Short: MBMView 1.21 Author: 100121.3102@compuserve.com (Lieuwe de Vries) URL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/platodva/psion.htm Uploader: psion-adm@nic.funet.fi Type: s5/apps/gfx MBMView Version 1.21 Copyright: Lieuwe de Vries 1997 (Freeware. Distribute freely. Mail me if you like it) New in version 1.21: 1. Removed all the (stupid) bugs from version 1.20 New in version 1.20: 1. Changed menu structure. 2. Create mosaic from all bitmaps in current file. 3. Extra error checking. What is MBMView --------------- MBMView is a bitmap viewer which views all bitmap types of the Series 5: 1. 'Normal' and 'multi' MBM files. 2. ROM MBM files(Only from ROM). 3. Sketch files. 4. AIF files (which contain the icons) 5. Create mosaic of all bitmpas in one file Once loaded and on screen you can save them as a normal MBM file. You can create/add to multi MBM files. You can even convert ROM multi MBM files to normal MBM files. You can scroll the image using the keyboard, pen (just drag it around) or on screen buttons. It shows bitmaps in 4 or 16 color mode. MBM files are saved in such a way that they can be converted on the PC using BMCONV.EXE. Using MBMView: -------------- The bottom button bar: The left 2 buttons (with small info window) are only for multi MBM files. The 4 buttons on the right are for scrolling the bitmap. You can also move the bitmap with the pen. Menu options: File Open Open bitmap file Next Load next supported file (MBM, AIF, Sketch) in current directory Save Current bitmap Save bitmap to file. If file does not exist, one will be created. If file exists, the bitmap will be added to the file. All bitmaps All bitmaps in the current file will be saved to file. If file does not exist, the file will be created. If it does exist, the bitmaps will be added to the file Patch Patch current file so it can be used with BMCONV.EXE Create from file list Takes a plain text file as input and makes a MBM files. The first line of the text file should contain the file to be created. On each of the following lines contains a bitmap file (of all supported types). Only the first bitmap of each file named in the text file is copied. Close Close the current bitmap and free the memory Exit Leave the program Bitmap Replace Replaces current bitmap. Delete Deletes current bitmap from file. (You cannot delete the last one) Insert Inserts a bitmap at the current location in the file. Change color mode Changes the color mode of the current bitmap. Save it to keep the changes. Especially handy in decreasing color depth of bitmaps. Info Show info on current bitmap. Position Center Center current bitmap on the screen Top left Place bitmap in top left corner of the screen View Show toolbar If checked a toolbar will be shown at the right hand side of the screen Show bottom toolbar If checked a toolbar will be shown at the bottom of the screen Default directory Goto default directory (home) and load first supported file. Mosaic Create mosaic of all bitmaps in current file. Can be saved. Bitmap # Next Show next bitmap in file if it is a multi MBM file Previous Show previous bitmap in file if it's a multi MBM file Jump to Show dialog to jump to any bitmap in file if it's a multi MBM file Tools View preferences Set program preferences Set default directory Set current directory as the default directory. (A bitmap should be loaded to do this) Help Switch to help file About Program information Installing MBMView: ------------------- Create a directory \System\Apps\MBMView\ and copy all the files in this directory. To do this you need access to the system directory. You can set this in the system preferences. Some interesting information about MBM files on the Series 5: ------------------------------------------------------------- While analyzing MBM files on the Series 5 I stumbled across some interesting things: There are 3 quite different types of bitmap files on the series5. Each with its own (quite) distinct format: 1. ROM Image files: These are MBM files on the 'Z' drive containing one or more bitmaps. They are used by the built in applications. They can be loaded using 'gLoadBit' in OPL as long as they are on the 'Z' drive. If you copy them to the internal drive (Drive C) they cannot be accessed in this way... You can however use MBMView to save such a file as a normal MBM file. 2. Normal MBM files: Files containing 1 or more bitmaps. Such files are supplied with most (shareware/freeware) programs, containing icons etc. You can create single MBM files in OPL using 'gSaveBit'. If you copy this file to the PC, it cannot be converted using BMCONV.EXE! MBMView patches these files when saving, so they CAN be converted. 3. Sketch files: Files created using the built in Sketch application. These file always contain just 1 bitmap and are always in 4 colors. MBMView reads these files. They can then be saved as normal MBM files. 4. AIF files : There seem to be a lot of different AIF files. The ones I've seen can be read. It might be there is a type MBMView currently does not support. Only the icons are read. Viewing the bitmaps on screen: Painting bitmaps on screen can be slow if the screen mode differs from the bitmap mode. So showing a 16 color bitmap while the screen is in 4 color mode will be slow because of color conversions. MBMView has an option (set in the preferences) to automatically change the screen mode so that is matches the bitmap mode. Scrolling is faster in 4 color mode (More memory has to be moved when in 16 color mode) If anyone is interested in the format of the different MBM files, please let me know. Contacting the author --------------------- If you find bugs or have suggestions, mail me at: 100121.3102@compuserve.com New versions will be available on my homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/platodva/psion.htm