/CHR-A stylish futuristic character set. (missing)
8. SUBKILL/BAS-A sample game program in BASIC,
illustrating the use of CHARM for designing graphics
characters and using them for fast high resolution
graphics. (missing)
9. SUBKlLL/CHR-The special character set to be used
with the game SUBKILL/BAS.
BACKING UP THE MASTER DISKETTE
It is suggested that the first thing you do is make a
backup copy of the master CHARM diskette. This can be
accomplished if you have two disk drives by using your
BACKUP utility. If you have only one disk drive, most
operating systems offer a single drive copy utility such as
COPY1 with DOSPLUS. Using this utility, you can copy the
programs onto a diskette which has your operating system on
It. NOTE: If you don't have either of these capabilities,
contact Balaclava, using the address listed at the end of
this manual, and arrangements will be made to furnish the
progroms in the best form suitable to your needs. After
you have made a backup copy, put the master away in a safe
place.
OPERATING SYSTEMS
The CHARMnnn programs are designed to run as is with
the DOSPLUS and NEWDOS/80 operating systems. If you run
them with any operating system for which the DUMP command
syntax is:
DUMP Filespec (START=X'NNNN’,END=X'NNNN',TRA=X'NNNN'),
you will need to use PATCH/CMD. In these cases, simply
LOAD CHARMnnn/CMD, end then execute PATCH, and your program
will run normally.
RUNNING THE PROGRAMS
Select the screen format you want, and execute
CHARMnnn. The initial display will ask if you want to
modify the character set (Y), or go immediately to the
video driver (N). Note that when the driver portion of the
program is in operation, you can load any character set of
your choice, at any time. Just type in LOAD Filespec
<ENTER$gt;, and the new character set is immediately in
effect. If you want to modify the character set or create
a new character set, press Y, and the display will change
immediately to the character design display. The commands
available to you in this mode are prominently displayed at
all times, and will be described below. You can exit the
design portion of the program and go to DOS at any time,
with the character set you have designed intact.
THE COMMANDS
In the character design portion of the program, there
are two sets of commands available to you. Each set is
displayed as it becomes operational. The first set is:
G-Get a character to the magnified display (MD). When
this command is entered, you will be asked for the ASCII
code of the character you want to modify. The code must be
entered in Hex and may be gotten by looking at the
character table in the right half of the display. For
instance, referring to the table, the letter 'A' has ASCII
code 41; the letter 'a', code 61. Many of the characters
available to you for design are graphics characters which
can be executed in BASIC using the CHR$(nnn) function.
M-Modify the character in the magnified display. When
this command is entered, a cursor appears in the MD, and a
new set of command options is displayed and described.
This is the second set discussed below.
S-Save the character set to disk. When this command
is entered, you will be asked for the Filespec. The rules
of syntax which apply to writing a filespec under your
operating system, will apply in this program. Once a set
is saved to disk, it can be called back to the design
program by entering L (described below), or it can be
loaded directly at any time you are operating with the
CHARM video driver in effect.
L-Load a character set from disk. After entering this
command, you will once more be asked for the Filespec.
Entering it will cause the specified character set to be
loaded into the character display for further modification
or redesign.
X-Exit to DOS. When this command is entered, the
design display will dissappear, and your DOS Ready message
will appear, with the CHARM video driver automatically in
operation. It will remain in operation until you reset
your machine.
THE CHARACTER MODIFICATION COMMANDS
<ARROWS>-The keyboard arrows move the cursor to any
position within the boundaries of the MD.
<ENTER>-Pressing this key will turn on the pixel under
the cursor. If it's already on, there will be no effect.
<SPACE>-Pressing the 'SPACE' bar will turn off the
pixel under the cursor. If it's already off, there will be
no effect.
P-Put the character into the set. It will appear
immediately in the character table, and possibly at several
places in the display. Executing this command also returns
you to the regular command mode of the design program,
ready to work on the next character, or exit, as you
choose.
Attempting to execute any commands other than the
valid ones will result in a diagnostic message. You then
just enter a valid command, and continue.
THE VIDEO DRIVERS
You will notice that when you are in the video driver
mode, the scroll will appear to be somewhat different.
This is because it is now under software control, and not
under hardware control as it normally is.
You also now have screen display formats available to
you other than the 64-column by 16-line format in your
standard machine. These new formats have presented some
options in dealing with the BASIC functions PRINT 0, and
PRINT TAB(nn). We have selected from among the options in
a way which may require some modifications to your BASIC
programs which have used these functions for formatted
output. The 64-column by 16-line driver responds to these
functions just like the standard hardware driver, so no
changes are required when using it. For the 80-column
drivers, you now have 80 tab positions in a line. For most
purposes this should not affect your previous programs, but
you probably will want to take advantage of this for new
programs. The PRINT 0 function works differently for each
of the 80-column drivers. In the 80x16 driver, the
positions are numbered consecutively from 0 through 79 on
the first line, from 80 through 159 on the second line, and
so on through 1280 positions. In the 80x24 driver, a
different scheme is used. The positions in the graphics
extension region are addressed only after the positions in
the main graphics region. Specifically, positions 0
through 63 are in the first line. Positions 64 through 127
are in the second line, and so on, through 1536 positions.
Then position 1536 is back in line one at the beginning of
the extension region. The remaining positions in line one
are numbered 1536 through 1551. This may seem somewhat
awkward, but in fact makes your formatted programs more
likely to be compatible with the 80x24 driver than with the
80x16 driver. The method used for the 80x16 driver was
chosen to give the greatest ease in using this driver for
fast animation associated with game programs.
When using the video drivers, in place of the double
size print available when you print CHR$(23), or press
<SHIFT><RIGHT ARROW>, you now have inverse video. Every
letter printed after you execute PRINT CHR$(23), or
<SHIFT><RIGHT ARROW> will be in inverse video. This
condition will last until you once more issue PRINT
CHR$(23), or press <CLEAR>.
APPLICATIONS
As an example of the many things you can do, now that
the character set is under your complete control, we have
included a sample game called SUBKILL/BAS. It is designed
to run only under CHARM801. After you have executed this
program, and have entered the design portion, then issue
the command L, with SUBKILL/CHR as the filespec, and you
will see the character set. You can see that many of the
characters are portions of graphics symbols, which, when
assembled and printed as a string constant, will give you
an entire drawing. For instance, in a BASIC program, if
you let
A$=CHR$(143)+CHR$(144)+CHR$(145)+CHR$(146)+CHR$(147)
+CHR$(148)+CHR$(149),
then by simply printing A$, you get the drawing of a
destroyer. To animate it, you use PRINT @nn or PRINT
TAB(nn) statements successively to display the drawing at
different positions on the screen. This will open whole
new vistas to you for creating your own games.
Next, exit to DOS, and execute BASIC, and the program
SUBKILL/BAS. The instructions for playing the game are
available in the program.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
CHARM resides in high memory, and you needn’t set
memory size as the video drivers are self-protecting. It
is worthwhile to note that if you are in BASIC, and under
the control of one of the video drivers, you cannot execute
CMD "CHARMnnn/CMD" because the operating system won't see
the protected memory, so the program is likely to bomb.
The character set resides in memory location F000H (61440)
through F77FH (63359). If at any time, and for any reason
you are booted out of the design portion of the program
before you have completed your set design, you can rescue
the character set by executing
DUMP Filespec (START=F00H,END=F77FH)
or its equilavent for your operating system. Then execute
CHARMnnn once more, and reload the character set in the
design portion of the program to continue your redesign.
Those of you who must use PATCH/CMD, can reenter the
program by executing PATCH, and the character set you were
working on will remain intact.
When executing DEBUG, you will see that the position
for the display of input commands has shifted from the
left-hand side of the screen to the right-hand side of the
screen. This is normal for CHARM, and DEBUG will function
normally.
CHARMnnn supports SCREEN DUMP programs provided they
begin execution at memory location FE00H (65024), and are
loaded after you are in the video driver portion of the
program. Once your SCREEN DUMP program is loaded, then any
time you press <SHIFT><F1>, the contents of the screen will
be dumped to the printer driven by your program. If you
want to see the characters you have designed, remember,
your printer must be capable of printing high resolution
graphics.
Please address all questions or enquiries to:
Balaclava
P.O. Box 281
Altadena, CA 91001
Phone (213) 794 4796
* * * * * *
If you wish to be kept up to date on any modifications
to CHARM, fill out the registration form below, and mail it
in.
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Mail to: Balaclava
P.O. Box 281
Altadena, CA 91001
Name:__________________________________________________
Address:_______________________________________________
City:___________________________State:_______ZIP:______
We would appreciate any comments or suggestions you
might have to improve CHARM
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
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Balaclava
P.O. Box 281
Altadena, CA 91001
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