ASCII/ANSI GUI book

[Garth Wilson]

(11-30-2019 11:13 PM)Guido Wrote:  

Quote:I remember visiting it once and I happened upon a book in the computer section that detailed how to create an ASCII / ANSI GUI text windowing system, with a lot of neat tricks.

The terms "GUI" and "text windowing" are not compatible, because GUI stands for /graphical/ user interface.

I assume he means graphical in the sense that you can use the mouse to draw and resize windows and blocks, drag on the scroll bars, point and click on menus, etc.. I still use one DOS-based program somewhat regularly that does this, and drawing illustrative diagrams in the text with the ANSI characters is as easy as if it were CAD.

[Jonathan Busby]

(12-01-2019 08:25 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  Some references ...

Books

• User Interfaces in C, Mark Goodwin, 1989, MIS Press, How-to book with code in assembly and C to write TUI for CGA, MDA & EGA video cards on MS-DOS.
  

Thanks for the book title I think that might be it and I found three versions on Amazon .

The problem is that MIS Press seems to be defunct and I can't find a table of contents for any of the book's three editions. I guess I'll just have to buy a cheap used copy, but I hope I'm not wasting my money :/

Regards,

Jonathan

[Sylvain Cote]

(12-01-2019 09:29 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  Thanks for the book title I think that might be it and I found three versions on Amazon .

The book is also available on AbeBooks

[Guido]

(12-01-2019 11:13 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 09:29 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  Thanks for the book title I think that might be it and I found three versions on Amazon .

The book is also available on AbeBooks

And who is the owner of AbeBooks? ;->

[SlideRule]

(12-01-2019 09:29 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  Thanks for the book title I think that might be it and I found three versions on Amazon .

User interfaces in C - programmer's guide to state-of-the-art interfaces is available for perusal with a current (as of this date) waiting list of four (4). However, many alternate publications on the topic of user interface are available (at the aforementioned URL) for immediate viewing (NO waiting list).

BEST!
SlideRule

[Sylvain Cote]

(12-01-2019 11:30 PM)Guido Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 11:13 PM)Sylvain Cote Wrote:  The book is also available on AbeBooks

And who is the owner of AbeBooks? ;->

I just checked and learned that AbeBooks (Canada) has been bought by Amazon (USA) 11 years ago. ... I stand corrected!

[Guido]

No problem, Sylvain, I was also suprised how many local and international companies are bought by Amazon over the years. Also here in Europe by the way. So the Amazon offers will include the AbeBooks offers I think.

Best wishes - Guido

[Jonathan Busby]

(12-01-2019 11:30 PM)SlideRule Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 09:29 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  Thanks for the book title I think that might be it and I found three versions on Amazon .

User interfaces in C - programmer's guide to state-of-the-art interfaces is available for perusal with a current (as of this date) waiting list of four (4). However, many alternate publications on the topic of user interface are available (at the aforementioned URL) for immediate viewing (NO waiting list).

BEST!
SlideRule

Thanks for the preview / TOC link!

Even in the preview, the number of pages displayed is so little that I can't see past chapter 5 in the TOC You'd think that the publisher would at least allow the TOC to be fully available so as to increase sales by allowing the prospective reader to determine if the book is right for them. I usually never buy a book online if I can't at least see the TOC In this case, I may have to make an exception :/

Regards,

Jonathan

[Wes Loewer]

(12-01-2019 09:13 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  I assume he means graphical in the sense that you can use the mouse to draw and resize windows and blocks, drag on the scroll bars, point and click on menus, etc..

Speaking of using a mouse in text mode, does anyone remember those text based DOS programs that had a continuous moving "graphic" mouse pointer rather then the normal block that jumped around in more of a discrete manner? It wasn't really a graphics mouse of course, but it looked and acted like one. I'm not positive, but I think PC Tools for DOS might have had such a mouse pointer. There's a mention of this type of mouse pointer at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_mode#...characters along with a screen shot of Norton Utilities showing such a mouse pointer (not very good looking pointer in my opinion).

There was a mouse driver called "Precise Point" that put a really nice looking "graphics" mouse in text programs (look for pp111.zip). It worked by redefining 9 upper ascii characters that could be changed on the fly to give the appearance of an arrow. Later versions of DR-DOS also came with such a mouse driver, but not as nice looking as Precise Point.

It was pretty slick back in the day. ;-)

[Jonathan Busby]

(12-02-2019 05:46 PM)Wes Loewer Wrote:  

(12-01-2019 09:13 PM)Garth Wilson Wrote:  I assume he means graphical in the sense that you can use the mouse to draw and resize windows and blocks, drag on the scroll bars, point and click on menus, etc..

Speaking of using a mouse in text mode, does anyone remember those text based DOS programs that had a continuous moving "graphic" mouse pointer rather then the normal block that jumped around in more of a discrete manner? It wasn't really a graphics mouse of course, but it looked and acted like one. I'm not positive, but I think PC Tools for DOS might have had such a mouse pointer. There's a mention of this type of mouse pointer at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_mode#...characters along with a screen shot of Norton Utilities showing such a mouse pointer (not very good looking pointer in my opinion).

There was a mouse driver called "Precise Point" that put a really nice looking "graphics" mouse in text programs (look for pp111.zip). It worked by redefining 9 upper ascii characters that could be changed on the fly to give the appearance of an arrow. Later versions of DR-DOS also came with such a mouse driver, but not as nice looking as Precise Point.

It was pretty slick back in the day. ;-)

Well, when I was in my early teens, I used similar DOS based programs which could display a 256 color mouse pointer in text mode on a VGA display. The way this was accomplished was by allocating certain ANSI characters as reserved, and then altering, in real-time, the color and pixel bitmaps of those characters so as to display an actual, pixel-accurate, graphical mouse pointer When I was about 14 or 15 years old I remember programming similar tricks in Borland Turbo Pascal with inline 286 and 386 assembly

Regards,

Jonathan