Amigaguide
Encyclopedia
AmigaGuide is a hypertext
document file format
designed for the Amiga
, files are stored in ASCII
so it is possible to read and edit a file without the need for special software.
Since Workbench 2.1
an Amiga Guide system for O.S. inline help files and reading manuals with sort of hypertext formatting elements was launched in AmigaOS and based on a viewer called simply "AmigaGuide" and it has been included as standard feature on the Amiga system. Users with earlier versions of Workbench could view the files by downloading the program and library AmigaGuide 34 distributed with public domain collections of floppy disks (for example on Fred Fish
collection) or it could be downloaded directly from Aminet
Amiga Official Repository on the web.
Starting from AmigaOS 3.0 AmigaGuide was replaced with more complete and flexible MultiView.
Multiview is basically a void container and a natural GUI for the various datatypes that open Multiview as a default tool when any media file (including AmigaGuide files) are invoked by mouse clicking and recognized by the existing correspondent datatype.
and viewed by any text reader software.
AmigaGuide commands all begin with the '@' symbol. To be recognized as AmigaGuide document, the first line should include this text:
There are three categories of commands: Global, Node, and Attributes.
Global commands are usually specified at the beginning of the document,
before any nodes are defined, and apply to all the nodes in the document.
Technically, they could be anywhere. Many commands can be used both globaly
and in nodes.
Node commands are usable inside of a node (after a '@NODE' and before an
"@ENDNODE"), and affect only the node in which they are used.
Attributes may be specified anywhere in a normal line. In addition to
the '@' symbol, attributes always use a pair of braces ('{' and '}') to
enclose the attribute name and possibly additional arguments.
link specify other nodes to jump to. They all support the naming of nodes
within the current document, but they also all support a path along with
that name which lets the node be located in any AmigaGuide document.
They will be shown as simply embossed text squared buttons in the page of MultiView.
document, it is just simply required to put an AmigaDOS file path before the node name. From this point of view AmigaGuide is a very simple hypertext language.
supported by Datatypes - pictures, animation, anything. It used the MultiView program to handle it through its internal support for the datatype Amiga standard. User must still
give a "node" name, even though the file is not an AmigaGuide file and has
no "nodes" - so the syntax is just:
Hypertext
Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
document file format
Document file format
A document file format is a text or binary file format for storing documents on a storage media, especially for use by computers.There currently exist a multitude of incompatible document file formats....
designed for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, files are stored in ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
so it is possible to read and edit a file without the need for special software.
Since Workbench 2.1
Workbench (AmigaOS)
-Overview:Commodore named their Amiga computer's first operating system Workbench 1.0 and continued with the Workbench name until version 3.1, when it was changed to AmigaOS, prompted by Apple renaming their propriety OS from "System" to "MacOS"...
an Amiga Guide system for O.S. inline help files and reading manuals with sort of hypertext formatting elements was launched in AmigaOS and based on a viewer called simply "AmigaGuide" and it has been included as standard feature on the Amiga system. Users with earlier versions of Workbench could view the files by downloading the program and library AmigaGuide 34 distributed with public domain collections of floppy disks (for example on Fred Fish
Fred Fish
Fred Fish was a computer programmer notable for work on the GNU Debugger and his series of Fish disks of freeware for the Amiga. He was a pioneering spirit pervasive in the Amiga community...
collection) or it could be downloaded directly from Aminet
Aminet
Aminet is the world's largest archive of Amiga-related software and files. Aminet was originally hosted by several universities' FTP sites, and is now available on CD-ROM and on the web.-History:...
Amiga Official Repository on the web.
Starting from AmigaOS 3.0 AmigaGuide was replaced with more complete and flexible MultiView.
AmigaGuide and MultiView
AmigaGuide is the default tool for viewing AmigaGuide files used with AmigaOS 2.1, and is also a basic text viewer for ASCII documents. It can handle multiple files thanks to cross-linking tables called XREF.Multiview is basically a void container and a natural GUI for the various datatypes that open Multiview as a default tool when any media file (including AmigaGuide files) are invoked by mouse clicking and recognized by the existing correspondent datatype.
AmigaGuide Readers on various platforms
Although the AmigaGuide format is almost solely used for documenting Amiga programs, viewers are available for several other platforms:- Java - JAGUaR
- DOSDOSDOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
- [ftp://k332.feld.cvut.cz/pub/local/lemming/AGView/AGview.arj AGView] - WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
- AGWViewer WinGuide (LHA archive) WinGuide (ZIP archive) - LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
- AGReader - MacintoshMacintoshThe Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
- Grotag A little free Open Source viewer of AmigaGuide files on Macintosh computers.
Syntax
AmigaGuide document is a simple Ascii formatted Document. So it could be edited by any normal text editorText editor
A text editor is a type of program used for editing plain text files.Text editors are often provided with operating systems or software development packages, and can be used to change configuration files and programming language source code....
and viewed by any text reader software.
AmigaGuide commands all begin with the '@' symbol. To be recognized as AmigaGuide document, the first line should include this text:
@database Amigaguide.guideThere are three categories of commands: Global, Node, and Attributes.
Global commands are usually specified at the beginning of the document,
before any nodes are defined, and apply to all the nodes in the document.
Technically, they could be anywhere. Many commands can be used both globaly
and in nodes.
Node commands are usable inside of a node (after a '@NODE' and before an
"@ENDNODE"), and affect only the node in which they are used.
Attributes may be specified anywhere in a normal line. In addition to
the '@' symbol, attributes always use a pair of braces ('{' and '}') to
enclose the attribute name and possibly additional arguments.
Main Commands
The commands "INDEX", "HELP", "NEXT", "PREV", "TOC" and the all purpose hypertextlink specify other nodes to jump to. They all support the naming of nodes
within the current document, but they also all support a path along with
that name which lets the node be located in any AmigaGuide document.
They will be shown as simply embossed text squared buttons in the page of MultiView.
External links
To access a node in anotherdocument, it is just simply required to put an AmigaDOS file path before the node name. From this point of view AmigaGuide is a very simple hypertext language.
Multimedia
Since AmigaOS 3.0 or above, the user can jump to any file that issupported by Datatypes - pictures, animation, anything. It used the MultiView program to handle it through its internal support for the datatype Amiga standard. User must still
give a "node" name, even though the file is not an AmigaGuide file and has
no "nodes" - so the syntax is just:
"main": "name_of_picture.iff/main".External links
- TAWS online viewer using Parse AmigaGuide.
- AmigaGuide Tech Sheet AmigaGuide overview by the inventor.
- AGWViewer AmigaGuide Windows viewer, the newest and probably best .guide viewer available for Windows. AmigaGuide files can be displayed in the application or in a browser and the content can be exported to a text file. It's freeware too.
- AmigaGuide (at Safalra's Website) AmigaGuide tags and commands explained, organised by introduction version; open source AmigaGuide to HTML converter, and security inspector
- AmigaGuide manual (in AmigaGuide format)
- AmigaGuide V34 distribution archive (Aminet download for AmigaOS)
- How to create an AmigaGuide (on EmuUnlimited site)
- AmigaGuide AmigaDOS command in Guida rapida all'AmigaDOS from Amiga Magazine Italia, 1996 (In Italian Language), contents of the site preservating online all issues of this magazine.