GENERAL INFORMATION (Page One of Two)



The operating system (platform).  At the present time ImprocRAD is developed

on the Windows NT platform version 4.0. I attempt to keep it operational on

both the Windows NT (4.0/2000) and Windows (95/98/ME) platforms. When reporting

difficulties with ImprocRAD, please include the platform information. ImprocRAD

is limited to Intel compatible machines.



The documentation for the ImprocRAD image processing and analysis environment 

contained in this DialogBox is organized by control buttons.  Except for 

the 'Exit Help' button, 'the Copyright Notice' button, and the 'General

Information' button that you can activate in order to reach this 

message, the buttons correspond to the controls in the ImprocRAD user 

interface.  Press the button to the left that corresponds to the information 

you wish to see.  The scroll bar to the right of this window allows scrolling 

through the text so that even long help pages are readable. If the help 

message is more than one page long, use the page selection buttons at the 

bottom of the help window to flip through the pages. The scroll bar operated

only within a page, you cannot move between pages using it. The number of pages

in the help message and the presently displayed page are shown in the lower

right corner of the help window.



Installation notes are contained on the next page.



The internal image format of ImprocRAD is unsigned 16-bit.  When an image is 

read, it is immediately left-justified to 16-bits and stored in an array 

termed the 'Original Image'.  It is normally copied immediately to an array 

called the 'Processed Image'.  The 'Processed Image' is copied to an eight-

bit deep array referred to as the 'Display Image'.  The 'Display Image' is 

what the user sees on the screen.  By maintaining the two separate 'Original' 

and 'Processed' image arrays, it is possible to repeat processing without 

reloading the material to be processed.  In order to allow recursive processing 

many of the processing controls allow selecting the 'Processed Image' as the 

input.  This selection is controlled by radio buttons.



Even though the internal storage format of ImprocRAD is unsigned, the program

can handle signed data which is read in or which results from processing.

The internal data is stored as unsigned 16-bit but with an added bias

of 32768. The value zero in the initial data is then displayed as middle gray.

Using this method of storage, as as opposed to twos complement, allows display

and processing of signed data on an equal footing with unsigned data. In

particular, all of ImprocRAD's functions can be applied to the signed data.



One of ImprocRAD's strengths is the high-fidelity presentation of monochome 

images.  In order to utilize the entire range of 256 possible grey levels, the 

MS-Windows system palette is changed on entering ImprocRAD, and then reset on 

leaving the environment.  In addition, the program senses changes in the choice 

of the active application.  It automatically reverts to the standard MS-Windows 

palette following such a shift, and reinitializes the ImprocRAD palette when 

ImprocRAD is again active.  Should the program 'crash', the palette may be left

in its altered state. To recover the original appearance enter ImprocRAD again

and exit normally. The color scheme that results is one stored internally to

ImprocRAD. The default corresponds to the Windows 'Desert' scheme.  You can

change that selection by using the crash recovery box in the 'Configuration'

window.



ImprocRAD will also function in HighColor, 24-bit TrueColor and 32-bit

TrueColor modes. At the present time not all functions are implemented in

those modes.  Generally, those operations requiring the palette are not

functional.  Although ImprocRAD is designed to primarily handle

monochrome images, limited color functionality has been implemented.  In

particular, it will read and display 256-color BMP files.



ImprocRAD accepts two types of command-line parameters.  The first type 

determines whether the main ImprocRAD window occupies the full screen surface, 

or is resizable.  The default is full screen surface.  To make the ImprocRAD 

main window resizable, use the command-line parameter Resize.  The second type of 

command-line parameter is a filename which ImprocRAD interprets as the name of 

a file to be read and which contains the input picture.  The restriction in the 

naming convention is that the filename must contain a period, e.g., Image.pcx . 

The command-line parameter can be entered in the short-cut icon properties box. 

Under the shortcut tab enter the command-line parameter, or parameters separated by 

spaces, at the end of the Target line.



An asterisk (*) preceding a caption in dialog box signifies that the 

corresponding function is not operational.



This help file was updated on January 26, 2001.