# makebanner

## Description

This command is for NITRO ROMs. See `makebanner.TWL` for details on TWL ROMs.

The `makebanner` tool is used for creating banner files. Banner files contain various information, including the image that identifies an application and is displayed in the launcher at startup of the TWL and the DS/DS Lite systems.

The banner file contains image data and game title information for each language. It is created based on the description in the banner specification file (BSF). Once the banner file is created, `makerom` is used to write it to the application ROM image.

## Using the Tool

### Start Command

`% makebanner [-d] [-N ICON_BASENAME] SPECFILE [BANNERFILE]`

This function links files according to the description in the banner specification file (described below), which is specified by `SPECFILE` and creates a file named `BANNERFILE`. Using `BANNERFILE` is optional and may be omitted. If you omit it, a file will be used that has the same name as those specified by `SPECFILE` with the extension `.bnr` appended.

The `-N` option enables you to specify from the command line icon files of banners specified by normal banner spec files. It attaches the extensions `.nbfc` and `.nbfp` to the base names specified by `ICON_BASENAME`, turning the resultant files into an image file and image parameter file, respectively. This overwrites the values specified by `ImageFile:`and `PlttFile:`parameters in the banner `spec` file.

The `-d` option is a debugging message output option for makebanner. It causes a debugging message to be generated at run time. This is usually not necessary.

### Banner Specification File Format

The banner specification file is a text file that specifies an image data file and the game title in each language. It must be described and saved in Unicode (UTF-16LE with BOM). Notepad in MS Windows 2000/XP supports Unicode. Select Unicode from the Encoding drop-down box when saving the file.

### Parameters

The delimiter between parameter specifications and values is a colon (`:`).

#### Image File Parameters

> `ImageFile:`[Image's image file name]
>   This specifies a binary image, 32x32 x 16 colors.
>   Store character data using one-dimensional mapping.
>   The first 512 bytes are written to the banner file.
> `PlttFile:`[Image's palette file name]
>   This specifies a binary image palette.
>   The first 32 bytes are written to the banner file.

Use `ntexconv` (`-no` `-bg` `-bgb` `-bgnc`) or the like to create image and palette binary data from an image file.

The `-N` option allows you to specify image file parameters from the command line.

#### Version Parameters

> `Version:`[banner version]
>   Specifies the banner version.
>   This parameter is only required in applications for China or Korea.
>   For applications destined for China, specify `'2'`; for applications destined for Korea, specify `'3'`.

#### Language Parameters

> `JP:`[Japanese game title name]
> `EN:`[English game title name]
> `FR:`[French game title name]
> `GE:`[German game title name]
> `IT:`[Italian game title name]
> `SP:`[Spanish Game Title Name]
>   This describes the game title name in each language. The maximum is three rows, 128 characters (including carriage returns). A string must be specified in the first line. If a line begins with a space or a tab, it will be deemed a continuation of the previous line. All content between a blank line and the next language parameter will be destroyed. If you want to leave line 1 or 2 blank, and write something in line 3, place content in the form of quotation marks (`""`) in the line you want to leave blank. Always store in the banner file in the following order: Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. As in the banner specification file, the save format is UTF-16LE (without BOM).
> `JP:`[Chinese game title name]
> `EN:`[Chinese game title name]
> `FR:`[Chinese game title name]
> `GE:`[Chinese game title name]
> `IT:`[Chinese game title name]
> `SP:`[Chinese game title name]
> `CN:`[Chinese game title name]
>   For applications destined for China, specify a Chinese banner in addition to the standard banner, as shown above.
>   At this time, describe all Game Titles in Chinese.
> `JP:`[English game title name]
> `EN:`[English game title name]
> `FR:`[English game title name]
> `GE:`[English game title name]
> `IT:`[English game title name]
> `SP:`[English game title name]
> `CN:`[English game title name]
> `HN:`[Korean game title name]
>   For applications destined for Korea, specify a Korean banner in addition to the application banner for China, as shown above.
>   At this time, describe all Game Titles in English, except for those for Korean.
> For more about the characters and encoding that can be used for regions other than China and Korea, see the separate document About DS Banners. However, your editor must be capable of displaying with UTF-16LE encoding.

### Format

Parameter specification must be made at the beginning of the name line. Lines beginning with `#` are treated as comments. With the exception of the spaces at the beginning of a line, all spaces are included in the string. If you want to include leading spaces, surround them with quotation marks (`"` `"`). Likewise, if you want to include quotation marks, surround them with quotation marks (`"""`).

>     #BSF --- Banner Spec File

>     ImageFile: banner.nbfc
>     PlttFile: banner.nbfp

>     JP:  ニトロ ("Nitro" in Japanese)
>     "にほんご" ("Japanese" in Japanese)
>     EN: Nitro1
>     English
>     FR: Nitro2
>     GE: Nitro3
>     IT: Nitro4
>     SP: Nitro5

### Warnings

The following warning is displayed if the specified game title cannot be displayed correctly by the launcher when starting the TWL or DS/DS Lite handheld device.

The following warning is displayed if characters that cannot be displayed by the launcher have been set.

>     Warning:!!!!  JP in line 1
>     Warning:!!!!  Game title includes undisplayable characters.

If Japanese kanji has been set, the following warning is output. Kanji cannot be specified in the banner of Japan-bound applications.

>     Warning:!!!!  JP in line 3
>     Warning:!!!!  Game title includes Chinese characters.

The following warning is displayed if the game title cannot be displayed properly because the width of the game title is greater than the launcher display area.
Check the displayable size of the TWL or DS/DS Lite handheld device. In the following example, the title for a TWL handheld device is 1 pixel too wide.

>     Warning:!!!!  EN in line 1
>     Warning:!!!!  Game title exceeds TWL menu size(240 pixel) by 1 pixel.

## Location

`$TwlSDK/tools/bin/makebanner.exe`

## See Also

Banner Overview
`makerom`

## Revision History

2008/11/27 Changes game titles in examples and added a warning about the use of kanji.
2008/10/20 Added a warning about game title width.
2008/10/17 Changed the links documents about DS banners.
2008/09/12 Added links to documents about DS banner.
2007/01/12 Added to Description about applications for China and Korea.
2004/09/10 Added a link to a list of usable characters.
2004/08/28 Initial version.

CONFIDENTIAL