[comp.sys.mac] Mac II screen depth

nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Norman William Franke, III) (01/26/89)

I seem to keep switching from 2 color mode to 256 color mode on my Mac II, and
calling up the control panel takes a while. Is there some FKEY out there
that will change the screen depth? Or does anyone know what procedures to
call in LightSpeed Pascal? I couldn't find anything like that in IM V.

Thanks
Norman Franke
nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu

bernard@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Bernie Bernstein) (01/27/89)

In article <wXrZmky00WB_Q4xURk@andrew.cmu.edu> nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Norman William Franke, III) writes:
>I seem to keep switching from 2 color mode to 256 color mode on my Mac II, and
>calling up the control panel takes a while. Is there some FKEY out there

Switch-A-Roo by Bill Steinberg does exactly that or you can choose
which screen settings are toggled when the FKEY is evoked.

It is packaged in Screen Gems by Microseeds which also includes
Dimmer INIT which is a screen saver which dims the screen after a
given amount of time; and ColorDesk INIT which allows any picture to
be used as the desktop picture.

The package is available at MacConnection for $49.



      o,  ,,   ,      | Bernie Bernstein                      | ,    ,,
      L>O/  \,/ \    ,| University of Colorado at boulder     |/ \,,/  \
     O./  '  / . `, / | office: (303) 492-1218                |     / ` \  ,.
    ,/   /  ,      '  | email: bernard@boulder.colorado.edu   | /        ''  \

mystone@sol.engin.umich.edu (Dean (The Mysterious One) Yu) (01/27/89)

In article <wXrZmky00WB_Q4xURk@andrew.cmu.edu> nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Norman William Franke, III) writes:
>I seem to keep switching from 2 color mode to 256 color mode on my Mac II, and
>calling up the control panel takes a while. Is there some FKEY out there
>that will change the screen depth? Or does anyone know what procedures to
>call in LightSpeed Pascal? I couldn't find anything like that in IM V.
>

  You're in luck.  There's an FKEY called Switcheroo which does exactly what
you want.  It'll even let you choose which to depths you want to flip 
between.  The bad news is I don't know where you can find it.


______________________________________________________________________________
Dean Yu                            |  E-mail:    mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu
University of Michigan             |  Real-mail: Dean Yu
Computer Aided Engineering Network |             2413 Kelsey House
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dce@stan.UUCP (David Elliott) (01/30/89)

In article <4119a45b.a590@mag.engin.umich.edu> mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu (Dean (The Mysterious One) Yu) writes:
>In article <wXrZmky00WB_Q4xURk@andrew.cmu.edu> nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Norman William Franke, III) writes:
>>I seem to keep switching from 2 color mode to 256 color mode on my Mac II, and
>>calling up the control panel takes a while. Is there some FKEY out there
>>that will change the screen depth? Or does anyone know what procedures to
>>call in LightSpeed Pascal? I couldn't find anything like that in IM V.
>
>  You're in luck.  There's an FKEY called Switcheroo which does exactly what
>you want.  It'll even let you choose which to depths you want to flip 
>between.  The bad news is I don't know where you can find it.

While this sounds like a useful item, wouldn't it be better to have
something (cdev or init?) that allows you do attach a mode to an
application?

MacroMaker allows you to assign a set of keyboard macros on a
per-application basis.  Comment allows you to attach external data to
files and applications.

Would it be possible to write a program that allows you to attach a
screen depth to a given application?  That way, you could set up
MacPaint to use 2 colors, PixelPaint and the Finder to use 256 colors
or 16 grays or whatever you prefer.

Also, wouldn't it be just as easy to use MacroMaker (or one of the
better general macro handlers) to call up the control panel and set
the depth?  I'll give MacroMaker a try when I get home.

-- 
David Elliott		...!pyramid!boulder!stan!dce
"All he wanted was a Pepsi, but I wouldn't give it to him!" -- Mike's mom

hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Josh Hodas) (01/30/89)

In article <352@salgado.stan.UUCP> dce@salgado.UUCP (David Elliott) writes:
>In article <4119a45b.a590@mag.engin.umich.edu> mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu (Dean (The Mysterious One) Yu) writes:
>>In article <wXrZmky00WB_Q4xURk@andrew.cmu.edu> nf0i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Norman William Franke, III) writes:
>>>I seem to keep switching from 2 color mode to 256 color mode on my Mac II, and
>>>calling up the control panel takes a while. Is there some FKEY out there
>>>that will change the screen depth? Or does anyone know what procedures to
>>>call in LightSpeed Pascal? I couldn't find anything like that in IM V.
>>
>>  You're in luck.  There's an FKEY called Switcheroo which does exactly what
>>you want.  It'll even let you choose which to depths you want to flip 
>>between.  The bad news is I don't know where you can find it.
>

>[...] wouldn't it be just as easy to use MacroMaker (or one of the
>better general macro handlers) to call up the control panel and set
>the depth?  I'll give MacroMaker a try when I get home.
>
>-- 
>David Elliott		...!pyramid!boulder!stan!dce
>"All he wanted was a Pepsi, but I wouldn't give it to him!" -- Mike's mom

Well, yes, but as a fanatic switcheroo user, and having previously (a year ago
before I got switcheroo) used a QuicKey macro for the task I will point out 
that even on a system with a fast hard drive (Quantum pro80s) bringing up the 
control panel and making the switch can take up to 15 seconds given that the
control panel first scans your system folder for cdevs.  Switcheroo on the
other hand takes about 1/4-1/2 second.

Josh

-------------------------

Josh Hodas    (hodas@eniac.seas.upenn.edu)
4223 Pine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

(215) 222-7112   (home)
(215) 898-5423   (school office)

anson@spray.CalComp.COM (Ed Anson) (02/08/89)

In article <352@salgado.stan.UUCP> dce@salgado.UUCP (David Elliott) writes:
>While this sounds like a useful item, wouldn't it be better to have
>something (cdev or init?) that allows you do attach a mode to an
>application?

Wouldn't it be even better if application developers would follow the
guidlines? That way we wouldn't have to worry about changing modes.
-- 
=====================================================================
   Ed Anson,    Calcomp Display Products Division,    Hudson NH 03051
   (603) 885-8712,      anson@elrond.CalComp.COM

mha@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Mark H. Anbinder) (02/16/89)

In article <2576@spray.CalComp.COM> anson@spray.UUCP (Ed Anson) writes:
>In article <352@salgado.stan.UUCP> dce@salgado.UUCP (David Elliott) writes:
>>While this sounds like a useful item, wouldn't it be better to have
>>something (cdev or init?) that allows you do attach a mode to an
>>application?
>
>Wouldn't it be even better if application developers would follow the
>guidlines? That way we wouldn't have to worry about changing modes.
>-- 

In many cases, it's useful to run even programs that DO follow all the
guidelines in a different color mode than you usually do.  Many programs
just do so much screen work that they are much faster when used in
2-color mode rather than 256.

For example, I am using Red Ryder in 2 color mode right now.  When I use
it in 256 color mode, the scrolling is visibly slower, and the screen
clear (when the saved-screens buffer is set above one screen) seems to
take forever.  That's simply because Scott Watson DID follow all of the
guidelines, and supports more than 2 colors.

4th Dimension is another program where the screen updates can take much
too long if you're in a mode over 2 colors.  I sometimes use it in 256
color mode anyway, but that's only when I need to work with the greyscale
graphics that are in one of my databases.

I would VERY MUCH like a cdev that lets me assign a specific color level
to each application, so I don't have to switch all the time.  For now,
I'm using Switch-A-Roo to switch between 2 and 256 colors.  Is that what
the original posting was about?  (I couldn't quite tell from the article
I saw.)

-- 
Mark H. Anbinder                                ** MHA@TCGould.tn.cornell.edu
NG33 MVR Hall, Media Services Dept.             ** THCY@CRNLVAX5.BITNET
Cornell University      H: (607) 257-7587 ********
Ithaca, NY 14853        W: (607) 255-1566 ******* Ego ipse custodies custudio