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1986-10-22
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.N:1
.H:...Page F-$$$...
FIRST.DOC
Copyright 1986, by Thomas F. Droege, All Rights Reserved.
DROEGE
Design Robot for Origination of Exacting Graphic Engineering
DROEGE is a general purpose program for the design of printed circuit
photomasters. Is was created as a demonstration program for our low cost
precision photoplotter. As it was developed it became more and more useful as
a design tool, so eventually the circuit boards and the mechanical drawings for
our photoplotter were done using this program.
This is a manual CAD system. That is, it does nothing automatically
like schematic capture, wire listing, routing, parts lists, etc.. It does
provide a computer aided equivalent of a taped master or drawing board with the
advantage that things are always in perfect registration and one can work on
selected layers.
General features are a 65 x 65 inch working area 12 layers deep.
Resolution over this area is 0.001 inch. At least this is the way it is
labeled - the output can be scaled to anything so what is really provided is a
65000 X 65000 point working space. The layers can be turned on and off and
assigned to any available color. Lines, Pads (something a photoplotter can do
- a small object drawn all at once), Symbols (a named collection of other
objects), Arcs, and Labels can be entered. The Symbol feature is particularly
powerful since Symbols can be nested within Symbols to many levels (20)
allowing construction of very complex objects with a few keystrokes.
The program being distributed through free channels is a limited
version. It has most programming features, however storage space is
restricted. Depending on how clever one is in conserving space, circuits can
be designed with ten to twenty chips or about 100 components. As can be seen
from the demonstration files, fairly elaborate designs can be created with the
"free" version. The program with full storage allocation will accommodate
designs of about 300 chip equivalents.
You will find no appeal to guilt to get you to buy the registered
version. If you really use it, it will be in your interest to buy a license.
If you try this demonstration version on something small to test its features
you are earning what you get by your work, and helping us sell the product - a
fair exchange we think. Print FEATURES.DOC to learn the advantages of buying a
licensed copy and to print an order form. Print PLOTTER.DOC to learn about our
low cost photoplotter.
Print DEMO.DOC for instructions for a quick tour around the facilities.
TUTOR.DOC directs you through a few simple tasks. Do not underestimate the
effort required to learn to use this or any other CAD system. As a member of a
CAD selection committee for a large laboratory the author has reviewed many
systems, it is an awful job. My current view is that one just begins to know
the features needed after six months use.
***** SPECIAL OFFER *****
For a limited time, if you follow the procedure in PHOTOOL.DOC we will
produce a phototooling set for your job. We will plot anything you can get on
8" x 10" film, for $25.00 per layer (Since we don't know when you will read
this, this offer is subject to confirmation, see PHOTOOL.DOC for the
procedure).
The following lists the documentation on this disk with a brief
description of what each file contains. We suggest you do DEMO.DOC and
TUTOR.DOC and don't bother to look at much else until you have tried to do a
few things. KEYTREE.DOC will help show you where you are going in the program:
FIRST.DOC
This document.
MANUAL.BAT - PRINTS A MANUAL CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
(You may print individual sections if you wish)
INTRO.DOC
Introduction and design philosophy.
DEMO.DOC
This leads you through a demonstration of what the system will do. You
do not get to do anything, just look. This is our "gee whiz" demo.
TUTOR.DOC
This leads you step by step through a few simple tasks. We have tried
to start with excruciating detail and gradually tell you less and less
as you become familiar with our general approach.
QUICK.DOC
Quick summaries of how to perform the most common tasks.
HOWTO.DOC
How to do some more complex operations.
APPENDIX.BAT - PRINTS AN APPENDIX TO THE MANUAL CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING
SECTIONS (Or you can print them separately):
COMMANDS.DOC
An alphabetical listing of the command keys. This is the primary
reference document for all the operations that are available.
KEYTREE.DOC
Operation of this program is by use of the function keys. Each key
press typically reassigns the keys to a new set of values. KEYTREE.DOC
is a "map of the cave" showing the route through the menu keys with
very brief summaries of key operation. The key menu is presently
fourteen layers deep and has hundreds of entries, many of them
repeated. A number of the key operations are reentrant so that much
deeper entry is possible. The design allows quick movement to a menu
that will do what you want. It may be useful to print this out and
hang it on the wall when you first start using this program to remind
you of what is available and as an index for COMMANDS.DOC. We thought
this would be very useful. We find it almost impossible to read, but
we include it because we went to the work to prepare it and it might
fit someone's taste.
ERRORS.DOC
Error messages and their meaning.
STANDARD.DOC
This document suggests a set of standards to get you started. It pays
to approach a job in a consistent manner. This file gives a set of
standard procedures for producing a design for a two sided plated
through hole board. If you follow this standard we will be able to
plot your job for you with minimal hassle.
PLOTOUT.DOC
How to generate a plot output file with sample file output.
THE FOLLOWING MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENTS CAN ALL BE PRINTED WITH MISC.BAT
OR THEY MAY BE PRINTED SEPARATELY:
PHOTOOL.DOC
How to get a set of phototooling prepared from your design. Read this
before you prepare a job for us to plot.
UPGRADE.DOC
A list of the planned upgrades.
WISH.DOC
A form to submit requests for improvements and upgrades.
USERS.DOC
We will collect and distribute useful libraries. This is a form to
make a submission.
BUG.DOC
The bug reporting form and procedure. Serious bug finders may write
for a version containing bug identification tools.
FEATURES.DOC
Features of the full version of this program, and an order form.
PLOTTER.DOC
Features of our Photoplotter.
UPDATE.DOC
Changes and bug fixes by date.
NEWBUG.DOC
Known Unfixed Bugs