CLIP LIBRARY for the Apple IIgs Revised - Oct. 7, 1987 Written by Joseph Ontiveros 18603 Highway1, Suite 101 Fort Bragg, CA 95437 (CompuServe: 73250,341) ======================================================================== Introduction What prompted me to write this program is the need to display graphic designs and information concerning new college courses (especially computer courses) that are being offered at the college where I teach. My plan is to have the Apple IIGS with ONLY the mouse and no keyboard connected and allow curious/potential students to select subjects by using the mouse to press buttons with appropriate titles on the screen. By pressing one of several buttons they can advance (or go back) through the graphic displays (but can never exit the demonstration). THE PROGRAM It's fairly simple (though it taught me a lot of new stuff about the GS toolset. The program has these options: File Commands ------------- 1. NEW : Creates a new CLIP LIBRARY FILE (file type is $08). You can set the number of records in the file from 0 to 99. A size of 10 records will take approx 164K disk storage. 2. OPEN: Opens an existing library file (file type $08 - a graphic file). Note that only 1 clip library file can be open at a time. Also, I have noticed that the NEW Finder displays this file type with an icon similar to the MacPaint graphic file icon. Edit Commands ------------- 3. EDIT: This option allows you to view your clip records and to also define/edit up to 7 buttons associated with the clip. When this option is chosen, the record number, the graphic clip, some control buttons, and seven button-fillin boxes with branching values are displayed. Here is what the buttons do: DONE: exits the EDIT option, you have access to the menu bar again. Does NOT save any changes made to the record (use SAVE). LOAD: Loads to the screen what ever record is in the record# box. This can range from 0 to the number of clip records you created for this file (the total clip records is displayed on the bottom left of the graphic clip. SAVE: Stores to what ever record is in the record# box the button titles and branching values currently displayed. Below the buttons described above there are 7 fill-in boxes for button titles you can define. If you enter a title in any of these boxes when in LIBRARY MODE buttons a button with that title will appear. To the right of the button title boxes are branching value boxes. Enter in these boxes the record number to branch to when the user presses that button (during LIBRARY MODE). Placing a -1 in any button will cause the library mode to halt, giving you/user access to the menu bar. Make sure that unused button title boxes are 'empty'. 4. EDIT PICTURE: This option will allow you to load a standard graphic files like Paintworks Plus screen file, or a Vision-Plus 320X200 graphic file (must be filetype $C1). Once you load this picture, use the scroll-bars to adjust up/down/left/right until you have the portion of the picture you want. The resulting graphic "CLIP" will be 196 pixels horizontal, 165 pixels vertical. When ready, enter into the fill-in the record number box the record to store the clip. Press the STORE button. Press DONE to get back to the menu-bar. MODES ----- 5. LIBRARY MODE: When you select this option the program will no longer accept commands from the menu-bar (unless there is a -1 value for a button in the file). Record number 0 appears on the screen with the CLIP you stored, and with the buttons you named. Pressing a button will branch you to another record. (I would put some RESTART buttons with a value of 0 in key places so the user can alway get back to the beginning). I hope you can find some other uses for this program, real-estate, restaurant menus, mapping, educational...etc. You should be able to create a RAM disk to store small CLIP LIB files and the program. One advantage to this is faster loading, plus if you are using it for a demonstration there is no disk to be stolen. Enjoy!