METHOD 1 - STATIC IMAGE VIEWING

NOTE:  In order to view the ToolTips in the coding sections (aqua background), you must have javascript enabled.  This page assumes you already have Johnny5 and your frontend of choice or BuddaMAME installed and just wish to add support for viewer static images from Johnny5.

CAUTION:  If you are used to working with text files, it is easy to accidentally double-click a batch file to edit it or right-click and select "Open", rather then right-clicking and selecting "Edit".  Of course, this launches the file.  If this happens, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then End Task on the Cmd.exe entry.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

This page explains how to create a folder of images generated with the Johnny5 Viewer program.  There are three primary situations where you might want to do this:

• Many frontends can display images of various types, and you may want to view the game controls in the frontend before playing the game.
• If you are running Win98 or WinME and want to view Johnny5 output while MAME is paused, the AutoHotKey Script does not work, so your next best option is viewing static images using BuddaMAME as detailed here.
• If you are running WinXP or Win2K (WinNT?), and have a slower computer, you may prefer to use the AHK Script and an image viewer (IrfanView or CPVW, or other) to eliminate the lag time for Johnny5 to gather information and draw the image to the screen.

THEORY OF OPERATION

Special thanks to BuddaBing for developing this procedure and walking me through getting it working.  This procedure relies on two batch files named Batch2.bat and Batch1.bat.  Batch2.bat simply calls Batch1.bat repeatedly, passing a gamename (and maybe other parameters) to the first batchfile.  Batch1.bat reads a game name, passes it to Johnny5 as an input with the -justprint take, and then renames and saves the image file to a new directory.

PRELIMINARY SET-UP

First off, this is optional, but if you are using WinXP, I highly recommend installing the "Open Command Window Here" Powertoy from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx.  This will let you right-click on a folder and have a command prompt pointing to it. I think Win98SE already includes this feature (although you might need TweakUI to add it).  I'm not sure about other OS's.  I will assume from here on that you have it installed.  If you choose not to install it, you will have to navigate to the proper directory using "CD" commands as covered in the batch files below.

Other ways of adding this are shown here (Win2k), here (Win2k), here (Win2k), and here (Win98 up).  In case all this fails (and for me in one case it did), you can simply copy cmd.exe from \WindowsRoot\System32\cmd.exe to the applicable folder and double-click that.

Next, you need to verify that Johnny5's -justprint option is working.  If you didn't earlier, download and install Irfanview and copy the main program file (usually i_view32.EXE) to the C:\johnny folder.  This causes Johnny5's -justprint tag to save images in .PNG format rather than .BMP format.  Run Street Fighter with the -justprint flag, as follows:  Right-click on the C:\johnny folder and select "Open Command Prompt" type Johnny5 sf -justprint and press Enter.  You should see an image named controls.png in the C:\johnny folder.  Verify that the file shows your Street Fighter layout.  (There is a chance that you will see only a controls.bmp image and no controls.png.  We will deal with this later, if required).

BATCH1.BAT CREATION AND SETUP

Johnny5 will work with the romname only as an arqument, works better with the romname and parent rom as arguments, and works best with romname, parent rom and driver as arguments.  I recommend creating Batch1.bat and Batch2.bat in the main Johnny5 folder.  To create Batch1.bat, for now, assume all three parameters will be available and copy the following text and paste into Notepad and save in C:\Johnny as Batch1.bat.  See the ToolTips for explanations and alternate methods:

• johnny5 %1 -cloneof %2 -driver %3 -justprint
  copy controls.png "c:\elimages\layouts\%1.png"

If we cannot get driver info, this will be modified as follows:

• johnny5 %1 -cloneof %2 -justprint
  copy controls.png "c:\elimages\layouts\%1.png
  

If we cannot get driver or parent info, this will be modified as follows:

• johnny5 %1 -justprint
  copy controls.png "c:\elimages\layouts\%1.png

BATCH2.BAT CREATION AND SETUP

Batch2.bat will also be saved in the main johnny5 folder and will have the following format (with maybe only the first or first and second parameters instead of all three).

• call batch1 005 005 segar.c
  call batch1 11beat 11beat aleck64.c
  call batch1 1941 1941 cps1.c
  call batch1 1941j 1941 cps1.c
  call batch1 1942 1942 1942.c
  call batch1 1942a 1942 1942.c
  call batch1 1942b 1942 1942.c
  call batch1 1943 1943 1943.c
  etc. . .  

There are three ways to create this file:

• Method 1 - Cheating (j/k)
• If a list from MAME 0.100 (final, no u) will work for you, just get the list from here and unzip it into your c:\johnny folder.
• Method 2A - BuddaBing's Listgen
• I only learned enough about Listgen to make it do what I needed, but it can knock this out in about 30 seconds.  Here are the steps involved:

• Download ListGen from here and extract to any folder (recommend c:\listgen).
• Open c:\listgen\listgen.ini in Notepad or Wordpad and modify to read as below.  (Alternately, make a copy of listgen.ini and then copy the text below into Notepad or Wordpad and save as listgen.ini)  Yellow entries are added from the original, Red entries are modified from the original.  Blue entries are critical but not changed from the original.  Black entries are unchanged defaults.  See ToolTips for explanations:

• rompath C:\mame\roms
  mamepath C:\mame
  frontend romlist
  verbose 0
  silent 0
  audit_roms 0
  use_clones 1
  unique 0
  us_version_priority 0
  world_version_priority 0
  strip_description 0
  japan_version_priority -1
  reuse_mame_data 0
  output makemovies.bat
  force_uppercase_romnames 0
  output batch2.bat
  skip_final_step 1

• The default c:\listgen\filter.sql file contains about 50 lines of options, mostly commented out by double-dashes "--".  I recommend saving a copy of this file (as the commented lines can be handy, and then creating a new sql file for rom, parent, and driver by pasting the following text into Notepad or Wordpad and saving as c:\listgen\filter.sql:

• .separator ' '
  select 'call batch1', romname, CASE WHEN cloneof ='' THEN romname ELSE cloneof END, sourcefile from gamedata; 

• Okay, the difficult steps are out of the way.  Right-click on the c:\listgen folder and select "Command Prompt Here".  Type listgen and press Enter.  In about 30 seconds, batch2.bat should appear in the c:\listgen folder.  Move this file to C:\johnny.  Done!!! (You might also want to delete the c:\listgen\listxml.xml file as it will not be needed again.)

• Method 2B - Advanced BuddaBing's Listgen
• For most purposes, we would want ListGen to create the list with romname, parent, and driver.  But it can also produce a romname and parent list, or just a romname.  To enable this, replace the text in the filter.sql file with the text below.  The second line produces a three parameter list.  The third line (commented out) produces a romname and parent list.  The fourth line (commented out) produces a romname only list.  Just comment out the line you don't want (--) and uncomment the line you want to use (remove --).  Then run ListGen as above:
• .separator ' '
  select 'call batch1', romname, CASE WHEN cloneof ='' THEN romname ELSE cloneof END, sourcefile from gamedata;
  --select 'call batch1', romname, CASE WHEN cloneof ='' THEN romname ELSE cloneof END from gamedata;
  --select 'call batch1', romname from gamedata;
  
• Method 2C - Still More Advanced BuddaBing's Listgen

• ListGen can do much more advanced searches, but I don't know how to use it for them.  But here's one example!  Let's say you finally got around to re-mapping your Neo-Geo games to use the thumb button.  This means 178 layouts need to be revised.  You don't really want to recreate all 5800 MAME games to update these, but you also don't want to manually add 178 lines of text to a batch file.  Just replace the text in your filter.sql file with the text below and run ListGen again.  Problem solved!!!
• .separator ' '
  select 'call batch1', romname, CASE WHEN cloneof ='' THEN romname ELSE cloneof END, sourcefile from gamedata where sourcefile= 'neogeo.c';
• Method 3 - EmuLoader and a Text Editor
• ListGen is preferred over the EmuLoader method, but there may be times when EmuLoader this method is more convenient.  (ListGen could probably also be better used for this if you know how to make it do what you need).
• EmuLoader has always had very strong sorting abilities, and Version 4.7.3 now has the ability to export a sorted games list by gamename.  For example, let's say that you remapped your Neo-Geo games as above, but you were also low on HD space, so you wanted a list of only Neo-Geo, Available, Working, Parent games.  You could start EmuLoader and select the appropriate filters on the ToolBar, and then select File>Export Games List>Visible Games (Game Name Only).  Save the list as batch2.bat in the c:\johnny folder.  You will have a list similar to this:
• 2020bb=mame
  3countb=mame
  alpham2=mame
  androdun=mame
  aodk=mame
  etc.
• Now you will need a fairly good text editor, but any version of Microsoft Word can handle it.  Open the file and select Edit-Replace.  Select "More".  In the Find Window, type in =mame and then click the Special button and select "Paragraph Mark".  In the Replace Window, click the Special button and select "Paragraph Mark" and then type in "call batch1 " (without quotes).  Select replace all.  Then delete "call batch1 " after the last game and add "call batch1 " before the first game and save as a text file.  You will have a list like this:
• call batch 1 2020bb
  call batch 1 3countb
  call batch 1 alpham2
  call batch 1 androdun
  call batch 1 aodk
  etc.
• Change the batch1.bat file to only look for the romname and this will work fine.

BATCHFILE TESTING AND EXECUTION

CAUTION:  If you are used to working with text files, it is easy to accidentally double-click a batch file to edit it or right-click and select "Open", rather then right-clicking and selecting "Edit".  Of course, this launches the file.  If this happens, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then End Task on the Cmd.exe entry.

If desired, change your desktop resolution (1024x768, etc.) to the resolution that you wish to create the files in.  (Note: I did not change this, but if you are running BuddaMAME at 800x600 or your frontend does not scale well, you might want to set this to the most-used value to minimize image scaling.)

If not previously done, create a c:\elimages\layouts (or whatever batch1.bat copies the files to) folder.

Before we run a full-blown session, it is a good idea to test this and make sure it works.  Navigate to c:\johnny and copy your batch2.bat file to batch2test.bat.  Right-click on this file, select "Edit", and delete all but about the first five lines.  Save the file.  Double-click the file and the screen should flash a few times and in a minute or so, you should have five gamename.png files in the c:\elimages\layouts folder.  Verify these files look correct.

Now we are ready to run the full session!

CAUTION: Creating a full set of MAME layouts requires about 1 Gb of HD space.  If the batch file created .BMP files instead of .PNG files, expect this number to be around 10 Gb.  (If required, you can partially run the batchfile, then convert from .BMP to .PNG, but this is not recommended due to the likelihood of running out of HD space.)

CAUTION: The batchfile will take about 6-8 hours (estimated on a P4 1.8 Ghz) for a full MAME set. During this time, the computer will alternately flash the screen between black and normal applications.  Needless to say you won't be getting any work done during this time.  It is recommended that you run the batch file at night and turn off your computer monitor during execution. If required, execution may be terminated pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete, and then End Task on the Cmd.exe entry.

Double-click batch2.bat in the c:\johnny folder, turn off the monitor, go to sleep, and check back in the morning.

NOTE:  If it is necessary to cancel the batchfile before it finishes, there is no need to repeat all the work that has been completed.  Simply navigate to the c:\elimages\layouts folder, sort by file date, see what the last file created was, and delete the entries up to this point from the batch file.  Save the batch file with a new name and run the saved file.  This procedure may also be used if you want to create the images in a several stage process rather than all at once.

IRFANVIEW BATCH CONVERSION (IF NEEDED)

The following procedure is only required if the batch files created .BMP files rather than .PNG files:

Navigate to the c:\elimages\layouts folder and open any image in Irfanview™.  In Irfanview, select File>Batch Conversion/Rename.  On the right select "Files of Type" - BMP/DIB/RLE Windows Bitmap.  On the left side, select "Add All".  On the right, select "Use This Directory as Output".  On the right, under "Work As", select Batch Conversion.  Under "Select Format", select "PNG - Portable Network Graphics".  Check "Use Advanced Options".  Click Options and select level of compression (recommed 9).  Click "Set Advanced Options" and select "Delete Original Files After Conversion" and "Save Files With Original Date/Time".  Click okay and then click "Start" on the left side.  Irfanview should convert all the files for you pretty quickly.

EMULOADER INTEGRATION

Setting up EmuLoader to work with these files is extremely easy.  First, I recommend using the Lanczos filter, as I feel it does the best job of keeping text legible as an image is scaled.  Select it from the Images>Filter tab from the taskbar.

Next, from the taskbar, simply select File>Preferences>Folders/Zip Files tab.  Select the Images tab and under Control Panel Layouts, select c:\elimages\layouts.

Done.

MAMEWAH INTEGRATION

Getting these images to display properly in MAMEwah is simply a matter of setting up a custom layout in the layout editor that displays the images properly.  I am not going to walk you through this, but it is fairly straightforward and one of the strongest features of MAMEwah.  I do show some example layouts showing these images on the Introductory Page.

OTHER FRONTENDS

Basically setup for other frontends just involves setting the frontend so it looks at the c:\elimages\layouts folder for one of the available image types.

BUDDAMAME INTEGRATION

See the bottom of the Introductory Page for information on displaying these images in BuddaMAME.

AHK SCRIPT INTEGRATION

If you wish to use an image viewer to show the images rather than launching Johnny5, you can do it using either IrfanView or CPVW.  I have not tested either method, but I am pretty sure the IrfanView method will work, and am relying on papaschtroumpf from BYOAC for the CPVW info:

• Irfanview:
• The first step is to copy Irfanview's  main program file (usually i_view32.exe) to your c:\elimages\ directory.
• Open Irfanview and select options>properties>fullscreen and disable "show text" to keep Irfanview from showing the image name (change any other options here as need (scale image, etc.).
• Irfanview's command line would be /fs for fullscreen, so we need to find the following lines in the AHK Script (either Method 4 or Method 5):
•         J5=Johnny5.exe %1% -ahk 1000
          if 0 >1
              J5=%J5%  -clone %2%
          if 0 >2
              J5=%J5%  -driver %3%       
          Run,%J5%, c:\johnny, max
• and modify it to read:
•         J5=i_view32.exe %1%.png /fs           
          Run,%J5%, c:\elimages, max
• This worked flawlessly for me, but at least one user reported that he had to have the images in the root folder of the c:\ drive for it to work.  In this case, you probably need to specify the full path to the images as well, like this (this method also seemed to work):
•         J5=i_view32.exe c:\elimages\%1%.png /fs           
          Run,%J5%, c:\elimages, max

• CPVW:
• Papaschtroumpf from BYOAC posted the following after I mentioned Irfanview:  "or you can call cpvw from JCrouse's page and use the -bg <picture name> command line option."
• So I think we would copy CPVW to the c:\elimages directory and change the same sections of the AHK scritpt as we did for Irfanview, but modify it to read:
•         J5=cpvw -bg %1%.png           
          Run,%J5%, c:\elimages, max

I haven't verified the CPVW method, so the %1%.png might need one less percent sign or something, but I think it will work.  Let me know if it doesn't and you need to change something.

CONCLUSION

Well, that's about all I have to say.  Hopefully this page was helpful for you.  If you see anything major that I got wrong, know of a better way to do this, or if you just can't get it to work, shoot me an E-mail and I will either fix the page or try to help you out.L