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util:ans2asc [2011/06/17 15:39] – digitalmanutil:ans2asc [2026/01/27 18:43] (current) – Updated with all the current options and details on SAUCE usage digital man
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 ====== ANS2ASC ====== ====== ANS2ASC ======
  
-The ANS2ASC utility may be used to convert files encoded with ANSI X3.64 terminal escape sequences (e.g. ''*.ans'' files created/edited with an ANSI editor) into [[Custom:Ctrl-A Codes|Ctrl-A]] encoded output (e.g. Synchronet ''*.asc'' or ''*.msg'' files).+ANSI to Synchronet Ctrl-A message format conversion utility  
 + 
 +The ANS2ASC utility may be used to convert files encoded with ANSI X3.64 terminal escape sequences (e.g. ''*.ans'' files created/edited with an [[resource:ansi editors|ANSI editor]]) into [[Custom:Ctrl-A Codes|Ctrl-A]] encoded output (e.g. Synchronet ''*.asc'' or ''*.msg'' files). 
 + 
 +This utility will convert basic non-animated ANSI files into Synchronet Ctrl-A 
 +code files that can be displayed to color or monochrome ANSI terminal users with  
 +attractive results as well as non-ANSI (e.g. TTY) terminal users. This allows you to use an ANSI 
 +drawing program (such as TheDraw) to create your menus in ANSI and convert the 
 +ANSI file to Ctrl-A message format for your ''.asc'' or ''.msg'' version of the same file (for non-ANSI or ANSI-monochrome users, respectively). Or you can 
 +use the converted file for all users (terminal types) by keeping the ANSI (.ANS) version in 
 +a directory other than your ''[[dir:text]]/menu'' directory. 
 + 
 +If, for example, you create a main menu with an ANSI drawing program that you 
 +want your TTY and monochrome-ANSI users to see with attractive output, use 
 +ANS2ASC to create the ''.mon'' and ''.asc'' versions. 
 + 
 +Type: ''ans2asc main.ans main.mon'' 
 +in your ''[[dir:text]]/menu'' directory to create the monochrome version.  
 + 
 +Type: ''ans2asc main.ans main.asc'' 
 +in your ''[[dir:text]]/menu'' directory to create the ASCII (non-ANSI) version. 
 + 
 +If you rename ''main.ans'' file or move into a directory other than ''[[dir:text]]/menu'', then 
 +you will not need the ''.mon'' version of the file as the ''.asc'' version will be used for all 
 +terminal types. 
 + 
 +This utility is also useful for creating colorful system, newuser, feedback 
 +and other Synchronet ''.msg'' files for display. For example, create  
 +''[[dir:text]]/system.ans'' with your favorite ANSI editor and then convert to ''.msg'' by 
 +typing: ''ans2asc system.ans system.msg'' 
 + 
 +The following ANSI terminal sequences (preceded by <ESC>[) are supported: 
 + 
 +^ ANSI ^ Ctrl-A Code ^ Explanation                  ^ Supported by ANSI.SYS  ^ 
 +| 2J | L | Clear Screen (other J values are ignored) | Yes | 
 +| K     |       >       | Clear to end-of-line | Yes | 
 +| #B    |               | Move cursor down # lines, converted to # line-feeds | Yes | 
 +| #C | 7Fh-FFh | Move cursor right # columns  | Yes | 
 +| #D    |               | Move cursor left # columns, converted to # backspaces or carriage-return if # >= 80 | Yes | 
 +| 0m | N | Normal attribute    | Yes | 
 +| 1m | H | High intensity      | Yes | 
 +| 2m | N | Low intensity *     | No  | 
 +| 3m | I | Italic *            | No  | 
 +| 4m | I | Underline *         | No  |  
 +| 5m | I | Blink               | Yes | 
 +| 6m | I | Rapid Blink *       | No  |  
 +| 7m | I | Reverse Video *     | No  |  
 +| 8m | E((deprecated "elite text" feature)) | Concealed text *    | No  |  
 +| 30m | K | Foreground black    | Yes | 
 +| 31m | R | Foreground red      | Yes |  
 +| 32m | G | Foreground green    | Yes | 
 +| 33m | Y | Foreground yellow   | Yes | 
 +| 34m | B | Foreground blue     | Yes | 
 +| 35m | M | Foreground magenta  | Yes | 
 +| 36m | C | Foreground cyan     | Yes | 
 +| 37m | W | Foreground white    | Yes | 
 +| 40m | 0 | Background black    | Yes | 
 +| 41m | 1 | Background red      | Yes | 
 +| 42m | 2 | Background green    | Yes | 
 +| 43m | 3 | Background yellow   | Yes | 
 +| 44m | 4 | Background blue     | Yes | 
 +| 45m | 5 | Background magenta  | Yes | 
 +| 46m | 6 | Background cyan     | Yes | 
 +| 47m | 7 | Background white    | Yes | 
 + 
 +===== Options ===== 
 + 
 +ANS2ASC has the following command-line options: 
 + 
 +| -ice            | treat blink as bright-background (iCE colors) | 
 +| -<columns>      | insert conditional-newlines to force wrap (e.g. -80) | 
 +| -normal         | use 'save/normal/restore' attributes for conditional new-lines | 
 +| -newline        | append a newline (CRLF) sequence to output file | 
 +| -clear          | insert a clear screen code at beginning of output file | 
 +| -pause          | append a pause (hit a key) code to end of output file | 
 +| -space          | use space characters for cursor-right movement/alignment | 
 +| -esc            | use C-style string literal escaping of control and CP437 chars | 
 +| -delay <int>    | insert a 1/10th second delay code at output byte interval (lower interval values result in more delays, slower display) | 
 + 
 +==== SAUCE ==== 
 + 
 +The ''-ice'' and ''-<columns>'' option values will be automatically read from the SAUCE metadata appended to the ANSI file, if present. 
 + 
 +===== Animation ===== 
 + 
 +In general, animated ANSI files cannot be converted to equivalent Ctrl-A files. Only cursor positioning ANSI sequences which can be converted to non-ANSI equivalents (e.g. cursor-right or cursor-down positioning) may be converted to Ctrl-A codes. If you see the following warning message from ANS2ASC, that indicates that you most likely are trying to convert an ANSI file with unsupported animation sequences: 
 +  Unsupported ANSI code 'x' (0xYY)" 
 +   
 +However, unsupported color codes aren't usually an issue: 
 +  Unsupported ANSI code 't' (0x74) 
 + 
 +Some ANSI editing programs will save ANSI files with unsupported cursor positioning sequences by default. To avoid saving unsupported cursor positioning sequences when using the **TheDraw**, for example, use the Block-Save feature.
  
 ===== See Also ===== ===== See Also =====
   * [[:util:|Utilities]]   * [[:util:|Utilities]]
 +  * [[:util:ASC2ANS]]
 +  * [[:resource:ANSI Editors]]
 +  * [[:custom:atcodes|@-Codes]]
 +  * [[:ref:ANSI]]
 +  * [[:custom:|Customization]]
 +
 +{{tag>ansi customization}}
  
-{{tag> ansi}} 

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