Here is an interesting question for which I was barely able to pick a category (my favorite kind of question!).

I was modifying some .map files from the big pack of them that seems to be circulating in various places.  (got mine here: http://www.nahee.com/Software/ and it's quite handy!  The same grouping is available as a download with the Endlos program, and elsewhere too).

So...  I tried appending a few to get the gradients "back to back" in one larger file.

Then I tried it with the "jstripe" files.

They are 4 files of tightly aligned bands of color - Lots of bands!

I think there were only 3, but I made a pink one to go with the red green and blue ones  (still need to make that yellow / orange one!).

So...

It's a HUGE file, and takes a Long time to render images in Chaoscope (the program I was playing with at the time).

So I tried it in a few other programs that use ".map" files...

It worked in some, and got truncated in others.

Is there a practical limit on the size of such files which varies from program to program?

Or do they all read "the end" of the palette differently and see - for example - a black band, or something - as the indicator that the file has completed loading?

In Chaos Pro, it just cuts off and only 1 1/2 of the 4 appended files show.

In Mutatorkammer the first 2 full maps load and are all even more tightly compressed to one side, while the last of the bands to load is stretched out and fills most of the palette!

I'm just editing these in Notepad, so there may be some convention of which I am unaware - or there could be practical limits subjective to the program in use.

I'm just blindly experimenting, and have no idea if I am doing anything wrong, or not!

Any ideas?