Zip 2000 1.50 source release
============================

This is the source and compiled binary of Zip 2000, my RISC OS Z-machine. If
you are a RISC OS user, you should be able to compile this without too much
effort. You will require Acorn C/C++, the 32-bit tools and libraries update,
OSLib 6.21, libpng 1.2.0, and zlib 1.1.3. If you are not a RISC OS user, then
you are welcome to look around this archive for inspiration.

I doubt that anyone will be able to port Zip 2000 - there is much that
is highly RISC OS-specific, and just plain obscure. Rather, I expect that
there will be things in both the Z core and some of the front-end that will
be helpful to people maintaining other Zip variants such as Jzip and Frotz.

Things that might be of particular interest:

    Fine points of Z-Spec 1.0 conformance, such as nested stream 3.
    The handling of Unicode on an eight-bit system.
    PNG support, and alpha-compositing.
    Hooking Blorb into a Zip-derived interpreter.
    Handling the adaptive-palette extension to Blorb.
    Assembler optimisation of the interpreter core.

The Docs directory contains an assortment of notes about the source that
may or may not be helpful.

The Shots directory contains a few screenshots of Zip 2000 for
non-RISC OS users.


Licence arrangements
--------------------
This source is supplied as is, without warranty or any guarantee of
suitability for any particular purpose. No responsibility can be accepted
for any loss or damage caused by use of this software. The source remains
Copyright 2001, Kevin Bracey, but may be freely used or modified for any
purpose, including incorporation into free or commercial products, as long
as an acknowledgement is included in the documentation.

It is requested, but not required, that anyone modifying the source in any
way that would be beneficial to RISC OS Zip 2000 should send their
modifications to me.

--
Kevin Bracey (kevin@bracey-griffith.freeserve.co.uk)
7th November 2001
