.\" @(#)MAN	2.1 6/26/87
.TH Dcolormode 2D D-language
.SH NAME
Dcolormode \- tool for viewing map
.br
.I (D Language Tool)
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B Dcolormode
fixed/float
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Dcolormode 
sets the type of color lookup table used on the graphics monitor.  The choice
of
.B fixed
requests that the monitor's color look up table be fixed.  The effect is that
colors drawn on the screen by graphics calls will not change with subsequent
map draws.   Each time a map is drawn on the screen, a color table associated
with that map is loaded.  With the
.B fixed
option, these requests are mapped into the fixed color table.  Using the
.B float
option, these requests are loaded directly into the monitor's color look up
table.
.PP
There are advantages to using each.   The 
.B display
program allows the user to interactively modify the colors on the screen.  This
can only be done by directly modifying the monitor's color look up table.
Hence, to accommodate this option in 
.B display,
the 
.B float
option is chosen.
Using this option however has the sometime undesireable effect of changing the
colors used in another map on the screen.  The
.B fixed
option allows any number of maps to be displayed on the screen, each using
different colors, but still using one fixed color lookup table.
.PP
Some devices support only a fixed color lookup; e.g. ink-jet printers,
plotters, and the AT&T 6300 (running a DEB board).
.SH "AUTHOR"
James Westervelt, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
.SH BUGS
It is strongly recommended that a 
.I Dclear_screen
be done immediately following changing the mode between
.B fixed
and
.B float.
