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FILE2576.TXT
Disk No: 2576
Disk Title: VGAColor
PC-SIG Version: S2.0
Program Title: VGAColor
Author Version: 2.0.03
Author Registration: $20.00
Special Requirements: VGA
VGACOLOR helps you to easily modify the standard color palettes of your
VGA monitor. VGACOLOR was designed for those who wish to display
different colors while in DOS, and to aid programmers in designing color
schemes for their applications.
VGACOLOR provides several functions in addition to color modification.
Save your color modifications to a disk file, load a saved color
description and, optionally, print a map of the individual color
registers. A saved color description file can be loaded as a DOS
command and even included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can have many
color description files and change your colors to fit the type of work
you are doing.
VGACOLOR prints a color modification report with information on the
current state of the individual color registers. This report can be
particularly useful for programmers who want to incorporate the colors
into their own applications. Simply supply the appropriate hex values
to the proper Bios routine to change the color and VGACOLOR takes
advantage of Bios (Int 10H) for all manipulation of the color palettes
and individual color registers.
VGACOLOR provides a separate utility program to change the foreground
and background colors, getting away from the black and white DOS prompt.
Add to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and your colors will be set automatically
when you start up your computer.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1991 PC-SIG, Inc.
VGACOLOR.DOC
*********************************
* *
* VgaColor *
* *
*********************************
A VGA Color Monitor Utility
For Selecting and Modifying DOS's
Standard Color Palettes
V2.0.03
Copyright (c)1990
DigiTec Software, Ltd.
P. O. Box 9247
Salt Lake City, UT 84109
_________________________________________________________________
*************************************************
* *
* TABLE OF CONTENTS *
* *
*************************************************
LICENSE AGREEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Minimum System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Distribution Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Installing VgaColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
USING VGACOLOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
User-Controlled Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Special Key Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Starting VgaColor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Selecting a Color to Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Modifying a Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Increasing and Decreasing Intensity . . . . . . . . . . 7
Restoring Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Restore Active Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Restore All Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Loading and Saving Color File Descriptions . . . . . . . 10
Load Saved Color File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Saving a Color File Description . . . . . . . . . . 10
Enable/Disable Mode Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Printing the Modification Summary Report . . . . . . . . 12
Sound On/Off Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
DOS Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Using VgaColor as a Dos Command . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
CHANGING DOS FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND COLORS . . . . . . . . 16
ANSI.SYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using SETBF.EXE to change Foreground/Background colors . 17
Automating the Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
TECHNICAL INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
General Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Assembly Language Example (INT 10h) . . . . . . . . . . 20
Format of the Saved Color File Description . . . . . . . 21
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor i Copyright (c)1990
**************************************************
* *
* VGACOLOR LICENSE AGREEMENT *
* *
**************************************************
VgaColor is the property of DigiTec Software, Ltd., Salt Lake
City, Utah. You are granted a non-exclusive license to use
VgaColor under the following conditions:
In no event will DigiTec Software, Ltd., or any other person
or entity, be liable for damages or costs incurred resulting
from the use of VgaColor. You agree to, and assume full
responsibility for, the use of VgaColor. No warranties,
expressed or implied, are in effect for Vgacolor and is
provided "as is" for your use. This agreement shall be
enforced under the laws of the State of Utah, County of
Salt Lake.
DigiTec, Ltd. reserves all rights to VgaColor. VgaColor is
NOT "Public Domain" software, but has been distributed under
"Shareware" principles.
YOU MAY:
For promotional considerations of VgaColor, you may duplicate
and distribute all of the executable files, libraries and
user manuals, AS LONG AS YOU DISTRIBUTE THE ENTIRE PRODUCT
INTACT, which includes the documentation and executable files.
If you like VgaColor and plan to use Vgacolor on a regular
basis, please register yourself with Digitec.
The registration fee for VgaColor is $20.00 (U.S. dollars)
per copy, per machine. Please remit to:
DigiTec Software, Ltd.
P.O. Box 9247
Salt Lake City, UT 84109
YOU MAY NOT:
Sell or lease VgaColor, including the executable files, libraries
and documentation. A reasonable distribution fee, not to exceed
$8.00, to cover materials, postage and handling is permissible.
Modify, reverse-engineer or alter, in any manner, any part of the
VgaColor system including, but not limited to, the executable
files, libraries and user documentation. VgaColor may not be
merged with other software, except for backup-up purposes.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor ii Copyright (c)1990
***********************************************
* *
* PRODUCT DESCRIPTION *
* *
***********************************************
VgaColor is a utility which allows you to easily modify the
standard color palettes if you have a VGA color monitor.
By standard color palette, we mean the colors represented
in palette numbers 0 through 15, which are the palettes DOS
as well as most text-based applications use. This utility
can be useful for two audiences: (1) a user who wishes to
display different colors while in DOS and (2) to aid the
programmer in designing color schemes for their applications.
VgaColor provides several functions in addition to color
modification. You can save your modifications to a disk
file, load a saved color description file and optionally
print a map of the individual color registers. A saved
color description file may be loaded as a DOS command and
may be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. We also provide
SETBF.EXE, our program to change DOS foreground and background
colors, which replaces the DOS PROMPT command.
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
PC/MS DOS 2.0 or higher
IBM or true compatible computer
VGA color monitor
Floppy or hard disk
116 Kb of free memory
DISTRIBUTION FILES
*******************************************
* VGACOLOR.EXE VGASAMP.BAT *
* VGASCRN.EXE TESTCOLR.VGA *
* VGAFIO.EXE REGISTER.YOU *
* VGAMAPER.EXE VGACOLOR.DOC *
* VGACMDL.EXE VGAREAD.ME *
* SETBF.EXE *
*******************************************
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 1 Copyright (c)1990
INSTALLING VGACOLOR
The best way to install VgaColor is to create a separate directory
and use a DOS PATH to access it. However you choose to install
and run VgaColor, all of the .EXE files must be available for
VgaColor to operate.
Installing on a Hard Disk:
1. MD\VGACOLOR
2. CD\VGACOLOR
3. Insert your distribution disk in drive A
3. COPY A:*.*
Floppy Disk Users:
1. Make a backup of your distribution disk and use the backup
copy as your working disk.
2. COMMAND.COM must be available to VgaColor.
Although the VgaColor system does not use or require ANSI.SYS,
you must install ANSI.SYS in your CONFIG.SYS file to use
our program, SETBF.EXE, to change the DOS foreground and
background colors.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 2 Copyright (c)1990
*************************************************
* *
* USING VGACOLOR *
* *
*************************************************
USER-CONTROLLED OPTIONS
Prior to starting VgaColor, the following SET commands may be
issued to control these functions:
SET IBMC=N - This will slow down the video display if you are
operating in a windows environment or you
experience incompatibility problems with your
monitor.
SET IBMC=F - Some color monitor boards may operate significantly
faster using this option.
SET IBMC=Q - Will suppress all "beeps" sounded in VgaColor
(field errors not effected).
You can combine multiple options in one SET command. For example,
if you want to use the faster display option and also suppress
"beeps":
SET IBMC=FQ
Note: Do not place a space before or after the equal sign (=).
DOS will not recognize the parameters if you do.
SPECIAL KEY USAGE:
End
The END key will restore the contents of a data item if you
mistakenly type over it. It will restore the original contents
of the field, provided you have not pressed a function key or
TABed the cursor from the field.
Tab and Shift-Tab
The TAB key moves the cursor forward from field to field.
Shift-TAB moves the cursor in the reverse direction.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 3 Copyright (c)1990
Backspace
The Backspace key is a destructive backspace key. As you
press the key, the previous character is erased.
Home
This key will take you to the first field on the screen.
Cursor/Arrow Keys
The cursor control keys operate as follows:
o The left and right cursor keys allow you to move the cursor
within a field (a field which allows you to enter data into
it).
o The down and up cursor keys operate similar to the Tab and
Shift-Tab keys, which move the cursor forward and backward
through the fields.
Del
The Delete key deletes the character at the cursor position and
moves all of the characters to the right of the cursor one
position to the left.
Ins
The Insert key sets the computer into and out of insert mode.
Each character typed while in insert mode will shift all
characters to the right of the cursor one position further
to the right. When in Insert mode, cursor will change to a
full block instead on an underline character.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 4 Copyright (c)1990
STARTING VGACOLOR
To start VgaColor, simply type VGACOLOR at the DOS prompt and
press the enter key. The left side of the screen shows the
current state of the color palettes. The right side of the
screen provides you with a larger visual of the color you are
modifying, controls for turning the Red, Blue and Green mixers
on and off, and a list of optional functions provided by
VgaColor. The bottom of the screen provides access to the
primary function keys for performing color modifications.
The following pages describe each of the functions provided by
VgaColor. A tutorial is also provided to show you how to tell
DOS to display a screen with background and foreground colors
and tips on how to change them using VgaColor. The following
functions are available in VgaColor:
Esc - Quit VgaColor
F1 - Modify Intensity of Red
F2 - Modify Intensity of Green
F3 - Modify Intensity of Blue
F5 - Restore Active Color
F8 - Restore All Colors
Alt-L - Load Saved Color File
Alt-M - Enable/Disable Mode Change
Alt-P - Print Current Settings
Alt-S - Save Current Settings/Disk
Alt-T - Sound On/Off
Shift-F10 - Dos Window
Up Arrow - Increase Intensity of Red, Green or Blue
Down Arrow - Decrease Intensity of Red, Green or Blue
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 5 Copyright (c)1990
SELECTING A COLOR TO MODIFY
The left side of the screen shows all of the possible colors
available in the first 16 palettes, which DOS and most text-
based applications use. All 16 colors (0 - 15) may be used as
the foreground color. Only the first 8 colors (0 - 7) may
be used as background colors.
Simply type the number of the color you want to change and press
the Enter key. For example, press the number 2 and then press the
enter key or press 02. When the program senses two consecutive
numbers, an Enter is automatically issued.
The color Green and its associated number should appear in the
top, right-hand box called "Selected Color to be Modified".
This is the primary visual area for reviewing the color you
have selected to modify.
MODIFYING A COLOR
F1 - F2 - F3 Keys
All colors are made up of varying intensities of the primary colors
Red, Blue and Green. The following three function keys select which
primary color you wish to increase or decrease.
F1 = Change Red
F2 = Change Green
F3 = Change Blue
The second box on the right-hand side of the screen indicates which
primary color is currently active. Listed above the words (R)ed,
(G)reen or (B)lue are numeric values which indicate the current value
of each of these primary colors. For the color Green (assuming no
modifications have been made) the values should read 00 for Red,
42 for Green and 00 for Blue. The word "On" or "Off" appears below
each of the primary colors. You change the intensity of a color
by first pressing the F1, F2 or F3 key. For example press F1 to
modify the intensity of Red. The word "On" will appear, indicating
Red is the active primary color.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 6 Copyright (c)1990
INCREASING AND DECREASING INTENSITY
Up and Down Arrow Keys
The Up and Down arrow keys are used to increase the intensity
of Red, Green or Blue contained in a color. The intensity ranges
from 0 (no color) to 63 (high intensity). The Up arrow increases
intensity; the Down Arrow decreases intensity. The numeric
value will change as you press these arrow keys. Also notice
that an asterisk (*) will appear next the color on the left-hand
side of the screen indicating the original color was modified.
The asterisk (*) appears only when the original state of a
color is modified.
To show you how easy it is to change a color, follow the steps
listed below:
(1) If you have not already done so, press 02 to select the
color Green. The color Green will appear in the box,
"Selected Color to be Modified", as well as the color
number directly below it.
(2) Press the F1 key to modify the Red content of the color.
(3) Press the Down Arrow Key until the numeric indicator listed
above the color indicates 63.
(4) Press the F2 key to modify the Green content of the color.
(5) Press the Up Arrow key until the numeric indicator listed
above the color indicates 46.
(6) Press the F3 key to modify the Blue content of the color.
(7) Press the Up Arrow key until the numeric indicator listed
above the color indicates 54.
Your color should look hot pink-like and an asterisk should appear
next to the low intensity word, "Green". That's virtually all
there is to it. Please note that variations in color monitors
may cause colors to look different from color monitor to color
monitor.
Any of the sixteen colors can be modified in the same way you
just did. With 64 intensities, each available for Red, Green
and Blue, you have the capability of producing 262,144 different
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 7 Copyright (c)1990
colors. Naturally, you should use some discretion when changing
colors. The colors will remain in effect until you or some other
application cancels them. If you plan to modify a color simply
for display during your DOS session, we recommend you modify only
two colors--one for your foreground color and one for your background
color. You should also try to modify a color not commonly used
by your applications. This will help eliminate the tendency for
some very garish-looking screens. We have found that selecting
low intensity Magenta (05) for your background and high intensity
Cyan (11) for your foreground to be colors that do not conflict
too often. We also recommend you do not change Black (00),
White (07) or high intensity White (15). These are base, neutral
colors used very often by applications.
For DOS users who have never seen anything other than a black and
white screen at the DOS prompt, please refer to the section
titled "Changing DOS Foreground and Background Colors". You
need to know how to tell DOS to display foreground and background
colors in order for any of the color modifications made with
VgaColor to appear.
If you wanted to spend the time to do so, you could examine the
colors of your favorite applications, use VgaColor to modify the
colors used by those applications and save a color description
file. You could then use the command-line load option to load the
saved color file before starting your word processor or spread
sheet. The colors displayed in your applications would then
display your modifications.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 8 Copyright (c)1990
RESTORING COLORS
F5 and F8 Function Keys
VgaColor provides two methods of restoring colors to their original,
unmodified state:
F5 - Restore Active Color
F8 - Restore All Colors
F5 - Restore Active Color
When the F5 key is pressed, the active color is restored to its
original, unmodified state. Active color means the color and color
number showing in the "Selected Color to be Modified" box on the
screen.
F8 - Restore All Colors
When the F8 key is pressed, all of the 16 color palettes are restored
to their original, unmodified state. A warning message will pop up
to give you an opportunity to cancel or continue with the operation.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 9 Copyright (c)1990
LOADING AND SAVING COLOR FILE DESCRIPTIONS
Alt-L and Alt-S Functions Keys
VgaColor provides you with the capability to load a previously
saved color description or save a new or modified color description
file.
Alt-L - Load Saved Color File
When you press the Alt-L keys, a window will pop up requesting the
name of the file to load. Simply enter the name of the file,
including any drive, path and extension, and press the Enter key.
Providing no problems occur during the load operation, Vgacolor
will load and process the color file you selected.
Alt-S - Save Current Settings/Disk
When you press the Alt-S keys, a window will pop up requesting the
name of the file to save. Simply enter the name of the file,
including any drive, path and extension, and press the Enter key.
Providing no problems occur during the save operation, the new
file will be saved.
Naming Conventions
Although you can give the files any name you wish, we recommend you
use an extension of VGA. This will provide easy identification for
you to know that VgaColor created the file.
Error Messages
VgaColor performs several diagnostics during a load or save operation.
If a problem occurs, a window will pop up giving you a description
of the problem and the action you need to take. If an error occurs,
simply respond to the appropriate action requested by the error
message.
Do not modify the files created by VgaColor. The program expects
them in a very specific format. The program will refuse to load
the file if it is not in the expected format. For programmers who
wish to use the file in their own applications, a description of
the file's format can be found in the "Technical Information"
section of this documentation.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 10 Copyright (c)1990
ENABLE/DISABLE MODE CHANGE
Alt-M Function Key
This option allows you to prevent another application from canceling
your color modifications. The pop-up menu allows you to select one
of two options:
1 - Enable
Option 1 Re-establishes the ability for a Mode change to reset the
color palettes. In other words, Mode changes are set back
to a normal operating procedure.
2 - Disable
Option 2 Disables a program's ability to reset the color palettes
to their default values, effectively preserving the modi-
fications you have made to the palettes.
The Disable function operates under the following
rules, restrictions and limitations:
(1) If the Disable is in effect, a Mode change, whether issued
from an application or by the DOS MODE command, will prevent
a reset of the color palettes.
(2) The Disable will remain in effect until you cancel it with
Option 1, Enable Mode Change, or another program or
application does not specifically re-enable a mode change
in the same manner VgaColor prevents it. Many graphic-based
packages will probably do just that.
If you use this option, it is important for you to remember that
the Disable is in effect. You may try to perform an operation
at a later time and observe some peculiar color combinations and
forget that the Disable function is in effect. If you are not
sure whether the Mode change is Enabled, simply use Option 1 to
set the operation back to normal.
The integrity of, or assurance that, the Disable function will work
all of the time cannot be guaranteed because of other software
activity.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 11 Copyright (c)1990
PRINTING THE MODIFICATION SUMMARY REPORT
Alt-P Function Key
The report produced by this option gives you information on the
current state of the individual color registers. The report
can be particularly useful for programmers who want to incorporate
the colors into their own applications, since all you would
need to do is simply supply the appropriate hex values to the
proper Bios routine to change the color. Further technical
information may be found in the "Technical Information" section.
Basically, the report provides three types of information. The
left-hand side shows the default values of the individual color
registers for each of the 16 palettes. Both hex and decimal
values are listed. The middle section of the report shows the
palette/color Id number for each of the 16 palettes in hex and
decimal. The right-hand side of the report show the current,
modified (if any) state of the individual color registers in hex
and decimal. If a color palette has been modified, a double
asterisk (**) will appear on the far right-hand side of the report.
The top of the report also shows the name of the file the
information on the report pertains to, provided the file was
saved before printing this report.
If no modifications have been made to any of the color palettes,
a window will pop up, requesting whether you want to proceed
with the print operation. A second window will appear asking
for the printer assignment (port) to use. Simply specify the
proper assignment name (most printers are assigned to Lpt1)
and press the Enter key.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 12 Copyright (c)1990
SOUND ON/OFF TOGGLE
Alt-T Functions Key
This option merely turns of the sound when you press the up or
down arrows to modify a color. Simply press Alt-T to turn the
sound On or Off.
DOS WINDOW
Shift-F10 Function Keys
This option allows you to jump into DOS without exiting
VgaColor. Simply press Shift-F10 to activate this function
to place you in a DOS session. To return back to VgaColor,
type EXIT at the DOS prompt and press the Enter key.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 13 Copyright (c)1990
USING VGACOLOR AS A DOS COMMAND
VgaColor may be invoked as a DOS command to load a saved color
file description. This allows you to load a saved color description
file without using the interactive aspects of VgaColor. This
capability makes it extremely easy to automatically invoke
VgaColor when you start up your computer by simply including
the command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
To invoke as a DOS command, simply do the following:
VGACOLOR filename
Filename is the name of a previously saved color file created by
VgaColor. The name of the file may contain a drive and path name.
If a problem occurs loading the file, VgaColor will respond with
an appropriate error message.
ABSENCE OF A FILE NAME INVOKES THE INTERACTIVE PROCESS. This
is how VgaColor distinguishes between command-line access and
invocation of the interactive process.
Examples:
VGACOLOR COLOR1.VGA
VGACOLOR C:\VGACOLOR\MAINCOLR.VGA
SWITCHES
Two switches may be set when invoking VgaColor as a command-line.
These switches invoke the mode Enable/Disable functions, which
are also available in the interactive VgaColor functions. The
following switches may be used:
/D = Disable reset of color palettes by a MODE change
/E = Enable reset of color palettes by a MODE change
To activate, merely enter one of the switches as follows:
VGACOLOR/D COLOR1.VGA
- or -
VGACOLOR/E COLOR1.VGA
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 14 Copyright (c)1990
Only one switch may be specified at a time. The /D or /E switch
must follow VGACOLOR with no spaces before the /D or /E. The
file name is specified as explained above. If you want to invoke
a switch without specifying a file, simply use NUL for file name.
Upper- or lower-case /D or /E may be used.
Also, please refer to the "Changing DOS Foreground and Background
Colors" Section for further information.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 15 Copyright (c)1990
***************************************************************
* *
* CHANGING DOS FOREGROUND AND BACKGROUND COLORS *
* *
***************************************************************
Have you ever asked yourself, "I have an expensive VGA monitor and
all I ever see is a black-and-white DOS prompt. How do you display
colors?". The solution to your question is relatively simple--finding
the information to do it is sometimes difficult. We provide a simple
program, SETBF.EXE, to accomplish this. SETBF replaces the cryptic,
DOS PROMPT command to change foreground and background colors.
ANSI.SYS
A special file (called a device driver) is distributed with your
DOS operating system called ANSI.SYS. This device driver allows
you to redefine keys and control your display. Before we proceed
with showing you how to display colors, there are a few things
that need to be done. Generally, ANSI.SYS is not automatically
installed on a machine. It is most often an optional feature
left to the user to decide whether they want to use it or not.
The ANSI.SYS driver is always specified and loaded from your
CONFIG.SYS file. If you are not sure ANSI.SYS has been installed
in CONFIG.SYS, examine the CONFIG.SYS file.
If ANSI.SYS is not present, you must include it before using SETBF.
Using a text editor or equivalent, add the following statement to
your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
The above example assumes you have a separate directory for
DOS. Some users install DOS in their Root Directory in which
case you would add the following to your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
If ANSI.SYS is already installed in your CONFIG.SYS file, you
may proceed to the instructions on the next page. If it is not,
add ANSI.SYS to your CONFIG.SYS file. YOU MUST RE-BOOT YOUR
COMPUTER after installing ANSI.SYS.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 16 Copyright (c)1990
USING SETBF.EXE
A Few Basics About Colors:
On a color monitor, DOS and most text-based applications use a
standard color palette consisting of 16 preset colors. These
are the only colors accessible by DOS. A program like VgaColor,
however, can modify any of the 16 standard colors (palettes).
Use our program, SETBF, to display any of the standard DOS colors.
The DOS PROMPT command could be used to do the same thing, but is
much more difficult to use. SETBF should work on any color monitor.
Use the format below to initiate SETBF. Upper- and lower-case
letters may be used.
Format:
SETBF foreground-color on background-color
Where: foreground-color and background-color is any valid color
listed below. The word 'on' separating foreground and
background-color is optional.
Valid FOREGROUND Colors:
Black Red Green
Brown Blue Magenta
Cyan White Gray
Yellow Hi-Red Hi-Green
Hi-Blue Hi-Magenta Hi-Cyan
Hi-White
Valid BACKGROUND Colors:
Black Red Green
Brown Blue Magenta
Cyan White
Example: SETBF Hi-Cyan on Magenta
Will display a high-intensity Cyan foreground with
a Magenta background.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 17 Copyright (c)1990
You can also obtain help information for SETBF any time you
wish by simply invoking SETBF in the following manner:
SETBF/h
Do not include a space before the /h.
You can now, if you wish, use VgaColor to modify the Magenta
background and high-intensity Cyan foreground color to whatever
suites you. Any of the colors listed in the table may be used
by SETBF to change colors. If you use VgaColor to modify the
colors, you would simply select color #5-Magenta and color
#11-High-Intensity Cyan. After you are finished modifying
these colors and exit VgaColor, the foreground and background
color you selected with SETBF.EXE will be different.
REMEMBER - You have to have a color displayed in your DOS session
in order to show any modifications made by VgaColor!
*****************************************************************
* *
* Do not use the DOS PROMPT command to change colors if you *
* also use SETBF. The PROMPT command has the effect of making *
* changes using SETBF non-permanent. *
* *
*****************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 18 Copyright (c)1990
Automating the Process:
If you want your colors automatically invoked, all you need to do
is include the SETBF and VGACOLOR commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. Then, every time you start your computer, the colors will
automatically be set. To do this, simply add the following to
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
SETBF Hi-Cyan on Magenta
VGACOLOR MYCOLOR.VGA
Note - When specifying the file for VGACOLOR to load, we assume
you saved the modified color description file. For
the purposes of this example, we use MYCOLOR.VGA and
also assume MYCOLOR.VGA is located in your Root directory.
The color file description can reside anywhere and the
filename can be of your choosing.
The example above also assumes that you generated a Magenta
background and high-intensity Cyan foreground using SETBF.
You would also have used VgaColor to modify color
#5-Magenta and color #11-High-Intensity Cyan. You must
modify the same color(s) with VgaColor as those specified
for SETBF in order for the new colors to be displayed!
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DigiTec VgaColor 19 Copyright (c)1990
***************************************************************
* *
* TECHNICAL INFORMATION *
* *
***************************************************************
This section offers some technical information about VgaColor which
may be primarily of interest to programmers. You may find VgaColor
useful for designing your VGA color schemes and using the saved
file description in your own programs. This may save you some
development time for this portion of your application. The infor-
mation is not exhaustive, and we assume you have some knowledge
of the information we are providing.
VgaColor takes advantage of Bios (Int 10h) for all manipulation of
the color palettes and individual color registers. This method is
available only for VGA monitors. Since VgaColor was designed for
VGA monitors, EGA was not a concern.
Basically, there are two methods you can use to access the color
palettes and individual color registers: (1) hard-code the values
in your program or (2) use the saved color file description created
by VgaColor. Which ever method you choose, the following assembly
routine (or comparable high-level language method) may be used to
modify the individual color registers:
mov AH,10h ;Palette Services
mov AL,10h ;Service 10h - Set Color Register
mov BX,2 ;Palette Id to Change - (Decimal)
mov DH,00h ;Intensity of Red (hex)
mov CH,2Ah ;Intensity of Green (hex)
mov CL,00h ;Intensity of Blue (hex)
Int 10h ;BIOS Service
The example above will restore Palette # 2 back to its original
default color, Green. If hard coding the values in your program,
simply use the print option of VgaColor to list the current state
of the individual color registers. Supply the palette Id decimal
value for BX, Red intensity for DH (hex), Green intensity for CH
(hex) and Blue intensity for CL (hex).
Remember, you are changing one of the 16 palettes (0 - 15) one
at a time. If you change all 16 palettes, the programming
example above would have to be performed 16 times.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 20 Copyright (c)1990
FORMAT OF THE SAVED COLOR FILE DESCRIPTION
You may find it much more convenient to change the color registers
using the saved color file description, rather than hard coding
the desired values in your program. Listed below is the format
of this file.
The color description is a simple, 80-byte record containing only
one record in the file in a byte-stream format:
Position Length Value Description
1 - 8 8 VgaColor Id field used by VgaColor.
For your application, you
may change it to any desired
value.
9 -72 64 Variable These are the 1 byte, binary
values used to modify the
color palettes and values
of the individual color
registers. The 64 bytes
are arranged as an array
which occurs 16 times:
1 - Palette Id Byte 9
Red Intensity Byte 10
Green Intensity Byte 11
Blue Intensity Byte 12
.
.
.
16 Palette Id Byte 69
Red Intensity Byte 70
Green Intensity Byte 71
Blue Intensity Byte 72
Simply view the file as
arranged as a group of
4 fields occurring 16 times.
73-80 8 Not Used
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 21 Copyright (c)1990
When using the saved color file, the values supplied to Int 10h
are the same as shown for the hard-coded example except the
value for Palette Id (BX). Since the value for Palette Id is
a hex representation, move the value in the field to BL and
00h to BH. Simply read the one record in the file and program
a loop to load the Palette Id, Red, Green and Blue intensities
and perform Int 10h 16 times.
Note: The values for the Palette numbers may seem different than
what you may have expected. Normally, their values are
0 thru 15 (00h thru 0Fh). Modifying the VGA color palettes
using Bios requires different values which is why, for
examples, palettes 08h through 0Fh have the values of
38h thru 3Fh assigned to them.
It is also a good practice to reset the color palettes back
to their original, unmodified state upon termination of your
application. Your users will appreciate it. This can be done
by either restoring the 16 color palettes using the default
values, or by issuing a mode change using Int 10h, Service 0.
__________________________________________________________________
DigiTec VgaColor 22 Copyright (c)1990
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #2576
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
VGASAMP BAT 876 8-21-90 8:48a
TESTCOLR VGA 80 6-02-90 10:54a
REGISTER YOU 2163 5-05-91 11:13a
VGACOLOR DOC 47172 5-05-91 10:59a
VGAREAD ME 1734 8-21-90 8:51a
VGACMDL EXE 14592 5-12-91 5:26p
VGACOLOR EXE 26496 5-12-91 5:26p
VGAFIO EXE 22528 5-12-91 5:26p
VGAMAPER EXE 22016 5-12-91 5:26p
VGASCRN EXE 53504 5-12-91 5:26p
SETBF EXE 8832 5-12-91 5:26p
GO BAT 119 6-13-91 4:00p
PREVIEW EXE 7347 4-18-91 1:15p
FILE2576 TXT 2962 6-13-91 4:01p
14 file(s) 210421 bytes
104448 bytes free