Capture PB-DOS Graphics screens in WinXP

[Daniel Raymer]

Hi,

WinXP won't allow PrintScreen to capture a PB-DOS Graphics screen to the clipboard, which pretty much makes my PB-DOS design software worthless.

This was addressed here two years ago with final conclusion "no can do." Has anybody found a workable answer since then? I've tried the best of the Screen Capture utilities with no luck - they can do DOS text screens, but not graphics screens.

Is there a coding workaround - capture the screen in my code and somehow spit it out as a BMP or something?

Cheers!

Dan Raymer

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[Hans Ruegg]

Hi,

just a little idea (I did not think thoroughly through it,
neither test it, but it should work) :

You could write a DOS TSR which can be called with a hot key,
or via an interrupt, to save the current display to a file.
This would, of course, mean that you write yourself a routine
for capturing the screen contents in every video mode you expect
to encounter (and this may be a lot if you include SVGA modes...)
- You might hook the "PrintScreen" key as the hotkey for this routine.

You would then need a batch file which would first install the TSR,
then execute the program of which you want to capture the output,
then uninstall the TSR.

I know this is complicated, but if in two years no one else found
a better solution, then I doubt there is one.

Regards,

Hans Ruegg

[JAMES GILLEM]

The best and free screen grabber I have found on the web
if PRTSCN32

Just Goggle for it.

Best of luck

Jim

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[Daniel Raymer]

...still looking! And when I Google for PRTSCN32, all I get is a posting on a Powerbasic jForum - this one!

Won't You Please, Please Help Me!

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[Daniel Raymer]

OK, now I've found PrntScrn32, but it has no luck with a full-screen Dos Window either, and WinXP forces graphics screens to full screen. So, any more ideas out there?

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[Don Schullian]

Somewhere I used to have the code to stuff a screen into a BMP.
It wasn't difficult code as it worked pixel by pixel left to right
bottom to top. The trick was the header and the pallet. You should
be able to bypass that, though, if you convert your colors to 24bit.

Here's the header UDT and, if you want I'll post the code to display
a BMP. That might help you get started.

TYPE BMPheaderTYPE
  Ident     AS INTEGER      ' 19778 = CVI("BM") if .BMP format
  Fsize     AS LONG         ' File size in bytes
  Reserved  AS STRING * 4   ' junk
  Offset    AS LONG         ' file offset to start of data
  Version   AS LONG         ' 40 = Windows 3.x  12 = OS/2
  Cols      AS LONG         ' width in pixel columns
  Rows      AS LONG         ' height in pixel rows
  Planes    AS INTEGER      ' number of color planes
  ClrBits   AS INTEGER      ' number of bits per color
  Packed    AS LONG         ' 0 if not packed
  PackSize  AS LONG         ' actual length of data
  ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' OS/2 stops here
  Xscale    AS LONG         '
  Yscale    AS LONG         '
  Colors    AS LONG         ' actual # of colors used
  ImpColors AS LONG         ' important colors used 0 = all
END TYPE

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C'ya
Don
[email protected]

[Daniel Raymer]

PLEASE, post the complete code! It's PB-DOS, right?

Thanks!

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[Don Schullian]

Dan,

It was PB DOS. If I can find it, I'll throw it up.



------------------
C'ya
Don
[email protected]

[Mike Luther]

I'm curious...

Does the technique of reading a character position from memory from
the known place in memory for line position, cursor position, and
attributes with PB for DOS, then storing it in one of the other
allowed 'screens' in DOS also work in WIN XP?

Can you then simply use direct memory writes, rewrites, to move
chunks of the screen around and replace them at will the same way
you do in PB DOS, but in WIN XP?

Say you snip a part of the screen from memory at: ]

            DEF SEG = &HB000
            FOR NZ% = MCLL% TO MCLR%
               HXX% = PEEK(NZ% + 8000)
               POKE (NZ%), HXX%
            NEXT NZ%

Then plug it back in there after fiddling with that same space on
the screen with something else you do?

I've used this technique in PB for DOS for many years to work out
help boxes in all my work. But is this over for me if I attempt
to run DOS stuff under WIN XP as well?

Thanks!


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Mike Luther
[email protected]

[Marco Pontello]

Does the technique of reading a character position from memory from
the known place in memory for line position, cursor position, and
attributes with PB for DOS, then storing it in one of the other
allowed 'screens' in DOS also work in WIN XP?

Works OK in an XP's WDM.
In my DOS Core Wars simulator I write directly to video memory in Screen 13, and that works too under XP.

Bye!

------------------
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[This message has been edited by Marco Pontello (edited October 26, 2004).]

[Mike Doty]

Are you looking for http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen

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[Mike Doty]

In PDS 7.1 used this code with Quick Pack for primative screens

For row = 1 to lastrow
  Call ReadScrn(0,row,1,Buf$)
  For org = 1 to 80
     Char = asc(mid$(buf$,org,1))
     if char <32 or char > 22 then mid(buf$,org,1) = "."
   Next
   Mid$(buf$,80,1) = " "
Next

'Also have code to save to clipboard from DOS programs or
'write to disk and use SHELL


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[This message has been edited by Mike Doty (edited October 26, 2004).]

[Mike Doty]

  'Write a file to the Windows 95+ clipboard
  'DOS programs can SHELL "FILENAME"

  $COMPILE EXE
  $DIM ALL
  $INCLUDE "WIN32API.INC"

FUNCTION WriteToClipBoard(BYVAL content AS STRING) AS LONG
  ON ERROR GOTO WriteToClipBoardError
  LOCAL where AS LONG, hData AS LONG, bytes AS LONG
  content = content + CHR$(0)
  bytes = LEN(content)
  IF bytes < 2 THEN EXIT FUNCTION
  hData = GlobalAlloc(&H2002, bytes)    ' get memory of clipboard
  where = GlobalLock(hData)             ' lock it
  POKE$ where, content                  ' paste text into memory
  GlobalUnlock hData                    ' unlock memory
  IF ISFALSE OpenClipboard(0) THEN      ' if clipboard isn't available
    GlobalFree hData                    ' free up memory
    FUNCTION = 0
    EXIT FUNCTION
   END IF
  EmptyClipboard                          ' empty whatever's in there now
  SetClipBoardData %CF_TEXT, hData        ' %CF_TEXT = for text
  CloseClipboard                          ' release clipboard
  FUNCTION = -1                           ' success
WriteToClipBoardExit:
EXIT FUNCTION

WriteToClipBoardError:
  RESUME WriteToClipBoardExit
END FUNCTION

FUNCTION PBMAIN() AS LONG
  ON ERROR GOTO PbMainError
  DIM LineNum AS LONG
  DIM FILNAME AS STRING
  DIM Content AS STRING
  DIM Ecode AS LONG
  FilName$ = COMMAND$

  LineNum = 10:FilName$ = COMMAND$
  IF DIR$(FilName$) = "" THEN EXIT FUNCTION
  LineNum = 20:OPEN FilName$ FOR BINARY SHARED AS #1
  LineNum = 30:GET$ #1, LOF(1), content$
  lineNum = 40: REPLACE CHR$(0) WITH CHR$(32) IN content$ 'replace nulls
  LineNum = 50:Ecode& = WriteToClipBoard(content$ + CHR$(0))
PbMainExit:
  CLOSE #1
EXIT FUNCTION
PbMainError:
MSGBOX "Error writing to clipboard at line "+STR$(LineNum)+ "Error number"+STR$(ERR)
RESUME PbMainExit
END FUNCTION

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[Hans Ruegg]

I am answering from far away from my working place, so I do not have
detail information or code ready... but on the issue of grabbing
graphics data directly from video memory:
Yes, this works very well with Screen 13 and several other video
modes, but not with all of them! In Screen 12, for example, you
have 4 planes which use the same memory segment, and you have to
alter some VGA port values in order to access different planes.
In most SVGA modes also, there is memory bank switching needed.
So, if you use only Mode 13, you will not have any problem, but
other modes are more complicated.
I remember having seen a code snipped posted somewhere (was it
in the download section?) for grabbing the screen image in Mode 12.

Regards,

Hans Ruegg

[Daniel Raymer]

Hello Lurkers,

With some help from Powerbasic Forum friends, I got this to work very well:

-----------------------------------------------------------------
IF S$="B" THEN 'Make a full screen Bitmap when B pressed
FOR idum=1 TO 99 'next free filename+number
BMPName$=left$(FLNAME$,6)+ltrim$(str$(idum))+".bmp"
IF DIR$(BMPName$)="" THEN EXIT FOR
NEXT idum

WINDOW 'SAVEBMP messes up if Window coordinates changed
SAVEBMP BMPName$,16,0,0,639,479 'VGA resolution = 640x480
WHILE INKEY$<>"":WEND 'EMPTY KEYBOARD BUFFER
locate 12,4
PRINT " Bitmap Image ";BMPName$;" has been captured. Press any key to continue. "
GOSUB WAITFOR 'waits until key or mouse button pressed
CLS
GOTO 5445 'back to start so WINDOW command given
END IF
'-------------------------------------------------------

' RDS-BMP Utility for screen 12 capture (slightly modified freeware)

' If WINDOW ()-() is used to change coordinates, must return to default by
' using WINDOW without options, then restore options afterwards
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
' SAVEBMP.BAS - Public domain PowerBASIC sub to capture screen 12
' images to 4/8 bit BMP files (no compression).
' Call using: SAVEBMP BMPFileName$, Colors%, X1%, Y1%, X2%, Y2%
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
'
' BMPFileName$ - The .BMP filename. SAVEBMP kills the file if it
' exists!
' Colors% - SAVEBMP saves .BMP files in either 8-bit (256
' colors) or 4-bit (16 colors). Colors% should be
' 16 or 256. Any other value is equal to 256.
' X1%,Y1% - Coordinates for the upper-left corner. The
' values must be valid, as SAVEBMP does not check
' these values for validity.
' X2%,Y2% - Coordinates for the lower-right corner. The
' values must be valid, as SAVEBMP does not check
' these values for validity.
'
' There are differences in speed and output file's size between 4
' and 8 bit .BMP file processing.
'-------------------------------------------------------------------
' The SUB makes use of Coridon Henshaw's GetPalette SUB, so if you
' wish to use SAVEBMP in another program, GetPalette will have to go
' with it.
'-------------------------------------------------------------------

' DPR-I rem'd out since I use default $STRING 32 'See line 72

DECLARE SUB SAVEBMP (BMPFileName$, Colors%, X1%, Y1%, X2%, Y2%)
DECLARE SUB GETPALETTE (Attr%, Red%, Green%, Blue%)

' SCREEN 12 (already done in my code)

TYPE BMPFileHeader
FileType as string*2
Size as long
Reserved1 as integer
Reserved2 as integer
OffBits as long
END TYPE

TYPE BMPInfoHeader
Size as long
ImageWidth as long
ImageHeight as long
Planes as integer
BitCount as integer
Compression as long
SizeImage as long
XPelsPerMeter as long
YPelsPerMeter as long
ClrUsed as long
ClrImportant as long
END TYPE

SUB GETPALETTE (Attr%, Red%, Green%, Blue%)

OUT &H3C7, Attr%
Red% = INP(&H3C9)
Green% = INP(&H3C9)
Blue% = INP(&H3C9)

END SUB

SUB SAVEBMP (BMPFileName$, Colors%, X1%, Y1%, X2%, Y2%)
dim FileHeader as BMPFileHeader
dim InfoHeader as BMPInfoHeader

if Colors%<>16 then
Colors%=256
WriteIterations%=5 ' Every 5 lines, Buffer$ reaches 32K, so write
' data to file
else
WriteIterations%=10 ' Each byte holds 2 pixels, so write every 10
' lines
end if

BMPWidth%=X2%-X1%+1 ' Width and
BMPHeight%=Y2%-Y1%+1 ' height of the image

'Each raster must be a multiple of 4 bytes, this next line takes
'care of 'padded' bytes at the end of rasters of odd-width images-
IF BMPWidth% / 4 <> BMPWidth% \ 4 THEN PadBytes% = 4 - (BMPWidth% MOD 4)

' BITMAPFILEHEADER
FileHeader.FileType="BM" 'BMP format marker
if Colors%=16 then
FileHeader.Size=((BMPWidth% + PadBytes%) * BMPHeight%)\2 + 118
FileHeader.OffBits=118 ' 16*4+54
else
FileHeader.Size=(BMPWidth% + PadBytes%) * BMPHeight% + 1078
FileHeader.OffBits=1078 '256*4+54
end if

' BITMAPINFOHEADER
InfoHeader.Size=40
InfoHeader.ImageWidth=BMPWidth%
InfoHeader.ImageHeight=BMPHeight%
InfoHeader.Planes=1
if Colors%=16 then
InfoHeader.BitCount=4
else
InfoHeader.BitCount=8
end if
InfoHeader.Compression=0 ' No compression
InfoHeader.SizeImage=(BMPWidth%+PadBytes%)*BMPHeight% ' Image size in bytes
InfoHeader.XPelsPerMeter=0 ' Picture dimensions in pixels per meter
InfoHeader.YPelsPerMeter=0
if Colors%=16 then
InfoHeader.ClrUsed=16 ' Colors used in picture
InfoHeader.ClrImportant=16 ' Important colors in picture
else
InfoHeader.ClrUsed=256 ' Colors used in picture
InfoHeader.ClrImportant=256 ' Important colors in picture
end if

if dir$(BMPFileName$)<>"" then kill BMPFileName$
open BMPFileName$ for binary as #1
put #1,,FileHeader
put #1,,InfoHeader

'Save palette data-
Buffer$ = ""
for i% = 0 to Colors%-1
GETPALETTE i%, Red%, Green%, Blue%
'Palette is saved B, G, R with unused byte trailing-
Buffer$ = Buffer$ + CHR$(Blue% * 4)
Buffer$ = Buffer$ + CHR$(Green% * 4)
Buffer$ = Buffer$ + CHR$(Red% * 4)
Buffer$ = Buffer$ + CHR$(0)
next i%
put #1,,Buffer$
Buffer$=""

for i%=(BMPHeight%-1) to 0 step -1 ' scan lines, beginning from bottom

if Colors%=16 then
for j%=0 to (BMPWidth%-1) step 2 ' scan columns, 2 pixels per byte
Buffer$=Buffer$+CHR$(16*POINT(X1%+j%,Y1%+i%)+POINT(X1%+(j%+1),Y1%+i%))
next j%
else
for j%=0 to (BMPWidth%-1) ' scan columns, 1 pixel per byte
Buffer$=Buffer$+CHR$(POINT(X1%+j%,Y1%+i%))
next j%
end if

line (j%,i%)-(0,i%),0 'Wipes screen during scan. Remove if not needed.

if PadBytes%>0 then
for j%=1 to PadBytes%
Buffer$=Buffer$+CHR$(0)
next j%
end if

if i%/WriteIterations%=i%\WriteIterations% then
put #1,,Buffer$
Buffer$=""
end if
next i%
close #1

END SUB


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