P-Screen COM Screen - Revision history

Jsummers at 15:26, 10 February 2026

2026-02-10T15:26:43Z

Jsummers at 21:15, 23 March 2023

2023-03-23T21:15:47Z

Jsummers: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Graphics |extensions={{ext|com}} }} '''P-Screen COM Screen''' is a character graphics format native to P-Screen, a DOS utility deve..."

2023-01-15T15:37:39Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Graphics |extensions={{ext|com}} }} '''P-Screen COM Screen''' is a character graphics format native to P-Screen, a DOS utility deve..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=electronic
|subcat=Graphics
|extensions={{ext|com}}
}}
'''P-Screen COM Screen''' is a character graphics format native to P-Screen, a DOS utility developed by Rob W. Smetana and Pro-Formance. It is a self-displaying [[DOS executable (.com)|COM]] file.

It is notable for its similarity to [[TheDraw COM File]]. But it is a different format, not compatible with any known version of TheDraw COM File.

The freely-distributable versions of P-Screen can read the format, but do not support writing it.

== Identification ==
Known files have ASCII text at offset 9 that begins "{{magic|Pro~Formance Screen Design}}".

Compare to [[TheDraw COM File#Identification]].

== Software ==
* {{CdTextfiles|nightowl/nopv18/048A/PSCRN55.ZIP|P-Screen v5.5}}

== Sample files ==
* {{CdTextfiles|simtel/stmsdos9709/disk2/DISC2/BATCHUTL/SPARKL41.ZIP|SPARKL41.ZIP}} → *.COM
* {{CdTextfiles|nightowl/nopv18/048A/PSCRN55.ZIP|PSCRN55.ZIP}} → PSCREEN.COM

[[Category:Executable envelopes]]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 '''P-Screen COM Screen''' is a character graphics format native to P-Screen, a DOS utility developed by Rob W. Smetana and Pro-Formance. It is a self-displaying [[DOS executable (.com)|COM]] file. The format was introduced in P-Screen v3.1.
-It is notable for its similarity to [[TheDraw COM File]]. But it is a different format, not compatible with any known version of TheDraw COM File.
+It is essentially a variant of [[TheDraw COM File]]. But it is a different format, not compatible with any version of TheDraw COM File.
 As of v5.5, the freely-distributable version of P-Screen can read the format, but does not support writing it.
 == Identification ==
-Known files have ASCII text at offset 9 that begins "{{magic|Pro~Formance Screen Design}}".
+Files start with bytes {{magic|eb 3d}}, and have ASCII text at offset 9 that begins "{{magic|Pro~Formance Screen Design}}".
-Compare to [[TheDraw COM File#Identification]].
+More robust identification is possible, though probably unnecessary. See [[TheDraw COM File#Identification]] for more information.
 == Software ==
 * P-Screen v3.1: [https://archive.org/details/resource-for-source-basic Resource For Source BASIC] → BASIC_01/PSCRN31.ZIP
 * {{CdTextfiles|nightowl/nopv18/048A/PSCRN55.ZIP|P-Screen v5.5}}
 == Sample files ==