'A la Card' v1.3 (c) Reiner Rosin 1995                        20th July 1995
============================================================================

        'A la Card' is a patch program for GFA Basic v3.6TT


        1 About GFA Basic
        -----------------
           Although  GFA Basic  still is used by  many Atari users,  it's no
           longer  supported by GFA Systemtechnik.  The final release (v3.6)
           is relatively  bug  free  but suffers  from  two  problems  which
           prevent it working correctly on newer machines:
              - The  interpreter  does  not  support   graphic  cards  under
                resolutions  with  more  than two  colours  and  there is no
                support for 256 (or more) colour resolutions.
              - The interpreter doesn't  work when used under MagicMac on an
                Apple Macintosh.
   
           'A la Card'  patches the  interpreter to  fix these  two problems
           and voila you can use GFA Basic again!


        2 How 'A la Card' works
        -----------------------
           'A la Card'  fixes the interpreter  at runtime by loading it into
           memory,  making  some  changes  to the  object code  and  finally
           executes  the modified code.  The colour screen  output  routines
           are optimised  for several  different screen organisation methods
           and cover most graphic hardware.
           'A la Card' supports  colour depths of  16, 256, 32768, 65536 and
           16 million colours where possible.


        3 Limitations
        -------------
           The new output  routines support  the screen organisation used by
           the  ET4000  graphic cards.  At the moment  11 different  formats
           are implemented.
           The video RAM  of the graphic  card must be  a linear part of the
           ST/TT memory.  Cards with segmented RAM can not be used (for list
           of hardware tested refer to Chapter 4).
           'A la Card'  is only  written for  use with  the  latest  release
           v3.6  of the GFA Basic interpreter.  Other releases will probably
           not run with 'A la Card'.
           There  are also  several different  incarnations of v3.6.  If you
           have one  of these,  please contact  me or get  an update  of GFA
           Basic.
           'A la Card'  does not run  with  ET4000 graphic  cards set  to 16
           colours.  16 colours are  supported with some cards from 'Matrix'
           and on the Apple Macintosh running MagicMac.
           In all resolutions  using direct colour  (32768 colours  or more)
           the  interpreter  does not  allocate  enough  memory  for  screen
           buffering.  Switching from  the editor to  the user screen there-
           fore only  shows the upper half or  third of the screen,  however
           the output in the editor will be correct.


        4 Hardware tested
        -----------------
           'A la Card' has been tested on the following hardware:
   
           Machine                Graphic card              Resolutions
           ----------------------------------------------------------------
           ST                     Nova, Volksfarben         256, HC, TC
           ST                     Matrix                    16, 256
           Mega STE, TT           Spektrum, Crazy Dots
                                  Nova, Sang                256, HC, TC
           Falcon                 Built in                  256, HC
           Apple Macintosh P475   Built in                  2, 16, 256, HC
           Apple Powerbook 150    Built in                  2
           ----------------------------------------------------------------
           HC=High Colour (32768 and 65536 colours), TC=16 million colours
   

        5 Installation
        --------------
            - Copy  the files  ALA_CARD.PRG, SETUP.PRG and ALA_CARD.RSC into
              the same folder as the interpreter, GFABASIC.PRG.
            - Now run SETUP.PRG  and choose your  favourite colour set.  The
              options will be automatically saved.
            - Now start  ALA_CARD.PRG itself.  After a few seconds the well-
              known GFA Basic editor should appear.
   
           Since v1.3 of  'A la Card'  the path to  the interpreter  can  be
           changed.  To  do  this edit  ALA_CARD.INF  using any  ASCII  text
           editor  (for example  Everest).  Insert your prefered path in the
           last line.
   
           If you use MagiC or MultiTOS:
           The interpreter  does not run  properly under multitasking.  With
           MagiC and MagicMac the interpreter  (running 'A la Card')  should
           be forced to run in single mode  (refer to your OS manual  if you
           are not sure how to do this).
           MultiTOS  does not  give the  options to  run a program in single
           mode.  Close  all  windows  and  set  the  MiNT priority  for the
           interpreter to the highest possible value (20).


        6 Status & Distribution
        -----------------------
           'A la Card'  is  Shareware  and  may  be  freely  distributed  in
           non-commercial  channels.  Commercial PD/Shareware libraries  and
           magazines  may  NOT  distribute  this  software  except  by prior
           agreement.  If after  using  'A la Card'  for  several weeks  you
           cannot   bring  yourself  to  delete  your  copy  then  you  must
           register!  You can either directly with me or via the InterActive
           support scheme run by Joe Connor, please refer to SUPPORT.TXT for
           more details.


        7 Registration and limitations of the shareware release
        -------------------------------------------------------
           Please  refer  to  SUPPORT.TXT  for  details  of the UK Shareware
           fee.
           Experience  has  shown,  shareware fees  are only  payed  when  a
           program has an annoying limitation. In 'A la Card' these are:
   
            - Only the upper half of the screen can be used.
            - Under MagicMac  with a monochrome screen resolution the screen
              size must not be higher than 640 x 480.
   
           After paying the  shareware fee a key is supplied to remove these
           two limitations.
           
           The shareware fee is 25 pound sterling, 50.- DM or 35 US$. Please
           remember: UK user should register at Joe Connor  (see SUPPORT.TXT
           for details).


        8 The Author
        ------------
           'A la Card' is programmed by and copyright of:
   
             Rosin Datentechnik
             Reiner Rosin
             Peter-Spahn-Str. 4
             D-65375 Oestrich-Winkel
             Germany
   
             Telephone: +(0)6723 4978
             Fax:       +(0)6723 7190
   
             Bank details:
             Account No (Konto): 1211-04-601
             Sort code (BLZ): 500 100 60
             Bank: Postbank Frankfurt
   
             Email:
             Reiner Rosin @ WI2 (MausNet)
             Reiner_Rosin@wi2.maus.de
             jconnor@cix.compulink.co.uk
   
           Attention!
           Please  don't send  mails greater  16 Kb or  binary  data  to  my
           Email address!


        9 Disclaimer
        ------------
           If you experience any problems with  'A la Card'  you can contact
           me or InterActive  and we'll  try to help you  but before  paying
           the registration  fee you  should have  ensured the programs runs
           on your system.
   
           Neither  I or  any agent  I may appoint  accept any  liability or
           responsibility  for any direct or indirect damage that may arise,
           either financial, material or any  other kind from either the use
           or  misuse of  this  software and  associated documentation.  All
           trademarks used are recognised and acknowledged.


        10 Other patches
        ----------------
           There are  several patches  available for  GFA Basic which  don't
           always  work  together  in  all  cases.  If  you're  experiencing
           problems  please  try  the  original  version  of the interpreter
           without any other patches first.
   
           One further  problem running  GFA Basic with  the compiler  under
           MagiC or  MagicMac is  that it  overwrites  memory  used  by  the
           system.  A separate fix for this called GFA Patch,  programmed by
           Christoph Conrad and Gregor Duchalski, is available.
   
           GFA Patch  works well  with 'A la Card'  and also  includes other
           indispensible   goodies  for  the   interpreter.   GFA  Patch  is
           recommended for use by all GFA Basic programmers!
   
           Registered users  can obtain  a  copy  of  GFA Patch  from  their
           local support service or direct from the author:
   
            Christoph Conrad
            Adalbertsteinweg 113
            D-52070 Aachen
            Germany
   
           Please be  sure to include  a stamped addressed envelope,  a disk
           and some money to cover return postage and handling.

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