HERMES 1.3.2 (c)1998 Christian Nentwich (brn) (c.nentwich@cs.ucl.ac.uk)

This library and all the files enclosed in this package are free software
under the terms of the GNU Library General Public License (LGPL). Please
refer to the included file COPYING.LIB for the exact terms.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Table of Contents:


	1. What is Hermes?

	2. How much does it cost to use Hermes ?

	3. Why is Hermes written in C ?

	4. Can I link Hermes to a C++ program ?

	5. Why do you bother writing assembly language converters, I heard 
	   most compilers are at least as fast as handwritten code today.. ?	
	6. I find this library cool, how can I help?

	7. I have a graphics library and want to add pixel conversion. How do 
	   I use Hermes ?

        8. Where's the documentation ?

	9. Does Hermes do alpha blending ?



1. What is Hermes ?

Hermes is a pixel conversion library. Its only purpose is to take a buffer
full of pixels and convert it into a target buffer full of pixels. The
two can differ both in size and in format.

Hermes is primarily intended for fast graphics display and it is optimised
for that. Where this goal can be achieved by dismissing minimal graphic
errors, Hermes will do so (minimal means almost not noticeable). But that is
likely to be very configurable in the near future to allow for user
selection of trade-off.

You can find the latest version of Hermes at

	http://hermes.terminal.at



2. How much does it cost to use Hermes ?

Nothing, Hermes is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License.
That means you are free to link your program to Hermes if you fulfill
the rest of the criteria of the license. (Read COPYING.LIB and LICENSE)




3. Why is Hermes written in C ?

Because as a C program it can be used by both C and C++ compilers. Hermes
can actually be compiled using either a C or a C++ compiler. (And is
being used by both C and C++ libraries!). Also, C is just that little bit
faster for purposes like this :)




4. Can I link Hermes to a C++ program ?

Yes you can. Hermes has extern "C" declarations so you can even link it to
a C++ program if it has been compiled using a C compiler.

You are well advised to compile Hermes with C because that will make it just
that little bit faster ;)




5. Why do you bother writing assembly language converters, I heard most
   compilers are at least as fast as handwritten code today.. ?

Do you really believe that? :) No, honestly, for the kind of task Hermes
is fulfilling, which consists of very basic Shift-And-Mask algorithms,
handwritten code can be a hell of a lot faster than compiled code, at least
on a non-RISC processor like the x86 series and especially on chipsets not
supported by compilers, like MMX.




6. I find this library cool, how can I help?

There's plenty of stuff to do, just e-mail me, c.nentwich@cs.ucl.ac.uk




7. I have a graphics library and want to add pixel conversion. How do I
   use Hermes ?

Read the API. It's in docs/api. Alternatively, why not have a look at one of 
the Prometheus Truecolour (PTC) library distributions: 
http://www.gaffer.org/ptc. 
Download the unix or the DOS distribution.



8. Where's the documentation ?

In docs/api.



9. Does Hermes do alpha blending ?

No it doesn't. This feature is planned for the development version (1.3),
same applies to colour keying.
