Manuel,
> Won't the pictures look like real shit on SCR2?
Aaaaaaaahhhhhh...
Test FudeBrowser. After that, tell me what you think about the
pictures. :)
> > > so the decoding won't take that long...
> > Not only image decoding. Also HTML parsing and formatting for
> > generating a nice page for displaying in MSX.
> How long does it take? (For an average page)
On a K6 200MHz, 2 or 3 seconds (I confess, I didn't test WISE,
Ricardo told me this).
> > > JPG will take a long time! Even GIF....)
> > That's why the hard job is made by a server running WISE...
> What is WISE? (Or is that a stoopid question?)
Well... I'll make it easy for you:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FudeBrowser v1.0
Copyright (C) 1999 by Ricardo Bittencourt
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Index
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Requirements
4. WISE syntax
5. FudeBrowser syntax
6. Files
7. License
8. Request
9. Credits
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Introduction
Hello, world.
Web browsing has been a dream for most MSX users for a long time.
In fact, the first messages I ever got from an MSX mailing list, in 1996,
were asking for programmers who wanted to develop such a thing.
Up to now, all the people who tried to make it failed. They often
conclude it is not possible for three reasons:
1) The MSX is too slow for HTML processing
2) The MSX modems are not fast enough to load pages with images.
3) The MSX don't have enough resolution to display a page properly.
After learning a lot of tricks during the making of BrMSX, MUST and
VIP, I tried to make my own MSX Web Browser. I believe I succeded. My
approaches to the problems described were:
1) Who said the MSX should make the HTML processing? All you need
is an intelligent server, which outputs pre-formatted HTML pages. Instead
of connecting to the port 80, the MSX could connected in another port
where the intelligent server is installed.
2) HTML is just plain ASCII. You can reduce a lot the bandwidth
required by the pages, compressing them before sending.
3) By using variable length, proportional fonts, you can have
more than 50 characters per line in a 256x192 pixel screen, and more than
100 characters per line in 512x212 screen. This gives a very readable text,
even on televisions.
This pack you just downloaded include two programs:
Web Intelligent Server (or just WISE for short): a PC server who
read HTML pages and output pre-formatted, compressed .HTZ streams.
FudeBrowser: an MSX client who reads .HTZ streams and displays
them in the graphic screen.
Hope you find this program useful.
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2. Methodology
FudeBrowser is being developed in three steps:
1) No connection
In this first step, the MSX cannot do any browsing. The server run
on PC and produce a file with the pre-formatted and compressed stream. This
file is copied to an MSX-disk and then read by FudeBrowser.
2) JoyNet connection
In this second step, the MSX and the PC will be connected through
a JoyNet link. The MSX will be able to browse the HTML files stored
locally in the PC.
3) Internet connection
In the last stage, the MSX will run an TCP/IP stack and connect
directly to the intelligent server. Full web browsing will be available
at this stage. A TCP/IP stack is being developed by european users at the
moment.
The version of FudeBrowser you just download correspond to the first
step of development (no connection).
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3. Requirements
WISE requires a PC running MS-DOS. A DPMI server such as CWSDPMI
or Windows95 DOS Prompt must be available. A fast machine with lots of
memory is recommended.
FudeBrowser requires an MSX-1 running MSX-DOS 1. MegaRAM and Memory
Mapper are not required in this version. The BIOS is used for everything,
so FudeBrowser should run on any MSX model, at any CPU speed (including
Turbo-R in R800 mode and machines with Z80 at 7MHz).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. WISE Syntax
Usage of WISE is quite simple. You must have the .html document
and all the images it uses on the same directory. Then, just type:
WISE PAGE.HTM PAGE.HTZ
This will do the pre-formatting and the compression, saving the
page in the file PAGE.HTZ. Now you just need to copy this file to a
MSX and use FudeBrowser to read it.
The current version of WISE cannot read all kinds of images
supported by Netscape. The only graphic format supported is the 24-bit
flavor of .PCX. You will need a file format conversor if you want to
see GIF or JPEG images.
The HTML tags currently supported are:
<A>
<BR>,<P>,<HR>
<BODY BGCOLOR>,<BODY TEXT>,<BODY LINK>,<TITLE>
<U>,<B>,<CENTER>
<H1>,<H2>,<H3>
<IMG ALT>,<IMG SRC>
<FONT COLOR>,<FONT SIZE>
<DL>,<DD>,<DT>,<UL>,<LI>
<TT>,<CODE>,<PRE>
Many escape codes are supported, such as < > &
" á Á Ç ç and other accentuated characters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. FudeBrowser Syntax
To use FudeBrowser, you just need to type:
FUDEBROW PAGE
Make sure FUDEBROW.DAT is in the same directory of FudeBrowser.
During the browsing, you can press the following keys:
UP - scroll one line up
DOWN - scroll one line down
SHIFT+UP - scroll one page up
SHIFT+DOWN - scroll one page down
CTRL+UP - go to top of document
STOP - change border color
ESC - exit to DOS
This version of FudeBrowser cannot read files bigger than 16kb.
Please note that a given version of FudeBrowser can only read .HTZs
generated by the equivalent version of WISE. If your .HTZ was generated with
WISE version 3.14, then only the FudeBrowser version 3.14 will read the file.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Files
This pack you downloaded should have the following files:
FUDEBROW.COM - FudeBrowser MSX-DOS 1 executable
FUDEBROW.DAT - Fonts for FudeBrowser
WISE.EXE - WISE MS-DOS executable
README.TXT - this file
CHANGES.TXT - log of version changes
BRMSX.HTZ - sample file
BRSMS.HTZ - sample file
EXPOSALT.HTZ - sample file
JIRAIYA.HTZ - sample file
NATAL.HTZ - sample file
NEVER.HTZ - sample file
SHURATO.HTZ - sample file
SPECIAL.HTZ - sample file
WINNIE.HTZ - sample file
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7. License
FudeBrowser is shareware. You can copy the MSX-1 version of
FudeBrowser for free, and you are encouraged to copy it to all your friends.
The MSX-2 version of FudeBrowser will be sold at the MSX-Jau'99
meeting for R$ 20.00 (about US$ 12.00). The MSX-2 version will use dynamic
palettes to achieve a 512x212 resolution with 424 simultaneous colors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Request
Say NO to Coca-Cola. Drink Tubaina.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Credits
Main Programming
Ricardo Bittencourt
Additional Programming
Adriano Cunha
Daniel Caetano
Fonts
Giovanni Nunes
Beta Testing
Cyberknight
Marcelo Raizer
Marco Antonio Simon Dal Poz
Weber Roder Kai
Werner Roder Kai
Official home page
http://www.lsi.usp.br/~ricardo/msx.htm
Project started at 1/5/1999. Last modification was on 21/6/1999.
Send bug reports, comments and suggestions to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
This program was made while listening to "Flash Gordon" soundtrack.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Adriano Camargo Rodrigues da Cunha ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Engenharia de Computacao - UNICAMP
http://www.adrpage.cjb.net MSX-TR:I have one.And you?
* Boss is out: [T]etris, [C]hess, [P]inball? *
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