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Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1
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Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso
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children
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childart.exe
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MANUAL.DOC
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The Children's Graphics Program
Version 1.24
Although anyone may find it useful, this graphics program was designed
especially for children. With this software your child can draw lines,
circles, boxes, arcs, text, or other figures we call macros. The macros can
be drawn in one of five sizes -- small, medium, large, extra large, and very
large. All these figures and macros can be drawn in one of four colors (back-
ground or none, red, blue, and white). Actually the red and blue colors are
magenta and cyan but these terms are usually not recognized by children. Once
the drawing is complete your child can color-in the drawings by painting them
in one of five colors.
By placing animation marks in the drawings at strategic locations you may
also animate your drawings. This is a little more complicated and may require
the assistance of parents.
This software comes with six example drawings. These are draw1, draw2, draw3,
draw4, draw5, and draw6. You may load them using the FILE option which is
located in MAIN MENU. You may use these drawings to practice deleting or
painting. Draw3, Draw4, and Draw6 are animated drawings -- try them!
The following paragraphs describe the operation of this program in detail.
OVERVIEW
This section shows you the logical breakdown of the various options.
MAIN MENU OPTIONS:
1-GRAPH
Graph Options:
1-DRAW
Draw Options:
1-LINE
2-BOX
3-CIRCLE
4-MACRO
5-END
6-ARC
7-TEXT
2-PAINT
3-DELete
4-CLOAK
5-END
6-ANI. MARK
7-ANIMATE
8-EXPORT
9-COPY
2-FILE
File Options:
1-SAVE
2-GET
3-DIRECTORY
4-
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5-END
3-ERASE
4-PRINT
5-END
FINDING THE INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are always found on line one above the drawing box. If the
cursor is visible its position will be shown on line 2 with the x-position
first and the y-position shown last. The x-position increases from left to
right while the y-position increases from top to bottom. The options will
always be shown on the last row, below the drawing box.
MOVING THE CURSOR
The cursor is a round flashing object that appears in the GRAPH and DRAW
options. Its sole purpose for existing is to show you your location
in the drawing box. It will not show on your printed drawings.
The cursor can be moved using the keyboard or the mouse. If you don't have a
mouse you must use the keyboard.
KEYBOARD
First, let's assume that you don't have a mouse. You may move the cursor
one pixel at a time by using the appropriate arrow key. If you want to move
in larger steps in the vertical direction, use the PGUP or PGDN keys. To
move in larger steps horizontally you must first press the CONTROL key then
the left or right arrow key before releasing the CONTROL key.
MOUSE
Now lets assume you have a mouse and have loaded its driver software. The
only way you can move the cursor now is to move the mouse. You'll find that
this is much easier and faster than using the keyboard.
MAIN MENU
In this menu your options are 1-GRAPH, 2-FILE, 3-ERASE, 4-PRINT, and 5-END.
Choose one of these options by pressing the number corresponding to the desired
option. For example, if you want to create a graph press the "1" key on the
keyboard.
In this menu the mouse does not function. All selections must be made from
the keyboard.
GRAPH
When you choose this menu from MAIN MENU you'll find that your options
are 1-DRAW, 2-PAINT, 3-DELete, 4-CLOAK, 5-END, and >. Choose > to see the
additional options. These are <, 6-ANIMATE MARK, 7-ANIMATE, 8-EXPORT, and
9-COPY. Choose < to see the first 5 options again.
If you don't have a mouse, select the options by pressing the appropriate
number key or the > or < key. If you do have a mouse you may also select an
option by placing the mouse directly over the desired option and pressing the
left button. Pressing the right button is equivalent to choosing END.
DRAW
Choose this menu from the GRAPH menu when you want to draw something in
the drawing box. Your options in this menu are 1-LINE, 2-BOX, 3-CIRCLE,
4-MACRO, 5-END, 6-ARC, and 7-TEXT.
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If you don't have a mouse, select an option by pressing the number key
that corresponds to the desired option. If you do have a mouse you may
select the desired option by placing the cursor directly over the option
and then pressing the left button. To see options 6-ARC and 7-TEXT you'll
have to select >. To see the first five options again you'll have to
choose <.
After you choose one of these seven options you will be asked to choose
a color. Your color options are: 0-None, 1-Blue, 2-Red, or 3-White. If
you do not have a mouse, choose the color by pressing the corresponding
number key. If you do have a mouse, choose the color by pressing the right
button until the desired color is written on line 2 above the drawing box
then press the left button to accept it.
LINE
When you choose to draw a line you will first be asked to choose a color.
After you have chosen a color you will be asked to move the cursor to
where you want the line to start then press ENTER. If you have a mouse,
you may press the left button instead of pressing ENTER. Once you've
done this, move to the position where you want the end of the line and
accept this point in the same manner.
Now that you've chosen the color, the starting point of the line, and the
ending point, the line will be drawn. After the line is drawn you will
be placed back in the DRAW menu. You may then choose another figure.
BOX
When you choose to draw a box you will first be asked to choose a color.
After you have chosen a color you will be asked to move the cursor to
where you want one corner of the box to be then press ENTER. If you have
a mouse, you may press the left button instead of pressing ENTER. Once
you've done this, move to the position where you want the opposite corner
to be and accept this point in the same manner.
Now that you've chosen the color and two opposite corners, the box will
be drawn. After the box is drawn you will be placed back in the DRAW
menu. You may then choose another figure.
CIRCLE
You'll first be asked to choose a color in the manner described above.
After you've chosen a color you'll be asked to enter the radius. This
radius must be measured in x-axis pixels. The y-axis pixels are further
apart than those of the x-axis and a circle will have 0.833 times as many
pixels in the y direction.
After you've entered the radius from the keyboard, you'll be asked to
position the cursor where you want the center of the circle to be and
press ENTER. If you don't have a mouse use the arrow keys to position
the cursor then press ENTER. If you do have a mouse position the cursor
with the mouse then press the left button. After you've done this you'll
be returned to the DRAW menu.
MACRO
Macro refers to a command that draws a complex figure for you automati-
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cally --- a house for example. You may either enter the name of the
Macro or enter ? to see a list of macros to choose from. When in the
Macro selection screen, select a Macro by highlighting the desired Macro
then pressing ENTER. You can highlight your selection by using the up
or down arrow keys, by pressing the key corresponding to the first letter
of the Macro, or by using the mouse. If you use the mouse you may select
the Macro by pressing the left button after it is highlighted.
Once you've chosen a Macro and it's color you will be asked to choose a
size. Your choices will be: 1-SMALL, 2-MEDium, 3-LARGE, 4-EXtraLaRGe,
and 5-VERYLarge. If you don't have a mouse, choose a size by pressing
the corresponding number key. If you do have a mouse, choose a size by
pressing the right button until the desired size is written on the second
line above the drawing box then accept it by pressing the left button.
END
Choose this option to return to the GRAPH MENU.
ARC
You'll first be asked to choose a color in the manner described earlier.
After you've chosen a color you'll be asked to enter the aspect ratio.
This is the ratio of y-axis pixels to x-axis pixels. Since we know that
the y-axis pixels are 1/.833 times further apart than the x-axis pixels,
to get a circle we will have to choose the aspect ratio to be 0.833.
Next, we are asked to choose the radius. If the aspect ratio that we
chose above is less than one, the radius will be measured in x-axis
pixels. If the aspect ratio is greater than one, the radius will be
measured in y-axis pixels. In other words it is always measured along
the longest axis as measured in pixels.
After you've entered the radius from the keyboard, you'll be asked to
enter the start angle in degrees. This is the angle at which the
computer starts drawing the arc. Next you'll be asked to enter the end
angle for the arc. You can see that with these two values you can cause
the computer to draw a half or quarter arc.
Finally, you'll be asked to position the cursor where you want the center
of the arc to be and press ENTER. If you don't have a mouse use the
arrow keys to position the cursor then press ENTER. If you do have a
mouse position the cursor with the mouse then press the left button.
After you've done this you'll be returned to the DRAW MENU.
TEXT
Choose this option if you want to type some text in your drawing. This
option supports most ASCII characters including the number characters 0
through 9. You are limited to 22 characters each time you use this
option.
PAINT
Choose this option from the GRAPH MENU when you want to fill in an enclosed
area with one of the following colors: 0-NONE, 1-BLue, 2-RED, 3-WHiTe,
4-GRAY, or 5-CHecKerBoaRD.
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If you don't have a mouse, choose a fill color by pressing the correspond-
ing number key for the color listed at the bottom. If you do have a mouse,
you may choose a color by pressing the right button until the desired color
appears on the second line above the drawing box. Once the desired color
appears written on that line, press the left button to accept it.
After you select the fill color you will be asked for the existing
boundary color for the area to be filled or painted. If you don't have
a mouse, choose the boundary color by pressing the corresponding number
key for the colors listed on the line below the draw box. If you do have
a mouse, choose the boundary color by pressing the right button until the
desired color appears on the second line above the drawing box. Once the
desired color appears written on that line, press the left button to
accept it.
After you select the boundary color, move the cursor to a point within the
boundary and press ENTER or the left mouse button. The area within the
boundary will then be filled with the color previously selected.
Warning - the area must be completely surrounded by the boundary color
you specified or the paint will spill over outside the boundary. If
you make this mistake you can correct it by going to the DELETE option
and deleting the paint.
Try to use a border color that is different than the desired paint color.
If the colors are the same you cannot change the paint color without
deleting the old one.
If you try to delete a border while it contains paint it will make quite
a mess; therefore, delete its paint first. If you want to paint your
drawing it is best if you wait until all your drawing is finished. This
allows you to make changes in lines, boxes, circles, macros, and arcs
without having to delete the paint first.
DELETE
When you choose the delete option the last thing drawn will begin to
flash and you will be asked if you want to delete it. If you choose
yes, the drawing will be redrawn without that object. If you choose
no, the next object will flash. This continues until you either
choose yes, press the ESC key to escape, or all objects are flashed.
When deleting a painted area, the entire paint does not flash. A small
circle located around one pixel in the painted area will flash. When
deleting a graphics copy, a box will flash around the copied area showing
you the graphics that is to be deleted if you choose to.
If you have a mouse, pressing the left button is the same as answering yes
and the right button is the same as answering no.
CLOAK
The purpose of cloaking is to hide a piece of a drawing without completely
deleting it. This is sometimes easier than going through the delete
process. For creating an animated drawing it is an absolutely essential
option.
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This option works by hiding everything within a boxed area that you define.
You are first asked to place the cursor on one corner of the cloak area
and press ENTER. You are then asked to place the cursor on the opposite
corner of the area and press ENTER. Whatever is within the box drawn with
these opposite corners will be hidden from view or changed to background
color.
If you find that not all the enclosed drawing becomes hidden, try it again.
Sometimes it will not take it all in a single step.
If you don't have a mouse you must move the cursor using the arrow keys on
the keyboard. If you do have a mouse you must use it to move the cursor
and you may use the left button instead of the ENTER key.
END
Choose this option to return to the MAIN MENU.
ANIMATE MARK
Choose this option if you want to store the current drawing to be used
later as an animation screen. This option is be demonstrated in the
tutorial which is located in the file tutorial.doc.
ANIMATE
Use this option to animate your drawing if you have placed animate marks
in the drawing as it was created. To stop the animation press number
key 5 or press ESC.
EXPORT
Use this option to export graphics to programs written in Turbo Basic. All
the graphics within a box that you define will be stored in a file that you
specify.
You'll first be asked to place the cursor at the upper left corner of the
graphics that you want to export then press ENTER. Next, you'll be asked
to place the cursor at the bottom right corner of the graphics and press
ENTER. You will then be shown the dimension of an integer array required
to store the graphics. You'll need this number when its time to place the
graphics in your new program.
Finally, you'll be asked to enter a name, with no extension, for a file
where the graphics can be stored. After the graphics is stored you'll be
returned to the GRAPH menu.
The following is an example Turbo Basic program for placing a drawing
on the screen. The array dimension was 100 and the file name was draw10.
SCREEN 1
DIM GRAPHICSARRAY%(100)
OPEN "i",1,"DRAW10.GFL"
FOR X%=0 TO 100
INPUT#1, GRAPHICSARRAY%(X%)
NEXT X%
CLS
PUT (50,50),GRAPHICSARRAY%
CLOSE 1
END
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COPY
Choose this option from the GRAPH menu by pressing the number key 9. You
can use this option to copy graphics to another location in the drawing
box.
After you choose the copy option you'll be asked to move the cursor to the
upper left corner of the graphics you want to move. Once you have placed
the cursor press ENTER. Next, you'll be asked to enter the cursor at the
lower right corner of the graphics. Finally, you'll be asked to move the
cursor to the upper left corner of the area you want the graphics copied
to then press ENTER. The graphics will be copied to this new location.
Be careful where you copy the graphics. If you copy it over some graphics
that already exists, it probably will not look quite right.
FILE MENU
When you choose this menu from MAIN MENU your options are 1-SAVE, 2-GET,
3-DIRECTORY, and 5-END. The keyboard must be used to select these options by
pressing the corresponding number key.
SAVE
Use this option to store or save a drawing to file. After choosing this
option you'll be asked to type the name of the file where the drawing is
to be stored. Do not put an extension on the file name. For example, do
not use something like draw10.dat. Just use draw10.
GET
Use this option to retrieve a drawing that you previously saved. You'll
be shown a list of existing files and then asked to enter the name of the
one you want. If you change your mind after choosing this option, just
press ESC to quit.
DIRECTORY
Choose this option to see all the graphics files on the current directory.
Press the ENTER key to return to the FILE menu.
END
Choose this option to return to MAIN MENU.
ERASE OPTION
When you choose this option from MAIN MENU any drawing that exists
within the drawing box will be completely erased. After choosing this option
you may start a new drawing.
PRINT OPTION
Choose this option from the MAIN MENU when you want to print your drawing to
a printer. This program was not designed with its own print routine. If you
want a hardcopy of your drawing you must load your favorite graphics screen
dump memory resident program before you load this program. A program like
this that supports most dot matrix printers, called GRAPHICS, usually comes
with your operating system. When you get your drawing ready for printing,
choose the PRINT option from MAIN MENU. Once in the print routine, wait
at least 4 seconds, press the SHIFT key then the PRINT key without releasing
the SHIFT key. Your drawing will then be printed on your dot
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matrix printer. When its completed press the RETURN key to go back to
MAIN MENU.
END
Choose this option from MAIN MENU to exit the program. You'll find that
this option exists in all the menus. In all other cases it returns you to
the previous menu.
If you have questions or suggestions for improving this program please send
them to me at this address:
Dr. Andy Motes
1632 Brooks St.
Fayetteville, AR 72701
I hope you and your children enjoy this program. A lot of time went into
designing it. Hopefully it is much easier to use than the elaborate commercial
products that require large manuals. To run the program just type go then
press ENTER.
I HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO REMOVE ALL BUGS FROM THIS SOFTWARE. HOWEVER, I
CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT NONE EXISTS. THE RISK IS ALL YOURS. BY USING THIS
SOFTWARE YOU ARE EXPRESSING YOUR WILLINGNESS TO ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
RISKS.
If you're interested in educational software for children try my program called
SCHOOL-MOM. It is a menu driven program with modules for Music Composition,
Art, English, Spelling, Math, Time and Exams. It's a complete educational tool
for kids age 4 to 16. You can get it from your favorite shareware dealer, from
the IBMAPP forum on CompuServe, or from me by specifying it on your
registration form.
Andrew Motes, PhD
Parent, Educator, Engineer, Scientist
_______
____|__ | (tm)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve
a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the
member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but
does not provide technical support for members' products. Please
write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006
or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman
70007,3536.
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REGISTRATION FORM
To: MOTES EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE
1632 Brooks St.
Fayetteville, AR 72701
From: Name: _____________________________
Address: __________________________
City _____________________, State ________________, Zip Code __________
Additional space for foreign addresses ________________________________
Circle registration option A or B below.
A. Please register my copy of The Children's Graphics Program (Version 1.24).
Send me a hardcopy manual and a trial copy of SCHOOL-MOM. I've enclosed the
suggested $15.00 registration fee.
B. Please register my copy of The Children's Graphics Program (Version 1.24).
Send me a hardcopy manual and my registered copy of SCHOOL-MOM. I've enclosed
$25.00 for registration of both programs.
