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Design

Graphics Programming


JUL91: GRAPHICS PROGRAMMING

GRAPHICS PROGRAMMING

Mode X: 256-Color VGA Magic

Michael Abrash

There's a well-known Latin saying, in complexitate est opportunitas ("in complexity there is opportunity"), that must have been invented with the VGA in mind. Well, actually, it's not exactly well-known (I just thought of it this afternoon), but it should be. As evidence, witness the strange case of the VGA's 320 x 240 256-color mode, which is undeniably complex to program and isn't even documented by IBM -- but which is, nonetheless, perhaps the single best mode the VGA has to offer, especially for animation.

What Makes 320 x 240 Special?

Five features set the 320 x 240 256-color mode (which I'll call "mode X," befitting its mystery status in IBM's documentation) apart from other VGA modes. First, it has a 1:1 aspect ratio, resulting in equal pixel spacing horizontally and vertically (square pixels). Square pixels make for the most attractive displays, and avoid considerable programming effort that would otherwise be necessary to adjust graphics primitives and images to match the screen's pixel spacing. (For example, with square pixels, a circle can be drawn as a circle; otherwise, it must be drawn as an ellipse that corrects for the aspect ratio -- a slower, more complicated process.) In contrast, mode 13h, the only documented 256-color mode, provides a nonsquare 320 x 200 resolution.

Second, mode X allows page flipping, a prerequisite for the smoothest possible animation. Mode 13h does not allow page flipping, nor does mode 12h, the VGA's high-resolution 640 x 480 16-color mode.

Third, mode X allows the VGA's plane-oriented hardware to be used to process pixels in parallel, improving performance by up to four times over mode 13h.

Fourth, like mode 13h but unlike all other VGA modes, mode X is a byte-per-pixel mode (each pixel is controlled by one byte in display memory), eliminating the slow read-before-write and bit-masking operations often required in 16-color modes. In addition to cutting the number of memory accesses in half, this is important because the memory caching schemes used by many VGA clones speed up writes more than reads.

Fifth, unlike mode 13h, mode X has plenty of offscreen memory free for image storage. This is particularly effective in conjunction with the use of the VGA's latches; together, the latches and the off-screen memory allow images to be copied to the screen four pixels at a time.

There's a sixth feature of mode X that's not so terrific: It's hard to program efficiently. If you've ever programmed a VGA 16-color mode directly, you know that VGA programming can be demanding; mode X is often as demanding as 16-color programming, and operates by a set of rules that turns everything you've learned in 16-color mode sideways. Programming mode X is nothing like programming the nice, flat bitmap of mode 13h, or, for that matter, the flat, linear (albeit banked) bitmap used by 256-color SuperVGA modes. (I'd like to emphasize that mode X works on all VGAs, not just SuperVGAs.) Many programmers I talk to love the flat bitmap model, and think that it's the ideal organization for display memory because it's so straightforward to program. Remember the saying I started this column with, though; the complexity of mode X truly is opportunity -- opportunity for the best combination of performance and appearance the VGA has to offer. If you do 256-color programming, especially if you use animation, you're missing the boat if you're not using mode X.

Although some developers have taken advantage of mode X, its use is certainly not widespread, being entirely undocumented; only an experienced VGA programmer would have the slightest inkling that it exists, and figuring out how to make it perform beyond the write pixel/read pixel level is no mean feat. I've never seen anything in print about it, and, in fact, the only articles I've seen about any of the undocumented 256-color modes were my own articles about the 320 x 200, 320 x 400, and 360 x 480 256-color modes in Programmer's Journal (January and September, 1989). (However, John Bridges has put code for a number of undocumented 256-color resolutions into the public domain, and I'd like to acknowledge the influence of his code on the mode set routine presented in this, article.)

Given the tremendous advantages of 320 x 240 over the documented mode 13h, I'd very much like to get it into the hands of as many developers as possible, so I'm going to spend the next few columns exploring this odd but worthy mode. I'll provide mode set code, delineate the bitmap organization, and show how the basic write pixel and read pixel operations work. Then I'll move on to the magic stuff: rectangle fills, screen clears, scrolls, image copies, pixel inversion, and, yes, polygon fills (just a different driver), all blurry fast; hardware raster ops; and page flipping. In the end, I'll build a working animation program that shows many of the features of mode X in action.

The mode set code is the logical place to begin.

Selecting 320 x 240 256-Color Mode

We could, if we wished, write our own mode set code for mode X from scratch -- but why bother? Instead, we'll let the BIOS do most of the work by having it set up mode 13h, which we'll then turn into mode X by changing a few registers. Listing One (page 154) does exactly that.

After setting up mode 13h, Listing One alters the vertical counts and timings to select 480 visible scan lines. (There's no need to alter any horizontal values, because mode 13h and mode X both have 320-pixel horizontal resolutions.) The maximum Scan Line register is programmed to double scan each line (that is, repeat each scan line twice), however, so we get an effective vertical resolution of 240 scan lines. It is, in fact, possible to get 400 or 480 independent scan lines in 256-color mode (see the aforementioned articles for details); however, 400-scan-line modes lack square pixels and can't support simultaneous offscreen memory and page flipping, and 480-scan-line modes lack page flipping altogether, due to memory constraints.

At the same time, Listing One programs the VGA's bitmap to a planar organization that is similar to that used by the 16-color modes, and utterly different from the linear bitmap of mode 13h. The bizarre bitmap organization of mode X is shown in Figure 1. The first pixel (the pixel at the upper left corner of the screen) is controlled by the byte at offset 0 in plane 0. (The one thing that mode X blessedly has in common with mode 13h is that each pixel is controlled by a single byte, eliminating the need to mask out individual bits of display memory.) The second pixel, immediately to the right of the first pixel, is controlled by the byte at offset 0 in plane 1. The third pixel comes from offset 0 in plane 2, and the fourth pixel from offset 0 in plane 3. Then the fifth pixel is controlled by the byte at offset 1 in plane 0, and that cycle continues, with each group of four pixels spread across the four planes at the same address. The offset M of pixel N in display memory is M = N/4, and the plane P of pixel N is P = N mod 4. For display memory writes, the plane is selected by setting bit P of the Map Mask register (Sequence Controller register 2) to 1 and all other bits to 0; for display memory reads, the plane is selected by setting the Read Map register (Graphics Controller register 4) to P.

It goes without saying that this is one ugly bitmap organization, requiring a lot of overhead to manipulate a single pixel. The write pixel code shown in Listing Two (page 154) must determine the appropriate plane and perform a 16-bit OUT to select that plane for each pixel written, and likewise for the read pixel code shown in Listing Three (page 154). Calculating and mapping in a plane once for each pixel written is scarcely a recipe for performance.

That's all right, though, because most graphics software spends little time drawing individual pixels. I've provided the write and read pixel routines as basic primitives, and so you'll understand how the bitmap is organized, but the building blocks of high-performance graphics software are fills, copies, and bitblts, and it's here that mode X shines.

Designing From a Mode X Perspective

Listing Four (page 154) shows mode X rectangle fill code. The plane is selected for each pixel in turn, with drawing cycling from plane 0 to plane 3 then wrapping back to plane 0. This is the sort of code that stems from a write-pixel line of thinking; it reflects not a whit of the unique perspective that mode X demands, and although it looks reasonably efficient, it is in fact some of the slowest graphics code you will ever see. I've provided Listing Four partly for illustrative purposes, but mostly so we'll have a point of reference for the substantial speed-up that's possible with code that's designed from a mode X perspective.

The two major weaknesses of Listing Four both result from selecting the plane on a pixel by pixel basis. First, endless OUTs (which are particularly slow on 386s and 486s, often much slower than accesses to display memory) must be performed, and, second, REP STOS can't be used. Listing Five (page 156) overcomes both these problems by tailoring the fill technique to the organization of display memory. Each plane is filled in its entirety in one burst before the next plane is processed, so only five OUTs are required in all, and REP STOS can indeed be used. (I've used REP STOSB in Listings Five and Six (page 156.) REP STOSW could be used and would improve performance on some 16-bit VGAs; however, REP STOSW requires extra overhead to set up, so it can be slower for small rectangles, especially on 8-bit VGAs. Doing an entire plane at a time can produce a "fading-in" effect for large images, because all columns for one plane are drawn before any columns for the next; if this is a problem, the four planes can be cycled through once for each scan line, rather than once for the entire rectangle.

Listing Five is 2.5 times faster than Listing Four at clearing the screen on a 20-MHz cached 386 with a Paradise VGA. Although Listing Five is slightly slower than an equivalent mode 13h fill routine would be, it's not grievously so. In general, performing plane-at-a-time operations can make almost any mode X operation, at the worst, nearly as fast as the same operation in mode 13h (although this sort of mode X programming is admittedly fairly complex). In this pursuit, it can help to organize data structures with mode X in mind. For example, icons could be prearranged in system memory with the pixels organized into four plane-oriented sets (or, again, in four sets per scan line to avoid a fading-in effect) to facilitate copying to the screen a plane at a time with REP MOVS.

Hardware Assist from an Unexpected Quarter

Listing Five illustrates the benefits of designing code from a mode X perspective; this is the software aspect of mode X optimization, which suffices to make mode X about as fast as mode 13h. That alone makes mode X an attractive mode, given its square pixels, page flipping, and offscreen memory, but superior performance would nonetheless be a pleasant addition to that list. Superior performance is indeed possible in mode X, although, oddly enough, it comes courtesy of the VGA's hardware, which was never designed to be used in 256-color modes.

All of the VGA's hardware assist features are available in mode X, although some are not particularly useful. The VGA hardware feature that's truly the key to mode X performance is the ability to process four planes' worth of data in parallel; this includes both the latches and the capability to fan data out to any or all planes. For rectangular fills, we'll just need to fan the data out to various planes, so I'll defer a discussion of other hardware features until another column. (By the way, the ALUs, bit mask, and most other VGA hardware features are also available in mode 13h -- but parallel data processing is not.)

In planar modes, such as mode X, a byte written by the CPU to display memory may actually go to anywhere between zero and four planes, as shown in Figure 2. Each plane for which the setting of the corresponding bit in the Map Mask register is 1 receives the CPU data, and each plane for which the corresponding bit is 0 is not modified.

In 16-color modes, each plane contains one-quarter of each of eight pixels, with the 4 bits of each pixel spanning all four planes. Not so in mode X. Look at Figure 1 again; each plane contains one pixel in its entirety, with four pixels at any given address, one per plane. Still, the Map Mask register does the same job in mode X as in 16-color modes; set it to OFh (all 1-bits), and all four planes will be written to by each CPU access. Thus, it would seem that up to four pixels could be set by a single mode X byte-sized write to display memory, potentially speeding up operations like rectangle fills by four times.

And, as it turns out, four-plane parallelism works quite nicely indeed. Listing Six is yet another rectangle-fill routine, this time using the Map Mask to set up to four pixels per STOS. The only trick to Listing Six is that any left or right edge that isn't aligned to a multiple-of-four pixel column (that is, a column at which one four-pixel set ends and the next begins) must be clipped via the Map Mask register, because not all pixels at the address containing the edge are modified. Performance is as expected; Listing Six is nearly ten times faster at clearing the screen than Listing Four and just about four times faster than Listing Five--and also about four times faster than the same rectangle fill in mode 13h. Understanding the bitmap organization and display hardware of mode X does indeed pay.

Just so you can see mode X in action, Listing Seven (page 158) is a sample program that selects mode X and draws a number of rectangles. Listing Seven links to any of the rectangle fill routines I've presented.

And now, I hope, you begin to see why I'm so fond of mode X. Next month, we'll continue with mode X by exploring the wonders that the latches and parallel plane hardware can work on scrolls, copies, blits, and pattern fills.

Notes From the Edsun Front

Comments coming my way indicate a great deal of programmer interest in the Edsun CEG/DAC, of which I wrote in April and May. However, everyone who has actually programmed the CEG/DAC complains about how hard it is; the results are nice, but the process of getting there is anything but. Nonetheless, programming the CEG/DAC is certainly a solvable problem, and whoever solves it best will come out looking mighty good. A fair analogy is writing active TSRs. Six years ago, TSR-writing was black magic, and Sidekick, primitive by today's standards, made a fortune. Today, any dope can choose from dozens of books and toolkits and make a rock-solid TSR in a few hours. As programmers develop better tools and a better understanding of the CEG/DAC, the grumbling will subside, and the software will take off. Another case of complexity providing opportunity.

Book of the Month

This month's book is Advanced Programmer's Guide to SuperVGAs, by Sutty and Blair (Brady, 1990, ISBN 0-13-010455-8; $44.95). Pricey for softcover, but included in that price is a diskette of SuperVGA assembly code (which I have not tried out). This book is the single best guide I've seen to the Byzantine world of SuperVGA programming, where every one of dozens of VGA models has different mode numbers and banking schemes. Take it from someone who's waded through a slew of chip databooks and application notes--this book will save you a lot of time and aggravation if you have to program SuperVGAs directly.

Still, not everything I'd like to see is in there. For example, they cover only the Tseng Labs ET3000 chip, not the now widely used ET4000 that supports 15-bpp graphics. That's not the authors' fault, of course; it's a reflection of the incredible diversity and rate of change in the SuperVGA arena.

Mode X. The Edsun CEG/DAC. Super-VGA programming. In complexitate est opportunitas. Q.E.D.


_GRAPHICS PROGRAMMING COLUMN_
by Michael Abrash


[LISTING ONE]
<a name="01a9_000b">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) mode set routine. Works on all VGAs.
; ****************************************************************
; * Revised 6/19/91 to select correct clock; fixes vertical roll *
; * problems on fixed-frequency (IBM 851X-type) monitors.        *
; ****************************************************************
; C near-callable as:
;       void Set320x240Mode(void);
; Tested with TASM 2.0.
; Modified from public-domain mode set code by John Bridges.

SC_INDEX equ    03c4h   ;Sequence Controller Index
CRTC_INDEX equ  03d4h   ;CRT Controller Index
MISC_OUTPUT equ 03c2h   ;Miscellaneous Output register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X

        .model  small
        .data
; Index/data pairs for CRT Controller registers that differ between
; mode 13h and mode X.
CRTParms label  word
        dw      00d06h  ;vertical total
        dw      03e07h  ;overflow (bit 8 of vertical counts)
        dw      04109h  ;cell height (2 to double-scan)
        dw      0ea10h  ;v sync start
        dw      0ac11h  ;v sync end and protect cr0-cr7
        dw      0df12h  ;vertical displayed
        dw      00014h  ;turn off dword mode
        dw      0e715h  ;v blank start
        dw      00616h  ;v blank end
        dw      0e317h  ;turn on byte mode
CRT_PARM_LENGTH equ     (($-CRTParms)/2)

        .code
        public  _Set320x240Mode
_Set320x240Mode proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        push    si      ;preserve C register vars
        push    di      ; (don't count on BIOS preserving anything)

        mov     ax,13h  ;let the BIOS set standard 256-color
        int     10h     ; mode (320x200 linear)

        mov     dx,SC_INDEX
        mov     ax,0604h
        out     dx,ax   ;disable chain4 mode
        mov     ax,0100h
        out     dx,ax   ;synchronous reset while setting Misc Output
         ; for safety, even though clock unchanged
        mov     dx,MISC_OUTPUT
        mov     al,0e3h
        out     dx,al   ;select 25 MHz dot clock & 60 Hz scanning rate

        mov     dx,SC_INDEX
        mov     ax,0300h
        out     dx,ax   ;undo reset (restart sequencer)

        mov     dx,CRTC_INDEX ;reprogram the CRT Controller
        mov     al,11h  ;VSync End reg contains register write
        out     dx,al   ; protect bit
        inc     dx      ;CRT Controller Data register
        in      al,dx   ;get current VSync End register setting
        and     al,7fh  ;remove write protect on various
        out     dx,al   ; CRTC registers
        dec     dx      ;CRT Controller Index
        cld
        mov     si,offset CRTParms ;point to CRT parameter table
        mov     cx,CRT_PARM_LENGTH ;# of table entries
SetCRTParmsLoop:
        lodsw           ;get the next CRT Index/Data pair
        out     dx,ax   ;set the next CRT Index/Data pair
        loop    SetCRTParmsLoop

        mov     dx,SC_INDEX
        mov     ax,0f02h
        out     dx,ax   ;enable writes to all four planes
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG ;now clear all display memory, 8 pixels
        mov     es,ax         ; at a time
        sub     di,di   ;point ES:DI to display memory
        sub     ax,ax   ;clear to zero-value pixels
        mov     cx,8000h ;# of words in display memory
        rep     stosw   ;clear all of display memory

        pop     di      ;restore C register vars
        pop     si
        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_Set320x240Mode endp
        end




<a name="01a9_000c">
<a name="01a9_000d">
[LISTING TWO]
<a name="01a9_000d">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) write pixel routine. Works on all VGAs.
; No clipping is performed.
; C near-callable as:
;    void WritePixelX(int X, int Y, unsigned int PageBase, int Color);

SC_INDEX equ    03c4h   ;Sequence Controller Index
MAP_MASK equ    02h     ;index in SC of Map Mask register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X
SCREEN_WIDTH equ 80     ;width of screen in bytes from one scan line
                        ; to the next

parms   struc
        dw      2 dup (?) ;pushed BP and return address
X       dw      ?       ;X coordinate of pixel to draw
Y       dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of pixel to draw
PageBase dw     ?       ;base offset in display memory of page in
                        ; which to draw pixel
Color   dw      ?       ;color in which to draw pixel
parms   ends

        .model  small
        .code
        public  _WritePixelX
_WritePixelX    proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        mov     bp,sp   ;point to local stack frame

        mov     ax,SCREEN_WIDTH
        mul     [bp+Y]  ;offset of pixel's scan line in page
        mov     bx,[bp+X]
        shr     bx,1
        shr     bx,1    ;X/4 = offset of pixel in scan line
        add     bx,ax   ;offset of pixel in page
        add     bx,[bp+PageBase] ;offset of pixel in display memory
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG
        mov     es,ax   ;point ES:BX to the pixel's address

        mov     cl,byte ptr [bp+X]
        and     cl,011b ;CL = pixel's plane
        mov     ax,0100h + MAP_MASK ;AL = index in SC of Map Mask reg
        shl     ah,cl   ;set only the bit for the pixel's plane to 1
        mov     dx,SC_INDEX ;set the Map Mask to enable only the
        out     dx,ax       ; pixel's plane

        mov     al,byte ptr [bp+Color]
        mov     es:[bx],al ;draw the pixel in the desired color

        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_WritePixelX    endp
        end





<a name="01a9_000e">
<a name="01a9_000f">
[LISTING THREE]
<a name="01a9_000f">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) read pixel routine. Works on all VGAs.
; No clipping is performed.
; C near-callable as:
;    unsigned int ReadPixelX(int X, int Y, unsigned int PageBase);

GC_INDEX equ    03ceh   ;Graphics Controller Index
READ_MAP equ    04h     ;index in GC of the Read Map register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X
SCREEN_WIDTH equ 80     ;width of screen in bytes from one scan line
                        ; to the next
parms   struc
        dw      2 dup (?) ;pushed BP and return address
X       dw      ?       ;X coordinate of pixel to read
Y       dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of pixel to read
PageBase dw     ?       ;base offset in display memory of page from
                        ; which to read pixel
parms   ends

        .model  small
        .code
        public  _ReadPixelX
_ReadPixelX     proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        mov     bp,sp   ;point to local stack frame

        mov     ax,SCREEN_WIDTH
        mul     [bp+Y]  ;offset of pixel's scan line in page
        mov     bx,[bp+X]
        shr     bx,1
        shr     bx,1    ;X/4 = offset of pixel in scan line
        add     bx,ax   ;offset of pixel in page
        add     bx,[bp+PageBase] ;offset of pixel in display memory
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG
        mov     es,ax   ;point ES:BX to the pixel's address

        mov     ah,byte ptr [bp+X]
        and     ah,011b ;AH = pixel's plane
        mov     al,READ_MAP ;AL = index in GC of the Read Map reg
        mov     dx,GC_INDEX ;set the Read Map to read the pixel's
        out     dx,ax       ; plane

        mov     al,es:[bx] ;read the pixel's color
        sub     ah,ah   ;convert it to an unsigned int

        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_ReadPixelX     endp
        end




<a name="01a9_0010">
<a name="01a9_0011">
[LISTING FOUR]
<a name="01a9_0011">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) rectangle fill routine. Works on all
; VGAs. Uses slow approach that selects the plane explicitly for each
; pixel. Fills up to but not including the column at EndX and the row
; at EndY. No clipping is performed.
; C near-callable as:
;    void FillRectangleX(int StartX, int StartY, int EndX, int EndY,
;       unsigned int PageBase, int Color);

SC_INDEX equ    03c4h   ;Sequence Controller Index
MAP_MASK equ    02h     ;index in SC of Map Mask register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X
SCREEN_WIDTH equ 80     ;width of screen in bytes from one scan line
                        ; to the next
parms   struc
        dw      2 dup (?) ;pushed BP and return address
StartX  dw      ?       ;X coordinate of upper left corner of rect
StartY  dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of upper left corner of rect
EndX    dw      ?       ;X coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the row at EndX is not filled)
EndY    dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the column at EndY is not filled)
PageBase dw     ?       ;base offset in display memory of page in
                        ; which to fill rectangle
Color   dw      ?       ;color in which to draw pixel
parms   ends

        .model  small
        .code
        public  _FillRectangleX
_FillRectangleX proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        mov     bp,sp   ;point to local stack frame
        push    si      ;preserve caller's register variables
        push    di

        mov     ax,SCREEN_WIDTH
        mul     [bp+StartY] ;offset in page of top rectangle scan line
        mov     di,[bp+StartX]
        shr     di,1
        shr     di,1    ;X/4 = offset of first rectangle pixel in scan
                        ; line
        add     di,ax   ;offset of first rectangle pixel in page
        add     di,[bp+PageBase] ;offset of first rectangle pixel in
                        ; display memory
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG
        mov     es,ax   ;point ES:DI to the first rectangle pixel's
                        ; address
        mov     dx,SC_INDEX ;set the Sequence Controller Index to
        mov     al,MAP_MASK ; point to the Map Mask register
        out     dx,al
        inc     dx      ;point DX to the SC Data register
        mov     cl,byte ptr [bp+StartX]
        and     cl,011b ;CL = first rectangle pixel's plane
        mov     al,01h
        shl     al,cl   ;set only the bit for the pixel's plane to 1
        mov     ah,byte ptr [bp+Color] ;color with which to fill
        mov     bx,[bp+EndY]
        sub     bx,[bp+StartY]  ;BX = height of rectangle
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative height
        mov     si,[bp+EndX]
        sub     si,[bp+StartX]  ;CX = width of rectangle
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative width
FillRowsLoop:
        push    ax      ;remember the plane mask for the left edge
        push    di      ;remember the start offset of the scan line
        mov     cx,si   ;set count of pixels in this scan line
FillScanLineLoop:
        out     dx,al   ;set the plane for this pixel
        mov     es:[di],ah ;draw the pixel
        shl     al,1    ;adjust the plane mask for the next pixel's
        and     al,01111b ; bit, modulo 4
        jnz     AddressSet ;advance address if we turned over from
        inc     di      ; plane 3 to plane 0
        mov     al,00001b ;set plane mask bit for plane 0
AddressSet:
        loop    FillScanLineLoop
        pop     di      ;retrieve the start offset of the scan line
        add     di,SCREEN_WIDTH ;point to the start of the next scan
                        ; line of the rectangle
        pop     ax      ;retrieve the plane mask for the left edge
        dec     bx      ;count down scan lines
        jnz     FillRowsLoop
FillDone:
        pop     di      ;restore caller's register variables
        pop     si
        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_FillRectangleX endp
        end





<a name="01a9_0012">
<a name="01a9_0013">
[LISTING FIVE]
<a name="01a9_0013">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) rectangle fill routine. Works on all
; VGAs. Uses medium-speed approach that selects each plane only once
; per rectangle; this results in a fade-in effect for large
; rectangles. Fills up to but not including the column at EndX and the
; row at EndY. No clipping is performed.
; C near-callable as:
;    void FillRectangleX(int StartX, int StartY, int EndX, int EndY,
;       unsigned int PageBase, int Color);

SC_INDEX equ    03c4h   ;Sequence Controller Index
MAP_MASK equ    02h     ;index in SC of Map Mask register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X
SCREEN_WIDTH equ 80     ;width of screen in bytes from one scan line
                        ; to the next
parms struc
        dw      2 dup (?) ;pushed BP and return address
StartX  dw      ?       ;X coordinate of upper left corner of rect
StartY  dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of upper left corner of rect
EndX    dw      ?       ;X coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the row at EndX is not filled)
EndY    dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the column at EndY is not filled)

PageBase dw     ?       ;base offset in display memory of page in
                        ; which to fill rectangle
Color   dw      ?       ;color in which to draw pixel
parms ends

StartOffset equ  -2     ;local storage for start offset of rectangle
Width    equ     -4     ;local storage for address width of rectangle
Height   equ     -6     ;local storage for height of rectangle
PlaneInfo equ    -8     ;local storage for plane # and plane mask
STACK_FRAME_SIZE equ 8

        .model  small
        .code
        public  _FillRectangleX
_FillRectangleX proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        mov     bp,sp   ;point to local stack frame
        sub     sp,STACK_FRAME_SIZE ;allocate space for local vars
        push    si      ;preserve caller's register variables
        push    di

        cld
        mov     ax,SCREEN_WIDTH
        mul     [bp+StartY] ;offset in page of top rectangle scan line
        mov     di,[bp+StartX]
        shr     di,1
        shr     di,1    ;X/4 = offset of first rectangle pixel in scan
                        ; line
        add     di,ax   ;offset of first rectangle pixel in page
        add     di,[bp+PageBase] ;offset of first rectangle pixel in
                        ; display memory
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG
        mov     es,ax   ;point ES:DI to the first rectangle pixel's
        mov     [bp+StartOffset],di ; address
        mov     dx,SC_INDEX ;set the Sequence Controller Index to
        mov     al,MAP_MASK ; point to the Map Mask register
        out     dx,al
        mov     bx,[bp+EndY]
        sub     bx,[bp+StartY]  ;BX = height of rectangle
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative height
        mov     [bp+Height],bx
        mov     dx,[bp+EndX]
        mov     cx,[bp+StartX]
        cmp     dx,cx
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative width
        dec     dx
        and     cx,not 011b
        sub     dx,cx
        shr     dx,1
        shr     dx,1
        inc     dx      ;# of addresses across rectangle to fill
        mov     [bp+Width],dx
        mov     word ptr [bp+PlaneInfo],0001h
                           ;lower byte = plane mask for plane 0,
                           ; upper byte = plane # for plane 0
FillPlanesLoop:
        mov     ax,word ptr [bp+PlaneInfo]
        mov     dx,SC_INDEX+1 ;point DX to the SC Data register
        out     dx,al   ;set the plane for this pixel
        mov     di,[bp+StartOffset] ;point ES:DI to rectangle start
        mov     dx,[bp+Width]
        mov     cl,byte ptr [bp+StartX]
        and     cl,011b ;plane # of first pixel in initial byte
        cmp     ah,cl   ;do we draw this plane in the initial byte?
        jae     InitAddrSet ;yes
        dec     dx      ;no, so skip the initial byte
        jz      FillLoopBottom ;skip this plane if no pixels in it
        inc     di
InitAddrSet:
        mov     cl,byte ptr [bp+EndX]
        dec     cl
        and     cl,011b ;plane # of last pixel in final byte
        cmp     ah,cl   ;do we draw this plane in the final byte?
        jbe     WidthSet ;yes
        dec     dx      ;no, so skip the final byte
        jz      FillLoopBottom ;skip this planes if no pixels in it
WidthSet:
        mov     si,SCREEN_WIDTH
        sub     si,dx   ;distance from end of one scan line to start
                        ; of next
        mov     bx,[bp+Height] ;# of lines to fill
        mov     al,byte ptr [bp+Color] ;color with which to fill
FillRowsLoop:
        mov     cx,dx   ;# of bytes across scan line
        rep     stosb   ;fill the scan line in this plane
        add     di,si   ;point to the start of the next scan
                        ; line of the rectangle
        dec     bx      ;count down scan lines
        jnz     FillRowsLoop
FillLoopBottom:
        mov     ax,word ptr [bp+PlaneInfo]
        shl     al,1    ;set the plane bit to the next plane
        inc     ah      ;increment the plane #
        mov     word ptr [bp+PlaneInfo],ax
        cmp     ah,4    ;have we done all planes?
        jnz     FillPlanesLoop ;continue if any more planes
FillDone:
        pop     di      ;restore caller's register variables
        pop     si
        mov     sp,bp   ;discard storage for local variables
        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_FillRectangleX endp
        end





<a name="01a9_0014">
<a name="01a9_0015">
[LISTING SIX]
<a name="01a9_0015">

; Mode X (320x240, 256 colors) rectangle fill routine. Works on all
; VGAs. Uses fast approach that fans data out to up to four planes at
; once to draw up to four pixels at once. Fills up to but not
; including the column at EndX and the row at EndY. No clipping is
; performed.
; C near-callable as:
;    void FillRectangleX(int StartX, int StartY, int EndX, int EndY,
;       unsigned int PageBase, int Color);

SC_INDEX equ    03c4h   ;Sequence Controller Index
MAP_MASK equ    02h     ;index in SC of Map Mask register
SCREEN_SEG equ  0a000h  ;segment of display memory in mode X
SCREEN_WIDTH equ 80     ;width of screen in bytes from one scan line
                        ; to the next
parms   struc
        dw      2 dup (?) ;pushed BP and return address
StartX  dw      ?       ;X coordinate of upper left corner of rect
StartY  dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of upper left corner of rect
EndX    dw      ?       ;X coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the row at EndX is not filled)
EndY    dw      ?       ;Y coordinate of lower right corner of rect
                        ; (the column at EndY is not filled)
PageBase dw     ?       ;base offset in display memory of page in
                        ; which to fill rectangle
Color   dw      ?       ;color in which to draw pixel
parms   ends

        .model  small
        .data
; Plane masks for clipping left and right edges of rectangle.
LeftClipPlaneMask       db      00fh,00eh,00ch,008h
RightClipPlaneMask      db      00fh,001h,003h,007h
        .code
        public  _FillRectangleX
_FillRectangleX proc    near
        push    bp      ;preserve caller's stack frame
        mov     bp,sp   ;point to local stack frame
        push    si      ;preserve caller's register variables
        push    di

        cld
        mov     ax,SCREEN_WIDTH
        mul     [bp+StartY] ;offset in page of top rectangle scan line
        mov     di,[bp+StartX]
        shr     di,1    ;X/4 = offset of first rectangle pixel in scan
        shr     di,1    ; line
        add     di,ax   ;offset of first rectangle pixel in page
        add     di,[bp+PageBase] ;offset of first rectangle pixel in
                        ; display memory
        mov     ax,SCREEN_SEG   ;point ES:DI to the first rectangle
        mov     es,ax           ; pixel's address
        mov     dx,SC_INDEX ;set the Sequence Controller Index to
        mov     al,MAP_MASK ; point to the Map Mask register
        out     dx,al
        inc     dx      ;point DX to the SC Data register
        mov     si,[bp+StartX]
        and     si,0003h                 ;look up left edge plane mask
        mov     bh,LeftClipPlaneMask[si] ; to clip & put in BH
        mov     si,[bp+EndX]
        and     si,0003h                  ;look up right edge plane
        mov     bl,RightClipPlaneMask[si] ; mask to clip & put in BL

        mov     cx,[bp+EndX]    ;calculate # of addresses across rect
        mov     si,[bp+StartX]
        cmp     cx,si
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative width
        dec     cx
        and     si,not 011b
        sub     cx,si
        shr     cx,1
        shr     cx,1    ;# of addresses across rectangle to fill - 1
        jnz     MasksSet ;there's more than one byte to draw
        and     bh,bl   ;there's only one byte, so combine the left
                        ; and right edge clip masks
MasksSet:
        mov     si,[bp+EndY]
        sub     si,[bp+StartY]  ;BX = height of rectangle
        jle     FillDone        ;skip if 0 or negative height
        mov     ah,byte ptr [bp+Color] ;color with which to fill
        mov     bp,SCREEN_WIDTH ;stack frame isn't needed any more
        sub     bp,cx   ;distance from end of one scan line to start
        dec     bp      ; of next
FillRowsLoop:
        push    cx      ;remember width in addresses - 1
        mov     al,bh   ;put left-edge clip mask in AL
        out     dx,al   ;set the left-edge plane (clip) mask
        mov     al,ah   ;put color in AL
        stosb           ;draw the left edge
        dec     cx      ;count off left edge byte
        js      FillLoopBottom ;that's the only byte
        jz      DoRightEdge ;there are only two bytes
        mov     al,00fh ;middle addresses are drawn 4 pixels at a pop
        out     dx,al   ;set the middle pixel mask to no clip
        mov     al,ah   ;put color in AL
        rep     stosb   ;draw the middle addresses four pixels apiece
DoRightEdge:
        mov     al,bl   ;put right-edge clip mask in AL
        out     dx,al   ;set the right-edge plane (clip) mask
        mov     al,ah   ;put color in AL
        stosb           ;draw the right edge
FillLoopBottom:
        add     di,bp   ;point to the start of the next scan line of
                        ; the rectangle
        pop     cx      ;retrieve width in addresses - 1
        dec     si      ;count down scan lines
        jnz     FillRowsLoop
FillDone:
        pop     di      ;restore caller's register variables
        pop     si
        pop     bp      ;restore caller's stack frame
        ret
_FillRectangleX endp
        end





<a name="01a9_0016">
<a name="01a9_0017">
[LISTING SEVEN]
<a name="01a9_0017">

/* Program to demonstrate mode X (320x240, 256-colors) rectangle
   fill by drawing adjacent 20x20 rectangles in successive colors from
   0 on up across and down the screen */
#include <conio.h>
#include <dos.h>

void Set320x240Mode(void);
void FillRectangleX(int, int, int, int, unsigned int, int);

void main() {
   int i,j;
   union REGS regset;

   Set320x240Mode();
   FillRectangleX(0,0,320,240,0,0); /* clear the screen to black */
   for (j = 1; j < 220; j += 21) {
      for (i = 1; i < 300; i += 21) {
         FillRectangleX(i, j, i+20, j+20, 0, ((j/21*15)+i/21) & 0xFF);
      }
   }
   getch();
   regset.x.ax = 0x0003;   /* switch back to text mode and done */
   int86(0x10, ®set, ®set);
}


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