##======== BITRASH V1.0 README
##======== by Astro
##======== 6 june 2019

##======= ABOUT
BITRASH is a file corruption program.
It makes a corrupted copy of the input file.
More info: astrossoundhell.neocities.org/data/misc/bitrash/

##======== INTERFACE
Let's take a look at the interface from top to bottom.

1. input file selector:
   click on either the filename line or the [File] button
   to open up a file search dialog.

2. working directory selector:
   clock on either the line or the [Directory] button to
   open up a directory select dialog. It is the directory your
   output files will be placed in. By default it's the same as
   the input file directory.

3. new file name setting: sets the name of the processed file.
   by default it adds "-BITRASHED" to the end of the filename.
   You can enter a custom one. Mind the extension!

4. Functional buttons array: a bunch of buttons.
   SAVE PRESET: saves current settings into a .btrsh preset file
   LOAD PRESET: search for a .btrsh preset file and load it in
   DEFAULTS: load the initial preset
   ABOUT: display the 'about this program' message
   QUIT: what it says. Quits the software.

5. First bytes to preserve selector: type in a numerical value
   of how many bytes to preserve from the beginning of the file.
   Optimal value depends on file format and size, but in most
   cases 1000-4000 bytes work well.

6. Trasher blocks: six of them, each represents a corruption
   algorithm. The 'enabled' tickbox indicates if this trasher
   is in force right now. Value fields take in working values.
   Each trasher will be described below.

7. the [C O R R U P T] button: hit it to start processing!
   Note: files larger than 25 MB hang up the program and it changes
   its state to "not responding". Usually it is - just wait. I am
   working on a faster algorithm, but so far byte by byte processing
   does the best of all.

##======== DIFFERENT TRASHERS

Let's overview the file corrupting algorithms we have on board.

1. BYTEPLACE replaces each Nth byte with a pre-set value. The number
   of bytes minus 1 it skips before replacing a byte (N) is set in
   the right field, and the value it replaces stuff with is on the right.

2. SWAPPER. Every N bytes it swaps two bytes next to each other places.
   Needs only one input - N, same as in BYTEPLACE.

3. RAND CHUNK divides files into chunks of user-set size, and then
   each chunk gets some of its last % replaced with random noise.
   Size of the chunk is set in the CYCLE setting to the left,
   percentage of the chunk's noisy tail is set in X setting on the right

4. ADDER adds a user-set value to every Nth byte. Same as in BYTEPLACE
   and SWAPPER, the N parameter to the left sets the occurence of this
   trasher, and INCR sets a value to be added. INCR is good from 0
   to 255, all values out of this range will be clipped to 255 or 0.

5. RANDPLACE replaces each Nth byte with a random value. Same as
   the BYTEPLACE thing, but uses random instead of preset value. Has
   only one value - N - representing the number of bytes it periods over

6. BIT SHIFTER shifts each Nth byte to the left or to the right by one
   bit (e.g. 00010001 -> 00100010, or 00010001 -> 00001000). It has two
   settings: N - does the same as in all other things, and DIR - which
   ONLY accepts 0 for left shift or 1 for right shift. All other values
   will default to 0 (left shift).

##======== SAVING AND SHARING PRESETS

You can save the presets you found to be the most interesting! I am
very proud of this function and you should definitely use it. My advice
is to keep them in some separate folders and give them some meaningful
names, such as maybe include the "preferrable" extensions to the filename

If you think you made a nice preset, mail it over to me and i'll add it
to the default preset pack (which will be available in the next version
I HOPE): analogpatch@gmail.com

##======== QUESTIONS? INQUIRIES?

---> analogpatch@gmail.com

##======== HAVE FUN! PLUR!