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                     |___/ By Martin Atkins           v1.11

What is FigDOS-GUI?
-------------------

FigDOS-GUI is a friendly user interface to the command line based DOS FIGlet.
It provides an easy to use front end to save having to remember complicated
command line parameters and has a handy preview function which generates
output into a file of the current text in all of the currently installed fonts


What is FIGlet?
---------------

FIGlet is a program that creates large banners from text using ascii
characters (ie text symbols).  The words are formed using special 'FIGlet
fonts' which have .FLF extensions and in the DOS version usually reside in a
directory called fonts in the directory where FIGLET.EXE lives.
FIGlet stands for Frank, Ian and Glenn`s letters, named after the authors.


What you need to use FigDOS-GUI
-------------------------------

FigDOS-GUI can either come on it`s own, or with DOS FIGlet in the archive
with it.  If you have FIGLET.EXE in your .ZIP file, then you have the
FigDOS-GUI+FIGlet zip file, otherwise you will need to get FIGlet from
somewhere else if you don`t already have it.
You can get both .ZIP files from the FigDOS-GUI website:
	http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/fdg.htm

To use FigDOS-GUI you will need to have installed FIGlet for DOS, and some
FIGlet fonts, which end in .flf and can be downloaded from the internet.
You can download FIGlet in it`s many versions from the FIGlet website,
which at the time of writing is:
      http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/chai/figlet.html
Note that if you already have FIGLET.EXE then you don`t need to download
FIGlet separately.
You also need a 286 or better.
other than that if you can run FIGlet you can probably run FigDOS-GUI.


How to install
--------------

Put the supplied files into the FIGlet directory (the directory containing
FIGLET.EXE).
If you have recieved a ZIP file with both FIGLET.EXE and FIG-GUI.EXE, you
have recieved both FIGlet and FigDOS-GUI, and do not need to download
FIGlet separately - you can just extract the archive to a directory,
mantaining directory structure (for the fonts directory). -d is the command
to extract maintaining the directory names for PKUNZIP in DOS.
Check fig-gui.ini to see that it is set up correctly:

fonts=fonts
figlet=figlet.exe
texteditor=edit

...is the default setting, which means that you must run FigDOS-GUI from
the directory containing figlet.exe with the fonts in a subdirectory
called fonts in this figlet directory.  The text editor EDIT should be
somewhere available to the current directory, ie in the current directory
or in your PATH.  The text editor is not necesary unless you wish to run
an editor from inside FigDOS-GUI - if you have no need for this function
then just leave it as it is.
The ini file can be changed to specify different locations, even absolute
locations so you can have FigDOS-GUI installed in a different place to
FIGlet on your system if you so wish.
If the three entries are not found in the .INI file, these defaults will be
used.  If the INI file is not found, FigDOS-GUI will offer to make an
INI file for you using the defaults, so if you mess up the INI file just
delete it and press y when asked if you would like an INI file to be
created.


How to use
----------

At the DOS prompt:

Change to the FIGlet directory using the CD command
ie:   C:\>CD \FIGLET
             (or whereever you have installed FigDOS-GUI)

Type FIG-GUI and press enter.

The program will report that it is scanning for fonts and shortly afterward
you should see the main screen. (If you see an error message, please see
'If things go wrong' later in this file.)

The main screen looks something like this:

Font: STANDARD, 16           FigDOS-GUI By Martin Atkins 
Justify: Left                   Alt+G make FIGure  Alt+W Width 
Text:                             Press F1 for further help




(This is not *exactly* what the screen looks like, just a rough idea. Don`t
be worried if a few things are different.)

To select an option, press Alt+ the highlighted letter.

Alt+F     to choose a font
Alt+J     to choose justification (ie Left, Right or Middle alignment)
Alt+T     to enter the text to FIGletize
Alt+W     sets the output width
Alt+G     makes the FIGure (FIGURE.TXT)
F1        Quick Help

and also, not mentioned on the screen:
Alt+U     makes a FIGure using a text file for the text (output: FILEFIG.TXT)
Alt+Q     generates a preview file (PREV.TXT)
Alt+V     display the version number
Alt+1     edit custom parameters
Alt+2     view current FIGure
Alt+E     save to custom file
Alt+N     Shell out to a Text Editor defined in FIG-GUI.TXT
ESC       quit to DOS

You must type some text before Alt+G or Alt+Q will work.

The FIGure from file and Preview functions will display a preview when they
have been generated, automatically, allowing instant view.

A quick run through...

1. Start up FigDOS-GUI
2. Press ALT+F and choose your favorite font using the up and down arrow keys.
3. Press ALT+J repeatedly to switch between Left, Right and Middle
4. Press ALT+T and type in your name, then press enter
5. Press ALT+G and wait while your FIGure is generated.
6. Press Alt+2 to view the generated FIGure.
7. If all has gone well, your name in the chosen font should pop up.
8. If you want to keep this, Press Alt+E and type a path and
   filename to save to.
9. Press ESC to exit, and type:
                          C:\FIGLET>type figure.txt
10.The generated FIGure should appear on the screen.

If you quit without saving with Ctrl+E, the most recently generated FIGure can
be found in FIGURE.TXT.


Known Bugs
----------
 FIGure viewer sometimes misses off or badly displays the end of the file it is
showing. This is due to the new fast loader, which just loads in the file and
chops it up--- sometimes wrongly.
 It also ends the file with the 400th line. In order to view more, you will need
to use an external editor/viewer. This isn't really a bug, though - it was
intended that way!


If things go wrong
------------------

Q. I see a message saying that the fonts directory cannot be located just
  after starting the program.
A. Check FIG-DOS.INI and see if the fonts= line has the correct fonts
  directory in it. The default it FONTS\ which means that the fonts are
  in a subdirectory called FONTS in the current directory. If this is not
  where they are kept, modify the ini file.

Q. I see a message saying FIGLET.EXE cannot be found.
A. You need to tell FIG-GUI.EXE where to find FIGLET.EXE in the FIG-DOS.INI
  file on the figlet= line. It defaults to being in the current directory
  and called FIGLET.EXE.  If this is not where the FIGlet executable is
  kept, you will need to modify that line in the file.

Q. I see a message saying the fonts directory cannot be found any time after
  the main GUI screen has been displayed.
A. You have found a bug. Please be so kind as to EMail me with details about
  what you did to cause the error and about your system.

Q. A message ending in 'Press any key to return to system' or similar appears
any time.
A. This is another bug :o( Please be so kind as to email me and let me know
where you saw this... but please read 'known bugs' first!


If you have any other problem, please EMail me. Remember to check your version
number either by pressing Ctrl+V or by starting with the command line option
/v. You need to include both the FigDOS-GUI version (underneath the logo,
to the right next to 'By Martin Atkins') and the FIGlet version, which is
at the bottom of all the text.


Version History
---------------

   * 1.01
       Initial release
   * 1.02
       Added the file figure option and cleaned up the OS call a little.
   * 1.03 (never released properly, had many new bugs!)
       Added the .INI file and the ability to have fonts and the executable
      in any directory.
       Made the preview file option use hyphens instead of lines for the
      heading underline, for ease of transfer to other computer systems.
       Added F1 Help screen
   * 1.04
       Fixed the fonts box display bug - looks nicer now!
       The FIGure from file option has been re-enabled - YAY!
       Further speed increases
       Fixed a few internal bugs <g>
       Made the justify box look like the others
       The 'paste in previous text' button has moved from F1 to F5, to allow
      the new spanking F1 help screen to work correctly!
   * 1.05
       Bodged around that erroring bug where FigDOS-GUI crashed after saying
      FIGure could not be generated... I`ll put a decent solution in soon.
       Added 'Save as...' option (Alt+E)
   * 1.06
       Fixed the bug with texts over 70 characters
       A few minor changes
       Added the FIGure viewer!
       Used the FIGure viewer to read the docs too.
   * 1.07
       Much better way of entering text into the text box (and other places
      too)... thanks to Jacob Poon for the multiline suggestion!
       Added the option to shell out to a text editor so that you may create
      the text files for the file FIGure option, or edit the output.
       Fixed the bug with <s and >s in the text
   * 1.08t (internal testing revision)
       This version was made purely to test how a new system works with
      [4]DOS.  Noone should have this apart from my testers and I.
   * 1.08
       Fixed the long file names bug... probably. I`ve been forced to program
      in what is basically my own long filename parser, and it can`t handle
      duplicate long filnames (where the first six characters are the same)
      very well. It sometimes works, and sometimes doesn`t. It`s best to stay
      well away from using long filenames at all, but at least now it tries.
       Improvements to the fonts box.
       It should now work well in [4]DOS. Thankyou to Jacob Poon for help
      with testing.
   * 1.09t
      Internal testing version - shouldn`t have been publically released.
   * 1.09
      Fonts box code reworked, but it still looks mostly the same! :o)
      No longer litters the hard drive with temporary files. Now there are
     less temporary files and the TEMP/TMP environment varibles are used.
     All temporary files are deleted as soon as they are finished with and
     just in case are flushed on exit.
      Recoded a lot of it to make the program more efficient.
      FigDOS-GUI is now aware of which version of FIGlet it is dealing with.
     When FIGlet3 is released, I will use this version info to enable new
     options (and disable them with old versions!). Currently the program
     makes no use of the version info.
      Fixed bug with the FileFigure (Alt+U) where pressing ESC to cancel
     caused it to crash out.
   * 1.11
      Improved the loader on the FIGure viewer, so it should load files
     about 5 times faster than it did in previous versions. The new fast
     loader is unfortunately more memory intensive than the older one,
     and it has a file length limit of 400 lines. Sometimes you may notice
     slight flaws at the end of the file... to make it load faster I have
     recoded it so that it makes the best it can and bodges it together.
      FIGure viewer now has an option to load the viewed file into the
     editor specified in FIG-GUI.INI, provided it allows you to put a
     filename on the command line: PROGRAM.EXE FILENAME.TXT
      You can now press letter keys in the font list to jump to the first
     font in the list starting with that letter.
      Trashed all of those wizzy logos, since I recieved many complaints
     about how slow they were on older machines. Sorry... I didn't think
     of that when I was writing it.


Future Plans
------------

Support a few more FIGlet parameters
Make a monochrome mode, for people without a colour monitor.
Use the FIGlet version check to disable features that are innapropriate
to older FIGlet versions (once FIGlet3 is released).


Distribution
------------

This program may be freely distributed if unmodified and so long as this file
is included with it. Please repay my hard work to make your life easier by
not distributing this with anyone elses name on it!  Any distribution with
any profit-making product (shareware, commercial etc) must be cleared with
the author (see below) first.
Please note that the program will not start if it cannot find FIG-GUI.TXT
(ie this file) in the current directory.


Disclaimer
----------

FigDOS-GUI is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, either express or
implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall
Martin Atkins be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct,
indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special
damages, even if the user has been advised of the possibility of such damages.


Greetings and Acknowledgements
------------------------------

 Thankyou to RaD Man for putting FigDOS-GUI on sites all over the world!
RaD Man is founder of ACiD Productions, and the Artpacks Archive at
http://artpacks.acid.org/ featuring many art utilities!
 Thankyou also to Ian Chai, for putting FigDOS-GUI up on the offical
FIGlet website.


The Testers
-----------

Thank you to Alex "Bungle!" Haig for help with getting FigDOS-GUI running
and for throwing everything he had at it and trying to make it fall
over :o) and thank you Jacob Poon for trying it with [4]DOS while I
try and try to make it compatible, as well as the reports that he sends
me with each version pointing out all of the bugs!
Also cheers Jacob for spotting a few typos in the docs.


The FigDOS-GUI Newsletter
-------------------------

The FigDOS-GUI newsletter is the best way to keep up with developments
of FigDOS-GUI. It is better than the website because this could change
address in the future.  If you would like to receive the newsletter, with
news of all new releases and bugs, please email mart.atkins@bigfoot.com
with the subject line set to 'subscribe fdgnews'.  You will be able to
unsubscribe at any time once subscribed.


The Author
----------

My name is Martin Atkins and I am from London, England.
At the time of writing I am a student in the final year of High School.
One of my hobbies is asciiart which is how I discovered FIGlet originally.
You can email me at mart.atkins@bigfoot.com if you have any problems, and
please also email me if you find any bugs.

Thankyou very much,
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