Cloverleaf/ArtCube and ImageFS2

Rick wrote in a thread in the RPCEmu Forum:

ArtCube says “It should also be the base for a module that will enable all RISC OS app access to bitmap images”. This has already been done. CJE is selling ImageFS2, which I think was made 32 bit by Colin? This is a transparent process for software that can load sprite files. I believe it can also do the reverse for saving, but I’ve not used ImageFS since RISC OS 3.10 so I’m not really the one to say… however, I will point out that this problem has already been looked at. It might be worth getting in touch with whoever owns this to see about what sort of features it actually has (does it support PNG? does it cope with GIF/PNG transparency? both ways? can JPEG quality be adjusted on the fly?) with a view towards extending support within the existing framework.

The big problem is I have only the distribution rights, I don’t own the
copyright. It belonged to Alternative Publishing which went bust! I have no
idea who now owns it:-(

I do though have the sources!

ImageFS was great for allowing RISC OS programs which only understood sprites to load other types of bitmaps. However it was incredibly antisocial to applications which could understand other formats, as they then thought they were getting sprites, losing all the information from the original format. When they came to write out a file of that type, they broke often broken when finding the newly created file was now an ImageFS directory.

Who was Alternative Publishing?

I’ve found an address (30 Clyde Street, Glasgow) that in Street View looks like an utter dump, a pile of rubble, and a building site for some sort of high rise (commercial? residential? there’s a lot of new development but nothing seems to indicate what is coming)

Alternative Publishing was Dr Majhid Anwar (and partner?) and went on to become Picsel Ltd which took a few ex-RISC OS Ltd folks IIRC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picsel

Looks like the company did well initially, making some big OEM deals, but struggled laterly. I’m guessing people made their money and moved on, but that might be doing them a disservice, in which case I apologise.

The RISC OS Ltd connection is more interesting, because I think we bought the rights to ImageFS with the idea of incorporating it in the OS, so it is possible that rights to ImageFS lie there, although it is equally possible that it was a distribution deal as per Chris’ post.

You could ask David Thomas if he remembers anything about it.

However it was incredibly antisocial to applications which could understand other formats,

This is easily enough dealt with by adding a hotkey, like both Alts held at the point of loading an image.
I had, when I read this earlier, thought about having the hotkey to disable ImageFS’s behaviour, but while washing my hair in cold water (it’s really hot today!), I felt that in 2021 RISC OS isn’t quite as “separate from the world” as it used to be. Even Paint, these days, has some support for JPEG and PNG. Therefore it would make more sense for the hotkey to be used to enable the behaviour.
Sure, it’s an extra step to remember, but the alternative is – as David says – messing with programs that actually do know how to handle alien formats.

but struggled laterly.

Strange history. Picsel Technologies Ltd → Picsel UK Ltd → Smartoffice Technologies Ltd, each time into administration until finally being bought out by Artifex Software Inc. Diversifying too quickly? But what do I know, I’m just the chief bog brush holder. ;-)

I’m guessing people made their money and moved on

Well, that is how one makes money in the world of start-ups. Come up with an idea, build it, sell it to Facebook somebody else, then move on and repeat.
That’s what all this Intellectual Property nonsense is about. There’s money in ideas, though it’s rather akin to fiat currency (like Sterling or Bitcoin) in that it’s value is based upon trust and speculation rather than anything tangible like a lump of gold.

because I think we bought the rights to ImageFS

If you have a spare moment (ha ha, RISC OS developer/dealer with a spare moment…) and you have an idea which box of paperwork it might be in, could you have a look?

You could ask David Thomas if he remembers anything about it.

Because he’s based in Glasgow too?
I was born there… does that count? ;-)

Because he’s based in Glasgow too? I was born there

So you’ll be eligible for Scottish citizenship when they rejoin the EU! Congrats!

Apply now to get your vote!

Scottish citizenship when they rejoin the EU!

That’s the plan. Assuming they choose to be done with the union with England and apply to rejoin a union that, like, matters.

Congrats!

Yeah, it’s like an inheritance. Mom did her nursing training there. No idea why, but that’s where she ended up. All I did was give her a liking for spinach, tinned spaghetti, and ice cream (at the same time) and about thirteen years of hell.

That’s why racism makes no sense to me. Most people don’t choose to be German or Mongolian ¹, and as far as I’m aware nobody chooses to be white or black. We just turn up that way, as a product of parental genetics and location of birth. To insult somebody for being black is about as illogical as insulting somebody for being ginger. Yes, I know that happens. It’s stupid.

So me? I’m Scottish. But since my parents found a placement in Hartley Wintney when I was about six months old, I grew up in Hampshire/Surrey/West Sussex and don’t sound even remotely “Scottish”. Unless yelling “fraidoom!” counts. :-p
I don’t feel English, mind you. Never did. And after 2016, not remotely interested.

Apply now to get your vote!

I’d love to be able to vote for something somewhere but I was under the impression that the vote would be open to people (Scottish or not) who were actually physically present at the time of the vote.

¹ Those countries picked because the last two songs I listened to were… Jeanette Biedermann ² and The Hu.

² Before British TV was free to air, I used to watch MTV and Viva, and this brilliant channel that late at night basically played recordings of train journeys in the middle of nowhere. Camera hooked to the front of the train and incredible amounts of scenery porn.

I wrote:

You could ask David Thomas if he remembers anything about it.

Rick wrote:

Because he’s based in Glasgow too? I was born there… does that count? ;-)

Well, if you also worked at Picsel it would. From the page I linked to:

These pages contain two training courses originally written to introduce my former colleagues at Picsel to the joys of programming in ARM assembly language.

Hello. When at Picsel I archived the ImageFS2 sources and passed them to CJE. My recall of that include Majid (the author) saying that he’d told Chris that he could have the rights and that he didn’t care about getting any money for it. I suggested that we request a copy of any 32-bit conversion for approval in case it badly reflected upon us. I didn’t see any responses after that.