Short: Personal PPC Blit Library v. 2.3 Author: info@cloanto.com (Cloanto) Uploader: info cloanto com (Cloanto) Type: gfx/ppaint Architecture: ppc-powerup Distribution: Only Cloanto, Aminet and Aminet CD-ROM CLOANTO SOFTWARE UPDATE FILES BEING UPDATED - personal_ppc_blit.library PROGRAMS USING THE LIBRARIES - Personal Paint version 7.0 and higher - ColorType version 3.1 and higher INSTALLATION DIRECTORY - Default : "PPaint:libs", "ColorType:libs" - Optionally: "LIBS:" (software checks both paths and uses the newer library if two are found) ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES - PBlit_ChipMem (Yes/No/Auto) DESCRIPTION This CPU blitting library is used by programs like Personal Paint when the "Settings/Graphics/Amiga Blitter" setting is switched off. This library automatically detects a CyberGraphX 40.100+ environment, and informs the client software (e.g. Personal Paint) that it is safe to allocate Fast RAM instead of Chip RAM even if the memory has to be accessed by the graphics.library. CyberGraphX "clones", which have a parallel system of version numbers, are detected and will not trigger this condition, as this would currently crash the system. This library uses the PowerPC CPU to emulate a 32-bit blitter, whereas all libraries prior to version 2.0, like the original Amiga, worked with a 16-bit blitter model. This release is about twice as fast as the 1.x libraries. In particular, a simulation of average blitter operations of this PowerPC version tested on a PowerUP board with a 603e CPU running at 150 MHz resulted in a software blitter more than twice as fast as the AGA Amiga hardware blitter, with the advantage of not requiring precious Chip RAM. Additional functionality has been integrated in this library to better support future programs. To use this library, please update the library name in the "Startup_1.set" program settings file. In no case should any of the library files be renamed. The automatic detection of a RTG environment supporting bitmaps in Fast RAM can be overridden by setting the "PBlit_ChipMem" environment variable, which can be used to force the allocation of bitmaps in Chip RAM or Fast RAM. This blitting library requires the "ppc.library" to be present in the system, plus a PowerPC kernel compatible with the version released by Phase 5. Version 2.3 fixes an incompatibility introduced by changes in the software included with newer Phase 5 PowerPC boards. The original library, which may be required for some older PowerPC configurations, is included in the "old" directory. NOTES Visit the Cloanto web site at for the latest news. Your feedback is very appreciated. E-mail: . For additional technical and legal information on the files, please refer to the documentation included with the original (commercial) distribution. In particular, all files are Copyright © 1996, 1997 Cloanto Italia srl.