home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
ShareWare OnLine 2
/
ShareWare OnLine Volume 2 (CMS Software)(1993).iso
/
network
/
blts493.zip
/
ACAD11.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-08-23
|
13KB
|
286 lines
TECHNICAL BULLETIN
09.27.91 AUTOCAD386 MWF (update 08.24.92)
CAD SOFTWARE: AutoCAD 386 (Release 10C10 & Release 11), Autodesk,
Inc.
Comment:
AutoCAD 386 (Release 10 C10 and Release 11) is listed as
compatible with LANtastic NOS 3.0X and 4.X. The following
information has been compiled from in-house testing and other
resources on using AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic.
Guidelines for using AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic:
1. AutoCAD 11 is a very processor-time intensive application that
runs in protected mode on an 386 or 486 computer. It can access
up to 4 Gigabytes of memory (either in RAM or virtual disk
space), however the program uses less than 250K of conventional
RAM when loaded. If the workstation is only used for AutoCAD 386,
there is no benefit to loading TSR's into high memory because the
conventional memory requirements are very small.
2. Using an AutoCAD workstation as a server for sharing a plotter
or printer-plotter is not recommended since AutoCAD is a very
processor-time intensive application. Performance of AutoCAD
and/or the network can be severely reduced by background plotter
or printer-plotter despooling (generally seen as slow or jerky
crosshair movement). The ideal AutoCAD network configuration
would include a dedicated server with harddrive and ports to
control the plotter(s) and printer-plotter(s), thus allowing the
AutoCAD workstations to have 100% of their own processor time
available for AutoCAD functions.
3. Set FCBS=16,8 and FILES=40 in CONFIG.SYS on workstations
running AutoCAD 386. NOTE: If AutoCAD 10 (DOS) and AutoCAD 386
will both be used on the same workstation running under DOS 4.01,
set FCBS=48,8 in CONFIG.SYS.
4. Protected-mode video Display List Drivers are available in ADI
format to use with AutoCAD 386 and work very well. Some real-mode
DLD's are also available and no compatibility problems have been
reported with LANtastic. Switching between real and
protected-mode can degrade performance, so using a protected-mode
video driver is recommended for maximum performance.
5. AutoCAD 386 loads entirely into RAM so there is no benefit to
using a ramdisk [as far as AutoCAD 386 is concerned]. There are
no overlay files, and if the workstation has enough RAM
available, there will be only minimal disk access when editing a
drawing. Whatever memory would be given to a ramdisk, would be
taken away from AutoCAD 386. A small disk cache (256K) will
improve performance when AutoCAD 386 is paging to disk. Don't
give too much memory to caching as it will take memory away from
AutoCAD and performance can suffer.
6. AutoCAD 386 Rel. 11 has a file-locking feature that is
software selectable and will prevent multiple access to a drawing
file. This can be enabled from the AutoCAD main menu by selecting
"5. Configure AutoCAD", "8. Configure operating parameters", "11.
Server authorization and file locking". File locking in AutoCAD
386 does not require SHARE.EXE to be loaded to function.
7. If using a common drawing fileserver, configure each AutoCAD
workstation to have a unique network node name. From the AutoCAD
main menu, select "5. Configure AutoCAD", "8. Configure operating
parameters", "6. Network node name" and enter a three character
name unique to each workstation.
8. If plotter performance is slow, or pauses intermittently, on
an AutoCAD 386 workstation/server that is sharing a plotter,
increase the CPS to the plotter (using the max of 32767 is OK,
but the tradeoff is poor AutoCAD 386 performance). NOTE: The only
way to eliminate the performance degradation of an AutoCAD
workstation during plotting or printer-plotting is to have the
server not running AutoCAD during the despooling function. See
note 2 on using a dedicated print server.
9. To share a plotter or printer-plotter, AutoCAD must output to
file. The important item to keep in mind is that AutoCAD 386
never communicates with the plotter (or printer-plotter),
instead, it outputs to a file on disk. All communication with the
plotter or printer-plotter device(s) is handled by the network.
Configure AutoCAD 386 to plot to a file, set the filename to the
name of the port that is redirected to @PLOTTER. Set the LPT
TIMEOUT to 0 (zero).
The recommended serial communication protocol for the network to
the plotter is 9600, 8, 1, N, using XON/XOFF flow control. Some
plotters that will only accept HARDWARE flow control require a
HARDWARE cable - a straight-thru serial cable will not allow
HARDWARE flow control communications. The next best protocol is
9600, 7, 1, E, XON/XOFF. If the plotter and @PLOTTER shared
resource are not configured exactly the same, plotting will not
be successful.
NOTE: If the plotter does not automatically go OFF-LINE at the
completion of a plot, it is recommended to edit the SETUP STRING
for @PLOTTER (located in NET_MGR, Shared Resources Management) to
include the ASCII or <ESC> codes needed to take the plotter
off-line at the start of a plot to allow for paper changes. If
this is not done, it will be possible for multiple plot jobs in
the spooler to be plotted over the same sheet of paper. If the
plotter has an automatic paper feeder/cutter, this may not be
necessary.
10. AutoCAD 386 Release 11 has an environment variable that can
be used to create and send spool files to a redirected plotter or
printer-plotter automatically. The recommended configuration is
as follows:
1) Create a directory under the ACAD directory called TEMP
(C:\ACAD\TEMP). Add that directory to the DOS environment
path (see "SAMPLE BATCH FILES:" at end of this document).
2) Configure AutoCAD to put temporary files and the SPOOLED
print/plot files there as follows:
1) From the AutoCAD main menu, select "5. Configure
AutoCAD".
2) Select "5. Configure plotter" and "6. Configure printer
plotter". Keep the same plotter and printer,
3) Select "YES" when asked to output to a file.
4) Select "8. Configure operating parameters."
A) Select "3. Default plot file name", enter "AUTOSPOOL".
NOTE: "AUTOSPOOL" must be in all capital letters.
B) Select "4. Plot spooler directory", enter
"C:\ACAD\TEMP\".
5) Save the changes and exit AutoCAD 386 to the DOS
prompt.
3) If you are using a batch file to load AutoCAD, put the
following lines in that batch file (otherwise put them in
the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on each node). (NOTE: the "%%s"
MUST BE LOWER CASE.)
SET ACADPLCMD=NET PRINT %%s COM2 (Port redirected to
@PLOTTER)
SET ACADPPCMD=NET PRINT/BINARY %%s LPT1 (Port redirected to
@PRINTER)
(Printer-plots must be sent in BINARY format or the printed
output may be cut off, distorted and/or spread out over
multiple pages.)
This will create a spooled file for every print or plotjob sent
by that node. The files that begin with "R" are printer-plot
files (raster) and the ones beginning with "V" are plot files
(vector). These files, if not deleted, will quickly fill up a
harddrive. The following lines can be added to a batch file to
automatically delete the spooled files (see SAMPLE BATCH FILES:
at end of this document):
C:
CD\ACAD\TEMP :REM CD\ to the spooler directory.
DEL R*.* :REM Delete all printer-plot files.
DEL V*.* :REM Delete all plotter files.
CD\
If the spool file directory is shared by more than one user, then
all users' plot/printer-plot files will be deleted when any user
exits AutoCAD. To prevent this, change the above command lines as
follows:
- Refer to note 7 above to get the network node name for the
each node.
- Change "DEL R*.*" to "DEL R*.TBL" (when the network node name
is "TBL")
- Change "DEL V*.*" to "DEL V*.TBL"
- Repeat for each node using the appropriate 3 letter network
node name.
Memory Managers:
1. AutoCAD 386 can be configured to use Extended memory or
Expanded memory but not both. If the memory manager is not VCPI
compliant, configure all memory as Extended; if it is VCPI
compliant, configure all memory as Expanded. QEMM386, 386 to the
MAX and MS-DOS's HIMEM.SYS in combination with EMM386.EXE are
listed as compatible with LANtastic and will provide VCPI-com-
pliant EMS. HIMEM.SYS that comes with MS-DOS 5.0 creates XMS
which is not VCPI compliant and should not be used with AutoCAD
386 without also loading EMM386.EXE. Consult the AutoCAD
Installation and Performance Guide for more information on
compatible memory managers.
2. Network drivers can be loaded into high memory using the
utilities provided with the above listed memory managers,
however, if the workstation is only used for AutoCAD 386, there
is no benefit to loading programs high.
NOS Notes:
A new feature in NOS 4.10, called IMMEDIATE DESPOOLING, can
reduce printing and plotting time. To enable this new feature,
run NET_MGR, select "Shared Resources Management" and enable
"Immediate Despooling". Set "Despool Timeout" to 0 (which will
display as "DISABLED"). It is important to set the despool
timeout to zero for plotters and postscript printers. This must
be set individually for each postscript printer or plotter device
in "Shared Resources Management".
SAMPLE BATCH FILES:
AUTOEXEC.BAT:
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;\BATCH;C:\UTILITY;C:\LANTASTI
AEX :REM Load netbios drivers. Can
be loaded high.
AILANBIO
REDIR ALEX1 LOGINS=5 :REM Can be loaded high.
LANCACHE CACHE_SIZE=256 TYPE=EMS :REM 256K cache (using
expanded memory).
SERVER :REM Server is optional. Can
be loaded high.
NET LOGIN \\ALEX1 ALEX1 :REM Login to servers as
needed.
NET USE LPT1 \\ALEX1\@PRINTER :REM Redirect LPT1 to the
shared printer-plotter.
NET USE COM2 \\ALEX1\@PLOTTER :REM Redirect COM2 to the
shared plotter.
NET LPT TIMEOUT 10
NET QUEUE HALT \\ALEX1 COM1 :REM If a server, halt
QUEUE for mouse/digitizer
port.
PROMPT=$P$G
MENU
LOADACAD.BAT:
REM Add "C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\ADS;C:\ACAD\TEMP" to the DOS environment
path.
PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\BATCH;C:\UTILITY;C:\LANTASTI;C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\A
DS;C:\ACAD\TEMP
NET LPT TIMEOUT 0 :REM Set LPT TIMEOUT to
zero.
CD\ACAD\DWG
SET ACADPPCMD=NET PRINT/BINARY %%s LPT1 :REM Printer-plotter
command.
SET ACADPLCMD=NET PRINT %%s COM2 :REM Plotter command.
SET PLPADI=C:\ACAD\PLPHPLP.EXP :REM Protected mode
plotter driver
SET DSPADI=C:\ET4\DLDVG256.EXP :REM Protected-mode
DLD video driver.
SET DLDCFG=C:\ET4\ :REM DLD configuration
file path.
SET ACADPAGEDIR=C:\ACAD\TEMP :REM AutoCAD 386 page
file directory.
SET ACAD=C:\ACAD;C:\ACAD\SAMPLE;C:\ACAD\ADS
SET ACADCFG=C:\ACAD
ACAD :REM Load AutoCAD 386.
SET ACADCFG=
SET ACAD= :REM Clear environment
variables.
SET ACADPAGEDIR=
SET DLDCFG=
SET DSPADI=
SET PLPADI=
SET ACADPPCMD=
SET ACADPLCMD=
C: :REM Remove all spooled
files.
CD\ACAD\TEMP
DEL R*.*
DEL V*.*
CD\
FINAL NOTE:
This document has been designed to provide a guideline for con-
figuring AutoCAD 386 with LANtastic. Additional configuration may
be necessary to accommodate your specific network setup. If a
unique problem arises which we are unable to resolve either
through phone contact with our technical support or through this
bulletin, a problem report can be filed through our technical
support staff.
ARTISOFT, Inc. makes no warranties as to the completeness or
accuracy of this document. LANtastic is a trademark of ARTISOFT,
Inc. Brand names and products are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies.
Any questions or suggestions on this bulletin may be mailed to
our offices:
Artisoft, Inc.
691 East River Road
Tucson, AZ 85704
ATTN: Compatibility Department / AutoCAD Support
Vendor Info:
Autodesk, Inc.
(415) 331-0356
(Contact your Autodesk dealer for questions concerning AutoCAD.)