ðð

Introduction

 Introduction

  LASI drawings can be quite large and complex. It is usually necessary to
  produce large plots to examine the drawings for errors, or maybe just for
  office decoration. LASI therefore must be able to produce plots. The most
  commonly used plotting language is Hewlett-Packard's HP-GL (Hewlett-
  Packard Graphics Language), which is used by all H-P and many other makes
  of plotters. Using the LASI2PGL.EXE program, LASI drawings can be
  converted directly into HP-GL, either as a file, or as a direct drive for
  a plotter from one of the personal computer's serial ports.

Configuration Files

 Configuration Files

  Before you run LASI2PGL on anything you must make a configuration data
  file. Run LASI2PGL.EXE and answer "y" to the Configure (y or n) prompt.

  The program stores plotting configurations in ".PCF" files. The title of
  a configuration must conform to DOS file naming rules. These files remain
  in the drawing directory.

  Some of the questions asked will be defaulted from the program
  initialization or the previous configuration file. Pressing ENTER to any
  question will default to the value show in parentheses. Otherwise enter
  the new value.

  Some of the questions will be obvious and some may need explanation:

  1. Configuration will ask if your plotter has a center or lower-left
     (bottom-left) hardware origin. Most small plotters have a lower-left
     origin, while larger plotters use a center origin. Read your plotter
     manual for this information.

  2. The borders that you must specify are the distance at the edges of a
     sheet of paper that the plotter can't use, i.e. roller track, etc.
     Read your plotter manual for this distance. The size of your paper
     less these borders is the useful size of your paper.

  3. You can set the location and size of the plotting area on the paper by
     specifying the left, bottom, right and top edges. You can use this to
     make multiple drawings on a single sheet of paper.

  4. If you use hardwired handshaking to keep the plotter buffer from being
     overflowed by plotting data, you will be asked if you want to use the
     DSR (data set ready) line or the CTS (clear to send) line to detect
     that the plotter buffer is full. On an AT type of PC these lines are
     pins 6 and 8 respectively on a 9-pin serial port. The Hewlett-Packard
     plotters normally indicate a full buffer by dropping the DTR (pin 20
     on the 25-pin RS-232 connector) line. This line can be connected to
     either CTS or DSR, but DSR is preferred.

  5. LASI2PGL will ask you if you want to use your plotter's polygon mode
     commands. These are the commands PM, EP and FP which are available on
     the better plotters (see your plotter manual). These commands allow
     you to fill closed polygon areas. If this mode is used paths will be
     expanded into a closed polygon area.

  6. If you want to have paths standout in the drawing, answer that you
     want path center lines drawn. Paths will be drawn with a dashed line
     along their center.

  7. LASI2PGL will draw any cells that are displayed in LASI Cell Mode as
     an outline either in outline or in full detail. The configuration may
     set to always draw fully if desired. You may also set the pen to be
     used for outlines.

  8. Each layer has three attributes, Pen, Line and Fill. You may assign
     attributes randomly, by giving a layer number 1 to 64 to the "Layer?"
     question. Pressing ENTER only will end the assignment process. Note
     also that the layer number is displayed in the color you used in the
     drawing.

  9. When assigning pens to layers note that you may enter up to 8
     different pens. Your plotter might not support that many, so assign
     them accordingly.

  10. You may assign different line types to make dashed lines. The types
     are numbered 0-6 and correspond to the line types described in the H-P
     plotter manual that comes with an H-P plotter. If a line is to be
     drawn solid, set the layer by pressing only ENTER.  A dash "-" will
     indicate a solid line on that layer.

  11. You may set the fill type attribute to be used on a layer. These
     presently are left crosshatch, right crosshatch, horizontal, vertical
     and nothing (indicated by "L","R","H","V" and "-"). Boxes will always
     be filled, but you must use the plotter's polygon mode to fill polygon
     areas.

  12. If a layer has had its Fill set as above, and a line type has also
     been set, the line type is used as the fill line type. The perimeter
     of a filled area is drawn solid and not with the line type set for
     that layer. The spacing of the dashes and fill lines will be
     calculated from the fill spacing configuration parameter.

  13. After you are satisfied with the configuration, you may store it with
     the same title or any other title. You can save time by copying
     configurations, make changes, and then storing under a new title.

Running LASI2PGL.EXE

 Running LASI2PGL.EXE

  LASI2PGL.EXE reads BP4 and CL4 internal files in the local drawing
  directory.

  You must be logged into the drawing directory of the cell to be plotted.

  To drive a plotter directly, the plotter must be connected to one of the
  computer's serial ports, COM1, COM2, COM3 or COM4.


  There are 3 ways to run LASI2PGL:

  1. Run by typing "lasi2hp". This allows you to configure and then run a
     plot, or to simply make configuration files.

  2. Run by typing "lasi2hp cellname", where "cellname" is the cell that
     you want to plot. In this case configuration must be done previously,
     and the plot will be fitted to the full size of the cell.

  3. Run by typing "lasi2hp cellname x-center y-center width", where "x-
     center" and "y-center" are the coordinates of where you want the plot
     to be centered, and "width" is the horizontal width of the plot window
     (all in physical units). This is how LASI passes the drawing window to
     be plotted when the PLOT button is pushed in the LASI System Mode
     menu.

  In each case you will be asked for the configuration title and whether
  your plotter or disk is ready.

  When making a plotting file you may specify a name, path or disk for the
  output file. Entering nothing makes a file with the plotted cell's name
  in the local drawing directory.

  Hint:  If LASI2PGL asks for a new scale. You might want to give a scale
    slightly smaller than the maximum scale indicated. This may eliminate
    some part of a drawing being cut off due to aspect ratio differences
    between your paper and the area to be drawn.

Other Uses

 Other Uses

  Since the plot file that LASI2PGL makes is in standard HP-GL language.
  The file can be changed to other formats using a converter such as HIJAAK
  or PRINTGL. HP-GL can also be converted directly by WordPerfect 5.1 or
  6.0 into figures that can be inserted into WordPerfect (or other DTP)
  written text. Therefore, drawings made by LASI can be placed directly
  into reports, theses, dissertations, etc. that are written using any of
  the common word processors that can do graphics conversion from HP-GL.

  HP-GL can also be converted into LaserJet format to print high quality
  diagrams. HP-GL can be converted into PCX or TIFF formats. From these
  formats, conversion to a fax format is usually possible so that you can
  send high quality fax diagrams using any of the fax/modems on the market.

