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|A |6Picture This|A  ^1Abstract Art |Aͺ |6Picture This|A 
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^Cby
^CTerry Wilk

 INTRODUCTION TO ABART
 ---------------------

    ABART is an abstract art program that can operate with CGA, EGA or VGA 
 video modes. ABART draws graphic displays on your video monitor. You just sit 
 back and watch the movement, patterns, and colors as they are drawn on your 
 screen. 
 
    ABART provides many classes of graphic images for you to choose from, such 
 as COMETS, CRYSTALS, and WEB. From each class, an unlimited number of images 
 are drawn at random. Normally, an image is drawn, then a few seconds pause 
 lets you view the completed image. After the pause, the screen is cleared 
 and a new image of that class is drawn. 

    ABART uses simple menus to select the options or images. When you first 
 start the program default modes will be chosen for you. All you need to do is 
 press a key to watch the graphic images as they are generated. However, the 
 initial default program values may be altered to produce different display 
 effects. 

 HOW TO USE THE MENUS
 --------------------

    When you start ABART the main menu is displayed.  The main menu contains a 
 list of display control functions as well as a list of the graphic images that 
 can be generated. The display control list, located on the left side of the 
 main menu, provides the controls for the graphic image effects as well as the 
 help and exit functions. The right side of the main menu contains a list of 
 the graphic images that can be displayed. 

    ABART's menus are simply a list of options. You choose from the list what 
 you want to do by pressing the key that is associated with that option. You 
 may also use the point and shoot method by pressing the [ARROW keys] to move 
 the flashing marker to that option, then press [ENTER]. 

    From the main menu, the [A] through [M] keys select a graphic image to 
 display. For example, to run the WEB image, press the [G] key. The display 
 will continue running until you press any key on your keyboard (such as the 
 [SPACE BAR]). Once the display has stopped you will see the display menu on 
 the very top of the screen. To get back to the main menu, press [M] or [ESC]. 
 
 NOTE: There may be a few seconds delay before display of a graphic image halts.


    The [F1] key is always a help key. You may press [F1] from any of the menus 
 to display help information about that menu's options. 

    ABART is set up so that if you want to exit any area of the program, you 
 need only press the [ESC] key. The [ESC] key will also let you exit a user 
 prompt. For example, if you press the [F4] key from the main menu, for the 
 "Display Hold Time", you will be prompted to enter a number. If you do not 
 want to enter a number, just press [ESC]. 

 HELP, I'M LOST IN A SEA OF MENUS
 --------------------------------

    ABART has many menus. If you happen to get yourself lost, just keep 
 pressing the [ESC] key. Doing this will eventually put you back to the main 
 menu or out of ABART completely. 

 THE CASE OF THE MISSING OPTIONS
 -------------------------------

    You may notice that some of your menus are missing options that you read 
 about here or see on the help screens. This is normal. Not all options are 
 valid for all video types. For example, an EGA video card does not support a 
 256 color mode. So you will not see any 256 color mode options on your menus. 

 MAIN MENU OPTIONS
 -----------------

    This is the very first menu that you will see in ABART. 

 A-M    Runs a graphic display. While any display is running, press any key to 
        stop (such as the [SPACE BAR]). This will bring up the DISPLAY MENU.

 F2     Lets you enter a display value. This value changes ABART so that you
        will get a new set of patterns drawn for the displays.

 F3     Lets you change the video mode that graphic displays are run in.
        Pressing this key will bring up the SET VIDEO MODE MENU.

 F4     Lets you set the number of seconds that a completed display will be
        held before continuing with a new display.

 F5     Lets you slow down the speed at which displays are drawn. The higher
        the value you set, the slower the displays are drawn.

 F6     EGA/VGA only. Will toggle ABART between leaving the display background
        black or setting it to a random color during palette changes. See
        DISPLAY MENU for more.

 F7     VGA 256 color mode only. Will toggle ABART's cycle color mode ON or
        OFF.  When ON, will yield a color rainbow effect to displays. See SET
        CYCLE COLOR RANGE for more.

 F8     Continuous display mode. You choose what displays to run and for how
        long each one will run. See SET CONTINUOUS DISPLAY MENU for more.

 F10    Reset ABART to initial default settings.

 ALT-S  Save to a disk file the current settings of ABART.

 ALT-L  Load from a disk file the saved settings.


 SAVING AND LOADING SETTINGS
 ---------------------------

    Through the main menu, ALT-S will allow you to save the current ABART 
 settings to a disk file. ALT-L will allow you to load these saved settings at 
 any time. Thus, if you have worked out a favorite set up, it can easily be 
 saved. 

    For both load and save, you will be asked to enter a file name. Type in the 
 name you want to use and press [ENTER]. 

    To see a directory listing of the existing files on disk, enter nothing at 
 the file name prompt, just press [ENTER]. You will be prompted for a directory 
 to list. Type in the directory you want and press [ENTER]. For the current 
 directory, press [ENTER]. Once the directory list is shown, use the [LEFT 
 ARROW], [RIGHT ARROW], [HOME], [END], [PGUP], and [PGDN] to point to a file. 
 Press [ENTER] to save/load under that file name. As a safeguard, you will 
 always be prompted when overwriting any existing file. 

 DISPLAY MENU OPTIONS
 --------------------

    While you are viewing a graphic display, you can press any key to stop the 
 display and bring up the graphic display menu. NOTE: There may be a small 
 delay before the display stops (fraction of a second to a few seconds). If you 
 have a large speed delay, or a slow computer, then expect a longer delay 
 before the display stops. 

 M   Go back to main menu.

 C   Clear the screen and continue with the graphic display.

 G   Go, continue with graphic display.

 P   With each press of this key, ABART will randomly change the colors you
     see. When you like a particular set of colors, then stop pressing this
     key. Note, only the first 16 colors for the VGA 256 color mode will be
     changed. For CGA, the next palette, if any, will appear.

     Note that for option [P], the background will always be black unless the
     main menu [F6] key is used to toggle on background color change.

     Note that if video mode '640x200 2 color CGA' is set than option [P] will
     not be active.

 SET VIDEO MENU OPTIONS
 ----------------------

    You can change the setting of the display video mode. Changing the video 
 mode will change the resolution and number of colors displayed. This gives 
 different effects for the displays. 

    If your video card does not support a given video mode, then those modes 
 will not be shown on this menu. ABART supports 2 modes for CGA, 5 modes for 
 EGA, and 8 modes for VGA. After you have chosen a video mode, you will be 
 shown the colors it supports. 

    Most displays will react differently depending on the mode you set. For 
 example, if you choose a low resolution mode such as one of the 320 by 200 
 modes, ABART will tighten up pixel gaps between lines so that they do not look 
 too open. In the VGA 256 color mode, this also gives a better rainbow effect. 

 SET PALETTE MENU OPTIONS
 ------------------------

 V   Lets you change the video display mode.

 X   Active only for CGA video type, low res 4 color mode. Set to next palette.

 S   EGA/VGA only. Allows you to change the colors displayed. Pressing this
     key will bring up the USER SET PALETTE MENU.

 R   EGA/VGA only. Lets ABART randomly set the colors for you with each press
     of this key. Note for VGA 256 color mode, only sets the first 16 colors.

 N   EGA/VGA only. Set palette colors back to normal.

 I   VGA 256 color mode only. lets you set a range of colors to cycle through.
     Pressing this key will bring up the SET CYCLE COLOR RANGE MENU.

 USER SET PALETTE OPTIONS
 ------------------------

    For the EGA and VGA card, you can change (remap) the color palettes 
 yourself. You may remap all 16 colors for the EGA and only the first 16 colors 
 for the VGA. 

    Use the [LEFT] and [RIGHT] arrow keys to choose one of the 16 colors to be 
 remapped. The first color bar is the background color. The small up arrow on 
 your screen points to the color to be changed. 

    For EGA:
       Use the [UP] and [DOWN] arrow keys to set the color value.
       There are 64 (0-63) values you may assign to each of the 16 colors.
   
    For VGA:
       You can remap the 1st 16 colors to any of 262,144 colors. You do this by
       changing the intensity of the Red, Green, or Blue components that make
       up the VGA color spectrum. Each component has a range of 64 (0-63)
       intensities.

         The [R] key will increase, [T] key decrease the Red component.
         The [G] key will increase, [H] key decrease the Green component.
         The [B] key will increase, [N] key decrease the Blue component.

 SET CYCLE COLOR RANGE OPTIONS
 -----------------------------

    Cycle color mode is only effective in VGA 256 color video mode.

    When the cycle colors switch is ON ([F7] from main menu), ABART uses the
 range of colors you choose for displays. When this switch is OFF, ABART picks
 colors at random.

    The cycle colors mode gives the displays a rainbow effect. ABART starts 
 with the low value (color) of the range, doing (roughly) a line of the 
 drawing, then picks the next value in the range and draws another line, and so 
 on. When the end of the range is reached (high value), ABART starts back at 
 the low value. You can see this best this by running the cylinders display in 
 this mode. 

    Use the [RIGHT] & [LEFT] arrow keys to increase or decrease the low value. 
 Use the [HOME] and [PGUP] keys to increase or decrease the high value. 

 SET CONTINUOUS DISPLAY MENU OPTIONS
 -----------------------------------

    Here you tell ABART which displays to run and how long to run each. 
 Once you have made your choices, ABART will cycle through each display and run 
 it for the time you set. To stop the continuous display, press any key to 
 bring up the display menu, then press [ESC] or [M] to get back to the main 
 menu. 

    To select an image, move the flashing marker to the graphic you want to 
 run, press [ENTER], you will then be prompted for a length of time to run that 
 image. Keep repeating this process until you have all the graphic images you 
 want to run. Press the [TAB] key to start. 

    To reset all the display times to 0, press [ALT-C].

 HOW TO FIX PROBLEMS
 -------------------

   Due to the variety of video cards and different system configurations, I 
 cannot guarantee that ABART will run on them all. If you have problems, try 
 the following: 

   1. Read your video card manual for any help it may give on running software.
   2. If your video card has auto video mode switching, turn this feature off.
   3. Do not run TSR bios accelerator programs.
   4. Do not run TSR programs that keep setting the color palettes.

 CLOSING COMMENTS
 ----------------

    I started writing ABART because I had seen many graphic programs, found
 them most interesting to watch, and wanted to try it. I hope you will enjoy
 watching ABART as much as I do.

^C^1ABART requires a color graphics video card.^0

   To run this program outside the ^1BIG BLUE DISK^0 menu, type ^1ABART^0.


 DISK FILES USED BY ABSTRACT ART:
^FABART.EXE
