NAME

xreview - display of AIM cartoons for X Window System

CONTENTS

Synopsis
Overview
     Generation Of Bitmap Cartoons
     Display Of Bitmap Cartoons
     KEYBOARD CONTROL (cursor in the Cartoon Window)
Controls Window
Options
See Also
Bugs
Copyright
Author

xreview [options] [filename]

xreview is a program for displaying bitmap cartoons produced by the AIMsoftware. All frames of a cartoon or a subset of frames can be played.The speed may be slowed and it is possible to step througha cartoon frame-by-frame. It has been tested under X11R4 and above.

Any AIM module that creates a sequence of pictures, or "frames", may be usedto generate a cartoon. The frames are saved as bitmaps; that is, a copyof the screen memory for the frame. The bitmaps are created using the option "bitmap". For example,

gensai [options] -bitmap [options] waveform

This creates a file called "waveform.ctn", which can be used as inputto xreview.

xreview reads and plays the sequence of bitmaps. The bitmap optionis available for AIM modules genasa, genepn, gensai and genspl.

Because the bitmaps are an exact copy of the screen memory, it is impossibleto change either the size of the cartoon or any AIM display parameterswithin xreview. In addition, if the cartoons are generated on a mulitplanescreen (e.g. 8 bits deep) then the bitmaps are very big, even though onlytwo colours are used by the AIM display software. The hidden option "mono_ctn=on"may be used to copy only a 1-bit plane from the screen to the bitmaps.On some machines the incorrect plane may be copied, in which case thecartoon displayed by xreview looks completely different to the cartoonas it was generated by the AIM software. If this occurs, thenthe option "planemask_ctn" may be used to specify which plane is copied.This is best done by trial-and-error. The hidden option "colour_ctn=on" forcesall planes to be copied to the bitmaps.

    DISPLAY OF BITMAP CARTOONS

The basic xreview command is

        xreview [options] waveform.ctn

This loads the entire cartoon and displays the first frame. There are two control modes:

(a) keyboard and mouse-buttons within the Cartoon Window,

or

(b) a separate "Controls Window".

space/return: animate cartoon once (leaving the last

frame displayed).

n: move to and display next frame

p: move to and display previous frame

q: quit xreview.

left mouse button: animate cartoon once (leaving the

last frame displayed).

right mouse button: quit xreview.

middle mouse button: display Controls Window.

CONTROLS WINDOW

.Buttons’ in the Controls Window set the start frame and end frame of theanimation, the framestep in the animation (e.g., skip every 2nd frame) andthe speed of the animation; the number indicates the delay betweenframes in ms. The buttons in the bottom panel move to and display a singleframe:

<< back 10 frames

< previous frame

> next frame

>> forward 10 frames

first first frame

middle middle frame

last last frame

The numbers in the bottom-right corner indicate the current frame and thetotal number of frames.

Unlike AIM displays from gen??? instructions, the cartoons may bemoved, iconified, hidden, etc. in the normal way. The gen???instructions are from an earlier are when few graphical tools wereavailable.

There are a number of command-line options; special purposeabbrievations are indicated in parentheses. (The instructions are ina slightly different form to the gen??? instructions.)

-controls automatically display controls window

(-con)

-controls_x <int> x-position of controls window

in pixels (-cx)

-controls_y <int> y-position of controls window

in pixels (-cy)

-controls_size <string> size of controls window:

(-csize)

"tiny", "small" or "normal"

-image_x <int> x-position of cartoon in pixels (-ix)

-image_y <int> y-position of cartoon in pixels (-iy)

-speed <int> delay between frames in ms; default = 1

(-speed)

-start <int> start frame of animation;

default = first (-start)

-stop <int> stop frame of animation;

default = last (-stop)

-skip <int> framestep in animation;

default = 1 (-skip)

-frame <int> intial frame to display;

default = first (-frame)

-help generate the help page (-h)

-verbose send some running information

to stderr (-v)

-display <string> X display server to use -d

-font <font> font used in controls window

(default = Times) -f

-point <int> fontsize (default depends upon

size of controls window)

-title <string> title of cartoon window

(and of its icon)

-mono assume monochrome (single-plane)

cartoons; default

-colour assume colour (multi-plane)

cartoons

The following options should not be necessary if cartoons are generated anddisplayed on the same CPU architecture and screen hardware. They are of use,however, if the CPU or screen differ.

-rv reverse-video the cartoon

window

-planemask <int> value of planemask for displaying

bitmaps; default = 1

-lsb assume bit and byte order of

cartoon is LSBFirst

-msb assume bit and byte order of

cartoon is MSBFirst

-dec alias for ’-lsb -rv’

-sun alias for ’-msb’

review

None currently.

Copyright (c) Applied Psychology Unit, Medical Research Council, 1993-1995

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software without feeis hereby granted for research purposes, provided that this copyrightnotice appears in all copies and in all supporting documentation, and thatthe software is not redistributed for any fee (except for a nominalshipping charge). Anyone wanting to incorporate all or part of thissoftware in a commercial product must obtain a license from the MedicalResearch Council.

The MRC makes no representations about the suitability of thissoftware for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express orimplied warranty.

THE MRC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDINGALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALLTHE A.P.U. BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGESOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS,WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION,ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THISSOFTWARE.

M. Akeroyd, MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge, UK.