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MiniDraft v1.10 (c)Oct 1992
This is MiniDraft version 1.10.
If you have any criticisms, suggestions, advice etc. etc.
please write to me (J.H.Taylor) at:-
12 West Drive,
Cleadon,
Sunderland,
Tyne & Wear,
SR6 7SJ
UK.
MiniDraft is a basic drafting utility which will undergo a
continuous process of enhancement. Users are encouraged to send
their suggestions to the above address. The most popular and
usefull improvements will be included, provided it is within my
capabilities.
To date my thanks go to:-
Joe Connor - Colchester
(Help with large screen support, improved icons,)
(constructive criticism a encouragement)
Lancelot Dow - London
(Constructive criticism and encouragement)
Plus all those who have shown their appreciation.
The library of shapes will constantly be expanded and users
who require a new shape should send an outline to me for
inclusion. Provide as much info as possible, not forgetting fill
styles, write modes etc, etc. - a 10:1 scale screen dump or a .DBD
file on disc would be the best idea. Standard shapes in
particular disciplines such as architechture, chemistry,
engineering etc. etc. would be welcome.
You must provide a sae. for the return of info/discs.
Please send me examples of your work - the best will be
included with later releases.
Packing list:
Files Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINIDRAF.DOC Version 1.10 of the MiniDraft manual.
MINIDRAF.PRG Version 1.10 of MiniDraft program.
MINIDRAF.RSC Resource file for MiniDraft.
DRAWINGS Folder of example MiniDraft drawings.
MiniDraft v1.10 (c)Oct 1992
MiniDraft -- FOR ATARI ST
A basic drafting package written in assembler
Atari 520 and ST are trademarks of Atari Corporation.
GEM is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc.
Copyright (c)1992, J.H.Taylor. All rights reserved.
MiniDraft v1.10 (c)Oct 1992
Table of Contents Page
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PART I -- Description of menu selections. 1
Title Item
Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About MiniDraft. . . . . . . 1
File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Clear . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Load Alt/L. . . . . . . 2
Save as.. Alt/S. . . . . . . 2
Save . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Hardcopy Alt/H. . . . . . . 3
Quit Alt/Q. . . . . . . 6
Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Cut . . .F2 . . . . . . . . 7
Copy . . .F3 . . . . . . . . 7
Paste. . .F4 . . . . . . . . 7
Rotate . .F5 . . . . . . . . 8
Vflip. . .F6 . . . . . . . . 8
Hflip. . .F7 . . . . . . . . 8
Scale. . .F8 . . . . . . . . 8
Save (block) .Alt/D. . . . . 8
Load (block) .Alt/I. . . . . 9
Mark (block) .F1 . . . . . . 9
Mouse. . .Alt/M. . . . . . . 9
Keyboard .Alt/K. . . . . . . 10
Import ASCII text. . . . . . 10
Import CADja ASCII . . . . . 10
Export CADja ASCII . . . . . 11
Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Add. . . . .SB . . . . . . . 11
Architec'l .Ctrl/A . . . . . 11
Mechanical .Ctrl/M . . . . . 11
Electrical .Ctrl/E . . . . . 11
Line . . . .Ctrl/L . . . . . 12
Circle . . .Ctrl/C . . . . . 12
Arc. . . . .Ctrl/R . . . . . 13
Text . . . .Ctrl/T . . . . . 13
Box. . . . .Ctrl/B . . . . . 14
Polygon. . .Ctrl/P . . . . . 14
Ellipse. . .Ctrl/I . . . . . 14
Ell arc. . .Ctrl/O . . . . . 15
Pline . . .Ctrl/N . . . . . 15
Regular polygon. . . . . . . 15
Regular polyline . . . . . . 16
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Undo . . . .Undo . . . . . . 16
Uundo. . . .Alt/Undo . . . . 16
MiniDraft v1.10 (c)Oct 1992
Set origin .Ctrl/F . . . . . 16
Last view. .Alt/V. . . . . . 17
Full view. . . . . . . . . . 17
Mark and zoom. . . . . . . . 17
Units. . . . Ctrl/U. . . . . 18
Attributes Alt/A . . . . . 18
Grid . . . . Ctrl/G. . . . . 19
Snap . . . . Ctrl/S. . . . . 20
Drawing edge Alt/J . . . . . 20
Drawing guides . . . . . . . 20
Help . . . . Help. . . . . . 20
MiniDraft v1.10 (c)Oct 1992
The Working Surface
Editing . . . . . . . . . . 22
File extension . . . . . . . 22
PART II -- Tutorial . . 23
Getting started
A simple drawing . . . . . . . . . 23
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 1
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
Disclaimer
This program is copyrighted by J.H.Taylor and may not be
modified or altered in any way or charged for without the
author's express permission.
No warranties, either express or implied, are made by the
author with respect to the software or its fitness for a
particular purpose. The author accepts no responibility for any
loss that may result from the use or inability to use this
software.
Requirements
* Atari 520 ST or 1040 ST/E with disc drive(s).
* Monochrome monitor (but will run with colour)
* Will operate with enhanced screens.
* MINIDRAF.PRG, MINIDRAF.RSC on the same directory.
* You must know how to operate with GEM.
MENU SELECTIONS
The menu titles are the names that appear on the menu bar.
Menu items refer to the names that drop down when a menu title is
selected.
TITLE ITEM
----------------
Desk
About MiniDraft
General information about MiniDraft with a facility
with which to review MiniDraft history.
File
Clear
Open a new drawing work area. Any previous work will
be lost. Data in the Paste buffer will, however, be
retained.
Select 'Clear' from the 'File' menu and the screen
will be immediately cleared unless editing has taken
place and the drawing (file) has not been saved to
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 2
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
disc. If this is the case a warning message will be
displayed which will allow the option of cancelling
or continuing the action.
Load Alt/L
Load an old MiniDraft drawing from disk drive into
the main buffer. Any drawing already in memory which
has been edited in any way will cause a warning to
this effect to be displayed; in this event the option
can be taken to cancel or continue the operation. In
the latter case the existing file in memory will be
lost.
Select the 'Load' item from the 'File' menu or press
Alt/L on the keyboard. If no editing has taken place
the file selector box will be produced which will
allow a filename and/or pathname to be changed or
confirmed. To clear the file/pathname press the Esc
or backspace key and type in the new name or select a
file/pathname from the list displayed. If the file
exists it will be loaded into memory and immediately
displyed on screen; otherwise an error message will
be displayed.
Initially a 'full view' of the drawing will be
displayed. This can be changed to a 1:1 view by
pressing the Clr Home key. Alternatively click on the
magnifier icon (second bottom left on the screen) and
a portion of the drawing can be 'marked' out and
immediately displayed to fill the entire screen.
Save as.. Alt/S
Save the whole drawing (complete with header
information) onto disk. The menu selector box will
be displayed where the file/pathname can be changed
or confirmed.
Select the 'Save as...' item from the 'File' menu or
press Alt/S on the keyboard. The file selector box
will be displayed and the file/pathname can be
entered in the same way as for 'Load'. Clicking the
'Ok' button or pressing the 'Return' key will cause
the file data to be written to disc.
Note: The header data contains the following
information:-
36 bytes Name and version etc.
2 bytes Origin X position.
2 bytes Origin Y position.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 3
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
2 bytes Drawing X offset.
2 bytes Drawing Y offset.
1 byte Printer code (Epson: 5=9pin. 39=24pin).
1 byte Printing ratio (1:1, 1:2, 1:3).
2 bytes Columns per page.
2 bytes Dots per graphics line.
2 bytes Unused.
2 bytes Drawing grid size.
2 bytes Drawing width (mm).
2 bytes Drawing height (mm).
2 bytes Unused.
1 byte Drawing size code.
1 byte Port/land mode. (0=port. 1=land).
1 byte Hardcopy X pages.
1 byte Hardcopy Y pages.
Save
Save the whole drawing (complete with header
information) onto disk. No file selector box will be
displayed (unless there is a null filename such as
when first editing a drawing).
Select the 'Save' item from the 'File' menu. Unless
there is a null filename the file data will be
immediately written to a disc file having the current
filename.
Hardcopy Alt/H
Produce a screen dump of the current drawing.
This feature has the unique capability of producing
massive printouts by means of pasting up strips of
printer dumps. This facility is carried out
automatically with the full version of MiniDraft.
The screen is merely a window on a drawing
32,767 x 32,767 pixels all of which can be printed
out, in one go, on a dot matrix printer. All you
need do is determine the number of pages to print in
both the X and Y directions across the screen. This
will cause the drawing to be printed out in strips on
the printer paper. For the best results a tractor
feed should be used otherwise registration between
strips will be lost.
First ensure that the printer is switched on and
on-line. Select the 'Hardcopy' item from the 'File'
menu. A dialog will be produced which will allow
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 4
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
certain print parameters to be set ie.
Portrait/Landscape
Landscape orientates the screen dump sideways
on the printed sheet. In other words on an A4
sheet the bottom edge of the screen runs down
the left hand edge therefore the bottom left
hand corner of the screen appears at the top
left hand corner of the printed sheet.
If a full view of the drawing is invoked,
this mode will be indicated by the display of a
wide rectangular dotted frame.
Portrait orientates the screen dump in the same
direction on the printed sheet as seen on the
screen. It is important to realise that in this
mode the top left hand corner of the screen
appears at the top left hand corner of the
printed sheet.
If a full view of the drawing is invoked,
this mode will be indikated by the display of a
narrow rectangular dotted frame.
[9] [24] pin
Selecting one of these buttons sets the output
to suit the particular type of printer to be
used.
[24 pin] [1:3] [1:2] [1:1]
This sets the dot scale used on the 24 pin
printer. With 1:1 one pixel on screen maps to
three pins on the printer head, 1:2 maps to two
pins and 1:3 maps to one pin. The result is
that using 1:3 will give you a printed graphic
one third the size printed by 1:1 and 1:2 will
give a graphic half the size of 1:1.
Using these settings does not, however,
alter the size of sheet that is printed out.
Dots/col
This sets the number of vertical screen pixels
to be printed across the page. On the Epson
LX80 (9 pin printer), with 11" paper, the
maximum is 574 and on the Epson 1050 (also 9
pin) it is 948. If this value is positive the
next Y page will be above the current one and
if the value is negative the next Y page will
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 5
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
be below the current one.
Columns/page
This sets the number of vertical columns to be
printed per page. eg. on Epson LX80 with 11"
paper length it works out at 100.
X pages
This is the number of groups of columns/page,
in the horizontal direction, to be output to
the printer.
Y pages
This is the number of X page 'strips' in the
vertical direction to be output to the printer.
This facility is disabled on the PD version.
The positions of the 'strips' are indicated by
horizontal dotted line/s 'dividing up' the
drawing on-screen (visible only on drawings
larger than the printer paper being used).
Paper Size & Drawing Size
The above four settings can be automatically
made by using the Paper size & Drawing size
buttons. First determine what width paper you
wish to print on ie.
A4 - The full width (210mm) of an A4 sheet
(needs a wide printer).
A5 - The full width (148mm) of an A5 sheet.
A6 - The full width (105mm) of an A6 sheet.
80 - The max. width (203mm) an 80 column
printer will print.
132 - The max. width (335mm) a 132 column
printer will print.
Then select the (screen) Drawing size you are
using, click on 'Auto setup' and the
appropriate values will be computed and placed
in the various fields. The drawing sizes are:-
2A - 1189mm x 1682mm
A0 - 841mm x 1189mm
A1 - 594mm x 841mm
A2 - 420mm x 594mm
A3 - 297mm x 420mm
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 6
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
A4 - 210mm x 297mm
A5 - 148mm x 210mm
A6 - 105mm x 148mm
80 - 203mm x 279mm
(80 cols on 8.5" x 11" fanfold)
80a - 203mm x 297mm
(80 cols on A4 paper)
132 - 335mm x 279mm
(132 cols on 13.6" x 11" fanfold)
These values can be altered to enable a portion
of the drawing only to be printed out.
Copies
If the full version of MiniDraft is being used
the total number of complete sets of X & Y
pages to be printed. Otherwise (on the PD
version) only one X and one Y page will be
printed.
User
Implement user valuse in the User Setup box.
This facility was originally a programming aid
for myself and has been left in as it may be
either interesting or useful to the user. By
altering the Dots/col and Cols/page values part
of the drawing only can be printed out.
Comments on the usefullnes or modification of
this facility are encouraged.
Print Guides
With this button set primitives used as guides
will be printed as if they were normal
graphics.
When you have made your choices select 'Print'. The
drawing will be displayed in sections on the screen
and the printout will commence.
The dump can be aborted at any time by
pressing the 'Esc' key.
Quit Alt/Q
Finish with the program.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 7
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
If editing has taken place prior to this action and
the file has not been saved to disc a warning message
will be displayed allowing the option of aborting or
continuing.
Edit
Cut F2
Delete a section from the screen that has been
'Mark'ed. The deleted portion will also be placed
into the paste buffer.
Select the 'Cut' item from the 'Edit' menu or by
pressing F2. Any 'Mark'ed area on the screen will be
erased from the screen and the data removed from
memory. This removed data however, will be
transferred to the paste buffer from where it can be
rotated, flipped,scaled and pasted back to screen.
It can also be saved to disc (see block 'Save').
Copy F3
Copy a section of the screen that has been 'Mark'ed,
into the paste buffer. The existing data in memory
and screen remain intact.
Select the 'Copy' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
F3. The data of any 'Mark'ed area on the screen will
be copied to the paste buffer and can be operated on
in the same way as with 'Cut'.
Paste F4
Copy and position a 'Copy'ed or 'Cut' area of the
drawing back onto the drawing.
Select the 'Paste' item from the 'Edit menu or press
F4. The graphics cursor will be replaced by a copy of
the contents of the paste buffer which can be dragged
around the screen and fixed in position by pressing
the left mouse button (or Alt/insert key). Pressing
the left mouse button will also cause a copy of that
data, in the new position, to be placed in memory.
As many copies as required, of that data can be
pasted, memory permitting. Pressing the right mouse
button ends the activity.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 8
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
Rotate F5
Rotate the contents of the paste buffer 90 deg
anti-clockwise.
Select the 'Rotate' item from the 'Edit' menu or
press F5. This will cause any data in the paste
buffer to be rotated 90 deg in an anti-clockwise
direction. Individual GDP's or composite data can be
rotated.
Vflip F6
Flip the contents of the paste buffer about the
verticle axis.
Select the 'Vflip' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
F6. This will cause any data in the paste buffer to
be flipped or 'mirrored' about the vertical axis.
Beware of flipping circles made from arcs with start
and end angles of 0 and 360 deg. Both of these
angles will be converted to 180 deg and as a result
the circle will disappear. To avoid this phenomenon,
the start and end angles should be represented as 0
and 359.9 respectively.
Hflip F7
Flip the contents of the paste buffer about the
horizontal axis.
Select the 'Hflip' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
F7. This acts in the same way as 'Vflip' but flips
the data around the horizontal axis.
Scale F8
Scale the contents of the paste buffer by the amount
shown in the block scale dialogue box.
Select the 'Scale' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
F8. Set the Mag. and Red. parameters to the desired
values.
Save (block) Alt/D
Any data in the paste buffer will be saved to disc
without any header information. The file selector
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 9
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
box will be displayed enabling the block
file/pathname to be changed or confirmed.
Select the block 'Save' item from the 'Edit' menu or
press Alt/D. When the file selector box is displayed
the file/pathname can be entered as for File 'Save'.
Clicking the 'Ok' button or pressing the 'Return' key
will cause any data in the paste buffer to be written
to a disc file with the filename and extension
(default .BLK) chosen.
Load (block) Alt/I
Load a block from disk drive into the paste buffer.
Select the block 'Load' item from the 'Edit' menu or
press Alt/I (Insert). The file selector box will be
displayed and a filename can be entered the same as
for 'Load'. Clicking the 'Ok' button or pressing the
'Return' key will cause the data to be loaded into
the paste buffer.
Mark F1
Select a portion of the screen to be 'cut' or
'copy'ed to the paste buffer.
This enables a section of a drawing to be 'Mark'ed
out for either 'Cut'ing or 'Copy'ing. Select the
'Mark' item from the 'Edit' menu or press F1. Any
previously marked area of the screen will be
un-marked and the graphics cursor will change to a
crosswire. Move the centre of the crosswire to the
top left hand corner of an area of drawing that it is
desired to mark. Press and hold down the left mouse
button and move the mouse so that the dotted
rectangle surrounds the desired area. Release the
mouse button and the area of screen 'captured' will
be highlighted within the block mark.
Note that the top LH corner of the block becomes the
reference point when positioning the block with the
paste function and corresponds with the X & Y values
shown at the top of the screen.
Mouse Alt/M
Shift the screen with the aid of the mouse.
Select the 'Mouse' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 10
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
Alt/M. The graphics cursor will change to a cross.
Place the cursor on a position of interest on the
drawing and click the left mouse button once. Move
the cursor to another position on the screen and
click the left mouse button once more. The screen
will then be immediately redrawn with the first mouse
position appearing at the second mouse position.
Keybd Alt/K
Shift the screen with the keyboard by altering the
screen offset values. This is usefull when large
excursions of the drawing are required.
Select the 'Keybd' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
Alt/K. A dialog box will be produced where the new
screen offsets can be entered. Selection of the 'Ok'
button will cause the screen to be redrawn with the
new offset.
ASCII Import
Load text from a pure ASCII file into the paste
buffer.
Where large amounts of text need to input, it can be
written using a wordprocessor, saved in ASCII format
and imported to MiniDraft.
Before importation, setup the Text and
Attributes dialogs with the required text
styles/modes etc. Select Import ASCII and load the
required file. The text will be placed into the paste
buffer from where it can be pasted into the drawing.
Do not import too much text as it may become too
unwieldy to move around the screen.
CADja ASCII Import
Load a CADja ASCII text file into the paste buffer.
CADja ASCII files are drawing files described in pure
ASCII text. ASCII files are the established file
format for conversion between different software
packages and hardware platforms. ASCII files written
by CADja and MiniDraft can be read and manipulated by
ST, PC and Mac software! They can be read directly
from the desktop, loaded and edited in databases,
word processors, programming languages or other post
processors. Programmers can further manipulate the
ASCII data extracting relevent information suitable
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 11
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
for use in databases, spreadsheets, word processors
or (for example, using DASCH) other CAD programs. By
editing an ASCII CADja file it is possible to change
drawings in ways that are not possible within a CAD
program.
These file are loaded and actioned in the same
way as the text ASCII files described above.
NOTE: Any text that was exported using the CADja
ASCII export facility will automatically be converted
to single line vector text.
CADja ASCII Export
Save the contents of the paste buffer as a CADja
ASCII text file.
For the reasons given above, a drawing or part of it
may need to be converted to an ASCII format. To
achieve this copy all or part of the drawing to the
paste buffer and select CADja ASCII Import. A file
selector box will be displayed and the filename can
be chosen or keyed in. The usual file extention is
.ASC and is displayed as default.
Graphics
The main source of graphics selection. Library
shapes and general drawing primitives (GDP's) are
selected from this menu.
Add SB (Space Bar)
Use the mouse to position the selected graphic onto
the screen.
Architec'l Ctrl/A
Mechanical Ctrl/M
Electrical Ctrl/E
Display a selector box of the required set of library
of shapes.
Select the particular library item (eg. 'Mechanical')
required from the 'Graphics' menu or press the
appropriate Ctrl/Key combination. This will produce a
selector box containing icons which represent various
pre-programmed graphic shapes. To invoke a
particular library shape first select the desired
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 12
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
icon with the left mouse button and then the 'Ok'
button. This will cause the data for that shape to
be placed in the paste buffer where it can be
rotated, scaled or flipped then pasted onto the
screen. Selection of the 'Cancel' button will leave
any data in the paste buffer undisturbed.
Note: A small dot, usually in the bottom LH corner of
the icon, denotes the reference point for positioning
the shape with the paste facility and corresponds
with the X & Y values shown at the top of the
screen.
Line Ctrl/L
Select a graphic single line GDP.
Select 'Line' item in the 'Graphics' menu or press
Ctrl/L followed by the 'Add' item in the 'Graphics'
menu. You will then be presented with a mouse cursor
in the shape of a cross with a small central square.
Although the 'legs' of the cursor are masked, the
'hole' in the central square is transparent ie.
underlying graphics can be seen through it and
enables precise positioning to be achieved.
The starting point of a line is set by placing
the cursor at the desired position and pressing the
left mouse button (or Alt/insert) once. The line
will now be drawn and can be moved around the screen
with the cursor or keyboard and fixed in position by
pressing the left mouse button (or Alt/Insert). If
you change your mind about the position of the start
point, pressing the right mouse button will cancel
the line and return you to the start position.
Note that the X & Y position of the current
line end relative to the current reference point and
angle of the line are displayed at the top of the
screen.
Circle (filled) Ctrl/C
Select a graphic filled circle GDP. A dialog box
will be displayed for the input of the required
radius.
Ensure that the required fill attributes are correct
then select 'Circle' item from the 'Graphics' menu or
press Ctrl/C. This will produce a dialog box to
enable the input of the circle radius. Enter the
desired radius and select 'Ok'. Select 'Add' item
from the 'Graphics' menu and the cursor will
disappear and be replaced by a circle of radius as
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 13
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
input. The circle can then be moved about the screen
with the mouse or Alt/graphics keys and fixed in the
required place by pressing the left mouse button.
Pressing the right mouse button aborts the action.
Note that the X & Y position of the current
circle centre relative to the current reference point
is displayed at the top of the screen.
Arc Ctrl/R
Select a graphic arc GDP. A dialog box will be
displayed for the input of the desired radius, start
and end angles.
This graphic operates in the same way as 'Circle',
however the dialog box includes two extra entries for
the starting and ending angles.
It should be noted that as regards Arcs 0deg
and 360deg are the same. If a circle made from an
arc is vertically flipped both these angles will
change to 180deg and nothing will be drawn. To get
over this enter 0 for the start angle and 359.9 for
the end angle.
Note that the X & Y position of the current arc
centre relative to the current reference point is
displayed at the top of the screen.
Text Ctrl/T
Enter text. A dialog box will be displayed for the
input of the required text and text attributes.
Select 'Text' item from the 'Graphics' menu or press
Ctrl/T. Enter the desired text and attributes in the
dialog box displayed and select 'Ok'. Select 'Add'
as usual and the text can be moved and placed as with
'Circle'.
Note that the X & Y position of the current
text reference point (bottom LH corner of the 1st
character) relative to the current reference point is
displayed at the top of the screen. Due to a
limitation of GEM, normal text cannot have a height
in excess of 26 pixels. This means that no matter
how large the value of Mag is the height of any
normal text cannot exceed 26 pixels. However, vector
text, which uses a built-in font does not suffer from
this limitation. This text can be expanded to any
size and can be filled with any of the GEM fill
patterns. Another benefit of vector text is its
ability to be displayed as a true mirror image - both
laterally and vertically. It can also, of course, be
rotated, scaled and flipped.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 14
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
The vector size (%) is merely a percentage of
an arbitrary standard size and does not relate to
point or pixel sizes. It's probably worth
experimenting a bit with this.
The [Bk] button switches the 'normal' text from
black to white which enables white text on a black
background.
The four arrows set the orientation of the
'normal' text. GEM only allows these four
orientations which is why the orientation of the
vector graphics is separate. Vector graphics can be
orientated at any angle.
There two choices of vector font: a filled
style and a single line style mainly intended for CAD
work.
Please note that the outline attribute only is
supported for filled vector text.
Box Ctrl/B
Select a graphic filled rectangle GDP.
Ensure the required fill attributes are correct and
select the 'Box' menu item or press Ctrl/B. A dialog
box will be displayed for the input of the rectangle
width and height. Select 'Add' and place the box as
before.
Note that the current X & Y position of the top
LH corner relative to the current reference point is
displayed at the top of the screen.
Polygon Ctrl/P
Select a graphic filled polygon GDP.
Ensure the required fill attributes are correct and
select 'Polygon' item from the 'Graphics' menu or
press Ctrl/P followed by 'Add'. The graphics cursor
will change to cross and should be positioned at one
point of the desired polygon. Click the left mouse
button and move the cursor to the next point and
press the left button again. This should be carried
out for all points of the polygon. From the second
point onward each time a point is marked a line will
be draw to indicate the progress of the polygon.
There is no need to 'join up' the polygon as this is
done automatically. When all the points have been
marked press the right mouse button and the polygon
will be filled with the chosen fill pattern.
Note that the X & Y position of the current
point relative to the current reference point is
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By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
displayed at the top of the screen.
Ellipse,Ell arc Ctrl/I,Ctrl/O
Select a graphic filled ellipse/elliptical arc GDP or
press the appropriate Ctrl/key combination. A dialog
box will be displayed for the input horizontal and
vertical radii and in the case of ell arc, start and
end angles.
These are implemented exactly the same as for Circle
and Arc.
Pline Ctrl/N
Select a graphic polyline GDP.
This is basically the same as Line except that a new
line is started immediately the left mouse button is
pressed. Whenever possible, when 'strings' of lines
with the same attributes are required, use this
function instead of 'Line' since it is less costly in
terms of memory usage.
Note that the X & Y position of the current
line end relative to the current reference point and
angle of the line are displayed at the top of the
screen.
NOTE: When 'Mark'ing a polyline the complete 'string'
of lines most be surrounded by the block mark for the
polyline to be 'captured'.
Regular poly
Generate a regular filled polygon shape.
When you select this facility you will be confronted
with a dialog box in which to enter the outside
diameter, number of sides and angle of orientation
required in the polygon shape. The polygon will be
filled with the currently set fill attributes. Due to
the simple (but fast) trigonometrical routines in
Mini Draft some regular shapes may not be 'precise'.
However, if you require precision an 'imprecise'
shape could be used as a guide.
If sufficient number of sides are specified,
filled 'circles' can be generated using this
facility. These 'circles' will be drawn much more
rapidly than true filled circles which may be very
advantageous in certain circumstances where there are
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 16
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
a large number of them.
Regular pline
Generate a regular polyline shape.
When you select this facility you will be confronted
with a dialog box in which to enter the outside
diameter and number of sides required in the polyline
shape. The polyline will be drawn using the currently
set line attributes.
The same comments apply to the Regular polyline
as to the Regular polygon.
Tools
Undo Undo
Undo the last primitive entered into the drawing.
By pressing this key the last primitive in the
drawing will be ignored and the associated graphic
erased from the screen. A primitive (circle, line
etc.), placed in error can therefore be quickly
deleted by pressing the Undo key. This facility is
not limited to the last primitive entered and if
pressed again the next last primitive will be erased
and so on. In this way pasted composite graphics can
also be deleted by pressing the Undo a number of
times.
Uundo Alt/Undo
Undo undone primitives. Because an undone primitive
is not deleted from memory it can be restored with
this facility. Provided no Cut, Add or Paste has
taken place since the last Undo sequence Uundo can be
used to restore all the previously undone graphics.
Set origin Ctrl/F
Set the reference point from which all distances are
measured.
Select the 'Set ref' item from the 'Tools' menu or
press Ctrl/F. The graphics cursor will change to a
cross and can be placed on a point on screen that is
required to be a reference point for measurement and
precise placement. Position the cross at the desired
reference point and press the left mouse button.
This will cause the reference marker to be placed at
this position and will stay the same size and in the
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 17
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
same relative position on the drawing no matter what
part of the drawing is being viewed or what
magnification is in operation. When lines, circles,
arcs or ellipses are manipulated on screen, the X and
Y distances of the line end or circle/arc/ellipse
centre are shown at the top of the screen.
Last view Alt/V
Cause the previous view to be re-displayed.
If a 'wide angle' area of the drawing is being worked
on and a small area of this needs detail attention it
can be zoomed in on by means of the magnifying glass
icon. When this detailed work is completed the
original 'wide angle' view can be restored by
pressing Alt/V or clicking on the item in the 'Tools'
menu.
Mark-and-zoom
Fill the entire screen with a section of the current
part of the drawing on display.
To operate this facility, click on the maginfying
glass icon (second bottom left icon on screen) and
the mouse cursor will change into a pair of
crosswires. Place the crosswires at the top LH corner
of a rectangle that is required to be viewed. Press
and hold down the left mouse button and the
crosswires will change into an expandable box. This
expandable box can be move to surround the area
required and when the left button is released, the
area 'marked' will immediately be displayed on the
screen. NOTE: A magnification in excess of 99 is not
allowed.
Full view
Display a overall view of the drawing.
If it is necessary to view the entire drawing on the
screen it can be achieved with the aid of the overall
view icon (the all-seeing-eye). Simply click on this
icon (bottom LH icon on screen) and the correct
magnification and screen offsets will be calculated
in order to display the whole drawing in the centre
of the screen.
The scale of the display in the full view mode
will depend on the size of the drawing sheet chosen.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 18
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
It is therefore a good idea, if this facility is to
be used, to set up the drawing size, using the
hardcopy dialog box, even if a hardcopy is not
required.
All drawing functions can be used in this mode,
however, accuracy will be reduced owing to the scale
of reduction involved.
Units Ctrl/U
Display a dialog box into which various drawing unit
values can be entered.
Magnify: Sets the amount by which the display is
magnified: it does not affect the actual data values
in memory.
Reduction: Sets the amount by which the display is
reduced: it does not affect the actual data values in
memory.
Pixels/grid:
This sets the vertical and horizontal distance in
pixels between successive dots in the grid matrix.
This is only true for a Mag value of 1:1, for other
values of Mag it will be scaled correspondingly.
Attributes Alt/A
This produces a dialog/selector box from which all of
the drawing attributes such as fill patterns, border,
write mode, line styles and sizes etc, etc. are
selected.
The difference between the top left and bot. right
fills is minimal and seems to be a quirk of GEM
itself. The top two rows of fills are described in
the 'Programmers Reference' as 'DOTTED' (fill type=2)
fills and ranges from 0 (top left) to 23 (extreme
right middle row) and 'CROSSHATCH' (fill type=3)
ranging from 0 (bot right [Wh]) thro 1 (bot. left) to
11 (2nd right bot. row).
The top left fill fills the shape with nothing (ie.
generates a white circle) whilst the [Wh] fill seems
to turn off the perimeter visibility also?? The
dotted square in the rectangle is the 'perimeter
visibility' switch. Switch this off and your filled
shapes will not have a single pixel line surrounding
them.
As regards Rep, Tr, Xor and Rev these are the write
modes for the various graphics objects and determine
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 19
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
how they mix together on the screen.
The 'official' explanations are as follows:
Rep (Replace Mode): The replace mode sets the points
without concern for the existing graphics.
new = col AND obj
Tr (Transparent Mode): In the transparent mode, the
points are only set where no points are yet present.
In addition, the points of the graphic at which
points are to be set without colour, are cleared.
This can better be clarified [and I should think so -
Jim] with an example. A filled surface is to be
drawn. If the screen area is empty, there is no
difference between the replace and tranparent modes.
If the screen area already contains graphics,
however, the fill pattern would not be recognised in
the replace mode. A fill pattern on a screen having a
colour of the fill pattern cannot be recognised in
the replace mode. [This, to me, isn't much clearer: I
suggest you experiment - Jim].
new = (col AND obj) OR (col AND NOT obj)
Xor (Xor Mode): In the Xor mode, points are set only
where are none are contained in the already existing
graphic. All points already set at the new positions
are erased. The points of intersection of an old and
new line are thereby erased.
new = obj XOR old
Rev (Reverse Transparent Mode): In this mode all
overlapping points for which no colour is assigned in
the object remain (such as the gaps in a dashed
line). The overlapping points which are assigned a
colour in the object are erased. A fill pattern drawn
on a black surface in reverse transparent mode is
therefore the negative of the corresponding fill
pattern in the transparent mode. [Experiment again -
Jim].
new = (old AND obj) OR (col AND NOT obj)
Bk (Black): This is the line colour switch: switch
this off and you can draw a white line on a black
background.
Line Thickness: This is measured in pixels.
Guide: When this button is set, the primitives drawn
will be regarded as guides and can be switched off
when printing the drawing.
Grid Ctrl/G
Toggle the dot grid screen display.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 20
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
Select the 'Grid' item from the 'Tools' menu or press
Ctrl/G. The dot grid will appear or disappear from
the screen.
Snap Ctrl/S
Activate or deactivate the positioning 'snap'
facility.
When active, objects positioned on the screen will be
fixed at the grid point nearest the mouse position.
Drawing edge Alt/J
Display the edges of the drawing sheet size.
With this switch 'on' (default) the edges of the
drawing sheet will be displayed and can be seen if
the all-seeing-eye icon is clicked.
Guide
Allocate the 'Guide' function to a primitive.
Any primitive can be used as a drawing guide. When
the guide switch is 'on' any primitive drawn is
labelled within the drawing database as being a
guide. Such primitives can be 'switched off' and will
not be displayed and will not be printed out on a
hardcopy.
This is a simple form of drawing level control.
A full 32 level implementation will be supported by
MiniDraft v1.20.
Help Help
Display a dialog box which contains some usefull,
handy information.
Select the 'Help' item from the 'Edit' menu or press
the 'Help' key. A dialog box will be produced
containing the information ie.
Alt/Insert simulates the left mouse
button
Alt/Clr-Home simulates the right mouse
button
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 21
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
Alt/^,v,>,< moves the cursor 8 pixels
Alt+Shift/^,v,>,< moves the cursor 1 pixel
<,>,^,v page left, right, up, down
(90%)
Shift/<,>,^,v page left, right, up, down
(10%)
Z Zoom in (increases Magnify
by
1 or reduces Reduction by 1)
Alt/Z Zoom out (decreases Magnify
by
1 or increases Reduction by
1)
Help Produces the Help dialog
Clr Home
If, through moving, zooming etc. you lose track of
where you are within a drawing, pressing the Clr Home
key will quickly restore the display to the base
position and with a magnification of 1:1.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 22
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
THE WORKING SURFACE
The working surface for graphics drawing is 32,767 x
32,7676 pixels all of which can be output on a dot
matrix printer (see 'Hardcopy'). All movement on the
screen can be carried out either by means of the
mouse or by means of the Alt and/or shift-graphics
keys. Using Alt/graphics key will move the graphics
cursor or shape 8 pixels up, down, left or right;
Alt+shift-graphics key will move it 1 pixel up, down,
left or right. Also the mouse buttons can be
simulated on the keyboard. Alt/insert simulates the
left mouse button and Alt/Clr Home simulates the
right.
In all cases a particular action is aborted by
pressing the right mouse button (or Alt/Clr Home).
Editing
Any old MiniDraft drawings can be loaded, displayed,
modified or converted into new drawings. Sections can
be 'cut' out, saved on disc and later 'inserted' into
new drawings.
File extensions
File extensions can be anything you like. I have
used .DBD for complete drawings and .BLK for blocks.
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 23
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
PART II - Tutorial
getting started
Double click on MINIDRAF.PRG to start up the program.
If you inspect the 'Graphics' menu you will see that
the item 'Line' has a tick mark next to it. This
means that this function is active and will be
brought into play when the 'Add' item in the same
menu is selected. So to begin with we shall leave
this function selected and click once on 'Add' with
the left mouse button. The arrow cursor is now
changed into a cross with a central square and can be
moved to any desired position on the screen. Chose a
position and click once on the left mouse button. An
'elastic' line is now drawn between the original
position chosen and the current mouse position.
Chose another position for the other end of the line
and click once on the left mouse button again. The
line will now be fixed in position and the cursor
ready to draw another line. Maneouver the cursor so
that it is exactly over one end of the line already
drawn and press the left mouse button. The 'elastic'
line will once more appear. If, however, you are not
happy with the new line, press the right mouse button
and the line will disappear and the cursor will once
more be ready for a new line. Draw a few more lines,
construct some shapes to get the hang of it. To end
the session press the right mouse button an extra
once after a line has been fixed, or aborted and the
arrow cursor will reappear ready for another menu
selection.
Hints
Identical objects superimposed will cancel on marking
due to xor drawing mode used in this function.
Circles with thick outlines can be obtained using the
Arc graphic and with the line thickness set to the
required value.
Boxes with thick outlines can be obtained by using
the Polygon graphic with a Black fill. Draw the inner
and outer shapes of the thick box by going around the
outer and inner corners of your box with the polygon
function. When you finally click the right mouse
button (after clicking the left button 10 times) the
thick black box will appear. You can, of course, fill
your box outline with any of the other patterns.
To get the best out of this program (or any other
similar CAD package) you should try and think a
MiniDraft v1.10 user manual Page 24
By Jim Taylor Oct 1992
little more about the construction of your drawing.
Try and break it down into repeatable units; then you
have to draw it in detail only once, copy it, then
paste it around the drawing as many times as you
like. Use the Block Save to build up your own
library.