This month I have gotten off onto one of those tangents that we so often find ourselves involved in. True, it is not fully T-DOS related, but T-DOS does play an important role in the overall operation.

Last year at ADAMCON 2 in Toronto I witnessed a demonstration of Clip Art Viewer by Walters Software. The software was purchased and sat on my computer desk until about a month ago. I decided to try to convert some clips from Print Master Plus, a graphics program in DOS that makes cards, signs and posters. The following is an account of how I did it and a list of problems that I encountered during the operation.

First off, Clip Art files are contained in large Library files and must be separated into individual Clip Art files. The documentation that comes with Clip Art Viewer tells you this much but not much more, it's up to the user to figure out how to separate the Clips from the large Library files. I tried several approaches but the only one that worked is a multiple step and time consuming procedure. After loading Print Master Plus (PM+), load the Drawing Pad, a graphics editor provided in PM+ for the user to modify and create graphics. Next, load a clip art graphic into the Drawing Pad, make your modifications and save it to disk. At this point the user must realize that PM+ stores your modified graphics in a file called CUSTOM.SHP that is 577 bytes in size. In addition to the shape file, CUSTOM.SDR is created and is 16 bytes in size, it is a directory file that PM+ uses for retrieving clip art from the shape file Library. When separating clips from the library, the directory file (CUSTOM.SDR) must be erased and the shape file (CUSTOM.SHP) must be renamed. If this isn't done, PM+ simply continues to add clip art files to the two aforementioned files and they are unusable for conversion by Clip Art Viewer. If the user thinks he might want to modify the Clip Art at a later date, then he/she should also rename the directory file to the same name as the shape file. By doing this, a mini 1 file library is created for future editing.

At this time I should point out that it is much easier to edit a clip art in PM+ than it is in any of the ADAM graphics editors. This is due to the fact that ADAM clips are 64 X 64 pixels in size, IBM clips are 88 X 52. An unedited clip comes across into the ADAM world as a distorted wide and short picture that will undoubtably have a portion missing. Obviously it is easier to edit a clip that is all there than one with a portion missing.

Now that we have separated clip files from their libraries, it is necessary to transfer them to a disk format that can ADAM can read. I use a program called 22DISK that has 7 different ADAM CP/M disk formats to choose from.

After converting to one of the CP/M formats, we then go to our ADAM, execute CP/M and run a program to convert the Clip Art file(s) into the EOS environment. CPMADAM.COM works well if you are using CP/M 2.2 that was originally sold for the ADAM. I use a file called FC05.COM, a program provided with the T-DOS package. I ran into a problem with the FC05 program that is easily overcome. The program displays files to be converted in a two column format, 32 files per screen. If you have more than 32 files on the media to convert, MORE is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Just push the down arrow and the HOME key at the same time to get to subsequent screens. The problem shows up when you TAG files on more than one screen, after the first 32 files are converted, the 33rd file is displayed as garbage. What I mean by that is you can't read the name as anything recognizable. Also, if you attempt to mark only files on screens past screen one, you get a similar display. I found that if you abort the program and delete those files already converted, the next 32 files will be accessible.

We finally have the clips in the EOS operating system and can run the Clip Art Viewer to convert the clips for use in the ADAM environment. Clip Art Viewer is not a particularly User Friendly program and leaves a lot to be desired as far as being a good conversion program. It does do the job though but could be improved upon. After loading the clip to be converted into the viewing window, only four positions are allowed and are invoked by pushing one of four Smart Keys. The positions are left, left-center, right-center, and right. Why no Center? This is of little use if the clip you are converting is not centered properly. You wind up cutting part of the clip off in the process and must edit it later. A better idea would have been to allow adjustment via the arrow keys a pixel at a time. This way you could adjust the clip exactly where you wanted it before saving.
Another shortfall of the program shows up when you try to save a clip to a filename that already exists on the media. You get an error message in the form of a code number and you must look up that code number in the back of the manual to find out what you have done wrong. Seams like a plain word error message would have been more desirable. I sometimes wonder if software authors test their software long enough to spot these irritants. All of the error messages are like this and there are 24 of them, so remember to keep your manual handy. Also, to recover from this error, you must go through a sequence of operations that take you back to one of the menus you encountered prior to loading the clip for conversion. You must therefore reload the clip, reposition it and resave under a new filename. I would like to see this operation fixed so that you can rename the file and save it without going through the lengthy operation just described. Also, why not have the option to overwrite the existing file? I found that after I saved a clip, I decided to reposition it and save it only to get that &%#* error message. You have no idea how frustrating it is to find yourself fighting the program you are using because the author failed to build in all of the convenient features you have grown to expect to see in well written software.

A comment about saving a file in Clip Art Viewer, when saving a file, there are 11 underlines provided for the characters in the filename, as you know, ADAM only allows 10 characters. If you input 11 characters per the screen display you get an error message "Device Error 14". Again, look it up in the manual.

To recap the conversion sequence, here is a list of the steps required.

On an IBM Compatible DOS Computer:
1. Load and run Print Master Plus
2. Select Drawing Pad
3. Load Clip Art graphic
4. Save graphic
5. Exit from PM+
6. Rename the two files CUSTOM.SDR/.SHP to the desired Clip
Art title
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each clip Art to be converted
8. Transfer clip art .SHP files to an ADAM CP/M disk format
using your favorite program, I use 22DISK

On the ADAM:
9. Load the CP/M operating system (or TDOS) and transfer the
files to an EOS disk using CPMADAM.COM or FC05.COM
10. Run Clip art Viewer and convert the clips to a 1K or 2K
format. Most ADAM graphics programs use 1K clips.

There it is, simple isn't it? Each clip takes 2 to three minutes to complete steps 1-6, as you can see, a lot of time can be expended in the process. The first clip library I converted had 145 clips in it. You must be dedicated to what you are doing and a little persistence helps too. Total time expended from start to finish for steps 1-10 above on each clip is estimated to be 5 minutes. I found that many clips were unusable because they appeared distorted or substantial portions were missing due to the difference in size of the two clip formats. I therefore recommend that you edit the clip before transferring begins, I have found a 100% success rate this way with all clips coming out recognizable and useable.

Additional features I would like to see in Clip Art Viewer are a ZOOM- In and ZOOM-OUT capability. A very nice feature provided is the ability to print the clips on your media in a nice page format for inclusion in a notebook.


If you have any questions or need help with T-DOS, you can contact me (James Poulin) at the following phone numbers: Work: - Home: - Fax:-