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Version 1.2

		Introduction
		

GAZE, or Graphics Analyser, Zoomer and Enhancer, is a viewer for graphics
files in JPEG, BMP, Targa, LBM, PCX or PNG format. As its name suggests, GAZE
has several functions beyond simply loading and displaying a picture. GAZE
allows the user to pan and zoom the picture in a fluid manner using the mouse,
where most viewers slowly zoom in steps, if at all. Moreover, GAZE has a few
more tricks up its sleeve; when you stop zooming or panning, GAZE takes the
opportunity to use its interpolation facilities to improve the quality of
your zoomed picture. Moreover, GAZE automatically optimises the palette used
in 8 bit modes after analysing the relative frequency of different colours.

GAZE also supports "slide-show" viewing of pictures, with or without timed
picture changes, as well as most SVGA modes and several VGA modes.

                Reading the document
		

If you are experiencing weird characters all over this file, you are not
using an editor/viewer capable of displaying the full MS-DOS character set.
Use MS-DOS Editor or some other DOS-based editor to view this file instead.
If you can't find anything better, try typing MORE < GAZE.TXT at a DOS
prompt or something.

                Starting GAZE
		

To start GAZE, simply type GAZE at the DOS prompt (assuming GAZE is in the
current directory), or double-click the GAZE.EXE file in the relevant folder
or directory when using Windows '95 or NT.

You may also supply a command-line argument for GAZE, which must be an
unambiguous filename; i.e. wildcards are not allowed. This file will be
loaded into GAZE. The file must be a valid picture and the extension must be
specified.

                GAZE Main Menu
		

If you have started GAZE without a command-line argument, you will see the
main menu, which looks approximately like this:

GAZE v1.0 (c) Jan Lnnberg/Recurzion... Use cursor keys, [ENTER] or [ESC]...






                             ͻ
                             Open File         
                             Quit              
                             Display Setup     
                             Mouse Setup       
                             Default View Setup
                             Timer Setup       
                             Return            
                             ͼ




Graphics resolution is 640x480 at 16 bit colour.
Mouse speed is 100%.
Automatic rescaling is On.
Timer is off.



When viewing a picture, pressing [SPACE] will show the main menu.

                Open File
                

Selecting this item will open a picture. If you don't have any pictures
previously selected, this will open a list of files. You can move in this list
using the cursor keys, [PAGE UP] and [PAGE DOWN]. Please note that the list
wraps around; i.e. pressing [CURSOR DOWN] at the end of the list will put you
back at the start, for example. To open a file, move the cursor over it and
press [ENTER]. To change directory or drive, move the cursor over it and,
you guessed it, press [ENTER].

Typing any other (printable) character will skip to the following file,
directory or drive name starting with this letter.

If you want to view several files in a row without going to the file list,
you can select and unselect files from the file list by moving the cursor
over them and pressing [SPACE]. To start the slide-show, press [BACKSPACE].
Note that pressing [ENTER] is equivalent to pressing [SPACE] followed by
[BACKSPACE], and that a file can only be shown once per slide-show; i.e.
[SPACE] toggles the presence of the file in the slide-show.

In other words, you can either toggle files on/off with [SPACE] then press
[BACKSPACE] to start the sequence, or choose all the files except the last
with [SPACE] then select the last file with [ENTER].

Pressing [ESC] will unselect all files and return you to the main menu.

If there are pictures left in the slide-show, choosing "Open File" will open
the next picture in the slide-show. When viewing a picture, pressing [O] is
equivalent to pressing [SPACE] to get the main menu and choosing "Open File".

                Quit
                

This is quite obvious; selecting this will end the program, returning you to
whatever you started GAZE with; DOS prompt, DOS Shell, Windows or whatever.
Pressing [ESC] while viewing a picture also quits.

		Display Setup
                

Choosing this alternative, or pressing [D] while viewing a picture, allows you
to choose the display resolution you wish to use while viewing pictures in
GAZE. GAZE supports the following resolutions:

	VGA:

320x200   All VGA adapters allow 320x200 at 8-bit colour. This mode is fast.

320x240   These modes work on most VGA adapters, are slightly slower than
360x270   the standard 320x200 mode, but allow higher resolutions at 8 bit
400x300   colour. Note that these resolutions may not work on all monitors.

	SVGA:

320x200   These resolutions can be run at 8, 15, 16, 24 or 32 bit colour
640x480   depending on your graphics hardware. 32 bit colour can be considered
800x600   equivalent to 24 bits colour, while 16 bit colour allows only a
1024x768  marginal improvement on 15 bit colour. Most graphics cards
1280x1024 support either 15 or 16 bit colour, as well as either 24 or 32.
1600x1200 Practically all modes work in 8 bit if they work at all.

You will first be prompted to select a resolution, then a colour depth. In
both cases, you can leave the current setting by pressing [ESC] or by choosing
"No change". If you select an illegal screen mode, you will be prompted to
change it.

While viewing, pressing [D] will take you to the display setup. This is
especially useful when you have selected a mode unsupported by your monitor.

		Mouse Setup
                

You can choose between 5 different mouse speeds. Changing the mouse speed
affects both the panning and zooming speeds. Press [ESC] or "Cancel" to
leave the mouse as it is. Press [M] while viewing to access this feature.

		Default View Setup
                

Here, you can choose whether pictures are automatically rescaled on opening
to fit your screen or not. [ESC] or "Cancel" leaves this as it is.
Press [V] to get here when viewing.

		Timer Setup
                

Here, you can choose whether GAZE should automatically open the next file
after a predetermined interval or not, and specify the interval.
Press [T] to get here when viewing.

		Return
                

If a picture has been loaded, this feature returns to showing the picture.
Press [ESC] at the menu to do this.

                Viewing a picture
		

While viewing a picture, moving the mouse will pan the picture in the
corresponding direction. Pressing (and holding) the left mouse button will
start and accelerate the inward-zooming of the picture. In the same manner,
pressing the right mouse button will start and accelerate outward-zooming of
the picture, while holding down the middle button will continue the current
zooming unaccelerated. Releasing all buttons will stop the zooming.

Pressing [SPACE] will show the main menu, [ESC] will quit. See the other
functions for their corresponding keys.

Pressing [S] will dump the screen to output.png in the current directory.

                Technical information
		

GAZE is written in DJGPP 2.0 and is therefore a 32-bit MS-DOS program, using
DPMI for memory. If DPMI isn't provided otherwise, GAZE will automatically
use the supplied CWSDPMI. The system requirements for GAZE are as follows:

Processor:		486DX or better required, Pentium recommended.
Graphics card:		VGA required, 1 MB VESA 2 SVGA recommended.
Memory:                 2 MB required, 16 MB recommended.
Free disk space:	Approximately 1 KB required, 30 MB recommended.
Other requirements:	Keyboard, mouse (with MS-DOS driver installed).
OS:			MS-DOS or compatible.
User:			Human or compatible.

GAZE uses a VESA-compatible driver, such as Scitech Display Doctor, FreeBE or
your graphics card BIOS to provide SVGA features. VBE/AF, and VESA versions
1, 2 and 3 are supported and utilised. If no VESA driver is found, VGA is
assumed. If you don't have VGA, you'll have major problems selecting a
display mode, won't you?

Low-level graphics handling is done by the Allegro library which is (c)
Shawn Hargreaves. JPEG handling is done by libjpeg by Eric Vannier, based on
the The Independent JPEG Group's JPEG software (version 6a). All other code
by Jan Lnnberg.

GAZE does not write anything to the directory in which it is stored. The only
file written to by GAZE is the GAZE.INI configuration file that is stored in
the root directory of drive C. The DPMI provider used may write to a hard
disk - CWSDPMI writes a swap file by default to C:\CWSDPMI.SWP.

CWSDPMI is (c) Charles W Sandmann.

                Uninstalling GAZE
		

Delete GAZE.EXE, GAZE.TXT, CWSDPMI.EXE, and C:\GAZE.INI (and C:\CWSDPMI.SWP
if you've used CWSDPMI). That's it.

                Known problems
		

I don't have the slightest idea whether this program works under OS/2, Linux-
based DOS emulation or anything like that. GAZE is designed to support DOS,
Windows '95 and Windows '98. Under some circumstances, it works under NT. You
may experience display problems running GAZE under Windows NT.

Running GAZE from a DOS shell started within another program, such as an IDE
(Borland C++ for DOS, RHIDE, et.c.) or sound/music player (OpenCP, Impulse
Tracker, et.c.) may cause problems in timing, graphics handling, long file
name handling et.c. and should therefore be avoided. If possible, run GAZE
directly from a DOS prompt, Windows Explorer or any similar user interface.

All problems mentioned here are caused by software displaying lack of
compatibility with MS-DOS and/or using hardware resources required by GAZE.
There is very little I can do about any of this, short of producing ports of
GAZE to NT, Linux or whatever, which probably won't happen in the near
future.

                Legal information
		

This program, consisting of the files "GAZE.EXE" and "GAZE.TXT", will be
known as "GAZE" in this document. GAZE is the copyrighted work of
Jan Lnnberg. GAZE must always be distributed together with CWSDPMI.EXE
in unchanged form or compressed using a compression tool available freely at
no charge capable of reproducing the compressed files exactly. If GAZE is
distributed in compressed form, the entire program and CWSDPMI.EXE must be
contained in a single file.

This public beta version of GAZE may be distributed for non-commercial
purposes through BBSs, the Internet and suchlike, as long as they are open
to the public for free access. If any fee is charged to allow access to the
system through which GAZE can be accessed, permission from the
author, Jan Lnnberg, is required, i.e. distributors of e.g. CD-ROMs or
commercial BBSs must have the copyright holder's permission.

Permission to distribute GAZE is considered implicitly granted to all to whom
the copyright holder has copied the program with the express purpose of
allowing the recipient of the program to distribute it. In other words, if
GAZE is uploaded to a BBS by the copyright holder, this can be considered
permission for this specific BBS to distribute GAZE.

GAZE may be executed freely, but not reverse engineered, disassembled or
or used as a basis for other software without the explicit permission of the
author.

Running GAZE under an emulator is allowed only insofar as the emulator is
not used to reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise modify the program.

Selling GAZE or any package containing GAZE without the consent of the
copyright holder is prohibited.

                Version history
		

1.0:   - First fully functional release, tested on several operating
          systems.
1.02:  - Automatically creates a default GAZE.INI if none is found.
1.03:  - File selector directory/drive change fixed.
        - Filename sorting failure when only one .JPG file exists in
          directory fixed.
        - GAZENT.BAT removed. First public beta.
1.1:    - Fixed directory change problem on certain DOS versions.
        - SVGA support now handled solely by VESA driver.
        - Cancelling a file load no longer prevents colour depth changes
          until a new file is loaded.
        - BMP loader added.
        - LBM loader added.
        - PCX loader added.
        - TGA loader added.
        - Changed list display key to BACKSPACE.
        - Added option to skip to next filename starting with a symbol by
          typing that symbol.
        - Cursor left and right, page up and down keys no longer wrap (this
          was previously a bit confusing). Cursor up and down still do.
        - Improved exit screen.
        - Improved error reporting.
1.2:	- PNG loader added.
	- Screen dump function added.

                Contacting the author
                

Jan Lnnberg, also known as Nova/Recurzion, has a web site at:

WWW:	http://koti.mbnet.fi/lonnberg/

and can be reached at the following address:

E-mail:	lonnberg@mbnet.fi

Bug reports, suggestions and questions should be sent to the author. Please
try to be as specific as possible when reporting problems - telling me that
the program doesn't work is useless. Telling me that a specific feature
doesn't work under certain circumstances and how it malfunctions is far more
helpful. Don't send me e-mail attachments without asking me for permission
in advance - I'm stuck with a 56 kbps modem right now and the local phone
company has raised its prices again.

Updates can be found at the web site mentioned above.
