ComicbookDS

Comic Book DS
General
Author	Gnese (Paco_777)
Type	Utilities
Version	3.0
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2010/11/29
Links
Download
Website

Comic Book DS is a program making it possible to read your Comic Books on your Nintendo DS. It allows to display those .cbds files in a fast, pleasant and intuitive way.

It can be also used as a photo or image based documents viewer. Those books can either be downloaded in the Book web page, or created thanks to PictoDS or pycbds. Different themes are available.

This Nintendo DS program should be used with the PC program PictoDS to convert files.

User Guide

Copy the cbds directory in the root of your card. This cbds directory contains the theme directory (which can be changed) and the ComicBookDS.ini configuration file.

This ini file can be changed manually in order to modify some ComicBookDS settings (you can alternatively update and generate it with PictoDS).

Choose one of the 3 ComicBookDS files (ComicBookDS.nds, ComicBookDS.sc.nds, ComicBookDS.ds.gba) according to your flash card and copy it anywhere in your card.If the program doesn't launch or reports that fat is not supported then you will have to DLDI patch it.

The .cbds files (the books generated with PictoDS or downloaded from http://cbds.free.fr) must be placed in the cbds directory. However, you can create some sub-directories to organise them.

Controls

Stylus - Menus and icons that appear on screen

D-pad - Scroll through the menu and pages

A - Select

B - Cancel

Y - Home

X - End

R - Changes to normal mode and vice versa lopsided

L - Select

Select - Change brightness

Start - Options menu

Changelog

V3.0

• New: WIFI mode created. The books from http://cbds.free.fr/ can be consulted directly on the DS thanks to the WIFI connexion. (The next big images are downloaded in background while viewing the current ones).
• New: New look of the different screens (many thanks to FA for this nice design).
• New: Theme support: Sounds, Colors, Backgrounds, Icons and Sprites can be changed. All the theme content is placed in the "/cbds/Theme" folder.
• New: Quicker file scan (new restriction : all .cbds, .ini and theme files must be placed in the "cbds" root folder. Sub-folders are still handled).
• New: Improved change page trigger (using the one key navigation feature): instead of an exact page side match, an average is used (1/3 of the visible area by default), to trigger or not a page change.
• New: Display of a notification icon before a page change. A second key press is then now necessary (this feature can be deactivated in .ini file).
• New: More configuration available in ini file (avoid blinking, initial brightness, scrollincrementX,scrollincrementY,start key configurable).
• New: Slightly better reactivity , preempting and error handling. Small bug fixes and improvements.

V2.2

• New: Display of the folders and sub-folders containing .cbds files,for a better organisation.
• New: Alphabetical Sort of the .cbds files, according to the filename.
• New: Customizable background image.3 background images are located in the "nds/ComicBookDSTheme" subdirectory of pictods. Copy them anywhere on your card (but all the 3 in the same directory), and you'll have those backgrounds displayed instead of the black one.
• New: Magazine (and vertical images) handling : While being on the bottom of the image, pressing the bottom key will move the visible area to the top on the right (of left in manga mode). Same behavior for the top. Page changed may also be triggered.
• New: Progressive Key scroll : 1 pixel scroll at the beginning, then quicker,until the maximum value is reached (the one defined in the .ini file)
• New: Animated scroll of the Title/Author/Provider/Image name, when their length exceed the visible area.
• New: A random book can be selected pressing the dice icon (visible in library mode, when the top-most folder is displayed).
• New: Changes in the way the right/left hands icons are displayed, reflecting better that the first or final page is reached (mainly in the view modes).
• BugFix: As usual small bug fixes and improvements.

V2.1

• BugFix: The images are now fully displayed.(there are no missing right and bottom parts of some images anymore).
• BugFix: Memory regression problems solved, causing even small images to be partially displayed (the 'image too big' message display).
• BugFix: Stylus Jumping effect is highly reduced.
• BugFix: Program shouldn't freeze anymore when quickly switching from one book to another.
• BugFix: More than 300 pages per Book can be browsed.(however, the display will be quite slow).
• New: Thumbnails of the Library screen are loaded in background and they remain visible when switching between Library and Thumbnails modes.
• New: A popup is displayed when an error is found on the file system (causing some .cbds files not to be found).

V2.0 (Final)

• New: Renaming the .cbds files is not necessary anymore. The .cbds files can have any name (eg : "La Vie de Norman.cbds") and can be placed anywhere.
• New: The Library screen is more reactive to user inputs. When the book is not opened yet, the filename is displayed.
• New: Current page name is displayed during image load.
• New: Do not wait for key release anymore in Thumbnails and Library screens. This allows a quicker thumbnails navigation while keeping the key pressed.
• BugFix: The Stylus can now be used with R4DS and M3 Simply.
• BugFix: Sometimes, the selection frame of miniature mode was not displayed.

V2.0 Beta 5

• BugFix: Quicker load of the thumbnails, miniature, images, once a comic book is opened (mainly for big .cbds files).
• New: Current page number is displayed during image load.
• New: A Warning message is displayed if there is not enough memory to fully decode the image.

V2.0 Beta 4

• New: comicbookds.ini file generated with various settings allowing ComicBookDS customization.
• New: Title,author and provider associated with cbds files.
• New: Multiple Books visible in the same application.A new screen is added, allowing to choose your Book.
• New: DLDI compatibility (http://chishm.drunkencoders.com/DLDI/) More carts should be compatible.
• New: The current Page number of the books can be saved.
• New: No more 32 mb limit with the .cbds format (however big .cbds files may need more time to load)
• New: Sound effects on user action (and at program start).
• New: Previous zoom prev icon added (toggling with the No Zoom icon).
• New: Pressing both the zoom in and out buttons toggles 'no zoom' 'prev zoom'.
• New: Menu is navigable with keys.
• New: Display of a loading animated icon during image load.
• New: ComicBookDS icon (and appname) for the .nds file.
• New: Key configuration (manually editing the ComicBookDS.ini file).
• New: Icons locked by default.
• BugFix: Memory fix (loading bigger images should be allowed).
• BugFix: Icon display fixes (some were not replaced or removed)
• New: Various small changes and bugfixes ...
• New Web: Creation of http://cbds.free.fr/ to get some free cbds content.

V1.3

• New: Progressive zoom feature. Image can be zoomed in and out using some buttons or the on-screen scrollbar.
• New: A lock icon is added. When locked, the icons remains on the screen.
• New: Closelit support.When the DS is closed, screens are switched off and energy is saved.
• New: Smoother animation for transitions.
• New: Key configuration changed, mainly for left handed landscape mode. Two buttons are also dedicated to the zoom feature(they were previously used for page change).

V1.2

• BugFix: Fixed inverted thumbnails in Left Handed/Landscape mode.
• New: Screen Space option added.(to take into account, or not, the space between the 2 DS screens).

V1.1

• BugFix: Pressing select (backlight change) does not crash anymore.
• New: Images are now ordered according to a Numeric Natural Order("1","2",...,"10" work. No need to have "01","02".."10")(press start and change "Right Handed" to "Left Handed").
• New: Manga mode added.(press start and change "Left To Right" to "Right To Left").
• New: Key mapping changes according to the different modes.Right Handed: ABXY does not slow scroll anymore.(check homepage for a complete description).
• New: Changing thumbnails with the arrow does not jump anymore some thumbnails.
• New: Various small changes and bugfixes.

External links

• Author's website - http://cbds.free.fr/Softwares/?language=en