BTW, which file is pointing to the background ANSI file in Deuce shell ?

BR
Boro

---
* Synchronet * Bits & Bytes BBS - bnb.maksim.cloud
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Changing the background
By: Bgonev to Digital Man on Wed Oct 31 2018 03:54 pm

BTW, which file is pointing to the background ANSI file in Deuce shell ?

Looks like text/lbshell_bg.bin.

digital man

Synchronet "Real Fact" #5:
Synchronet version 3 for Win32 development began in 1999.
Norco, CA WX: 73.5oF, 13.0% humidity, 1 mph ESE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs --- SBBSecho 3.06-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Bgonev wrote:

BTW, which file is pointing to the background ANSI file in Deuce shell ?

BR
Boro

looks like it's in /sbbs/text/lbshell_bg.bin which appears to be a compiled baja file but there's no .src

---
* Synchronet * End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Nelgin to Bgonev on Wed Oct 31 2018 01:02 pm

looks like it's in /sbbs/text/lbshell_bg.bin which appears to be a compiled baja file but there's no .src

The unbaja utility can un-compile a Baja bin into a .src, but it won't generate meaningful variable/function names, and I've found it's a bit like reading assembly code. But if the .bin is simple enough, you may be able to figure out what it's doing easily.

Nightfox

---
* Synchronet * Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Nelgin to Bgonev on Wed Oct 31 2018 13:02:04

looks like it's in /sbbs/text/lbshell_bg.bin which appears to be a compiled baja file but there's no .src

Different kind of .bin - you are unlikely to encounter compiled Baja modules in the text/ directory.

This is a bin text file, a CGA dump, and can be loaded in your ANSI editor of choice if you know the original width of the 'graphic'.

---
echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-425-5435
* Synchronet * electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

echicken wrote:

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Nelgin to Bgonev on Wed Oct 31 2018 13:02:04

looks like it's in /sbbs/text/lbshell_bg.bin which appears to be a
compiled baja file but there's no .src

Different kind of .bin - you are unlikely to encounter compiled Baja modules

in

the text/ directory.

This is a bin text file, a CGA dump, and can be loaded in your ANSI editor

of

choice if you know the original width of the 'graphic'.

---
echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-425-5435
rua Synchronet rua electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com

Yeah, I chatting with DM about this on IRC. Wonder why he didn't just use an asc or ans file.

---
* Synchronet * End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Nelgin to echicken on Thu Nov 01 2018 12:19 am

Yeah, I chatting with DM about this on IRC. Wonder why he didn't just use an asc or ans file.

Since it's a background which is overlayed by other graphics and partially redrawn whenever any portion of the background becomes visible again (e.g. a dropdown menu is closed), then it (lbshell) needs to know exactly what character and attribute is at every screen coordinate. You can't really do that with a .asc or .ans file without first "rendering" the file into a virtual screen and basically constructing a .bin file in memory. You might as well just start with a .bin loaded into memory and skip the re/rendering part. I've done the same thing before... I think with the old sbbs v2 WFC menu.

digital man

Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #63:
Sysop = System Operator
Norco, CA WX: 67.4oF, 21.0% humidity, 1 mph S wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
--- SBBSecho 3.06-Linux
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Nelgin to echicken on Thu Nov 01 2018 00:19:27

Yeah, I chatting with DM about this on IRC. Wonder why he didn't just use an asc or ans file.

Sometimes there are good-ish reasons to use bin. It's faster and easier to create a buffer (server-side) representing the graphic this way, or just refer to the file to see what the character and colour are at coordinates x,y. With a .ans file the cursor could be repositioned at any time to an arbitrary place, so you need to parse the whole thing. With a .asc file I guess there might be colour codes or somesuch. I'd guess that lbshell redraws portions of the graphic after menus pop over it or something like that.

---
echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-425-5435
* Synchronet * electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: echicken to Nelgin on Thu Nov 01 2018 08:40:52

guess there might be colour codes or somesuch. I'd guess that lbshell redraws portions of the graphic after menus pop over it or something like that.

---
echicken

Yep, tested it by remoting in and slowing Syncterm's output rate to 300. You can see it draw a menu and then draw the background over the menu to erase it, but it never redraws the whole screen, just the menu changes. So it does work like some older dos software in a sense.

I was able to open the .bin file in TheDraw, but PabloDraw didn't seem to like it. So I'm thinking a person could probably edit it with TD...maybe.

-=U13=-



... Why risk a hangover? Stay Drunk!!

---
* Synchronet * The DarkSide of the Moon - telnet://darkside.synchro.net
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: Changing the background
By: Uatu13 to echicken on Sat Nov 03 2018 02:53:53

I was able to open the .bin file in TheDraw, but PabloDraw didn't seem to like it. So I'm thinking a person could probably edit it with TD...maybe.

PabloDraw has not always been great with .bin, not sure if it still has problems. I vaguely recall having to tell it the .bin was 160 columns instead of 80 (or double whatever the actual width was), or setting the canvas to that size. Likely the author got some wires crossed; it does take two bytes to represent one character its colour in the .bin file, but that makes one visible cell.

---
echicken
electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com - 416-425-5435
* Synchronet * electronic chicken bbs - bbs.electronicchicken.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)