CHKPIC.COM V. 1.00
Copyright 1987 by Keith P. Graham

CHKPIC.COM is a PC graphics file identifier which is
capable of determining 11 different file types with more to be
added. The program reads the header information from the file in
question and compares the information found there to what it
knows about graphics file formats. It usually takes only the
first few bytes to eliminate a file type.

MacPaint files come from so many sources and have so many
variant structures that it is not possible to identify them all.
This program identifies MacPaint files with binary zero headers,
valid MacBinary headers and those with MacPaint headers only. If
the file has a valid MacBinary header the program will display
the original name of the picture as it was created on a
Macintosh. This is useful for identifying duplicate pictures
with different file names. Some files are created from
conversion programs which borrowed a file header from a file and
just repeated it. There are alot of "Duoth.Vader" pictures out
there. My own OPTIKS program plugs in the name "OPTIKS" (only up
to version 2.01, after that it is the same as the file name that
it was saved as). I also wrote a program called FMAC and the
later versions allowed for saving the file as a MacPaint file,
but the header is garbage, only the picture data is valid.


CHKPIC.COM identifies a file by determining what it is not.
It will sometimes incorrectly identify a file. This is because
by some accident the file has a structure similar enough to
avoid being eliminated. If CHKPIC identifies a file, the next
step is to use OPTIKS to see if the file is readable.

USING CHKPIC.COM:

To use CHKPIC.COM enter from the DOS prompt:

CHKPIC filespec

Where filespec is the name of the file or files that you
want checked. CHKPIC supports wildcards and full disk and path
descriptions. If you leave off the file extension in the
filespec, CHKPIC will provide an extension of .MAC because most
public domain graphics files are in the MacPaint format and most
of the users will be public domain users. If a file does not
have an extension you must enter the "." and leave off the
extension. CHKPIC * will check all of the .MAC files on a
directory. CHKPIC *. will check all files without an extension.
CHKPIC *.* will check every file. CHKPIC *.MSP will check all
of the Microsoft Paint files. CHKPIC *.IMG will check all of
the IMG files and figure out which are GEM, which are WIPS and
which are ISF files.

CHKPIC can identify with reasonable accuracy the following
types of files:
MacPaint
Microsoft Paint
GEM paint
Run Length Encoded
Zsoft PC Paintbrush
OPTIKS
Basic Bload/Bsave
Datacopy Wips
PC Paint 1.50 and 2.00
IBM Image Support Facility

Some graphics file types do not have a recognizable header
and the only way to tell what kind of file they are is by the
extension and then by loading the file to confirm it. I will be
adding to the list above as I have time and I get more file
formats.

Give PC-Rockland a call at (914) 353-2176 for the latest
version of the program. I am not accepting money for CHKPIC
because I won't have any time to support the program. It is
yours for free as long as you don't change the program or the
documentation. I can be reached occasionally at (914) 623-4161
in the evenings during the week.

Keith P. Graham