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Text File | 1989-10-21 | 42KB | 1,139 lines

INTRODUCTION DC is an impressively fast object based graphics tool which uses floating point mathematics to record the size, shape and position of objects you design. An object is a basic element like a Line, a Circle, a Box, or even more complex shapes like many sided Polygons (triangles, pentagons etc) and Bezier Curves. By choosing a mixture of these elements you can create amazingly detailed drawings, impressive graphics, or conceptual schematics. SHAREWARE So what is Shareware? Well its a marketing concept which allows you the user to review and evaluate software without having paid for it first. If you don't like the software, don't use it. However if you do find the software useful , register to support continued product development and enhancement and of course to get a few things in return. Register to get the latest version, a printed manual, font and help files, example files, symbol libraries and update notifications. Does this concept work? Yes and thats why the quality of shareware products gets better with each registration. GETTING STARTED To start DRAFT CHOICE type the short form of the program name when in DOS just as shown below and then press the enter key. DRAFTC [ENTER] If you have a CGA or HGA monitor the appropriate graphics mode will be automatically selected. If you have an EGA monitor you will have to tell the program that it has a greater screen resolution. You do so by typing a command switch after the name DRAFTC as shown below. DRAFTC /E [ENTER] - for ega or DRAFTC /ATT [ENTER] - for an ATT graphics screen Thats all, and now your up and running..... SWITCHES /COMMAND LINE OPTIONS When starting DRAFT CHOICE you can type several command line switches following the program name which will initialize certain settings. /H - force recognition of Hercules monitor. /E - for EGA monitors /ATT - for the AT&T monitors /NH - to disable the HELP file and leave you more useable memory /NT - disables turbo boost on cursor movements NOTE: some computers must use /NT in order to run the program. i.e. the PC JR . /FONT=fontname; - start up with a specific font file, note the semicolon is required after the name. WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE A typical screen appears below: ______ DRAW | EDIT | OPTION PLOT FILE SYMBOL QUIT || || ________ || || | COPY | || || | MOVE | <-- Drop down menu || || | ROTATE | With commands || || | . | || || | . | || || ________| /\ || || || || || <--- DRAWING AREA --> || || 640H x 200V pixels CGA mode || || || || || \/ || ||_______________________________________________________________|| SCALE: 1.000 <<Tells current screen magnification FREE : 200 K <<Space for Drawing FILENAME X 100.5, Y 200 <<-Coordinate of Cursor When COORD flag active EQUIPMENT GRAPHICS BOARDS So what kind of equipment do you need to run this program? DC works well on the most basic equipment. All you need is an IBM PC or compatible computer with a graphics board from the following list. MNEMONIC GRAPHICS BOARD PIXEL RESOLUTION CGA Color Graphics Adaptor 640x200 EGA Enhanced Graphics Adaptor 640x350 HGA Hercules Graphics Adaptor 720x348 ATT ATT Graphics Board 640x400 MEMORY REQUIREMENTS Draft Choice requires a minimum of 256 k to operate. Should you be stretching your memory as your drawing gets more complex, you may choose to unallocate the HELP screens which would release approximately 30k of memoryOn a 640K machine operating DOS 3.0 , you should have approximately 300k of useful memory. This corresponds approximately to a drawing composed of over 8000 individual elements (lines, circles etc). An average B size drawing might have an average of several hundred elements so clearly you have plenty of room to expand. KEYBOARD The computer keyboard cursor movement keys can be used easily to navigate the pointing cursor around the screen. Selecting a command is as easy as pressing the first letter of the command or if your prefer moving the pointer ontop of the command and pressing the ENTER key. The following keys may be used to manipulate the cursor. UP - cursor one step upwards DOWN - cursor one step downwards LEFT - cursor one step to the left RIGHT - cursor one step to the right PGUP - Increase step size by 10 pixels PGDN - Restore step size to 1 pixel of movement ENTER - Select a command, or indicate a reference point ESCAPE - Cancel a command, exit a menu, or cancel a point. MOUSE INTERFACE {optional} To use a mouse with DRAFT CHOICE it must be installed on the COM1 serial port. To attach the mouse to your computer simply plug the mouse into the serial port (usually a 25 pin RS232C connector but it sometimes comes on a 9 pin mini connector). The next step is to install the mouse driver. A mouse driver is a small memory resident software program which is provided by the manufacturer of your mouse with your mouse when it was purchased. Mouse drivers provide a standard interface which permits different programs to interact with different mice. As an example MOUSE SYSTEMS CORP provide an optical mouse (with no moving parts) called the PC MOUSE. The driver provided with the mouse is called: MSMOUSE.COM Just execute the driver from DOS by typing the above name. A message will be displayed which states that the mouse driver has been successfully loaded. Thats all you have to do to make a mouse work with DC. Note variations in mouse names do exist, but it should be clear from your mouse documentation what your mouse driver is called. DC only uses two buttons on the mouse. They are the LEFT button equivalent to the ENTER key on the keyboard (see above key explanation) and the MIDDLE or RIGHT mouse buttons which represent the ESCAPE key (see above). You can use either the key or mouse equivalents. __________ <<This is the tail / __________/__________ / ___ ___ ___ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Left Middle Right | <<< Mouse buttons | | | ENTER ESC ESC | <<< keyboard equivalents | | | MOUSE? | |_________________________| MATH COPROCESSOR {Not Required} You don't need a math coprocessor to run DRAFT CHOICE. In fact drawing operations use optimized integer routines (eliminating many floating point operations). MENU INTERFACES The DRAFT CHOICE menu interface consist of a line of menu selections across the top line of the screen. A particular menu may be selected by either typing the first letter of the menu or by moving the pointer up to the top line, highlighting the choice and then pressing ENTER. The main menus have the following names: DRAW - drawing OBJECTS,(line,circles...) EDIT - editing features,(Copy, Move ...) ALTER - more editing features IMAGE - image zooming features,(Update,Window,Half... OPTION - global defaults, (Grid, Toggles, Screen...) PLOT - Print drawing/picture ,(Go, Image,Setup..) FILE - File handling (Load, Save, Import, Xport...) SYMBOL - Group and name objects and use as symbols MEASURE - Determine lengths, angles, areas CYCLE - Animation using Get,Play,Step QUIT - Exit to DOS. For example to draw a BOX press the letter D to select the DRAW menu and then press letter B to select the box. INPUT WINDOW An input window presents a prompt for a single piece of information, such as a filename to store, or a symbol name to use or make. The contents of an input window can be erased by pressing either the ESCAPE key or the RIGHT button on your mouse. If after erasing the name you hit ENTER you will be presented with a pick window of allowable names (see PICK WINDOW below). DIALOG BOX A dialog box is a window which presents multiple choices which can be selected or modified. For example the dialog box shown below can be found under the OPTION GRID command selection. ---------------------------------- | [ GRID X ] [ SNAP X ] | | | | [ X: 20.00 ] [ H: 10.00 ] | | [ Y: 20.00 ] [ V: 20.00 ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] [ CANCEL | --------------------------------- To select a choice: - Type the first letter of the choice. i.e. to turn on the GRID press the letter G. The highlight will move to the choice with a matching letter. OR... - With cursor keys highlight the desired choice and press ENTER. Each press of a cursor key will advance the highlight pointer to the next choice. - With the mouse, move the mouse pointer. As the pointer passes overtop of a choice the choice will be highlighted. To select the highlit choice press the LEFT button. HELP SCREENS Help screens can be viewed by pressing the F1 function key (only when not in a menu or editing/drawing mode ). The screen displayed will consist of a matrix of topics and a cursor. Move the cursor to highlight a specific topic and the lower half of the screen will display an explanation or description. To return to your drawing, press the ESCAPE key. REFERENCE MARK Each drawing object created by DRAFT CHOICE has a reference MARK which is represented by a small cross (X). This feature is used by editing commands to select an object for copying, moving and other manipulations. The reference mark will NOT be plotted or printed on your hard copy. Mark display can be disabled by selecting the command OPTION ENABLE MARK. If a check mark signifies ON , no check means OFF. The display will be updated (and marks) the next time you IMAGE UPDATE. ENTERING COORDINATES A drawing produced on DRAFT CHOICE takes advantage of a floating point cartesian coordinate system with the following limits: 1.0 E-37 <= | X or Y | <= 1.0 E +37 Note: although the magnitude of representable numbers is very large only 11 significant digits of precision are provided, so realistically if you are trying to draw a map of a city, and you want accuracy down to 1/1000 inch, the maximum range might be: +/- 99,999,999.999 inches Coordinates may be entered with four different methods which appear below. The first letter of each method is used to represent one of the four types of coordinates. ABSOLUTE: example: A50,50 Coordinate with respect to origin at a coordinate of 0,0. The first value represents X and the second Y. This is the default coordinate if a letter is not specified. (i.e. you don't need the letter A) RELATIVE: Example: R35,20 Similar to Absolute but measured with respect to last coordinate entered. i.e. move 35 units to left and 20 units upwards. POLAR : Example: P100,45 Coordinate with respect to the origin at absolute coordinate 0,0. The first value represents a RADIUS of 100 units projected at an angle of 45 degrees. BEARING : Example: B300,25 Similar to Polar but measured with respect to last coordinate. (i.e. from last position move 300 units at an angle of 25 degrees) For example ( if your last point was 100,50) : A1000,200 - Absolute coordinate 1000 units right and 200 units up from coordinate 0,0. R200,-300 - Relative coordinate, means add 200 units X (right) and -300 units Y (down) to the last coordinate. The equivalent absolute coordinate is A300,350 . P100,45 - Polar coordinate means Radius is 100 units and the angle from horizontal is 45 degrees. B200,30 - Bearing coordinate means Relative Radius is 200 units at an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal. 3.1 DRAW LINE Draw a line from the last point to the current position of the cursor. Each time the ENTER key is pressed (or the LEFT mouse button) a new line will be drawn from the last entered point. The sequence continues head to toe until the ESCAPE key has been pressed (or the MIDDLE mouse button). BOX Draw a box using the first point indicated by pressing ENTER and the last point indicated by pressing ENTER. CIRCLE Draw a circle using a choice of three modes. RADIUS : The circle can be defined by a center point and any point on the radius DIAMETER: The circle is defined by two points on the circumference. POINTS : The circle is defined by three points on the circumference. ASPECT : The aspect ratio of the circle can be changed to produce an ellipse with either a vertical or horizontal main axis. ARC (see pattern FILL) Draw arc by indicating the center of the arc, the starting point on the circumference and then a second point on the circumference which is clockwise from the first point. The arc is drawn using the circle aspect ratio. (see CIRCLE SETUP) TEXT Text can be placed anywhere on the screen. You can individually set the height, width and angle of the text as placed on your drawing. The following angles correspond to the 4 principal directions (but you can have any intermediate angle, i.e. 22.54 degrees) 0 degrees, left to right (text appears right side up) 90 degrees, bottom to top 180 degrees, right to left (text appears upside down) 270 degrees, top to bottom The text dialog window appears below: ------ ATTRIBUTE -------------- JUSTIFY ------ | | | [ HEIGHT: 20.00 ] [ LEFT ] | | [ WIDTH : 15.00 ] [ CENTER ] | | [ ANGLE : 0.00 ] [ RIGHT ] | | [ SPACE : 1.00 ] [ FIT ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] | ------------------------------------------------ BEZIER (see pattern FILL) Draw a bezier curve (a special parabolic curve). Indicate points 1 and 2 as end points of the curve by moving the cursor and pressing the ENTER key when in position. Use point 3 (but don't immediately press the ENTER key) to adjust the shape of the curve. The curve will float, i.e. change size and shape as the cursor is moved. To fix the bezier curve into its final position press the ENTER key. The bezier has the characteristic that the slope of the curve at the end points (1 and 2) is tangent to an imaginary line drawn to point 3. ARROW (see pattern FILL) The arrow is a predefined shape which is specified by point 1,( the tip of the arrow) and point 2 ( any point directed away from the tip). The orientation of the arrow can be adjusted by moving point 2 before pressing the ENTER key. POLYGON (see pattern FILL) A polygon is a regular sided closed shape. You specify the number of sides first, then indicate point 1 (the center of the polygon). The size of the polygon is controlled by point 2. To fix the size press the ENTER key. COMPLEX (see pattern FILL) The complex curve has three different types which can be selected from the SETUP menu which appears below: ----------------- | [ LINES /] | | [ SPLINE ] | | [ FREEHAND ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] | ----------------- COMPLEX LINES A complex polygon is an irregular sided shape composed of straight lines. It is defined in a manner similar to the LINE , each new point and ENTER press defines a new side of the complex polygon. The last side is terminated by pressing the ESCAPE key. COMPLEX SPLINE A spline is defined like a complex polygon but after the ESCAPE key is pressed a smooth curve is plotted through each of the line end points. The degree of smoothenss is controlled by the OPTION DEFAULT LEVEL value. A value of 1 is rough but provides increased drawing speed. A value of 3 is smooth but means that fewer data points can be used to create the spline curve. Roughly the number of points is 100 divided by 2 raised to the power of 3. Therefore at level 3 the maximum number of plottable points is 100/8 or about 12. At level 1 the maximum is 50. FREEHAND A freehand curve allows you to draw on the screen using the cursor. This allows you to enter information like your signature directly into the drawing. However a maximum of 100 points may be stored per object. The faster you move the cursor the bigger the step size and the more of your basic signature you can enter. 3.2 EDIT Edit commands act upon objects allowing them to be duplicated, translated, rotated, mirrored or combinations thereof. COPY Create copies of the selected objects. Each new copy is placed at the position of the cursor when ENTER is pressed. MOVE Translate selected objects into a new position. Dynamic positioning occurs with movement of the cursor. Press ENTER to indicate final position. (Press ESCAPE cancels the move) SCALE Scale the selected objects according to a user specified X and Y scale factors. The user is then requested for a reference point to use to scale the objects about. A typical dialog window appears below: -------- SCALE FACTOR --------- | | | [ X : 1.0 ] [ Y: 2.5 ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] [ CANCEL ] | --------------------------------- ROTATE This command rotates the selected group of elements by the angle designated in degrees about a point of rotation. ARRAY Combines a COPY operation with either a LINEAR movement or ROTATION. Use to create multiply copies at exact intervals of rotation or displacement. MIRROR Mirror selected objects across a vertical axis. (To flip an object vertically you have to use the ROTATE command first, perform the MIRROR, and then ROTATE back to original angle) BREAK Break a single LINE between the two points you indicate. The result is two LINES. This command is very useful when one object intersects another and you wish selectively to erase part of one of the objects. EXPLODE Converts a complex object, like a bezier curve, or circle into an equivalent object composed only of straight line segments. FILL This command allows you to change the pattern fill to a choice of pattern (for pattern choices see OPTION FILL). STYLE This command allows you to change the type of line drawn and the thickness of the line ( for line choices see OPTION STYLE). 3.3 IMAGE COMMMANDS Imagine looking through a magnifying window at a very large and detailed picture. At high magnifications you only see that portion of the picture which is directly under the viewing window. To see more of the picture (but less detail) you must decrease the image scale factor. To zoom in on a specific detail you increase the image scale factor (but see less of the picture). When DRAFT CHOICE is first started the default image scale factor is set to 1.00. Image commands allow you to adjust the position of the viewing window with respect to the drawing and the size of the drawing/graph that is displayed on the screen. UPDATE Redraws the entire screen at the current image scale setting. WINDOW This command allows you to focus on a small area of the current display. Whatever size of window you select will be used to determined the new image scale factor. The effect of course is to always increase the image scale factor. LAST Swap between the last image/scale factor/postion and the current image. This is very useful when working on a very large size drawing, because it allows you to zoom in on a small work area, make changes and add objects, and then return to original drawing view. PAN Dynamically reposition the viewing window on the display. As soon as you designate a position (by pressing ENTER), cursor movement (with mouse or cursor keys) will result in the screen image moving instantly! To fix the position of the viewing window press ENTER. DOUBLE Doubles the image scale factor and reposition view window about center of the screen. The drawing gets larger. HALF Halves the image scale factor and reposition the view window about the center of the screen. The drawing gets smaller. ZOOM This command allows you to manually change the image scale factor and location of the lower left screen coordinate (or screen origin). Typing 1.0 will return the drawing to the default image scale setting. A dialog window presenting the choices below will be displayed. ----------------------- | [ SCALE: 1.000 ] | | [ XOFS : 0.000 ] | | [ YOFS : 0.000 ] | ----------------------- ORIGIN This command returns the drawing to an image scale factor of 1.0 and postions the lower left portion of the screen at XY coordinate 0,0. ALL This command determines the maximum and minimum XY coordinates of the current drawing and uses this information to determine an image scale factor and viewing window which will display the entire drawing on the screen. 3.4 OPTION The option menu allows you to change globally parameters that effect the entire drawing. The changes will continue to apply until the next time a parameter is changed. GRID The grid option menu allows you to individually specify an X and Y construction grid spacing. The grid is represented by a dot at each XY intersection coordinate. The default grid setting is 20 units X, by 20 units Y, but the settings can be specified in any combination. The snap option allows you to constrain the movement of the cursor to exactly the spacing of the snap grid. A snap grid is similar to the construction grid but it is not displayed on the screen. Instead when drawing an object the physical coordinates are rounded to the nearest snap point. After selecting OPTION GRID a dialog menu will appear as below: ----------- GRID SETTINGS ---------- | | | [ GRID / ] [ SNAP / ] | | [ X : 20.00 ] [ H : 5.00 ] | | [ Y : 20.00 ] [ V : 5.00 ] | | | | [ QUIT ] | ------------------------------------ The default settings are for X and Y grid at 20 units and H and V snap spacing at 5 units, with the GRID disabled and the SNAP disabled. Try selecting the GRID option (by pressing the letter G). ENABLE Toggle switches are features that can be enabled or disabled. The dialog window appears as shown: ----- TOGGLE SWITCHES ----- | | | [ COORD ] [ BWON ] | | [ MARK ] [ AUTO ] | | [ WIDTH ] [ FILL ] | | [ TEXT ] [ STYLE ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] | --------------------------- A cross next to each switch indicates that the switch is active. The list of switches follows: COORD - Display X-Y coordinate position of the cursor MARK - Display the object reference mark (X) DRAG - Display the rubber band which is shown between points as an object is being defined. TEXT - Display TEXT objects completely. If Disabled represent text with a solid line to speed up screen redrawing. BWON - Turn on COLOR for individual Layers AUTO - Not used. STYLE - Display all lines with specified line style. If disabled represent each line with a thickness of SLIM (see OPTION STYLE). FILL - Display all shapes with specified fill pattern. If disabled any shape which was specified with a fill pattern will instead be empty. LAYER DRAFT CHOICE permits you to work on eight (8) different layers You can turn on or off a specific layer by selecting that layer from the display list. The selection dialog window appears below: ----- ACTIVE ------------- DISPLAY ----- | | | ACTIVE [ 1/ ] [ 5 ] | | DISPLAY [ 2/ ] [ 6 ] | | COLOR [ 3/ ] [ 7 ] | | PROTECT [ 4 ] [ 8 ] | ---------------------------------------- A check mark next to a display number indicates that the layer is visible. All eight layers can be visible at one time. A check mark next to the active number indicates the layer all new objects drawn will be associated with. ONLY one check mark will appear in this section as only one layer can be active at a time. DEFAULT The default dialog window appears below: --------- DEFAULT SETTINGS ------------ | | | [ ASPECT: 1.48] [ RATE : 7 ] | | [ BSCALE: 1.00] [ PICK : 4 ] | | [ MOUSE : 12 ] [ COLOR: 1 ] | | [ DASHSPC: ] | | | | [ QUIT ] | --------------------------------------- Each setting has the following definition: RATE : Shows the rate of drawn objects per screen updates. (You can not change this) ASPECT : Set the video aspect ratio, so a circle looks correct and does not appear like an egg. The aspect ratios differ for CGA, EGA and HGA cards and may vary depending on your graphics monitor. MOUSE : Set the mouse sensitivity to movement, the smaller the number the more sensitive the mouse. BKGND : Sets the default background. Note a value of 255 sets the background to solid white. COLOR : Set the overall color of your drawing as displayed on the screen. It has NO EFFECT on output to print devices. FILL Many of the objects can be created so that the interior portions of the object are filled by a bit pattern. This applies only to the following list of objects. BOX ARC BEZIER POLYGON COMPLEX ARROW Once created with a fill pattern , the pattern can be changed to another pattern with the EDIT FILL command. When FILL is selected the dialog box show below will be displayed. A check mark will appear next to the current default fill pattern. ----------- FILL PATTERNS ---------- | | | [1 NONE ] [6 HATCH ] | | [2 BLANK ] [7 CROSS ] | | [3 SOLID ] [8 FINE ] | | [4 HORIZ ] [9 DOTS ] | | [5 VERT ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] [ CANCEL ] | | | ------------------------------------ The difference between NONE and BLANK is that any object appearing inside the outline of the filled object (like a BOX surrounding TEXT) will be BLANK'ed out and will not be seen. With NONE only the outline of the main object is drawing so any enclosed object will be visible. STYLE Line styles can be selected from a dialog window representing the following styles: SOLID - Display line as solid and continueous [default] DOTTED - Display a series of dots CENTER - Use a centerline dash dash sequence PHANTOM - Use a Dot dash sequence LHATCH - Place a double hatch at equal spacing on line CROSS - Place a cross at equal spacing on solid line HIDE - Prevent the display of line or object outline. SLIM - Represent each line with 1 dot width THICK - Represent each line with 3 dot width FAT - Represent each line with 5 dot width 3.5 PLOT To produce a hardcopy of the graph which you see on the screen, select the PLOT option from the main menu. The default plotter settings are for an EPSON dot matrix printer or compatible which is connected to LPT1. However you can change both the device (Plotter, Dot Matrix Printer, or LaserJet Printer) and the data port to which data is sent (LPT1,LPT2,COM1,COM2). GO To begin the printing process, make sure the paper in your printer is adjusted to the top of the form and then select the command PLOT,GO. Note that only those portions of the drawing currently displayed on the screen will be printed according to the default paper width. With a printer the graphics information is created in horizontal strips and then sent to the printer. While each strip of the image is being created there will be a short delay and then the information will be sent to the printer. The more complex the drawing the longer the delay. When the drawing is complete DRAFT CHOICE will give a short beep. EJECT The EJECT command to issue a formfeed to the printer and cause the paper to advance to the top of the next page. The EJECT command does not function when the print device is a plotter). IMAGE The image command will display a dialog window which allows you to modify the resolution, size and aspect ratio of the drawing sent to the print device. The dialog window will appear as shown below: ----------- IMAGE ---------- | | | [ HIGH ] [PORTRAIT ] | | [ MEDIUM /] [LANDSCAPE] | | [ LOW ] | | | | [WIDTH : 6.0 ] | | [VSCALE: 0.85 ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] [ CANCEL ] | ---------------------------- NOTE: Landscape mode is not supported by the DC PLOTTER driver. DEVICE This command will display a dialog window which allows you to modify the print device and the output port. The dialog window will appear as shown below: ----------- SETUP ------------- | | | [ 1.LPT1 /] [ HP747X ] | | [ 2.LPT2 ] [ EPSON X] | | [ 3.LPT3 ] [ LASERJET ] | | [ 4.LPT4 ] [P-LQ2500 ] | | [ 5.FILE ] | | | | [ ACCEPT ] | ------------------------------- Note a check mark next to the device and the port signifies the current settings. BAUD - (SEE read.me file for info) 3.6 FILE This submenu allows you to SAVE or LOAD your drawing and to IMPORT and XPORT information to/from other programs. LOAD This command prompts for a file name by presenting a pick window which lists all files in the current drive and subdirectory. The current path can be modified within the pick window. --------------------------------------------------- | [ UP | ] [ NAME1 ] | | [ NAME2 ] [ Name: NAME1 ] | | [ NAME3 ] | | [ . ] [ PATH: C:\draftc ] | | | | [ DN | ] [ . ] [ ACCEPT ] [ CANCEL ] | ---------------------------------------------------- To select a name from the directory list, move the cursor to highlight that name , type ENTER. The name will be transfered into the Name: field. To begin the loading process select ACCEPT. To cancel and return to the menu select CANCEL. To change the subdirectory (used to indicate where your drawing files are) select PATH and then type in the new path. When ENTER is pressed the subdirectory will be read and a new list of names will be displayed. SAVE This command prompts for a file name to use when saving the current drawing in memory. When the name is provided the file will be saved into the current drive and subdirectory. XPORT This command allows you to extract a portion of the drawing and save it in several formats. DWG - The drawing format saves the extracted portion as its own drawing file with extension .DCH . PIC - Create a lotus format .PIC file. BSAVE - The image is saved as a binary byte image. The first two integers represent the width and the height of the image respectively. The rest of the image is saved as byte information row by row. IMPORT This command allows you to import ASCII TEXT files, LOTUS compatible PIC files (the end product of a saved graph) and *.DCH files which where created with the FILE SAVE command or drawing files that were xtracted. The following options are supported; ASCII - Each ascii line is stored as a TEXT object starting at the indicated cursor position with the text assuming the current default text height and width. Each new line is placed downwards by an amount equal twice the text height. VALUE - This is an ascii file which has XY absolute coordinate pairs separated by commas, one pair per line. For example the following would define two separate straight lines: line 1: 100,0 line 2: 100,100 line 3: line 4: 200,200 line 5: 300,200 PIC - The file must conform to a lotus PIC file format. NEW This command clears the drawing from memory. You will be asked to confirm your selection before the command is executed. The drawing can not be recovered if it has not been saved prior to executing this command. (NOTE: A menu of predefined drawing sizes available in this command) ERASE This command erases from your disk the specified file. Note wild card characters can NOT be used. CONFIG This command saves into a file called DRAFTC.CFG all of the DRAFT CHOICE settings which have assigned defaults. This includes the following: - Status of Toggles switches; COORD, STYLE, FILL, DRAG, TEXT, MARK, VERIFY - GRID/SNAP status, grid and snap spacing, - Text height, width and angle, - screen color, refresh rate, mouse sensitivity, screen aspect ratio - active and display layers - default fill pattern and default line style - Circle aspect ratio, Arrow size. When DRAFT CHOICE is executed in subsequent sessions, the settings in the CONFIG file will be automatically set. 3.7 SYMBOL This submenu allows you to group a number of drawn objects and assign a symbol name to that group. Thereafter the name may be used to indicate a complex oject symbol. For example an electrical designer might have a set of symbol definitions for common objects like Resisters, Capacitors, Inductors , Voltage sources, Current Sources. Each symbol might be composed of 2 or more primitive objects like lines, circles, and boxes. By defining the symbol once, and then using it by name many times, the designer will save both time, effort and computer memory in creating the drawing. The symbol library is saved with each drawing that uses it. MAKE To assign a symbol name to a group of primitives, first enclose the objects in the selection window. The next step is to type the symbol name in response to the prompt. Finally you must indicate with the cursor a reference point on the symbol. This is the point which identifies the symbol position when it is USED. Thats all thats required. USE To use a symbol either type the symbol name in response to the prompt or if you can't remember the name, press ENTER on a blank name and a pick window will be displayed in the middle of the screen. Move the cursor to highlight the desired symbol name and press ENTER. Now that you have made your selection you have to tell DRAFT CHOICE where to place the symbol. Move your cursor to the desired spot, press ENTER. The symbol will be drawn at that position so that the symbol reference point appears at exactly your cursor location. DELETE To eliminate or remove ONE symbol from the library either type the name in response to the prompt or select the name from the pick window. RESET To eliminate ALL symbols from the library select this command. FONT MODIFY The character font used to DRAW TEXT belongs to its own special catagory of symbols. Any group of LINE objects (Note circles and other complex shapes must be converted to LINE objects with the EDIT-CONVERT command) may be used to define the font character (for example the capital letter A could be constructed with three straight lines). A selection window is used to indicate those lines to use to define the character. The allowable range of font character is from ascii 32 to 255 decimal. A font character is assumed to be a maximum of 230 drawing units wide and 256 drawing units high. Any lines projecting outside this boundary are truncated at 256 and may cause some unexpected results. The default font used by DRAFT CHOICE was created by establishing a set of horizontal and vertical construction grid lines which created a box which was 240 units high and 150 units wide. One horizontal line was placed at 75 units high to provide a reference line for character descenders like the lowercase y. The reference point of each construction line was placed outside of the box so that the selection window would not result in those lines being included. 0,256 230,256 X--| ---- |--------- {top of character} | / \ | | | | | 0,50 | \ /| | 230,50 X--| ------ | |---------- {Bot of Uppercase character} | | | -10,0 | ___ __ / | X--| |--------- {imagine this is the descender line} | 0,0 | 230, 0 -10,-10 X X Put a window around the character but make sure NOT to include the reference points of the construction lines. Use the 0,0 point as the reference point for the character. When a font character has been changed and DRAFT CHOICE is being exited a prompt will request the name of file to use when saving the modified font. If the ESCAPE key is pressed the altered font will NOT be saved on the disk, otherwise if a name is specified or the ENTER key is pressed all your modifications will be saved. WRITE The current font in memory is written to a specified directory and will use the filename defined. The font will be assigned an extension of .FNT and will be written in special DRAFT CHOICE font format. READ The current font in memory is replaced with the font which is read from the specified directory. Note that the font must have an extension of .FNT (and must be in special DRAFT CHOICE font format). CYCLE GET/PLAY/STEP/RESET Any portion of the screen can be captured providing it has an element in it. When a sequence of images has been captured they can be played back in an animation sequence, forwards or backwards. The duration of each frame can be set in milliseconds. 3.8 MEASURE DIM... Place a dimension line on the screen complete with end points arrow heads and a text string representing the distance between the end points. The orientation of the text string is controlled by the order in which the end points are indicated. The text is always written from the first point to the last point and if space permits the distance text is centered between the end points ( otherwise it overflows to the left). DIAMETER - Auto Dimension (see READ.ME for info) RADIUS - Auto Dimension (see READ.ME for info) COORD - Auto Dimension (see READ.ME for info) ANGLE - Auto Dimension (see READ.ME for info) OTHER This menu allows you to determine distance, interior angle and areas of the objects being created. LENGTH Determine the length between two points by specifying first the starting and then the end point. The calculated length will be displayed in a dialog window in the center of the screen. ANGLE Determine the interior angle between two lines. First specify the intersecting point and then respectively a distant point on each line segment of interest. The calculated angle will be displayed in a dialog window in the center of the screen aREA {NOTE: this command is selected by pressing the letter R} Determine the total area enclosed by an irregular polygonal shape by indicating points on the outline of that shape. To terminate the operation press the ESCAPE key and the total area will be displayed on the command line. UNITS Indicate the current dimensions to use when mapping screen coordinates.