Load

(Obsolete)

Description: This statement loads a HALO™ .CUT, .PCX or .BMP file and displays it on the screen.

Returns: Nothing

Usage: Steady State.

Format: Load(File)

Parameters: File { text } { required } { no default }

A text expression giving the file name of the picture file without an extension. The file name may be enclosed in double quotes if it is a constant. The full path name of the file may be used including the disk drive designation if it does not reside in the current directory. If the file name is prefixed with a period, the path will be to the directory the module is contained in.

The File may also be a bitmap value as returned from the MakeBitMap function. If it is a bitmap value, the image is loaded from RAM and is much faster although it requires additional memory to store the bit map.

Comments: This statement has been superseded by the GUIBitmap function and is maintained for backwards compatibility only.

This statement places an entire background image on the screen. Care must be taken since this statement is destructive (i.e. overwrites existing screen images), and therefore should be the first graphic statement in a state. If a variable is used in the File parameter, the Load statement will, of course, update whenever its parameter changes; this means loading in a new destructive picture that would overlay all screen graphics. Be careful when using a variable file name.

Note that this statement does not read a Dr. Halo™ .PAL file, which contains the color settings for each color index number for .CUT files.

If the file extension is not specified, Load looks for a file with a .BMP extension. If found, it is loaded and scaled to fill the window. If a file with a .BMP extension is not found, then .PCX is tried; if found, it is loaded. If this fails, the .CUT extension is tried.

Example:

Load("TANKS");

This loads a picture file called TANKS.BMP (or TANKS.PCX or TANKS.CUT).