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Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz

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  Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz "Bill Buckels" <bbuckels@mts.net> - 2014-10-22 07:02 -0500
    Re: Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz bpiltz@gmail.com - 2014-10-22 15:47 -0700
      Re: Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz "Bill Buckels" <bbuckels@mts.net> - 2014-10-22 19:52 -0500
        Re: Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz Steve Nickolas <usotsuki@buric.co> - 2014-10-23 01:36 +0000

#22203 — Bmp2DHR - The MS-DOS Version - dedicated to Brian Piltz

WebPage:
http://www.appleoldies.ca/cc65/docs/dhgr/bmp2dhrMSDOS.htm

Pdf Document:
http://www.appleoldies.ca/cc65/docs/dhgr/bmp2dhrMSDOS.pdf

Binaries of the latest version of Bmp2DHR are now available for both Win32 
and MS-DOS.

The documents above note the differences between the two. They also provide 
"screen-shots" of several DHGR conversions.

Bmp2DHR has been structured to run with relatively modest resources in both 
a 32-bit and 16-bit architecture. The source code is as compatible with old 
16-bit MS-DOS Ansi C compilers as it is with present day 32-bit Ansi C 
compilers like gcc and MinGW.

The MS-DOS executable comes with source code and MakeFiles and a complete 
build environment for 16-bit Turbo C and Microsoft C.

The Win32 executable comes with the same source code and a build environment 
for MinGW and gcc. The same source code can be compiled under Visual 
Studio's Microsoft 32-bit C or in the gcc compiler for Linux and OSX.

Input files can be created in a variety of BMP editors including Windows 
Paint from Windows 3.1 to Windows 7 (and probably beyond). It is also 
compatible with BMP files created in The GIMP (without colorspace info) and 
ImageMagick.

The MS-DOS executable will work in MS-DOS emulators like DosBOX on a 
surprisingly wide variety of platforms as well as in other versions of DOS 
like FreeDOS.

Bmp2DHR has been written without dependency on platform specific libraries 
that prevent portability while keeping the code as small as possible and 
still readable. This is why it has been limited to input of simple BMP files 
and output of a variety of simple DHGR files to suit the needs of everyone 
from programmers down to beginners.

Its output ranges from embedded and binary sprites for C (cc65, Aztec C65) 
programmers, screens for AppleSoft BASIC programmers and C programmers to 
BMP files compatible with Cybernesto's VBMP.

It also supports titling using either an overlay file or a tiny font. And it 
supports external palettes in a variety of formats and external files for 
user definable dithers.

Its preview output option in BMP format allows for quick review of DHGR 
output.

All this in one source file and one header file.

Since it compiles to native code, there is no need for any runtime like the 
Java runtime, and since it compiles to native code it is as fast as 
possible.

The source code is reasonably well commented and can be reviewed for more 
information.

All the best,

Bill Buckels 

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#22211

... and this old DOS guy thanks you kindly for your dedication and support! Keeping DOS alive in 2014... when I can boot to a fully useable OS in three seconds flat intead of three minutes (discounting the fact that ProDOS loads in about *one* second, of course!) I'm finding BMP2DHR incredibly useful, fast, and versatile. And your PDF writeup was fantastic. This whole project has obviously been a labor of love for you, and a joy of discovery for me!

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#22212

<bpiltz@gmail.com> wrote:
>... and this old DOS guy thanks you kindly for your dedication and support!

I think it is hilarious that the best DHGR graphics converter in history was 
written by an old MS-DOS Microsoft C guy in a couple of months and some 
other old DOS guy insisted on having an MS-DOS version that compiled in 
Turbo C. Almost insisted, all I needed was someone to ask for it...

Turbo C always produced good code.

>Keeping DOS alive in 2014... when I can boot to a fully useable OS in three 
>seconds flat intead of three minutes (discounting the fact that ProDOS 
>loads in about *one* second, of course!)

My 8MHZ ZIP Chip in my Apple IIe is instantaneous too.

>I'm finding BMP2DHR incredibly useful, fast, and versatile.

It's the MS-DOS C programming style and I looked at other code and did the 
math. It's quite different when you got paid to work in C in MS-DOS. You 
actually learned how to code with strong typing instead of using pretty but 
inefficient structures and unnecessary artistry.

>And your PDF writeup was fantastic. This whole project has obviously been a 
>labor of love for you, and a joy of discovery for me!

A joy of discovery for me too. A discovery of petrified indocrinated 
thinking that severely restricted development potential on the Apple II. WOZ 
deserved better.

Bill 

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#22213

On Wed, 22 Oct 2014, Bill Buckels wrote:

> <bpiltz@gmail.com> wrote:
>> ... and this old DOS guy thanks you kindly for your dedication and support!
>
> I think it is hilarious that the best DHGR graphics converter in history was
> written by an old MS-DOS Microsoft C guy in a couple of months and some
> other old DOS guy insisted on having an MS-DOS version that compiled in
> Turbo C. Almost insisted, all I needed was someone to ask for it...
>
> Turbo C always produced good code.

That's why I *still* use the Borland compiler for apps I intend 
specifically for DOS.  (Well, that and I don't think Watcom's conio comes 
anywhere near the functionality of Borland's, given it has windowing 
capabilities comparable to the Apple ][ ROMs.)

>> Keeping DOS alive in 2014... when I can boot to a fully useable OS in three
>> seconds flat intead of three minutes (discounting the fact that ProDOS
>> loads in about *one* second, of course!)
>
> My 8MHZ ZIP Chip in my Apple IIe is instantaneous too.

I used to think ProDOS's load times were excessive, though that was mainly 
ProDOS 16 which is a lot bigger than ProDOS 8.

-uso.

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