Studio C File Formats

The Studio C File Formats are a collection of different files found in the Studio C Floppy Disk that are used for showtape signals and playback for Studio C. Files usually must be extracted by running a .exe file embedded in the floppy disk.

.CEC

This file type contains control data for show segments. TODO more info on overall format.

Char	Description	Syntax	Notes
A	Set analog value	AV	Channel is 1-indexed
M	CCF subroutine call	MVVV
R	Random movement enable
K	CCF karaoke subroutine call	K	Example: K139THIS_IS_A_TEST
C	Clear all analog and digital channels
E	TODO...
S	TODO...

Digital channel commands are encoded into a printable ASCII range of 0x30~0x3F (command) and 0x40~0x5F (channel number). This encoding method dates back to the original SongCode format. The raw format is obtained by subtracting 0x30 from all command bytes and 0x40 from channel number bytes. It appears that CEC files always write digital channel commands in pairs of command and channel number bytes, despite not being technically necessary.

Byte	Bit(s)	Function	Notes
Command	0	Channel state	1 = channel on
Command	2~1	Bank/DTU
Channel Number	4~0	Channel number within bank

.CCF

Always named CYBRSTAR.CCF and also referred to as an 'MBP command file' and a 'Synhorst MCF file' (meanings unknown), this file defines subroutines that can be called from the show segment's CEC file. The subroutines are themselves abstractions around primitive functions provided by the main Cyberstar 2000 application. put into programming terms, what Cyberstar 2000 exposes to CCFs is akin to a standard library, the CCF files themselves are like a library written for developers' convenience, and the CEC files are the final application. this is a poor comparison? Is it insane to compare CCFs to a bytecode VM? As a practical example, the CEC file for a particular show will contain a call to a CCF subroutine to set up the LDP. This CCF subroutine would accept parameters for the LDP number and location on the disc. It would then use those parameters to call basic functions in Cyberstar 2000 to send serial commands to the LDP and set the LDP search flag. CCF files can be edited using the EED.EXE application.

Offset (hex)	Name	Type	Notes
0	Unknown 1	uint8?
1	Unknown 2	uint8?
2	Subroutine ID	uint8
3	Index into subroutine	uint8
4	Opcode	uint16le
6	Parameter 1	uint16le
8	Parameter 2	uint16le
a	Parameter 3	uint16le
c	Parameter 4	uint16le

TODO: document CCF string table

Opcode (decimal)	Function	EED description	Notes
01	Digital On	Turns up to four digital outputs on. Parms 1-4 are output channel numbers. A value of zero has no effect.
02	Digital Off	Turns up to four digital outputs off. Parms 1-4 are output channel numbers. A value of zero has no effect.
03	Digital Pulse	Pulses selected digital(s) for 1/2 second. Parms 1-4 are output channel numbers. A value of zero has no effect.
04	Set Analog	Sets selected analog channel to a specific value. Parm 1 is the analog channel number. Parm 2 is the analog value.
05	Analog Pulse	Causes an analog channel to 'pulse' for 1/2 second. Parm 1 is the analog channel number. Parm 2=lo value, Parm3=hi value.	Unimplemented
06	Analog Fade	Fades selected analog to specific value at a specific rate.
07	COM String	Sends a text string to the selected COM port.
08	COM Byte	Sends a single byte value to the selected COM port.
09	LDP Search Flag	Sets a flag indicating that the laser disc or DVD player connected to the specified port has been sent a 'search' command.
10	Display Video	Displays a text string on the COP box video overlay at the specified location.
11	Display String	Displays a text string in the 'messages' window at the specified location.
12	Arm Subroutine	Arms a subroutine to execute after a specific number of frames.
13	Trigger Subroutine	Causes a subroutine to be executed when a specific trigger is received.
14	Link Subroutine
15	Force Clock
16	Clock Type
17	Enable Data		Unimplemented
18	Select Show
19	Set Variable
20	If Var EQ
21	If Var NEQ
22	If Var GT
23	If Var LT
24	Var Add AND Assign
25	Var Sub AND Assign
26	Var Div AND Assign
27	Var Mul AND Assign
28	Var Set from another var
29	Var (Logic)		Unimplemented
30	Next Show
31	CD Init		Unimplemented
32	Play Track		Unimplemented
33	Random Enable
34	Kill Shows
35	Swap Time	Sets the scheduler swap time (24hr fmt). Parm1=hour, Parm2=minute	Unimplemented???
47	Baud Rate

DPC50 communication

Communication with the DPC50 board occurs through dual-port RAM. Overall comms structure appears to be based around updating a block of data and then writing a command. Further analysis is required to determine if there is any kind of mutex locking taking place.

Address (hex)	Op	Size (hex)	Data	Notes
220	WRITE	TODO	Digital channel data
230	WRITE	TODO	COP data	Overlay text writes to 230?
3e8	WRITE	TODO	Analog channel data	Needs further analysis.
3fe	READ	1	Status? Mutex?
3ff	WRITE	1	Command	FB = overlay update