ObtainBtrPens

Short:        Patches ObtainBestPenA() for higher precision
Author:       Petter Nilsen (pettern@icenet.no)
Uploader:     Petter Nilsen (pettern icenet no)
Type:         util/boot
Architecture: m68k-amigaos

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961101
                     ObtainBetterPens version 0.3

         Requires AmigaDOS 3.0 (V39) to actually do anything

  Copyright © 1995-1996 Ultima Thule Software, All Rights Reserved.
                       Author: Petter Nilsen

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Disclaimer
~~~~~~~~~~
This  software  entitled  "ObtainBetterPens"  is not public domain but
freely  distributable (FreeWare).  This means that you can copy it and
give  it  to  all  your friends, upload it to a BBS or include it in a
PD-library.   The  only  restrictions  are:  All the files included in
this  archive  must  be  in  their  original  form  without additions,
deletions or modifications of any kind.  "ObtainBetterPens" may not be
distributed  for  profit.  Permission her hereby granted to include it
on  CD-ROM  compilations  from  Fred  Fish and Aminet.  Only a nominal
charge  may  be  associated  with  its  distribution.   If you want to
distribute  "ObtainBetterPens"  with  any commercial product, you will
need  written  permission  from  the  author.   "ObtainBetterPens"  is
provided  "AS  IS" without warranty of any kind, and the author is not
responsible for any damage this software may do.  (Just in case :-)


What is ObtainBetterPens ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ObtainBetterPens  is  a  small patch for the graphics.library function
ObtainBestPenA()   that  is  used  for  allocating  a  pen.   Usually,
datatypes.library   is  the  most  frequent  user  of  this  function.
ObtainBetterPens will make sure the highest possible percision is used
when  allocating  a  pen  (PERCISION_EXACT),  so  the result will look
better  in  most  programs using datatypes.library.  It is particulary
true for Multiview and on Workbench backdrops.

ObtainBetterPens  was  written  after  a discussion on the IRC channel
#amiga,  where  several  people were whining about how "bad" datatypes
where.  I made this for you, guys!  :D

Usage
~~~~~
For   best  result,  start  ObtainBetterPens  before  IPrefs  in  your
startup-sequence.   In  this  way,  the color quality on the Workbench
backdrop will be higher. To run ObtainBetterPens, type this:

run <nil: >nil: ObtainBetterPens

QUIT
The QUIT option will signal ObtainBetterPens to quit and try to remove
the  patch  if  it  is safe.  If some other program hasn't patched the
same function, the patch will be removed.  The same can be achieved by
sending a ctrl c (break) to the ObtainBetterPens prosess.

History
~~~~~~~

951113 - Initial release 0.1 of ObtainBetterPens.
951119 - Fixed a bug where empty taglists wouldn't be handled correctly
         when passed to ObtainBestPenA(). Thanks to "danimal" on IRC 
         #amiga for enough info to fix this bug.
961101 - Fixed a problem that first showed up with IBrowse 1.02, causing
         hangs. Seemed to be related to NULL taglists to ObtainBestPen().

FeedBack
~~~~~~~~
Please  send  donations,  bug  reports or your sister to:

Petter Nilsen
Mellomveien 138
N-9006 TROMSØ
Norway

Email: pettern@icenet.no
IRC:   Mitchman

Thanks  to  the  folks  on #amiga for giving be the idea to write this
patch :)