FGILIB Utility

FGILIB is a library management utility that lets you add, delete, extract, and replace files in an FGI library. The command syntax for invoking FGILIB from the DOS command prompt is

FGILIB fgi_file [commands] [options]

where fgi_file is the name of the library file to create or edit, commands specify the operations to perform on fgi_file, and options specify additional controls. Entering FGILIB by itself displays a summary of the command syntax. FGILIB is a Win32 console program.

If fgi_file does not exist, FGILIB assumes you want to create a new library. If fgi_file exists, FGILIB applies the commands and options to that library. In this case, FGILIB first makes a backup copy of the original library if it will be modified in any way. The backup copy has the same file name as the library being edited but has a BAK file extension (if a backup exists, it is overwritten). In any case, FGILIB will append its default FGI extension to fgi_file if it does not include a file extension.

The commands are similar to those used by the library managers supplied with C and C++ compilers. Valid commands are:

When more than one item appears in the list of commands, you must separate them with one or more blanks. Wild cards and path specifications are not permitted in the file names. FGILIB displays informational messages as it executes each command. AVI, BMP, JPG, PCX, FLI, FLC, PPR, and SPR files must use those extensions when placed in the library. This enables the Fastgraph/Image image display functions to determine and validate the correct image type.

The FGILIB options are listed here and described in the following paragraphs.

The /B option suppresses the BAK file normally created when modifying an FGI library.

The /L option creates a library list file. If /L:filename is specified, the list is written to the specified file (which is overwritten if it exists) in a format suitable for any printer or text editor. If /L is specified by itself, the list is displayed on the screen. The library list includes the file name, size, type, and image width (if type is a PPR or SPR file) for each file in the FGI library. It also displays the total size of all files and the actual FGI file size (the FGI file size is the total size of all files plus the size of all indexes). Note that if /L is specified when modifying an FGI file, the list will reflect the library state after making the requested modifications.

The /N option specifies the number of file entries in each library index (this quantity is called the index size). By default, each index contains 32 file entries plus a pointer entry to the next index. The index size must be between 1 and 32. When creating a new FGI library, the index size defines the number of entries in the first index. When adding files to an existing FGI library, the index size specifies the size of each additional index FGILIB creates. When packing an FGI library, the index size specifies the size of the first index in the packed library, as well as the size of each additional index created. We recommend using the default /N:32 for FGI libraries containing 32 or more files, and using an index size equal to the number of files in the library for libraries with fewer than 32 files.

The /P option packs an FGI library. It is typically used with the /N option to minimize the number of unused index entries in the library. FGILIB does an automatic pack whenever files are removed from a library.

The /W option is relevant only for pixel run files (AVI, BMP, JPEG, PCX, and FLI/FLC files have the image width stored in their file headers). When you specify the image width with /W, the width applies to every PPR and SPR image added or replaced with the current FGILIB command. The default is /W:320.