Freeview 1.0, The absolute BEST command line
*.RIP file Viewer! **FREEWARE** Supports &
displays every RIP command. Great for
viewing RIPs in messages with an offline
mail reader. It has a trace mode for finding
problems with RIPs. Requires EGA or better
graphics and 300Kb free memory.

Freeview

Version 1.0

- Freeware -

Copyright 1994 Wayne Thomas


Introduction
============

Freeview is a simple RIP viewer for viewing RIPs at the command line.
Unlike other RIP viewers, it supports and displays every RIP command in
the RIPscrip 1.54 standard. This allows it to properly display nearly
every RIP file there is. The RIP playback can be aborted by pressing any
key. If a wildcard is used in the file name, the RIP file name will be
shown at the bottom of the screen when the RIP is done displaying.

Freeview is freeware. This means that you can give unmodified copies
of it to other people and upload it to BBSs.


Requirements
============

EGA, VGA or better graphics. (at least 256Kb on the video board)
Approximately 300Kb free memory.


Disclaimer
==========

No warranty is expressed or implied. Use at your own risk. The author
will not be held responsible for any damages from the use of this product.
It has been tested on many systems without problems, but it has not or could
not have been tested on every type of system.


Command Line Options
====================

Freeview's command line syntax:
-------------------------------

FREEVIEW [PATH]FILENAME[.RIP] [OPTIONS]

The items in [brackets] are optional. Wildcards are fully supported.
Example: freeview menu? /text /trace


Freeview's options:
-------------------

/ICON:ICONDIR

This specifies an auxiliary icon directory. Some RIP files will want to
load icon files (*.ICN) and display them on the screen. Freeview will
first check the current directory first for the icon files, and if they
are not there, it will check in the auxiliary directory. If no auxiliary
directory is specified, then it will check the directory where freeview
resides.

Examples: /ICON:C:\RIPTERM\ICONS
-icon:d:\ripaint\icons\

/TEXT

This option tells Freeview to display any ASCII, non RIP characters in the
text window. There are five different font sizes that can be displayed
in this window. The text window will begin scroll once it is full. ANSI
graphics is not yet supported. Something to look forward to in future
versions.

/CPS:XXXX

This option will slow down the speed of the RIP files being displayed.
XXXX is the number of characters per second. Up to four digits are
allowed.

Example: /CPS:240 (simulates 2400 BPS modems)

/TRACE

With this option, the RIP will be displayed command by command. Pressing
a key will go to the next command. The RIP code and any ASCII text will
be displayed at the bottom of the screen.

/SS:XX

With is option, RIPs will be displayed in slide show mode. XX is the
number of seconds between each RIP. Up to two digits are allowed.

Example: /SS:15


Notes
-----

All options must be separated by at least one space character. The minus
character '-' can be used instead of the slash '/' character. The
filename and options are not case sensitive.

If you want to use a command line option all the time, then it is
recommended that you make a batch file. Example:

fv.bat:

@echo off
c:\util\freeview %1 %2 %3 -text -icon:c:\ripterm\icons


Technical Notes
===============

Freeview is written in Turbo Pascal 6.0, and some assembly language.
All the RIPscrip commands are supported that do something to the
display. Some of the active text variables are not supported yet.
The six variables that support sound effects are supported. A few
other active text variables are also supported.

All eleven RIP fonts are supported and are built in. Five different
fonts sizes are supported for the text window.

Variable width parameters are also supported. Most other RIP viewers
do not support this option, even though it is documented in the RIPscrip
standard.

Some mouse buttons may not look correct, there are so many possible
combinations for buttons, it is impossible to test them all. If you
have some RIP files that do not display correctly with Freeview, but do
display correctly with RIPterm, please send them to me so I can find
the problem with Freeview and fix it.

If there is a command in the RIP file to save an icon, the icon will be
saved in the current directory. This is done so that none of the icons
in the auxiliary directory are overwritten.

If there is a command in RIP file to load and display another RIP file,
Freeview will only look for that file in the current directory.

If Freeview detects any RIP commands that are invalid, it will not display
them, instead it will give out a low beep and briefly show the command at
the bottom of the screen. If some important things are missing, flood
fills could escape and wipe out the image on the screen. There is the
slight possibility that Freeview could lock up during one of these flood
fills, so it is a good idea to abort viewing the image when invalid
commands are encountered.


Contacting the author
=====================

I can be reached with a public message in the RIP conference in the following
nets: RIME, Intelec, ILink, ICN. I can also be reached at the Brewster BBS,
(914) 279-2514. The latest version of Freeview will be uploaded there as
soon as it become available.

Also by the author: RIP Sketch, a shareware RIP drawing program.


Trademarks
==========

RIPscrip, RIPterm and RIPaint are trademarks of TeleGrafix Communications,
Inc.