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util:ans2asc [2011/06/17 15:48] digitalmanutil:ans2asc [2020/07/15 17:48] (current) – Fix copy past errors reported by alterego (ALTERANT) digital man
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 ====== ANS2ASC ====== ====== ANS2ASC ======
 +
 +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). 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:
 +
 +| -clear | Insert a clear-screen code at the beginning of the output file | 
 +| -pause | Append a pause (hit a key) code to the end of the output file | 
 +| -delay <value> | Interval (in bytes) to insert a 1/10th second delay code - lower numbers equal "slower" files, delay value must be a positive non-zero integer |
 +
 +===== 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)"
 +
 +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 =====
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   * [[:util:ASC2ANS]]   * [[:util:ASC2ANS]]
   * [[:resource:ANSI Editors]]   * [[:resource:ANSI Editors]]
 +  * [[:custom:atcodes|@-Codes]]
 +  * [[:ref:ANSI]]
 +  * [[:custom:|Customization]]
 +
 +{{tag>ansi customization}}
  
-{{tag> ansi}}