Kretland

VGRAPH 3.0 - details

The graphics editor VGRAPH 3.0 is one of the most elaborate programs working under the DOS system in the history. Admittedly, today it may be of interest mainly to hobbyists and enthusiasts, still, even after all these years which have passed since its creation, it seems worth presenting here.

The program has got the following characteristics:

• a window-type graphic interface with icons, icon captions, zips, checkboxes, scrolls, context menus and drag-and-drop windows, one of the most elaborate interfaces in programs working under DOS
• a possibility of simple configuration of visible elements of the menu
• a full vector record of the graphics with the possibility of editing all the elements later using a special editor
• working in 16 and 256 colour graphics modes at up to 1024x768 pixel resolution
• a wide choice of configurable drawing tools
• a possibility of importing and exporting graphics in the editor's own vector recording format as well as in several bitmap formats
• drawing using predefined figures, texts, bitmaps as well as freehand drawing using any chosen pattern with a later possibility of editing the form memorised by the program
• a built-in (unfinished) program's own text processor enabling the edition of descriptions needed in the process of creating pictures
• single line text editor
• inbuilt editors: of animations (unfinished), of vector fonts (!), bitmap fonts, shading gradients and bitmap patterns from the attached library
• the capability of working on pictures of maximum dimensions of 10,000x10,000 pixels with a preview of the whole picture
• extensive possibilities of designing and editing elements using Bezier curves, with practically unlimited number of control points (conjoined curves)
• a possibility of floodfilling using bitmap patterns from the library or graphics imported from files
• complex floodfilling and shading using parallel, convergent and divergent beams with a possibility of determining the convergence point or the inclination angle of the beam
• a possibility of defining up to 16 transparent colours
• a grid of gravity points with predefined vertical and horizontal spaces, which makes hitting definite points of the drawing significantly easier
• simultaneous edition of two pictures
• a "zoom" option - a possibility of correcting a zoomed picture and of editing it later on, which is unique in vector graphics
• a possibility of working on the list of already introduced elements of the picture including deleting, copying, changing the position of a group of elements in the picture, importing or exporting the marked elements onto the disk as well as changing the order of drawing the objects
• a possibility of working with several hundreds of printers, obviously connected to an, today largely out of use, LPT port, and of printing pictures into files
• a possibility of recolouring chosen shapes using previously predefined interchangeable colours (e.g. red is changed into green in the indicated area)
• an inbuilt animation editor
• automatic conversion of 256-colour pictures into 16-colour or monochromatic ones
• bitmap file format conversion with rescaling, cutting out pieces of pictures, creating mirror images with a possibility of automatic conversion with a preview
• program's own graphics function driver recognizing and working with tens of graphics cards (in the DOS system the program has to take care of the graphics cards on its own)
• program's own memory manager swapping data with the XMS memory or the disk (depending on the needs)
• all the drawing operations are done in the virtual buffer in the memory, which ensures the correct working of floodfilling and shading algorithms as well as instantaneous drawing of fragments of the picture revealed while scrolling
• one of the options started from the program is Kret!

There is an over 350-page user manual for version 2.1 of the program, but not for version 3.0, which is why the file with the program includes the instructions for the 2.1 version. Admittedly, in the 3.0 version the interface has been totally altered, but the edition of the elements and their parameters have changed very little. Unfortunately, the numerous pictures which used to illustrate the problems discussed were lost during format conversion. Even so, enthusiastic hobbyists will probably find the instructions useful. A small but highly illustrative part of the manual has been modernized to suit the 3.0 version and supplied with updated screenshots for the benefit of this publication.

The principal difference between versions 2.1 and 3.0 of the VGRAPH editor is that in the latter there is a modernized graphic interface and a possibility of editing pictures bigger than the screen. Besides, the 3.0 version offers a few extra options, such as introducing a single line of a text or graphic format conversion. The built-in text editor has a wider range of possibilities and working with the program has been made in many ways easier. Besides, VGRAPH 3.0 can work with such graphic formats as GIF, TIFF and TARGA in addition to those with which the former version of the program could work. As far as the ways of introducing and editing graphic elements is concerned, the changes are not significant and result mostly from the changes in the interface. The parameters of the graphic elements have largely been left unchanged. In this respect VGRAPH 2.1 manual is quite relevant for version 3.0, too.

Work on the program has been abandoned because of poor prospects for programs working under the DOS system. That is why ambitious plans to equip the program with many more interesting functions have been abandoned, too.

Before starting working with the program it is worthwhile to read the "czytaj.txt" file attached to it. Alternatively, you can read the "czytaj.vtx" file using inbuilt simple text processor included in VGRAPH editor. The file is saved in the editor's own format.

Here is another screenshot of VGRAPH from the inbuilt text editor with the open "czytaj.vtx" file.

Of course, in the VGRAPH 3.0 graphics editor there are a few errors which will probably never be corrected...