2.3.5 Picture Output

The Picture Output category includes all of the command which are involved with loading, creating, and displaying pictures.

The mechanics of loading pictures has been completely re-written and is vastly improved in Cogsys 3. Before Cogsys 3, pictures were loaded using a very awkward and restrictive construction which involved first declaring a picture list with the now-obsolete %F command, and then using the ! ... ! in which the user declare before hand which picture numbers he would use and in which order; pictures were displayed with the "Display Next Picture" #B command, which took no arguments identifying which picture to display, and relied instead on the ordering given by !...!. Not only did this force the user to use numbers instead of names, it separated the location where pictures were identified from where they were used. It also precluded the use of pictures in If statements. Finally, it was very inefficient, since multiple references to the same picture were loaded multiple times.

Cogsys 3 has completely changed the picture loading mechanism by allowing three different means for loading pictures. First, pictures may still be batch loaded, and then referenced by either name or number by the display command. The Load Picture List command handles this. Second, pictures may be referenced by name only, without a list, and loaded explicitly before display by the new Load Picture References (2.3.5.3 Load Picture References (%B)) command. Finally, Extensions provide a means for creating picture dynamically. The newly created pictures are referred to by number.

Important Note: One common source of confusion is the difference between video modes and picture types. Each picture type is specific to a mode, but a mode may or may not have picture type(s) associated with it. The two picture types are described below in Reset Picture List/Type (%C). The various modes are discussed in Mode (#M).

The picture commands are:

2.3.5.1 Reset Picture List/Type (%C)
2.3.5.2 Load Picture List (%Q)
2.3.5.3 Load Picture References (%B)
2.3.5.4 Display Picture (#B)
2.3.5.5 Create Pictures from CXR (%I)
2.3.5.6 Multiframe Picture Display (%J)
2.3.5.7 Multiframe Cycling Picture Response (%K)
2.3.5.8 Multiframe Picture Response (%L)