Pictures in ESTA

See Also Pictures

ESTA supports pictures of the following types: Windows metafiles, device dependent bitmaps(DDB) and device independent bitmaps(DIB).

Pictures are stored in a pictures database, called PICTURES.DBA. The name of the picture is used as reference, thus when a picture has to be included as part of the expert system, the name of the picture is used. The database can be maintained with the common used database functions like Add, Edit and Delete. You can add a picture either by importing it from a file or by pasting it from the Clipboard. All DDBs, all DIBs and metafiles larger than 64 KB are stored in readonly files. The file has the extension .BMP if the picture is a bitmap(DDBs are converted to DIBs) or .EMF if the picture is a metafile. Using vertical and horizontal scrollbars you can specify where to place the picture in the window. In addition you can specify whether you want the picture to fit in any size of a window or you want to keep the size of the picture, regardless of the window size. Note that pictures are only stretched up to a size, where the original proportions can be maintained. The ESTA system also includes a hotspot editor allowing you to specify selectable subfields in a picture. This feature is used in conjunction with category parameters, in which the options correspond to the fields in the attached picture. The expert system user is thereby able to select an option by clicking on a field in a picture.

A picture can be used in ESTA as:

  1. A start picture for the ESTA system
  2. A title for a knowledge base
  3. A part of a consultation dialog, attached to a parameter
  4. A part of an advice
  5. A part of an actionlist in a section, showpic(picture)

The knowledge base CAR.KB contain examples of all the mentioned uses.