The demonstration package "BMPtools.zip" is not just for programmers.
It contains programs that will run in Windows 3.1, 3.11, or 95, that create,
or manipulate bitmap images. Also included in this zip are many text files about
color computer graphics and printing.
It's a demonstration of a collection of procedures and functions written in an advanced, Windows BASIC programming language, called:
CA-Realizer (Computer Associates v. 2.0 or greater).
These procedures make NO USE of pre-defined graphics functions
built into this language,
nor do they display the image on the screen at run-time.
They do, however, make bitmap files directly on the disk / directory of your choice.
The purpose of these tools is to be able to create or manipulate BMP files of any size, from null to the extent of your system's total RAM.
Total RAM = Physical RAM + Virtual RAM.
There are two complete sets of tools; one for palette mode and one
for true color mode.
You need not have a true color video card to make full
use of this software; only to view certain results on your monitor.
If you have a large enough hard disk, and a fair amount of RAM, you can create
BMP files that are HUGE!
Also, you can load BMP files into memory, that already exist, and manipulate them.
With the method of code writing used in creating these tools, it is possible to work with many bitmap files simultaneously within the same application.
For printing on a medium to high resolution color printer.
I have a 360 dpi color ink jet printer.
An image printed at
resolution, that is 8 by 10 inches would be 2,880 X 3,600 pixels.
If this image was in the palette mode, (8 bits per pixel, 256 colors out of 16,777,216) then it would be 9.89 Meg in size.
If this image was in the true color mode, (24 bits per pixel, any of 16,777,216 colors) then it would be 29.66 Meg in size.
If you were to view this picture on your monitor, even with a super VGA screen (1,024 X 768), you could only see about 7.6% of it at one time.
Larger BMP images provide greater detail for representing anything: parametric equations, vector drawings, fractals, any kind of mathematically generated picture, image processes that require enlargement of original image, you name it! DETAIL IS THE KEY. A permanent paper copy of your image in the best possible resolution and choice of colors, is the result.
Computer Associates CA-Realizer is not required to run the examples found within this demonstration zip.
The example programs provided within the file "BMPtools.Zip" demonstrate possible uses for some of the features in BMP Tools For Powerful Computers.
This zip file contains several images, applications that create more images, and extensive documentation covering a variety of color computer graphics issues.
Since this is a programming tool, you are only limited by your own imagination, and of course, your system's total memory resources.
When I refer to "Powerful Computers", I mean IBM compatible 386's or better with Windows 3.1, or better, and some RAM to spare.
A 386 20MHz computer with 16 Meg of RAM can make more use of this software
than a Pentium 200 with less RAM.
- That is if you have all day.
Nothing can improve the performance of a computer like RAM!
It's
not a matter of speed. It's a matter of how many numbers it can work with at
one time.
I've written programs that generate mathematical images that might take as long as a few hours or more -and I've got a Pentium 133 with 32 Meg!
It all depends on how complex your algorithm is and how may times it has to be executed.