DP Tool Club 19/CD_ASCQ_19_010295.iso/vrac/edraft50.zip/EDRAFT.DOC

Text File | 1994-10-10 | 17KB | 552 lines

Documentation for EDRAFT

Getting Started

Unzip files with PKUNZIP. There should be
more than 100 files.
These include...
EDRAFT.EXE
EDRAFT.DOC
OBJL.DAT
DRAW.DAT
More than 50 object files
Several Demonstration drawing files
45 character files

To install Edraft to floppy
1. Insert formatted disk into drive A or drive B
2. Type A: or Type B:
3. Type MD DRAFT
4. Copy All files to A:\DRAFT or B:\DRAFT
                            or
5. PKUNZIP EDRAFT.ZIP A:\DRAFT

To install to hard disk
1. Type C:
2. Type MD DRAFT
3. Copy All files to C:\DRAFT
                        or
4. PKUNZIP EDRAFT.ZIP C:\DRAFT

Running EDRAFT
Before running Edraft Make sure that the current
directory is the directory containing the EDRAFT
object, drawing and character files.

Once you are in the EDRAFT directory type EDRAFT


Drawing Screen
At the top left hand corner of the drawing screen
X and Y distances are displayed. The name of the
item that is currently being drawn is displayed below
the X / Y coordinates in the current drawing color.

Moving The Cursor
To move the cursor use arrow keys. Initially the cursor
moves in increments of nine pixels. To change cursor
speed just type S followed by a number (1-9).
For example S9 moves the cursor 9 pixels at a time.
This is good for moving around the screen quickly,
but for optimum precision you will need to return
the cursor to the slowest speed S1. Also to move the
cursor across the screen you may use the TAB key.

Drawing a Line
To draw a line just move the cursor to the starting
point of the line and type M, then move the cursor
to the finishing point of line and type M again.
Note that when you first type M the words PEN ON
are displayed at the top of the screen and also
the X and Y distances are set to zero. After the
starting point of the line is MARKED the X and Y
distance values will change as the cursor is moved
around the screen.

EXERCISE 1
Draw a 4' Horizontal Line
 1.  Start the program
 2.  Move cursor to the lower left hand corner of the
      screen.
 3.  Type M
 4.  Press the right arrow key until X pos reads
      close to 4'
 5.  Type S1
 6.  Using the right and left arrow keys, move
      the cursor until X pos reads 4'
 7. Type M


Measuring Distances
Although the X pos and Y pos indicators give
the distance from the last marked point, this
distance is only expressed in X and Y offsets.
This is adequate for measuring vertical and
horizontal distances. To measure the true
distance along a diagonal you must type D.
This will return the distance and angle from
the last measured point.

EXERCISE 2
Draw a 4' 45deg diagonal line
 1.  Type S9
 2.  Move cursor to the lower left hand corner of the
      screen.
 3.  Type M
 4.  Type D
 5.  Adjust the cursor position and speed until
      you get the correct length and angle.
 6.  Type M

 Panning Around The Drawing
Once you have drawn some lines on the screen
you might want to pan around the drawing.To do
this type P and then press one of the arrow keys.
Example...
P followed by the up arrow pans up the drawing.

Zooming
To zoom in or out on the displayed part of the
drawing press (+) or (-) keys. Or from the options
list choose the zoom option. Using the zoom
option, you place a window around the portion
of the drawing you wish to zoom in on.

Options List
The following commands listed in this document
can only be accessed through the options list.
To access the options list type O. Options are
displayed in the upper right hand corner of the
screen. Use the up/down arrow keys to scroll
through the options list. Once the desired
option is displayed, press ENTER.
To exit from the options list or to exit from
any other list press ESC.

Change Color
This option is used to select the current drawing
color. 1-15 solid lines of various colors.16-30
dotted lines of various colors. Use the
+ / - keys to scroll through the various colors.
Once the desired color is displayed, press
the ENTER key.

Circle Functions
1. Full Circles Referenced From The Center
Choosing this option allows you to draw
full round circles. First the cursor is moved
to the center. Once M is pressed then the
cursor is moved to any point which is to
end up on the outer circumference, then M
is pressed again.

2. Partial Circles Referenced From The Center
Choosing this function allows you to draw
partial circles. First the cursor is moved
to the center. Once M is pressed then the
cursor is moved to the starting point which
is to end up on the circumference,then M
is pressed again. Then the cursor is moved
to the ending point on the circumference
and M is pressed again. Keep in mind that
circles are drawn counter clockwise, so to
draw a 1/4 circle between 9:00 and 12:00
the starting point on the circumference
should be at 12:00

3. Mark Circle Centers (toggle)
This function is used to display all circle
centers. Useful for centering one circle
inside of another, or placing spokes inside
of a wheel.

Disk Functions
1. Load Drawing From Disk.
Choosing this option will cause a list of
drawings that have previously been saved
to be displayed on the screen. Just
choose the desired drawing and it will be
loaded into memory and ready to work with.

2. Save Drawing To Disk
Choosing this option will cause the current
drawing to be saved to disk. If the current
drawing does not have a name you will be
asked to give the drawing a name. If the
name of the drawing matches the name
of another drawing then the current
drawing will overwrite the other drawing
with the same name.You can make
multiple copies of a drawing by saving
the drawing under a new name.

3. Load Object From Disk.
Choosing this option will cause a list of
objects that have previously been saved
to be displayed on the screen. Just
choose the desired object and it will be
loaded into memory and ready to work
with.
(See Object Functions)

4. Save Object To Disk
Choosing this option you will be able to
select an object from the list of objects
that part of the current current drawing
to be saved to disk.This way objects
created in one drawing can be used in
another drawing.
(See Object Functions)
Note...
This option is not available
in the Freeware version
of this program.

5. Delete Drawing
Choose this option to remove a drawing
from the working directory. Remember
that you can always press ESC to exit
this option.

6. Change Object Read/Write Path
This option allows you to load and save
objects to another disk or directory other
than the current directory. You will be asked
to enter the new path. The path must include
the drive designation and directory seperated
by a colon and backslash and ending with a
backslash.

Example...

C:\DRAFT\OBJECTS\

***WARNING***
IYou must only change the object read/write
path to a directory that already contains the
the object library file  OBJL.DAT and all of
the objects referenced in OBJL.DAT

To create a new object directory from dos
copy the file OBJL.DAT to the new directory.
Then copy all files begining with the letters OBJ
to the new directory. The dos command for this
action is...

COPY OBJ* C:\NEW DIRECTORY

7. Change Drawing Read/Write Path
This option is almost the same as the
preveiously mentioned option with the
exception that the new drawing path must
already contain the drawing index file
DRAW.DAT and the drawings referenced
in the file DRAW.DAT
To create a new directory from dos copy
the file DRAW.DAT to the new directory.
Then copy all files begining with the
letters DW to the new directory.
The dos command for this action is...

COPY DW* C:\NEW DIRECTORY

One limitation of Easy Draft is that you
can only have 20 drawings in any one
directory. So to have more than 20
Easy Draft drawings it is required that
there be more than one directory containing
drawings. Once you have copied all the
drawings to the new directory you can
then run Easy Draft and change the
Drawing Read/Write path. Then you can
use the Delete Drawing option to free up
space in the new directory for new drawings.

No Paint Toggle
This option toggles between painting and
not painting.When paint toggle is off
painted items will be displayed as
unpainted items.

Objects
When working with Edraft you are either
drawing to the Main Drawing or you are
drawing to an object. This status is
indicated on the second line from the top
of the screen, left hand side. If you were
editing a drawing called DECK1 and you
were editing the main drawing the drawing
status line would display...
DECK1 / MAIN DRAWING
If you were editing an object  called CHAIR
in the drawing DECK1 the drawing status
line would display...
DECK1 / CHAIR
What are objects ?
Objects are part of a drawing. Yet objects
are also independent of the main drawing.
Objects can be...
Moved
Rotated
hidden
displayed
copied
removed
re-colored
re-scaled
without affecting the main drawing.
When objects are loaded from the object
library into a drawing, the object is set to
the scale of the main drawing.

Object functions
1. Start New Object
Choose this function when you want to
start creating an object. You will be
prompted to give the object a name.
Object names should be precise.
Example
5/16 x 4in. Lag Bolt
is better than
Lag Bolt
Once you have supplied the object name
everything you draw from this point on
will be part of this object.

****** IMPORTANT ******
When you have finished drawing the object
you must either start a new object by choosing
object function 1 again or choose
object function 2. Stop editing current object.

2. Stop Editing Current Object
You must Choose this function when you
have finished drawing an object and you want
to return to drawing to the main drawing.

3. Move Object
Choose this function when you want to
move an object inside the drawing. You
will be asked to choose the object from a
list of objects that are already part of the
drawing. Once you have chosen the object
from the list the drawing will be displayed
with the chosen object MARKED. Now
move the cursor to the spot where you want
the object to be located and press M.

4. Rotate Object
Choose this function when you want to
rotate an object. You will be asked to
choose the object from a list of objects
that are already part of the drawing. Once
you have chosen the object from the list
You will be asked to enter the rotation
in degrees
Example...
-90 will rotate an object 1/4 turn
counter clockwise

5. Hide Object
Choose this function when you want to
hide an object. You will be asked to
choose the object from a list of objects
that are already part of the drawing. Once
you have chosen the object from the list
the object will not be displayed in the
drawing, but will remain a part of the
drawing.

6. Re-display Object
Choose this function when you want to
display a previously hidden  object. You
will be asked to choose the object from a
list of objects that are already part of the
drawing. Once you have chosen the
object from the list, the object will be
displayed in the drawing.

7. Copy Object
Choose this function when an object
appears in a drawing more than once.
You will be asked to choose the object
from a list of objects that are already part
of the drawing. Once you have chosen
the object from the list the drawing will be
displayed with the chosen object MARKED.
Now move the cursor to the spot where you
want the duplicate object MARK to be
located and press M.

8. Remove Object
This function is similar to the Hide Object
function except that objects that are
removed are no longer a part of the current
drawing, unless they are re-loaded into
the drawing from the object library.

9. Change Object Color
Use this function to change the Object
color.

10. Re-Size object
Use this function to change the scale
of an object that is aready part of the
current drawing.

Paint Function
Use this function to fill in an area with
solid color. You will be asked to choose
the color 1-15. Then move the cursor to
the middle of the area to be painted and
press M.
Note...
Be sure that the area to be painted is
completely surrounded with solid lines
all of the same color, or else paint will
be spilled into the rest of the drawing.

Low Resolution Print
Choosing this option causes the drawing
to be displayed in the CGA mode. You
may then use the DOS GRAPHICS
command to get a printout of the drawing.
Example...
1. Before running Edraft type the
    DOS command GRAPHICS and press
    ENTER
2. Run Edraft
3. Load a drawing
4. Choose the PRINT option
5. Once the drawing is displayed in the
    CGA mode, press PRINT SCREEN.
6. Press the spacebar and you will be
    returned to the VGA mode.
Example #2...
1. Run Edraft
2. Load a drawing
3. Choose the SETTINGS option
4. Choose 1/4" = 1'
5. Once the drawing is displayed on the
    screen again, choose the PRINT
    option.
6. When the drawing is displayed in the
    CGA mode, press PRINT SCREEN.
7. Press the Down arrow and the next
    portion of the drawing will be displayed
8. Press PRINT SCREEN again.
9. Continue using the direction arrows
    and print screen key to print various
    sections of the drawing. These
    printouts can then be assembled
    into a large printout of the drawing

Hi Resolution Print
This option works with Epson compatible
printers. But unfortunately Hi Res print is
not available in the freeware version of
this program.

Quit
Use this option to return to DOS

Scribble
Use this option to draw a rough looking
(Scribbled) line. After selecting this option
the next line you draw will appear to be
scribbled. This option is great for drawing
natural features such as trees and land
contours.

Settings
This option is used to change
zoom speed, pan speed, drawing scale
and menu color and printer calibration.

To calibrate the printer first invoke the
DOS GRAPHICS command prior to
starting Easy Draft.
(Except registered version)

Then choose the Calibrate printer option
from Settings Menu. Follow the on screen
prompts and Easy draft will cause your
printer to print a series of lines. using a
ruler or tape measure, measure the lines
and enter the results when prompted. The
results will automatically be saved to disk.
From this point on when you choose the
print option, the drawing scale will
temporarilly be adjusted to give an
accurate printout.


Text
Use this option to add Text to a drawing
First move the drawing cursor to starting
location for text. Next select the Text option
from the options menu.
Select the height of  the text in inches.
Then select rotation angle of the text
0 degrees is normal right to left across the
screen
-90 degrees is bottom to top
90 degrees is top to bottom
and so on...
After you select the text angle, just
start typing the text in. When you have
finished entering text press ENTER.


Width (lines)
Choosing this option causes the program
two draw 2 parallel lines between marked
points instead of 1 line between marked
points. You select the distance between
the parallel lines.
Choices include...
1. 6 1/2 in.  (Exterior Wall)
2. 4 1/2 in.  (Interior Wall)
3. 1 1/2 in.  (side view of 2x4 or 2x2)
4. 3 1/2 in.  (front view of 2x4 or 4x4)


Erase
Use this option to Erase previously drawn
sections of the drawing. After selecting this
option you then move the cursor to one
corner of the area to be erased. Then press
M. You will then be asked to move the
cursor to the opposite corner of the area to
be erased and press M. As you move the
cursor, a box will be drawn between the
previously marked spot and the current
cursor location. Once the box completly
surrounds the section that you want erased
press M. All lines that are completly inside
the box will be removed from the drawing.
Note...
Objects or parts of objects cannot be erased.
Use the Remove Object option.

If you have any questions or comments
send E mail to Scott Andrews 71450,216
or write to
Astek Software
P.O. BOX 1271
DEWEY, AZ. 86327-1271

You may copy and distribute the Freeware
version of this program.


To obtain the registered version of this
program with all functions intact and an
expanded object library, send $10.
to ...
Scott Andrews
P.O. BOX 1271
DEWEY, AZ. 86327-1271

Be sure to specify  3 1/2 or  5 1/4 disk.